Top Ten Tuesday #695

 

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 Authors I've Met for the First Time this Year So Far

*in no particular order

10. TESSONJA ODETTE--I got to meet her and Demi in January of this year, so I started this year off right!

9. DEMI WINTERS
8. NIKKI ST. CROWE--I had just picked up West of Wicked on Netgalley when she announced her tour stop to here as well! So I read it AND the sequel ahead of time for the signing and it was awesome! I had told her I read the second one and was already dying for the third! Lol. She said I was the first to tell her about reading it and I was like YAY! Lol.

7. ABIGAIL OWEN--I finally got meet Abigail in May of this year! I loved her YA trilogy and am enjoying her Hades one too! Planning a road trip in November to see her again as well as two other authors! Lol.
6. RACHEL MOORE--I upped this in my queue when I heard she was coming here earlier this year as well! Think it was May too! And I bought her adult debut while I was at it!
5. TARA SIM--another I was prompted to read when I saw Tara headed my way! Finally read her Count of Monte Cristo duology and enjoyed it!

4. CLARE SAGER--Clare was at the signing with Tara that day too! So it was another two-for-one awesome day!
3. BRYNNE WEAVER--had recently binged her books and liked them to an extent and decided to head to Nashville for her signing this past summer!
2. K.A. LINDE--loooving Linde's books so far! The Oak and Holly Cycle is incredible and that last book had me dying and I NEED the fifth one asap! I'll be stalking Edelweiss come 2027! Lol.

1. EMILY VARGA--and Emily makes 10! And this was only from January-June! There's probably another dozen or so of authors I met for the first time (I had that multi author event in Nashville in July) and a handful more for the multiplth time to our present date! Tomorrow I will even be seeing another author for the 4th or 5th time? Basically, if I have unsigned books on my shelf, I go see the author! Lol.

ARC Review--The Wretched Divine by Adalyn Grace

 

Aurelie Chantelune was born to serve. Raised as a knight in a kingdom ravaged by demons, she's spent her life honing her blade, driven by the memory of the monsters who tore her family apart and by the knowledge that she's one of the few who can stop them.

If Aurelie can claim her first kill, she'll inherit a legacy passed down through the Chantelune a soulbond with Yuriel, an angel whose power is vital to her kingdom's survival. But when those she loves begin turning into the very monsters she's sworn to destroy, Aurelie is forced to seek help from the last place she ever imagined. Desperate, she forges a second and far more dangerous bond with Severin, a demon she can hardly trust, but who claims to know how to end the war for good.

With their lives and fates entwined, Aurelie, Yuriel, and Severin must team up to hunt down a cure capable of turning demons back into humans. But the more they learn about one another and the deeper their relationships grow, the more Aurelie begins to question the war and her place in it. With both of her bonded on opposing sides, she'll have to make a continue to stand with the angels, or risk everything by trusting a demon.

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

This Wretched Divine is Adalyn Grace's debut adult fantasy story about a young woman caught in the middle of a battle between angels and demons! This was an extraordinary fantasy story that spanned an epic war and the battle between good and evil. This is not a romantasy, as you've likely heard. This is a straight up fantasy story with a small romance on the side that is evolving into quite the love triangle and oh boy, does it get complicated!

Ever since the death of her mother and brother, Aurelie has trained to be knight to fight in the ongoing battle between angels and demons. The goal is to be able to kill a demon and then once she achieves that goal, she can bond with an angel and then for the rest of her life she will be able to work and communicate with the angel and gain some of their powers to help in the battle between good and evil. It's quite the process in the grand scheme of things, but it's fairly easy to follow along! Of course, when it all comes down to it, Aurelie found herself not being able to kill the demon she was battling for she realized it was bonded and generally with the bond when one dies, the other is soon to follow and for reasons untold, Aurelie couldn't kill the demon. But then everyone thinks she did and soon is she bonded to Yuri.

