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.

 

It was quite the week this week! First off Monday started with an icy rain that was more annoying than anything. It postponed my author event, but luckily the author got it rescheduled to the end of the tour instead of the beginning. This meant instead of getting my book a day early I had to wait until release day, which also meant that I went over 24 hours without reading anything!! Needless to say I took my lunch break early on Tuesday to run to B&N and buy a copy since the bookstore was further out than the nearest B&N! Lol! That itself was a doozie of a trip too as the store opened 2 minutes late, which when you're timing yourself to get in and out asap, 2 minutes is a LOT! Then I had trouble finding the book! There was not table of copies in the YA section like I expected, but luckily there was ONE copy on the shelf! I am sure there had to be a table somewhere, but the copy I found was in excellent condition so I took it! Lol. Then it was a matter of waiting a few minutes more for someone to come to the registers. So needless to say it was a harrowing week in the first 48 hours! Lol! Well, really I guess it was harrowing in the first 33 hours (starting Monday that is!). Other than that the week was decent. Nothing too exciting until yesterday when I got to see Brigid Kemmerer again! She came here back at A Heart So Fierce and Broken and I remember driving to Milwaukee one weekend to see her, so that had to be for A Vow So Bold and Deadly since my copy of Forging Silver Into Stars was unsigned...I had one Defy the Night signed, but I couldn't remember if that was what she toured for then or not. It's possible, as it was post pandemic as I remember we weren't able to take pictures with her or maybe we had to wait until the end and since my family drove me to the signing, I didn't want to make them wait longer for me and I had a picture of her before, so yeah, that was it! Lol.

But yes, the signing was basically the highlight of my week and the cancellation was the most devastating part of my week! 

Here's what I ended up getting this week:

Emily Wilde's Maps of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett--my copy FINALLY arrived super late! I had given up hope of ever seeing this one!
Until the Stars Fall by Vanessa Rasanen--I kinda splurged on this one awhile back! I preordered this super special limited edition from the author herself. I still need to read her first trilogy but this one sounded really good and I had a moment of weakness and just bought it when limited preorders went up for sale! Lol.

Destroy the Day by Brigid Kemmerer--SIGNED! I forgot to snap a picture of that and am writing this post late at night and am just too tired to take it. But it was signed! Lol!

Then I got the January Fairy Loot book! I always find it funny when Fairy Loot and Owl Crate have the same book in the same month. So I skipped OC since I liked the UK look better anyway, and the cover is just a difference of color. Which I generally like a difference in color, but I honestly like the OG UK cover better! So yeah, FL kind of missed the mark on this one for me. 

Despite all that commentary I am still leaving this one as a surprise. I don't know how many people go looking for spoilers for titles and appearances, but while I do tend to look ahead for title picks, I like the surprise of its appearance myself. So I won't share that here...or even the title should someone else not have seen it yet!

Then I won a B&N gift card form the 2023 Series Enders Reading Challenge!

THANK YOU Sandy & Holly!

Then I got my preorder gift for The Ruined! It was a long wait for this one and I think I had to submit my form twice since the release date changed on us a few times!

THANK YOU Penguin Teen!

Then it seems my December A Touch of Magic Designs order got shipped in multiple packages as I did receive 2 separate notices about the items inside each shipment. So oddly, I just got a print in my first one! The next order is 3 sets of standees!

I think this was meant to be an October print but stuff happened and it came up late, but naturally I bought it anyway as it was a OUABH print with Eva and Jacks and then the two as Gomez and Morticia from The Addams Family!

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

Review--Destroy the Day by Brigid Kemmerer

 

Left for dead, but desperate to survive . . . they have one last chance to save their kingdom.

Prince Corrick is out of options. Held captive by the vicious Oren Crane, he’s desperate to reunite with Tessa, but will need to ally with the rebel leader Lochlan, who until now wished him dead. An unlikely but deadly pair, Corrick and Lochlan must plot their next moves carefully.

