readinginwatercolor

Categories: Romance

Isn’t it Bromantic

Synopsis:

With his passion for romance novels, it was only a matter of time before Vlad wrote one.

Elena Konnikova has lived her entire adult life in the shadows. As the daughter of a Russian journalist who mysteriously disappeared, she escaped danger the only way she knew how: She married her childhood friend, Vladimir, and moved to the United States, where he is a professional hockey player in Nashville.

Vlad, aka the Russian, thought he could be content with his marriage of convenience. But it’s become too difficult to continue in a one-sided relationship. He joined the Bromance Book Club to learn how to make his wife love him, but all he’s learned is that he deserves more. He’s ready to create his own sweeping romance—both on and off the page.

The bros are unwilling to let Vlad forgo true love—and this time they’re not operating solo. They join forces with Vlad’s neighbors, a group of meddling widows who call themselves the Loners. But just when things finally look promising, Elena’s past life intrudes and their happily ever after is cast into doubt.

My Review:

“Wakey, wakey, hands off snakey.”

Thats right, we are BACK LADIES! And better than ever.

Isn’t it Bromantic follows Vlad and his wife Elena. The mystery woman many thought was a figment of the imagination, well, until she shows up asking for a divorce.

But was that request a mistake?
Are the feelings both have ignored so long mutual and stronger than ever?

All Elena knows is right now, Vlad needs her, and she will need to earn the respect and spot among Vlad’s people.
First the bookclub… Vlad’s best friends that seem to know more than she does with their plotting and “I seeeeee’s.”
The Loners, a bunch of widowed or divorced women who have taken Vlad under their wing in his time of loneliness. And some of these ladies will put a hex on you.

“You’re still waiting on your knight in shining armor who will make you all giddy and sparkly for the rest of your life. What you should be looking for is someone you’re still willing to have sex with after they make you look at their colonoscopy.”

This book was by far my favorite in the series since book 1. It has the strong element of comedic relief, serious underlying topics, and of course… romance.

Read if you love:
-the perfect rom-com
-russian inspiration so good you can taste it
-friends to lovers
-a big furry cinnamon roll you can’t help cheer on
-friends… the weirdest and the best of them all
-a bit of crime action

Rating:
genre- rom com, can be read as a standalone but wouldn’t recommend
story-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
characters-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
steam- He’s romantic… not easy, calm down….

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an EARC for this incredible book.

Categories: Young Adult

Emmie & the Tudor Queen (book 2)

Synopsis:

True love has never been more deadly in this lush sequel to the best-selling Emmie and the Tudor King.

For an extraordinary love, Emmie Grace has given up her life in the modern world to move to the sixteenth century and marry the Tudor king she bravely saved from a dreadful fate. However, not everyone is pleased to see the glorious King Nick betrothed to the unknown and uncultured Emmie—especially the noblemen commanded to protect her.

As Emmie is drawn deeper into Nick’s sumptuous and savage world—where beheadings are way more popular than time travelers—the Tudor court heads on progress across the country, and a growing rebellion against the promised queen looms.

With life and love at stake, Emmie must face the cost of changing the path of history and realize that her greatest sacrifice is yet to come.

My Review:

” Your dear betrothed may have the heart of a king, my lady, but he also bears the heart of a man.”

After a crazy ending in book one, I wasn’t sure where EATTQ would go.
Turns out everywhere I wanted it!

After Nick’s proposal, Emmie must now navigate the Tudor time period and find where she belongs, other than the owner of Nick’s heart.

With so many swoon worthy moments and writing so beautiful you feel as if you are wearing gorgeous gowns and jewels yourself, I highly recommend this series to people of all ages.

Read if you love:
-the Tudor dynasty and time period
-a king with anger issues but a huge heart
-a modern day girl living in a whole ‘other world
-is it really old England if there isn’t a bit of betrayal and beheading?
-Outlander for Young Adults
-a bit of magic
-a love worth traveling time for
-friendships and side characters to find just as interesting as the OTP
-quick and easy escape of a book

The ending had my gasping and racing to the last page, with a cliffhanger I didn’t see coming. I am on pins and needles waiting for book 3!