Yuri is an angel and a soldier. He never really intended to bond with a human, but when he is called to "duty," he has no choice but to follow. He knows eventually, when the human dies her mortal death, he'll be free again. But then he meets Aurelie and everything changes. He didn't necessarily fall in love with her at first sight, but their bond does connect them in a powerful way.

Everything erupts into chaos after their bonding ceremony and soon Aurelie finds herself teaming up with a demon in order to find a cure for a disease that is making humans turn into demons. With lives on the line, Aurelie feels she has no choice but to make a deal with the devil and soon she is bonded with Severin, a demon.

Enter the love triangle! But again, it's not a typical love triangle with our heroine fretting with who she really "loves." You just have a young woman bonded to two immortal young men, one of the light and one of the darkness. So good and evil, the whole she-bang! The story goes into quest mode as the trio looks for the missing piece to a possible cure for this "demon-disease" that is taking over Aurelie's home.

I will admit that this book has a slower pace, but not to the point where I felt like I was slogging through the pages. It still moves at a decent pace for the most part, but it's not what I would say is a fast paced novel. The story feels pretty character driven as we are treated to multiple points of view, giving us quite the inside story to many of the characters' history and plots.

As far as the romance goes, it was pretty subtle for the most part. It wasn't what you would call steamy or spicy even. It was nice and fit the story at large. There's definitely some deep connections happening between Aurelie and Severin and Yuri, but you never really get that "who will she choose" vibe. Yes, at times you feel like she might be leaning one way over the other, but then you will get that guy's point of view chapter and you'll start to think differently. Knowing what everyone is thinking definitely gives the reader a different perspective as to what might be happening romantically.

The ending is definitely where everything starts to happen! Lol. The ending was EPIC! Mind-blowingly bananas! Lol. So much was happening, so much was revealed that everything you thought you knew was happening will be blown into proportions! Now I am understanding why everyone who has read this one already is asking for the next book! While the ending isn't quite what I'd call raging-screaming-throw-the-book-across-the-room and bemoan the pain...it was still pretty shockingly jaw-dropping! Like OMG! And one part I was already kind of guessing, because of the genre and the earlier knowledge, but yeah, it is still always surprising when it's confirmed!

All in all, The Wretched Divine was the fantasy read I didn't know I needed! It made me realize how much I missed the angel/demon books I read in my younger days! This feels like a throwback to my late teens and in an "adult" stylized novel! It was a fun and engaging read that kept me entranced from start to finish! I cannot wait for the next installment!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars

The Wretched Divine releases September 22, 2026

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 Read:

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong (5 stars)

Currently Reading:

Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson

What I Plan to Read Next:

Meridian Six by Jaye Wells

Other Posts of Interest:

Top Ten Tuesday #694
Can't Wait Wednesday #265
Books from the Backlog #202
Book Blogger Hop #428
Stacking the Shelves--The Very Stressful Edition

 

Stacking the Shelves--The Very Stressful 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.

So something is happening with Blogger. For the past 4--well, 5 now--days, Blogger has not shown me ANY new posts from ANYONE I follow through their platform. So if my usual commenting on the meme days wasn't there...that's why. I've no clue what is going on as I've cleared my browser history, cache, cookies, the whole she-bang! I've checked on three different browsers...ALL THE SAME RESULTS! Not one new post since Tuesday! I even hopped over to blogs I knew posted regularly on certain meme days and the new post was there! This is devastating to me since I rely on Blogger to tell me of new posts! I know the email subscription thing is a dud with their platform as I stopped getting them myself on several blogs I used to get them from. I do not know what else to do. I kept thinking it would work itself out, but starting to think that's not going to happen!