An island away, Tessa Cade is heartbroken and angry. Grieving Corrick, and unsure how to find a way back to Kandala, she doesn’t know who to trust. Until Rian—the man she trusts least—makes an offer: aid in a plot to finally oust Oren Crane and see what the future holds . . .

Meanwhile in Kandala, Harristan is dethroned and on the run. He’s struggling to unite the rebels in his fractured kingdom, but he finds support—and maybe more—in unexpected places.

Can Harristan be the king his people need? Can Corrick and Tessa find their way back to each other? As outside threats loom and the fires of revolution burn from within, time is running out to save their kingdom.

In the thrilling conclusion to the Defy the Night series, Brigid Kemmerer crafts heartrending twists and devastating turns that will keep readers breathless to the very end.

 

After a dreadful icy rain and a painful wait of a day later I finally got Brigid Kemmerer’s Destroy the Day in my hand to devour at my leisure! Which obviously wasn’t too long considering I read every chance I got during the work week! This is the grand finale, the epic conclusion to the Defy the Night trilogy and it was beyond epic!

I was eager to dive into this book after the loss and turmoil that we ended Defend the Dawn left us with! I was quite happy with whose point of view we got first too! Needless to say, this was relieving, but also expected, because come on, we can’t end the series without him! Corrick and Lochlan are prisoners of Oren Crane, the enemy of Rian who just happens to be the king of Ostriary. Oren is mad as heck that Rian kidnapped his daughter and will do whatever it takes to get her back and destroy Rian’s kingdom while he’s at it.

I quite enjoyed seeing Corrick and Lochlan working together. The animosity that ran rampant between these two at the beginning of the series made you wonder if they’d kill each other before their enemy got the chance. But having common ground over a new person to hate together really brought these two closer together!

Then we have Tessa and Rocco who are at Rian’s mercy, but Tessa is grieving deeply, for she believes Corrick is dead having been flung from the ship during the attacks. Rocco mourns Corrick as well and for what they will have to eventually tell Harristan when they return home. But since Rian is reluctant to let them leave, Tessa decides to make the best of a bad situation and take up healing people once again in Fairde.

We also continued to get Harristan’s point of view as well who is dealing with the consuls taking over his kingdom. Panic has ensued and now everyone seems to be out to get Harristan for Allisander Sallister has been spreading lies that Harristan was poisoning his own people and profiting from it. Which obviously was the biggest lie of them all, but could it be steeped in some kind of truth? Harristan will uncover some deeply hidden family secrets that will change everything he thought he knew about his parents.

This book was truly epic! I was worried that the 500+ page count might make things move at a slightly slower pace, and while things weren’t as action packed as I previously saw, it was still an intriguing development. We still got multiple points of view, but this time they were more of a bulk spread. We would have five or more chapters at a time with a character which I thought was a bit different. I am used to the route of constantly changing the point of view every chapter and that we get left with a bit of a cliffhanger with one person’s point of view. Not to say that I expected this necessarily of Kemmerer based on the previous books as those chapters didn’t necessarily end in mini cliffhangers. But there was more of a changeup per chapter that wasn’t readily present here.

After we get through the bulk of each character’s chapter sections we switch to more of a rotation. I honestly preferred this just so we could get that back and forth notion. All the characters are separated, quite literally this time by great distances. So I was eager to know how things were going with so and so after I spent a few chapters with another character. Maybe if I read faster it wouldn’t have been so problematic and this is just more of a me problem!

I was a bit sad that Tessa and Corrick were separated for the majority of the novel. I was just healing from their reconciliation over the fight they were having in book 2 and then this separation happens. I was thrilled to know what each of them was doing at the time and knowing they were more or less okay, but mourning the other one as neither knew what became of the other. I found a new loathing for Rian though. I wasn’t too sure of his character in the second book when he walked onto the page, and I feel like I was right to be hesitant about him after all was said and done!

