WWW Wednesday: February 26th, 2025

February 26, 2025 kerrimcbooknerdLeave a comment

It’s time for another WWW Wednesday! This is a bookish meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words where bloggers answer the 3 Ws:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

If you’d like to learn more about any of these books, click on the cover to be taken to the Goodreads page.

Current Reads

Painted Devils by Margaret Owen

In anticipation of the release of Holy Terrors, the last book in the Little Thieves trilogy, I thought it was about time I gave the second book a read. I have a bad habit where, when I’m loving a series, I take forever to read the books because I don’t want it to be over 😭 But now that I’m back with Vanja and Emeric, I can’t believe I stayed away so long! I love this gremlin girl and her prefect and am loving this read.

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First Lines Friday: January 10th, 2025

January 10, 2025 kerrimcbooknerd1 Comment

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? If you want to make your own post, feel free to use or edit the banner above, and follow the rules below:

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

If you’re using Twitter, don’t forget to use #FirstLinesFridays!

Hello, reader!

It’s time for my first First Lines Friday of 2025! I miss doing this particular bookish meme because I do love a guessing game. This week, I’m featuring one of my current reads that has proven to be quite the ride. It’s a thriller that has completely sucked me in and I’m so eager to see how it ends.

Now, let’s see if the first lines will be intriguing enough to pull you in, as well.

The Line(s):

“She looks at the body of her mother, sprawled in the hallway. If she turns her head, she will see her father, slumped in his chair by the fireplace in the next room, one fingertip still touching the side of a glass in which his whiskey, the ice long melted, still sits.”

The Build Up:

The Reveal:

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blog tour · book reviews · Uncategorized

Blog Tour: Zora Books Her Happy Ever After by Taj McCoy

April 15, 2023April 15, 2023 kerrimcbooknerdLeave a comment

Hello, reader!

Today, it’s my stop on the tour for Zora Books Her Happy Ever After by Taj McCoy hosted by Hear Our Voices Tours! This bookish romance had me entranced from page one and I can’t wait until it is out in the world so more people get to enjoy it.

Before I get to my review, though, I have people to thank. First, a big thank you to the brains behind Hear Our Voices who gave me a spot on this tour. Second, thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free ARC so that I could read and participate. It is, as always, very much appreciated!

Also, if you’d like to check out any of the other fabulous posts done by the incredible bloggers and bookstagrammers and BookTubers on this tour, you can check out the schedule here.

Now, let’s get to my post!

Title: Zora Books Her Happy Ever After
Author: Taj McCoy
Publication date: April 25th, 2023
Publisher: MIRA Books
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Romance
Age group: Adult

Book Links

Bookshop::B&N::Amazon::Goodreads

Zora has committed every inch of her life to establishing her thriving DC bookstore, making it into a pillar of the community, and she just hasn’t had time for romance. But when a mystery author she’s been crushing on for years agrees to have an event at her store, she starts to rethink her priorities. Lawrence is every bit as charming as she imagined, even if his understanding of his own books seems just a bit shallow. When he asks her out after his reading, she’s almost elated enough to forget about the grumpy guy who sat next to her making snide comments all evening. Apparently the grouch is Lawrence’s best friend, Reid, but she can’t imagine what kind of friendship that must be. They couldn’t be more different.

But as she starts seeing Lawrence, and spending more and more time with Reid, Zora finds first impressions can be deceiving. Reid is smart and thoughtful—he’s also interested. After years of avoiding dating, she suddenly has two handsome men competing for her affection. But even as she struggles to choose between them, she can’t shake the feeling that they’re both hiding something—a mystery she’s determined to solve before she can find her HEA.

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bbnya spotlight · blog tour · Uncategorized

BBNYA Finalist Spotlight: The Thirteenth Hour by Trudie Skies

April 4, 2023 kerrimcbooknerdLeave a comment

Hello, reader!

