Books from the Backlog #107

 

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 @ Carole's Random Life in Books.

The romantic sequel to Alienated takes long-distance relationships to a new level as Cara and Aelyx long for each other from opposite ends of the universe...until a threat to both their worlds reunites them.

Cara always knew life on planet L’eihr would be an adjustment. With Aelyx, her L’eihr boyfriend, back on Earth, working to mend the broken alliance between their two planets, Cara is left to fend for herself at a new school, surrounded by hostile alien clones. Even the weird dorm pet hates her.

Things look up when Cara is appointed as human representative to a panel preparing for a human colony on L’eihr. A society melding their two cultures is a place where Cara and Aelyx could one day make a life together. But with L’eihr leaders balking at granting even the most basic freedoms, Cara begins to wonder if she could ever be happy on this planet, even with Aelyx by her side.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Aelyx, finds himself thrown into a full-scale PR campaign to improve human-L’eihr relations. Humans don’t know that their very survival depends on this alliance: only Aelyx’s people have the technology to fix the deadly contamination in the global water supply that human governments are hiding. Yet despite their upper hand, the leaders of his world suddenly seem desperate to get humans on their side, and hardly bat an eye at extremists’ multiple attempts on Aelyx’s life.

The Way clearly needs humans’ help . . . but with what? And what will they ask for in return?

I added Invaded by Melissa Landers to my TBR pile in January of 2016 as well. I feel like this was when I was planning a road-trip to an event where she was attending and I had read her one duology and liked it, so I bought the rest of this Alienated trilogy! That's what my spotty memory is telling me anyway! Lol. It still sounds like a fun series so I will read it eventually as well!

Review--Of Song and Scepter by Liesl West

 

She’s a killer in disguise. He’s determined to make her his queen.

As a deep sea death-dealer, Enna Valomir’s life is simple: kill the siren, deliver the body, collect the reward. There’s just one problem. Enna owes a mermaid her life, and in the cutthroat waters of the Abyss, that’s a lifelong blood-oath of service.

When the mermaid orders her to kill the Abyssal princess, Enna is pulled into an impersonation scheme with no choice but to infiltrate a gaudy surface court and help the mermaid win the heart – and throne – of its unwitting future king.

Focused on restoring the Kingdom of Coral to its former strength, Prince Soren isn’t interested in courting the so-called Abyssal princess, or any power-hungry princess, for that matter. He’s finally met his match in her fierce and mysterious handmaid, and he’ll be damned if he can’t have Enna for his queen instead.

Despite the risks of breaking her blood-oath, Enna finds herself falling for the powerful siren. Will Enna forsake her own life to warn Soren of the mermaid’s ruse – or will she watch everything he’s worked for fall into ruin?

Part of the dark fantasy romance series, Sirens of Adria, Of Song and Scepter is a standalone little mermaid retelling intended for mature audiences.

Liesl West's debut, Of Song and Scepter is a dark retelling of The Little Mermaid, but with a twist! Instead of the little mermaid trying to woo the prince, we have the sea witch trying to woo the prince with a siren as her "sidekick." The setup is definitely twisty, but it works for the story and brings you a whole new story on a beloved tale!

Enna is a siren and an assassin for Odissa. Odissa took her in when she was young after her family was murdered and Odissa in turn trained her to be a top notch assassin. Because of this, Enna owes a debt to Odissa and until Odissa claims her free, Enna remains her prisoner of sorts.

Odissa's latest mission is to take on the identity of a mermaid princess and try to win the heart of a merman prince. Enna is to act as her handmaiden and to be there to help in sticky situations. I'll admit, the back and forth use of "mermaid" and "siren" did get a bit confusing as it appears they are two different species of "mermaid" but share similar qualities, much like the different kinds of fish and sharks we have in the ocean. For the most part, I felt like it wasn't truly necessary to know who was what, and just enjoy the story.

