I was in a dark place, but I think I’m better now…

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I’m linking this post to Sunday Post, Mailbox Monday, and It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

Uh… whoops! *Looks around in guilt* I had planned to take a small break, but nothing this long. I’ve been going through a lot of stuff mentally, emotionally, and physically. The major one was severe depression. I just started to lose interest in everything; friendships, my plants, animal care, my youtube channel, self care, reading. I just felt down a hole into a really dark place and it has taken me a long time to slowly dig my way back out. I’m still inching my way back up to the top, but I’m starting to feel like myself again.

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Review: Jock Rule by Sara Ney

NA Romance, New Adult


Jock Rule
(Jock Hard #2)
By: Sara Ney
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: Dec. 4, 2018
Genre: New Adult Romance
Rating:

Kip Carmichael is no pretty boy.

He’s a rough. Dirty. Giant. Hair so unruly, and a beard so thick, his friends on the team call him Sasquatch.

The first time Sasquatch lays eyes on Theodora “Teddy” Johnson across the keg at a party one night on Jock Row, she’d been relegated to the sidelines by her jock hungry “friends.”

Week-after-week, he watches beautiful but bashful Teddy getting overshadowed, and overlooked. Sasquatch finally broad shoulders his way through the crowd, offering to to be her hairy godmother. But the minute their eyes meet? He’s a goner.

Teaching her the RULES for winning a jock will be the easy part. Not falling in love with her is going to be a losing game.

 

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Sneak Peek Wednesday: Of Light and Shadow by Tanaz Bhathena (Giveaway)

Excerpt

Of Light and Shadow
Tanaz Bhathena
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: May 23, 2023
Genre: YA

When they don’t give us our birthright, we steal it.

Roshan Chaya is out for justice. Abandoned by her parents at birth and adopted by the kingdom of Jwala’s most notorious bandit before his brutal murder, she is now leader of the Shadow Clan, a gang of farmers-turned-bandits impoverished by the provincial governor’s atrocities and corruption. Roshan’s goal: to avenge her adoptive father and earn back rights and dignity for her people.

Prince Navin has always felt like an outcast. Second in line for the throne, he has never been close to his grandmother, Queen Bhairavi of Jwala. When a night out drinking with friends leads to his capture by the infamous Shadow Clan, Navin schemes to befriend Roshan and use her as a means to escape. His ploy, however, brings Navin closer to the corruption and poverty at the heart of Roshan’s province, raising questions about its governor and Navin’s own family.

To further complicate things, the closer Roshan and Navin get, the harder it becomes to fight their growing attraction. But how can they trust each other when the world as they know it starts to fall apart?

Set in a magical world inspired by the badlands of 17th century India, this standalone epic fantasy novel by Tanaz Bhathena is packed with political tensions, dangerous schemes, and swoon-worthy romance that asks the age old question: can love conquer all?

 

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Review: The Coaching Hours by Sara Ney

NA Romance, New Adult


The Coaching Hours
How to Date a Douchebag #4
Sara Ney
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Feb. 5, 2018
Genre: New Adult Romance
Rating:

THERE ARE NO DOUCHEBAGS IN THIS STORY.

Well, there are, but they’re not who this story is about.
This story is about me—the coach’s daughter.
When I moved to Iowa to live with my dad, the university’s take-no-prisoners wrestling coach, I thought transferring would be easy as pie—living with my father would be temporary, and he’d make sure his douchebag wrestlers left me alone.
Wrong on both counts.

ASSHOLES ALWAYS COME OUT OF THE WOODWORK WHEN THE STAKES ARE HIGH.

A bet is placed, and I’m on the table. After one humiliating night and too much alcohol, I find the last nice guy on campus. And when he offers to rent me his spare bedroom, I go all in. It’s time for the nice guy to finish first.
Midnight chats and spilling my problems turn to lingering touches. Lingering touches turn to more.
And the ultimate good guy has the potential do more damage than any douchebags ever could.

 

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Sneak Peek Wednesday: Legends of Ash and Dust by Kate Cowan (Giveaway)

Excerpt

Legends of Ash and Dust
(Fearless, #1)
Kate Cowan
Publisher: Self-published
Publications date: Jan. 24, 2023
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

They forged her into a weapon. Now, she is the last.

Aerona was raised by legends. The Shae Warriors are the closest thing the Six Kingdoms have to the supernatural: fearless warrior monks who train their entire lives to protect the realm. Or, they were — until the massive Red Wolf army attacked, slaughtering them all in a single night.

Now, brokenhearted and defeated, Aero is the last Shae. Tasked with protecting Niran, the prince her people were caring for, she journeys to his home in the Golden City with one thing on her mind: revenge.

In the Palace of the Golden City, nothing is as it seems. The Red Wolves are in the pocket of the royals, the Emperor is blackmailing Aero into becoming his assassin, and an ex-Shae librarian is convinced that Aero has a long-forgotten power hidden inside of her.

On top of it all, a demon is wandering the halls of the Palace. If Aero can’t stop the demon and figure out the ancient and supernatural origins of the Shae, every life in the palace might be at stake.

There is a terrifying evil in the palace, and it’s hunting Aero down.