I did find a wee bit lacking in some of the explanation areas. There was one thing that got explained away lickety-split but I was left wondering whether it was an accurate statement to make or not. Since nothing was ever expunged upon this “tidbit” I guess I have to take the speculations at face value. I guess if some hardcore evidence could’ve been presented at the time of the “write off,” I would’ve been more satisfied. But alas, nothing was ever said in concrete so I was left wondering nearly the whole book whether the information was true or not. And even though it was a little thing, I decided to be vague about it anyway!

I’m sad to say a little bit of the ending felt rushed too! We had many things happening, so I was expecting epic fights and battles and hardships to be won, and while we did get that in part, I felt like another part of it was just glossed over. Again, without getting too deep into spoiler territory I see why things were done in the way they were done, I guess I was just expecting a bit more. But when the end page count is over 500 I guess some things had to be shortened. I mean, I would’ve happily read another 30+ pages or so if it could make a smoother all around conclusion, but I’m nit-picking a bit too.

I did make a few speculations about the ending in its details and I have to say that Kemmerer still surprised me! I won’t say more than that! Destroy the Day was without a doubt the grand finale I was hoping for! I did wish a few things could have been different. Perhaps a few more kisses between Corrick and Tessa since they were apart so long, but I have to say the bickering between Corrick and Lochlan made up for that in part! This was such a fun fantasy series! It was far different from what I had expected but an enjoyable journey all the same, even without magic! This was a heart-racing trilogy nonetheless and I highly recommend it to all who are looking for a fantasy read filled with action, secrets, deception and lies, and stolen kisses!

 

 

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars

 

 

 

 

 

Book Blogger Hop #290

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

This week's question is: How long have you gone without reading? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer) 

MY ANSWER: Hmm...I would say 1 week? And that was when I spent a week in Disney World! Lol! I typically read a little bit every day, maybe not a whole lot on the weekends depending on what I do and how tired I am by the end of the day, but yeah. When I last went to Disney World, a whopping 5 years ago, I went for a week and though I brought my book with me, I didn't get any reading done for when I got back to my hotel after the day, I was wiped out and it was late because I stayed for nighttime events and was waking up early to get the next park the next day! Lol. I'm an open-to-close kind of girl when it comes that place!

 

But otherwise I go without reading maybe 1 day.

Books from the Backlog #67

 

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.

 

A new powerful thriller from the globally-embraced author of Between.

Ten years ago, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, seven-year-old Samantha and her next door neighbor, Remy, watched as a man broke into Sam’s home and took her younger sister, Turtle, from her sleeping bag. Remy and Sam, too afraid to intervene at the time, later identified the man as Sam’s sister Gretchen’s much older ex-boyfriend, Steven, who was sent to prison for Turtle’s murder.

Now, Sam’s shattered family is returning to her childhood home in an effort to heal. As long-buried memories begin to surface, Sam wonders if she and Remy accurately registered everything they saw. The more they re-examine the events of that fateful night, the more questions they discover about what really happened to Turtle.

Master storyteller Jessica Warman keeps readers guessing in this arresting page-turner.

 

 

I have had The Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman in my TBR pile since May of 2015. I almost want to say that I won this in a rare Goodreads contest! I can't really remember though...but I think I did! Lol. It still sounds interesting as I am always up for a good thriller mystery! 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Let's Discuss--Name Challenge

Okay, so I don't know exactly what challenge you want to call this! I was just scrolling through Threads one day last week and saw this and thought, THAT LOOKS LIKE FUN! So you know me, I decide to save it for later and make a post about it!

From the gist of things you basically spelling out your name and then whatever task corresponds with the letters you chose a book that fits it!

So I saw this on Threads and it appears to have been created by @library.w.rolling.ladder! Seemed mostly like a Threads/Instagram post but I wanted to talk lenghy-like about it so here we are! Lol.

