Kindle Deals | 12/8

Hey everyone! I figured it had been a while since I did some Kindle deals, so here we are. As always make sure to double check prices as they could change or be different in your region!

XOXO ($1.99) – Jenny’s never had much time for boys, K-pop, or really anything besides her dream of being a professional cellist. But when she finds herself falling for a K-pop idol, she has to decide whether their love is worth the risk. A modern forbidden romance wrapped in the glamorous and exclusive world of K-pop, XOXO is perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Maurene Goo.

Jenny didn’t get to be an award-winning, classically trained cellist without choosing practice over fun. That is, until the night she meets Jaewoo. Mysterious, handsome, and just a little bit tormented, Jaewoo is exactly the kind of distraction Jenny would normally avoid. And yet, she finds herself pulled into spending an unforgettable evening wandering Los Angeles with him on the night before his flight home to South Korea.

With Jaewoo an ocean away, there’s no use in dreaming of what could have been. But when Jenny and her mother move to Seoul to take care of her ailing grandmother, who does she meet at the elite arts academy she’s just been accepted to? Jaewoo.

Finding the dreamy stranger who swept you off your feet in your homeroom is one thing, but Jaewoo isn’t just any student. Turns out, Jaewoo is a member of one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world. And like most K-pop idols, Jaewoo is strictly forbidden from dating anyone.

When a relationship means not only jeopardizing her place at her dream music school but also endangering everything Jaewoo’s worked for, Jenny has to decide once and for all just how much she’s willing to risk for love. XOXO is a new romance that proves chasing your dreams doesn’t have to mean sacrificing your heart, from acclaimed author Axie Oh. 

Ace of Shades ($2.99)Welcome to the City of Sin, where casino families reign, gangs infest the streets…and secrets hide in every shadow.

New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin, is no place for a properly raised young lady. But when her mother goes missing, Enne Salta must leave her finishing school—and her reputation—behind to follow her mother’s trail in the city where no one survives uncorrupted.

Frightened and alone, Enne’s only clue leads her to Levi Glaiyser—a street lord and a con man in desperate need of the compensation Enne offers. Their search sends this unlikely duo through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets, and into the clutches of a ruthless Mafia donna. But as Levi’s enemies close in on them, a deadly secret from Enne’s past comes to light and she must surrender herself to the City of Sin — to a vicious game of execution…

Where the players never win.

Sawkill Girls ($1.99)Who are the Sawkill Girls?

Marion: The newbie. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find.

Zoey: The pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is.

Val: The queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives; a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.

Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires. Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight…until now.

Happy reading!

Review | The Life Revamp by Kris Ripper

All Mason wants to do is fall in love, get married and live happily ever after.

The hunt is beginning to wear him down…until he meets (slightly) famous fashion designer Diego. Everything sparks between them—the banter, the sex, the fiery eye contact across a crowded room.

There’s just one thing: Diego is already married and living his happily-ever-after, which luckily (or not) for Mason includes outside courtships.

But not quite in the way he’d always imagined.

Mason thought he knew what would make him happy, but it turns out the traditional life he’d expected has some surprises in store.

Add The Life Revamp to your Goodreads! | Buy The Life Revamp!

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I have enjoyed the other books in this series so I was excited to get to this one and it did not disappoint. The chemistry in this one was done exceptionally well and kept the book going for me as I couldn’t wait to see what was happening. I really enjoyed that the characters and story felt like a book that was meant to keep a smile on your face. Yes, there is a relationship that many would see as unconventional, so I enjoyed the way the characters interacted and the way they defined their “normal” as it actually tackled a broader topic regarding societal views. Still it had some amazing laughter inducing scenes and dialog and the writing was as excellent as it had been in the other books.

Kris Ripper lives in the great state of California and zir pronouns are ze/zir. Kris shares a converted garage with a kid, can do two pull-ups in a row, and can write backwards. (No, really.) Ze has been writing fiction since ze learned how to write, and boring zir stuffed animals with stories long before that.

Find Kris Ripper Online | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

Happy reading!

December TBR and Reading Plans

Hey everyone! November was a hard month for me. I had a number of things go sideways as well as some hard things going on, so admittedly not a ton of reading happened. I’m hoping to finish the year strong though. So without anything else, let’s get to the card picks for December.

First we got a queen, so that is of course a Calypso pick and this month she decided I was going to readh The Taking of Jake Livingston. We then got 9 of diamonds which was a fantasy, so I picked Thirteens. The next pick was a Jack, which means under 300 pages and at this point I was thanking the cards for being nice, for that one I’m going to pick up the next volume of Kamisama Kiss (I really need to finish this series as well as Fruits Basket).

