Saturday, November 06, 2021

#BookReview: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry






Synopsis: Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love. 

Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.

Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.

Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.

Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

From the New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read, a sparkling new novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations.


#BookReview: Pliés, Pranks, & Hocus-Pocus (Lyssa's Holiday Hijinks #1) by C.J. Kavanaugh






Synopsis: Pranks are the best thing about Halloween — until a ghost pulls one on you.

When 11-year-old Lyssa Klarken discovers the legend about her ballet school being haunted is true, she thinks she’s won the candy-filled jackpot.

But treats turn to tricks when Nadia, the ghost of a star ballerina, starts pranking her. Nadia only agrees to leave Lyssa alone if she frees her from her unfinished business. There’s just one problem: Nadia can’t remember what that is.

Lyssa has six days to figure it out and save Nadia from torment. If she fails, the tables will turn: Lyssa will be haunted for the rest of her life. Can she solve the mystery before the curtain rises on October 31st?
 


Friday, November 05, 2021

#BookReview: Wilds, Warnings, & Little Wolves (Lyssa's Holiday Hijinks Book 1) by C.J. Kavanaugh






Synopsis: Camping is a real snooze-fest—unless you meet a werewolf.

Eleven-year-old Lyssa Klarken hates camping. Until she learns Candis Campground is home to a wealth of werewolf rumors.

When they arrive at the campsite, a poster for a missing boy catches her eye. Later that night she finds a wolf pup with a suspiciously high IQ who looks oddly familiar. Could the rumors be true after all?

Only one way to find out.



#BookReview: Forbidden Blossom (Skyline Mansion #1) by Nola Li Barr






Synopsis: A decades-old scandal. A mysterious inheritance. Can a young woman survive a family desperate to keep their past buried?

2010. Anne Huang never cared to call anywhere home. But her carefree lifestyle of blogging and travel is interrupted when a stranger with ties to her family bequeaths her a fortune. And with no knowledge of her history, she soon finds herself thrown in with a nest of billionaire vipers determined to lock away their skeletons.

1946. Seventeen-year-old Rose Chen’s quiet life is shattered when she’s dragged from Taiwan and forced to immigrate to the U.S. And her nightmare continues when she arrives in San Francisco, only to be shipped off by her parents to serve in a wealthy American’s household. But her dutiful-daughter status soon comes under threat when her risky friendship with her white employer’s son transforms into something taboo.

Confronted by jealous rivals, Anne battles distrust and hidden agendas as she tries to understand more about her birthright and learns the value of love. And as Rose wrestles with her complicated feelings in a private journal, she unwittingly leaves a stunning legacy to a granddaughter she’ll never know…

Can their lives come full circle to close one door and open another?

Forbidden Blossom is the heartfelt first book in the Skyline Mansion women’s fiction series. If you like soul-searching heroines, paths to self-discovery, and stories of perseverance and inner strength, then you’ll adore Nola Li Barr’s generation-spanning tale.



Thursday, November 04, 2021

#BookReview: Electric Idol (Dark Olympus #2) by Katee Robert






Synopsis: He was the most beautiful man alive.
And if I wasn't careful, he was going to be my death.

*A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Psyche and Eros that's as sinful as it is sweet.*

In the ultra-modern city of Olympus, there's always a price to pay. Psyche knew she'd have to face Aphrodite's ire eventually, but she never expected her literal heart to be at stake...or for Aphrodite's gorgeous son to be the one ordered to strike the killing blow.

Eros has no problem shedding blood. But when it comes time to take out his latest target, he can't do it. Confused by his reaction to Psyche, he does the only thing he can think of to keep her safe: he marries her. Psyche vows to make Eros's life a living hell until they find a way out of this mess. But as lines blur and loyalties shift, she realizes he might take her heart after all...and she's not sure she can survive the loss.

This title will be released on January 18, 2022.

#BookReview: Ski Weekend by @rektokross






Synopsis: Six teens, one dog, a ski trip gone wrong . . .

Sam is dreading senior ski weekend and having to watch after her brother and his best friend, Gavin, to make sure they don’t do anything stupid. Again. Gavin may be gorgeous, but he and Sam have never gotten along. Now they’re crammed into an SUV with three other classmates and Gavin’s dog, heading on a road trip that can’t go by fast enough.

Then their SUV crashes into a snowbank, and Sam and her friends find themselves stranded in the mountains with cell phone coverage long gone and temperatures dropping. When the group gets sick of waiting for rescue, they venture outside to find help—only to have a wilderness accident leave Sam’s brother with a smashed leg and, soon, a raging fever. While the hours turn to days, Sam’s brother gets sicker and sicker, and their food and supplies dwindle until there isn’t enough for everyone. As the winter elements begin to claim members of the group one by one, Sam vows to keep her brother alive.

