January Wrap-Up & February TBR

One month of 2026 is gone. And boy oh boy, has it been a nightmare. I don't even know what to say anymore. Can the aliens please just come and take us away at this point? It's gotta be better than whatever the heck is going on right now, right? But, in regular day-to-day life news, it's been quiet. Mostly work. I haven't been working out as much as I should, though, since I've been reading more. I need to get back on that. I deleted TikTok, so I think I can still keep my books-read count high even with spending a few more hours at the gym each week. Ha ha.

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 January

Beautiful Venom: 3 stars

A Crown of Ruin: 4 stars

Sweet Venom: 3 stars 

The Scorpion and the Night Blossom: 3.5 stars

Game Changer: 3 stars

Heated Rivalry: 4 stars

The Wolf King: 4 stars

The Nightshade God: 3.5 stars

Tough Guy: 3.5 stars

Common Goal: 3 stars 

The Lies that Summon the Night: 4 stars (review live)

 Role Model: 3.5 stars

The Long Game: 3.5 stars 

I read 13 books in January. Wow! I'm almost halfway to my 30-book Goodreads goal. I can really only blame the number of books I read on my drive to finish the Game Changers series super quickly. I read six of them in less than a month. Of the 13 books I read, 11 were physical copies: Beautiful Venom and Sweet Venom by Rina Kent, The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amelie Wen Zhao, the Game Changers series by Rachel Reid, The Wolf King by Lauren Palphreyman, and The Nightshade God. The other two were ebooks. One was the free novella from Jennifer L. Armentrout A Crown of Ruin, and the other was the NetGalley eARC of The Lies that Summon the Night by Tessonja Odette. Only five of the books I read were physical copies I owned before 2026. Those were all the non-Game Changers books.

Books Bought/Received in January

I went nuts. I don't know what happened. I think I'll blame it on the holiday sales and getting a gift card for Christmas. Because it is not good. In total for January, I purchased 17 books and received 12 titles either from receiving review copies or having preorders that I'd already paid for in previous months get delivered.

The 12 books I received include FairyLoot editions of Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross and We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark, the Owlcrate edition of The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk by Carissa Broadbent, the Inked Pages editions of the first two books in JLA's Flesh & Fire series, the Bad Women Books edition of The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig. For Barnes & Noble orders, I got The Aspect of Essence by Samantha Amstutz and the first two books in the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. I also used by local bookstore trade credit to get Brimstone by Callie Hart, and I received two NetGalley ebooks for review: Nemesis Mine by Amy Archer and The Lies that Summon the Night by Tessonja Odette.

Now, for what I bought in January. I only received 13 of the 17 books I purchased. That included Rings of Fate by Melissa de la Cruz, Wicked and the Spanish edition of FBAA by JLA, If All the Stars Go Dark by S.G. Prince, the last four books in Rachel Reid's Game Changers series, The Wolf and the Crown of Blood, Silver & Blood (B&N), Hollow by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti (WM), Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry (WM), and the FairyLoot Romantasy book for January, King of Ravens.

 As for the remaining four books, they include two FairyLoot preorders, The Night Prince by Lauren Palphreyman and Light Wielder by Rachel Schneider. It also includes my ApollyCon virtual preorder for the FBAA and TWOTQ exclusive editions that I won't get until after the con. Boo. I hate not having tickets this year.

Currently Obsessed With

I am still in my Heated Rivalry phase. I've read all the books, follow the update accounts, read the fanfic, etc. The only thing I haven't done is rewatched the show. Yet. Other than that, I've watched the remaining season two episodes of Wednesday on Netflix, and I just started A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms on HBOMax. Oh, and I'm still slowly watching Grey's Anatomy on Netflix. I think I've only watched maybe an episode once a week, though. It got boring pretty fast. I do not care about Meredith and McDreamy or Liz and her patient. Yuck.

January TBR

I'm still, unfortunately, in the middle of four books I started in 2025. Those are Wrath of the Dragons by Olivia Rose Darling, The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde, Court of Nightmares by K.A. Knight, and Three Shattered Souls by Mai Corland. I'd also like to read Rain of Shadows and Endings by Melissa Roehrich, Cruel is the Light by Sophie Clark, and re-read Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. I very much need to finish Our Rogue Fates by Sarah Marsh and start To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast and Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter. Those three are all NetGalley eARCs.