J 

Jumped to the Front of Your TBR Pile

As of today as I write this post, (which as you're reading it now, it would've been over the weekend!), I just got this one in the mail and I will be reading it after my next two books. I'm binging a trilogy right now, but immediately after I want to read this one because it's Kate Alice Marshall! I love her books! Even though I am always behind! lol

E 

Everyone Loves But You Didn't

Ironically I just talked about this one in the Book Blogger Hop on Friday too! Everyone seems to love this series. I gave book 1 a try when a friend gave it to me for Christmas some years ago. Read it and was bored to tears. People kept telling me they get better but if I am not the least bit hooked by a book I won't give the rest of the series a try. I just can't. Too many books on the TBR for a second chance. But I do like Maas' other books, it was just this series that wasn't a winner.

S

 Should Be Taught in School

Now, I've know way of knowing if this is in any school curriculum. It probably is since it's a classic. But I feel like getting back to early origins of the vampire in literature would be fun! I even took a class once on the history of witches and vampires. It was a class made for me! Lol.

S

Should be Taught in School

So I'm thinking of an elective class, i.e. not required, but one where you read historical fiction books blended with paranormal/fantasy elements. Books that take real events from history and spin them on their heads! I would SO sign up for this class! I feel like this series would be a lot of fun since historical moments did happen, just not in the way we were taught!

I

Is the Book You'd Pick on a Stranded Island

So unless I can get someone to make a custom bind up of all the Caraval books (including the unreleased novella!) I would settle for Legendary! I ADORED Tella! She was my favorite of the sisters and I just loved her feisty attitude! I could happily re-read this one while I wait for the rescue boat...but yeah a bindup of all 3.5 books would be great before this strandedness happens!

C

Caused a Reading Slump

Uh, I really don't have time for reading slumps! I've around 600 books piled up that I really really want to read! So yeah, I've never really had one of those! I just move onto the next book. But perhaps this one left me a bit forlorn as I didn't want to leave the world so soon! Especially after those bonus scenes post credits that Stephanie teased us with!

A

A Friend Recommended to You

I can't remember which blogger it was who recommended this one to me, as I believe she has retired from blogging, but I remember reading her review and liking the sounds of this one! So I went out and bought it...I still haven't read it, but I still want to! Lol. I even bought the rest of the series up as well...mainly because my beloved Borders was closing and you know, book sales...plus member discount so I couldn't say no!

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.

 

Change your fate—or kneel to it. The Companions are scattered and hopeless, torn from each other. After Corayne barely escapes with her life, she must forge on alone, leaving her blade broken and her allies behind her. Her only consolation—Corayne now has Taristan's sword, the only Spindleblade left in existence. Without it, he can’t rip open any more Spindles. Without it, he can’t end the world. But Taristan and Queen Erida will not be defeated so easily. Both will burn the world to bring down Corayne—and bring forth their demon god, What Waits, ready to claim the realm of Allward for his own.  In a final clash between kingdoms and gods, all must rise to fight—or be destroyed.  Everything has come to this. Prepare for a larger-than-life, unforgettable finale to the instant New York Times bestselling Realm Breaker series, where a shattered alliance must rise from the ashes to make their final stand against a ruthless enemy…and the demon god who looks to shroud the entire world in darkness.

 

 

 

I STILL need to start this series but I enjoyed Victoria's first series for the most part. I binged the last 3 books so it's all kind of a blur now. Lol. But I remember liking the world and characters, so I suspect I will enjoy this new fantasy series of hers as well! 

 

TITLE: Fate Breaker
AUTHOR: Victoria Aveyard
PUBLISHER: Harper Teen
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: February 27, 2024

 

 

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero are in sore need of a girls’ weekend away. They plan a trip to Atlantic City, but odds are―seeing as it’s actually a cover story to negotiate a deal with a dangerous loan shark, save Vero’s childhood crush Javi, and hunt down a stolen car―it won’t be all fun and games. When Finlay’s ex-husband Steven and her mother insist on tagging along too, Finlay and Vero suddenly have a few too many meddlesome passengers along for the ride.