Other than that fiasco, the week was meh. I returned to work knowing that two of my coworkers were let go. So we're short two people and one was still on vacation the first day back so work was crazy. And for whatever reason, our team dynamic was slacking this first day back. Not sure why. But it was. I was taking on way too much extra assignments as others weren't "ready" for it. And instead of having a virtual argument I was just like, okay, whatever, let me know when you can get back to helping and just kept at it myself. When our other teammate returned the next day she thought that was not right at all. And I was just like, I don't know what to say. It was what it was. I wasn't going to have arguments with people. I just came in and did the job I was grateful to still have! So I think we'll be scheduling a call this coming week to kind of figure out what our new dynamic needs to be because we really can't have any of that again! Especially since we are in the thick of our busy season. So yeah, this week was rough work wise. I was grateful to see the weekend even with its 90+ degree temps! Lol.

On the house front things are moving steadily along. I was hoping to close a week earlier than originally planned, but I had to move it back to the original date as there's a really bad looking desk in one of the rooms that the owner asked if I wanted. I said no, I want it out. I kind of got the impression that they did not want to take it because it is huge and likely won't fit out the door in one piece. It's in really bad shape and I just don't want to have to dismantle it and dispose of it myself, I'd rather the owner did. Then I once again got more closing disclosures to sign that had the wrong address on it. Plus there were a few other things that weren't correct, so I am like you have to have this corrected before I can sign it. I cannot say I live somewhere I've never lived! It's driving me bat$#*t! So that was another headache. I do not understand what is wrong with their automated systems that they just can't update my address to be legally accurate. It's becoming such a pain.

So yeah, this week wasn't the best. The weather being awful didn't help either. Lol. This week I at least have an author signing to attend in the middle that should be fun! Victoria Aveyard is returning to St. Louis so naturally, I am going! Lol. Hoping the work week will be better. Hoping my loan processor can fix those disclosures I need to sign to have the accurate information and clear up the other issues. Fingers crossed that this week will just be better and at least a little less stressful beyond the usual (i.e. the busy work season).

Anyway, onto the goods! The literal goods of my week! Lol. Oh and please, if you post regularly on Blogger, be sure to leave me a link to your post so I can visit as Blogger is just not working this week and I can't remember all the urls of all the blogs I follow! I just did another cleanout of my "following" list. Left around 10-15ish of people who haven't posted for a few months. I think I give it about 18-24 months before I end up deleting the followership, I thought maybe the feed was overwhelmed, but that is soooo not the case anymore. I miss the blogosphere and what it used to be. So yes, if you post a Sunday/Saturday haul post and I normally visit please leave a link as I can't see your posts in my feed anymore. :(

The Shadows That Listen by Louisa Carmody
Tethered by Elayna R. Gallea
Big Bad Wolf by Laurie Gilmore
The Ice Beyond by Olivia Wildenstein
Slayer by Leia Stone
The Wellness Retreat by Dawn Kurtagich

Then I received my preorder incentive for The Lion & The Deathless Dark!

It's an alternative cover!


THANK YOU Bramble!!

And that was it for me this week! What did you get?

Review--The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong

 

From New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a nail-biting supernatural horror about a haunted lakeside property and twisted family secrets.

When Samantha Payne’s grandfather dies, she figures she won’t even get a mention in the will. After all, she hasn’t seen him in fourteen years, not since her father took his own life after being accused of murdering a child at their lakefront cottage. Her grandfather always insisted her father was innocent, despite Sam having caught him burying the child’s body, his clothing streaked with blood.

But when she does attend the reading of the will at the behest of her aunt, she discovers that her grandfather left her the very valuable lakefront property where the family cottage sits. There’s one catch: Sam needs to stay in the cottage for a month. To finally face the fact she was wrong and her father was innocent, in her grandfather's words.

Traveling to Paynes Hollow, Sam is faced with the realities of her childhood and the secrets kept hidden in the shadows of her memories. When her aunt goes missing a couple days into their stay, Sam begins to question everything again. Plagued by nightmares and paranoia, she begins hearing sounds in the forest and seeing shapes crawling from the water as the rippling waves of the lake promise something unspeakably dark lurking just below their surface.

I have finally picked up Kelley Armstrong's The Haunting of Paynes Hollow and wow! What a read! This is absolutely perfect for this time of year...or really any time of year if you are like me! It was perfectly spooky and eerie and gave me chills in trying to piece together this bizarre mystery! It was fantastic!

