Can't Wait Wednesday #191

 

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.

Death at a Highland Wedding is the fourth installment in New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong's gripping Rip Through Time Novels.

After slipping 150 years into the past, modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson has embraced her new life in Victorian Scotland as housemaid Catriona Mitchel. Although it isn’t what she expected, she's developed real, meaningful relationships with the people around her and has come to love her role as assistant to undertaker Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie.

Mallory, Gray, and McCreadie are on their way to the Scottish Highlands for McCreadie's younger sister's wedding. The McCreadies and the groom’s family, the Cranstons, have a complicated history which has made the weekend quite uncomfortable. But the Cranston estate is beautiful so Gray and Mallory decide to escape the stifling company and set off to explore the castle and surrounding wilderness. They discover that the groom, Archie Cranston, a slightly pompous and prickly man, has set up deadly traps in the woods for the endangered Scottish wildcats, and they soon come across a cat who's been caught and severely injured. Oddly, Mallory notices the cat's injuries don't match up with the intricacies of the trap. These strange irregularities, combined with the secretive and erratic behavior of the groom, put Mallory and Duncan on edge. And then when one of the guests is murdered, they must work fast to uncover the murderer before another life is lost.

New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s unique time travel mystery series continues to entertain as Mallory adjusts to life in the 1870s.

It should surprise no one that I am still behind in this series! Lol. I think I am only one book behind though which is amazing since it's Kelley Armstrong! She writes too darn fast for me these days! I don't know how she does it!

TITLE: Death a Highland Wedding
AUTHOR: Kelley Armstrong
PUBLISHER: Minotaur Books
GENRE: Mystery
RELEASE DATE: May 20, 2025

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.

"They were only halfway down the walkway when a screech pierced the air. Bristol reeled backward as the marble of one column came alive, a monstrous head jutting toward her with teeth and scales and flared nostrils. She screamed as a marble dragon strained toward her, nearly pinning her against the opposite column." p 165

TITLE: The Courting of Bristol Keats
AUTHOR: Mary E. Pearson
PUBLISHER: Flatiron Books
GENRE: Fantasy Romance
RELEASE DATE: November 12, 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: Top Ten Books with Springy Covers

*in no particular order

10. A RIVALRY OF HEARTS by Tessonja Odette--pure spring cover here! The colors, the roses, and books! Of course, books are all year round, but it still fits!

9. ENCHANTED TO MEET YOU by Meg Cabot--this one is purely for the color! I mean purple can fit into many categories depending on the theme but the lower portion does have a nice pastel vibe!
8. GUILLOTINE by Delilah S. Dawson--mainly for the pastel pink cover...and the rose, it's still a flower after all. Just...mind the blood like substance that's also going on!

7. THE UNDERMINING OF TWYA AND FRANK by Megan Bannen--another cover that's for color purposes! That I am finding so many pastel and lightly colored covers on my TBR is astonishing! Lol.

6. EMILY WILDE'S COMPENDIUM OF LOST TALES by Heather Fawcett--the FL version...which is a variation of the UK edition! These covers are very springy with all the flowers on them!

5. A WEREWOLF'S GUIDE TO SEDUCING A VAMPIRE by Sarah Hawley--another pastel cover but there's also plants!

4. DEADLY FORECAST by Victoria Laurie--an old school pick! It's a blustery rainy looking day for Abby's wedding, so you know, spring = storms. We've had so many storms already and it's still early April. My anxiety cannot take this much longer! It's even storming as I write this post!
3. THE ROSE BARGAIN by Sasha Peyton Smith--though I have the Fairy Loot edition, this cover felt very springy to me with all the roses on it...thorns and all!
2. WHEN THE BONES SING by Ginny Myers Sain--still need to read this one, but there's a nice array of flowers going around the dirt...and bones.

1. A CURSE FOR TRUE LOVE by Stephanie Garber--so yeah, I went overboard here! Lol! I honestly could not decide on which cover to choose! The new B&N paperback works with the lighter color and pretty much ALL of the UK ones work because of the flowers and the color choices still give off springy vibes. So take your pick! Lol.

