Waiting on Wednesday

 Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

My list of can't wait to get my hands on is long and each week it grows leaps and bounds.

 

I'm addicted to monsters in books, movies you name it I can't get enough of them. This one sounds amazing and the cover is stunning. 

Claimed by the Monster 

by - Jessica Grayson

Expected Publication - January 26th 2023

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to (Amazon) (Goodreads)

Everyone fears the Monsters in the Dark Forest, beyond the Great Wall. Fierce and terrifying creatures with lethal fangs and claws that can rip a man to shreds.

When I’m captured by Tarak—one of their kind—my first thought is of escape. But when his eyes meet mine, he claims I am his Fated One—his Valnara.

Humans and Monsters have been enemies for centuries, but the fated bond is sacred among Tarak’s people, and he refuses to let me go.

Now, I find myself wondering: What does it mean to be Claimed by the Monster?

**Steamy content. Not a dark romance**

What are you waiting on?

Book Review: The Chrome Canyon Killer

Title - The Chrome Canyon Killer 

Author - S.B Biddinger 

Series - 4th in Wes and Oz Mysteries 

Genre - Cozy Mystery 

Format - Paperback

Published - November 30 2022

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Buy it here (Amazon) 

Synopsis 

It had been a long and harsh winter. Wes had been so looking forward to spring and the much warmer weather. Not only with the rebirth of the trees and flowers but was Wes’ promise to Marti, the love of his life, to not stray from his Workman’s Comp Fraud investigations as he had in the past. As far as Wes was concerned, it was a new year and a new leaf and there were plenty of fraud cases on the top shelf of his desk to keep him busy.

To complicate both Wes and Marti’s lives, Christopher Andrew Legget showed up one day and insisted he had the skills, the knowledge, and where with all to become Wes’ newest investigating collaborator, not that Wes wanted or needed one. From the beginning, Christopher Andrew Legget did nothing but hampered as well as become a nuisance during Wes’ investigations.

Finally, the perfect spring Saturday of the year had arrived and it was time to bring life to “The Bird”. Neither Wes nor Oz, his four-legged buddy, knew by the end of the day the sequence of events was about to unfold and their worlds would start to unravel. Once again, they must come to the rescue of a friend.

Time was of the essence as danger lurked close by. Suspects were willing to kill just to keep their secrets from being exposed. Wes must go undercover in a world of unfamiliarity to flush out the true killer(s). With each passing day, it becomes more perilous as he risks his life to save a friend. Wes was not alone, thank goodness, as Oz would be close by to make sure nothing happened to his meal ticket.

Review

The Chrome Canyon Killer is the 4th installment in the Wes and Oz series. In the new book we are introduced to Christopher who is dying to be Wes's new partner in solving his fraud cases. After an accident with "The Bird" Wes is forced to head to the junk yard to find a part so that the girls can fix it. He never expected that a trip with Chris would land him in the middle of a new case involving a body. 

Wes needs to find the killer to save his friend's nephew from taking the blame for something he didn't do. With the unwanted help of Christopher tagging along Wes had more help than he knows what to do with. Marti is less than thrilled that Wes is smack dab in the middle of another case but he has to help Dave out. Will they catch the killer before it's too late? 

Another brilliant installment in the Wes and Oz Adventures. A captivating story, enchanting character and a mystery that keeps you on your toes till the very end. One of the best books I read in 2022. The author has done a beautiful job creating another adventure that just draws the reader in. I couldn't put it down I just had to see what would happen next to Wes as his partner kept him on his toes. I can't wait for the next installment to see what happens next. 

Book Review: Cursed Fates

 Title - Cursed Fates
Author - Sara Snow
Series - Cursed Mates
Genre - Paranormal Romance 

Format - Kindle 

Published - January 6th 2023

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Synopsis 

“We should’ve never gotten involved with this.”

Alpha Radolph paced about the room, speaking more to himself than the others. Cassian sat behind his desk, a deep frown that wouldn’t seem to end. Not after what happened to Elder Silas from the Ash Hounds.

After we’d managed to calm everyone down, we headed to Cassian’s office to speak in private. Alpha Radolph, Cove, Thoran, and Rohan stood on one side of the room, while Emily, Griffin, and I stood on the other side.

Divided.

We’d finally grown close to another pack, only to be pushed away.

Our only hope has just fallen, and our allies have abandoned us.

If we don't figure out something soon the whole world will be ruled by a paranormal-hating witch.

Is all hope lost?