Since we have dual point of views in this story, we get Enna's, and the prince, Soren's point of view. Soren's was definitely an interesting guy to read about. He's the crowned prince and his mother is forcing him to find his bride to take over the throne as she is ready to retire. But Soren has been "picky" about his bride choice. He truly wants to find a match where he could fall in love with the woman instead of her being a power hungry trollop. And so far, they've all been power hungry.

Then he meets Enna and mistakes her for the mermaid princess who he is supposed to be meeting and wedding in just a few weeks and there's an instant connection, for him at least. She's different from the other girls that have been thrown at him and he thinks his mother might have finally found the perfect match...until it's revealed that she is just the "handmaiden" of the actual princess he is to wed.

While this was not a direct retelling of the fairy tale, all the right elements were there. Plus, if you've read the original tale, you know how that ends and well, this story is not that story, I'll say that! Lol. 

This story was wrapped in secrets and deceptions and the whole time I was reading I was just waiting for that other shoe to drop as you know it's got to happen eventually when dealing with people pretending to be something they are not. But gaining a sense of the story I was reading, I anticipated the ending that was coming and I was not disappointed at all!

This was a remarkable and fresh take on The Little Mermaid! I enjoyed what West changed up and what she kept in line with the original story. Which is kind of what I hope for when going into a fairy tale retelling, you get just enough of a taste of the original story and then there are differences thrown in for added flavor! It was spot on!

The story wasn't totally flawless, there was a point near the end with a scene change that kind of threw me through a loop, which having gotten out of that loop, I feel was intentional. It was just a little mind-boggling and some of it could have been blamed on the fact that I took a reading break in between those chapters, so that really messed up my sense of comprehension, but it wasn't enough to detract from my enjoyment!

The romance aspect was adorable! I love a romance that takes time to form and while Soren might have fallen for Enna first, she took awhile to come around but since this story is steeped with romance, you can expect quite a bit of spice to come along eventually! 

All in all, this was a delightful read that I quite enjoyed! Definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of spice and fairy tale retellings! What's even a nice touch is that West includes what chapters are spicy if you are wanting to skip over those parts--which I sometimes do in certain series when they are just too many to handle! Lol. 

Overall Rating 4/5 stars

Can't Wait Wednesday

 

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.

Get ready to fly or die in the breathtaking follow-up to Fourth Wing and Iron Flame from #1 New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.

After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons.
No more time for uncertainty.
Because the battle has truly begun; and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.
Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre.
The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves - her dragons, her family, her home, and him.
Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything.
They need an army.
They need power.
They need magic.
And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth.
But a storm is coming... and not everyone can survive its wrath.

Okay, at the time of writing this post, I have yet to read Iron Flame! I know, I know! But I KNEW when it came out just a few short months after the first book that it would end with a killer cliffhanger and was I right? From the murmurs I heard, I was! Lol. So I'm hoping to read that one in maybe November or December!

TITLE: Onyx Storm
AUTHOR: Rebecca Yarros
PUBLISHER: Red Tower Books
GENRE: Romantasy
RELEASE DATE: January 21, 2025

Let's Discuss: Travel Reading

So I realized something on my mini 1-day vacation, I find it insanely hard to read when I am traveling! There are other factors to consider, 1 I am traveling insanely early, which the very reason why I always choose the insanely early flight happened, my first flight was delayed and caused the dominos to keep om falling on all my plans and connecting flights, but it all worked out and that's what matters! Traveling early pays...but then that also means I wake up ungodly early to make the insanely early flight and I'm just tired! But let's get onto the discussion!

Travel Reading

The great majority of the time I go to places, I travel solo as no one in my immediate life ever wants to go with me. I've no problem with that. But it does mean I need to be more hyper aware of my surroundings and such. Plus being a wee bit tired, I am not always wanting to read just yet when the plane (eventually) takes off. I kind of just zone out and rest but not actually sleeping because again, hyper aware of my surroundings and such.

