Last Week I Read:
Currently Reading:
Well, there's no good news folks. Yup. I started my week with the dreadful, terrible, horrible, no good, very bad news: I didn't get the house of my dreams. The owner went with another offer. It was devastating to say the least. I had never felt so positive about anything in the longest of time. I truly, truly felt like I was getting this place. Everything was perfect. Yes, there were a few minor flaws, but they flaws I could live with. The good outweighed the bad, let's just say that. It's definitely no way to start a long work week. It was hard. Not gonna lie. Tears were had for the first day and a little into the next. I got back on Zillow to look some more, but naturally could not find anything that could hold a candle to what I had within my grasp. Seriously, the other places were dumpy looking or needed so much work or were in shady looking areas. I basically needed to get off Zillow for a day or two because it was just making me depressed. I'm just hoping it won't take me another 3 years to find something perfect like that. I've been looking for what feels like forever. Lol. I know 3 years isn't that long, but I was browsing for probably a year or two before that, before I really had anything saved up. So I'm back at square one.
In lighter news, tonight I am at least going to a book signing! Albeit it's in the shady part of town, but what can you do? Tonight I'll be seeing Elise Kova! I just started reading her new Arcana Academy series and liked it and her Dragon Cursed was intriguing as well. So it will hopefully be a fun night. It is sold out, so I'm hoping I am not out too late! Then towards the end of the week, I'll be attending the Forbidden Love event in Nashville! I'm excited to see Stephanie Garber (again!) plus a slew of other authors and lots of new to me ones. Sadly, I can't see Stephanie on tour this year as everywhere is just too far to drive and costs like $500 to fly there and then I have to add in Ubers and hotel stays, plus at least 1 meal, and we're looking closer to $1K+ for a 2-3 day getaway. I just can't manage that...even without having a house to pay for. So hopefully I can order a signed copy or two...$100 or so is more manageable. Not sure if that cost is accurate really, just thinking cost of hardcover or two...plus shipping! Lol. Sadly I likely won't get that special stamp on anything that Stephanie mentioned in her Stories. Sigh...so yeah...lots of bad news this week.
Well, anyway, here's what I got in the mail this week:
The only way out is through.
With Eva trapped in imminent peril, Bash rushes to save her and take down the False King once and for all. Eva desperately searches for a way out of her predicament, even as circumstances beyond her control bring her back to the secret kingdom that once had been her home.
As sides form in the forthcoming war, not all are eager to believe the False King they thought vanquished is still bent on taking control of the faerie realm. With enemies closing in, and not even sleep safe from the nightmares that are all too real, the fate of the realm will come down to a race against time.
Secrets from the past merge with the present as Eva struggles to unravel the truth that might change her fate. But will she be forced to choose between her kingdom and her future—or was that destiny a lie all along?
Dana Evyn's The Mirror in the Mountain picks up right where The Other Side of the Mirror left off and oh boy was this book a doozie! This book really put my heart through the ringer as there was a certain level of danger that was amped up to the max and my heart was beating at an accelerated rate nearly the entire time! Circumstances felt dire at the best of times and it was a race to read as fast as I could to see how things would turn out!
We pick up where we left off, so it's like no time at all has passed for the characters, even though it was a handful of reads for me! Lol. Eva has given herself over to Aviel in order to save her friends and found family. She is now once again his prisoner and at his mercy...which as we know he has next to none of. Escape is near impossible and every time Eva tries she gets knocked down and out. Seriously the level of danger and hopelessness ran rampant with my feelings in this one! So many times we see the heroine able to duke it out with the villain with only a few scrapes and bruises. I don't want to say this scenario was refreshing, but it felt different, I guess. Failure is a part of life, we don't always get to succeed, so Eva's "setbacks" were unique in a sense.
But naturally, Eva can't and won't remain a prisoner forever and it's not long before she is able to escape Aviel's clutches once again and is reunited with Bash and her friends and her brother, Tobias. She is also reunited with her best friend, Quinn, who we learned is a part of this world Eva now lives in. You almost forget that Eva was from our modern world, I mean she's moved around a bit between worlds as it turns out, but she spent a good chunk of time in the modern world.
Now Eva and her friends must plan for battle. Dealing with Aviel is about to come to a head. They learned that there is a magical mirror called the Seeing Mirror and basically whoever can get to it first, between Eva and Aviel, will become the High Queen...or King should things take a dastardly turn. They will effectively become the one and only ruler of this world Eva has begun to think of home and she will do anything in her power to stop Aviel from becoming that one and only ruler...whatever the cost.