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Okay, well, that's the month of January, plus some February 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: The Lies that Summon the Night by Tessonja Odette

The Lies that Summon the Night

Tessonja Odette

(Songs for the Sinless #1)

Publication Date: February 3, 2026

Hardcover, 320 pages, Delacorte Press

Genres: Adult, Romantasy

Goodreads

Lies, beauty, and seduction mingle in the first book of an enthralling romantasy series where making art is considered a sin, and the shadows born from it aren't the only danger to the creators—from the bestselling author of Curse of the Wolf King.

 

From the art of liars, the monsters came… Ever since art gave life to bloodthirsty shadows, creative works have been forbidden and the talented creators sacrificed to the Sinless—the immortal royals who feast on human blood in return for their protection.

 

Inana’s secret storytelling nearly got her killed once, and she’ll be damned if she’s ever caught again. With a bounty on her head, she keeps to the city’s dark underbelly where she earns a meager living from thrill-seeking patrons desperate to hear her illicit fiction. Until Dominic, a Shadowbane, catches one of her performances. . .

 

Dominic is a half-Sinless monster hunter as fearsome as his prey. But to complete his hunt, he needs an artist to summon the shadows . . . he needs Inana. Dominic delivers an ultimatum: serve him or he’ll claim her bounty. When survival is all Inana has left, the choice is clear. At least until she can betray him and leave him for dead.

 

 As their tense alliance leads them into the heart of danger, dark secrets unravel—about each other, their world, and the threats they face. But the greatest risk of all is the desire growing between them. There’s something more sinful than lust at play, and it could bring the world to its knees.

My Review

The Witcher with a "shadow daddy" vampire. That's how I think The Lies that Summon the Night should be advertised. So, if you prefer your fictional men to have auras like Desmond Flynn from Laura Thalassa's The Bargainer series, the bat boys from ACOTAR, or even Nyktos from the Flesh and Fire series, then this one might just be for you.

Dominic, the male love interest and second POV character, really has Henry Cavill as Geralt energy, though his hair isn't silver, sadly. He does have dark hair, though, for those of you who prefer brunettes. Dominic is sort of gruff and rough-around-the-edges with a nice chip on his shoulder and plans to burn it all to the ground while he hunts shadow monsters for a living and drinks vials of blood. The female main character, Inana, is a storyteller in a world where storytelling and art are forbidden, since art attracts the shadow creatures called Shades. Her character is the average romantasy main character, but she has a secret that keeps you intrigued throughout. She also has some intriguing interactions with the Shades and some unique circumstances that kept me curiously flipping pages.

The Lies that Summon the Night is a fairly short book. It's just over 300 pages, which is rare for a romantasy these days. And, although it's on the shorter side, I think it told a complete story ARC, leaving a decent bit of potential chaos for what's going to happen in book two. There's no major cliffhanger, however, so readers don't have to worry about a crazy cutoff. But the entire plot of Lies is based around going village to village to fight these shadow monsters. Dominic and his sidekick, Calvin (cough, non-musical Jaskier, cough), and the three Summoners Dominic needs to draw Shades out are all on this road trip. Inana joins him to get away from a Sinless, which is basically a royal vampire. It's all quite complicated when you try to explain it, but once I stopped trying to connect the dots and just went with the flow, it was easier to understand the world-building.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this to my fellow romantasy readers. It's quick, fun, and has some decent tension between the two main characters. And while I'm still adamant The Witcher is the main vibe comparison for the story, the atmosphere and concepts do feel similar to books like The Knight and the Moth, From Blood and Ash, The Serpent and the Wings of Night, and Shield of Sparrows. It's a good amalgamation of the more hyped romantasy titles with popular tropes like shadow magic, sexy vampires, monster fighting, and secret powers. 

*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 Snowstorm 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 was absent last week for specific reasons. Nothing bad, but between that event and the big snowstorm, I just didn't have the time to write up an StS post. I will say that I had a lot of orders come in over the past two weeks. I honestly didn't think I'd bought this much, but stuff just kept coming, and now, it's too cold to drop off my recycling so the boxes are piling up. Oops.