We then got 7 of spades which is a wheel pick, so I did a random number generator to pick wheel 3. This was the romance wheel which has a mix of titles and authors on it, so it landed on Tessa Bailey and for this I’ll be reading Window Shopping. Next was 2 of diamonds which is middle grade and I picked Dark Waters which I have been wanting to read since it came out. Finally I had a little moment of crying because we got a king which means Rich’s stack of 5, and for that I picked Wintersong.

Other than that and some review books I don’t have any concrete plans for December, I’m just hoping I can get out of my slump and get back on track. What’s everyone else reading?

Happy reading!

Review | The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer

Oy! to the world

Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl with a shameful secret: she loves Christmas. For a decade she’s hidden her career as a Christmas romance novelist from her family. Her talent has made her a bestseller even as her chronic illness has always kept the kind of love she writes about out of reach.

But when her diversity-conscious publisher insists she write a Hanukkah romance, her well of inspiration suddenly runs dry. Hanukkah’s not magical. It’s not merry. It’s not Christmas. Desperate not to lose her contract, Rachel’s determined to find her muse at the Matzah Ball, a Jewish music celebration on the last night of Hanukkah, even if it means working with her summer camp archenemy—Jacob Greenberg.

Though Rachel and Jacob haven’t seen each other since they were kids, their grudge still glows brighter than a menorah. But as they spend more time together, Rachel finds herself drawn to Hanukkah—and Jacob—in a way she never expected. Maybe this holiday of lights will be the spark she needed to set her heart ablaze.

Buy Links | BookShop.org | Harlequin  | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Books-A-Million | Powell’s

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Let me preface this review by saying that I cannot speak to the Jewish representation in this book, or some of the finer nuances referenced in this book. I know there are some things referenced/talked about that are not the most sensitive to current events and that is affecting a lot of people’s enjoyment of this book. That being said I went into this looking for a fun rom com feel and second chances/hate to love holiday romance and for me it totally met that brief.

I enjoyed the story itself and the relationship between Rachel and Jacob. Yes there were misunderstandings and messy bits, but seeing them both working through their issues and their relationship. I did feel that the talk about Rachel’s illness and the representation there (as someone who has chronic illness/invisible illnesses) was well done. As a rom com with a holiday touch I did really enjoy the story and found it to be a fun read.

Author Jean Meltzer studied dramatic writing at NYU Tisch, and served as creative director at Tapestry International, garnering numerous awards for her work in television, including a daytime Emmy. Like her protagonist, Jean is also a chronically-ill and disabled Jewish woman. She is an outspoken advocate for ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), has attended visibility actions in Washington DC, meeting with members of Senate and Congress to raise funds for ME/CFS. She inspires 9,000 followers on WW Connect to live their best life, come out of the chronic illness closet, and embrace the hashtag #chronicallyfabulous. Also, while she was raised in what would be considered a secular home, she grew up kosher and attended Hebrew School. She spent five years in Rabbinical School.

Social Links | Author Website | Facebook: @JeanMeltzerAuthor | Instagram: @JeanMeltzer | Goodreads

Happy reading!

Review | The Christmas Wedding Guest by Susan Mallery

The last thing Reggie Sommerville wants is to come back home for Christmas. It’s only been a year and a half since her boyfriend, Jake, proposed and then broke up with her, all in one weekend, and the prospect of facing the entire town is humiliating. But when her parents reveal that they’re renewing their vows in the lavish wedding they always wanted and her mother asks her to be a bridesmaid, Reggie knows she can’t say no. No matter how much she wants to. She expected the town would be gossiping about her relationship with Jake, but she never expected to run into Toby, her first love that broke her heart all those years ago, living in town and raising his son. She always thought things between them were long over…but this Christmas is full of surprises.

Dena Sommerville has only ever wanted one thing: to have a child. But motherhood has been alluding her because she never met the right man…until she took the bull by the horns and decided to have a baby as a single mom. She knew it would be difficult and the morning sickness alone is knocking her down for the count, but she’s determined to do this on her own. So when a handsome musician checks into the inn where she works, Dena is surprised when a friendship develops. He has his own issues to work through—that much is clear. But she can’t deny there’s something between them

This Christmas, guilted into being bridesmaids at their parents’ vow renewal ceremony, Reggie and Dena Sommerville just might find the most unexpected gift of all—love.

Buy Links | BookShop.org | Harlequin  | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Books-A-Million | Powell’s

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I was definitely ready to pick up a book to get me in the Christmas spirit and this one absolutely fit the bill. I loved the small town setting that Mallery created for this series, it felt like a place I would love to visit and enjoy. I was a little worried with dual romances happening that one would far overshadow the other but I was pleasantly surprised at the balance between the two and how the stories wove together. Each relationship had real issues and believable scenes and just felt very organic. I also really enjoyed the characters themselves and how they balanced off of each other, there were unique personalities with depth, especially with the sisters. All in all a great holiday book to kick off the season.

