Stacking the Shelves: The Pretty Overuse 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 don't have much of a life update this week. I've just been working, watching TV, reading, sleeping. The usual. I guess technically I've been better about working out, so that's a positive. I'm slowly getting my groove back. Now, I just need to get work to calm down some more, get through ApollyCon, and then I plan to really be back into a good routine. Maybe I'll even sprinkle in some late spring cleaning too.

As for the books I received, I finally got the first book in the Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep series, which is Kings of Quarantine by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. It's their luxe author edition, and it's very pretty. I also ordered a Daenerys Pop Mart figure. I'd been wanting this for a couple of years now, but it was a random blind-box type of thing and I didn't want to pay for multiple boxes to try and get a Daenerys when the other figures aren't quite as cute. Thankfully, someone was finally selling her at a decent price on Mercari.

 

 

 

I received my March Adult FairyLoot book as well. It's The Last Starborn Seer by Venetia Constantine. FairyLoot did a decent job with this one. It's pretty. The original cover was pretty too, though, so I'll have to see which version I prefer once I've actually read the story. I do like that the cover is purple. Purple is my favorite color.

 

 

And next up, I have some Barnes & Noble preorders. When I made these orders, I had no idea all of them would arrive and therefore charge me at the same time. I guess I need to pay more attention to release dates when I preorder. Lol. I ended up getting The Summer King by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Smoke and Scar by Gretchen Powell Fox, Cinder Vale by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, and Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry. The good thing is I've already read two of these, so yay to not adding as much to my physical TBR!

 

As for ebooks, I have one: Turncloak by L.K. Steven. I tried really hard not to request this book on NetGalley. I was being good and I kept telling myself that I'd just check it out from the library on my own time. However, the publisher sent an approval email for me, so I didn't even have to request it. Sigh. I'm weak I tell you. And don't get me wrong, I want to read the book, I just have too many NetGalley ARCs that I need to get through right now. But, I couldn't say no. I have five months. I can do that, right?

 

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

Release Day & Review: The Summer King by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“You have a soul of a warrior…” The Summer King, a heat-filled, compelling, enemies-to-lovers romantasy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout & Blue Box Press is available now!

 

The Summer King

Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publication Date: April 7, 2026

Paperback (limited edition with deluxe edges), 496 pages, Blue Box Press

Genres: Adult, Paranormal/Fantasy, Romance

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Paperback | Goodreads

 

From #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes the complete Summer King saga—three parts, one epic romance.

 

Cold. Heartless. Deadly. Whispers of his name alone bring fear to fae and mortals alike. Caden, the Prince, is the most dangerous being in the mortal world—haunted by a past he couldn’t control and driven by a singular desire: revenge. And there’s only one person who can help him.

 

Brighton Jussier knows better than to trust him. Raised in the Order, she’s seen the atrocities Caden is capable of. Reformed or not, she wants nothing to do with him…until he leaves her no choice. Forced into an uneasy alliance, she discovers the man beneath the ice—a man whose touch burns with forbidden heat and whose gaze holds a wicked promise.

 

But there’s someone out there who wants to return the Prince to his former self. A walking, breathing nightmare hell-bent on destroying the world—and everyone close to him. The more Brighton and Caden work together, the harder it is to deny the hunger between them. And when Brighton is bestowed with the forbidden Summer’s Kiss, becoming something no longer human, Caden refuses to let her go—even at the cost of his Court.

 

Now, as the doorway to the Otherworld is breached, Brighton and Caden must do the unthinkable—not just to survive, but to save mankind from the evil that threatens to consume the world.

 

Previously published as the novellas The Prince, The King, and The Queen.

My Review

The Summer King combines all three Blue Box novellas into one book, which is what I've been waiting for for so very long! I love matching series sets, so it's super exciting that this bindup is releasing right when the Wicked series is also getting a cover redesign. And with gorgeous sprayed edges! Heck yes! As for the actual book, I've been putting off reading these novellas for quite some time. For no particular reason other than once I finished them, I would officially be that much much closer to being caught up on all the JLA books. It'll be terrible to not have any more backlog JLA to keep me going. Her Wicked and Harbinger series got me out of a year-long reading slump in 2020.

