Sep 30, 2024

Challenges Monthly Wrap-up: September

CHALLENGE 1: 2024 Series Enders Reading Challenge


Scourged by Kevin Hearne (The Iron Druid Chronicles)


Only 1 series finished this month, which is still good considering I had 3 books to read to finish said series. I'm pretty much okay with finishing one series a month at this point! Although I do believe in October I might have 1 or 2 already done as they were ARC reads that were final books! I know one is coming in November, though, so I might just have the one already done for October! Lol. I've read 12/10 so far this year!




CHALLENGE 2: 2024 Discussion Challenge




Only 3 discussions this month. I had ideas for maybe 2 more...but I was working at the time and forgot to jot the idea down so I could remember it for later. Hopefully those ideas will flicker back into my mind when I can write it down. If it comes when I am driving this week I will be very unhappy with my brain! Lol. Based on the level I chose for myself, I am thinking my goal was 25 discussions, but I am now at 43/25. I am lowkey hoping I can get up to 50 before the end of the year! Only 7 to go!




CHALLENGE 3: 2024 Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge


The Return by Rachel Harrison (3/24/20)
My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine (8/29/23)
Shattered by Kevin Hearne (6/17/14)
Staked by Kevin Hearne (1/26/16)
Scourged by Kevin Hearne (4/3/18)
A Spark Within the Forge by Sabaa Tahir (2/8/22)
A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden (12/15/22)



I am killing it with this challenge! I guess my goal to read more of my TBR books and try to request less review books has been going well! I've read 46/25 TBR books and my original goal was 20! Although a few new releases are calling out to me since we're in fall, so I might be nearing the end of my TBR streak here!









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:

A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden (5 stars)



Currently Re-Reading:


Caraval by Stephanie Garber



What I Plan to Re-Read Next:


Legendary by Stephanie Garber



Other Posts of Interest:

Let's Discuss: Event Mode Reading
Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
Can't Wait Wednesday
Books from the Backlog #102
Book Blogger Hop #325
BLOG TOUR SPOTLIGHT POST: Hunterlore by Dana Claire
MIA
Stacking the Shelves






Sep 29, 2024

Review--A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden

 

Captured by a king of darkness. Forced to find the light within.

Arwen Valondale never expected to be the brave one, offering her life to save her brother’s. Now she’s been taken prisoner by the most dangerous kingdom on the continent, and made to use her rare magical abilities to heal the soldiers of the vicious Onyx King.

Arwen knows better than to face the ancient, wicked woods that surround the castle on her own, which means working with a fellow prisoner might be her only path to freedom. Unfortunately, he’s as infuriating as he is cunning—and seems to take twisted pleasure in playing on Arwen’s deepest fears.

But here in Onyx Kingdom, trust is a luxury she can’t afford.

To make it out of enemy territory, she'll have to navigate back-stabbing royals, dark magic, and dangerous beasts. But untold power lies inside Arwen, dormant and waiting for a spark. If she can harness it, she just might be able to escape with her life—and hopefully, her heart.


Kate Golden’s A Dawn of Onyx was a fun and enthralling fantasy read! I’m always up for a new fantasy read with different kinds of magic and new worlds! Golden writes of a lush kingdom with different countries taking on the names of precious stones. It really was quite fascinating!

Arwen is a magical healer who keeps her abilities under wraps. If people knew, it just wouldn’t be good for her. Living in a world where the fearsome Onyx king rules with an iron fist, it’s always best to just keep your head down. But then when her brother defects from the army after a brutal attack, Arwen with her mother and younger sister must flee with him to another province. Only as fate would have it, Arwen finds herself at the mercy of the very army her brother ran away from. By showing them her abilities as she saves one of the soldiers from dying she saves her own life while also condemning it. She is now a prisoner of the Onyx king. 

When she’s not performing her healing duties she is locked away in a cell. It’s when her mysterious and enigmatic neighbor starts talking to her she finds some stability in a very scary situation. It’s not until she makes an escape attempt that her life changes even more. 

Soon she meets Kane, the Onyx king and he’s as terrifying as everyone says and yet he’s also…different. She makes a new deal with him that gets her out of the cells and has him look for her family so she can send word that she’s as safe as she can be. 

It’s kind of like a Beauty and the Beast scenario where the terrifying ruler shows a kinder side to his imprisoned beauty. But despite the circumstances I never really felt like we had the Stockholm Syndrome going even though you could say that’s what’s happening. But eventually Arwen doesn’t really hold the “imprisoned captive” title. But we still have this very intense connection brewing between Arwen and the king.