Within hours of arriving in their seedy casino hotel, it becomes clear their rescue mission is going to be a bust. Javi’s kidnapper, Marco, refuses to negotiate, demanding payment in full in exchange for Javi’s life. But that’s not all―he insists on knowing the whereabouts of his missing nephew, Ike, who mysteriously disappeared. Unable to confess what really happened to Ike, Finlay and Vero are forced to come up with a new plan: sleuth out the location of Javi and the Aston Martin, then steal them both back.

But when they sneak into the loan shark’s suite to search for clues, they find more than they bargained for―Marco's already dead. They don’t have a clue who murdered him, only that they themselves have a very convincing motive. Then four members of the police department unexpectedly show up in town, also looking for Ike―and after Finlay's night with hot cop Nick at the police academy, he’s a little too eager to keep her close to his side.

If Finlay can juggle a jealous ex-husband, two precocious kids, her mother’s marital issues, a decomposing loan shark, and find Vero’s missing boyfriend, she might get out of Atlantic City in one piece. But will she fold under the pressure and come clean about the things she’s done, or be forced to double down?

 

Excited for this one as well! I'm actually not too far behind (at the moment) in this series! Just need to read the current book...but have no idea when I will get around to that! It's a fun series so far and I can't wait for the journey to continue!

 

TITLE: Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice
AUTHOR: Elle Cosimano
PUBLISHER: Minotaur Books
GENRE: Mystery
RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Review--Defend the Dawn by Brigid Kemmerer

 

New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer continues her electrifying series with more intrigue, romance, and heart-stopping adventure.

The kingdom of Kandala narrowly avoided catastrophe, but the embers of revolution still simmer. While King Harristan seeks a new way to lead, Tessa and Prince Corrick attempt to foster unity between rebels and royals.

But the consuls who control the Moonflower will not back down, and Corrick realizes he must find a new source for the lifesaving Elixir. When an emissary from the neighboring kingdom of Ostriary arrives with an intriguing offer, Tessa and Corrick set out on an uncertain journey as they attempt to mend their own fractured relationship. This could be their only chance to keep the peace and bring relief to the people of Kandala, but danger strikes during the journey to Ostriary, and no one is who they claimed to be. . .

 

 

Well, I didn't plan this out accordingly! I finished Brigid Kemmerer's Defend the Dawn a day too soon and now I'm left wallowing! Lol! Needless to say that this book was incredibly exciting and was in no way a "middle" book! There's always that fear when reading a trilogy that the second book will just feel like nonsense filler between the first and third book, but I didn't get that feeling at all with this one. Yes, in some ways it did just feel like a little bit of an "interlude," between books but it was a most exciting interlude for sure!

We start this series off with a brand new point of view from a mysterious new character! I was already brewing up with theories on who this unknown was and I have many things to say about that, but I won't say any because I don't want to my theorizing to effect yours! Lol. But anyway, I did enjoy getting a new perspective on things going around the kingdom! While we left things with a tentative feeling of hope for a better future, we can see that it will be a short lived hope towards better. I mean, the happily ever after can't be readily in grasp now can it?

Tension are still running high in the kingdom of Kandala. The sickness is still running rampant and the source for a cure is still hard to come by. But with Tessa's theories of making a less potent but still effective dose of the curse with the Moonflowers, there is hope that things could get better...if only the counsel was willing to listen!

But before much can be done with the counsel, another new character walks onto the scene, one Rian Blakemore, a pirate who's not a pirate so to speak. His father was once an Ostriarian aid to Corrick and Harristan's father and he comes to hope to negotiate trade for steel by offering up Moonflowers. Harristan is to send a select few to Ostriary to work out negotiations with the king so that both kingdoms can help their citizens. Corrick, is naturally a bit suspicious of Rian so he decides he will go, and since Tessa is the apothecary, she goes as well. To make matters more interesting for the reader, Lochlan goes as well and three guards.