“No matter where we shall travel, my lady- to the future or to God in heaven, I wish to be by your side. For I shall be a king no more, but merely a man, and I will worship and love yours such until the last breath of my immortal soul. Can you love me not as a king, Emmie, but as a man?”

Rating:
Story- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Characters-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre- YA romance/time travel/historical fiction
Steam- although the men on Nicholas’s council was called to watch and verify the consummation of marriage… you my friend…. are not invited.

Thank you Natalie Murray for gifting me an ARC to share my love for this story with others ❤️.

Emmie and the Tudor King is avaiable July 28th! Preorder now by clicking on my the picture above!

Categories: Romance

Exodus

Synopsis

Can you live a lie?

It’s a ghost town, this place that haunts me, the one that made me.
It’s clear to me that I’ll never outgrow Triple Falls or outlive the time I spent
here.
I can still feel them all, my boys of summer.
Even when I’d sensed the danger, I gave in.
I didn’t heed a single warning. I let my sickness, my love, both rule and ruin
me. I played my part, eyes wide open, tempting fate until it delivered.
There was never going to be an escape.
All of us are to blame for what happened. All of us serving our own
sentences. We were careless and reckless, thinking our youth made us
indestructible, exempt from our sins, and it cost us all.
I’m done pretending I didn’t leave the largest part of me between these
hills and valleys, between the sea of trees that hold my secrets.
It’s the reason I’m back. To make peace with my fate.
And if I can’t grieve enough to cure myself in my time here, I’ll remain sick.
That will be my curse.
But it’s time to confess, to myself more so than any other, that I’d hindered
my chances because of the way I was built, and because of the men who built me.
At this point, I just want to make peace with who I am, no matter what
ending I get.

Because I can no longer live a lie.

My Review

““I didn’t know how f****** possessed I was until I saw the way they loved you.”

If you look up “Exodus” in the dictionary… you will see it as the book that will fuel your soul and then absolutely crush it.

Flock leaves us with a bit of a hanger as we are finally introduced to The Frenchman and all the darkness that follows him.

Cecelia wants nothing more than to be reunited with the two mysteries that stole her heart, but fate has other plans.

Exodus is a rollercoaster and feels like two books smashed into one.

Expect to fall in love, to fan yourself from the HEAT, and to sob as you try to retrieve the pieces after the explosion that hits your heart.

I’m naming Exodus in my top 10 reads of 2021.. all consuming and completely destructive.

I also have a special place for this book from the Thorn Birds references… which is my all time favorite book.

Come take a ride in Dom’s black Camaro, learn how to love insatiably, and unravel the mysteries and confusion created by the men that changed you and made you.

Read if you love:
-A heroine with the strength of an army
-messy love
-fated love
-SHOCK AND AWE… the ties only intertwine more and more
-unabashed ravishing
-the good guys who have to do bad things
-KILLER music references
-a good cleansing cry
-a series that will ruin everything else for you

Rating:
story:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
characters:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Dom is everything)
steam: if this is how the French do it… ya’ll are diiiiirty

Categories: Romance

Flock ( The Ravenhood Series)

Synopsis:

I grew up sick.⁣
⁣
Let me clarify.⁣
⁣
I grew up believing that real love stories include a martyr or demand great sacrifice to be worthy.⁣
⁣
Because of that, I believed it, because I made myself believe it, and I bred the most masochistic of romantic hearts, which resulted in my illness.⁣
⁣
When I lived this story, my own twisted fairy tale, it was unbeknownst to me at the time because I was young and naïve. I gave into temptation and fed the beating beast, which grew thirstier with every slash, every strike, every blow.⁣
⁣
Triple Falls wasn’t at all what it seemed, nor were the men that swept me under their wing. But in order to keep them, I had to be in on their secrets.⁣
⁣
Secrets that cost us everything to keep.⁣
⁣
That’s the novelty of fiction versus reality. You can’t re-live your own love story, because by the time you’ve realized you’re living it, it’s over. At least that was the case for me and the men I trusted my foolish heart to.⁣
⁣
Looking back, I’m convinced I willed my story into existence due to my illness.⁣
⁣
And all were punished.