The Summer King itself is such a fun time, and it brought me right back to my urban fantasy/paranormal reading days with the modern setting and overarching plot of hunting evil fairies. Brighton, the main POV character, is a strong fmc with a knack for disguises and a desire for revenge, and Caden is the perfect JLA-brand of swoonworthy mmc who tries to keep Brighton alive. Oh, and we can't forget Tink. He's back! I definitely missed Tink, the online-shopping-addict and shrinkable brownie. It was great to see Ivy and Ren too. And Dixon the cat is adorable, of course. But every character in this world is so entertaining. Either because they're badass, funny, or, like I said, swoonworthy.

  I feel like Brighton was a relatable character in the story. She's much more chill than Ivy. Or at least, that's how it was at first. Brighton steps up big time, but I could definitely see more of my shy, introverted self in Brighton than Ivy. She's relatable. Between her character development and the crazy plot of the second novella, I was hooked. No spoilers, but things start happening in The King. The romantic tension in the first novella, The Prince, is A+ too, it just takes a few chapters to really set things up. JLA does know how to write romantic tension, though. And even for a novella series, I felt it was good pacing.

 Although I loved most of this bindup, I will say there were a couple of things that I wasn't quite sure about. The first being that the ending didn't quite resolve the original issue that was introduced in the first novella. Also, it's mentioned that Caden can find Brighton because of spoilery reasons, but that ability doesn't seem to work in book two and I don't think it was explained why. Or I missed it, which could very well be the case. This just supports my crackpot theory that there'll be more books in this world one day soon. Right, JLA? ;)

 Overall, though, it's a JLA book. I'm in it for a good, quick, fun time, and that's exactly what I got. All of JLA's books minus those in her Blood and Ash world are super bingeable. And the only reason her B&A series isn't quite as bingeable is because it's in a fantasy world with new rules and creatures and sometimes that takes more time to process. (I would totally binge the entire series if I could reread it again for the first time, though.)

 Basically, if you're interested in evil versus good fairies, royal fae men, sassy brownies (the fae, not the dessert), and an fmc who steps up, you'll love The Summer King. It's 100% for fans of TV shows like Charmed, The Vampire Diaries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Supernatural. with appeal to romantasy readers searching for lighter versions of books like the Crescent City or The Mortal Instruments series.

*Note: I received an eARC of this book to review from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Stacking the Shelves: The Bug & Box Cutter 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.

You ever have the urge to quit your job and run away from everything because you feel like you're doing everything wrong? Well, that's me. I wish the economy wasn't so awful. I might have tried a fresh start if we lived in normal times. Lol. But, for now, I'll just talk about books. They're a lot nicer than spreadsheets and reports. I also have too many of them in this haul. I really need to go on a ban soon.

As for the books I received, up first is the last book I acquired this week. It's Kings of Lockdown by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. This is one of their luxe author editions. It's also book two in the series and book one hasn't shipped out yet. Very weird. I was a little confused when I opened to find the second book instead of the first. But book one does have a tracking number, so at some point it should be delivered. Right? Ugh.

 

 

 

I finally received some very pretty book mail from FairyLoot. My preorders of Slaying the Vampire Conqueror by Carissa Broadbent and Fallen Stars by Imani Erriu both came in. I also received my Barnes & Noble preorder of Danielle L. Jensen's The Traitor Queen in hardcover. I have like six different editions of this series, none of which are complete collections. I really need to catch up on the series and decide which set I want to keep.

 

 

 

And more Barnes & Noble preorders. These two books, Starside by Alex Aster and This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews, were actually last-minute additions to the recent B&N 25% off preorder sale. I was just going to try to find them out in the wild, but I figured it's cheaper if I just use the discount code. The delivery person set these boxes in front of my front door and a bug got on them. I found that out as I was opening them in my kitchen. Super fun. It wasn't a big bug, but it was fast, and I don't know where it went. This will haunt me 'til the day I die.

