We are nearing the end of the year and I don’t have too many books I’m looking forward to by now. There is a lot for 2023 though…yikes…I cannot believe this year is almost over!
Bloodmarked is my most anticipated book for November! I’m so excited it will finally be out!
What is your most anticipated book release for November?
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three Wโs:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
I only have these 2 December arcs to finish reading and then I can move on to my 2023 arcs…can you believe it? 2023? I’m not ready!
What are you reading right now?
Happy Reading!!
Happy book birthday to these new releases! Check out this list today:
The grandchildren of two rival Brazilian bakeries fall in love despite their familiesโ feud.
Trust neither thin-bottomed frying pans nor Molinas.
Lari Ramires has always known this to be true. In Olinda, Brazil, her familyโs bakery, Salt, has been at war with the Molinasโ bakery across the street, Sugar, for generations. But Lariโs world turns upside down when her beloved grandmother passes away. On top of that, a big supermarket chain has moved to town, forcing many of the small businesses to close.
Determined to protect her home, Lari does the unthinkableโshe works together with Pedro Molina to save both of their bakeries. Lari realizes she might not know Pedro as well as she thoughtโand she maybe even likes what she learnsโbut the question remains: Can a Ramires and a Molina truly trust one another?
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Eight years ago, everything changed for Devlin: Her country was attacked. Her father was killed. And her mother became the Whisperer of Aris, the head of the spies, retreating into her position away from everyoneโฆ even her daughter.
Joining the spy ranks herself, Dev sees her mother only when receiving assignments. She wants more, but she understands the peril their country, Aris, is in. The malevolent magic force of The Mists is swallowing Arisโs edges, their country is vulnerable to another attack from their wealthier neighbor, and the magic casters who protect them from both are burning out.
Dev has known strength and survival her whole life, but with a dangerous new assignment of infiltrating the royal court of their neighbor country Cerena to steal the magic they need, she learns that not all that glitters is weak. And not all stories are true.
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Hemlock Falls isn’t like other towns. You won’t find it on a map, your phone won’t work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you.
Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie’s townโand the rest of humanityโfrom the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night.
Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyalโand restore her family’s good name. Or die trying.
But in order to survive, Winnie enlists the help of the one person who can help her train: Jay Friday, resident bad boy and Winnieโs ex-best friend. While Jay might be the most promising new hunter in Hemlock Falls, he also seems to know more about the nightmares of the forest than he should. Together, he and Winnie will discover a danger lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for.
Not all monsters can be slain, and not all nightmares are confined to the dark.
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In this โsinister, jaw-droppingโ (Sarah Penner, author of The Lost Apothecary) debut novel, a circle of researchers uncover a mysterious deck of tarot cards and shocking secrets in New Yorkโs famed Met Cloisters.
When Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, she expects to spend her summer working as a curatorial associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she finds herself assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its medieval art collection and its group of enigmatic researchers studying the history of divination.
Desperate to escape her painful past, Ann is happy to indulge the researchersโ more outlandish theories about the history of fortune telling. But what begins as academic curiosity quickly turns into obsession when Ann discovers a hidden 15th-century deck of tarot cards that might hold the key to predicting the future. When the dangerous game of power, seduction, and ambition at The Cloisters turns deadly, Ann becomes locked in a race for answers as the line between the arcane and the modern blurs.
A haunting and magical blend of genres,ย The Cloistersย is a gripping debut that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
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The author of The Charm Offensive returns with a festive romantic comedy about a woman who fakes an engagement with her landlordโฆonly to fall for his sister.
One year ago, recent Portland transplant Ellie Oliver had her dream job in animation and a Christmas Eve meet-cute with a woman at a bookstore that led her to fall in love over the course of a single night. But after a betrayal the next morning and the loss of her job soon after, she finds herself adrift, alone, and desperate for money.
Finding work at a local coffee shop, sheโs just getting through the daysโuntil Andrew, the shopโs landlord, proposes a shocking, drunken plan: a marriage of convenience that will give him his recent inheritance and alleviate Ellieโs financial woes and isolation. They make a plan to spend the holidays together at his family cabin to keep up the ruse. But when Andrew introduces his new fiancรฉe to his sister, Ellie is shocked to discover itโs Jackโthe mysterious woman she fell for over the course of one magical Christmas Eve the year before. Now, Ellie must choose between the safety of a fake relationship and the risk of something real.
Perfect for fans ofย Written in the Starsย andย One Day in December,ย Kiss Her Once for Meย is the queer holiday rom-com that youโll want to cozy up with next to the fire.
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Are you getting any new books this week?
Happy Reading!
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. Please check out her website for more TTT topics!
This weekโs topic is:
(These are villains, criminals, jerks, etc. that make you fall in love with them anyway, perhaps because they evolve by the end or theyโre secretly wonderful and have been all along.)
Who’s on your list of unlikable characters that you can’t help but love?
Here’s a tag I saw on Kristin Kraves Books and I think it’s the perfect book tag to celebrate Halloween. So I thought I’d try it out too! The tag wasย originally created by Kitย @ย Metaphors and Moonlight.
I don’t read books with pumpkin covers apparently! Had to google this one.
I Still love this book cover and how subtle the blood was to me at first glance. I just loved the pink cover!
I like moths but I feel like they are used a lot in creepy book covers – maybe because of Silence of the Lambs? We do have this huge month in Hawaii that is huge(2 hand spans huge) and when it’s late at night and you see them hanging out on the ceiling of your porch – it can be frightening! lol…in filipino culture we always say it’s the spirit of a deceased loved one that is visiting us if you see one.
Love the musical but I didn’t read this book. I remember when it was so popular though!
I can’t find a severed body part book cover for the life of me! So I’m going with Anatomy since it’s a book about medicine and they were doing surgery and cutting open bodies for science!
A book I still need to finish reading!
This has a very haunted house in it!
Another book I’ve never read but always wanted to.
I’m working on reading this one – I’m barely through chapter one. It seems like going to be an epic story though.
I read this book, but I do not remember this being one of the covers for it! The one I read had a paper heart on it! But this works for this book tag.
This isn’t a mask or costume but it totally could be!
I heard mixed reviews about this one but the cover looks creepy and the closest to orange and black that I could find.
This cover looks pretty creepy with those hands on her face.
I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween if you celebrate! What’s your favorite Halloween candy? For me it’s been Snickers and Twix. ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ
Happy Halloween to those that celebrate! We’re going to do our annual trick or treating and then pass out candy at our house. I think we are going to get a lot of trick or treaters this year. How about you?
My Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ๐ซ
Title: Tokyo Ever After (#1)
Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)
Author: Emiko Jean
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 5/17/21
Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Japanese Royalty, Contemporary, Teen
Izumi Tanaka has never really felt like she fit inโit isnโt easy being Japanese American in her small, mostly white, northern California town. Raised by a single mother, itโs always been Izumiโor Izzy, because โItโs easier this wayโโand her mom against the world. But then Izzy discovers a clue to her previously unknown fatherโs identityโฆ and heโs none other than the Crown Prince of Japan. Which means outspoken, irreverent Izzy is literally a princess.
In a whirlwind, Izzy travels to Japan to meet the father she never knew and discover the country she always dreamed of. But being a princess isnโt all ball gowns and tiaras. There are conniving cousins, a hungry press, a scowling but handsome bodyguard who just might be her soulmate, and thousands of years of tradition and customs to learn practically overnight.
Izzy soon finds herself caught between worlds, and between versions of herselfโback home, she was never โAmericanโ enough, and in Japan, she must prove sheโs โJapaneseโ enough. Will Izumi crumble under the weight of the crown, or will she live out her fairytale, happily ever after?