Let's Discuss: Cover Lovin

 

So another topic popped up in my head! Another cover related one! When it comes to covers you see at the bookstore, which ones are you drawn to?

Cover Lovin...had me a blast!

What covers draw you in where you are likely to at least pick it up and read what it's about? I don't want to say automatically buy it, because even I must read what the book is about if it's by a new to me author or even an author I love! I'm very much a person who needs to read that cover jacket before heading to the registers!

Covers that will catch my eye every time are the ones that are dark and spooky looking where you get the vibe that something supernatural is afoot!

Recently, this one, The Corpse Queen by Heather M. Herrman caught my eye, because, hello, a coffin with a bloody shovel and that title! It's totally eye-catching to me! But alas, something about the storyline just didn't quite grab at me the way I wanted it to. It sounds mildly intriguing and may be one I keep an eye on for reviews, but it's not something I will immediately add to my wishlist anytime soon.

But let's not forget the cover of my obsession from the early days of this blog:

The cover for 13 to Life was probably my first instance of cover love! I saw this being promoted at my first RT Convention and it was love at first sight! That one of my FAVORITE author's had a blurb on the cover just made it even better and I HAD TO HAVE IT! Sadly, Shannon didn't have ARCs with her at that time but I got plenty of swag from her, postcards, posters, bookmarks, buttons; one of everything! Lol. I still feel tempted to buy one of her reprints of it, but I don't think she's had any for sale from herself personally, I'd want a signed one to go with the rest of my copies! Lol. I'm weird, yes.

Then Celina Myers' Hollow popped up for me somewhat recently and after seeing this cover with those SPRAYED edges I was grabbing at the bite--hee hee--to see what it was about and immediately added it to my wishlist...I will likely preorder this one at the next B&N sale as it doesn't release until 2026.

So yes, there are always covers that I am drawn to. It's hard to pinpoint a type...but clearly paranormal ones grab my attention right away! Lol. Sometimes they are a good fit and other times they aren't. I have books where I was sucked in by the cover but then the story wasn't really my type of read. I don't want to say it was terrible, because a book isn't horrible just because I didn't enjoy it. So yeah, I can't ever say something was bad. It just wasn't for me...and there have been ones I absolutely LOATHED but we don't need to get into that...today...;)

What kinds of covers draw you in? What are you likely to pick up for that closer look?

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 Re-Read:

Morrighan by Mary E. Pearson (4.5 stars)

Currently Reading:

The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson

What I Plan to Read Next:

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
Let's Discuss: The Jelly Bean Book Cover Tag
Challenges Monthly Wrap-up: March
Can't Wait Wednesday #190
Books from the Backlog #129
Let's Discuss: My Hesitancy with Space Books
Book Blogger Hop #352
Stacking the Shelves: The I-was-Left-Unsupervised Edition

Stacking the Shelves--The I-was-Left-Unsupervised 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.

This week was another blur, but a good kind I suppose! My aunt was in town over the past weekend, so I hung out with family for the long run! And then I had a author signing on Monday night and got to meet Margaret Owen for the first time which was a lot of fun! Then it seems my Amazon orders decided to come in the same week as my B&N preorders and while I have to do some returns and exchanges with Amazon, my books in the order were at least in decent condition. One book has a bit of a scuff on the corner but it's otherwise fine and I don't feel like messing with an exchange. I know, weird, right? It's not super noticeable and since the book is a new to me one, I guess I am not super stubborn about its perfection. Again, super weird. What is happening to me? I guess I also don't feel like gambling that they won't send me a worse copy if I asked for an exchange for a small scuff mark. But have no doubts that if it was Stephanie's book they'd be sending me a new one...and that would only be because they had an exclusive edition! Lol.

I do eventually plan to share something I bought myself last week...? It's not a book but it's book related per se...like vaguely book related? But yeah, once I get the other items I am trying to acquire for it, then I will show you. This, as my title says, is what happens when I am left unsupervised...and given coupons! 