Sam has had it rough the last couple of years. She had to give up going to med school in order to take care of her mother who has early onset dementia and the cost of her care is almost too much to handle, but she gets by the best she can and takes on low paying jobs just to make sure her mother can get the care and treatments she needs. Then on the day she learns her grandfather dies, she goes to the funeral more at her aunt's behest and is then dragged to the hearing of his will as her grandfather was a cranky sort and said no one could get anything unless she was there and since she loves her aunt dearly, she goes.

Much to her shock she learns her grandfather left her the summer estate of Paynes Hollow. This new isn't taken well by her uncle and cousin, but if she manages to stay on the property for 1 month she would inherit it and it's worth around ten million dollars, so you can imagine her desire to take on her grandfather's bizarre caveat.

Like with any family, there are secrets, but the ones in Sam's family run pretty dark. And soon the past comes back to haunt her when she comes back to where she spent many childhood summers. Memories, both painful and happy plague her and it's not long before the spooky stuff starts happening...at night...naturally!

This book was pretty creepy! I love a book that is more creepy and eerie than straight up horrifying! There's something to be said about leaving one's imagination to go wild when presented with certain facts or scenarios! And my mind was whirling with all the creepy vibes in this one! There is a certain Sleepy Hollow vibe going on this one and the story gets mentioned as well in a vague sort of way but still connecting itself to the main plot.

I don't want to get into too much detail, even with a year old book, lol. Needless to say that many creepy things happen in this one and it was very mysterious as well. I love the mix of creepy and mysterious as there are so many more possibilities to be had with that combination. This is book that will keep you guessing and craving for answers, much like Sam.

This is a standalone, so while the ending may not be totally expected, I feel like it was a right fit for the genre! What you want to categorized this ending as is your call though, but I was 110% satisfied! As I naturally am with any Kelley Armstrong novel!

If you're looking for a good creepy read this fall, Halloween, or any time of the year, be sure to add this one to the mix! The Haunting of Paynes Hollow is just the right kind of creepy and is a book that you will want to devour whole!

Overall Rating 5/5 stars

Book Blogger Hop #428

 

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

This week's question is: How much do online reviews shape what you pick up next?

MY ANSWER: Hmm...it depends by what we mean as "online." I used to take in account what all the bloggers were saying about books and it would help me determine if a book as for me or not if I was on the fence. I guess I should say, I looked to reviews largely when I was on the fence or curious about a book. If there was ever a book I wanted to read, I would read it no matter the reviews. There were times I would actually skip reviews on books I wanted to read when I hadn't read them yet. It's more that I know I want to read it and I don't want any opinion influencing me. 

So basically, I looked to reviews when there was a book I was curious about or debating about and needed some help in making an informed decision! Lol.

Books from the Backlog #202

 

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!

Rue and the crew of the Spotted Custard return from India with revelations that shake the foundations of England's scientific community. Queen Victoria is not amused, the vampires are tetchy, and something is wrong with the local werewolf pack. To top it all off, Rue's best friend Primrose keeps getting engaged to the most unacceptable military types. Rue has family problems as well. Her vampire father is angry, her werewolf father is crazy, and her obstreperous mother is both. Worst of all, Rue's beginning to suspect what they really are... is frightened.

I STILL need to start this series, but I added Imprudence by Gail Carriger to my TBR pile in May of 2018...two years after its release. So yes, I likely forgot to add this to my Goodreads when I got it! Lol. I am notoriously bad about doing this and I STILL do it! Lol. I enjoyed The Parasol Protectorate series and this was spinoff of that one that follows Alexia's daughter (if I am remembering correctly!). I still plan to read it at some point!

Can't Wait Wednesday #265

 

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.

A reclusive young woman moves into what seems like the perfect apartment and is obsessively drawn to her reclusive neighbour, who keeps a lush garden and is hiding a deadly secret… Eat the Ones You Love meets Wilder Girls in this sensual, sapphic, botanical horror novella from the New York Times-bestselling author of Bloom and House of Idyll.