No matter what.

Filled with twists, secrets, and life-changing moments, Ski Weekend is a snow-packed survival thriller featuring a diverse cast of teens that will appeal to fans of One of Us is Lying and I Am Still Alive.


Wednesday, November 03, 2021

#BookReview: Neon Gods (Dark Olympus #1) by Katee Robert






Synopsis: He was supposed to be a myth. But from the moment I crossed the River Styx and fell under his dark spell... he was, quite simply, mine.

Society darling Persephone Dimitriou plans to flee the ultra-modern city of Olympus and start over far from the backstabbing politics of the Thirteen Houses. But all that’s ripped away when her mother ambushes her with an engagement to Zeus, the dangerous power behind their glittering city’s dark facade.

With no options left, Persephone flees to the forbidden undercity and makes a devil’s bargain with a man she once believed a myth... a man who awakens her to a world she never knew existed.

Hades has spent his life in the shadows, and he has no intention of stepping into the light. But when he finds that Persephone can offer a little slice of the revenge he’s spent years craving, it’s all the excuse he needs to help her—for a price. Yet every breathless night spent tangled together has given Hades a taste for Persephone, and he’ll go to war with Olympus itself to keep her close…

A modern retelling of Hades and Persephone that’s as sinful as it is sweet.
 


#BookReview: The Reaper's Call (Bloodcaster Chronicles Book 3) by R.L. Perez






Synopsis: An assassin on the run. An angel through time. A powerful immortal enemy.

Cora Covington, once feared assassin, is on the run with the last remaining survivors of her demon coven. But as she struggles to retaliate against her power-hungry father, she realizes the cost to defeat him is more devastating than she feared.

Vince Delgado walks the line between Reapers and Timekeepers, desperate to get back to Cora. The more he uncovers about the Timekeepers, the more secrets he finds buried within the timeline... until he comes face-to-face with a deadly threat that transcends the laws of time.

Cora and Vince must rely on their skills—and the strength of their love—in order to survive. But when their enemies align, the star-crossed lovers must confront their battles head-on before the world is torn apart.

Even if it destroys them both.

**This book contains strong sexual content**


#GuestPost with Evelyn Rainey: Back of the Book Blurb






  Everyone has a story to share

This is how we survive -- by helping each other in small, creative ways.



Tuesday, November 02, 2021

#BookReview: The Orphan House by @annbennett71






Synopsis: As she looks at the baby wriggling in her father’s arms, a bolt of recognition goes through her and she takes a step back. And it’s in that moment that she begins to protect her father’s secrets.

1934, Weirfield-on-Thames. Connie Burroughs loves living in the orphanage that her father runs. Exploring its nooks and crannies with her sister, hearing the pounding of a hundred pairs of feet on the wooden stairs, having a father who is doing so much good. But everything changes the day she sees him carrying a newborn baby that he says he found near the broken front gate. A baby she recognises…

Present day. Arriving at her father’s beloved cottage beside the river, Sarah Jennings is hoping for peace and quiet, to escape her difficult divorce. But when she finds her father unwell and hunched over boxes of files on the orphanage where he was abandoned as a child, she decides to investigate it herself.

The only person left alive who lived at Cedar Hall is Connie Burroughs, but Connie sits quietly in her nursing home for a reason. The sewing box under Connie’s bed hides secrets that will change Sarah’s life forever, uncovering a connection between them that has darker consequences than she could ever imagine.

A heartbreaking but ultimately uplifting tale inspired by the lives of the children who lived at the author’s great-grandfather’s orphanage. Fans of Before We Were Yours, The Orphan’s Tale and The Orphan Train will be hooked.


#BookReview: The Angel's Vow (Bloodcaster Chronicles, #2) by R.L. Perez






Synopsis: He's an angel. She's a demon. Their love was never meant to be.

Vince Delgado has become a Reaper—a dark angel. While adjusting to his new life and new powers, he uncovers a shocking mystery: someone is stealing magic from the souls of the dead.

Cora Covington struggles to fill her new role as demon coven leader. As she tries to quell the riots and unrest in the city, she discovers a new threat: another Bloodcaster is among them. Someone as powerful as Cora.

When Vince and Cora finally reunite, the passion between them escalates. Though they want to be together, their enemies draw closer—until Vince and Cora realize their two conflicts are connected. But to defeat their enemies, they must set aside their feelings for each other and make sacrifices for their people.

Even if it tears them apart forever.


Monday, November 01, 2021

#BookReview: The Demon's Kiss (Bloodcaster Chronicles, #1) by R.L. Perez






Synopsis: An assassin with a secret.
An angel with a strange power.
A war that threatens to destroy them both.