Both books in The Ravenhood Duet are now available and must be read in order.
Duet Reading Order
Book #1 Flock
Book #2 Exodus

This is an angsty, unconventional love story with high steam, loaded with suspense, a little action, and ALL OF THE FEELS!

My Review:

“The truth is, I do expect a lot out of my love story and the man I’ll share it with. I expect passion and butterflies, and one or two fairy tale moments. When we fight, I want it to hurt. When we f***, I want to feel it with every fiber of my being. When a man confesses his love to me, I expect him to mean it. I don’t want to question the words’ authenticity. I want to be claimed and owned and ruled and possessed by love.”

Cecilia:
moves in with her father for one reason and one reason only. To take her fortune and hand it over to her mother. The mother who was left broken, damaged and an addict. All because of unrequited love.

In this town no one is who they seem… so, can you keep a secret?

The mystery boys with fast cars, egos and raven wings tattooed on their skin have Cecilia curious as to what is behind the masks they wear.
Meet these boys:

Alfred Sean Roberts
The giver with the hazel eyes. The man who lives in the moment and demands all of your attention.
The one with the knee weakening smile.

Jean Dominic King
Black hair and silver eyes that hold you wear you stand.
Defender with a temper and a man of little words… but he WILL be your undoing.
Dominic. is. my. weakness
Fast cars and nasty words are his specialty.

The love Cecelia read about and expected may not be what she finds.
It’s going to be messy.
It’s going to be painful.
And its going to be a secret many will never know or understand.

Welcome to your summer obsession, and the one when someone says “what’s your book about?” you have no idea how to give an answer… you just instantly download it for them.

All I know is I think I did my early 20s wrong. Anyone have a redo card?

Read if you love:
-a bit of mystery packed in two beautiful men
-a corrupt small town
-fast cars
-conspiracies
– a love… knot? not necessarily a triangle… yes… ill say knot.
-young protagonist with daddy issues… and even though you don’t have them yourself… you get it.

Rating:
story- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ AND IM OBSESSED
characters- just take my whole bag… no one else will compete with these boys
steam- I’m day 3 of my ice bath after how HOT that was.

Categories: Literary Fiction, Romance

The Road Trip

Book Description

Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in the north of Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed.

But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie’s ex, Dylan, who she’s avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.

Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they’ve totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can’t avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship…

Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly… is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?

“You’re going to break my heart, Dylan Abbott. I can feel it.”
–“Nom That’s- I was- we’re not like that. We’re different, me and you. I’ll never break your heart Addie.”
-“And so said every gentleman to the girl who lived in the servant’s quarters, eh?”

Beth O’Leary comes at us with her 3rd novel The Road Trip and without even reading a description I knew I had to have it.
As an author, she has a captivating way of writing situations you could find yourself as a normal person in trying to solve a simple problem that feels quite heavy.

Coated in humor and romance, TRT is tender, soft and full of meaning I didn’t quite expect.

With time hops from “NOW” and “THEN” we see Dylan and Addie crash into each other again after almost a 2 year break up that left them both devastated.
A car full of weirdos on a journey to a wedding will leave you laughing, swooning and almost in tears as you head to the destination, and if you’re like me, you’ll be completely consumed by this love story.

Read if you like:
-Jojo Moyes sophistication
-Fredrik Backman’s quirky humor
– all consuming first love and second chances
-friendships and bonds that are both strong and toxic
– a great summer read to get you away for a day

Why I gave it 4 stars:
Honestly, I’m not sure. This was the first of her books that I read myself and maybe I just find her writing leveled to a new intensity with an audio narrator rather than myself but some spots felt a bit flat or irrelevant, however didn’t necessarily take away from the story. I loved being in Dylan’s brain and time jumping back to the beginning of their relationship. What a unique set of characters to find love. I was ALL IN!

TW: depression, abuse, rape, mental abuse

Rating:
Story-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Romance-one true love
Steam- I think this is my first time saying that the steam was “beautiful” and poetic… you’ll see
Song: High for Me by Olivia Noelle

Thank you to the publisher and author for my gifted copy ❤️

AVAILABLE JUNE 1, 2O21

Categories: Fantasy, Romance

A Fate of Wrath & Flame

Available TODAY!