Susan Mallery is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women’s lives—family, friendship, romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally believable characters in realistic situations,” and readers seem to agree—40 million copies of her books have sold worldwide. Her warm, humorous stories make the world a happier place to live.

Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle with her husband. She’s passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the two ragdoll cats and adorable poodle who think of her as mom.

Social Links | Author Website | Twitter: @SusanMallery | Facebook: @SusanMallery |
Instagram: @susanmallery | Goodreads

Happy reading!

Review | Things I Learned in the Night by Emily Byrnes

Things I Learned in the Night is a beautifully illustrated tribute to young love in a society that so often tries to invalidate it. Many of the poems in this book are exquisitely woven with nature imagery; a subtle reminder that through our struggles and joys we must all remember to take deep breaths and run in the rain every now and then.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I did enjoy this poetry collection as it was in the same vein as some that I have recently liked, but a lot of it felt too similar to other poets that I read from. There were a few poems that definitely felt poignant and new, but many were very similar to those using the same subjects. The language used is definitely beautiful and there is a good development of imagery in the poems themselves. For a poetry collection it was good and enjoyable, but again was too similar to other collections I have read to be a stand out for me personally.

Happy reading!

Review | Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

Cassandra Khaw’s Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a gorgeously creepy haunted house tale, steeped in Japanese folklore and full of devastating twists.

A Heian-era mansion stands abandoned, its foundations resting on the bones of a bride and its walls packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company.

It’s the perfect wedding venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends.

But a night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare. For lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart.

And she gets lonely down there in the dirt.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

I absolutely loved the premise of this story, I’m always up for a haunted house story, but I was a little disappointed by the final product. This was one of those novellas that left me wanting more. I wanted more backstory on the relationships between the five main characters as well as on the house itself. We are given the bones of the story behind the mansion and little tidbits here and there but I definitely wanted more.

I did really enjoy the writing style and all the details about the house itself. The descriptions of the house as it changed over time and the things that happened were suitably creepy and easy to imagine in the mind’s eye.

Overall I did enjoy the story as it was, but I would have loved to have so much more.

Happy reading!

Review | All My Friends are Ghosts by S.M. Vidaurri

Effie is lost and only feels like a ghost – till she discovers an actual ghost school in the nearby woods and begins an unforgettable journey of self-discovery.

Effie is lost, and feels like a ghost. She skips school because she doesn’t think anyone will notice, and doesn’t feel like she belongs, or that school offers her anything that she wants. Simply, she has stopped trying. One day, when she realizes no one will notice, she escapes from her every day life… and discovers a ghost school in the nearby woods. But just as she’s beginning to learn all about the amazing things that ghosts can do – like possession, poltergeist-ing, demon magic and more – Effie is asked by her new friends to help track down a mysterious spirit that’s been spotted. But if Effie’s going to succeed, she’ll not only have to show her friends that she’s got something special,but also learn to believe she’s got it too.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

This is a cute middle grade graphic novel about Effie, who is very awkward and a bit of an outcast among her peers. She feels out of place at school so one day she skips and discovers a world that exists within the nearby forest, making friends with an odd group of ghosts and deciding to try out their school. She’s sure she will fit in there, but learns some hard lessons along the way. This is great for younger audiences, especially if they are having a hard time figuring out where they fit in. Effie learns a lot about interacting with others and what friendship really is. It also teaches the lesson that sometimes you have to work to make friends and that it’s give and take and not always easy.

Happy reading!

Cover Reveal | Midnight Rendezvous by Anya Summers

Midnight Rendezvous
Anya Summers
(Dungeon Singles Night, #5)
Publication date: December 21st 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

She is untouchable. Forbidden.

His best friend’s stunning, maddening, and deeply stirring younger sister has always been completely off limits. Asher has been fighting the clawing desire to touch her for years.

But when Emilia unexpectedly appears at his office with danger stalking her, he can’t say no.
She chose to ask him for help. For protection. Asher will shield her with both his body and his badge and suffer in agony as he keeps his hands to himself.

Yearning for her surrender, craving her passion, is wrong. He made a vow to her brother never to touch her, and he is a man of his word. A man of honor.

Emilia made no such promise. She craves Asher’s touch.

Even if the heat they generate incinerates them both.

Goodreads / Amazon / iBooks


Author Bio:

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Anya grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Anya never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in History.

Anya is a bestselling and award-winning author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and contemporary romance under the name Maggie Mae Gallagher. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the Midwest with her two furry felines.

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Blitz | Cambion’s Law by Erin Fulmer

Cambion’s Law
Erin Fulmer
(Cambion, #1)
Publication date: November 9th 2021
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Lawyer. Demon. Lily Knight is both—half-human, half-succubus, and utterly dangerous.

