Top Ten Author’s I’ve Met

15 September, 2026 8:00 pm , 3 Comments ,

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

 

I had the amazing opportunity to attend the RT Book Lovers Convention before it ended, and it was probably the best experience I’ve ever had as a book blogger.

I loved sitting in on all the panels and listening to authors break down how they create their characters and build entire worlds with nothing but words. The mix of fun activities, like playing bingo and card games with other bloggers, readers, and authors, was a great way to break the ice and meet people.

Ava Wixx and I really hit it off, and I ended up hanging out with her and her author group quite a bit throughout the event (so there are definitely some repeat photos of all of us!). Darynda Jones was also really awesome. I only got to hang out with her once, when she was hosting a game event I took part in, but she was so down-to-earth and genuinely cool.

I met Rachel Marks and Merrie Destafano later on at an author event at a local bookstore. I had read an ARC of one of Merrie’s upcoming novels, so I was really excited to get the chance to meet her. She actually remembered that I was one of her ARC readers and took the time to chat with me. She even introduced me to Rachel, who was there promoting her new trilogy.

Looking back, the whole experience of the RT Book Lovers Convention was a one-in-a-lifetime moment for me. Getting to meet authors, connect with other readers and bloggers, and simply be surrounded by people who love books as much as I do made it an experience I’ll never forget.

It’s sad that the RT Book Lovers Convention is no longer a thing. The convention that is trying to replace it sounds like it’s less about connecting with each other and more about selling books, which just doesn’t feel quite the same. Hopefully, when I move back to the US, I’ll be able to attend another convention and, hopefully, see some familiar faces along the way.

 

 
Ava Wixx, Christina Lauren, Megan Mitcham, Brinda Berry, Ava Wixx, and Jen Crane.
 

Richelle Mead, Brinda Berry, Jen Crane, Abbie Roads, Kathleen Groger, Ava Wixx, Darynda Jones, Rachel A Marks, and Merrie Destefano
 

 

Have you gotten to attend any book conventions or author events?

 

 

 

Posted in: Ramblings

Review: The Werewolf’s Wrong Mate by Poppy L’amour

14 September, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

The Werewolf’s Wrong Mate
Poppy L’amour
Publisher: Bluebonnet Books
Publication date: Sept. 12, 2026
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating:

Cassie came to her sister’s destination wedding determined to survive the humiliation with a smile, a steady supply of champagne, and as little direct eye contact with the groom as possible. Watching her sister marry her ex was bad enough without every pitying glance in the room reminding her that everyone expected her to be gracious about it.

When the bride’s dog bolts through a forbidden hedge on the private side of the luxury resort, Cassie follows, desperate for a few minutes away from the reception. Instead, she stumbles into a moonlit ceremony that was never meant for human eyes and lands at the feet of a man who is far more dangerous than anyone in the wedding party.

Ian is the Alpha’s brother, the pack’s enforcer, and the one wolf everyone knows better than to provoke. He agreed to the ceremony out of duty, not desire, but the moment Cassie falls into the circle, something ancient and uncontrollable chooses for him. One bite later, Cassie is marked by a bond that should not exist and trapped in a world where humans are never supposed to know monsters are real.

Now her family believes she is recovering from a suspicious accident while Cassie is kept on the wolf side of the resort, caught between pack law, a mark that is changing beneath her skin, and Ian, whose protection is the only reason she is still alive and the clearest proof that she is not free. Cassie may have fallen into his world by accident, but surviving it will mean learning which monsters want her dead, which ones want her kept, and what it costs to belong to a man who never meant to claim her.

 

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Posted in: Paranormal Romance

Review: Pumpkin King by Stormy O’hara

11 September, 2026 7:48 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Pumpkin King
Stormy O’hara
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Sept. 10, 2026
Genre: Paranormal Romance

A virgin lights a candle summoning a hot pagan god who only wants one thing in this cozy, spicy, small-town, 90s, paranormal Halloween romance novella.

Jack
One hundred years after the mortals stopped believing in me, a virgin lights the orange candle and I’m back.

But the only way I can regain my full power and return to the mortal realm for good is to deflower the fair maiden who lit the candle.