 

And my final contribution to the haul are three paperbacks: Hunt the Villain by Rina Kent, Dream of You by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Lightguard by Hayley Turner. All of these were B&N preorders as well. You can't see it, but Dream of You obtained a battle wound when I opened it. The warehouse shipped it in a paper bag type of mailer. It had like zero support whatsoever. It also had bits of glue in it that got stuck to the cover of my book. I had to use a box cutter to carefully cut it away, and, unfortunately, I wasn't as careful as I should have been with my first slice. It scratched right above the You. Darn. I really hate when companies/resellers ship books in ridiculous packaging.

 

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

March Wrap-Up & April TBR

March was better than February in terms of overall life enjoyment, but I still need to get my butt in gear for overall health and wellness. I've been so lazy lately. My place needs cleaned, I need to get to the gym, and I'm spending too much money on books. It's all just a big train wreck. I really just need a nice week-long staycation to get some things around my house done, but that's not looking possible anytime soon.

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 March

Sparking Fire Out of Fate: 3 stars

A Restless Truth: 3.5 stars

A Power Unbound: 3 stars 

Rain of Shadows and Endings: 3 stars

Storm of Secrets and Sorrow: 4 stars

The Starlight Heir: 2 stars

Our Rogue Fates: 2.5 stars (review to come)

Lady of Darkness: 3.5 stars

Lady of Shadows: 4 stars 

I read nine books in March, which was crazy! But, I was working out less, so I was obviously reading more. Ha ha. I only read two ebooks this month: Sparking Fire Out of Fate by Brigid Kemmerer (Libby) and Our Rogue Fates by Sarah Glenn Marsh (NetGalley). The rest were all physical books off my TBR. That means I knocked seven books off of my TBR shelves! Huzzah! The physical books included A Restless Truth and A Power Unbound by Freya Marske, The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard, and the first two books in the Legacy series and the first two books in the Lady of Darkness series both by Melissa K. Roehrich. I'm currently bingeing her series at the moment.

Books Bought/Received in March

I knew March would be bad. There were sooooo many special edition sales. And so many things were being released. It was awful for my wallet. Once again, I have to slow down. I'm not sure how, but I have to. Once ApollyCon is done, I might need a reset for book-buying. I'll try to think of something for May. In total for March, I purchased 31 books and received 11 titles for review or from preorders that I'd already paid for in previous months.

The 11 books I received included three ebook review copies: The Summer King by JLA, A Viper Among Kings by Sydney Olivia, and Dhampira by Amy Pennza. They also included my February FairyLoot sub books, Half City and Weavingshaw, as well as their edition of Slaying the Vampire Conqueror, Fallen Stars, and Dire Bound. My luxe edition of Zodiac Academy 3: The Reckoning arrived as well, and I used trade credit to get a paperback copy of Lights Out from my local bookstore. I almost forgot, my Lilac Library edition of Quicksilver also came in.

Now, for what I bought in March. I only received eight of the 31 books I purchased. All of those six purchases were Barnes & Noble preorders except one. The lone book was the Kindle edition of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance by Melissa K. Roehrich. I ordered it because it wasn't available on Libby, sadly, and my special edition preorders won't arrive until summer. The other five books consists of Dream of You by JLA, Lightguard by Hayley Turner, Hunt the Villain by Rina Kent, The Traitor Queen by Danielle L. Jensen, and Mother of Death and Dawn by Carissa Broadbent.

 As for the remaining 23 books, they include so very many preorders. Like it's insane how much I preordered. The only good thing is that many of these are on payment plans, otherwise I would have spent an even crazier amount of money. The preorders/books that haven't arrived yet consist of the FairyLoot edition of The Ballad of Falling Dragons, The Last Starborn Seer FairyLoot Adult March book, the author edition of Tortured Souls, the author edition of The Witch Collector, the Aurora Crate editions of books three and four in the Legacy series, the first three books in the Lady of Darkness series from FairyLoot, A Tapestry of Fate from FairyLoot, the German editions of Blood and Ash 1-3, the Locked Library editions of the Nevernight series, The Black Jewels trilogy from Moonlight Book Box, and the Black Dagger Brotherhood Books for Days Crate set.

