Books from the Backlog #164

 

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!

We have brown hair. Brown eyes. Fair skin. We are healthy and strong and smart. But only one of us has ever had a secret.

Dahlia 16 sees her face in every crowd. She’s nothing special—just one of five thousand girls created from a single genome to work for the greater good of the city.

Meeting Trigger 17 changes everything. He thinks she’s interesting. Beautiful. Unique. Which means he must be flawed. When Dahlia can’t stop thinking about him—when she can't resist looking for him, even though that means breaking the rules—she realizes she’s flawed, too. But if she’s flawed, then so are all her identicals. And any genome found to be flawed will be recalled.

Destroyed.

Getting caught with Trigger would seal not only Dahlia’s fate, but that of all five thousand girls who share her face. But what if Trigger is right? What if Dahlia is different?

Suddenly the girl who always follows the rules is breaking them, one by one by one…

I added Brave New Girl by Rachel Vincent to my TBR pile in May 2017 as I LOVE Rachel's books! I can't believe I STILL haven't read this one! I feel disgraceful! Even more so because I still have a handful of her books on my TBR! Definitely plan on reading this one at some point.

Can't Wait Wednesday #225

 

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 lush, atmospheric and achingly magical standalone adult fantasy romance set in Renaissance Italy from a #1 New York Times bestselling author.

In 15th-century Volterra, sculptress Ravenna Maffei enters a competition hosted by a secretive, immortal family who offer an invaluable boon to the victor. Desperate to win so she can save her brother, Ravenna reveals a rare magical talent-a dangerous act in a city where magic is forbidden. Her revelation makes her a target, and she is kidnapped by the Luni family and taken to Florence, a city of breathtaking beauty and cutthroat ambition.

There, Ravenna is forced into an impossible task where failure means certain death at the hands of Saturnino dei Luni, the family's enigmatic and merciless heir. But under his cold reserve hides a vulnerability that draws her closer than she ever intended.

Meanwhile, Ravenna's forbidden magic does not go unnoticed. The Pope, waging war against Florence, the Medici, and magic itself, has his own interest in her abilities, seeing her as a potential weapon in his ruthless campaign.

As alliances shift and war brews on the horizon, Ravenna must navigate the treacherous line between survival and betrayal, between love and duty. With time running out and her every move watched, the choices she makes will determine the fate of not just her own life, but the fragile balance of magic and power that could unravel Florence itself.

This one sounds like fun! I enjoyed the author's latest YA duology and thought this one sounded like something I would enjoy! Desperately had hoped she'd come to St. Louis for its tour, but she just announced the tour as I write this post super early and it was a no-go. Sadly nowhere close and since it's winter, our weather is unpredictable. It could snow several inches or we might get nothing at all and trying to travel during that is always risky until the very last minute when you know the forecast.

TITLE: Graceless Heart
AUTHOR: Isabel Ibanez
PUBLISHER: Saturday Books
GENRE: Fantasy Romance
RELEASE DATE: January 13, 2026

From TikTok sensation Celina Myers comes a fresh, intriguing novel about a woman who finds her destiny and her family after being turned into a vampire.

Mia Adair isn’t even twenty-five yet, but she’s starting to wonder if her peak has already passed. She’s spent years working at her local bookstore, a job that was supposed to be temporary. As a kid, she experienced a strange sort of fame within the paranormal community thanks to her inclusion in a book that revealed Mia’s ability to talk with the dead. But that was then, and Mia’s “gift” dried up once adolescence set in. These days, she feels like she’s nobody special.

Until she dies in a tragic car crash and reawakens as a vampire…

Forced to leave behind everything she knew, Mia must choose to live with one of two rival vampire families. The Bellamy and Sutton clans share a dark, complicated history that spans centuries. As Mia learns about their age-old traditions and extraordinary powers, along with their forbidden romances and betrayals, she’s drawn toward two very different loves. And as she feels her gift returning, more potent than ever before, Mia realizes she’ll need it to protect innocent lives—and save the only family she has left.

Oh I've been waiting for this book for ages! Lol. Yes, it was originally self-published in 2021 and I only just learned about it...last year, I think? I've entered numerous, numerous Goodreads contests and lost every single one of them. So yes, I am dying to read this one!

TITLE: Hollow
AUTHOR: Celina Myers
PUBLISHER: Hanover Square Press
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: January 13, 2026 (OG December 17, 2021)

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.

"'You know you stay here, Prisca.'

