Wildblood by Lauren Blackwood
Victoria has been forced to work as a guide with the Exotic Lands Touring Company since she was six years old, and things are worse than ever now that her ex Dean has been promoted over her. Her last hope is to successfully guide Thorn, a high-profile client, safely to the depths of the jungle – but as she grows closer to him, she begins to wonder if there’s a life out there for in the broader world. I wanted to like this book so […]
Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains by Anita Yasuda and Yuko Shimizu
I am not a sports person. I am not an outdoors person. I am not a hiking person. And I am certainly not a mountain climbing person. I am a person who will read a book outside (but it’s a porch and there better be running water/bathroom and cool drinks nearby). And I am a person who will read a book about someone who is an outdoors, sporty, mountain climbing person. And Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains by Anita […]
Yamada Monogatari: The Emperor in Shadow by Richard Parks
I have had the final Yamada Monogatari on my TBR for a long time. I finally picked it up and it’s what I needed for a couple of snow days in a row the deep South. I’m a native Midwesterner so snow and cold are not new to me, but last night might have been the first time in a decade since I moved that I saw measurable snow stick around more than a few hours (not even going to get into the ice). Work […]
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
3.5 stars Twenty years before the events in Legends & Lattes, Viv is a young and relatively inexperienced mercenary, who gets badly injured fighting undead monsters while hunting for a powerful necromancer. Her mercenary band leave her in the quiet and mostly empty seaside town of Murk to heal up and recuperate. She worries that the group are going to leave her there, but thankfully, to take her mind off her fears, she encounters the local bookshop owner, who manages to persuade her (Viv has […]
The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso
The Last Hour Between Worlds might just be the perfect New Years read; it’s almost cozy, it’s fantasy, it’s got a touch of romance, it takes place during a New Year’s Eve party, the characters are pretty interesting, the world is interesting, and it’s mostly just a fun read. The Last Hour Between Worlds features a new mom at a New Year’s Eve party trying to relax her totally exhausted self, but she gets pulled into trouble that happens to fit her profession (but she’s […]
Poison in Their Hearts by Laura Sebastian
Raised to be weapons in their mother’s arsenals, princesses Beatrice and Daphne have united forces and turned against her. But to defeat her once and for all, they must not only convince their allies but the people themselves that they have what it takes. This is the action-packed conclusion to the Castle in Their Bones series, which follows a trio of princess sisters who, after parting to wed into – and destabilize – three neighboring countries, reevaluate those goals and decide to work against their […]
