Can't Wait Wednesday #274

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

The sweeping and romantic follow up to USA Today bestselling Until the World Falls Down, in which Nell and Enver must find a valuable artefact and vanquish a threat to the kingdom, without losing each other – or themselves.

****

The labyrinth has been destroyed and Enver’s curse broken. But despite the love between them and the searing attraction that binds them, Enver is still keeping secrets. And Nell doesn't know if she can fully trust him.

When she discovers that Enver is searching for his lost relic, she insists upon helping him with his quest, a journey that will take them across the realms – and bring them face-to-face with those once trapped in the labyrinth.

These encounters test their bond, allowing for moments of devastating intimacy, even as they tear at their insecurities. And when Nell happens upon the man responsible for Enver’s century of confinement and learns of his intent to rise to power, she must make a choice.

With the aid of the friends she helped break free, she comes up with a plan to avenge the wrongs done to her beloved and keep them all safe.

But should it fail, it might cost her Enver's heart – this time for eternity.

I STILL need to read the first book. I've literally tried to pick it up all year but event books got in the way, then review books came up...so I still haven't gotten back around to it yet, but hopefully...soon! Lol.

TITLE: Until the Stars Burn Out
AUTHOR: Jordan Lynde
PUBLISHER: Avon
GENRE: Fantasy Romance
RELEASE DATE: December 29, 2026

Worlds collide, secrets are laid bare, and nothing is sacred in this highly anticipated finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Immortal Dark!

Beware the monster, beware the girl. They feed on wild devotion.

Kidan Adane stands at the edge of a world on the brink—where ancient rules no longer hold, forbidden power is stirring, and the consequences of past choices are beginning to surface.​

​With love turned to hatred and humanity hanging in the balance, Kidan must decide how much more she is willing to break to save the world she’s already doomed.

I still need to read book 2...I always start out so well with some series with every intention to keep up, but alas, I've failed. Again. Lol. Luckily it's a trilogy from what I recall, so if book 2 has another killer cliffhanger (which I think she said it did!) then my suffering won't be long! Lol.

TITLE: Infernal Vow
AUTHOR: Tigest Girma
PUBLISHER: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
GENRE: YA Paranormal
RELEASE DATE: January 5, 2027

Top Ten Tuesday #703

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's topic is: Top Ten Book Characters I Wish Were Real People (and My BFFs!) (submitted by Lydia Schoch)

*in no particular order

10. FINLAY DONOVAN--Finlay is a very cool person! I love that she's a divorcee mom and a writer trying to wrangle kids and her job and a household. She's a very real person, but I dig here character!
9. ZORA--Zora was wicked awesome! I would love to be BFFs with her! Plus she has Squire and I love that little owl! He's a real...hoot! LOL!
8. JENKS--that smart-mouthed pixy has been a favorite of mine for many, many years!

7. IAN--He took a book or two to grow on me, but it really wasn't long before I was loving this dude despite some of his a$$hatness. Lol.
6. VANESSA--I need to get going on book 2 soon, but I remember enjoying her character and feeling like I could relate to her!
5. KATE--she was one of the first heroines I remember loving! The quite girl type but who was wicked powerful in her own right!

4. JESSICA--yup, a character that shares my own name! Jessica was my first favorite heroine so I obviously need to be besties with her in real life!
3. KATY--it was always something magical about finding a reader in another book! I loved that Katy was a reader and a blogger too!
2. EVANGELINE--honestly, I was half tempted to just choose 10 Stephanie Garber characters but felt like I ought to branch out a bit here! Lol. Evangeline was such a nice and sweet character! I loved her belief in magic and the power of love so much!

1. TELLA--so instead of 10 Stephanie Garber characters, you get two! Lol. Tella is definitely my favorite of the Dragna sisters, but honestly I feel like I am a combo of Scarlett and Tella when you compare and contrast their personality traits! But Tella always made me laugh and I agreed with her pretty much the entire time! So yeah, gotta go with Tella!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.