I did eventually pick up my book on my connecting flight. It was later in the morning and I was more "awake." But reading in different and not entirely comfortable surroundings is tough! I tried using my iPod to listen to music to help drain out the other sounds but I was always to close to the wing of the plane in my seat choice and it just felt louder in that area and I had to really crank up my music and then that was just too loud as I didn't want to miss anything the pilot would say over the intercom since again, traveling solo and needing to be aware of my surroundings. 

I did a decent amount of reading on that second flight though and then on the flight home, my connecting flight I did a fair amount of reading as well. It's also hard because it's early in the morning and dark and I'm always hesitant to turn on my reading light above my head as I don't want to disturb my seat neighbors who more than likely take a little nap. I mean I know it doesn't shine in their face or anything, but I was like, ehhh, I don't want it to annoy them. Plus, it was the first flight so I was still in my I'm awake and conscious but please don't ask me complicated questions phase of things!

But travel reading is and always has been hard for me. I want to be aware of my surroundings and stay informed by the flight staff so I don't want to get too into my zone of reading. Then I usually shut my phone off entirely on the flight as I noticed airplane mode sucked out all the battery after my first flight and I was like crap, I still need that to have juice for when I land! So I was never really aware of the time and didn't want to have my book and such out when it comes time to land...yes, the flight staff eventually gives you that 15 minute warning or such, but you know, I wanted to be in a good stopping place as well!

It all worked out of course, so it was no worries. But yeah, I just find it insanely hard to read when traveling. Even when I get to my destination I usually don't get much reading done. For most vacations it could be a dawn to dusk kind of day with site seeing. For author signings, it can be more or less of the same thing and once the event of the day is over, I am just ready to crash. Especially when I go to bed at almost 11pm and have to wake up at 2am to be ready for my Uber to make my 5am flight! Lol. So yes, reading when traveling is very, very hard for me, but I managed a good chunk of pages, I think I got maybe 100 read over that 24 hour trip so not bad at all!

What about you? Do you get much reading done when traveling? Especially if you're traveling solo?

 

 

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

 

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.

"The second floor looks much the same as the first. More tall shelves. More floating books. I duck my head as one floats past, aimed for a shelf somewhere behind me. I spot a dark section tucked in the far corner. A whitesteel gate seals the entrance to a shadowed room full of thick tomes. I squint into the darkness, then take a step." p 94

TITLE: Of Song and Scepter
AUTHOR: Liesl West
PUBLISHER: Darkling Press LLC
GENRE: Dark Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: July 2, 2024

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: HALLOWEEN FREEBIE: Top Ten Spooky Books on My TBR Pile

*in no particular order

10. THE HOUSE THAT HORROR BUILT by Christina Henry--I looove Christina's books and this one sounded so creepy! I wanted to read it right away, but I must have been swamped with review books by May or prepping for an event so it sadly still sits there in TBR land.
9. I FEED HER TO THE BEAST AND THE BEAST IS ME by Jamison Shea--another one I am dying to read! I still remember that this author came to St. Louis on the SAME NIGHT as another author I'd read. I couldn't make both, so sadly I had to choose the author I had read--who was also international--but I consoled myself by picking up a signed copy of this one later on! Lol.
8. OUR WICKED HISTORIES by Amy Goldsmith--I looooved her debut so naturally I had to get this one too!

7. THE HAUNTING by Natasha Preston--with that cover and that title, how could I not want to read this?! Just wish I had time to read it now! Lol.
6. I'LL BE WAITING by Kelley Armstrong--forever behind on her books but this might have to be the next one I pick up because OMG!
5. THE NARROW by Kate Alice Marshall--I think this is the last YA book of her I need to read to be caught up on that genre. Still have maybe 2...soon to be 3 of her adult books on my TBR though!