You want to talk about high stakes, seriously, just read this series! Because omg, this book is the definition high stakes. I don't think my heart ever raced as much with a book as it has with this series so far! The danger is intense! And then let's do a 180 and talk about the romance because that is certainly steamy too! Bash and Eva's anima bond definitely makes things heated between them. There were quite a few romantic interludes between them in this one. They were never overtly graphic but there was definitely an open door to the scenes as well. I feel like it's probably somewhere in between, but then again, I've never read any of the supremely spicy books, lol!
Things wrap up in a neat little bow at the end of this one. So much so I was almost puzzled at how we were calling this a trilogy. Well, it turns out in the next book we will follow two other characters as they go on a quest to help out our main characters. For it does feel like Eva and Bash's story arc has come to a conclusion. Yet the third book seems to entail that something will happen to interrupt their HEA ending and these "new" characters will have to save the day...and likely fall in love because this is romantasy we're reading! Lol.
The Mirror in the Mountain was a heart-racing read that kept me reading late into the night and held me captivated! This world is so easy to get lost in that you forget there is a reality outside the door. I am quite eager to see what will happen next with our new heroine and hero and what kind of unrest will enter this kingdom that just seemed to be on the verge of peace, but luckily I have that next book in hand...on the cusp of a busy weekend, but I'll get a few pages read at least! Lol.
If you're looking for that romantasy read to get your heart pumping and keep you up late at night then be sure to check out Dana Evy's The Mirrored Trilogy as it will completely consume your mind and heart in all the best possible ways!
Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars
This week's question is: What’s the fastest or slowest you’ve ever finished a book? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)
MY ANSWER: I feel like I am perpetually slow reader these days! Lol. Wayyyy back in the day, I could read some books in the course of a day! I think those particular titles were between 300-400, but definitely on the lower side of under 400! Those were the days! Ahh.
The longest...well, if I planned them right and took vacation days and used weekends, or maybe a road trip where I didn't have to drive, I could get a longer one read in 5 days. I'd say the longer books could take me up to 7 days to read depending on what's going on in my life at the time with work and other things.
Today's average is around 3 days I'd say for books under 500 pages. Again, always depends on what's going on workwise and free time wise and how tired I am or not! And the book's pacing and formatting as well. There really are so many factors to consider!
There is no action without consequence…
Dani O’Malley was nine years old when the delusional, sadistic Rowena transformed her into a ruthless killer. Years later, she’s tough, hardened, yet achingly vulnerable and fiercely compassionate, living alone by her own exacting code. Despite the scars on her body, driven by deeper ones carved into her soul, no one is more committed to protecting Dublin. By day, she ensures the safety of those she rescues, by night she hunts evil, dispensing justice swiftly and without mercy, determined to give those she cares for the peace she has never known.
There is no power without price…
When the Faerie Queen used the dangerously powerful Song of Making to heal the world from the damage done by the Hoar Frost King, catastrophic magic seeped deep into the earth, giving rise to horrifying, unforeseen consequences–and now deadly enemies plot in the darkness, preparing to enslave the human race and unleash an ancient reign of hell on Earth.
There is no future without sacrifice…
With the lethal, immortal Ryodan at her side, armed with the epic Sword of Light, Dani once again battles to save the world but her past comes back to haunt her with a vengeance, demanding an unspeakable price for the power she needs to save the human race and no one—not even Ryodan who’d move the very stars for her—can save her this time…
Oi! So behind with these books and I ADORED them when I was in the binging phase! Lol. I added Karen Marie Moning's High Voltage to my TBR pile in March of 2018, so when it released. This was Dani's book! That much I remember! I think this was when we upped her age so she wasn't a young teen anymore, but my memory's fuzzy naturally, as this was before my notetaking days! So hopefully things will come back to me as I read when I eventually get back to this one!
Layered with epic battles, elemental magic and twisty romance, this heart-pounding finale will leave readers racing toward the truth about seventeen-year-old pirate Aster and her destiny.
At the time of writing this post, I still need to start this series, but I am hoping by now I either read at least book 1 or both books to date! It's in my queue! Lol.