Synopsis:

Gifted thief Romeria has flourished from her days as a street kid pilfering wallets to survive. Now she thrives, stealing jewels from the rich under the involuntary employ of New York City’s most notorious crime boss. But when an enigmatic woman secures her services at swordpoint, Romeria is plunged into a startling realm of opposing thrones, warring elven, and elemental magic she cannot begin to fathom.

Her quest is straightforward: Steal a stone from Islor’s sacred garden without anyone discovering her true identity, which would earn her certain death. But the identity she has inexplicably assumed is that of the captured Ybarisan princess—an enemy to Islor after she poisoned their beloved king and queen on the day she was to marry the prince.

Her betrothed, the newly crowned King Zander, detests her with every grain of his handsome being. Fortunately for Romeria, she is more valuable to him alive than dead. Zander gives her a choice: life in a cell, or an acquittal of all charges in exchange for her help in exposing the growing plot against him.

Romeria sees no other option and embraces the tricky role of smitten queen-to-be until she can escape, a ruse that brings her far closer to the king than she anticipated and threatens more than her safety. As she digs deeper into this sacred garden and the ancient feud between Ybaris and Islor, she discovers monstrous truths that could spell ruin for all.

She would know the world of vengeful gods and monsters, and the lengths one would go for love. And nothing would ever be the same for her again.

My Review

“It would be a lot easier if you didn’t react the way you do to me.”
“I can’t help it.”
“Neither can I anymore, it would seem.”

I was scrolling instagram a few months back and thought “Could it be?? KA.T. writing a FANTASY ROMANCE?!?”
Oh and it was true.
The woman who brought us Jonah has now decided we need to have a minor heart attack.

KA Tucker delivers extraordinary world building for her first time in this genre. I wanted to live in Islor with the Mortals and Immortals alike. I wanted to be a caster and see what type of elemental power I would have. I wanted to wear a beautiful gown and fall for a king who wore a heavy crown.
I was consumed and completed immersed in AFoW&F.

There are two heroines we follow, Sofie being still a mystery, and Romeria, a thief in one alternate universe and a princess in her current, will have to choose her path wisely as she deals with the Fates, the politics of a kingdom not yet her own, and possibly her heart.

And beware… Zander is all consuming. A broken man ready to lead a kingdom of history to be remade. A corrupt government with no one he can trust but himself. Zander is the ultimate hero that you know will prevail.

Read if you love:

-Vengeful Gods
-Rhen from A curse so dark and lonely, but radiating sex appeal
-Royalty, Castles, Court, and Corruption
-a heroine who you actually want to BE!
-a bit of mystery & intrigue
– Elemental Magic
– 🧛‍♀️
-friendships just as good as the OTP
-your next obsession in a series
-a little sweat & sword play anyone?
– From Blood and Ash, but honestly with a better world I didn’t struggle to understand. I was pulled in right away and couldn’t stop till the last page.

Rating:
It’s almost June and I’m naming it my favorite book of 2021-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters- here’s my bag of stars… I dont need them anymore
Trope- arranged marriage? enemies to lovers? fake relationship? that’s right you get them all
Steam- Just Zander leaning on a wall makes my knees weak… someone get this girl a wheelchair!🥵

Thank you Valentine PR and KA Tucker for my Advanced Copy for review. Now excuse me as I go reread

Categories: Young Adult

We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This

“We’re all hurting Quinn. In different ways, some that we can treat with medication and therapy and some only with time. And some in ways that might never heal. Sometimes the good outweighs the bad. Sometimes those great time4s are so F****** great that they make the bad times a little easier to handle. ”

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Pub Date: June 8, 2021

Synopsis:

A wedding harpist disillusioned with love and a hopeless romantic cater-waiter flirt and fight their way through a summer of weddings in this effervescent romantic comedy from the acclaimed author of Today Tonight Tomorrow.