As for books I got in the past two weeks, I'll start with the most recent stuff to just to do everything backwards and out of order. My Barnes & Noble preorders of Silver & Blood by Jessie Mihalik and The Wolf and the Crown of Blood by Elizabeth May arrived, along with my Walmart order of Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry. I tried to find a first-print edition of SoS with the sprayed edges, but they resale for way too much, sadly. I should have gotten it when it came out, but I was hoping another company would release a prettier edition. So far, no one has. So, I just got the regular edition. Oh, and my FairyLoot January Romantasy book arrived. It's King of Ravens by Clare Sager, and it's very pretty.

 

 

Next, I have a large stack of books in a kind of blurry pic. Sorry. I tried to sharpen it as much as possible. I was too lazy to retake the photo. I ended up buying books 3-6 of the Game Changers series by Rachel Reid via B&N, and my preorders for the new Wicked paperback by JLA and If All the Stars Go Dark by S.G. Prince also arrived. My preorder of Owlcrate's edition of The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk came in as well. I honestly forgot I'd even ordered this. It's been so long. And, my FairyLoot edition of Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross came in too. It was damaged (no surprise, my FL editions are always damaged lately). A replacement is on its way. And the reason I made the Walmart order for the SoS book was because I noticed my local Walmart had one copy of their exclusive edition of Hollow by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti in stock. So, to get free shipping, I just ordered SoS with it.

 

 

 

And here, I have the Spanish special edition of From Blood and Ash by JLA. It's very pretty. I ordered this from B&N, thankfully, as I was worried I'd have to spend $50+ on it from another online retailer. I'm so happy B&N had it available. Next time, though, I'm going to wait and preorder the sequel during one of their 25% off sales. I didn't think they'd have a sale before this one was released, but B&N did, so I could've saved some money. Oh well. Story of my life. Patience is a virtue and all that jazz.

 

 

 

Here, I have my Ink Pages editions of the first two books in the Flesh & Fire series. The order came with some fun swag as well, including a pin and some prints. Now, I've heard some sketchy things about Ink Pages, so I'm not sure what to do about that. I already have an order in for the last two books in this series, but I know they're going to release the Blood and Ash set soon as well. Ugh. Difficult decisions must be made. 

For the ebooks, I have one. It's Nemesis Mine by Amy Archer. I was approved for it on NetGalley via the publisher. It's one I've had my eye on for a couple of months now, so I'm glad I was approved to review it. I'm also glad it isn't out until summer because I have three other NetGalley ARCs to review in the next few months already.

 

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

My Most Anticipated Releases of 2026

There are quite a few books I'm looking forward to in 2026. All of them are sequels. That's crazy. I do have some non-sequels I'm looking forward to, but they just weren't the titles I was super duper excited for. I'm just a normal amount of excited for them. Anyway, for your reading pleasure, here are my ten most anticipated sequels of 2026 in no real order, even though they're numbered.

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Broken Dove by Dani Francis

Full disclosure, I was thinking about putting Tempest by Victoria Aveyard here instead of Broken Dove, but I'm not a huge fan of pirate ship-esque stories, and that's what Tempest will be. So, even though it's her adult debut, and I think I'll enjoy it, I do think Broken Dove will be easier to digest. Potentially. I had some problems with Silver Elite's story too, so, let's hope those issues are resolved in the sequel.

The Misfit Caravan by K.D. Edwards

No cover for this book yet, but I am excited for it. I think the author is still planning to release it in 2026. I'll need to find a summary of the previous three books, as I remember some things, but there are some worldbuilding details that I'd like to refresh myself on before diving into the fourth installment.

The Knave and the Moon by Rachel Gillig

The second book in the duology is releasing in September. I got an ARC of book one, so I'm curious if I can be lucky enough to get an early copy of this one as well. Fingers crossed. I'm mostly in it for Bartholomew though. He is the main character. This cover is also very pretty.

The Dawn Throne by Tara Sim

This book has been pushed back for a couple of years now. It's also not releasing in hardcover anymore in the UK, and that makes me nervous that FairyLoot isn't going to have a matching edition. I will be super upset, if so. While I've only read book one of the series so far, I enjoyed it a lot, so I do plan to binge the whole thing at some point. I'll wait until book four releases, though, as this is only book three.

The Night Prince & The Wolf Queen by Lauren Palphreyman

This one is a little different. I actually just finished reading the first book, The Wolf King, and I really enjoyed it. However, it has a trope I LOATHE. So, I plan to wait until book three comes out before I actually finish the trilogy. I want to spoil myself to see if it's worth investing my time in. I'll be disappointed to DNF the series, but I just can't do that trope anymore.

Captive Traitor King by Brigid Kemmerer

This is the second book in Brigid Kemmerer's Braided Fate series. I think it's going to be a trilogy, though I'm not sure about that. And I'm hoping this book releases in 2026. I haven't really heard anything about this. I didn't even know it had a title until I went on Goodreads.

Tempting Venom & Hunt the Villain by Rina Kent

I binged the Legacy of Gods series, the Villain series, and the Vipers series by Rina Kent over the past month. That was nine books total in less than four weeks. Although, two of those were rereads. But anyway, the second installment in the Villain series and the third installment in the Vipers series come out in 2026. I will be reading them both as soon as they're in my hands.

Frozen by Stardust by Elizabeth Helen

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I read the first four books in the Beasts of the Briar series. I really miss the characters and the world. The good news is, this fifth book releases in March and then books six and seven are supposed to release in 2026 as well. So, no year-long waits between installments. It also means the story will be over, though, which is a bit sad.

Unrivaled by Rachel Reid

Obviously, I watched the new Heated Rivalry show. And then I read the books. I'm honestly surprised I hadn't read them earlier. I was a big MM hockey romance fan in the spring of 2024. I think the first book's synopsis threw me off a bit because I didn't like barista-esque storylines. But, anyway, I've read the first two books, and I'm planning to read the other four very soon, which means I'll be ready for this one to come out in September.

The Throne of Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I used The Primal of Blood and Bone cover, since TTOBAA doesn't have one yet, but I think TTOBAA might be my most anticipated book of 2026. Honestly, I'm not sure. When I finished TPOBAB, I wasn't super enthused about what might happen in the next and final installment in the series. I feel like JLA left too much up in the air in TPOBAB that she can't possibly resolve in one book. But, I read the recent novella JLA released, and it got me back to being excited for TTOBAA. So, I'm back on the hype train!

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Alright, there you have it. My most anticipated 2026 releases. What 2026 books are you looking forward to? Let me know in the comments section.

Stacking the Shelves: The Two Week 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 didn't post last week. Work was chaos, and I was so tired of looking at a computer screen that I couldn't make myself sit down and write, even if it was about pretty books. But, I'm here now, and work, while still not fun, is better. The world on the other hand, it's on fire. I think I'm going to have major celebrations once 2026 is over. Or at least, I hope so.

As for books I got in the past two weeks, some of my pre-New Year's orders from Barnes & Noble came in, including The Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice and The Aspect of Essence by Samantha Amstutz. My B&N preorder of The Rings of Fate by Melissa de la Cruz also arrived, and holy cow. That book has been pushed back for so long. I remember preordering it like two years ago. My friend sold me her Bookish Box edition of What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller, and my Bad Women Books edition of The Knight and the Moth also came in. It came with a bookmark and art print. And then, at my local used bookstore, I used trade credit to get Brimstone by Callie Heart. I wasn't going to get the ugly new covers of this series, and I was holding off for a special edition set, but I don't think a book box is going to be allowed to do the series any time soon. I think I'm going to buy some alternative dust jackets though. We'll see.

 

 

Next, I have a pin order. This is from Celestialfaetrove, I believe. I'm too lazy to look up if that's correct. It's something with celestial in the name. It's their Sera and Nyktos enamel pin. It was super expensive. While I don't love it as much as the Poppy and Cas one they did, it is pretty. I think this one just doesn't have as much color, so it's a bit neutral in comparison. The order did come with a sticker too, so that's fun. No idea what I'll do with it. I need to make something for all of my Blood and Ash stickers. Hmmm...

 

For the ebooks, I have one. I think. Honestly, I didn't check my ebook apps, so it's entirely possible I forgot about something. I do know that I got The Lies that Summon the Night by Tessonja Odette via NetGalley for review. I've started this one, and I'm already like 10% in and it's only the very beginning of the book. I knew it was short, but it's reeeeally short for an adult fantasy. I've heard good things, though.

 

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

December Wrap-Up & January TBR

It's 2026! I'll pretend to be excited about another year going by, but really, I hate the passage of time, though it is great when a new year of new books is upon us. But, as for life in general, it was good in December. Christmas was nice, work is okay, and I'm ready to get through these next couple of months of cold weather and experience warmth again.

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 December

We Who Will Die: 3.5 stars (my review)

The Ones We Burn: 3 stars

God of Malice: 3 stars

God of Pain: 3 stars

God of Wrath: 3 stars

God of Ruin: 3 stars

God of Fury: reread

God of War: 3 stars

Kiss the Villain: reread 

I read nine books in December, and it would have been more if the holidays didn't take up so much free time. Of those nine, though, two were rereads, God of Fury and Kiss the Villain by Rina Kent. I'm prepping for the next two Rina Kent releases coming in 2026 by reading the entire Legacy of Gods and the Vipers series. I read through the LoG books so fast that I couldn't really give them super accurate ratings. I think they're all in the 3-3.5-star range, though, except for GoF and KtV. I'd give those 4 stars. In addition to the Rina Kent books, I had one other physical book I read in December. It was The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix. The only ebook I read was We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark, which was a NetGalley ARC.

Books Bought/Received in December

I was doing so well with the book buying in the beginning of December, then... all of the B&N sales hit, and I was weak. Overall, I bought 18 books and received 22 in December. I ordered much more than that, though, but thankfully, they won't charge until next year. Whew.

The 22 books I received consisted mostly of preorders that finally arrived and Christmas gifts. They include the Bookish Box box set of the Lady of Darkness series, the Acrylipics A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire 3D-edge edition, the FairyLoot Epic November book Tower of the Tyrant by J.T. Greathouse, the FairyLoot Call of the Forgotten trilogy by Julie Kagawa, the FairyLoot What Fury Brings edition, and the FairyLoot The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy edition. I also got Frankenstein, Dracula, Three Shattered Souls, Four Ruin Realms, Unchained, and the first three books in the Crowns series by Nicola Tyche for Christmas. In addition to those, I also downloaded the free novella, A Crown of Ruin by JLA, and I got Prince of Fortune by Lisa Tirreno via trade credit at my local used bookstore.

Now, for what I bought. I only received six of the 18 books I purchased. That includes Meet Cute with a short story from JLA, Children of Fallen Gods by Carissa Broadbent, Red City by Marie Lu, Kill the Beast by Serra Swift, Terror at the Gates by Scarlett St. Clair, and the FairyLoot Adult book for December, Dawn of the Firebird. All of the non-FairyLoot books were ordered from B&N.

 As for the remaining 12 books, some will be here soon, while others will be a while from now. They include the Aurora Crate editions of two of Melissa K. Roehrich's books and FairyLoot editions of Slaying the Vampire Conqueror, the last two books in the Ashes of Thezmarr series, and The Wolf King by Lauren Palphreyman. The other six books will come from B&N in the next week or so. Those include Game Changers, Heated Rivalry, Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Aspect of Essence, Vicious Fae, and The Bride of Brutal Hearts.

Currently Obsessed With

I am officially out of my Interview with the Vampire obsession and I moved right into my Heated Rivalry obsession. I wasn't too sure about the show at first. It seemed fun, but nothing amazing. Then, the last two episodes happened, and I was hooked. I ordered the books too. Surprisingly, they're like some of the few MM hockey romances I haven't read yet. Weird. Other than that, I've watched the Taylor Swift End of an Era documentary series as well as continuing to watch Grey's Anatomy. I'm on season two now of like five million. Lol. I also watched Home Alone 1 and 2 over the holiday.

December TBR

I'm carrying over a whole giant list of TBR books into 2026, most of which, I'm actively reading right now and have been for the past few weeks. I am currently reading Wrath of the Dragons by Olivia Rose Darling, The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde, Court of Nightmares by K.A. Knight, Three Shattered Souls by Mai Corland, and The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amelie Wen Zhao. I'd also like to read Rain of Shadows and Endings by Melissa Roehrich, The Nightshade God by Hannah Whitten, A Feather So Black by Lyra Selene, The Wolf King by Lauren Palphreyman, and re-read Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. I very much need to start Our Rogue Fates by Sarah Marsh, To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast, and Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter as well. Those three are all NetGalley eARCs. Oh! And I need to read A Crown of Ruin by JLA.

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