Now I have just two days to convince small-town girl Clementine to give up her mortality and become my queen for all eternity.

If I can’t, this Halloween will be my last and I’ll become nothing but pumpkin dust.

Clementine
When I inherit my great aunt’s old house, I’m looking forward to a new start, even if it means sorting through all her weird old junk first.

Next thing I know, my cousin is daring me to light an old orange candle and say “Pumpkin King” three times to make him appear.

It’s just an urban legend, right?

Except it’s not.

The Pumpkin King is real, and if I don’t let him deflower me by midnight on Halloween, he’ll be gone forever, and this could be the last good harvest. Ever.

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Posted in: Paranormal Romance

Review: Wed to the Orc Captive by Penny McMara

7 September, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Wed to the Orc Captive
Orc Wed, #2
Penny McMara
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Sept. 7 2026
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

My village was desperate to stop the orc raids, and moved to force the only kind of treaty orcs one sealed with passion. They captured an orc and told the monster that he’d take a human bride, or he’d die.

I’m avoiding a slightly worse fate.

We’ve both made the choice to survive. Now, we’re saying our vows through prison bars, neither of us fully able to trust the other. Everything about him screams danger, from his chiselled body to his too-intelligent eyes. He’s called us barbarians; he’s mocked at our faith. He’s wary of me, as a magic user, as a human, as a weakling…though that doesn’t seem to have dampened his interest in taking me to his bed.

I want to hate him. I want to see him as a monster. I want him to be someone whose blood won’t weigh on my conscience, if I have to kill him.

If only he didn’t show me more tenderness than any man I’ve ever known.

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Posted in: Fantasy Romance , Tagged: ,

Review: She Who Hunts the Moon by Jay R. Wolf

4 September, 2026 7:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

She Who Hunts the Moon
Vargrborn Legacy, #1
Jay R. Wolf
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: July 16m 2026
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating:

In the Alfarie court, a daughter born without magic is not an heir. She is an embarrassment, and Sarai Silverthorne has spent her life being treated like one. So she sets her sights on the one thing no one else has ever managed to do.

Kill the Wolf King.

Kayde Bjornson knows war with the Alfarie is coming. As leader of the Valkara, he will do whatever it takes to protect his people from the kingdom that has hunted wolf shifters for generations. But, when Sarai is pulled into his territory, her presence threatens to destroy everything his family has built.

Among ancient gods, brutal traditions, and wolves bound to human souls, they uncover a truth that could spark Ragnarok itself.

As the deadly Lunar Hunt approaches, Sarai is forced into a trial meant to awaken the beast sleeping beneath her skin.

If she fails, the hunt will kill her. If she survives, she may become something far more dangerous than the monsters she once swore to destroy. And Kayde may be the only one who can help her survive it.

The moon is rising, and whatever lives inside Sarai is beginning to wake.

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Posted in: Paranormal Romance

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Reign of Silver & Stardust by Diana A. Hicks

2 September, 2026 5:00 am , Leave a Comment ,

Reign of Silver & Stardust
Stardust #1
Diana A. Hicks
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: Aug. 27, 2026
Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance

My twin sister was murdered. To find her killer, I had to die. CATALINA
I was never supposed to survive.
As the mortal spare to an immortal sister, I lived in the shadows
until Ry was murdered by a weapon that shouldn’t exist.
Now, justice is all I want.
To find her killer, I must take her place in the Queen’s Elite Cadre
and become the very monster everyone fears.
But becoming a weapon means losing my humanity…
and losing the one man I can’t resist.

VALOREK
The immortals bleed my world dry while my sister rots from the inside out.
I swore to burn their reign to the ground,
until I met her.
Sterling is the enemy,
a silver-blooded soldier of the regime that destroyed my family.
But the electricity between us is undeniable.
We are on opposite sides of a brewing war,
and falling for the enemy is a dangerous mistake
neither of us can afford.