 

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Review: The Godparent Trap by Rachel Van Dyken

Romance

The Godparent Trap
Rachel Van Dyken
Publisher: Forever
Publication date: July 19, 2022
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Colby’s living her best life: as a popular food blogger, she gets to fulfill her dreams of exploring the globe. But her world comes crashing down when a tragic accident leaves her co-guardian of her best friend’s two adorable children. Not only does she need to put down roots—fast—but she’ll be sharing custody with the one man she can’t stand sharing a continent with, let alone a house.

Accountant-extraordinaire Rip values rules and plans. But when he loses his sister and his best friend and becomes an insta-guardian all in one night, Rip sees his organized life imploding. What he really doesn’t need is his sister’s irresponsible, flighty—albeit kind and gorgeous—best friend making it worse.

Rip doesn’t trust Colby to take their new responsibilities seriously, while Colby can’t believe Rip thinks children will thrive under his rigid control. Yet soon Rip and Colby discover they need each other more than they hate each other. Could it be possible that following their hearts is just what their new little family needs?

 

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Sneak Peek Wednesday: Kingdom of Blood and Salt by Alexis Calder

Excerpt

Kingdom of Blood and Salt
Alexis Calder
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: March 30, 2023
Genre: Fantasy Romance

After spending years training to defend my people from our enemies, I never expected that my enemy would be the one keeping me alive.

Athos is the last human city. A treaty with the Fae keeps the fae, the vampires, and the wolf shifters at bay, while we fight against the dragons at our border. Being a human in this world is dangerous and we all make sacrifices to survive.

When the delegation sent by the Fae King arrives to claim the human tributes required by our treaty, I never expected to forge a connection with their leader.

Ryvin is as dangerous as he is handsome. I know he’s my enemy, and I know I’m supposed to hate him, but with each passing day, he’s more difficult to resist.

But things are changing in Athos. Humans no longer want to bend to the Fae King.

Alliances blur and centuries of lies begin to unravel.

And I’m faced with a choice.

No matter how much I hate him, Ryvin might be the key to preventing war.

But it may mean sacrificing everything….

 

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Review: The Paid Bridesmaid by Sariah Wilson

Romance

The Paid Bridesmaid
Sariah Wilson
Publisher: Montlake
Publication date: Jan. 1, 2022
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Rachel Vinson is a bridesmaid for hire: part confidante, part wedding planner, and one hundred percent pretend BFF. Discretion guaranteed. Her next gig is a destination wedding—livestreamed and sponsored—for an Instagram influencer. That means a paradise of new contacts, which could be a boon to her already booming business. If Rachel can keep the very handsome and slightly too interested best man at bay, that is.

High-tech entrepreneur Camden Lewis must know: Who is this gorgeous, intelligent, and mysterious woman? Too good to be real. Convinced she’s a corporate spy out to tank his company, Camden’s not letting her out of his sight. But the constant surveillance is also opening his eyes to things about Rachel that he likes. If she’s a spy, she’s certainly the cutest one he’s ever seen.

As the week’s worth of wedding events march along, Rachel and Camden are learning almost everything there is to know about each other. Rachel’s made a career out of always a bridesmaid…but perhaps there’s a chance for her own trip down the aisle?

 

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Review: Wickedly Dangerous by Deborah Blake

Fantasy

Wickedly Dangerous
(Baba Yaga #1)
Deborah Blake
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: Sept. 2, 2014
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

Known as the wicked witch of Russian fairy tales, Baba Yaga is not one woman, but rather a title carried by a chosen few. They keep the balance of nature and guard the borders of our world, but don’t make the mistake of crossing one of them…

Older than she looks and powerful beyond measure, Barbara Yager no longer has much in common with the mortal life she left behind long ago. Posing as an herbalist and researcher, she travels the country with her faithful (mostly) dragon-turned-dog in an enchanted Airstream, fulfilling her duties as a Baba Yaga and avoiding any possibility of human attachment.

But when she is summoned to find a missing child, Barbara suddenly finds herself caught up in a web of deceit and an unexpected attraction to the charming but frustrating Sheriff Liam McClellan.

Now, as Barbara fights both human enemies and Otherworld creatures to save the lives of three innocent children, she discovers that her most difficult battle may be with her own heart…

 

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Review: Frost by C.N. Crawford

Fantasy, Romance

Frost
(Frost and Nectar #1)
C.N. Crawford
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Oct. 3, 2022
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

On the worst birthday of my life, I come home to find my boyfriend in bed with another woman. Within hours, I’m drunk, homeless, and pledging to stay single forever. And that is when the dangerously sexy Seelie King rolls through town, looking for fae like me.

Every generation, the king holds a competition for Seelie queen. But for reasons he won’t explain, Torin is looking for a charade, not a real marriage. So when I drunkenly sling insults his way, I have his attention.

When Torin offers me fifty million to participate, I think, “What have I got to lose?” The answer turns out to be “my life,” because my competition will literally kill for the crown.

And the more time I spend with the seductive king, the harder it becomes to remember it’s all supposed to be fake. Now, my life—and my heart—are one the line.

 

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