Quinn Berkowitz and Tarek Mansour’s families have been in business together for years: Quinn’s parents are wedding planners, and Tarek’s own a catering company. At the end of last summer, Quinn confessed her crush on him in the form of a rambling email—and then he left for college without a response.

Quinn has been dreading seeing him again almost as much as she dreads another summer playing the harp for her parents’ weddings. When he shows up at the first wedding of the summer, looking cuter than ever after a year apart, they clash immediately. Tarek’s always loved the grand gestures in weddings—the flashier, the better—while Quinn can’t see them as anything but fake. Even as they can’t seem to have one civil conversation, Quinn’s thrown together with Tarek wedding after wedding, from performing a daring cake rescue to filling in for a missing bridesmaid and groomsman.

Quinn can’t deny her feelings for him are still there, especially after she learns the truth about his silence, opens up about her own fears, and begins learning the art of harp-making from an enigmatic teacher.

Maybe love isn’t the enemy after all—and maybe allowing herself to fall is the most honest thing Quinn’s ever done.

My Thoughts

I don’t know what it is about pastel book covers… but they always surprised me when I open them up and they are full of depth, especially YA genre.

This sweet book is full of raw emotion and information that made me go “wow I had no idea.”

WCKMLT was on my TBR because of these two teens finding a second chance romance but what I loved even more was the jewish and muslim culture references, the back stories and emphasis on what we “see” and reality of our families, understanding more about mental health, depression, and even OCD, and the power of friendships that often are the backbone to us all.

Read if you like:
– rom coms and a bit of pop culture references
-mental health topics and awareness
-young love and second chances
-a YA adults can enjoy too
-baklava
-wedding scenes and all the planning
-🏳️‍🌈❤️
-boys who believe in grand gestures

Rating:
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steam- “like a spicy margarita… a solid concoction with a bit of a KICK.”

Categories: Healthy Life

My Personal Discoveries

Whoa… never in my life did I think I would write a blog centered around my thoughts PERSONALLY.

Books are an easy way to escape for me. To explore in the ocean I’m afraid to dive into. To be a warrior fighting for a cause. To remember falling in love for the first time over and over again, or maybe even where to bury a dead body. In the end it allows us to disconnect from reality and live in something that feels much freer… less responsible.

2020 was a year of learning. I learned I COULD in fact paint something and work on DIY home things when I didn’t work 40-60 hrs a week.

I learned that I could eat healthy, and even use the Peloton bike that I promised my husband was worth it.

I learned that time had value… even more than I ever gave it credit.

I learned that slowing down and enjoying a Zac Efron movie marathon with your sister may forever be a favorite moment for me.

I learned audiobooks count as books too.

I learned the value of community.

I learned friendships can be found anywhere in the world.

But when 2021 hit, I realized I needed to find new ways to grow.

Being Healthy CAN Happen

The first was my health. For almost 8 years I’ve spent my life pretty miserable. Trying diets to change my life, getting sick, doctor and hospital visits, large weight gains and loses, migraines and a low immune system, severe body pain… You name it. I honestly just started to think I was born to be in pain… maybe everyone is, right?

With new discoveries I changed my life … especially how I ate and slowly when the brain fog ebbed, the constant pain and exhaustion becoming less each week and even losing weight I finally felt hopeful… hopeful that maybe turning 30 could be great. Hopeful that my happy place didn’t just have to be in my bed, but with friends smiling again.

I’ve found a new way to love food… vegan recipes, gluten free, dairy free… so many delicious ways to eat plant based (I know sounds gross right?) but I’m not kidding when I say it changed my life.

Would you be interested in recipes and fun health hacks? I’d love to hear from you.

Growing in Social Media

With all the time at home in 2020 I also became obsessed with growth. Friends and I would get so down on ourselves about losing followers, working so hard for a picture and getting little to no likes, and how great engagement groups were to help boost a post but it started to feel less authentic. Why are we liking posts we barely look at, or do we even like or support the content?

After a long day in the salon I would run home to find food and like the 200+ posts in hopes that I wouldn’t get called out for missing anyone.

It.Was.EXHAUSTING.