As the story moves along we get word of prophecies and destinies and we see a greater plot beginning to unfold and the mysteries and secrets begin to grow. Some become predictable and some were something of a surprise! Needless to say I was thoroughly enchanted while reading this one! It was a very spellbinding read, no pun intended. 

This was a most fantastical read and I enjoyed it immensely! The slow burning romance between these enemies to lovers was superb! I positively love it when the love and feelings take time to build and since we’re at book one it’s definitely going to take awhile til we get to something like happily for now if not ever after!

A Dawn of Onyx was a mesmerizing fantasy read that kept me at the edge of my seat! With all the secrets and mysteries and a spine-tingling romance between these two characters this is a series all romantasy lovers will want to check out!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars 







Stacking the Shelves

 

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 earlier than I intended because I plan on being in Memphis on Saturday and I wouldn't be home until late and I know I'll be too tired to write this post then, so I'm doing it on Friday night. Lol. So basically if any newly acquired goodies from Saturday will be showcased next week. So no biggie. The week was one of the mundane kind. I went in person to work on Tuesday for a meeting and it was nice seeing some of my team members in person--a few others are located in Arizona and Tampa--thankfully all are doing good after the storm, some have a bit of flooding and power outages and the usual debris from storms, but from the sounds of it, nothing overtly terrible. But other than that the week was the usual boring kind. This coming week though I am PACKED with signings! Okay, just 3 and one of them requires a road trip again and taking two half days at work, so yeah, I'm likely going to be running on empty when it comes to sleep. Maybe it can help train my body to not need it anymore! Lol.

Anyway, here's what I got this week and oh, yes, my B&N preorders were once again only 1 day late, which honestly is way better than a week late!




The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig--B&N edition
The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig--standard edition
A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan
The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson
Paper & Blood by Kevin Hearne




Then my Fairy Loot book for September came! sadly the cover wasn't put on correctly and it was dented at the bottom. Not sure if it's worth contacting them to try to get a replacement cover or not. No spoilers for what it is, so scroll happily! ;)


The book itself was fairly new to me but sounds interesting enough that I will definitely read it eventually. You know, among all the other books I want to read! Lol. Really wish I didn't need sleep and could still be healthy and functional!




And that was it for me this week! Not a bad one but waiting for my books that I needed by Friday night at the latest for my traveling to a Saturday signing was stressful. Even waiting on Amazon to ship my remaining books for my Tuesday traveling signing was stressful, and naturally one of those was a little beat up too, but nothing to be done about that given the time.

What all did you get this week?









Sep 28, 2024

MIA

 


Hey all! Just popping in to say that I will be MIA today! I'm taking a road trip to Memphis to see Erin A. Craig on her book tour! Figured it was a Saturday and only a 4 hour-ish drive, so why not? Lol.

I'll be back to commenting tomorrow!






Sep 27, 2024

BLOG TOUR SPOTLIGHT POST: Hunterlore by Dana Claire

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the HUNTERLORE by Dana Claire Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: HUNTERLORE (Hunterland #2)

Author: Dana Claire

Pub. Date: September 24, 2024

Publisher: CamCat Books

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 299

Find it: Goodreadshttps://books2read.com/HUNTERLORE-Claire

Silver bullets aren’t enough to protect your heart.

For Liam Hunter, monster hunting is a way of life—a family tradition passed down for generations. But when campers are murdered in the woods, their hearts ripped from their chests, Liam finds himself facing his most terrifying adversary yet—his own mother turned monster. Her pack of werewolves will test Liam’s limits, and his connection with the girl who still has too large a claim on his heart.

Olivia Davis is determined to uncover her own place in Hunterland and hone her newfound abilities. But when Olivia has a terrifying vision, she’s faced with a much larger uncertainty: her feelings for the boy she let slip through her fingers.

Together, Olivia and Liam must survive the deadly game of cat and mouse, or else risk becoming victims in a world where the monsters are the hunters. The clock is ticking. The game is on. And the price of failure may be their humanity.

For readers who enjoy The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith, The Awakening by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, The Luminaries by Susan Denard, and the Teen Wolf and Supernatural TV series.

 

Read Book 1, HUNTERLAND now!

 

Excerpt:

1

OLIVIA

There are terrors in the night that have nothing to do with monsters, and I was determined to become one. But first, apparently, I needed to learn to defend myself.

I shifted my weight on the hard wooden bench we’d pushed against the wall, along with the rest of the furniture, to give Liam and Nikki space to spar in the center of the room. The basement had been meticulously transformed from a storage area into a small gym and studio apartment that played home to our Hunterland learning center, for all things monster related.

“Whoa!” My little sister Pepper covered her mouth, bouncing on the edge of the seat beside me as Liam ducked Nikki’s wild punch. Nikki staggered when her fist met air instead of bone but smirked anyway.