Corrick's suspicions last throughout the journey and only continue to grow when Rian doesn't allow Corrick into a particular locked door aboard the ship. Then add in Tessa with two young men and you have the makings of a love triangle. It's definitely a complicated situation and tensions continue to run high between her and Corrick that it's almost believable that she might decide to side with Rian. 

Secrets continue to be the running theme of this series as everybody has them! I am all for it too! It makes for intriguing encounters and loads of tension! I'll admit that this time I was taken aback by some of the secretive reveals. I wasn't expecting quite a few of them and I love the way they were executed. It's hard to get into a lot of that as I don't want to get near spoilers but I did enjoy the hints and whatnot that Kemmerer laid out. I did foresee some of them and some haven't quite gotten to the point of resolution yet, but I suspect that will be made clear in the next book!

As far as the romance goes between Corrick and Tessa, things are tense between them. And now of course, you add in Rian and you start to wonder, just who will Tessa be with? I was glad that the love triangle issue didn't last the whole book. We do get an answer, so to speak, of her choice. But in between those chaotic moments, there were a few tender moments between these two that had me melting just a little! Lol.

From the little bits that I've heard about people's reactions and need for the third book, I was expecting a torrential cliffhanger. The ending that we got was indeed intense and I am dancing on pins and needles waiting to get my hands on a copy of the third book, but the wait isn't as terrible as I thought it would be. Of course, I write this the day before I will get the third book and by the time you're reading this I will be reading it already (nowhere near finished, but started at least! Lol!). But I suspect even if I wasn't nearly having the third book in hand, the wait would be pretty bad, but not as torturous as I had anticipated! So take that with a grain of salt if you have yet to start this series! Binging a series is always highly recommended!

Defend the Dawn was a most exciting read and fully lived up to my expectations after Defy the Night! It was enjoyable from start to finish and I am only sad that the journey is almost over! At least the next book has another 100 pages more than these first two books, so that will at least stretch out the enjoyment for a little while longer once I get my hands on a copy! If you're looking for your next fantasy read sans magic, but still in itself is magical and enchanting, I recommend Kemmerer's trilogy here!

 

Overall Rating 5/5 stars

 

 

 

 

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.

 

"'Don't worry,' he says. 'The carriage can withstand a few bolts from a crossbow.'

Well, I wasn't worried about that until now." p 65

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TITLE: Defend the Dawn
AUTHOR: Brigid Kemmerer
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury YA
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: September 20, 2022

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 10 Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn't Get To

*in no particular order

10. COLD HEARTED by Serena Valentino--always hoping to get caught up in this series...always failing to do so!
9. DAMSEL by Evelyn Skye--I wanted to read this before the Netflix movie premiered, then the movie was delayed and then other books happened!
8. NINTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo--always meaning to get caught up with her books!

7. THE POISONER'S RING by Kelley Armstrong--forever behind on her books too! She writes freaky fast! Lol.
6. DEMONS OF GOOD AND EVIL by Kim Harrison--first time I ever fell behind on her books. I feel so ashamed!
5. KISS OF THE SELKIE by Tessonja Odette--always meaning to pick this one up and then other things happen. Mostly events that I try preparing in advance for!

4. DIRTY LYING DRAGONS by Sabrina Blackburry--really wanted to read this after I read the first book but somehow got caught up on something else...like always!
3. FOXGLOVE by Adalyn Grace--not sure what I was doing when this one released that prevented me from reading it. Possibly reading some scary books? I don't even remember!
2. ON THESE BLACK SANDS by Vanessa Rasanen--had planned to read this before I went to a super awesome event, but sadly that got canceled so it slipped further down my TBR pile after that.

1. THE RETURN by Jennifer L. Armentrout--every year I say I will read this series and every year I somehow fail!