4. THE CHANGING MAN by Tomi Oyemakinde--I won this one last year and ironically the author came to St. Louis with Shea last year too, so I could've met two TBR authors...but again, had to go with the "have read" and INTERNATIONAL author that night! This one sounds spooky and I really want to read it because that cover!
3. SECRETS SO DEEP by Ginny Myers Sain--loved her debut, so I definitely plan to stick with this author!
2. THE LAST HARVEST by Kim Liggett--still need to read this one by Liggett. Loved the ones I've read by her which always had the right amount of spooky, sinister, and mysterious!

1. LAKESEDGE by Lyndall Clipstone--another duology I need to read! These covers were always so spooky and even though I have the Owl Crate ones, the story itself will be the same spookfest! Definitely want to read these at some point!

ARC Review--Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibanez

 

The stunning conclusion to the story that started in What the River Knows. A lush immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, and a rivals-to-lovers romance like no other!

1885, Egypt

Inez Olivera is left reeling from her cousin Elvira’s murder, and her mother’s betrayal, and when Tío Ricardo issues an ultimatum about her inheritance, she’s left with only one option to consider.

Marriage to Whitford Hayes.

Former British soldier, her uncle’s aide de camp, and one time nemesis, Whit has his own mysterious reasons for staying in Egypt. With her heart on the line, Inez might have to bind her fate to the one person whose secret plans could ruin her.

 

 

 

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

 

Isabel Ibanez returns to the Nile in Where the Library Hides as she brings an electric conclusion to this smashing duology! Ibanez picks up right where we left off with that mind-blowing cliffhanger and the suspense only continues to build on from there! Prepare to set aside a few hours of the day for this one because you will not want to put it down!

Right away, I loved that we instantly pick up right where we left off when Whit proposes to Inez. Inez is being forced back to Argentina to return to her aunt despite her wishes, but since her uncle controls her inheritance until she marries, she's forced to do as he says...unless she marries Whit. But as we learned, it seems Whit has other ideas in mind for marrying Inez.

We start the story off with Whit frantically trying to plan a quick and legal wedding. While he would love to give Inez a perfect wedding, they are a time crunch. It's the closest you'll see to a drive through wedding in the late 1800s that's for sure! Whit has seemingly covered every base imaginable to make sure the wedding is legal and unbreakable.

But there's no time for happily wedded bliss between Inez and Whit as things happen drastically fast! They soon learn that Cleopatra's tomb has been robbed completely of everything! Inez suspects her mother to be involved as she had tricked Inez into giving her some of the valuable pieces inside where Inez thought she was saving them for historical reasons. But Inez has learned that her mother has been living a whole other life here in Egypt, one that spans greatly.

Then comes the BIG THING! We learn what Whit's true motives were for marrying Inez and as you might imagine, it drives a wedge between the couple and that's all I will say on that matter. Inez's world is about to be turned upside down and inside out by the time she gets through this new path she's taken. Absolutely everything changes.

We are talking big. Dramatic. Changes! Ibanez holds nothing back with these punches and it was fantastic! The shocks were handed out in droves. Just when you recovered from one shock, you were hit with another! It was fantastic! I loved the tension that was built up, I loved the shocks and reveals! This is a book you will not be able to put down nor want to! I truly could not get over the amount of shocks this story had! I was able to see a few a coming, but for the most part, I was taken by surprise and I LOVED that! There were always things you didn't quite know, but you knew there was something to them and the way they are revealed in their true nature was positively mind-blowing!

Though Ibanez does take some creative liberty, I do appreciate the amount of research she undetook for this series! It was phenomenal! I am not a big history buff, but I do enjoy learning about it. Just don't test me afterwards! It's something I enjoy learning about in the moment for sure, but as I age, my memory is just about shot for new information! Lol. Ibanez paints a stunning picture though with her lush descriptions of the sands of Egypt! I especially enjoyed her take on the more mysterious locations too, which we do uncover in this one!