Lily protects her secret and the safety of those around her by abstaining from the skin-to-skin contact that would grant her superhuman powers. An ambitious criminal prosecutor, she’s all work and no play, determined to prove herself in the courtroom to atone for the ex-lovers she’s left for dead in her past.

But after a fellow succubus turns up murdered and the police arrest an innocent man, Lily discovers evidence of a supernatural killer stalking the foggy San Francisco streets. And when human justice falls short, she launches an unsanctioned investigation to find the real culprit. To stop the killer, she must embrace the full power of her heritage and risk the soul of the handsome suspect she can’t help but fall for. Can Lily face her true nature without losing her humanity—or will she become the monster she fears most of all?

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

EXCERPT:

I stole a glance at the two humans waiting with me at the coffee kiosk and stifled a groan. If I had my way, I’d make PDAs before six a.m. a first-degree misdemeanor.

Quite a hill to die on, huh? Of course, I’d have to leave the D.A.’s office and run for Congress first, but the pithy single-platform campaign slogans wrote themselves: Elect Lillian Knight and Make Singles Jogging Safe Again. Stop Criminal Canoodling. Think of the children—and have mercy on the celibate-by-choice cambion lurking uncomfortably behind you in the coffee line.

Alas, even a half-demon like me didn’t have that kind of power. And my powers of glaring didn’t stop the middle-aged couple in the cafe’s outdoor waiting area from mooning over each other.

I wrapped my arms around myself and set my jaw. This early on a dreary weekday morning, I should have had the park to myself, free from lovestruck tourists and their sloppy, tantalizing energy. And yet, here stood these two grown adults in their puffy jackets, snuggling together like teenagers and harshing the living hell out of my happy place.

Maybe I didn’t need a caffeine fix before my run. Never mind the biting Pacific gusts blowing off the choppy gray waves of the strait, the thick fog blanketing the rust-orange span of the Golden Gate Bridge, or the gritty haze that clouded my brain after another sleepless night.

I could live with all of that. San Francisco’s fog couldn’t rival the Pennsylvania winters I’d grown up with, even after eight years of acclimation. Insomnia and I had an intimate, long-term relationship. And the cold didn’t get under my demon-tough skin like the two walking heart-eye emojis in front of me.

I licked my lips and slapped my change on the counter. Oblivious to my jonesing, the lovebirds entwined their hands and leaned into each other, a bulwark of two against the chill. I turned away, but their mutual desire thrummed in the air around me like a pair of plucked guitar strings tuned to one another. Its sweetness settled, thick and cloying, at the back of my throat.

Damn my succubus senses. They didn’t help anything, and they never knew when to quit.

The synesthetic song of the human couple’s desiderata—the energy of their deep-seated needs and desires—didn’t hold any secrets simple human perception would have missed. Still, their two-part harmony tugged at me. I’d have given a limb, maybe two, to turn it off at will, but no one was buying. Swallowing hard, I grasped at straws: stocks, sports, anything unsexy and boring. The Giants had done well this season, right?

No good. The desiderata behind me hummed all the louder, a tangible vibration running up my spine like a live wire. I risked another peek over my shoulder and winced. The man had bent toward the woman, the breeze ruffling his salt-and-pepper hair. She tilted her head up, lips parted, face aglow, ready for his kiss.

“Screw this,” I muttered, and broke into a run.

The barista’s call floated after me. “Quad cappuccino for Lily?”

I didn’t stop. Bye bye, six hard-earned dollars I paid for the abandoned drink. Too bad, so sad for my wallet, but it wasn’t worth the cost to my peace of mind and my succubus sobriety.

The rhythm of my sneakers on the hard-packed earth of the upper trail beat out a staccato counterpoint to the hiss of the surf and the blood pounding in my ears. About halfway into the grove of cypress and eucalyptus that lined the trail, I hit my stride. The trees blurred into a gray-green smear on either side of me, and the siren call of human desiderata faded away.

And then I tripped over something heavy and dense that lay across the trail and went sprawling face-first into the dirt.

The wind knocked out of me, I lay still for a few seconds, tonguing my split and swelling lip. It leaked a coppery tang tainted with bitter earth into my mouth. My palms stung where I’d flung them out to catch my fall.

I rolled over and the gray sky wheeled above me in a dizzy lurch. Damn it, had I hit my head? A concussion would make this a real banner week. I could heal faster than humans did, but to recover from a serious injury, I would need more than strong coffee. I would have to break a vow I’d made to myself and take kether—human life force, the fuel my powers depended on, transferred by touch and emotional connection from their bodies to mine.

Author Bio:

Erin Fulmer is a life-long writer, real-life social justice warrior (i.e. legal services lawyer), politics junkie, and general bookworm. She lives in sunny California with her husband and two demanding cat daughters. She is currently at work on the sequel to her forthcoming debut urban fantasy, CAMBION’S LAW (11/9/2021, City Owl Press).

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