Cora is an assassin who never misses her mark. But she has a deadly secret: her blood can create the most powerful magical elixirs in the world.

And she's been hunted for it her whole life.

When a powerful demon blackmails her, threatening to expose her secret, she has to do one last job to buy her freedom: kill a Nephilim named Vince. Cora figures this will be an easy target.

Until Vince time travels, appearing in two places at once.

Thwarted, Cora must get close to Vince so she can learn the secret to his strange ability--and finally kill him once and for all.

But the closer she gets to Vince, the more her icy heart begins to thaw, making way for new emotions she's never felt before.

As she falls for him, her secret is exposed, igniting a powerful war between demons and Nephilim. In the end, Cora must choose between her own survival and preventing a war that will tear the magical world apart.


#BookReview: Spoiler Alert (Spoiler Alert #1) by @OliviaWrites






Synopsis: Olivia Dade bursts onto the scene in this delightfully fun romantic comedy set in the world of fanfiction, in which a devoted fan goes on an unexpected date with her celebrity crush, who’s secretly posting fanfiction of his own. 

Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. While the world knows him as Aeneas, the star of the biggest show on TV, Gods of the Gates, he's known to fanfiction readers as Book!AeneasWouldNever, an anonymous and popular poster.  Marcus is able to get out his own frustrations with his character through his stories, especially the ones that feature the internet’s favorite couple to ship, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone ever found out about his online persona, he’d be fired. Immediately.

April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she’s hidden her fanfiction and cosplay hobby from her “real life” for years—but not anymore. When she decides to post her latest Lavinia creation on Twitter, her photo goes viral. Trolls and supporters alike are commenting on her plus-size take, but when Marcus, one half of her OTP, sees her pic and asks her out on a date to spite her critics, she realizes life is really stranger than fanfiction.

Even though their first date is a disaster, Marcus quickly realizes that he wants much more from April than a one-time publicity stunt. And when he discovers she’s actually Unapologetic Lavinia Stan, his closest fandom friend, he has one more huge secret to hide from her.

With love and Marcus’s career on the line, can the two of them stop hiding once and for all, or will a match made in fandom end up prematurely cancelled?


#BookTour: Haelend's Ballad by @IanConrey @RABTBookTours #Giveaway





Dark Fantasy/Steampunk

Date Published: November 30, 2021

 

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“Some call me Murderer, others call me Lord. I've been called Savior and Enslaver. But no one has ever called me Child.”

 

A young man signs his own death warrant when he joins an already failing militia. A teenage girl is haunted by her childhood abuse and begins to crave the very things she hates. A childless mother finds herself on the run as a convicted murderer. Yet they are all unaware that their own fates are tied to a young orphan who has drowned and come back to life in a foreign land where he will be the death of everyone he meets.

Hælend’s Ballad is a tale about what happens when men and women from two colliding cultures realize they may not be on the right side. Heroes are villains. The persecuted are oppressors. And when rumors begin to spread that the world is dying, the darkness of their own hearts betrays them.

Sunday, October 31, 2021

#BookReview: Away Games (Camp Average #3) by @cthomasbattle






Synopsis: In the final book of the series, this summer is definitely not average

It’s another summer at Camp Avalon―also known as Camp Average to its campers―only this year, things are anything but normal. Mack and Andre are spending the summer at rival Camp Killington, where the competitive campers seem intent on making them suffer.

Meanwhile, at Camp Average, Miles is trying to keep the peace―which is not easy, due to obnoxious newcomer Garth and his pranks. On top of that, Miles has another impossible task on his plate: getting Mack and Andre back on home turf.

Things come to a head when Mack and Andre are forced apart, and Cassie challenges Garth to a do-or-die ball hockey showdown. Will the Camp Average crew find their way back together and come out on top? In this third and final addition to the series, the campers rally to support each other and discover once more how teamwork and cooperation win.


#BookTour: A Prophecy of Wings by @JMcGarryauthor @TheBookReviewCrew #Giveaway






Synopsis: A betrayal, a prophecy, a kingdom in the balance. Sixteen years ago the evil Dahlia overthrew the kingdom of Roshall Grove, the heart of the Fairy World. A prophecy foreseen by Edwina, a powerful enchantress, remains the only hope to topple her iron-fisted rule. Now, Lina, a simple peasant girl, learns her future is linked to this prophecy. Edwina brings Lina to the Fairy World to fulfill her destiny—conquering Queen Dahlia. Separated from the enchantress by agents of the dark queen, Lina begins a perilous journey to join the Resistors, who await her return to mount their attack. Thrust into this strange world, Lina must navigate relations with a host of different fairies and animals, never knowing who seeks to help or to thwart her. Finally reunited with the Resistors, Lina must find the strength to lead her people and fulfill the prophecy. Meanwhile, Dahlia prepares for the battle, which will ultimately decide the survival of her reign, while reflecting on the path that brought her and her foe to this moment of reckoning. A fairy tale with an ending twist, A Prophecy of Wings is loosely based on Thumbelina by Hans Christian Andersen and examines the ideas of predestined fates and the subsequent, sometimes unforeseen, consequences.