So I made the decision to leave. I found that I valued my time with my husband more than I did obligatory groups. I found I enjoyed engaging authentically with friends I want to support and creators I vibe with more than before and instagram became fun again.

So yes.. the likes dropped… the engagement dropped.. the depression set in. But only for a moment.

If this is your sign to quit the engagement group, do it.

Follow who you want.

Support who you love.

And post what makes you happy. I promise the likes, comments and shares feel a lot better when you know they didn’t do it all because they HAD to.

Since dropping I have gained so much.

-over 1k followers

-more time to create what I love

-more time to actually read the books I want to talk about

-time to workout and feel good

-cooking… yes and good cooking

-have a conversation with people I care about

-less stress

Finding Diamonds

I always sit and laugh to myself when I hear people talk about social media. It’s either people say its Satan’s playground where the bullies go to play, or it has helped them in a positive way.

For me I can see both.

With covid being a thing, I noticed the slander, mean comments, roasting and canceling became much… louder.

Don’t get me wrong, I see a point to be heard and to speak up, that’s your right… but some were just to be cruel, because the screen protected the advocator somehow. They can just block you if they don’t like what you say.

My favorite… “You don’t like it? LEAVE!” (rolls eyes)

I have officially signed off Facebook as a hobby. Every time I decided to open the app and catch up on friends I found soooo much hate. Hate for businesses that were trying to survive. Hate for the postal guy who left your package at the wrong door instead of having some understanding that, you know, everyone is online shopping more and they are under staffed.

One sided conversations and opinions with no integrity or grace for others.

So… I said a good ole “bye Felicia.”

Twitter was the same… but more political… which is my least favorite of all the subjects.

So why did I choose to stay on instagram?

Instagram became a healthy thing for me. I found some of the best of friends.

Women that would uplift, encourage, and laugh with me instead of tear me down or find constant flaws in my actions.

People that made me feel creative, safe, beautiful, and seen… for me.

People who love to read, especially the nerdy weird books about vampires I was trash for.

I met strangers that became friends after monthly zooms where we laughed with wine and books.

To every person who chose to bring positivity, encouragement and love to my space. Thank you.

Because of you I felt better about eating different and less alone.

I felt stronger after a work out, because you took pictures and said “look me too!”

I felt less alone for crying over a book character that I know wasn’t real, but I loved anyways.

Every milestone I hit was shared and celebrated and made me feel like a queen.

I laid in bed and laughed over jokes no one else would find funny.

I even did a photoshoot on a horse in a glamorous robe because I knew my small gaggle of friends would empower me rather than judge how fat my leg looked or “why would you go take pictures of yourself?”

I would write everyone out who has changed my life, but for now I’ll just say you know who you are, I love you, and thank you for creating beauty in social media, helping a lost girl find confidence, and being genuinely beautiful souls… this one is for you.

If you need a friend to encourage you, to talk about books with, or to just drop by and chat about food. please know my DM’s are always open on my Instagram.

Today remember to be kind, compliments are free.

With All My Love & Gratitude,

Aundreya

Categories: Fantasy, Romance

Hollow Heathens

“Come with me, and I’ll show you everything no one else will. Come with me, and I will tell you things no one else will tell you, I’ll give you everything, feed all your forbidden thoughts, thing you never knew you wanted.”

No. One. Prepared. Me.

Welcome to Weeping Hollow… where the covens are corrupt, the heathens are cursed to wear masks, the love is all consuming, and no one is safe after 3 am.

Nicole Fiorina does an incredible job writing a modern tale that feels Like Edgar Allen Poe and Shakespeare had a baby. (sounds weird, but stay with me)
You will spend so many moments rereading, highlighting and swooning over this book.

With the dark eery setting and star crossed lovers that are written like poetry, I felt as if I myself was running through the forest at night after Julian.

Hollow Heathens is available in both YA and NA format but listen to me… if you are not faint of heart get that NA BOO!

Fallon returns to her hometown after receiving a letter from her estranged dying grandfather and is pulled different directions by the Sacred Sea coven she is told she is a part of, and the masked man with silver eyes.