My chest hollowed out. For her to talk so openly about it..." p 24

TITLE: A Court This Cruel & Lovely
AUTHOR: Stacia Stark
PUBISHER: Self
GENRE: Fantasy Romance
RELEASE DATE: March 24, 2023

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: FREEBIE: Top 10 Book Covers that Feature Animals 

*in no particular order

10. TIGER'S CURSE by Colleen Houck--tiger, naturally!

9. BLACK SHEEP by Rachel Harrison--a two for one since the title is animal related! I guess this is the aforementioned black sheep? It's little horns are giving me more cow vibes. I still need to read it, so it's hard to say if this is representing something from the book!
8. THE FAMILIAR by Leigh Bardugo--another TBR book! If you squint, you can see a scorpion crawling out from under the sleeve cuff.

7. BLOOD ON HER TONGUE by Johanna van Veen--a dog! These are all TBR books basically because I was on the shelf looking for covers to fit this topic choice!
6. THE LAST RAVEN by Helen Glynn Jones--another title and cover with an animal involved!
5. MERELY MORTAL by Michelle M. Pillow--a butterfly! I'm really behind since it looks like there's quite a few books lined up in this series! Yikes!

4. FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros--dragons! Yes, I saved this specifically for the 4th place on my list! Lol.
3. THE STARLIGHT HEIR by Amalie Howard--another TBR book, so I am not sure what this creature is. It looks fox like with wings and a long tail.
2. HEARTLESS HUNTER by Kristen Ciccarelli--I started with the FL version since the title also contains the animal name, but started feeling tired so here we go with the US that still features a moth!

1. BITTEN by Jordan Stephanie Gray--a wolf...a werewolf! LOVED this book!

MIA

(image borrowed from Flying Experiences)

Hey all! For the first time ever I will be MIA for a WORK related trip! Yes, my work has decided we're all coming together in Tampa this week! So I will be MIA pretty much the rest of today through Wednesday. I think I'm the only one on our St. Louis team not happy about leaving the colder weather and going into the hot, steamy, and humid weather. Hoping we stay inside for the most part because I have to wear jeans! Better than work pants but still pants in 80+ degree weather and HUMIDITY around 70%. 

Needless to say, I won't be around for my usual commenting on those days! If I don't melt, I will be back in action on Thursday!

Challenges Monthly Wrap-up: November

CHALLENGE 1: 2025 Discussion Challenge

Fantasy Reads
The BER Months Book Tag
Multi-Author Events
Young Adult Reads

Well I made it to 50 discussion posts! That was kind of my ultimate secret goal once I got into the 41+ category! And here we still have 1 month left to the new year! Since I hit my goal this month, December will just be easy peasy! I hope to write at least 1 or 2 posts hopefully inspiration will strike but I will still have the end of the year survey that I like doing despite it being so time consuming! Lol.

CHALLENGE 2: Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge 2025

The Mermaid by Christina Henry (6/19/18)

Well only 1 older TBR book read this month! I don't think I will be meeting my secret goal of 50, but 45 was pretty darn good too I'd say! I know my reading speed, I know how busy the holiday months can get, so I will be lucky to get much more older books read as I already know I need to read a new release next! But I had a good run here I'd say since my original goal was 20!

 

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:

Holly by Adalyn Grace (4.5 stars)

Currently Reading:

A Court This Cruel & Lovely by Stacia Stark

What I Plan to Read Next:

We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark (ARC)

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
Let's Discuss: Young Adult Reads
Can't Wait Wednesday #224
Books from the Backlog #163
Book Blogger Hop #386
Stacking the Shelves

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.

Another week in the books and what a busy week it was! I was able to take off a day and half before the holidays when my aunt and half of her family came in! I hung out with them for the most part and then of course we had Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. Never been a big fan of the holiday as I don't care for all that food to be honest. I made a nice dent into my Christmas shopping, got some things for my parents and have another thing I can buy (eventually) for them. Then I will be DONE! And it's not even officially December yet! I'm on a roll this year, but I still have ALL that wrapping to do now. Yikes. Lol.

I had forgotten about two preorders really as I knew I was wrapping up on my initial list of books for this year, so the nice little stack I got this week was super exciting! Lol.

The Wolf King by Lauren Palphreyman--my sister finally convinced me to read this one!
Ember Eternal by Chloe Neill--excited for a new Neill book!
Promised in Blood by Sadie Kincaid--I probably should've had read the first book first but LOOK at that cover and those edges! Those B&N preorder sales get me good!

Blood & Water by Alethea Kontis--didn't know about this one until Alethea mentioned it being on sale on Instagram, so I quickly snatched that one up! Yes, I bought ANOTHER kindle book! Shocking!

