Books Under the Tree Book Tag

I saw this on AceReader‘s blog and thought it was a fun Christmas theme post to do since I don’t think I did any holiday posts yet – and with Christmas a day away…let’s try this one out!

1. What book would you like to find under the tree this year?

I don’t usually get book gifts under the tree but this would make a great collection to my Cruel Prince series!

2. What is the best book you have ever received for Christmas?

Like I said, I don’t get many book gifts so I’ll say…the book my mother-in-law got me…

3. What book gives you all the Christmas feels?

I read this last year and it was super cute – lots of family Christmas vibes and romance of course.🥰

4. What book do you plan on reading to put you in the Christmas spirit this year?

I honestly have no plans to read a book to put me in the Christmas spirit this year…lol…I did read the In a Holidaze arc but that was months ago. And I didn’t join any winter blog tours this year, just didn’t have the energy!

5. What book have you read this year that you would like to throw out with the Christmas tree after the holidays?

I have a fake tree so I don’t toss a tree out after the holidays 😅 but this one right now is trying my patience and might end up a DNF, which is rare for me! I love the cover but I think I expected something else? It’s not for me.

6. What is a book from this year that you would like to place under a friend’s tree?

I would gift this to a few people ~ it’s an inspiring story!

7. Challenge: Create a stack of books in which the spines alternate green and red! Share the titles.

I’m tagging whoever wants to do this tag! Well here we are, one more day until Christmas and I hope those of you who do get books under the tree get all the ones you have been wishing for. 😘

Happy Holidays! 🎄 ~ Yolanda

To Whatever End | ARC Review

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

Title: To What Ever End

Author: Lindsey Frydman

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 3/2/20

Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary, Paranormal

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

What if with every person you met, after just one touch, you have a vision of the last time you’ll see each other? Ever. Normally, these visions are innocent—two friends just drifting apart, a random stranger that brushed past you then never crossed your path again.

But not today.

When I accidentally touch him, within only moments of our first meeting, I’m bombarded by visions of his death.

And from what I can see, I’m the reason he dies.

Now I just need to figure out why, and how to stop this from happening. Because not only am I to blame, but his very last words to me are…I love you.

  • I wasn’t sure what to expect from reading the synopsis but I was pleasantly surprised at how the mystery kept me engaged in the story. Quinn is cursed with visions when she touches someone. She can see how she and that person comes to an end, like her last memory with them. Quinn meets Griffin and her vision of him is not good so she tries to stay away, but that’s hard to do when they run into each other again.
  • Now that she has this vision, Quinn needs to decide to either stay away from him or maybe someone change the future. But can she change the future? Is Griffin worth it? She thinks so.
  • Not only does Quinn have to figure out how to change Griffin’s future, someone is harassing her and Griffin with threatening actions and notes. Is it something from Griffin’s past or Quinn’s?
  • The romance is instant, but I think it develops nicely where Quinn and Griffin get to know each other over dinner and coffee before things get serious.
  • Triggers: stalking, violence, grieving
  • Even though the mystery kept me engaged, you could pretty much connect the dots and see what was coming.
  • I’d like to know more about the curse. We know it’s in her family, her mom had it and her grandmother does too, but it seems they have it in different degrees? I didn’t really connect to any of the characters.

I think the premise of the story was interesting and kept me engaged with the added mystery and thriller aspect. I would have liked to know more about Quinn’s abilities and maybe not have the story be so predictable. I think there will be many readers that enjoy this paranormal romance mystery story.

💜 ~ Yolanda

Top Ten Tuesday | 12/22/20

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 week’s topic is:

Books I Hope Santa Brings

I only get book gifts from my mother-in-law usually! So I usually do my own book gifting to myself haha. I can’t think of 10 since I just bought a few on my kindle app, but here are 5 that I’d like to get next:

The only one I’ve read in this list is These Violent Delights and it was as an arc so I’d love to have the physical copy on my shelf. I’m in love with the cover.

What book gifts do you want this Christmas?

🎁 ~ Yolanda

The Fallout | Book Review

My Review: 3.5/5 Stars

Title: The Fallout (Dominion of Ash, #3)

Author: Frost Kay

Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: 277

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

An ENEMIES TO LOVERS post-apocalyptic fantasy perfect for fans of Cruel Prince, Skyward, and Hunger Games.

She should’ve died. She didn’t.

Reborn into a damaged, depraved world is nothing short of a nightmare. In an instant, every hope Hazel harbors for the future disappears along with her humanity, leaving her with overprotective guarding and a useless mutation.

With war brewing between Humans, the Tainted, and a new unknown enemy, she’s forced to pick a side before the world implodes once more and she loses everyone she loves.

Sacrifice is never painless. 

  • It’s been awhile since I read the last book, so I liked how easily I got into this one. Hazel was bit in book two and in this book she is trying to survive the change her body is going through. Looks like she isn’t going to make it but she’s a fighter.
  • This book is about Hazel’s struggle to accept the new changes happening to her body and her life as a Tainted. I love that she has Noah’s grandmother, Matt and the kitsune to help her with it.
  • Noah ‘s POV was nice to have! He wants Hazel but he doesn’t push it which is nice. He gives her the space he needs.
  • World Building ~ We learn more about the Chosen’s plans to go to war with the Tainted. I always found this world in Dominion of Ash very fascinating because of the virus that changes people.
  • This book is too short, it’s under 300 pages! I wish there was more…

I enjoy this series a lot, I kind of wish this one was a few pages longer. But I’ll definitely be continuing with the series when the next books come out. If you aren’t the patient kind, then I suggest you wait before starting this series because they are quick reads.

💛 ~Yolanda

Unleashed | Book Review

My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Title: Unleashed (Unspoken, #3)

Author: Celia McMahon

Format: eBook (own)

Pages: 440

Categories: Fantasy, Young Adult, Wolves, Magic

“I will claim my victory with claws and teeth and steel.”

In the wake of her battle to protect the Den, Izzy has crossed back into Stormwall to enact her plan with the former prince, Ashe, to retake the kingdom from within. Only weeks go by with no word from the prince and Izzy is faced once again with Ashe’s betrayal. She is forced to make alternate plans with a group of rebels to kill both king and prince.

But the world has always bent at odd angles for the wolf-princess. On the day of their battle, things don’t go as planned and Izzy finds herself once again fighting for her life and friends. In the chaos that follows, Izzy and her rebels lose Stormwall into the hands of the Gwylis.

When Izzy discovers that the king had been turning children into wolves, she embarks on a journey that will take her deeper into Mirosa to both save innocent lives and continue her brother Henry’s take of breaking the Gwylis curse. While battling her own demons, her friends have continued the path of their own destinies, each weaving together for one final battle. With the Uncanny’s power growing stronger there is more at stake than ever. Amidst demons and gods, Izzy must aim to break apart the world she knew, to build something even better in its place. A kingdom without demons or wolves. A new kingdom.

  • Aesthetics ~ once again, such amazing cover art work for this whole Unspoken series. Consistently beautiful and the color scheme is great.
  • World Building ~ great world building throughout the series and this time we get to know more about the history about the Gwylis curse. We even get a glimpse of the demons and Gods playing havoc with the lives of humans.
  • Friendship and Family ~ Izzy and Ashe’s relationship is everything to me in this story. It’s a story about forgiveness and trust. I think it was my favorite part of the story because I didn’t know what to expect out of Ashe’s role from book two. As far as Fray…he is lost without Izzy and is so stubborn and faithless. He learns to believe in the pack again, but it takes a lot for him to get there.
  • This one is faster paced than book two and darker which I enjoyed. Izzy and Fray are separated but I like that they have their own individual journeys to take, no matter how scary or painful. Izzy I feel grows a lot, and her character needed that growth because I always felt she was kind of selfish – always thinking she could do things alone. I loved the sacrifices at the end that came from Izzy, Ashe and even Fray.
  • Triggers: grief, violence
  • I know Izzy and Fray are fated mates, but honestly, with how much progress she and Ashe go through together in this book, I was team Ashe! Haha…but I know, I know, their friendship is the strongest part about them. Still, I was hoping.
  • I know being a Gwylis was a curse, but I loved that they were shape shifters. Kind of bummed that they were trying to undo it all but I understand why they did it.
  • A noticeable typo that made me pause and reread a sentence near the end.

