Stacking the Shelves: The Surprise ARC Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

I know, I said I wouldn't have a post go up while I'm on my trip, but I had so much stuff arrive Sunday and Monday that I didn't want everything to pile up while I'm gone. So, here's my book haul for the beginning of the week. It's crazy.

So this just happened... I don't know how or why, but somehow, someway, I was blessed with an unsolicited ARC of Cassandra Clare's Sword Catcher. I won't be able to get to it before it releases, unfortunately, since I'll be on vacation, but I look forward to reading it once I get back. I was super excited to see the gold packaging when my parents' brought it to me. I had no idea it was coming. Thanks, Penguin Random House/Del Rey!

And next up is my FairyLoot order for Andrea Stewart's Drowning Empire series. I really liked this series, so I thought I'd get the pretty FairyLoot editions, especially since right now, I have the first book in hardcover, the second book in paperback, and the third as an ARC. It will be nice to have a lovely matching set. Now I just have to decide what I want to do with my other copies.

Next, I have some prints I ordered from VKelleyArt on Etsy. I ordered the Boyfriend Material and A Marvellous Light prints and asked the artist if she had any Red, White, and Royal Blue stock left over, as she couldn't sell RWRB merch but she could give it away in other orders. While I do enjoy Boyfriend Material and A Marvellous Light, RWRB is 100% the reason I made this order, and the print and two stickers I got are awesome! I really wanted the movie poster version, so I'm glad I got that.

And finally for physical items, I have my Reading Portal A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire/The Crown of Gilded Bones prints. I'm very excited for these. They look great! Have I figured out what to do with any of the other ones I have already? Absolutely not! Will I continue purchasing prints of FBAA books for the rest of my life? Probably. Ugh. I have a problem. Ha ha.

 As for ebooks, I have two I downloaded from Kindle Unlimited. The first is Devil's Dance by Garrett Leigh, which I'm almost done reading. It's an MMM motorcycle club romance. And the second is Echo by Chani Lynn Feener. I haven't started this one. It was an impulse download.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Review: The Fractured Dark by Megan O'Keefe

The Fractured Dark

Megan E. O'Keefe

(The Devouring Worlds #2)

Publication Date: September 26, 2023

Paperback, 544 pages, Orbit

Genres: Adult, Sci-Fi

Goodreads

Dying planets, dangerous conspiracies, and secret romance abound in the second installment of the Devoured Worlds trilogy by award-winning author Megan E. O'Keefe.

 

Naira and Tarquin have escaped vicious counter-revolutionaries, misprinted monsters, and the pull of a dying planet. Now, bound together to find the truth behind the blight that has been killing habitable planets, they need to hunt out the Mercator family secrets. But, when the head of Mercator disappears, taking the universe’s remaining supply of starship fuel with him, chaos breaks loose between the ruling families. Naira’s revolution must be put aside for the sake of humanity’s immediate survival.

 

My Review

I said book one, The Blighted Stars, was perfect for fans of J.S. Dewes' The Last Watch and The Expanse series, and I 100% stand by those comparisons. If you love sci-fi that has complex terminology and likeable, realistic characters, then this series is for you.

The Fractured Dark picks up some months after the events of the first installment, but it wasn't a significant or unnecessary time jump. It makes complete sense why the two main characters would be racing around space for months on end trying to fix all the things going topsy-turvy. And I just love how Naira and Tarquin are trying to figure out what the heck to do after everything changed for them back on Sixth Cradle. It's heartbreaking for Tarquin, and so confusing for Naira. I will say, though, that the author didn't lean into that element as much as I'd hoped for. I wanted some angst there. It was brutal what happened to them, and things resolved fairly quickly, in my opinion.

Like in book one, our protagonists are trying to stop the spread of a nasty infection. This parasite thing basically infects everyone and lives in their bodies all the time, making decisions for them. Icky. Now, I do think that while the worldbuilding is still solid, based on what was structured from the first book, some things were less fleshed out in this one. Maybe I just couldn't remember the details between books, but I didn't feel like I knew as much about the various stations and rules of the stations and canus as I did with the limited location of Sixth Cradle.

As for the plot of The Fractured Dark, I really enjoyed the first 40%, then the main characters were separated for a while and I just kind of slogged through the next 20-30%. I adore Tarquin and Naira's dynamic together, him the nerdy, reluctant heir and her the badass bodyguard, so any time they weren't together hurt my romance-obsessed heart. After that though, things picked up and some weird revelations were made. But, unfortunately, things got very weird, very confusing, and everything was happening so fast in the last bit that I was a tad lost. I'm still intrigued to see where book three goes, but the actual plot of the story may have lost me a bit. I'm pretty much reading for the ship at this point.

All in all, this was a decent second book in the series, but I'm hoping book three really gets stuff back on track. I need more Naira and Tarquin time, more Naira badassery, and more awkward Tarquin, please. They're just adorable. And for all you sci-fi lovers who don't like the smooshy elements as much, I still think this would be a great series for you, there isn't anything overly romantic that would inhibit your enjoyment.

*Note: I received a copy of this book to review from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Stacking the Shelves: The FORAW Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Well, this is my last weekend before I go on my international trip. I'll share more details once I return, but just know that I haven't prepared any posts to go up while I'm gone. I didn't, and still don't, have the mental energy. Lol. I will return to write more posts though. Eventually. Surprisingly though, I'm actually not panicking about how much stuff I have to do before going on this trip, so that's great! As long as I can keep checking tasks off my list, I think I'll be pretty calm.

On to the books! First up is a stack of various Fall of Ruin and Wrath editions by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I got the Barnes & Noble, Indigo, and regular editions. My FairyLoot Poison Study set by Maria Vale also arrived at my parent's house a while ago, and they dropped them off this past Sunday. Unfortunately, Fire Study has a small tear in the dustjacket and the actual hardcover spine. I've already requested a replacement, and it should be here soon. All of these books are so pretty and colorful together. I'm loving it.

And here is another FORAW edition. This is the Owlcrate copy which came with a lovely print. I love purple, so I was excited to see Owlcrate doing a purple edition, but I can't help but feel like this copy reminds me of another book out there somewhere that I've seen before. It's going to bug me until I figure out which one it is. I'm thinking it was another Owlcrate book, maybe Violet Made of Thorns...? Ugh. I'll figure it out eventually.

Next, I have another Prettygal Pins tarot card deck. This set is for Caroline Peckham and Susan Valenti's Kings of Quarantine and Darkmore Penitentiary books. I actually haven't read either of these series yet, but I plan to. I have met a couple of the DP crew from the Zodiac Academy and Ruthless Boys books, though, so that's good. Although, this isn't my favorite depiction of some of the characters. I think the faces are a bit off in places for a couple of them. Maybe it's just because I don't know 85% of the characters yet.

And this is it for the physical goodies. I have a copy of Eternal Reign by Caroline and Susan that I ordered via Amazon. It came damaged, so I got a refund and didn't have to return my book. That's nice because I don't have time for such things right now. I guess I'll order a new copy when the sequels come out so I can make sure Amazon ships them in a box. I'm so tired of them shipping books in mailer bags. GRRRRRRRR. Oh, and my B&N paperback preorder of A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross arrived too. It was also messed up. I don't know if you can tell from the pic, but it's twisted, almost like the spine has been broken from someone reading it, just without the white lines down the middle. I'm not sure how I'll go about doing a return/refund for this one, since I don't like close to a B&N anymore. It's gonna suck to ship it back, if that's what I have to do. Ugh.

 As for ebooks, I have a lot. I actually bought two: American Queen and American Prince by Sierra Simone. I was able to use a little bit of Amazon credits to purchase the first book. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'll buy the third book or DNF the series. The second book just did something that made me really angry, so I may finish out the last 13% of book two and call it quits. I also downloaded Wayward by Mary Calmes on Kindle Unlimited. 

 

With Amazon's Stuff Your Kindle Day, I got four free ebooks, including Blood Price by Vela Roth, On These Black Sands by Vanessa Rasanen, Kingdoms of Shadow and Ash by H.R. Moore, and Moon Touched by Elizabeth Briggs. Will I get to these anytime in the near future? Probably not, but it's nice to have my own copies instead of borrowing them on Kindle Unlimited. I am regularly at the limit of how many KU books I can borrow at once, so this will help keep that under control.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The Salty Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Well, we're already halfway through September. Yeesh. It's going by way too fast. I need at least another week to get all of my work done and prep for my trip. Right now, all of my stuff is sitting on the living room floor in my suitcases waiting to be packed. It's a very large, chaotic, and stress-inducing mess.

As for books, I had a couple of orders arrive to my parents' house last week, and they brought them to me on Monday when we had dinner together. The first one was FairyLoot's Fourth Wing edition. I'm not overly impressed with this version. While the gold foiling is nice, the regular hardback is fine too. I may end up selling one of them at some point. I didn't love the book enough to own two copies. But, I might wait until I read book two to decide for sure. My Russian edition of AKOFAF also arrived. It's so pretty! And the artwork inside is gorgeous! I can't wait to have all of the series in these editions, though my bank account won't be happy.

 As for ebooks, I purchased Sierra Simone's Salt Kiss on Kindle with the help of some Kindle credits. And, let me tell you, I devoured this book in a single night. It was addicting. I can't believe I have to wait until June of 2024 for book two. And the narrator is changing for book two! UGH! I hate that so much. I guess the months of waiting will give me time to get used to the idea. Boo... I also downloaded Gravity by Tal Bauer and The Tragedy of Felix and Jake by J. Daniels on Kindle Unlimited. Well, technically, I downloaded TTOFAJ a couple of weeks ago. I just forgot to add it to a previous StS post. I've read both of these, though, so that's exciting.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

August Wrap-Up & September TBR

Well, the birthday month is finally over. And I'm 30. Yikes. Right now, not a lot feels different, but I'm sure it will soon. I'm dreading body aches and other health issues that come with age. Lol. But, right now, I'm just doing the same ol' same ol'. That includes reading books and writing random posts about them. Haha. (Note: I wrote some of this at the end of August and some in the second week of September, so forgive any discrepancies.)

In this wrap-up, I’ll list the books I read, the books I reviewed, the books I bought/received, and my TBR for next month. Now, let’s get this bookish party started!

Books Read in August

Silver Under Nightfall: 4.5 stars

Covet: 4 stars

Caught Stealing: 3 stars (KU)

Enchanted to Meet You: 2 stars (NetGalley, my review)

Shiver: 4 stars (KU)

Crossing Acheron: 4.5 stars (KU)

Court: 4 stars

Broken Boundaries: reread (not pictured)

Bro and the Beast 5: 3 stars (KU)

I read nine books in August, which is pretty good considering I felt like I was in a reading slump during two points in the month for very different reasons. The first slump of the month was because I wanted some dark vampire MM romance reads and the second was a post-Red, White, & Royal Blue movie slump. I'm still kind of in that one. Boo. I did manage to read two new favorites and cross two books I owned prior to 2023 off my physical TBR, though. Those were Covet and Court by Tracy Wolff. As for the favorites, those are both in the vampire genre. I read Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco and Crossing Acheron by H.G. Birde (KU) to fill that itch—an itch that came about after reading a tweet about The Lost Boys '80s film. So random. I also read three other Kindle Unlimited ebooks: Caught Stealing by C.E. Ricci, Shiver by Crea Reitan, and Bro and the Beast 5 by L.C. Davis. Other than those, I finished reading Enchanted to Meet You by Meg Cabot via a NetGalley ARC, and I reread Broken Boundaries by Evangeline Anderson, which isn't pictured here because the cover is a little risque. It was basically a quick reread of a shorter novella-esque book to help get me out of my reading slump.

Books Bought/Received in August

August was bad. I bought a lot of stuff. And a lot of stuff arrived too. I have terrible impulse control. In total, I purchased 18 books in August. I received 13 book that I didn't pay for in August, and I received 20 total books within the month.

The seven books I bought and actually received in August include my Adult FairyLoot book, Forged in Blood; The Midnight Kingdom by Tara Sims from Blackwells; the first three books in the Shadows and Crowns series by S.M. Gaither via PangoBooks; and Silver Under Nightfall the Kindle edition and the Goldsboro edition. I also ordered Captive by Jex Lane, A Restless Truth by Freya Marske, and Red, White, and Royal Blue's movie tie-in ediiton from B&N that didn't arrive until early September. And I have the Russian edition of AKOFAF that should've showed up at my parents' house, but isn't yet in my hands. For preorders, I have the FairyLoot set of the first three books in the Vampire Academy series, Book of Azrael and King of Battle and Blood from LitHaven, Bookish Box's Between Hope and Despair, and Owlcrate's edition of Fall of Ruin and Wrath.

 Now, I also received 12 books, either from preorders or via NetGalley. The two NetGalley ebooks I received include The Fractured Dark by Megan O'Keefe and A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen. For physical books I received two international editions of FBAA, the Ukraine and Serbian editions; two editions of ASOAAB, the Indigo and B&N editions; four FairyLoot books, The Last Hours trilogy and The Iron Vow by Julie Kagawa; the Bookish Box omnibus of Raven Kennedy's Cupidity series; and the B&N edition of Light Bringer by Pierce Brown.

Currently Obsessed With

Oh man, is there some good stuff to talk about this month! I had a great time with both new and old releases.

I watched one new show in August, and that was the second season of Heartstopper on Netflix. It was fine. Kind of too mushy and ooey gooey with too many of the characters getting together. But, I guess that's a high school drama for you. I'm rewatching bits and pieces of Schitt's Creek too. Yes, I kind of graduated from The Office rewatch. Yay for progress! I also watched Sully, the Tom Hanks film based on the Hudson plane crash, because I kept seeing random bits on TikTok. I ended up renting the movie on Prime just so I could see the whole thing. I also rewatched The Lost Boys with my mom due to the tweet I mentioned earlier. The movie was a lot cornier than I remembered when I watched it back in junior high/high school with one of my friends. I did end up reading a ton of fanfic for it though. Lol. Oh, and I watched The Super Mario Bros movie with my sister on Peacock. It was definitely 100% a kids' movie. As an adult, there were only a couple of scenes I liked and those were all in the beginning of film. And now, for the big one! I watched Prime's adaptation of Red, White, and Royal Blue, and OMG I loved it! I'm obsessed! I hope it gets a sequel. I've been rewatching the movie once every few days, and it's just not enough. I want more!

September TBR

I have a lot going on in September, most of which revolves around packing and going on my international trip. So, I don't want to box myself in too much when it comes to reading. Right now, I'd like to finish up the Crave series, and I need to read Calamity by Constance Fay and The Fractured Dark by Megan E. O'Keefe for review. I'm about 30% through The Fractured Dark as I'm writing this post. I'm also going to try to read The Sun & The Void by Gabriela Romero-Lacruz on the plane ride. But, I never really have luck with reading on planes, so we'll see if that actually happens.

***

Okay, well, that's the month of August, plus some September sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for last month? If so, share in the comments!

Stacking the Shelves: The RWRB Obsession Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

OMG am I glad it's the weekend. I had a day-long online workshop thing to watch at work on Friday, and I am just not used to sitting on webinars for that long. I could never go back to high school and sit through a whole day of classes. Yikes. Also, I need to get a lot of errands and cleaning done this weekend, so I hope I have the energy to do that. We shall see...

As for books, I made a random Barnes & Noble order towards the end of August that arrived earlier this week. I made the order for two main reasons: 1) I'm obsessed with the new Red, White, and Royal Blue movie on Prime, so I wanted to get the movie tie-in edition because look at those handsome gentlemen. They were so cute! The movie also made me realize how painfully single I am. And that's coming from someone who doesn't really like other people all up in my space. Lol. 2) B&N was having a sale on certain books, and Freya Marske's A Restless Truth was half off. I got the hardcover for $14, I believe. And, in order to get free shipping, I added Captive by Jex Lane to my order. I can't wait to get books two and three soon as well. This series was one of my favorite Kindle Unlimited reads last year, and I desperately want physical copies.

 As for ebooks, I purchased K.J. Charles's Slippery Creatures on Kindle using some reward balances for selecting longer shipping times on my Amazon orders. I also downloaded A Knife and a Blade by Adelaide Blaike on KU. I actually think I downloaded it a week ago, but I was DNFing so many KU books during that time that I only shared the ones I actually knew I'd read in my last StS. This one is still in my Kindle app after the purge, so maybe I'll read it one day.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Review: Enchanted to Meet You by Meg Cabot

Enchanted to Meet You

Meg Cabot

(Witches of West Harbor #1)

Publication Date: September 5, 2023

Paperback, 368 pages, Avon

Genres: Adult, Paranormal Romance

Goodreads

A witchy rom-com from New York Times bestseller Meg Cabot about a plus size witch who must team up with a handsome stranger to help protect her village from an otherworldly force—but will she be able to protect her heart?

 

It’s Magic When You Meet Your Match In her teenage years, lovelorn Jessica Gold cast a spell that went disastrously wrong, and brought her all the wrong kind of attention—as well as a lifetime ban from the World Council of Witches.

 

So no one is more surprised than Jess when, fifteen years later, tall, handsome WCW member Derrick Winters shows up in her quaint little village of West Harbor and claims that Jess is the Chosen One.

 

She’s the Chosen One Not chosen by West Harbor’s snobby elite to style them for the town’s tricentennial ball—though Jess owns the chicest clothing boutique in town. And not chosen finally to be on the WCW, either—not that Jess would have said yes, anyway, since she’s done with any organization that tries to dictate what makes a “true” witch. No, Jess has been chosen to help save West Harbor itself...

 

As Summer Ends, Her Power Grows But just when Jess is beginning to think that she and Derrick might have a certain magic of their own—and not of the supernatural variety—Jess learns he may not be who she thought he was. And suddenly Jess finds herself having to trust Derrick and work with him to combat the sinister force battling to bring down West Harbor, or use her gift as she always to keep herself, and her heart, safe. Can she work her magic in time?

My Review

Another witchy, paranormal book from Meg Cabot. This one is likely for fans of Erin Sterling's The Ex Hex or Sungu Mandanna's The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.

While I am a huge fan of Meg Cabot's YA paranormal books, like the Mediator series, 1-800-Where-R-You books, and Jinx, this new adult book, Enchanted to Meet You, didn't quite hit the same for multiple reasons, though I think some people will still enjoy the story. I simply had some issues with it.

One of the smaller nitpicks I had is the main character's name. Why did Meg give Jessica the same name as Jessica from the 1-800 series? I find that a little odd. But that isn't really a big deal. The biggest and most obvious problem is one that I feel like many people will have an issue with: the love spell. 

 So the main character, Jessica, is a witch, and she uses a love spell on a boy in high school. This is shown through flashback chapters. The relationship between the boy and Jessica does get physical at some points; therefore, a big ick factor comes to play. I'm surprised Meg would write a main character who would do something like that. Suze and the other Jess would never! I had to knock two stars off for that early on, and I almost DNF-ed the entire book, but I thought I'd continue it because it's a quick read and I'm doing it for review purposes. Now, about 33% through the story, it's shown that Jessica wasn't as awful as previously thought. BUT, she still did the love spell with the intention to make a guy love her AND thought it had worked. So, still icky. Meg really should've made the full situation clearer up front. Yes, doing so would take away from a small bit of tension, but I think she's possibly going to lose some readers because of that plotline and the way it's laid out in the beginning.

Once that major revelation came to light, I actually enjoyed the book more. It started being a fun, paranormal rom-com instead of a lighter episode of Law & Order: SVU. Though Jessica isn't the most unique character, she's still charming and witty. And Derrick is the mysterious male lead with pretty crazy secrets. I honestly wasn't a fan of his big secret, however. It threw off the whole cozy, small-town vibe of the story and made it into something way bigger in scale. That was a bummer, in my opinion .

Overall, this story was kind of a mess. It was quick and easy to read once I got into it, but the main red flag of the book took a lot of enjoyment out of it and made it a chore to get through when I first started reading. The middle was a good time, but things just kind of fell off towards the very end. It was very anticlimactic. I guess I'm disappointed in this one.

*Note: I received a copy of this book to review from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Stacking the Shelves: The August Adult FairyLoot Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Three-day weekend, baby! Woohoo! I'm not doing anything particularly exciting, though. I just plan on  a bit of cleaning and some packing prep for my upcoming trip. I can't believe I have less than 30 days until I leave the country. Wow. And of course, as always is the case when you plan to go on vacation, work is getting more stressful with more deadlines. Why couldn't there be nothing going on in September/October like there was in July/August?! Rude.

As for books, I only have one physical copy to share this week, just like last week. This one is the August Adult FairyLoot book, Forged in Blood by Ehigbor Okosun. The book doesn't look bad. I'll probably give it a try, but honestly, FairyLoot needs to strengthen their selections. Also, their designs are getting kind of repetitive, unfortunately. I do think October and November will make for some awesome picks, though, so yay for that!

 As for ebooks, I also only have one this week. It's a Kindle Unlimited copy of Bro and the Beast 5 by L.C. Davis. It's a series of short novellas/serials that all add up to one story. I finished this one, so I think the series is over now. It was decent, but I the ending could have been better. It was a bit too abrupt.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?