Content Warning:
I found this on kindle unlimited and thought I could use something different from my fantasy books. This totally reminded me of the movie “What a Girl Wants” with Colin Firth and Amanda Bynes! Do you remember it? American girl finds out her dad is like a wealthy guy in England and she goes to meet him? Anyway here’s what I thought about Tokyo Ever After:
+ It’s a fun trope – girl finds out she’s actually daughter of the Crown Prince of Japan! So she goes to finally meet him and learn about royalty life and try to get know her dad.
+ The setting of Japan and learning Japanese culture is wonderful. I love the mentions of the royal family, the food, different cities like Tokyo and Kyoto – Izumi gets a whirlwind introduction to her homeland plus learning princess duties on top of that. Mind you she’s only there for 2 weeks – so a lot happens.
+ Another fun trope in the book: princess falling for her bodyguard. Swoon! I thought their romance was so sweet as he starts off grumpy and she’s new to the country. They get to know each other more because of close proximity, but it moves fast and we get some stolen kisses and even a scandal in the story.
+~ Izumi is a teenager and when she leaves American to visit Japan, she tries to figure where she belongs. She doesn’t feel American enough in America, and doesn’t feel Japanese enough in Japan. So she really does her best, trying to figure those things and I think she does great. She has a great group of girlfriends who is always keeping her grounded.
~+ It’s a book definitely that will appeal to teens. Don’t know if it will appeal to older readers but I enjoyed it a lot, and I’m way older.
~ Whirlwind romance in two weeks means it’s insta-love but I don’t mind it. Just noting it for those who don’t like insta-love.
Tropes: girl learns she is a princess, princess falls for bodyguard, girl tries fitting in
Spice Level:
Why you should read it:
Why you might not want to read it:
My Thoughts:
I thought this story was entertaining and fun. I love the trope where the girl finds out she’s a princess! There are other fun tropes in this book as well. I’ll definitely read the next book!
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Aloha friends!
Well the week started off good! We went to a Halloween party my cousin was throwing at her condo – or the area behind her condo. My kids had some fun time with their cousins and ran all over the place. My cousin bought like all the Halloween games and kid activities from Target! We had a blast.
But then my daughter’s cold…came back. Day after the party she was congested and had a runny nose and then her cough came back. And then her brother got her cold two days after her. So it’s been lots of sneezing, runny nose and coughing again in my house. I’ve actually been lucky to not catch it myself even though my daughter coughs in my face all the time!
So will we actually be going on our East Coast trip in 2 weeks or is she going to have another cold? Seems like she has a cold every two weeks and my son gets it once a month. ๐ I will say she did better this time around and got better quicker? So I hope her immune system is getting stronger because it’s being bombarded with germs.
In other news my grandma, who lives in the Philippines turned 100 years old! My mom (it’s her mom) and dad left for the PI 2 weeks ago and will be there for another week. They planned a surprise birthday bash for it, which is exciting for all of them. I wish we could’ve gone but I did manage to facetime to wish her a happy birthday and she got to see my kids – even though the connection was bad.
I hope all of you had a good week and a wonderful week ahead of you! Happy Halloween to those who celebrated! ๐
So I fell into a reading slump for a few days – I think it was because my kids were sick again and I just felt tired. Anyway I did manage to finish two books at the end of the week. But I feel like my reading is slowing down as the busiest time of the year approaches.
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
Here is part 2 of the MidnighTS Book Tag and it’s the 3am edition – the extra songs that came out at 3am! I found it on Star is All Booked Up! Please check out the link to her blog to see the original book tag and prompts, there is a part 1 and part 2 if you want to try it out. Here is the 3am edition:
Kazi and Jase forever!
“I vowed I will always be yours” – Taylor Swift, The Great War
This book made me cry!
“Did some force take you because I didn’t pray?” – Taylor Swift, Bigger Than the Whole Sky
**my other favorite song**
Paris is nice, but I’d love to be in Positano eating all the pasta and cheese and enjoying the sun and sea!
“I’m so in love that I might stop breathing” – Taylor Swift, Paris
Such a love triangle between Belly, Conrad and Jeremiah!
“I didn’t know you were keeping count” – Taylor Swift, High Infidelity
A fun friends to lovers story!
