All posts by Kristin

Sneak Peek Wednesday: I Do or I Don’t by Rob Edwards

Excerpt

I Do or I Don’t
by Rob Edwards
Publisher: Rayn Media Inc.
Publication date: May 18, 2022
Genre: Suspense

Beautiful Brooke Winthrop, and brash Becca Dodge are known in Hollywood circles as the Queen B’s for their meteoric success. They are the host and producer of I Do or I Don’t, the number-one-rated reality television show in the country. It is a whirlwind courtship show that ends every episode at the altar where two people must decide, on live TV, whether they will say the words that will change the rest of their lives.

One unlucky bride says, “I do,” only to be murdered by the groom on their honeymoon. The distraught father of the bride holds Brooke and Becca accountable. He manages to kidnap them and produce his own internet show based on the format of their program. Brooke and Becca are run through the scenarios they put their couples through. They must use these brief moments to prove their innocence or be killed in the last episode.

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Top Ten Books on My Fall 2026 To-Read List

Ramblings

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

 

There are a lot of books on my Goodreads TBR, but I know that I cannot realistically read them all in one season. So, I chose books that were either books I will be reading for the book clubs that I’m in, books I received for review purposes, books that I’m excited to read, and a few indie author purchases I’m excited to get in the mail. Each book cover will take you to the book’s page in case you want to read more about each book.

 

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Review: A Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

Fantasy Romance

A Fate Inked in Blood
Saga of the Unfated #1
Danielle L. Jensen
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication date: Feb. 27, 2024
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

 

A shield maiden blessed by the gods battles to unite a nation under a power-hungry king—while also fighting her growing desire for his fiery son—in this Norse-inspired fantasy romance from the bestselling author of The Bridge Kingdom series.

Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.

Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.

Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect.

 

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Review: A Malicious Menagerie by Josie Ryann

Fantasy Romance

A Malicious Menagerie
Fangs & Fables, #1
Josie Ryann
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Sept. 1, 2025
Genre: Fantasy Romance

Welcome to the menagerie, and please, mind the fangs…Twenty-two-year-old Anna Carmichael is down on her luck. Even juggling three dead-end jobs, she’s struggling to keep herself and her ailing grandmother afloat. When she’s offered a position as caretaker for an eccentric rich man’s collection of exotic animals, she jumps at the opportunity despite the ominous nondisclosure agreement. The reason for all the secrecy is revealed when Anna discovers that the residents of Mars Mathis’s Mystical Menagerie aren’t exotic—they’re mythological.

Her boss’s chilling warnings leave no doubt—these creatures are his property, and he’ll protect them at any cost. Anna’s moral compass shatters as she befriends the very beings she’s meant to cage. And an unexpected but irresistible passion ignites with Chase, the enigmatic wolf, as powerful and protective as he is trapped. Caught between her unwavering loyalty to her grandmother, the menagerie’s deadly threats, and a love bound by iron bars, Anna must decide—what is she willing to sacrifice?

 

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Top Ten Author’s I’ve Met

Ramblings

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?

 

 

 

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

Paranormal Romance

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

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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Review: Pumpkin King by Stormy O’hara

Paranormal Romance

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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Review: Wed to the Orc Captive by Penny McMara

Fantasy Romance,

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

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

Paranormal Romance

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

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

Excerpt

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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