Last Week I FINALLY Finished:

Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry (4 stars)

Currently Reading: 

Harbinger by Geneva Lee

What I Plan to Read Next (For Real):

Devoured by Jordan Stephanie Gray

 

Other Posts of Interest: 

Top Ten Tuesday #702
Can't Wait Wednesday #273
Books from the Backlog #210
Book Blogger Hop #436
Stacking the Shelves--Pretty, Purpled, and Signed Edition

Stacking the Shelves--Pretty, Purple, and Signed Edition

 

Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts, and of course ebooks! The meme is now hosted by Reading Reality.

I write this post early as I'll be busy with volunteer work I do with my parents once a month and yesterday was our day to do it! Lol. So not sure what may or may not have come in the mail or I impulse shopped any books or what have you on Saturday, but they'll be in next week's post for sure! This week was a wild ride. Sunday I went to see Astrid Scholte and got my copy of Fallen Beauty TWO days early! Of course, I was in the midst of reading a book so I couldn't stop that one for this one. Then Monday night I went to the Heartless ball to see Marissa Meyer again because I can't resist seeing an author I love! Plus it was a fun excuse to dress up. Of course, it was probably going outside two days in a row in beautiful fall temps that my body hadn't acclimated to yet that led me catch a bit of a cold. It was mostly a head cold, so you know, a reader's death as it made reading a whole lot harder. I took different medicine each day I feel like plus some Zicam and by Friday I was mostly better! Work is steadily slowing down, but there's still issues here and there and I feel like our team dynamic has been shot down. I am still struggling to figure out why we can't work together nicely like we used to, but it is what it is.

This week I have another two signings to go to that I am excited about! Devney Perry on Tuesday. I am not so sure about this new book of hers, as I feel like it might be too contemporary for me, but we'll see I guess. Then Friday, the cast of Boy Meets Pod will be here touring for their book! I loved the show Boy Meets World, so I was ecstatic to see that three of the cast will be here! Plus I have been listening to the Podcast! Largely, I focus on the BMW and GMW episodes but I listened to a few different random interviews here and there. But it's been fun and I can't wait to see/hear/meet them in person!

Now onto the goodies of this week!

Fallen Beauty by Astrid Scholte--SIGNED

Heartless by Marissa Meyer--TRIPLE SIGNED Deluxe edition! Yes, it was tripled signed as first we tried using the silver sharpie, but it was dying, so she wrote over it in blue. But then she didn't like how that looked so we went to the first title page and signed it there in blue. So I have a TRIPLE signed edition! 
With Hearts of Flame by Briar Boleyn--SIGNED! I sadly had to miss this out of town signing, but I at least was able to get my signed copy sent to me!
Twelve Dark Hours by Amber Hamilton
Captive Traitor King by Brigid Kemmerer
Sharpest Court by Kiera Azar
East of Envy by Nikki St. Crowe--keeper copy!
Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard--her first YA book rewritten/edited to be an adult book and I CANNOT wait to read it again anew!

Then here is some of the pretty swag I got from the signings this week:

character cards from Fallen Beauty that Astrid drew herself!

character print from With Hearts of Flame

And just because this stacked looked so pretty with all their sprayed edges I had to share it here! And yes, Strange and Deadly at the top doesn't have any, but I didn't want to leave it out of the "haul" pic. Lol. One day it will have a pretty copy, I just know it!

And that was my haul for this week! What did you get?

Book Blogger Hop #436

 

This meme is hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addict!

This week's question is: Imagine you owned a bookstore—what would it feel like?

MY ANSWER: I imagine I might feel a bit like Belle when the Beast gifted her the library! Granted, there's another part of me that would also be stressing about running a business on my own and be like AHH! WHAT DO I DO?! I mean besides putting all my profits back in the register to buy the books off my own shelves! Lol. Because, you know, I still want the authors to make their money and to show the publishers YES YOU NEED TO CONTINUE THIS SERIES!! 

Books from the Backlog #210

 

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. This is a fun meme hosted by Carole's Random Life in Books!