” You don’t live in my part of town but maybe I’ll see you out some weekend” – Taylor Swift, Glitch
I enjoyed this book but damn…why the ending had to be so sad?! ๐
“I could’ve gone on as I was” – Taylor Swift, Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve
I love learning about mythologies from different cultures and this one tells us about the Mami Wata (mermaids) and West African mythology.
“Bend when you can” – Taylor Swift, Dear Reader
My favorites from the 3am edition are:
So what did you think of the whole album? And feel free to do this tag and link back to the creator of the book tag!
My Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ๐ซ
Title: That Dark Infinity
Author: Kate Pentecost
Format: hard cover (own)
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 10/18/21
Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Adventure, Lite Horror, Paranormal
By night, the Ankou is a legendary, permanently young mercenary. By day, a witch’s curse leaves him no more than bones. Caught in an unending cycle of death and resurrection, the Ankou wants only to find the death that has been prophesied for him, especially once he begins to rot while he’s still alive….
After the kingdom of Kaer-Ise is sacked, Flora, loyal handmaiden to the princess, is assaulted and left for dead. As the sole survivor of the massacre, Flora wants desperately to find the princess she served. When the Ankou agrees to help her find the princess, and to train her in exchange for her help in breaking his curse, she accepts. But how can she kill an immortal? Especially one whom she is slowly growing to understandโand maybe even to love?
Together, they will solve mysteries, battle monsters, break curses, and race not only against time, but against fate itself.
Content Warning: gory scenes, death, rape, assault, violence
I’ve had this one on my shelf for half the year and wanted to read it during spooky season. Here’s what I thought:
+ My favorite thing about this book was the creative world-building. There are monsters, different kingdoms, an awkward but efficient monster slayer, automatons and even a tiny bit of romance.
+ The characters are great! We have the Ankou, Lazarus, who is cursed to be a monster slayer. I loved how awkward he was outside of monster slaying. Flora has gone through so much – she lost her best friend, her position as a ladies maid and her innocence in one violent event. The friendship she builds with Lazarus is careful – I love how he gives her space and the friendship grows into something more but it’s never the focus of the story. And then there is Antonais who is a lightning mage and helps them on their quest to break Lazarus curse. He is a fun character who is into everything science and engineering.
+ I loved the darkness of the story. I don’t feel like the story itself was dark in a scary way, it just had dark themes but I felt like the writing was light-hearted and lyrical. Lazarus turns into a skeleton every night, which is kinda awesome. A lot of the descriptions got gory but never in a spooky way – hence why I dubbed it lite horror. I also loved all the action of fighting different monsters on their quest, that was fun.
~ Pacing was a bit off at times. For example, Lazarus is going to train Flora to fight and I swear it took one page of training and she was deemed proficient (yes time goes by…but quickly!). Also…there was modern day humor to the dialogue and the characters which was kind of strange but I went with it!
~ Also, Lazarus wants to break his curse, and Flora wants to know what happened to her best friend Beth and if she escaped the massacre. Flora’s goal kind of gets pushed aside – maybe because their goals were intertwined but I felt like we could have gotten more of Flora’s thoughts. She suffered through a lot. I just felt like she forgot she was looking for Beth at times. Maybe I just needed more of her perspective.
~+ There isn’t much to the romance – it’s barely there which is a good thing if you are there for the quest and action scenes. The romance happens basically at the ending and I did love how they went from companions to friends to lovers. It’s very sweet when you think about it.
Tropes: quest, monster slayer, girl who overcomes trauma, found family
Spice Level:
Why you should read it:
Why you might not want to read it:
My Thoughts:
This was the perfect read for spooky season! The story is about a monster slayer who basically hates his job but is so good at it – he wants the curse to be over. Then there is Flora who has been seriously traumatized by a horrific event and has lost everything but she gains back strength, and love. There is a quest, lots of adventure and monster slaying and a happy ending. Only thing that threw me off at times was the pacing but overall and enjoyable story!
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