Review 

I received Cursed Fate in return for an honest review. This is the 5th installment and final installment in the Cursed Mates series. The final battle is coming it's only a matter of time if they will have enough to take down Samara who is set on destroying everything. Morgan has chosen her side. The high council after agreeing to help has fallen setting the other realms into chaos. Time is running out for them, each new alliance quickly is dispatched and no one wants to take the risk to stand against Samara. 

I love the characters each one is unique and brings something different to the group. However, Emily and Ember are still my favorite and finding out they are connected just makes it better. I love the guys they are perfect complements to each other and Emily. I admit I was sad to lose Morgan but we gained some awesome friends along the way. 

Cursed Fates is a fantastic end to the series. I'm actually sad to see it end because I was enjoying the adventure so much. However, that being said I think the author did an amazing job of ending the story. You can't help loving the characters and they just keep getting better with each installment. The story is well written it flow from start to finish I found it hard to put down. I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next. 

Top Ten Tuesday

  

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke And The Bookish. Now hosted over at That Artsy Reader Girl. 

This weeks topic is:

TTT: Top Ten Favorite Books of 2022 

I didn't read as many as I would have loved but I did get a nice mix of my top 2022 reads. 

Filthy Rich Vampires by Geneva Lee Albin 

Kiss by Tana Rose 

Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs 

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout 

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn 

The Chrome Canyon Killer by S.B. Biddinger 

Raised by Monsters by Lili Black

Cursed Mates by Sara Snow 

What are your favorite from 2022? 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 Hosted by The Book Date 

Welcome to It's Monday! Every week we share what we just finished reading, are reading or plan to read over the next week. 

New Year all new goals lots of reading plans. Since we are starting the new year I'm starting with a fresh pile of books for the new year. 

Bout of Books has started today so I'm hoping that adding in the read-a-thon will have me reading a bunch. 

Finished 

Nothing yet but quickly going to change that. 

Currently reading 

The War of Two Queens by Jennifer L. Armentrout - My bestie and I are reading this one but it's been on the back burner with the holiday. We are determined to finish this week though. 

Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe - my bestie recommended this one to me. 

Up Next

Not sure yet as I'm still putting a TBR pile for the month together. 

Rest of the week

I'll be sure to share my TBR once I finish it. 

What are you reading? 

Bout of Books 36

It's time for Bout of Books 36 who's in with me? Be sure to sign up (here)

Goals 

Read 5 books

Do all instagram challenges 

Read, Read, and Read some more. 

Can't wait to get started. 

Monday

Instagram Challenges - Currently reading Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe

Coyer 2023 Upside Down

 Coyer and Coyer Community 2023 

Hosted by the lovely ladies at Because Reading is Better Than Real Life

I didn't get to participate as much as I would have liked last year but this year I'm excited and ready to go. 

I'm working on a bullet journal spread for this year so I'll be sure to update it with a picture when done. 

For full rules please visit the sigh up sheet 

Starting with:

Chapter 1: It's a Cold Summer 

I hope to read for the first round 20 books but who knows. 

My Goals for 2023

2023 Goals Challenge Adventures 

I've got a whole bunch of goals for the new year. 

Read 200 Books

Complete all challenges bookish and those not. 

Be more active in the community 

Just do more stuff that I love. I feel like I lost myself a bit last year. 

I'm sure I'll be adding more to this list over the next week so I'll update the challenge page as I go. 

 Challenges 

I'm doing a personal reading challenge 

In Love With The Monsters 

This one is very fitting since I love all forms of monsters, from paranormal romance, to monster hunting, and felt that this year was the perfect start to challenge myself to read more of them. As a child I grew up watching monster movies with my dad. Which has evolved into watching them with my own kids now. Godzilla will always be my favorite monster in movies. 

My goal is to read as many monster books, manga and comics. Plus watch as much monster stuff as I can get my hands on. 

If you want to join you are more than welcome to just doing it for fun. 

Betty Neels Read

I have almost all of the Betty Neels Books and plan to read all 134 this year. They are classic Harlequin novels so short sweet and about 200 pages each. My grandmothers started my Harlequin addiction. A lot of the books they passed down had been classic Betty Neels. As I've read many it's been years so this is a perfect time to re-read them. 

Uncorked Reading Challenge 

Hosted by The Uncorked Librarian (here) 

It's divided into quarters which I like plus they have a facebook group

BookTok Baddies Reading Challenge 2023

This one is hosted via the facebook group (here) 

Coyer 

Another new year I have to join in hosted by the lovely ladies at Because Reading Is Better Than Real life (here)

Foodie Challenges

I'm super into baking and foodie recipes. These are just personal ones I'm challenging myself to do. Recipes and pictures to come. 

52 weeks of fritters. I'll be sharing more when I share the first recipe of the year. Basically I've got a fritter recipe I love and have been playing with combos. It's all done with 2 base ingredients and the combos are endless. I also air fry them so less greasy. I hope to write a cookbook off of this. I'm going to do sweet and savory combos so they will be tasty. I've made some yummy pizza ones. 

I want to bake 12 cheesecakes over the next year. New flavors and combos. My goal is 1 per month possible more we will have to see. 

Try it Tuesday is going to be a new recipe every week that I found and tried. I'll be sure to share the good and the bad. 

My random creations. I'm always coming up with new creations as my muchkin calls them. I want to try more combos this year. 

Crafty 

More sewing, stitching and crafty projects completed. New crafty projects to try. I'll be sure to share them over the course of the year. 

Not a crazy list but I like my goals for the year. 

 

Happy New Year 2023

Happy New Year!!! 

I hope everyone has had a safe holiday. I know here in Northern California it's been raining for weeks. They suspect we will have a few more weeks of rain but it won't help our drought in the long run. It's scary out there lots of flooding and I hope everyone is staying dry and safe. 

I didn't make it to midnight the munchkin was asleep and it was quiet. I was holding out reading till the new year so I could start my first book of 2023. Now I can't decide which one to read lol.

I'm so ready to say goodbye to 2022 it's been a long year and blogging has been on the back burner a lot. I'm ready for a fresh start with 2023. I've got so many great ideas, challenges, goals and plans to get back to what I love again. 

I hope everyone has a lovely start to the new year.

Book Review: Filthy Rich Vampire

  Title - Filthy Rich Vampire 

Author - Geneva Lee Albin 

Series - Filthy Rich Vampires #1  

Genre - Paranormal Romance

Format - Kindle

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Buy it here (Amazon)

Synopsis 

“It was as if my life had been marked by her absence…” Sensual, dangerous, provocative — step into a daring new world of dark magic, primal attraction, and breathtaking romance.

Julian Rousseaux has a problem. He’s single, and for the world’s wealthiest vampires, the social season is about to begin. Julian would rather stake himself than participate in the marriage market. But as the eldest, eligible Rousseaux he’s expected to find a wife before the season ends—whether he likes it or not.

When cellist Thea literally stumbles into his life at a gala, he knows she's the last person he could ever fall in love with. She's too innocent, too kind, and way too human. But now that she knows about his world, she's also a walking target. She needs protection. He needs a fake girlfriend to discourage overzealous vampire matchmaking.

So, Julian makes Thea an irresistible offer: pretend to be his lover and he’ll change her life. For one year, they’ll attend the season’s social events together in exchange for his protection and a way out of her mother’s crippling medical debt.

She can’t say no. But the vampire world is impossibly decadent and darker than Thea ever imagined, and Julian’s filthy rich vampire family wants her out of the way. But with each moment they share, new dangers emerge: a desire as forbidden as their stolen touches, an awakening of a long-dead heart, and secrets that could tear them both apart.

Review 

Julian has been forced to wake up from his long sleep to take part in the marriage market. It's been a long time since the rites were enforced and the season has gone into full swing. When a chance encounter brings Thea into his life the perfect solution to his problem is staring him in the face. Thea knows nothing about he vampire world until she's forced to face the truth, and thankfully Julian shows up at just the right time to save her. 

Neither of them can deny the attraction to each other, and when Julian gives her an offer she can't refuse she's whisked into the vampire world. However, not everyone is happy to see the eligible bachelor has been taken off the market least of all his own mother. As Thea struggles to take on the rites darkness is looming in the shadows intent on causing bloodshed. Are they strong enough to survive the season or will it be too much for them? 

I have had my eye on this one for a while it's a Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridgerton with vampires. I finally decided now was the time as the 2nd one is out, and it fit for my bingo game. I was hooked by the first chapter it's a captivating story with characters you can't help loving. Julian is just as I hoped he would be and Thea is as sweet and adorable as could be. I devoured this book in just a few reading sessions as it was hard to put down.

I love the story I was hooked before the end of the first chapter Thea and Julian quickly becoming my favorite couple. I was so nervous as it reminded me of two of my favorite books but the author did it beautifully with her own twist. From start to finish it was a fantastic read it left me wanting more and wanting to toss my kindle across the room. I can't wait to start the next installment which is already on my kindle ready to go....This one could be top 3 for 2023 best books I've read this year.