When Lucy McClintock moves into a dreamy Victorian in downtown Savannah after years of suffering under the rule of her overbearing grandfather, she feels like she's won the lottery—well, outside of the creepy landlord. She soon notices a glorious green haven in the backyard and meets her downstairs neighbor, Saskia, a weightlifter who lives in a magical apartment overflowing with plant life and beautiful artwork. Naïve and lonely Lucy is drawn to strong and secretive Saskia, and as the two women grow closer, they discover they share more than just an apartment building…

A seductive, heady, sinister breathless romance and bone-chilling suspense collide in this sweet and deadly tale.

Delilah's horror novellas have been a lot of creeptastic fun, so I am definitely looking forward to this one!

TITLE: Monstera
AUTHOR: Delilah S. Dawson
PUBLISHER: Titan Books
GENRE: Horror
RELEASE DATE: October 13, 2026

In the second book in Ruby Jean Cottle's dark and romantic Black River duology, a group of teens must face new supernatural threats while guarding the secrets that could tear them apart.

It's been months since the Silver sisters' life changed forever. Dusty should be focused on her new relationship, but how can she, when her visions of the future show her little sister in trouble? Something is waking beneath the mountain, and it’s getting harder to ignore.

When an old foe returns with an army of vampire fledglings and a dangerous new agenda, the Silver sisters and their friends are forced to confront him once again. And after a body turns up in the woods, an unrelenting detective begins digging into the town’s string of unsolved deaths, threatening to expose everything they've all hidden.

As new romances bloom and loyalties are tested, the group is forced to face impossible questions about themselves and their relationships.

Whatever is hiding in the mountain isn’t finished with them. And the worst may still be yet to come.

So I do still need to read the first book but I have high hopes for enjoying this because it's VAMPIRES!!

TITLE: White Mountain
AUTHOR: Ruby Jean Cottle
PUBLISHER: Henry Holt and Co.
GENRE: YA Horror
RELEASE DATE: October 13, 2026

A jaded grim reaper and a woman who wants another chance at life give ‘til death do us part a new meaning in this paranormal romance from bestselling author Jenna Levine.

Lucy McKenzie’s life has always been a disaster. So it should come as no surprise when one day she’s hit by an inconveniently-timed bus—and dies. Unfortunately for the handsome grim reaper who shows up to take her to the afterlife, Lucy is not about to go quietly.

Daniel is tired of his job collecting souls. While working for the Agency beats the heck out of going to Hell, he’s been doing this for literal ages. The drudgery has him yearning for more. Touched by Lucy’s plea for more time on earth, he convinces the Agency to make a Lucy can have six more weeks of life if Daniel can observe her and report back on humanity.

But as Lucy and Daniel navigate the chaos of life and afterlife together, they discover that a second chance at living might be their real chance at love.

I still need to read the rest of Jenna's vampire books, but this one sounds like fun too, so onto to the shopping list it goes! Lol.

TITLE: Love You to Death
AUTHOR: Jenna Levine
PUBLISHER: Berkley
GENRE: Paranormal Romance
RELEASE DATE: October 13, 2026

Top Ten Tuesday #694

 

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: INDIE FREEBIE! Top Ten Newly Discovered Indie Authors for My TBR List

*in no particular order
**this is a little 50/50 as I did find some new authors at the Nashville event last July and a few others are recent discoveries prior to...so it's a mishmash!

DISCOVERED AT FORBIDDEN LOVE:

10. T.A. TEILLY
9. SYLVIA LOCKLARD
8. LARA BUCKHEIT
7. RILEY HUNT

FAVORITE INDIE AUTHORS PRIOR TO ABOVE

6. DANA EVYN
5. DANA CLAIRE
4. TESSONJA ODETTE

3. VANESSA RASANEN
2. CASEY L. BOND
1. ALYSSA ROSE IVY