But anyway, here's what I got this week:

Holy Terrors by Margaret Owen--SIGNED! Plus an art print designed by Margaret and then this was the Vanja bucks that we got with our ticket to the event! Basically paid $10 in advance and got to use said $10 at the book table where I got Holy Terrors one day early! If only I had time to start it then! Lol.

The Notorious Virtues by Alwyn Hamilton--it's FINALLY here!
A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber--the new colored B&N edition paperback
A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber--the standard paperback with NEW color design!
The Hallow Hunt by Margie Fuston--still need to read the first book of this series but it was one I preordered during the sale, so there you go!
Beast by Jade Linwood--the same as the above! Lol. The series sounds really cool and with this being The Beauty & The Beast retelling version, I was pretty much sold!

Then books I ordered off Amazon, which ironically were not included in the sale they had to compete with Target but were better priced than B&N AND I still had a gift card from a previous contest win, I decided to throw in a few books along with the items that I had to return and exchange! Lol.

On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn--I saw this on Instagram somewhere awhile back and it sounded incredible, so when I was trying to get my cart up to free shipping I decided to add this baby!
Blood Beneath the Snow by Alexandra Kennington--I saw this one somewhere recently too and took a second look at it and it sounded awesome, so into the cart it went!
The Road of Bones by Demi Winters--my sister started telling me about this one, so you know the drill!

Then when out shopping with my family in Old St. Charles--a historical district in the area that I love going to that's home to Main Street Books--I found this at a shop that specializes in glass blown objects! They make most of the items there and even have classes where you can make your own piece--still need to do that one of these days--but this item I think was purchased elsewhere, but it's still handmade just not necessarily by the shop as I saw another sticker beneath their price tag. But it was so fun and I thought it would look great out at Halloween and with any of my spooky book pics!

It's a glass eyeball! Lol. I just thought it looked really cool! It has a white circular base with the red veins, then a blue iris and a perfectly placed pupil! I checked them all, this was the most perfect pupil and the best use of red veins in the eye! It was awesome! Lol. I was kind of surprised to see it out in April!

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

Book Blogger Hop #352

 

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

This week's question is: Who is your favorite "hobbit" from J. R. R. Toliken's Middle-Earth books? (submitted by Snapdragon @ Snapdragon Alcove)

MY ANSWER: I honestly have never read the books or seen the movies. So I don't think I could even name any of them other than Frodo and I say that with the loosest of confidence.

Let's Discuss: My Hesitancy with Space Books

 

Okay so I had another idea for a discussion so I thought let's start April off right! Lol! 

My Hesitancy with Space Books

I feel like one type of book I am always hesitant to pick up are books that take place in space...as in outer space. I feel like it's a mix of reasons. Firstly, space always felt like a complicated subject. That in order to get there, you're going to need a spaceship of some kind and it's going to be all techy and complicated. I feel like there could be too much time spent of explaining the logistics of the spaceship and space itself. Then there's the whole lack of oxygen. 

Then you throw in planets and galaxies and things start to get really complicated because we sometimes end up on other planets or universes and then there's the whole explanation of life on this planet. Then we have the people/characters who may not be 100% human but humanoid.

I don't know...it just always felt like these books are bound to be complicated and I always feared they'd be overly complicated. I have read some mix of them, I've had ones that were rather simple and you forget you're even in space, then there were the ones that made my brain hurt because they were so detailed in the descriptions of things and how the ship flew and worked and what life on these planets were like. It was always hard to follow or grasp what kind of world I was in.

I also worried that the books would feel a little "lost" or something? I mean if it takes place in space, you might just be resorted to life on a spaceship. But I have found that even with that kind of limitations these books can still be amazing!

Needless to say that even with my hesitancy to pickup "space" books I have found many delightful ones that have become favorites such as The Lunar Chronicles, The Illuminae Files, and Jessie Mihalik's books! I read one of her trilogies and still have another one on my TBR!

What about you? Have you ever felt some kind of struggle or hesitancy to read a book that takes place in outer space? Is there another type of setting that would make you hesitate to pickup a book if it largely took place there?