Then I got BOTH my Fairy Loot and Owl Crate books for the month! On the same day even!

I knew I would have this in the US version as well because it sounded awesome and I preordered it. With the limited skips with FL I decided I might as well get it since I wanted to skip the December book for sure.

I finally got another Owl Crate book. I don't know, lately I just have not been enjoying the covers they do. There's just something about them that leave me feeling...forlorn I guess. Even this one. I feel like it's so dark that you can't really tell what's going on. But then the other features are always so spot on! Not sure why things have to be so 50/50 here. 

And then my FL copy of What Fury Brings also came yesterday! I still need to read this one but I've loved all of Tricia's books before and have every edition FL has put out of them as well, so I felt obligated to get this one too! Lol.

What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller--Fairy Loot edition!

And then for review from the author I received:

We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark (ARC)

THANK YOU Stacia!

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

Book Blogger Hop #386

 

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

This week's question is: What are the top five books on your TBR (to-be-read) list right now? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

MY ANSWER: The next five books I am tentatively, likely reading are:

As you might have guessed, Stacia Stark will be coming to St. Louis in January, so I am gearing up to read the books I've of hers on my TBR. As of writing this though I am anticipating that I am reading the first book of her one series featured here and then I need to obtain the rest of the series as well! Then I'm throwing in an ARC I need to read that is for early 2026 as well!

Review--Holly by Adalyn Grace

 

This Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition features an alternate jacket and case cover, full color endpapers, illustrations throughout, bonus content, and is printed in a festive colored ink!

A mysterious and magical holiday novella set in the romantic, Gothic-infused world of Belladonna, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Adalyn Grace. Features a special endpaper design, a printed case cover, and colorful interior art!

Something strange is happening at Wisteria Gardens, the magical manor that Blythe and Aris call home. All they want is a peaceful holiday season with their family, but a group of restless spirits is determined to threaten their festivities. With a new mystery to solve, Signa, Death, Blythe, and Fate must uncover what happened to Wisteria’s ghostly inhabitants and help the spirits move on before it’s too late.

Adalyn Grace follows Stephanie Garber's footsteps in this wonderful addition to the Belladonna trilogy with Holly, a Christmas novella that takes place after the events of Wisteria. It was yet another magical tale filled with holiday spirit and naturally, a few ghosts with a bit of a mystery. And I felt like there was also a special nod to Stephanie in the second chapter...or that's just the part of my brain that loves Stephanie talking!

This time around we receive points of view from all four characters, Blythe, Fate/Aris, Death/Sylas, and Signa. Blythe is planning a grand Christmas celebration at Wisteria Gardens, but unfortunately, a few ghosts to decide to crash the party and it will be up to Signa to figure out what is keeping them from moving on.

In the midst of this mystery, Blythe is trying to plan the perfect Christmas and Aris is struggling to find gifts for his family as gift giving was never his forte and Sylas is off being Death and trying to finalize some Christmas gifts as well.

This was yet another fun read! I binged the last of the Belladonna trilogy just last year and my poor memory was taking a beating trying to recall certain things but for the most part, I was able to "know" what I needed to know. Basically everyone is in their happily ever after era, and this is simply Christmastime and having all the "chaos" warranted to the holiday. Adding in some ghosts who cannot pass on yet was just the icing on the cake!

The illustrations added by Lotusbubble were beautiful! We had one large image each chapter and a border around the edges that continued to grow with every chapter! It was fun to see. I guess I would've liked a little more illustrations like we had with Stephanie's novella, but this was still nice as well for here we did get more storyline as well. So it's a bit of a give and take you could say! lol.

The pacing to this was pretty good! It's a lengthy novella, as the formatting of the pages is a bit smaller too so while the page count is high, the words per page are not like a full length novel either. So we get a bit of the mystery solving going on, then the planning for Christmas, the search for the perfect gift. There was enough to keep things busy in a good way. And of course, there was still time for kisses and romance between our star couples.

I did read the B&N edition of this one, and it seems like in another Stephanie fashion, Adalyn has left us with a bit of teaser that had me wanting to shout at the pages once I learned it was the last one after that particular parting line! Lol. Whether Adalyn is truly done with the series or not, it's clear her characters will still be living on and having their own adventures. And while I would always love to read them, this is truly the best way to end a series!

So if you're looking for a fun holiday read this year, be sure to pick up Holly! It's got holiday cheer, mystery, a bit of humor and of course, some romance! It is pretty much a perfectly, delightful holiday read to enjoy this year!

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars