The Half King by. Melissa Landers | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: The Half King (#1)

Author: Meliisa Landers

Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: 409

Publication Date: 11/19/24

Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books

Categories: Young Adult, New Adult, Fantasy, Romance

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

Thank you to Entangled: Red Tower Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A king by day. Shadow by night…

The Great Betrayal changed everything for the Allied Realm. Long ago, the kingdom’s noble houses rose up against the goddess… and for their treachery, the firstborn of each noble family was cursed.

One with perilous beauty.
One with destructive knowledge.
One with insatiable bloodlust.

But the royal house Mortara received the worst affliction of all. For while the king exists during the day, he fades into nothingness at night…until his twenty-first birthday, when he will be lost to the shadows forever.

Now an acolyte has arrived at court. Like all the second-born children of the Allied Realm, she’s destined to serve the goddess and become a Seer…only Cerise Solon has no gift of foretelling. In fact, she has no magical gift at all.

Instead, she’s surrounded by courtiers and priests—smiling sycophants whose hearts are filled with secrets and lies. And at the center of it all sits His Majesty Kian Hannibal Mortara, with his haunting eyes, sharp tongue, and an unerring ability to send her pulse skittering at the worst possible moments.

Falling for him is unthinkable. Because the king is the last of his line, and as the specter of his twenty-first birthday—and the full force of his curse—approaches, the kingdom holds its breath.

But there’s only one way to save a dying king… and it lies with the one person who’s hiding the biggest secret of all. Cerise.

Content Warning: violence, self-harm, death

Cerise is a second born acolyte who’s powers haven’t manifested yet and it seems like anyone who’s tried to “see” her path hasn’t been successful at doing so. So she’s sent to the Mortara kingdom to serve the king, Kian. He’s a half-king because he is solid in human form by day, and shadows by night.

I thought the world-building was really interesting. Their allied realm worships a goddess Shiera, but an event happened that cursed the people. Kian’s curse is to turn into shadow until one day he disappears altogether. But Cerise and Kian’s best friend, Daerick, are trying a way to break all curses. They made a good team and I thought with Kian in their group they were a pretty funny trio. Their investigation takes them on a quest filled with magic, danger, and some romance.

Cerise, was an interesting main character. She is sunshine personified – talk about someone who never really let things get her down. She came off as naive at times but I liked her heart and that she was not afraid to love. I’m so used to reading about strong females, that Cerise was kind of refreshing because it kept this story sort of light-hearted, in a way. There are dark times and themes in the book, especially with the priests at Mortara who self-harm themselves or believe in women having less power, but I like that she questioned things even though her faith in her religion was very strong.

The romance starts off slow, but there is a steamy scene and yes they both fall fast for one another but I felt like their romance fit the story. There isn’t too much drama between them and if there is, it’s solved with communication.

I liked how the story was questioning religion, and making certain choices. I also love the twist at the end that I wasn’t expecting.

I categorized this as YA and NA mostly because it felt like a YA book but the sex scene pushes it into NA. But there were a lot of times in this book I felt like it was very young adult. Maybe because of Cerise’s naivety? She acts young, as does Daerick and Kian but they ARE young (Kian is just shy his 21st birthday!) so it makes sense. I think I was hoping for them to act a bit older.

Final Thoughts:

This was a pretty quick read filled with mystery, romance, friendships, a quest, and a twist. I thought Cerise as miss sunshine was the perfect compliment to Kian’s shadow self. I do wish at times the characters were older but it wasn’t a huge issue. I look forward to reading the next book.

Find me here: Instagram (bookstagram📚) | Instagram (crafts🎨) | Twitter (X) | Etsy (Shop)

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Weekly Wrap Up | 11/24/24

Aloha friends!

It was a long weekend that continued into a long week but it is what it is. I did most of my Christmas shopping this weekend – YAY! Just a few more to go, but those are gift cards. I even had enough motivation to put up the tree. I actually had to buy a new tree, because our old one was not looking fluffy anymore haha. I got one at 50% at Target and it’s pre-lit! We love it.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Goodreads Monday: The Half King by. Melissa Landers
Oldest (aka Earliest Published) Books On My TBR | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 11/19/24
WWW Wednesday | 11/20/24
The Whispering Night by. Susan Dennard | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
The Songbird & the Heart of Stone by. Carissa Broadbent| ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
First Lines Fridays – Can You Guess What Book? | 11/22/24
Hate Mail by. Donna Marchetti | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Books I Read:

Hate Mail by. Donna Marchetti
The Starlight Heir by. Amalie Howard
The Half King by. Melissa Landers

Currently Reading:

What the Woods Took by. Courtney Gould
Bloodguard by. Cecy Robson

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

NFL – football
Oppenheimer (Prime Video) – I finally watched this one and it was a little long, but I can see why Cillian Murphy won an Oscar. I love Christopher Nolan movies.
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Prime Video) – I have been looking for something cute and funny to watch and Netflix had nothing so I found this on Prime! I love this movie!
The Ugly Truth (Prime Video) – I guess I’m in a rom-com phase? I forgot how funny this one is also.

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!

Hate Mail by. Donna Marchetti | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Hate Mail

Author: Donna Marchetti

Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: 355

Publication Date: 3/14/24

Categories: Romance, Contemporary, Penpals, New Adult

Naomi and Luca have been pen-pals since fifth-grade. Well, more like bitter rivals caught in an epic battle of insults and verbal jousting…

But what starts as a hilarious chain of hate filled letters, slowly develops into a friendship spanning coasts and years. That is until one day, years later, when the letters suddenly stop.

It’s been two years since Naomi last heard from Luca. Two years since the letter that changed everything.

But when a new envelope turns up out of the blue at her desk at the local news station, Naomi is determined not to let Luca have the final word.

Content Warning: stalking

I’ve been seeing this all over my Amazon page and it was on Kindle Unlimited so I decided to read it. Here are my thoughts:

Likes:

+ Penpals! Do people still do that? I’m old enough that people did that back in the day. I thought how Luca and Naomi wrote letters to each was so funny because they were both so mean to one another. I love their dedication to trolling one another for years! Like why were some of their insults so dark?

+ Yes, Naomi gets into a bit of stalker behavior trying to find out what Luca’s address. I don’t think I would ever fly all over the USA to find info on a guy, but I thought her relationship with her bestie, Anne, who joins her on these adventures is so much fun! I like that we get to see their work relationship and friendship.

+ The romance, after all the wild stuff taking place, is actually really cute. It’s an enemies to lovers romance, sort of You’ve Got Mail-ish (minus the emails) – I love that this was all done with snail mail. I mean, who writes letters anymore?! So I love that it was featured in this book. Obviously, there was a lot these two had to work out once they realized what was happening but I liked the way it turned out.

Dislikes:

~ There was a point where Luca’s stalking behavior was creeping me out. I mean, they lived at the same complex! Obviously, he knew her and if he just actually told her who he was from the get go, so many of this drama would have been avoided. I know, she was the same and the whole flying to different cities to find out more about him was stalker-ish too but I think hers was genuine curiosity!

Final Thoughts:

This was a quick read and I enjoyed it, minus some of Luca’s behavior with the not-telling-her-the- truth-right-away part. Overall, I thought it was cute that two penpals who basically hated one another since they were kids, found one another like it was fate for them to meet.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

First Lines Fridays – Can You Guess What Book? | 11/22/24

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

“Power has a certain taste to it.”

⬇️

⬇️

Can you guess what book it is?

Vilest Things by. Chloe Gong

Did you guess it? Have you read this one?

📖 ~ Yolanda

The Songbird & the Heart of Stone by. Carissa Broadbent| ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: The Songbird & the Heart of Stone (Crowns of Nyaxia, #3)

Author: Carissa Broadbent

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 448

Publication Date: 11/19/24

Publisher: Bramble

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Series, Vampires, Gods

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

Thank you to Bramble for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

New York Times bestselling author and BookTok sensation Carissa Broadbent returns with a brand new novel in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, Songbird and the Heart of Stone, where A Court of Thorns and Roses meets Dante’s Inferno, in an epic fantasy romance of love and treachery between mortals and gods.

Mische lost everything when she was forcibly Turned into a vampire—her home, her humanity, and most devastating of all, the love of the sun god to whom she had devoted her life. Now, sentenced to death for murdering the vampire prince who turned her, redemption feels impossible.

But when Mische is saved by Asar, the bastard prince of the House of Shadow with a past as brutal as his scars, she’s forced into a mission worse than execution: a journey to the underworld to resurrect the god of death himself.

Yet, Mische’s punishment may be the key to her salvation. In a secret meeting, her sun god commands her to help Asar in his mission, only to betray him… by killing the god of death.

Mische and Asar must travel the treacherous path to the underworld, facing trials, beasts, and the vengeful ghosts of their pasts. Yet, most dangerous of all is the alluring call of the darkness—and her forbidden attraction to Asar, a burgeoning bond that risks invoking the wrath of gods.

As her betrayal looms, the underworld closes in, and angry gods are growing restless. Mische will be forced to choose between the redemption of the sun or the damnation of the darkness.

Content Warning: death, violence, grooming

I love this series and was so surprised there was going to be a book three but I am so happy there is and that I was gifted an arc! Once I saw I was approved I had to push all books aside and read it. Here are my thoughts:

Likes:

Did I read this in two days? Yes I did! More like a day and a half because I was hooked but in a different way from how I was addicted to the first two books in this series. This is Mische’s story, Raihn’s best-friend/charge, and I was so intrigued about her. Whereas, the first two books was a story about the different vampire houses and had an intense trial – this book is about Mische’s upbringing with worshipping a God and how that worship shaped her life. There isn’t a trial in this story but a very big, dangerous quest which is filled with the dead and other monsters in the path to the underworld.
Mische was groomed as a young child to love and please a God and now that she’s a vampire she is questioning her self-worth and dealing with the dualities inside of her – the powers of both a Shadow vampire and a Dawndrinker who is devoted to Atroxus. I actually love how the author exposes her devotion to supposedly something good and show how in actuality it was harming her. It’s a toxic relationship she has with her God. What I like about Mische is her optimism and sunshine quality even if she’s only faking it to make it. She has some deep seated self-hatred and guilt festering inside her and that was sad to see.
Asar has an interesting history also – the bastard heir of the House of Shadow vampire king. He is the grumpy to Mische’s sunshine. He’s quiet, sarcastic, and has had a difficult upbringing as well as some traumas that have shaped him. He and Mische understand guilt and wanting redemption so badly, it consumes them. I like how he helped show Mische how the love for her God was harming her.
It’s such a slow, slow burn, I was craving for a nugget of romance in the beginning but this one is a slow build and I honestly didn’t mind because of the quest Asar and Mische is carrying out which is filled with so much action and danger. But when the romance finally presents itself, it’s good! I love them together.
There is a lot of background story about Mische’s past, Asar’s past and Nyaxia’s past! I find this world so fascinating and was very hooked to every detail of it. I love how the Descent is the way to the Underworld – it’s filled with spirits, monsters, wraiths, and it is filled with danger. This world keeps growing and I love it.

Dislikes:

I wanted more romance but I also liked that this wasn’t an insta-love kind of deal. They actually work as partners (even though technically they are enemies), the romance isn’t the main thing in this story, and I was surprised I didn’t mind it but by the midway point I wanted more flirting – but that’s just me.
Their quest takes them into the Descent which is the in-between space between the mortal world and the underworld. The door to the Descent is a house that is sentient, called Morthryn, but there are times where I was easily confused as to where the characters were. They always find their way back to Morthryn but sometimes I was disoriented trying to figure out where they were.
This is clearly an ARC copy and with that said, there were many typos which will probably get corrected in the final publication but it did trip me up a few times while reading.

My Thoughts:

This being Mische’s story, I felt like it was a very true Mische story. Her sunshine personality shines through even in the darkest parts of Morthryn and the Descent and that’s what I adore about her. That even with all the things she’s gone through from being groomed by a God, turning into a vampire, losing the people she loves and now being away from her friends, warring with her self-worth and questioning her path – she is able to survive and keeps going. This one is filled with so much action, darkness and light, more world-building, a super slow burn of a romance and then that ending cliffhanger! I’ll be counting the days until the next book!

Find me here: Instagram (bookstagram📚) | Instagram (crafts🎨) | Twitter (X) | Etsy (Shop)

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Six Scorched Roses by. Carissa Broadbent | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King by. Carissa Broadbent | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by. Carissa Broadbent | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Whispering Night by. Susan Dennard | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: The Whispering Night (The Luminaries, #3)

Author: Susan Dennard

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 11/19/24

Publisher: Tor Teen

Categories: Young Adult, Series, Urban Fantasy, Romance

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

Thank you to Tor Teen for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The forest is more dangerous than ever in this highly-anticipated, pulse-pounding, and swoon-worthy conclusion to the bestselling Luminaries trilogy.

Winnie Wednesday’s future is looking bright. Hemlock Falls is no longer hunting the werewolf, she and Erica Thursday are tentative friends, and Winnie finally knows exactly where she stands with Jay Friday.

With everything finally on track, Winnie is looking forward to the Nightmare Masquerade, a week-long celebration of all things Luminary. But as Luminaries from across the world flock to the small town, uninvited guests also arrive. Winnie is confronted by a masked Diana and charged with an impossible task—one that threatens everything and everyone Winnie loves.

As Winnie fights to stop new enemies before time runs out, old mysteries won’t stop intruding. Her missing father is somehow entangled with her search for hidden witches, and as Winnie digs deeper into the long-standing war between the Luminaries and the Dianas, she discovers rifts within her own family she never could have imagined.

What does loyalty mean when family and enemies look the same?

Content Warning: violence

I have finally finished this series! Here is the last book in the trilogy and here are my thoughts:

Likes:

+ Winnie and Erica work together finally which was nice to see. Winnie is thrown into the spotlight in this book and I liked that for her. There is more growth for her character.

+ I think a lot of questions were answered especially about the Dianas. There was a lot of action too but mostly in the second half.

+ When Jay was in the book, I thought he and Winnie were the sweetest couple. I just wish there was more of them but I know she had to have her personal journey.

Dislikes:

~ I felt this one was slow in the first half, kind of like book two, and then it picks up. But it took me awhile to get into this one, unfortunately. This one is mostly mystery in the beginning and just not something that was hooking me.

~ Jay mostly appears in the second half, which again, I wish he was there throughout the book. I was missing him and Winnie together.

Final Thoughts:

I loved book one of this series, but by this third book, I feel like I aged out of the series? If that makes sense. I do think the people who loved books one and two will love this third book! It’s a great conclusion.

Find me here: Instagram (bookstagram📚) | Instagram (crafts🎨) | Twitter (X) | Etsy (Shop)

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read By This Author:

The Luminaries by.Susan Dennard | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Hunting Moon by. Susan Dennard | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

WWW Wednesday | 11/20/24

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?

It’s been a busy week so far! I had no time to read on Sunday and Monday because I was driving all over the place (uber mom and daughter status lol). I did manage to read at the end of last week but this week, not so much yet. I’m hoping to finish What the Woods Took and then maybe some of the Kindle Unlimited titles I borrowed yesterday, Hate Mail and The Half King. We’ll see if I can get to them!

What are you currently reading?

Bloodguard by. Cecy Robson (KU) – 3% – not much progress

What the Woods Took by. Courtney Gould (arc) – 31%

The Lotus Shoes by. Jane Yang (arc) – 1% just started this one

What have you just finished reading?

Dating and Dragons by. Kristy Boyce ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Rival by. Emma Lord ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Last Fashion House in Paris by. Renee Ryan ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Everything I Promised You by. Katy Upperman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What are you going to read next?

The Starlight Heir by. Amalie Howard (arc)
Lies on the Serpents Tongue by. Kate Purcell (arc)
Breath of the Dragon by. Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee (arc)
Hate Mail by. Donna Marchetti (Kindle Unlimited)
The Half King by. Melissa Landers (Kindle Unlimited)

What are you reading right now?

Oldest (aka Earliest Published) Books On My TBR | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 11/19/24

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:

Oldest (aka Earliest Published) Books On My TBR

I just recently cleared up my Goodreads list but I’m not done yet. So here are Some of the oldest published books on my list. They aren’t really old, except for maybe one of them.

All The Light We Cannot See by. Anthony Doerr – published 5/6/2014

A Darker Shade of Magic by. V.E. Schwab – published 2/24/2015

The Hating Game by. Sally Thorne – published 9/9/2016

The Bone Season by. Samantha Shannon – published 8/20/2013

Sky Beyond the Storm by. Sabaa Tahir – published 12/1/2020

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by. Tahereh Mafi – published 10/16/2018

The Harp of Kings by. Juliet Marillier – published 9/3/2019

The Eyes of Tamburah by. Maria V. Snyder – published 6/17/2019

Twice in a Blue Moon by. Christina Lauren – published 10/22/2019

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by. Stephen Chbosky – published 2/1/1999

What’s on your TTT?

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Goodreads Monday: The Half King by. Melissa Landers

Happy Monday!

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme where you chose a random book from your Goodreads TBR and show it off. This meme is hosted by Budget Tales Book Blog.

Title: The Half King

Author: Melissa Landers

Pages: 512

Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Publication Date: 11/19/24

Synopsis:

Do you have plans to read this book? Let me know in the comments below!

Weekly Wrap Up | 11/17/24

Aloha friends!

I got to eat lunch with my daughter at school on Wednesday because it’s National Lunch Week – and whew…the chaos of the cafeteria lol. It was nice to meet some of her classmates and see who was who. Other than that the week went by way too slowly I feel, even with our day off on Veteran’s day. I did get some Christmas gift wrapping done! Woohoo!

My hubby comes back in 3 weeks (hopefully, still needs to get his plane ticket) but we are excited! He does come back with some new furniture which means we have to get rid of things or move things around. But it’ll be nice to finally have him home.

Today I’m going to brunch with 2 friends I haven’t seen in awhile, so that will be nice!

And by the way WordPress gave me a notification congratulating me for 6 years on WordPress – WOW. 🤯. Thanks for sticking by me and reading my blog – I didn’t even realize 6 years has passed. I thought I was still on 4 or something like that lol.

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

Window Shopping by. Tessa Bailey
Dating and Dragons by. Kristy Boyce

Currently Reading:

What the Woods Took by. Courtney Gould
Bloodguard by. Cecy Robson

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

NFL – football
Nobody Wants This (Netflix) – I can’t wait for season 2!
Emilia Pérez (Netflix) – it’s a musical and I really enjoyed it! Zoe Saldana is amazing in it.

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!