TITLE: Cursebreaker
AUTHOR: R.M. Gray
PUBLISHER: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: September 1, 2026
Respect the Legend. Idolize the Prodigy. Celebrate the Champion. But never underestimate the Rebel in this electrifying graphic novel adaptation of the Legend series's grand finale.
Eden Wing is a brilliant student. He’s about to graduate a year early from Ross University of the Sciences. But most people don’t introduce Eden this way. Instead, they say, “This is Eden, Daniel Wing’s younger brother.”
Ten years ago, Daniel was known as Day, the boy who led a revolution that saved the Republic of America. Day has since spent the past decade piecing together his memory of his time in the Republic, quietly hiding from the world―even if it’s meant giving up June, the love of his life.
When June suddenly steps back into Day’s life, rekindling the flames of their romance, the pair team up to rescue Eden who’s been drawn into Ross City’s dark side. But like the rest of the world, they may have underestimated Eden―what he’s capable of, where his loyalties lie, and how hard he’s willing to fight for what he believes.
Return to the world of Legend in this epic graphic novel adaptation of the pulse-pounding finale to the series, which brings to life the bestselling Rebel with full-color illustrations.
The dead chose her. Now she has to figure out why.
Thalia Cross has spent eighteen years perfecting invisibility. Homeschooled on a mountain, warned away from town, kept just separate enough from everyone that loneliness became a personality trait. Her grandfather calls it protection. She calls it Thursday.
Then her therapist disappears into the Colorado wilderness, and Thalia follows a dead woman's voice into the dark.
What she finds in that clearing strips away every careful rule she's lived by: her therapist's bones arranged with unnerving precision, bleached white as if from centuries of sun. Before she can run, she slams straight into eighteen-year-old Bram Wilder, the sheriff's son and her longtime crush, two days from his first shift as a deputy, and apparently the universe's preferred instrument of her humiliation. He turned down a full ride to Stanford to stay in this town, and nobody seems to know why.
He arrests her. She almost respects it.
But something far worse than a murder charge is circling Wilder, Colorado, and Thalia can't outrun it alone. Pulled toward two other girls she has no reason to trust, she's starting to understand that her grandfather's rules weren't about keeping her safe. They were about keeping her quiet. About keeping her from discovering exactly what she is.
Because something ancient is sealed in these mountains. It has been waiting a very long time. And the dead, who have always been the only honest voices in Wilder, keep whispering the same thing.
Her name.
The Inheritance Games meets Caraval in this propulsive, gothic, slow-burn thriller that will wreck your sleep schedule completely.
Once I saw that cover, I was a goner. The first line, take my money! Then the comparison match at the bottom and you now know I am so far gone! Lol! I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE ASAP!
TITLE: The Bone Singer
AUTHOR: Abigail Owen
PUBLISHER: Mayhem Books
GENRE: YA Paranormal
RELEASE DATE: September 1, 2026
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker.
Here are the rules:
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc.
"Hope always has a purpose. It's a life preserver in miles-deep water, a shelter from violent storms." p 155
TITLE: The First Lost Boy
AUTHOR: Casey L. Bond
PUBLISHER: Self
GENRE: Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2025
Stars see everything and forget nothing. And sometimes they meddle far too much.
Ava has no idea who she is or how she got on the unfamiliar island Peter Pan keeps insisting is her home, the place she’s safest. But there are shadows in his cunning eyes and something within her screams out a warning that he can’t be trusted.
When Belle learns that her sister is alive, she leaps at the chance to work with Hook, his crew, and their siren ally to free Ava from Pan’s grasp. She thought that with their help, she’d have time to save Ava before her secret was discovered…
She was wrong.
When the sinister truth slithers its way between the tentative truces formed, some friendships and alliances buckle while others break. But if everyone doesn’t work together to accomplish the seemingly impossible, and fast, all those trapped in Neverland’s gravity will be lost to an insidious darkness forever.
Can Hook and Ava find one another and manage an escape? Or will they be consumed by the malicious shadow and forget one another forever?
The First Lost Boy is the final book in Casey L. Bond's The Shadows of Neverland duology and it was quite the tale! This book went in a direction I never saw coming! It was strange and discombobulating at times, but the mystery and danger of Neverland and an evil Peter Pan was still clear and the secrets that were revealed were startling!