Currently Obsessed With

I actually watched a lot of stuff over the past month, including Project Hail Mary in theaters, the entirety of Bridgerton season four, the start of Invincible season four, Daredevil: Born Again season two (the first episode), and I'm back on my Grey's Anatomy watch. I still just turn it on when I eat meals mostly. I also started The Mighty Nein, but I don't think I'll finish it before my Amazon Prime free trial expires. It didn't grip me enough to keep watching right away.

April TBR

My TBR has slightly changed for once. That's exciting. I'm still reading The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde. I'm also still reading Lore by Alexandra Bracken and The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson. I very much need to start To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast and finish Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter, which I'm a couple of chapters into. Those two are NetGalley eARCs. I have a few other NetGalley ARCs, but those are the immediate ones. I'd also like to read Lights Out by Navessa Allen and Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley, as there are FairyLoot editions going on sale in April. I'm continuing my Melissa K. Roehrich read-through as well. I'd love to be able to finish the entire Lady of Darkness series in April and then read the rest of the Legacy series in May, if possible.

***

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

Upcoming Release: The Summer King by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Summer King, a steamy romantic fantasy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout & Blue Box Press is coming April 7th!

 

The Summer King

Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publication Date: April 7, 2026

Paperback (limited edition with deluxe edges), 496 pages, Blue Box Press

Genres: Adult, Paranormal/Fantasy, Romance

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Paperback

 

From #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes the complete Summer King saga—three parts, one epic romance.

 

Cold. Heartless. Deadly. Whispers of his name alone bring fear to fae and mortals alike. Caden, the Prince, is the most dangerous being in the mortal world—haunted by a past he couldn’t control and driven by a singular desire: revenge. And there’s only one person who can help him.

 

Brighton Jussier knows better than to trust him. Raised in the Order, she’s seen the atrocities Caden is capable of. Reformed or not, she wants nothing to do with him…until he leaves her no choice. Forced into an uneasy alliance, she discovers the man beneath the ice—a man whose touch burns with forbidden heat and whose gaze holds a wicked promise.

 

But there’s someone out there who wants to return the Prince to his former self. A walking, breathing nightmare hell-bent on destroying the world—and everyone close to him. The more Brighton and Caden work together, the harder it is to deny the hunger between them. And when Brighton is bestowed with the forbidden Summer’s Kiss, becoming something no longer human, Caden refuses to let her go—even at the cost of his Court.

 

Now, as the doorway to the Otherworld is breached, Brighton and Caden must do the unthinkable—not just to survive, but to save mankind from the evil that threatens to consume the world.

 

Previously published as the novellas The Prince, The King, and The Queen.

My Thoughts

I recently received an ARC of this one from the publisher, Blue Box Press, so you'll be seeing my review soon. I can't wait to share my thoughts. It's been a while since I read the Wicked trilogy but those books and JLA's Harbinger series got me out of a major reading slump back in 2020. It's been great to dive back into her urban fantasy/paranormal world. I feel like all I read is fantasy or contemporary these days and not anything with both elements. I'm about a third of the way through The Summer King right now, and it's taking me back to much simpler times. But, I'll share my full review next week!

Stacking the Shelves: The Blue Box 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.

Life is fine, but I am very tired today, so I'm going to try to keep this brief. I saw Project Hail Mary this past weekend, barely worked out, worked, and slept. That was the extent of my activities. I'm hoping to be more productive next week, because this one was a dud.

As for the books I received this week, I got a few physical copies. The first is a copy of Lights Out by Navessa Allen that I used trade credit to get from my local used bookstore. My luxe copy of Zodiac Academy: The Reckoning also finally came. I paid for the entire ZA luxe series in fall of 2024, I believe, and I think they're just now shipping book three. It'll take five years to get them all at this rate. I didn't actually do the math, I'm just guesstimating. XD

 

 

 

My February Adult FairyLoot book also FINALLY came. US FairyLoot orders have been significantly backed up, so I was getting a bit irritated. Thankfully, they finally started moving last week. I'm still waiting on a couple of preorders, but those were on their way. I just hope there's no damage from the wait. The February book is Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity. I don't really have much interest in this book, I just didn't have any skips left. It is gorgeous though, so maybe I'll give it a try.