Once, a witch made a pact with a devil. The legend says they loved each other, but can the story be trusted at all? Find out in this lush, atmospheric fantasy novel that entwines love, lies, and sacrifice.

Long ago, a village made a bargain with the devil: to ensure their prosperity, when the Slaughter Moon rises, the village must sacrifice a young man into the depths of the Devil’s Forest.

Only this year, the Slaughter Moon has risen early.

Bound by duty, secrets, and the love they share for one another, Mairwen, a spirited witch; Rhun, the expected saint; and Arthur, a restless outcast, will each have a role to play as the devil demands a body to fill the bargain. But the devil these friends find is not the one they expect, and the lies they uncover will turn their town—and their hearts—inside out.

I added Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton to my TBR pile in November of 2018 or thereabouts! It released in September of that year, but as I've said, I am so bad about remembering to add my books to Goodreads. I STILL forget sometimes! Lol. I do remember going to a multi-author signing to see Tessa and get my copy signed! It still sounds like one I'd enjoy so hopefully one day I will get to read it!

Review--Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry

 

Calandra’s five kingdoms are on the verge of destruction. The crux migration is coming. And in the wake of a devastating attack, I’ve been separated from the man who owns my heart.

I’m lost. Terrified. Homesick. Hunted by monsters, driven to exhaustion, and kidnapped by a powerful priest, the only thing keeping me going is the little girl counting on me to keep her safe. It’s my turn to become the Guardian.

Our lives change one fateful night. A night of death. A night of monsters. A night of truths. That night, I learn the real meaning of fear—and the depth of my own strength.

Everyone wants me to be something I’m not—a queen, a spy, a sacrifice. But what if I embrace my crown? What if the secrets I uncover save our realm?

What if my sacrifice means salvation for the man I love?

For too long, I’ve feared the monsters we make.

It’s time to discover the monster within.

Well,  I finally finished Deveny Perry's Rites of the Starling! I did enjoy it, but perhaps it was a touch slow. It did not help that work was super busy and that my weekends were jammed packed with to-dos, I essentially had no time to myself to just read, hence why it took an exceedingly long time to read. But as always, I just powered through little by little, although the head cold that popped into existence during the home stretch was most aggravating indeed!

We enter into this story picking up on the trails that were left behind. Ransom is MIA and separated from Odessa and Evie who went off with Brother Dime who is supposed to be leading them to safety, but Odessa begins to have her doubts. And then in a whirlwind of a surprise we are greeted with a new chapter point of view and let me tell you this threw me. I already have a sketchy memory when it comes to remembering details about all these fantasy novels and nowhere in my notes did I mention this character, so I was assuming she was brand new, and she was!

Caspia and her cousin, Xandra are off on a quest of sorts. They are from a line known as Starlings and will one day go through a ritus and be able to take on the form of an animal. But what Caspia wants more than that, or almost more, is to know what happened to her sister who ran off a long time ago. She's hoping this quest will provide answers or even her sister herself.

This is definitely a book with a lot of travel. Odessa and Evie are traveling clear across the continent to return to Odessa's home land and on her own journey, Caspia is also traveling wide and far and meets a "handsome stranger" along the way as well. It almost feels like the making of two separate stories, but I figured Perry would eventually show us the connection and it does come, my friends, so hang in there (if you haven't read this yet, you've probably already read this, I am super slow to get to new releases and then actually read them when I am reading them!).

I'll admit that this book does run the "middle" vibe as I believe this series is meant to be a trilogy. The last handful of pages where the "action" was all at. And by action, I mean answers and connections. These last few pages are what we were aiming towards all along and it's tough to say if it was worth it or not. Again, sketchy memory of the first book and I must have skipped over things that I thought weren't "key" that still got mentioned in this one, but there was enough context that I was able to get a vague idea.

There was only scattered bits of romance in this one. Odessa and Ransom are largely separated for most of the novel, but they do eventually reunite. Then of course, we have romantic tension with Caspia and her new beau but that runs with treacherous secrets as well on both party's part.