We pick up where we left off for the most part, but we are treated to new points of view. We get Hudson, Belle, Devin--Ava's friend in the real world, and of course, Ava's point of view. It's largely told from Ava's perspective with the occasional one from Hudson. But things are definitely a little harder to comprehend in this since Ava has seemingly lost her memories. She finds herself spending her days with Peter and his Lost ones. But strange things keep happening and Peter's mood swings are something to be feared as well.
Meanwhile, we see Hudson and Belle trying to find a way to rescue Ava and get her as far from Peter as possible, but nothing is done on Neverland that Peter isn't aware of. He's a force to be reckoned with that even his Lost boys fear him at the best of times.
But then we get an eye-opener. This was such a shocking reveal that I didn't see it coming and yet it makes a sort of sense to the story in some ways. But I'll admit, things still got confusing. There were suddenly these changes in the points of view mid-scene and it was hard to note the actual change. You just suddenly realized someone else was talking and then before you knew it, you were back to the first voice. There was a reason behind it and I knew it at the time and the reader knows it too, but yet, the transition was not an easy one to notice. I felt like it just seamlessly fit into the current perspective that it was very confusing when you could notice the change in tone and not grasp what was happening.
Sadly, with Ava taken by Pan and having her memories erased, this meant little time for romance with Hudson. Hudson is meanwhile fighting tooth and nail to do whatever he can to get her back and then of course we have the larger problem at hand that was revealed about midway through.
Needless to say, this is not your ordinary Peter Pan story! This is Peter Pan turned on its head, upside down, and flipped backwards. It's recognizable in some sense as the traditional fairy tale but it's definitely got a flare of its own too. Which is ideal when it comes to fairy tale retellings in my opinion.
The pacing to this one was pretty decent. I felt like there were some confusing times again with certain aspects. I can't really delve into them without spoilers, but let's just say I was thrown off with some confusing times a bit more than I was in the first book. The story was still intriguing and we are given some answers to the lingering questions presented in the first book as well.
All in all, the story was pretty good! I was kept entertained and delighted with Peter Pan lore. Although Tiger Lily and her tribe were absent entirely. At one point, I think in the first book, an offhand comment was made in regards to the native tribes but it was just a straight up one and done line that had no merits, I felt. But it does make you wonder why she was excluded. Neverland was seemingly uninhabited other than by Peter and his Lost ones and the mermaids and crocs who ruled the water, and the Neverbirds. Can't forget those beasts of terror.
This is not your mother's Neverland nor is it your Neverland of childhood! This was a very different and more dangerous Neverland and yet the two still have a lot in common. This was an exemplary retelling of a beloved fairy tale! The increased danger and added romance made it worthwhile!
Overall Rating 4/5 stars
Last Week I Read:
Well, I write this in sort of a down mood...even though nothing has been confirmed, I just have a bad feeling. The week was the usual, a little mundane but we are ramping into our busy season at work so things will be hectic for awhile. But anyway, Friday I went to view another house, another condo. It was PERFECT! Absolutely perfect for me! It was small, but still sizeable. It had a basement, a garage...it basically had the 4 items that made my MUST HAVES! Bonus: BUILT IN BOOKSHELVES!! Granted, it was only two but still a HUGE PLUS! It was in a good area, close to my parents so they could still help me if I needed it. Not much further for my sister and her family for when they visit my parents, lol. Really, I was closer! The price was at my high end, but I figure, I could swing it. It's freaking perfect! I put in my offer that day but the owner has 48 hours to review before accepting...but then last evening I was informed they were out of town, so they've been given an extra 24 hours. There's a lot of interest in this condo. And I could only offer list price as it was already almost too expensive for me. So I'm worried. Very, very worried. I just know someone is going to offer more and I can't match that. I told myself Friday not to get too excited...but I did. I was already dreaming of setups and layouts. When my realtor told me the owner was getting an extra day, I just had this immediate gut feeling that I was already out. Which put me in a very bad spiral last night. Let's just say cookie dough was involved. Lol. So yeah, I'll be spiraling again all day today and pretty much all day tomorrow until I get the news. I was trying to be positive and optimistic but after my realtor texted me the update, I was just hit with this gut feeling...I was already outbid. But if anyone cares to throw some good vibes and good luck, crossed fingers, spare 4-leaf clovers my way, I'd appreciate it!
To further add to my feelings of impending doom, my missing book is still missing. A replacement was ordered but that's going to take another week to get to me...on the very same route the missing book went, so yeah.
Here's what I got this week:
