Author Archives: Kristin

My Summer Project: Reading My TBR From Oldest to Newest

7 June, 2026 5:54 pm , 4 Comments ,
This post is linked to Sunday Post, Staking the Shelves, and the Sunday Salon.

I did a deep dive into my Goodreads TBR list this weekend, to go through all the books and delete ones I don’t plan to read. I have had books sitting on my TBR for over a decade. A DECADE!!! Books that I saw and thought, “That looks like a good book” but then never actually purchased it or read it. It’s safe to say that some of those books are no longer of interest to me. Most were YA, and while I still enjoy reading YA, it’s not my primary genre anymore.

So, I went through my list, and any books that I immediately went “meh” over, got the boot. Books that are not available on KU or at my library, that I was not willing to pay money for, got the the boot. I was able to knock out almost half of the books on my TBR. What was once a TBR of over 200 books is now a list of 112 books. It’s still a bit overwhelming, but I feel like it’s more manageable… as long as I don’t go crazy adding books to it again.

Therefor, I have decided that I will spend this summer going through and reading my TBR one book at a time from oldest to newest. I won’t push myself to read anything that I’m not feeling, but I do feel like I need to give these books a chance. So many of these books have so few reviews and ratings. The book I’m currently reading now only has 83 ratings on Goodreads and  only 12 on Amazon.

So, it’s time to brush off my TBR and start giving these books a chance in the spotlight.

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Posted in: Ramblings

Review: Wed to the Orc Warrior by Penny McMara

5 June, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Wed to the Orc Warrior
(Orc Wed, #1)
Penny McMara
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 4, 2026
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

To save my sister, I’ll marry a monster.

The orc mercenaries were meant to die. When Khal Drazha’s-son, their scarred, lethal leader, returns to claim his prize, a bride of noble blood, I know only one thing: my frail half-sister cannot be the one sacrificed.

I’m the bastard daughter no one wants, but I have street cunning, and a plan: I’ll deceive this golden-eyed orc warrior, taking my sister’s place at the altar and in his bed. If I can endure the wedding night, I can find a way to betray him. I can escape into the wilds beyond my father’s walls.

Now, we’re locked in a chamber together. I’m braced for the worst. But the warrior I’ve deceived believes I chose him…and he’s here to rescue me. He intends to bond us, soul and flesh, for a lifetime.

I came here prepared to survive a monster, but this green-skinned mercenary wants peace for his people, a peace he won’t win, because he’s married the wrong daughter.

My lies are about to tear his life apart. The bond we’ve forged in the dark might just shatter my heart first.

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Posted in: Fantasy Romance

Top Ten Books I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Read

2 June, 2026 1:58 pm , 13 Comments ,
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

 

We’ve all been there. A book explodes onto book blogs, BookTok, and Bookstagram.

Everyone is talking about it, reviewing it, and making videos about it.

You add it to your TBR list with the best intentions.

Then… time passes.

Months turn into years, and suddenly you realize you are the last person on earth who hasn’t read it.

Today, I’m clearing the air and confessing to ten books that have been sitting on my TBR Goodreads list for way too long.

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Posted in: Ramblings

Review: Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry

29 May, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Rites of the Starling
Shield of Sparrows #2
Devney Perry
Publisher: Entangled
Publication date: April 7, 2026
Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance
Rating:

Calandra’s five kingdoms are on the verge of destruction. The crux migration is coming. And in the wake of a devastating attack, I’ve been separated from the man who owns my heart.
I’m lost. Terrified. Homesick. Hunted by monsters, driven to exhaustion, and kidnapped by a powerful priest, the only thing keeping me going is the little girl counting on me to keep her safe. It’s my turn to become the Guardian.

Our lives change one fateful night. A night of death. A night of monsters. A night of truths. That night, I learn the real meaning of fear—and the depth of my own strength.

Everyone wants me to be something I’m not—a queen, a spy, a sacrifice. But what if I embrace my crown? What if the secrets I uncover save our realm?

What if my sacrifice means salvation for the man I love?

For too long, I’ve feared the monsters we make.

It’s time to discover the monster within.

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Posted in: Fantasy Romance

Top Ten Favorite Books By My Favorite Authors

26 May, 2026 1:24 pm , 13 Comments ,

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

 

Thousands of pages later, and I am still not over these ten books. They gave me the worst book hangovers of my life, and I loved every second of it.

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Posted in: Ramblings

Review: A Soul to Touch by Opal Reyne

25 May, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

A Soul to Touch
Duskwalker Brides #3
Opal Reyne
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Feb. 24, 2023
Genre: Erotic Fantasy Romance
Rating:

All Mayumi ever wanted was to hunt Demons.

After being discharged from the Demonslayer guild, Mayumi chose to isolate herself within the forest. The best place to hunt and kill Demons. But, one night, she’s surprised when a different monster is lured by her baits.

Just before she unleashes an arrow that’s aimed to kill, Mayumi pauses. She realises she’s seen that skulled, feline face before and that it had once saved her life.

All Faunus ever wanted was her.

After the Demon King cracked his skull, Faunus returns to watch over the only human he has ever cared for. He knows what his future holds, she would never become his bride, but he wants to spend what remains of his life protecting her.

He never expected that she would ever befriend him, or that she would openly desire him. She’s as fiery as her burning passion, and he’s desperate to let her consume him.

But his time in this world grows short, and Faunus doesn’t know how he can be with Mayumi when he knows nothing will save him.

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Posted in: Erotic Romance, Fantasy Romance

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Wed to the Orc Warrior by Penny McMara

20 May, 2026 8:00 pm , 1 Comment ,

Wed to the Orc Warrior
(Orc Wed, #1)
Penny McMara
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 4, 2026
Genre: Fantasy Romance

To save my sister, I’ll marry a monster.

The orc mercenaries were meant to die. When Khal Drazha’s-son, their scarred, lethal leader, returns to claim his prize, a bride of noble blood, I know only one thing: my frail half-sister cannot be the one sacrificed.

I’m the bastard daughter no one wants, but I have street cunning, and a plan: I’ll deceive this golden-eyed orc warrior, taking my sister’s place at the altar and in his bed. If I can endure the wedding night, I can find a way to betray him. I can escape into the wilds beyond my father’s walls.

Now, we’re locked in a chamber together. I’m braced for the worst. But the warrior I’ve deceived believes I chose him…and he’s here to rescue me. He intends to bond us, soul and flesh, for a lifetime.

I came here prepared to survive a monster, but this green-skinned mercenary wants peace for his people, a peace he won’t win, because he’s married the wrong daughter.

My lies are about to tear his life apart. The bond we’ve forged in the dark might just shatter my heart first.

Read More →

Posted in: Excerpt

Review: Credence by Penelope Douglas

18 May, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Credence
Penelope Douglas
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Jan 13, 2020
Genre: New Adult Taboo Romance
Rating:

Tiernan de Haas doesn’t care about anything anymore. The only child of a film producer and his starlet wife, she’s grown up with wealth and privilege but not love or guidance. Shipped off to boarding schools from an early age, it was still impossible to escape the loneliness and carve out a life of her own. The shadow of her parents’ fame followed her everywhere.

And when they suddenly pass away, she knows she should be devastated. But has anything really changed? She’s always been alone, hasn’t she?

Jake Van der Berg, her father’s stepbrother and her only living relative, assumes guardianship of Tiernan who is still two months shy of eighteen. Sent to live with him and his two sons, Noah and Kaleb, in the mountains of Colorado, Tiernan soon learns that these men now have a say in what she chooses to care and not care about anymore. As the three of them take her under their wing, teach her to work and survive in the remote woods far away from the rest of the world, she slowly finds her place among them.

And as a part of them.

She also realizes that lines blur and rules become easy to break when no one else is watching.

One of them has her.

The other one wants her.

But he…

He’s going to keep her.

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Posted in: NA Erotic Romance, NA Romance, New Adult

Review: Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz

15 May, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Dinner for Vampires
by Bethany Joy Lenz
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: Oct. 20, 2024
Genre: Memoir
Rating:

A deliciously witty and inspiring memoir by One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz about her decade in a cult and her quest to break free.

In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and determination to breakthrough as an actor, Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the leads on the hit drama One Tree Hill. Her career was about to take off, but her personal life was slowly beginning to unravel. What none of the show’s millions of fans knew, hidden even from her costars, was her secret double life in a cult.

An only child who often had to fend for herself and always wanted a place to belong, Lenz found the safe haven she’d been searching for in a Bible study group with other Hollywood creatives. However, the group soon morphed into something more sinister—a slowly woven web of manipulation, abuse, and fear under the guise of a church covenant called The Big House Family. Piece by piece, Lenz began to give away her autonomy, ultimately relocating to the Family’s Pacific Northwest compound, overseen by a domineering minister who would convince Lenz to marry one of his sons and steadily drained millions of her TV income without her knowledge. Family “minders” assigned to her on set, “Maoist struggle session”–inspired meetings in the basement of a filthy house, and regular counseling with “Leadership” were just part of the tactics used to keep her loyal.

Only when she became a mother did Lenz find the courage to leave and spare her child from a similar fate. After nearly a decade (and with the unlikely help of a One Tree Hill superfan), she finally managed to escape the family’s grip and begin to heal from the deep trauma that forever altered her relationship with God and her understanding of faith. Written with powerful honesty and dark humor, Dinner for Vampires is an inspiring story about the importance of identity and understanding what you believe.

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Posted in: Non Fiction

Review: Esperance by Heather Frost

11 May, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Esperance
Esperance Trilogy #1
Heather Frost
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: Nov. 18, 2022
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

Twelve strangers. Six marriages. One year in Esperance.

Amryn has many reasons to hate the empire. Her latest is her forced marriage to General Carver Vincetti, better known as the Butcher. If he learns even one of her secrets, he will kill her. And Amryn has many secrets. Not only is she an empath with forbidden magic, she’s also a newly recruited rebel intent on destroying the empire—starting at Esperance.

Carver knows the rebels have infiltrated the remote temple of Esperance. His job is to hunt them down before they can wreck the emperor’s new peace. Despite the demons that haunt him, Carver is intent on his mission—but he’s not prepared for Amryn. From her fiery red hair to her surprising wit, his new wife has captured his attention. The attraction that flares between them is undeniable. Now he just has to determine if she’s the enemy.

When the newly married couples become targets in a violent game, Esperance becomes more dangerous than anyone anticipated. Carver and Amryn are about to discover that no one is exactly who they appear to be—especially each other.

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Posted in: Fantasy Romance

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