Saturday, October 30, 2021

#BookReview: The Other Merlin (Emry Merlin, #1) by Robyn Schneider






Synopsis: Welcome to the great kingdom of Camelot. Prince Arthur’s a depressed botanist who would rather marry a library than a princess, Lancelot’s been demoted to castle guard after a terrible misunderstanding, and nothing is going according to plan. Then Arthur accidentally pulls the sword from the stone (in his defense, he was drunk and mostly kidding), and now everyone’s convinced he’s some prophesied hero.

Emry Merlin is stuck in her small town. Her father, the legendary court wizard, disappeared years ago, and Emry’s been peddling theater tricks to make ends meet. When a royal messenger arrives summoning her far less talented twin brother to serve as Prince Arthur's right-hand wizard, Emry is understandably upset. But after Emmett becomes indisposed thanks to a bad spell, Emry disguises herself as her brother and travels to the royal court to impersonate him until they can switch.

Studying magic at the castle is everything Emry hoped for. But life in King Uther’s court is full of scandals, lies, and backstabbing courtiers. What’s a teen wizard masquerading as her twin brother to do? Other than fall for the handsome prince, stir trouble with the foppish Lord Gawain, offend Princess Guinevere, and make herself indispensable to the future of Camelot?

When the truth comes out with disastrous consequences, Emry has to decide whether she'll risk everything for the boy she loves, or give up her potential to become the greatest wizard Camelot has ever known.

Channeling the modern humor of A Knight's Tale, bestselling author Robyn Schneider creates a Camelot that becomes the ultimate teen rom-com hotspot in this ultra-fresh take on the Arthurian legend.


Friday, October 29, 2021

#BookReview: The Ballerinas by @RKapelkeDale






Synopsis: Dare Me meets Black Swan and Luckiest Girl Alive in a captivating, voice-driven debut novel about a trio of ballerinas who meet as students at the Paris Opera Ballet School.

Fourteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg––taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career––and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she's been away...and some secrets can't stay buried forever. 

Moving between the trio's adolescent years and the present day, The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passion, and the sublimated rage that so many women hold inside––all culminating in a twist you won't see coming, with magnetic characters you won't soon forget.

This title will be released on December 7, 2021.

#BookReview: This Day (365 dni #2) by Blanka Lipińska






Synopsis: The steamy and thrilling story of Laura and Massimo continues in this unputdownable sequel to the international bestseller 365 Days—the inspiration behind Netflix’s blockbuster movie.

Laura Biel’s new life in Sicily looks like the perfect fairy tale: a grand wedding, a wealthy and devoted husband, a baby on the way, and lavish luxury complete with servants, extravagant cars, and seaside palazzos. Yes, all of this would be perfect, except for the fact that Laura is constantly surrounded by gangsters as the threat of her kidnapping looms large. Laura is about finally discover what it means to be married to the most dangerous man in Italy.

This title will be released on December 7, 2021.

#BookBlitz: The Darkest Vampire by @JulianaHaygert @XpressoTours #Giveaway




The Darkest Vampire
Juliana Haygert
(Rite World: Vampire Wars, #1)
Publication date: October 29th 2021
Genres: New Adult, Urban Fantasy

Supernaturals around Portland are turning up dead. I’m next … if the vampire I just made a powerful bond with doesn’t kill me first. 

Magic is in a short supply for a half-witch like me, which makes things very difficult when I’m bound by a blood promise to avenge my parents.

With no leads left to follow, I make a bargain with a demon for help. Bad decision. The quest the demon sends me on binds me to a vampire named Killian, a half-mad, half-naked monster who hates my guts almost as much as he longs to drink my blood.

Killian swore to kill all witches on sight, but we agree to work together to solve the murders ravaging the city. He despises me, and I can’t stand him… but there’s an unexpected connection between us, something I can’t help but be curious about.

No, I can’t let anything distract me. Not even a hot and enraging vampire who presses all of my freaking buttons. I’m determined to find my parents’ killers, and stop the chaos taking over the supernatural world.

If only love didn’t get in the way.

A delicious slow-burn enemies to lovers novel, The Darkest Vampire is a new adult urban fantasy that’s full of dark romance, adventure, and twists you won’t see coming. Fans of Linsey Hall, Leia Stone, and Jaymin Eve are going to become obsessed with this brand-new paranormal series by Juliana Haygert!