Our ending was mild to say the least, but it's the kind of mild I call the calm before the storm. We learned a lot in these last few pages and the ending is the characters dealing with what they now know. There's a lot to come on the horizon with this grand finale on the way, and I cannot wait to see what happens next for sure!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars

Can't Wait Wednesday #273

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

The sexy and deeply satisfying conclusion to Jessie Mihalik’s captivating romantasy duology, following Silver & Blood.

Riela’s life changes forever when she breaks an enchanted seal, unleashing magic that irrevocably binds her to the lethal politics of the Blood Court. Forced to confront her heritage and the court’s deadly, manipulative Blood King, Riela must outmaneuver rivals and survive assassination attempts—all while learning to wield the power she never wanted.

Garrick, the Silver King and her temporary betrothed, is her only ally in a court where trust is a dangerous gamble. Together, they face forbidden love, ancient magic, and a tyrant’s vicious schemes. But as secrets unravel and loyalties are tested, Riela learns that power always comes with a price.

As Riela slowly unearths her ancestry and fights to control her newfound magic, she must decide: will she rise to claim her place in the Blood Court, even if it means sacrificing everything she loves, or will she fall to the plots of those who seek to destroy her?

Because in a world where roses conceal thorns and secrets lurk beneath stone, Riela’s choice will shape the fate of kingdoms.

I STILL need to read the first book to this one but I am glad I waited as I now see that this is a duology! I enjoyed one of Mihalik's SciFi series and still have another to read so I wanted to read her fantasy debut as the first one sounded amazing!

TITLE: Roses & Stone
AUTHOR: Jessie Mihalik
PUBLISHER: Avon
GENRE: Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2026

Return to a world sparkling with dark magic and desire with this highly anticipated sequel to the enemies-to-lovers romantasy sensation Rose in Chains…

Briony Rosewood escaped the worst of it – or so she tells herself. Though forced to serve the woman who gutted her kingdom, she has the protection of the powerful Hearst family. But even they have their limits. Now Briony must do the unthinkable: share her magic – and her heart – with Toven Hearst. Once her enemy…now her tentative ally.

Forced to travel to distant kingdoms to play the part of Toven’s adoring heartspring, their survival depends on Briony pretending to love the man whose family helped destroy her own. But the cruellest part is that her treacherous heart has always been his.

While she smiles for the enemy, behind closed doors Briony feeds the rebellion with whispered information and dangerous new alliances. And the Hearsts harbour secrets of their own – but none is darker than Toven’s shadowy, devastating gift.

When the lost daughter of Evermore finally chooses where her heart belongs, everyone will come to know the full force of their combined power – and her wrath.

I STILL need to read the first book but I LOOOOOVE a good enemies to lovers story! I remember hearing mixed opinions about this one, but more so from word of mouth of said mixed opinions. I never sought out any reviews because I was intrigued by the story and wanted to give it a try without any outside influence.

TITLE: Vine of Hearts
AUTHOR: Julie Soto
PUBLISHER: Forever
GENRE: Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2026

Top Ten Tuesday #702

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's topic is: One-Word Reviews for the Last Ten Books I Read

*starting with the most recent

10. THE WINGS THAT BIND by Briar Boleyn--Twisted
9. THE EMPEROR'S ENEMY by Jasmine Mas--Deceitful
8. THE VELVET KNIFE by Maureen Johnson--Time-warp (hyphenated counts as one word, lol)

7. CHILDREN OF ASH by Jaye Wells--Gritty
6. THE MIRROR OF INFINITE ENDINGS by Stephanie Garber--Magical
5. REBEL (THE GRAPHIC NOVEL) by Marie Lu--Vibrant

4. MERIDIAN SIX by Jaye Wells--Dark
3. THE CHAMPIONS by Kara Thomas--Chilling
2. DEATH AT MORNING HOUSE by Maureen Johnson--Surprising

1. THE HAUNTING OF PAYNES HOLLOW by Kelley Armstrong--Creepy