This was a good conclusion to a creative story about a curse that turned humans into wolves. Izzy goes from a princess to a powerful Gwylis, to someone who realizes what really matters to her in the end. The main characters go through so many experiences in this book, they truly were Unleashed. Overall I enjoyed this series and if you like stories about wolves, you may enjoy this one as well.

🐺 ~ Yolanda

Among the Beasts & Briars | Book Review

My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Title: Among the Beasts & Briars

Author: Ashley Poston

Format: eBook (borrowed)

Pages: 352

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fairytale, Romance

Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya.

Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden. Cerys knows this all too well: when she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse—the magic—in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything. The most danger she faces now, as a gardener’s daughter, is the annoying fox who stalks the royal gardens and won’t leave her alone.

As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions the small fox from the garden, a strange and powerful bear, and the magic in her veins. It’s up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home. But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it’s going to take everything she has just to survive.

  • World Building ~ this book is told like a fairytale. It’s so light, magical, and full of fantastical things like a fox that turns into a boy. It has villains, a mysterious wild wood, a legend about a kind and so forth. All of it worked beautiful to me. There are two kingdoms, separated by the wildwoods. And in these woods are scary creatures like the ancients and bone-eaters and a fog so thick it’s easy to get lost in.
  • Characters ~ we have Cerys/Daisy a gardener’s daughter with a touch of wild magic in her. A fox, who becomes a boy. A villain who wasn’t always one. I love Cerys and Fox’s relationship even though Fox had to do some soul searching. Their romance was sweet, it was barely anything until the end, so I liked seeing them bicker as friends do. Fox might be my favorite character in the book because he is so conflicted but with good reason.
  • I love how whimsical the story is – but it did have it’s dark parts especially when dealing with the ancients and bone-eaters. I enjoyed it all! The story felt like it was a combination of Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty mashed together (without the sleeping parts, just the briars). For me it was about pure escape!
  • We get a happy ending…and maybe a sequel? I’m here for it if we get a story about Seren and the Lady of the Wilds.
  • This story is like a fairytale and so if you are looking for a heavy detailed ya fantasy, this is definitely not it. It seems like it’s made for teen readers (has some profanity in it), and I don’t usually enjoy teen fantasy and gravitate more towards mature YA or NA but I found this one was really fun to read!

I didn’t know what to expect with this book because I borrowed it mostly due to it’s beautiful cover art! I was pleasantly surprised when I couldn’t put the book down. I was swept away in this magical world with a girl and a fox trying to save the people she loves. If you like light young adult fantasy stories that read like a fairytale, you may enjoy this one.

🦊 ~ Yolanda

Aloha Friday | 12/18/20

Another week over but my son is finally on winter break – hooray! Christmas is in a few days, are you done with Christmas shopping? Or do you usually shop last minute?

This was my week!

New Books Acquired:

NetGalley~

Amazon Unlimited~

Amazon Kindle Deals~

I can’t believe this trilogy was on sale for only $2.99! 😱

TV, Movies, Etc…:

  • The Prom on Netflix ~ ugh…am I hormonal? It made me tear up at the end. I can’t believe the character Alyssa who is played by Ariana DeBose is the bullet in Hamilton. I was like…wait, that’s her?! She has an amazing voice in The Prom. And the actress who plays Emma, Jo Ellen Pellman, has such talent too. I look forward to see what they do next! Honestly, the whole cast did great and hello Meryl Streep 👑, Nicole Kidman (give it some zazz!) and Kerry Washington made me cry at the end. 👏🏼👏🏼 I loved the storyline, the dance numbers and music. It made me happy!
  • Tiny Pretty Things on Netflix ~ I never read the books. 🤦🏻‍♀️ As for the show…it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting! It’s a soapy sexy young adult ballet drama, it’s a mess…it’s VERY dramatic. It is dark, has lots of nudity (mostly backsides though), lots of sex scenes (straight and gay), body dysmorphia, drug use, abuse, scandal, sexual harassment, racism, sex trafficking and there is a crime mystery too. Sooo many triggers. And what is the age of these ballerinas? Are they over 18? Because if they aren’t the whole teacher/student affair thing is gross.😫 Honestly without knowing much of the story I first assumed they were college age but I’m not sure. To top it off, the acting is not the best (I struggled through episodes) but I give them credit for using real dancers though because those parts are really beautiful. I love when Oren and Neveah dance together, they are stunning together. I couldn’t binge it straight through because of the acting and all the unnecessary sex scenes, but thank goodness for the skip button. I get it, it’s supposed to be racy but I wanted more of the story instead. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Adulting:

  • son’s projects are DONE! And hooray for winter break!
  • I haven’t poured resin and crafted in a whole week which was seriously NICE. We shall see if I continue with it or go back to hand stamping metal or a new craft! Something that takes up less space to make haha. I’m always ready to learn something new.

How was your week? Stay safe out there.

🎄 ~ Yolanda

Moon Claimed | Book Review

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

Title: Moon Claimed (Werewolf Dens, #2)

Author: Kelly St. Clare

Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: 344

Categories: New Adult, Urban Fantasy, Werewolves, Romance

The pack of lies continues.

My mother isn’t my mother.
A werewolf wants me for his one-and-only baby mama
Oh! And I’m the new leader of a tribe I joined weeks ago.

Messed up doesn’t begin to explain it.

I’m more desperate than ever to uncover an explanation for Mum’s mounting betrayals. Because this time, I’m not sure forgiveness is possible.

But the mating meets with Sascha must continue if I want to escape our bond for good. An entire tribe is relying on me to win a centuries-old game against freakin’ shifters. And at this point, well… I have a few secrets of my own.

Keeping them is the new game.

Would you confess the truth and risk forfeiting the one person you have left?

  • Andie embracing her wolf is the best part of this book, because it was inevitable and we know she’s going to end up with Sascha, it’s just too many things are so complicated. But she can’t fight it much longer.
  • Sascha is so patient with Andie – like seriously. He wants her but he will let her decide in the end and I’m glad. Andie has a lot of issues to work through and she has no choice but to deal with now after the ending of this sequel.
  • Wade is ride or die for Andie and she’s lucky to have him. He really listens and has her back.
  • This is supposed to be a quick read but it took me days to finish because I wasn’t feeling it, so it was more like a 2 star read for me but I know Andie needs to go through some challenges to break through her wall so she definitely grows in this one. The first book was much more intriguing, but now I don’t even care why they have to play this game. It seems pointless to me right now.
  • Rhona has a right to be seriously mad at Andie. Andie is lying (wayyyy to much) to protect Rhona but she just lost her dad, she’s going through a tough time on top of her sister lying to her. I just wish she confessed earlier, but the drama was dragged on until her relationship with Rhona broke. Sad. I was tired of Andie in this one.
  • This one made me question if I was more team vampire than team werewolves haha. Like…I don’t think I’m enjoying this wolf story as much as the vampire story she did previously. So…🤷🏻‍♀️.

I’m bummed this one didn’t hold my attention but I’m still going to read book three just to see how things pan out with Rhona and Andie. It’s obvious Andie and Sascha are fated mates so I’m not worried about that. But for me the story is Rhona and Andie. They are family and I hope things can be fixed between them.

🖤 ~ Yolanda

WWW Wednesday | 12/16/20

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 W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

What about you? ☺️ ~ Yolanda

Top Ten Tuesday | 12/15/20

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 week’s topic is:

Books On My Winter 2020-2021 TBR

I have a bunch of NetGalley arcs to get through this Winter so you can see I’m not reading many new releases unless I have time to fit them in. I’m trying to get through books on my shelf that have been sitting there neglected haha, so I need to read them before buying any more new books.

What’s on your Winter TBR?

💕 ~ Yolanda