Julian has never felt the sun on his face thanks to the curse that requires him and his coven to wear masks… or everyone who looks upon him will die. Jules hands are dirty and he is seen only as a monster. But the freakshow with white hair that just entered town may see through the mask and make him feel worthy of more, even a life without the Heathen curse.
“We didn’t make sense, but as I stood before her, she saw all the things in me that felt too messed up. She pulled me back into the person I’d abandoned a long time ago. Fallon looked past the curse, and therefore, I couldn’t look past her.”

Be warned. You will start this book and neglect everything in life you were in need of doing… who knows maybe you’ll take a second stroll as soon as you are done.
But this tragic dark love story is worth every minute of neglected house cleaning time, I promise.

Why I loved it:
-Fallon & gramps
-It felt dark and magical like The Wicked Deep
-Old literature vibes referencing to EAP, Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera
-a little mystery and one I did not see coming
-new book bae
-epic star cross love story
-timeline jumps that are SEAMLESS
-I said Julian… right?
-I needed a good deep cry
– it’s on Kindle Unlimited (score) but now I need it on my shelf PRONTO

What was missing:
I just needed more gramps….

Rating:
Story-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Romance- Forbidden Love
Characters-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steam- “Hollow Heathens may live on your bedside table for inspirational purposes. Your welcome significant other.”

Synopsis:

A forbidden, timeless, and haunting love story.

Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Fallon who was taken far away from home shortly after she was born.
A home that held more than strange traditions and bizarre superstitions.
Twenty-four years later, she returned to Weeping Hollow, a town she’d only heard about in stories during restless nights under a marble moon, in the middle of the night to take care of her last living relative.
They called the nosy mortician a freakshow–a ghastly thing.
They said I couldn’t go near her.
Still, there was this aching pull to Fallon Grimaldi that I couldn’t escape.
A nostalgic pull as if we’d been here before.

Once upon a time, there lived a mysterious boy named Julian with a curse as old as centuries wrapped around his soul.
He was one of the four Hollow Heathens, the very dark creatures who caused the town’s people to live in fear.
And the Blackwell name was stained with darkness and death.
They called him a monster. Cold and hollow.
They said I shouldn’t go near him.
Still, there was this aching pull to Julian Blackwell that I couldn’t escape.
A nostalgic pull as if we’d been here before.

Categories: Fantasy, Young Adult

Ember of Night

“Even the darkness has value to those who seek its shelter.”

Wow!

Ember of Night comes in with a POW as we navigate the days leading to Harley’s eighteenth birthday. The day she can finally leave her abusive home and take guardianship of her younger sister… or maybe all hell will break loose… literally.

YA fantasy is full of good vs evil stories where we buy in for the love triangle (cough cough every vampire book on your shelf)

but what Molly E. Lee does differently is she created a world filled with grey characters. Bad angels? Good demons? Demons that look like alligators? Sorcerers? Good people with bad morals? Bad people with good morals? HOW DO YOU CHOOSE A TEAM!?!?

The only way I know how is to follow the hottie with striking eyes… cue Draven. Tan skin, golden eyes, and alot of secrets. But who is this young man whose afraid of a little “connection” and human contact? The one who tries but cannot stay away.

“I had a suspicion you were hot for me Harley, but I didn’t think I could make you burn.”

Trigger warnings: abuse, thoughts of suicide, gore, language

Read if you like:
– YA JLA series
– Cassandra Clare’s world with a bit of a bigger PUNCH
-angels and demons
-a heroine who could literally kick your butt
– a bit of mystery
-urban setting
-young adult books more on the new adult side
-a new series you will be addicted to!
-anime! yes I said anime….

Any author who starts a book out with a HOT dance scene is a new fave in my book.

Why I gave it 4 Stars:
-being the first book with a lot of mystery, it ends in a little cliffhanger and I just wanted MORE. More moments, maybe even more love triangle? I know bookstagram strike me down 😂. Overall I really enjoyed it
Rating:
Story-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (loved it)
characters- young and learning
romance- strangers to lustfully charged individuals
steam- wooooweeeeee that’s some steamy canoodling

Thank you Entangled Teen for my copy of Ember of Night. Counting down to book 2

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