Our simple, small-town Wisconsin lives had changed a few months ago when Liam Hunter, his sister, Jacqueline, and their father, Jack Hunter, showed up to investigate a string of suspicious suicides in my high school. Well, there was also that bit about a vampire nest and my mother turning into a vengeful spirit. That had thrown us for an even bigger loop.

While the Hunter family helped sort it all out, Liam discovered my sister and I had some magical abilities of our own, and Pepper and I had been fast-tracked to join them as hunters of things that go bump in the night.

Which brought us here. Doc, Hunterland’s appointed leader and our current instructor, thought watching Liam and Nikki fight would make a good introduction to training. But each punch made me wonder if I’d withstand even a few seconds of a battle with either of them, despite my newfound healer abilities. All three of us were seniors in high school, but they felt years older than me, and watching them bob and weave only added to that experience gap.

Liam ducked again, and Nikki snarled as she regained her footing. Even when she missed, she did it with sex appeal, whereas I’d likely resemble a newborn baby deer discovering its legs. Nikki’s body language shifted from slinky feline to prowling lioness, and I saw the monster hunter within, brimming with the ferocity I knew I needed to find for myself if I planned to survive this new life I’d stumbled into.

“Wow, look at them go.” Pepper elbowed me in the side. “They look good out there.”

Or they looked like two ex-lovers trying to show each other up, which for all intents and purposes they were. And of course, right after the twins showed up, Liam started to pull away. Instead of the budding romance I had thought we had started last month, now we felt like strangers passing each other in the halls of our shared living quarters. I asked for time to get to know each other, start with a friendship, with the assumption we’d end up being more. But his response was silence and distance. My ego was too fragile to actually ask what in the hell changed. So here we were, acting as if nothing had happened and the last several months between us meant diddly-squat.

My stomach clenched as Nikki flipped her perfect, lithe body on the exercise mats. Liam wasn’t mine, and probably never would be at this point, but seeing the kind of girl he’d chosen in the past made me want to crawl into an oversized set of sweats and eat ice cream until I puked.

Nikki kicked Liam in the ribs and muttered something that sounded like “Sorry, love” in her annoyingly sexy British accent.

Pepper snorted. Her blue hair flopped over one eye as she leaned in. “That’s gotta hurt.”

I squirmed, unsure if she meant Nikki’s powerful blow to Liam’s kidney or the powerhouse-couple image the pair projected. As Pepper liked to point out every time I made doe eyes in the presence of our lead hunter, I’d been the one to push Liam into the friend zone first, so I had no cause to turn around and throw a jealous fit now that his old girlfriend had shown up.

Still, only a month ago . . . he’d been right there, sleeping next to me every other night, the two of us healing wounds we didn’t want to talk about with anyone else after we’d both lost our mothers in the worst possible ways. But maybe that was why I’d feared letting him in as more than an ally, someone who understood my odd abilities and who related to family trauma caused by the supernatural. If I’d let that relationship continue without a friendship first, I’d have risked Liam’s nomadic, closed-off lifestyle tearing us in two.

The air, already cloyed with sweat, thickened with the heavy scent of melted butter as Jazzy, Nikki’s equally beautiful but less obnoxious twin, plopped next to Pepper on the black painted bench. Her slender fingers were wrapped around a large, red bowl filled with freshly popped popcorn. She motioned for us to help ourselves to the snack.

Pepper dove right into the buttery bowl. Jazzy smiled with bubble-gum pink lips, exposing her bright teeth. She bobbed her chin in the direction of Liam and Nikki. “This is when the two of them are actually fun to be around. Hold on to your knickers, it’s about to get very entertaining. Nikki always says a good spar is just as satisfying as sex.”

I groaned loudly, and Liam looked up at the sound. Nikki took advantage, landing a quick jab to his chiseled jaw. His blue eyes sliced into me as if it were my fault she’d clipped him. Grimacing, he rounded back on her.

Her lips curled into an impish grin, and she threw her perfect curls over her shoulder. “I’m going easy on you, mate. It’s been so long since you’ve teamed up with real hunters, you seem a tad rusty.” She purred—yes, purred—the last few words.

Ugh, what is she even doing here?

Of course, I knew the answer. Her and Jazzy’s uncle, Doc—our current houseguest—had asked for their help in training my sister and me. But why couldn’t Doc do it himself? I’d thought hunters worked in smaller packs—the lonesome road of a supernatural assassin traveling on society’s knife edge. Why had so many congregated in my house? The vampire nest and vengeful spirits that had started this mess were gone.

I didn’t have those answers yet. But I couldn’t help but feel that with nothing to fight, the Hunterland gang were restless predators—and as a newbie, I was still prey.