Before things go down the proverbial hole, the romance in the early pages of this book were positively delightful! I loved seeing Inez and Whit so happy. While we do suspect Whit is harboring secrets (and we pretty much know he is), I felt like he wasn't necessarily acting when he was with Inez. And since we do still get his point of view, we can see he does have genuine feelings for her. Of course, we know that divide is coming where they'll be back to not "in love" with one another again, but even still, their dynamics between them are so incredibly powerful! Even when there is broken trust between them, these two have an impactful chemistry. I love that they still remind me of Evie and O'Connell from The Mummy movies! I see a bit more of that in this one too, although it's more like the first movie when they bickered, it's one of the most entertaining things to read about where book characters epitomize movie characters.

Another thing I forgot to mention loving are the illustrations! Illustrations are something of a rarity in books these days, unless it's meant to be an illustrated story. But I love that Inez was an artist and we sometimes got to see her artwork throughout the pages. We get more of that in this one which only enhances this remarkable story.

I truly loved how this one ended! Honestly, you couldn't really ask for a better ending. I felt like Ibanez covered all the bases. While there were a few loose threads left for possible futures, I feel like we got some good answers. I guess there might have been one or two things I would've liked a little more clarification on, but I feel like as readers, we'll always be a little nit-picky. Otherwise, you couldn't ask for a better ending than this one! If you're ready for a trip to Egypt, than look no further than the Secrets of the Nile duology! It's an adventure of a lifetime and should not be missed! 

Overall Rating 5/5 stars

Where the Library Hides releases November 5, 2024

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:

Spectacular by Stephanie Garber (5 stars)

Currently Reading:

Of Song and Scepter by Liesl West

What I Plan to Read Next:

The Serpent and The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

Other Posts of Interest:

Let's Discuss: Reading Makes Me Happy
Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
Can't Wait Wednesday
Books from the Backlog #106
Missing In Action
Book Blogger Hop #329
Stacking the Shelves--The Spectacular Edition: Part 1

Stacking the Shelves--The Spectacular Edition: Part 1

 

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.

Welcome to the Spectacular Part 1 edition of my StS hauls! As to how many parts there will be...well, that depends on the mail! They've already sent one of my copies on a vicariously long journey just to drive me insane! LITERALLY! On Monday, I saw that my LOCAL PO had my 2 Blackwell's copies that I ordered. One then went out for delivery, the other...sat there after being received at 6:20am. Then Tuesday it sat there. Then Wednesday it was on its way to the next facility to be moved onto its final destination. Note, I said my LOCAL PO received it on MONDAY MORNING!!! To hold it for TWO DAYS and THEN send it off to god-knows-where is just freaking ridiculous! I checked tracking again when I came home from my trip--more on that in a bit--and the latest update said: your package is arriving later than expected, but is still moving through the network. That was Friday, Saturday had nothing new. I'm afraid to look at it again. Because ORIGINALLY on Wednesday, my Informed Delivery email included the tracking number among the packages that were to be delivered on WEDNESDAY! Yet that tracking said it was on its way to the next facility to be moved onto its final destination or whatever BS they spewed. I was and am still pi$$ed.

But in happier news, Thursday I woke up before the crack of dawn to make a 5am flight to Sacramento...well, that flight got delayed because of mechanical issues, something with a light on the wing...? But its delay was going to make me miss my connecting flight--because unless you pay 2 arms and 2 legs for a direct flight, you basically don't get a direct flight out of St. Louis. So I had to change flights entirely, lose my A status boarding group and be subjected to dead last for boarding, but luckily, I still got my luggage on the planes! ANYWAY...I basically got myself to Sacramento a mere 2 hours later than planned to go to the greatest holiday release party ever for Spectacular!! It was such a fun and lovely evening! Stephanie recognized me again, which always makes me cry happy tears! One of her Flatiron reps knew who I was on Instagram because of all my posts...it was just so, so, so wonderful! Sadly I did not win any of the raffles or costume contests, but it was still a lot of fun!

