Stacking the Shelves: The Poet & Protector 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.

Another week of November is complete. Not a lot happened. It was mostly the same routine. I am being a tad more productive lately, which is great, but I'm also hating that it gets dark at 5 p.m. I would much rather get up in the dark and arrive home when the sun is still shining so I can walk outside in the daylight. But, I guess those farmers and school kids take priority. Lol.

 

As for the books I received this week, I had a bunch of preorders arrive, and I won a copy of Poet & Protector by Andrea Robertson, the author of Nightshade. I'm excited for this one. It's set in the same world as Nightshade but it's a spinoff for other characters I don't remember. I honestly need to do a reread of the series soon. Maybe that'll be next year's reread goals. My Barnes & Noble preorders for the week included Of Darkness and Light by Ryan Cahill, On the Cursed Day of Christmas and my replacement of Lightwing by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, Brave and A Crown of Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I also received the Owlcrate edition of Daggermouth by H.G. Wolfe. I don't think I'm going to keep it, however. I didn't love the book as much as I was hoping to, and I own the regular hardback and have the FairyLoot edition on the way and the Owlcrate edition is underwhelming. I love the cover, but it's very flat. I wanted some texture to it. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that the dust jacket on the ZA book was bought from the authors' site. They offered a matching version for the old paperbacks, so I got it.

 

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

A Crown of Ruin Release Day!

Are you ready for Casteel’s unhinged, dark era?

 

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes an action-packed novella in the Blood and Ash universe, A Crown of Ruin, now available in a special edition paperback with stunning sprayed and designed edges, spot gloss, embossed cover elements and bonus content.

 

This beautiful print edition features designed edges and special bonus content, including excerpts from other books in the universe, original artwork, and a candid Q&A with Jennifer L. Armentrout.

 

A Crown of Ruin

Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publication Date: November 10, 2026

Paperback (limited edition with deluxe edges), 224 pages, Blue Box Press

Genres: Adult, Romantasy

Amazon | B&N | Indigo | Target | Walmart

 

When everything falls apart, the truth of who they are is revealed.

 

Poppy has fallen into stasis, her body broken and power spent, carried beyond the mortal realm. While she lies suspended in dreams, Casteel faces a world without her-raw, wrathful, and altered in ways he doesn't yet understand.

 

Left to steady a kingdom trembling under the weight of loss, Kieran shoulders what he cannot say aloud, even as the fractures between gods, mortals, and fate widen around him.

 

In the days that follow, grief becomes a guide, loyalty a burden, and love the only thing holding the realms together.

 

 These are the pieces that fill the silence. The moments of wrath, ruin, resolve, and the spark of what must come next. A Crown of Ruin reveals the unseen moments of love, loss, and change between The Primal of Blood and Bone and The Throne of Bone and Ash-now available in a beautiful print edition featuring designed edges and special bonus content, including excerpts from other books in the universe, original artwork, and a candid Q&A with Jennifer L. Armentrout.

My Thoughts

I read this novella as a free ebook download in January. It's still available for free, if you're interested, but it's also out now in a deluxe paperback format with sprayed edges! I've already ordered mine! It looks so pretty! And the bonus content JLA Q&A has me very intrigued! Maybe there'll be some hints for The Throne of Bone and Ash, book seven in the series. Hopefully, there'll be something about Kieran in there as well. He's my favorite. Honestly, I can't wait to add this to my Blood & Ash collection! I'm not sure how I'll fit it on my shelves, but it's going on there one way or another.

Review: The Drakon King by Terry J. Benton-Walker

The Drakon King

Terry J. Benton-Walker

Publication Date: November 10, 2026

Hardcover, 560 pages, Bramble

Genres: Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, LGBTQ+

Goodreads

Queer, Black, and sexy as hell, The Drakon King is romantasy at its best: A forbidden love story between princes in the court of a cruel king and an edge-of-your-seat tale of missing dragons, ruthless betrayals, and stolen hearts.

 

Two princes, born to a world at war.

 

Heir to a kingdom built on lies and stolen magic, Prince Reverie has one goal: avoid the crown. Raised by a cruel and violent king, Reverie’s real life begins after curfew―bottle service, masked revelries, top-shelf highs, and anonymous rooftop liaisons. But when his king plots to seize dwindling majikal resources from the Drakon King, Reverie hits his limit―he casts aside his royal obligations and gets the hell outta town. Better a free fugitive than a tortured captive.

 

Heir to a kingdom banished into the sky, Prince Xandreth has one goal: find a missing friend. His brother, the Drakon King, stubbornly refuses to acknowledge that their people keep going missing, so Xandreth takes it upon himself to hunt down answers.

 

A meeting that will change them both.

 

Having abandoned their kingdoms, both princes end up stranded in the dangerous and bewitching Wraithwood, and out of desperation, agree to help each other and then go their separate ways.

 

A love that will save their world.

 

But when a myth as old as the world―a bird on fire in the belly of a massive volcano―is whispered from Human lips to Drakon ears, Reverie and Xandreth are suddenly at the heart of a crisis so much bigger than a missing friend or even freedom.

 

If they can’t come together, the world itself may go up in flames.

 

Perfect for fans of Crescent City, When the Moon Hatched, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Fourth Wing, and the world of Blade Runner.

My Review

The Drakon King is a story about a human prince, Reverie, living under the rule of his tyrannical father and the journey he goes on when he tries to escape said father's reach. It's a fantasy story with dragons, mages, and magic, but it reads like a sci-fi, as there are some technological advancements as a result of using magic to fuel things like ads, ocular specs, and travel.

 The Drakon King, in my opinion, is mislabeled. It is not a romantasy. There are a few reasons I'm saying this, but the major reason is that the focus of the story isn't on the romance between the two main characters. In fact, the second character doesn't even come into the story until almost a quarter of the way through, and by that point, the main character, Reverie, had relations between two or maybe four other people (depending upon how you define "relations") by the time we meet Xan, the Drakon prince. While there's nothing wrong with a story being a traditional fantasy, I just hate that it wasn't properly categorized, as I went into it expecting real tension and yearning from two princes, and instead the story focused primarily on hitting plot points with very little emotional depth from the characters. Their relationship just wasn't there. I felt nothing for them.

This book lacked a lot of the descriptions necessary to make it an epic story. Events seemed to just happen, almost like this was a very polished draft versus a completed, fleshed-out SFF book with sensory descriptions. I hate saying that, as there was a lot of potential, but the dialogue, relationships, descriptions, and worldbuilding were underwhelming. For instance, a centuries-old Drakon King called his deceased father "Daddy" and the human king yelled "Shut up!" during the battle like a teenager. It really took me out of the story hearing fantasy characters using modern dialogue. I was also a bit confused with the magic system, as it is supposed to fuel the technology of the world, but when something happened that should have, theoretically, turned the power off, it's still going..? I'm not sure if I missed something there or what. I guess I have to infer that there are batteries in the power system? A lot of the worldbuilding was like that. It just needed to dig a bit deeper and explain things to the reader.

All in all, I think this one could be of interest to fans of books like Our Vicious Oaths by N.E. Davenport and Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie. I liked both of these. They were solid reads, and I think The Drakon King comes close to evoking the same level of enjoyment. It's a story that had a lot of potential, but I think it was just rushed overall and more depth was needed to truly put the story in the same category as books like Fourth Wing, Eragon, and Crescent City, which are the comp titles I think would work best for the story if it was expanded upon.

*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 Lightwing Fiasco 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.

The first week of November is over. Christmas is a little bit closer and so is Thanksgiving. I'm definitely ready for some time off work. It hasn't been bad, but I'm just tired. I think some of that has to do with the election, though. I stayed up way too late watching the results and have been scrolling endlessly through the hilarious memes. The future looks a little bit brighter this week.💙

As for the books I received this week, I mostly have Barnes & Noble preorders with a couple of other goodies on the side. My preorder of Defy the Dusk by Danielle L. Jensen arrived, and I didn't realize how thick this book would be. It's a chunker. I also got Of Blades and Wings by Eliza Raine, which is very tiny in comparison. And then, another cool thing I got was my second preorder incentive for Jasmine Mas's The Emperor's Enemy. Look at that print! It's so pretty! 

 

Up next, I have two aggravating editions. My B&N edition of Lightwing by Caroline Peckham arrived, and it was damaged. Crunched right on the top of the spine. So, I requested a replacement, which B&N granted. I didn't even have to return the damaged copy. I'm actually hoping my new copy arrives later today. Fingers crossed! I also received my Walmart edition of Lightwing. However, Walmart sent me two copies and also charged me for two when I ordered one. I think it has something to do with them canceling my order back in September, so I reordered after that. Idk. It's weird. Apparently, I just need to check back in 10 days to see if the second charge goes away. The thing that makes me mad, however, is one copy came crunched on the spine, just like the B&N edition, and the other edition came with a misaligned dust jacket. Grr... There are no copies at my local Walmart, so I'm just going to have to live with the crunched version unless I want to go through the trouble of repackaging it, printing a label, and returning it, which I don't have the energy for. It's not terrible damage, but I don't love it. I can't live with a misaligned spine, though. My OCD can't handle that, so the crunched dust jacket wins this round and can stay on the shelf.

 

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

October Wrap-Up & November TBR

Well, it's now Christmas time, and it's only now getting to be under 70 degrees. That seems bad. Other than impending weather issues, the month of October was fine. Nothing super crazy happened. It's been more of the usual with a few smaller things thrown in. I'm still behind on all household chores, though, that's a given. I don't know if I'll ever catch up on that stuff. I think I need to just bite the bullet and hire a cleaner every other month or something. It'd be worth it at this point. I hate scrubbing. 

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 October

The Reckoning of Starlight: 4 stars

Roguefinder: 3.5 stars

Daggermouth: 3.5 stars

The Knave and the Moon: 3.5 stars

The Midnight Arrow: 3.25 stars

Kings of Lockdown: 3.75 stars

The Drakon King: 2.5 stars (review to come)

The Witch Queen of Halloween: 3 stars

Bright Dead Things: 3.5 stars

I read nine books in October. Honestly, October has probably been my favorite reading month, mentally. I've wanted to read all of the things these last two weeks. If only I didn't have to work... I could have gotten so much off of my TBR. Of the nine books I read, five were ebooks: The Reckoning of Starlight by Samantha Amstutz, Roguefinder by Amy Pennza, The Drakon King by Terry J. Benton-Walker, The Witch Queen of Halloween by Kresley Cole, and Bright Dead Things by Hailey Turner. All were Kindle Unlimited/Plus copies, except for two. The Drakon King was a NetGalley ARC, while The Witch Queen of Halloween was an ebook I purchased back when it first released and just never read. I thought it'd be an appropriate and festive time to read it now. I somehow only read four physical books. I'm in the middle of four other physical books, so I think that's why it felt like way more at the time. I just didn't finish them before the end of the month. The ones I did finish included Daggermouth by H.M. Wolfe, The Knave and the Moon by Rachel Gillig, The Midnight Arrow by Zoey Draven, and Kings of Lockdown by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti.

Books Bought/Received in October

October actually wasn't terrible for purchasing books. There were a couple of special edition sets that made things bad and a few single FairyLoot editions that didn't help my wallet, but, honestly, it was the real-life bills that hit hard this month. With the holidays coming up, it's not looking great for my money. Sigh. I ended up purchasing 23 books (maybe 25, but I'll get into that in a bit) and receiving 13 in October.

The 13 books I received mostly consisted of the preordered books that all decided to arrive in October along with a couple of free ebooks. The ebooks included a NetGalley ARC of Ashes of the Fallen by Olivia Rose Darling, a free copy of The Widow and the Orcs by Finley Fenn, and The Heart of Nhaga by Lee Young-Do that I got with my store credit. I also had one book that was free with trade credit from my local used bookstore. That was 1984 by George Orwell. All the rest were preorders. The other orders that arrived included The Shadows that Listen FairyLoot edition, The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy Illumicrate and FairyLoot editions, the Shadows and Starlight and Beyond the Veil luxe editions, The Sweetest Fiend and Prince of Swords FairyLoot editions, The Wretched Divine UK edition, and A Masterpiece in Blood hardcover.

Now, for what I bought in October. Of the 23 books I bought, 12 arrived in October. Those included: the Tempest FairyLoot edition, the Dark Fae paperback, four replacement Blood & Ash books, Mooncursed by Holly Renee, The Book of Azrael UK hardcover, Blood & Steel by Helen Scheuerer UK edition (accidentally ordered two copies), Bloodbound by J.A. Good, and one other book. Now, I said maybe 25 earlier because I did order some older Gena Showalter books on Mercari. However, I won't be keeping all of them. I just need to decide which to sell.

 As for the remaining 11 books, those were preorders and my FairyLoot Romantasy sub box. The preorders include the For Ever More , The All Souls trilogy, Defy the Dusk, Cursed City, The Ascended, and Souls in Blood FairyLoot editions, along with the J. Bree Broken Ties PR edition and the next two Blood & Ash books from Ink Pages.

Currently Obsessed With

October had a few fun entertainment things throughout the month. As is normal at this point, I'm still watching The Middle TV show. I didn't realize there are nine seasons. I'm only on season five. Yikes. I've got a long way to go if my normal routine is to watch a few episodes a week. I'll be watching it until 2028 at this rate. I also rewatched Casper, Casper Meets Wendy, and The Addams Family to get in the Halloween mood. I saw a local production of Dracula as well. That made me remember the entire book from when I read it in college. I didn't realize I'd forgotten so much, like Lucy and her three suitors. But, the play brought the whole experience back. And the final movie I watched was Knives Out 3 Wake Up Dead Men, which wasn't as good as the first two films. 

November TBR

This month's TBR shouldn't be too stressful. I really just need to read Lightning & Thunder by Sara Raash, as it's a NetGalley book I have to review by the end of December. I also have NetGalley copies of Deathsworn by Meg Smitherman and Ashes of the Fallen by Olivia Rose Darling, but I'm not too worried just yet about getting to those. They're 2027 releases. I am still behind on two other NetGalley ARCs as well: A Viper Among Kings by Sydney Olivia and To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast. I'm not pressuring myself to read those just yet. I might try those again in 2027 when I don't feel like the self-inflicted and imaginary end-of-the-year pressure/deadline is looming over me. Other books I'm in the middle of include Kings of Anarchy by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raash, and Twisted Iron Marks by Hailey Turner.

***

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

Review: Captive Traitor King by Brigid Kemmerer

Captive Traitor King

Brigid Kemmerer

(Braided Fates #2)

Publication Date: November 3, 2026

Hardcover, 400 pages, Avon

Genres: Adult, Romantasy, LGBTQ+/Poly

Goodreads

Brigid Kemmerer returns with the sizzling, high-stakes sequel to the No.1 international bestseller Warrior Princess Assassin—where the betrayals are deeper, the magic burns brighter, and love might be the most dangerous weapon of all.

 

CAPTIVE. Asher has always sworn loyalty to Jory, the princess he’s loved from afar—but now the King of Incendar has claimed a place in his heart too. Someone wants them both dead, and only Asher’s blade can keep them safe. Yet his past won’t let him go, and he must decide if he can break free—or remain prisoner to his old scars. 

 

TRAITOR. Princess Jory of Astranza agreed to marry the King of Incendar to secure peace, but betrayal runs closer than she ever imagined. With her own brother unmasked as her enemy, two kingdoms teeter on the edge. To protect her people, she must take the throne. But there are still dark secrets to unravel that will force Jory to confront where her true allegiance lies.

 

KING. Maddox Kyronan has discovered trust—and something more—with his reluctant bride and her deadly protector, but the fragile alliance between their nations still threatens to unravel. His people are starving. His enemies are circling in. Torn between the crown and his heart, Ky risks losing it all.

 

 As buried truths surface and tensions reach a breaking point, Jory, Asher, and Ky must confront the desires that could save their kingdoms—or shatter them forever.

My Review

Brigid Kemmerer has done it again. Over the past year, I've devoured five of her books, and Captive Traitor King wasn't any different. In fact, I read the entire thing in 24 hours. Her books are like magical, glittery candy and once you start eating it, you can't stop until the box is empty.

The three main characters of Warrior Princess Assassin are back for the second book in the Braided Fates series, and I honestly didn't realize how much I missed them until I started reading. All three are messy in different ways. We have Jory, the princess of a kingdom her evil brother rules, and then there's Asher, the assassin who has a terrible and traumatic past, and finally, there's Maddox, the king of a rival land who also happens to have fire powers. All three characters are navigating their growing feelings for each other while also trying to figure out their own powers, duties to their people, and who is behind the recent attacks on both them and Maddox's soldiers. 

I think my favorite part of the story is whenever the three are together in one scene, whether they're arguing, trying to figure things out, or doing other, more explicit things. They're just so cute and sweet together. And sexy too. Despite knowing this was an adult romantasy with spicy times, I was somehow still surprised with Brigid Kemmerer going there. Maybe that's because I read one of her YA books recently and was still in that mindset. Now, I can't say the trio didn't frustrate me. Jory was impulsive, Maddox was too focused on what his soldiers think of him, and Asher... Well, Asher can do no wrong. He's innocent and my favorite. He deserves a comfy blanket, sweet treats, and a pile of kittens to cuddle with. Stat!

As for the plot of the story, I did find this one a bit more relaxed compared to book one. It took place in one city, mostly in just one castle setting, so there wasn't as much to explore compared to Warrior Princess Assassin when the characters traveled between countries. There were only two major action scenes that happened in this installment. The rest of the story mostly focused around the romantic relationship, which I'm totally fine with, and discussions between characters. There also weren't enough answers, in my opinion, but we'll likely get those in the next book, I just have to be patient. Sigh.

All in all, I really loved this book. Brigid Kemmerer's fantasy stories are so easy to read. They're perfect for getting me out of a slump. For anyone who's putting off reading this series, don't! You won't regret picking it up if you love typical romantasy tropes. I also think fans of books like Jennifer L. Armentrout's From Blood and Ash, Danielle L. Jensen's The Bridge Kingdom, or Melissa K. Roehrich's Rain of Shadows and Endings will enjoy the Braided Fates world.

*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 Halloween 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.

Happy Halloween! It's kind of weird that this post is going live on the holiday itself. I don't know if I've ever had a Stacking the Shelves go up directly on a holiday. How fun! But anyway, I don't have much planned for the day. Though, I did see Dracula, a local play, this past week, and I've been watching some spooky movies, so that's helped get me in the Halloween spirit. I even read a couple of Halloween-themed books. You'll see those in my monthly wrap up next week.

As for the books I received this week, I have a few good ones. First up, is my luxe edition of Beyond the Veil by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. I think, after this one, there are only five more books left in the giant order I made almost two years ago now. That's crazy. I also received my Blackwell's preorder of the new deluxe UK hardcover edition of The Book of Azrael by Amber V. Nicole as well as my Barnes & Noble preorder of Moon Cursed by Holly Renee. 

 

Up next, I have something I swore I wouldn't get. Not because I don't want it, but because I told myself no more NetGalley requests until I'm caught up on all the others. Well, I lied to myself because here we are. Ashes of the Fallen by Olivia Rose Darling was put up on NetGalley this week, and, sucker that I am, I immediately requested it. I was also approved pretty soon after, so yay! Luckily, I know I enjoy this series, so I don't have to go in with the worry that I'll be forced to read something I don't enjoy. This is likely a guaranteed four stars unless something crazy happens. Book one and two were great, so I doubt that, though.

 

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

Stacking the Shelves: The DVD 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.

Another week in October is over. Boo. It's just going by too fast. I have so much I want to do before the end of the year, and there isn't enough time to get it all done. Like my reading goal. I'm at 85 books read this year. I think... I'm on track for 100 books read, but there are so many I didn't get to. I know I can still get to them in 2027, so it's not a big deal, but a part of me is disappointed I didn't read them in 2026. I'm a mood reader, though, so I can't push myself to read something that's not calling to me unless I'm forcing my way through a review copy. And that's not ideal either.

 

As for the books I received this week, I have a lot of pretty editions. And thankfully, none of these are adding new books to my TBR. Mostly because I own an edition of all of these already. I've also read two of them before. Blood & Steel by Helen Scheuerer is the new UK hardcover edition of the title. I wasn't sure about ordering this one, but I do like it. I also accidentally ordered two copies. I was wondering why Blackwells was charging me $60 for a hardcover. I just thought stupid tariffs had gone crazy again. Now, I'm going to have to try to sell the other copy. I also received three FairyLoot editions. The Shadows That Listen by Louisa Carmody is one of the books I've already read before. I do like this edition, but I'm also eyeing The Locked Library one as well. Not that I need three copies of this book. But I might... The other one is The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley, which I just hauled an Illumicrate copy of last week. And then, my Adult sub book for October was Tempest by Victoria Aveyard, which I have the regular hardback of. And then, last, but not least, I have the new Dark Fae paperback from Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. I'll talk about that more below. 

 

 

 

Up next, I have a couple of DVDs. I preordered Heated Rivalry season one from Barnes & Noble, but I got Spirit during a random Walmart trip. I was there to return something and so, as one does, I perused the books and the cheap DVDs. I ended up finding the new paperback edition of Dark Fae on the shelves, which prompted me to cancel my B&N preorder, since those kept getting pushed back. I figured it'd be nicer to choose the condition of the book I got from the store anyway. So I got that and saw Spirit for $5 and went for it! I love this movie so much, so I'm glad to finally have a copy of it.

 

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