Liam sidestepped to the right, evading a roundhouse kick so high, I wondered if Nikki could take flight. Her uncle, who was basically a supercomputer database of monster-hunting knowledge and lore, had mentioned she possessed a supernatural ability. Whatever it was, it probably trumped my power of premonition and status as resident healer. Just one more thing she had that I didn’t.

Including Liam Hunter’s attention.

Okay, yeah, pity party for one here. I didn’t say I was above sulking, did I?

“Are you sure you’re taking it easy on me?” Sarcasm soaked Liam’s words. “From the way you’re panting, I’d guess you’re either in heat or out of shape.”

Liam’s dig didn’t faze Nikki’s performance. Her leg kicked out and swiped Liam’s, sending him to the ground. She drove her fist toward his gut, but Liam rolled and scissored a leg around her neck, pinning her. Within seconds she tapped out, and not a moment too soon. My throat had dried, and my angst was elevated to gag-reflex level.

Liam extended his hand, and Nikki accepted, rising with his assistance. His full lips were drawn upward. He rarely allowed peeks behind his hardened badass exterior, but when he did, that smile was so beautiful, it landed a gut punch to the heart.

I stood to excuse myself and end the torment, but the thunder of barreling boots on the stairs made me pause.

“Liam.” Doc appeared, his wide-eyed gaze landing on each of us as he descended, fixing upon Liam last. He adjusted the maroon turban that matched his sweater. “There you are. You’re needed. We have a situation.”

My eyes trailed above him to my father, who followed. He stood dressed in full police uniform—odd considering this was his day off.

“What’s going on?” My gaze darted back and forth between Doc and my father.

Dad’s tired eyes found mine beneath lowered lashes. “We have a murder case. A Hunterland murder case.”

 

About Dana Claire:

Dana Claire is an award-winning author whose stories explore identity, fate, and destiny in the crossroads of romance and adventure. But her writing career didn’t begin when she published her first book, The Connection, in 2020. It started as a young girl when her mother, an elementary school teacher, inspired her to create imaginary worlds between the pages.

Dana’s love of romantic tension, the supernatural, and non-stop action has elicited positive feedback from many readers, as their online reviews reveal her flair for spine-tingling action and unforgettable characters. But it’s not just readers who love her; literary critics have also taken note, and Dana was given the Children’s Moonbeam award for The Connection in 2021, and the PenCraft Award in 2023 for War of the Sea.

Dana is now sharing her stories through speaking events and book signings, introducing more readers to the worlds she created. She lives in Los Angeles, CA with her adoring husband living her dream: writing books, telling stories, and changing the world, one reader at a time.

Website | Twitter(X) | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Goodreads | Pinterest | Amazon | BookBub

 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of HUNTERLORE, US Only.

Ends October 22nd, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

9/23/2024

Two Chicks on Books

Excerpt/IG Post

9/24/2024

Fire and Ice Reads

Excerpt/IG Post

9/25/2024

Lady Hawkeye

Excerpt/IG Post

9/26/2024

Book Review Virginia Lee Blog

Excerpt/IG Post

9/27/2024

a GREAT read

Review/IG Post

Week Two: 

9/30/2024

Shauna's Book Journal

Review/IG Post

10/1/2024

100 Pages A Day

Review

10/2/2024

Lifestyle of Me

Review

10/3/2024

@evergirl200

IG Review

10/4/2024

@thepagelady

IG Review

Week Three: 

10/7/2024

jlreadstoperpetuity

IG Review/TikTok Post

10/8/2024

Country Mamas With Kids

Review/IG Post

10/9/2024

ilovebooksandstuffblog

Review/IG Post

10/10/2024

@heyashleyyreads

IG Review/TikTok Post

10/11/2024

Deal sharing aunt

Review/IG Post

Week Four:

10/13/2024

@enthuse_reader

IG Review/TikTok Post

10/14/2024

@amysbookshelf82

IG Review

10/15/2024

A Blue Box Full of Books

IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post

10/16/2024

Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

Review/IG Post

10/17/2024

thefashionistfiles

Review/IG Post

10/18/2024

@callistoscalling

IG Review













Book Blogger Hop #325

 
This meme is hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addict!
 
 
 
This week's question is: With the changing of the seasons from summer to fall in September, do you have a favorite book that reflects the essence of this transitional period or one that you enjoy reading when the temperature cools down? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)




MY ANSWER: I don't have a favorite book per se, but usually once we get into fall weather I tend to like spooky reads! I mean, I don't always have time for them during the fall as I somehow end up prepping for some event however far off into the distance! But yeah, I do like reading creepy reads or thrillers in the fall for some reason, if time permits of course! Lol.