The week prior to was the mundane ordinary kind until Wednesday night when I had another signing this time with Colleen Cambridge aka Colleen Gleason--who still remembered me after like 10 years since I last saw her at an RT Convention! She was so sweet and kind! I haven't read any of her new stuff, but basically went in support of her past paranormal titles and to get the rest of my collection of hers signed! It was also a wonderful evening!

So the week was all in all, not bad! The mail thing stressed me out the wazoo and is still stressing me out! I can (almost) handle delayed mail--not so good when it's my books being delayed, really, really not so good when it's my Stephanie Garber books being delayed--but I cannot handle when there are ZERO updates on tracking. Don't give me blasé BS updates about it just "moving through the network." TELL ME WHERE IT IS! I just want to know what state or city you sent it too so I can estimate how long it will take for that PO to send it back here! So very very stressful. But other than the mail craziness ensuing my own loss of sanity, the week was AMAZING! Because STEPHANIE GARBER!! And COLLEEN GLEASON! And BOTH remembered me! And I got to mark off a new state on my 50 states sheet! I don't ever expect to visit all 50, but visiting as many as possible is still a pretty cool goal! No number in mind, just as many as possible! There are states I want to return to for different cities and other landmarks...and if an author signing happens to occur at the same time all the better!

Now onto the actual haul! Sorry for the long recap, but it was a most remarkable (and stress inducing) week!

Before I share...how many copies are you expecting to see in this post? I did not get all of them, mind you...so how many do you think? 

>

>

>

>

>

>

Ready for it?

Spectacular by Stephanie Garber--standard edition SIGNED x2

Spectacular by Stephanie Garber--B&N edition SIGNED x2

Spectacular by Stephanie Garber--Waterstones exclusive x3
Spectacular by Stephanie Garber--UK standard

For a grand total of 8 copies this week...with more to come! Out of the 4 UK copies I received 2/4 hidden covers, so I'm halfway there! Fingers crossed I can get the other 2 with the remaining copies that need to arrive, but I am worried about that to be honest--the missing one and getting the last 2 copies needed. 

Demon's Bluff by Kim Harrison--SIGNED! I have got to read last year's so I can read this one as it has a character return that I NEVER expected and I am psyched!!

Then I received this for review from the publisher:

Chasing Eternity by Alyson Noel (ARC)

THANK YOU Entangled Teen!

Then I received my preorder gift for Shadows of Perl:

THANK YOU Penguin Teen!!

Then at the Spectacular holiday party, there was free swag, so naturally I grabbed a few stickers and such!

There was a button set with Caraval & Spectacular titles on them
Spectacular sticker sheet
Caraval sticker
my ticket into the event...even though I irrevocably lost all the contests for prizes
Whimsical Publishing & Illustrations art postcards of Scarlett & Tella

And that was it for me this week! Realllllllly hoping my second Blackwell's copy of Spectacular shows up as my final Waterstones edition is slated to arrive next week as well. It would be nice if those two can be my last remaining covers needed! Then I can at least rest easily knowing that I have them all instead of the constant anxiety of it all. Lol.

What did you get this week?

Book Blogger Hop #329

 

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

This week's question is: Which horror-themed book or novel is your all-time favorite? Which one made you shiver or made you feel like it was Halloween? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

MY ANSWER: I suppose I can't go wrong with Dawn Kurtagich's The Dead House! This was one of the first YA horror books I can remember reading. One that was really horror filled!

It had a unique storytelling format that made for an ultimately creepy and intriguing story! 

For "adult" level reading, one of my all time faves that isn't necessarily "horror" but still ultimately bone chilling was, ironically titled, Near the Bone by Christina Henry! 

This was another chilling story that gives us a past story and a present one and both will leave you chilled! A young woman is running in the woods with more than one kind of monster chasing after her. So yeah, definitely creepy!