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Posted in: Excerpt

Mission Accomplished: Finishing My Summer Reading Challenge

30 August, 2026 10:08 am , 11 Comments ,

This post is linked to Sunday Post, Staking the Shelves, Sunday Salon, and #IMWAYR

 

This month we saw two typhoons. So, needless to say, I was able to get quite a bit of reading in.

Every summer I take part in a summer reading challenge with my friend and her circle of people. There’s usually a theme to the overall challenge, and there are 18 book categories. Things like “a book published before you were born”, “a book published this year”, “a new to you author”, etc. Every year I fail to finish the challenge, but not this year. This year I finally finished the challenge with time to spare since it ends Labor Day weekend.

I’m honestly surprised I read all the categories since some are things like thriller or mystery, and those aren’t really my genre. Somehow I made it work, found a book that would interest me, and got through it.

Below is the list of book categories and the books I read for each slot.

 

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Posted in: Ramblings

Review: Nine Month Contract by Amy Daws

28 August, 2026 7:51 pm , 2 Comments ,

Nine Month Contract
Mountain Men Matchmaker #1
Amy Daws
Publisher: Canary Street Press
Publication date: Oct. 29, 2024
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Help Wanted: Grumpy mountain man seeks baby momma. Job is an incubator position only. Surrogate must be impervious to grunting as the form of communication and nosy brotherly neighbors. Rustic mountain range housing available upon request.

I wanted to pummel my irritating brothers when they posted their own version of a wanted ad to help me with my life.

But I can’t fault the results once the right woman lands in my lap.

Becoming a single father is not a decision I made lightly. In fact, it’s the biggest decision of my entire life.

Which is why when I interview Trista, I know she’s perfect.

She’s wild, she’s opinionated, she wears cowboy boots. Even my pet goat loves her…

She’s the exact type of person I was holding out for.

And to my great horror, I realize on our first night of attempting this baby-making dance—when the lights are low, the cheap wine is flowing and the home-insemination supplies are laid out on the kitchen counter—I want to do a lot more than just make her my surrogate.

I want to make her mine.

 

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Posted in: Romance

Sneak Peek Wednesday: The Champagne Crush by Caroline O’Connell

26 August, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

The Champagne Crush
(Les Femmes Series, #1)
Caroline O’Connell
Publisher: SparkPress
Publication date: Aug. 20, 2026
Genre: Romance

Catherine Reynolds has enjoyed a life of luxury, but her diplomat parents have cut her off financially, leaving her flat broke. She is determined to turn things around and gain her independence—so, when an old family friend offers her a lifeline as a PR consultant for his sparkling wine company, she jumps at the chance. But working with Chris McDermott, the company’s no-nonsense president, is anything but easy.

A purist at heart, Chris clashes with Catherine’s glitzy marketing flair; still, the chemistry between them is undeniable. As they travel from New York to Napa, Paris, and the Champagne region of France, their partnership blossoms amid high-stakes industry rivalries and a launch that could make or break them.

When sabotage threatens to shatter their dreams, Catherine must dig deep to prove her worth. With the dazzling unveiling of their new sparkling wine in Bordeaux in jeopardy, will she and Chris overcome the challenges of the past and present to secure their future—and find love in the process?

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Posted in: Excerpt

Review: Land of Wolves: Revelations by Invi Wright

21 August, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Land of Wolves: Revelations
(Land of Wolves, #1)
Invi Wright
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: March 31, 2026
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating:

Evelyn intends to kill the man she’s destined to love.

She’s the shifter alpha’s fated mate, and the red marking on her hand is the proof. Captured as a child and raised in a human government facility, she’s the weapon that will finally bring the shifters to their knees.

Evelyn knows her purpose. Get close. Learn the alpha’s secrets. Then kill him.

Sent into shifter territory under the guise of a failed kidnapping, she quickly finds herself in the presence of her mate—the elusive Alpha Knox. He’s feared, ruthless, and yet nothing like the monster she was taught to expect. Instead of brutality, he offers protection. Instead of cruelty, he offers patience.

For the first time in her life, Evelyn begins to question who the real enemy is.

If she accepts the mate bond, she betrays her people. If she completes her mission, she destroys the only man who has ever treated her like she matters.

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Posted in: Paranormal Romance
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