 

I have one ebook for the week as well. It's the newly repackaged The Summer King bindup by Jennifer L. Armentrout. This was originally three separate novellas that Blue Box Press has now released all together in one paperback and ebook version. I signed up for the ARC team, and they sent me a digital copy. I'm about 15% through now, and my review will be live April 7, on release day.

 

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

Stacking the Shelves: The Actual eBooks 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.

Work is getting better, so I think in the next week or so, I may actually be able to get back to regular blogging. And by regular, I mean posting two times a week versus just once. I do have some reviews coming up, and I still haven't done a lot of my wrap-up posts from 2025. Yikes. Is it too late to share those? Other than work, I've mostly been watching TV and reading. I've been lazy, but it's just because my job has me too stressed out to do much other than veg out.

As for the books I received this week, I have one lone physical copy. My Barnes & Noble preorder of Mother of Death and Dawn by Carissa Broadbent arrived. I can now binge read the trilogy. While these covers are decent, I'm hoping FairyLoot does a nice special edition set. I don't know if I'd keep these versions or not if I did get a special set. I guess it depends on how great the other versions are and how much I like the actual story. 

 

 

 

I have ebooks to share this week. I feel like it's been a month or so since I've had actual ebooks in a haul post, simply because I'm trying to read down my TBR. It's working, but I'm also bringing in so many physical books that the dent just stays the same size every time. I received two NetGalley ARCs for review. Those include Dhampira by Amy Pennza and A Viper Among Kings by Sydney Olivia. I also bought Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance by Melissa K. Roehrich on Kindle. I had points to reduce the price a bit, because otherwise, this was $16 on Nook and Kindle. Yikes! I remember when companies had to send out settlements for high ebook prices. Those were the goold ol' days. Ha.

 

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

Stacking the Shelves: The Beautiful Books 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.

One day, I will post more than just Stacking the Shelves. I feel like that's all I've done lately. My job has just required a lot of time on a screen, and I can't make myself stare at it more to write posts. Hopefully, things slow down soon and it's not such a chore to be on my computer. But, other than that, this week has been pretty quiet. I did buy way too many books yesterday. Like, multiple books worth $$$, so I'm in timeout for the minute.

As for the actual books I received this week, I have a few. One of which is my February FairyLoot Romantasy book, which is Half City by Kate Golden. I'm so excited for this one. Not only is it probably my favorite FairyLoot sub box edition that they've done in a while, but it also sounds like a great book. It has Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural vibes, apparently, and that's all I need. I can't decide, though, if I want to read it now or wait until all the books are out to binge the entire series. Ugh. Decisions... 

 

 

 

I also received a couple of other preorders from book boxes, including another FairyLoot edition. My FairyLoot edition of Dire Bound by Sable Sorenson arrived. It's very pretty. I now have like three editions of this book, or I will, once my US version is replaced by Barnes & Noble. I can't keep them all, but I will be keeping this one. My preorder of Lilac Library's Quicksilver edition by Callie Hart also came in. While I do like the cover for this one, the under the dust jacket isn't as pretty, though it's still better than whatever the heck the publishers decided to do for the regular hardback editions. The order also came with an art print that got a bit beat up in transit. It's still cute, though.

 

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

Stacking the Shelves: The Not Keeping 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'm so ready for the weekend. I have a bunch of errands I should be doing, but I think I'm probably going to end up just lazing around all day Saturday. We shall see... As for life overall, it's been hectic. I need many naps. Work is haunting me even when I'm not there, and I hate that. I need a vacation ASAP.

So technically I have books to haul this week, but they're going to be leaving very soon. Why? Because they're both damaged. You can see where Restless Stars by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti is ripped at the corner. It's a big book and Barnes & Noble didn't pack it very well. My Dire Bound edition also came from them with a dented corner. It's hard to see since it's in the shadowy part of the pic. So, both have to be returned and then I'll be sent a replacement. I just have to hope that the replacements aren't as damaged as the originals.

 

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