Today on the blog, I have a spotlight for our 7th place finisher in last year’s Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA)! The Thirteenth Hour by Trudie Skies is an incredible gaslamp fantasy that features gods, heathens, and loads of tea. I had already read this book before the competition started (you can read my full review here) so I couldn’t judge it for BBNYA. I’m so glad that the book made it to the finals because it’s absolutely stellar! Before I tell you more about the book, though, let me give you more info on BBNYA.

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website http://www.bbnya.com or Twitter @bbnya_official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

Now, let’s get to today’s spotlight!

Title: The Thirteenth Hour
Author: Trudie Skies
Publication date: October 13th, 2021
Publisher: Self-published
Length: 535 pages
Genre: Fantasy/Gaslamp Fantasy
Age group: Adult
Content/Trigger Warnings: For a list of potential content and trigger warnings, check out this book’s page on BookTriggerWarnings.com

Book Links

B&N::Amazon::Goodreads

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bbnya spotlight · blog tour · Uncategorized

BBNYA Finalist Spotlight: Mercury’s Shadow by P.J. Garcin

February 16, 2023 kerrimcbooknerdLeave a comment

Hello, reader!

Today on the blog, I have a spotlight for our 14th place finisher in last year’s Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA)! Mercury’s Shadow by P.J. Garcin is a science fiction that fought its way through tough competition to make it to the finals. I didn’t get a chance to read it, myself, but it certainly sounds like an adventure! But, before I tell you more about this novel, let me tell you about BBNYA.

Now, let’s get to today’s spotlight!

Title: Mercury’s Shadow
Author: P.J. Garcin
Publication date: July 5th, 2020
Publisher: Rawktron Productions
Length: 308 pages
Genre: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Action Adventure
Age group: Young Adult/New Adult

Book Links

B&N::Amazon::Goodreads

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blog tour · book reviews · Uncategorized

Blog Tour: The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses by K.N. Smith

December 12, 2022January 19, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd4 Comments

Hello, reader!

I have another wonderful tour post for you today hosted by The Write Reads. Today, I’ll be sharing my review for a young adult fantasy that features five boys with super senses: The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses by K.N. Smith!

Before I get further into my review, though, I have people to thank. First, thank you to Dave @ The Write Reads and all of the crew for giving me a spot on this tour! Second, thank you to the author for providing me with a free copy of the book so that I could participate. It is, as always, appreciated 😊

And, one last thing, the author is running a giveaway in conjunction with this tour! If you would like to enter to win an e-gift card, just click here.

Now, let’s get to my post!

Title: The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses
Author: K.N. Smith
Publication date: September 29th, 2015
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Thriller
Age group: Young Adult
Content/Trigger Warnings: Violence, blood, attempted kidnapping, loss of a parent, mentions of alcoholism

Book Links

TBD::B&N::Amazon::
Goodreads

Welcome or unwelcome. Fate has arrived.

“A captivating and poetic tale of mystery, fantasy, and reality tied together by action!” 5-stars, Lars Jackson, Amazon Customer

A suspenseful incident in a forbidden preserve heightens the senses of five friends. Sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell become super-gifts that forever change the world. But furious battles confront the boys as they try to understand their sensory super powers in a race to save mankind. With light beings and mysterious strangers complicating their plight, can the boys defeat the evil Druth before it’s too late? Get prepared for the twisting and grinding of this award-winning, action-adventure story — an edge-of-your-seat narrative for young and mature readers alike.

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down the tbr hole · Uncategorized

Down the TBR Hole #30

May 12, 2022May 11, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

It’s time for a new round of Down the TBR Hole! This is where I go through my Goodreads ‘Want to Read’ shelf and do a bit of cleaning up. If you want to see the full description of what this post is all about, check out my first round HERE.

Hello, reader!

It’s been a moment since I’ve done another round of Down the TBR Hole. And, surprise of all surprises, my Goodreads Want to Read shelf has actually reduced in number since the last time I did this post! I was at 721 books at the end of last round and I’ll be starting this one with 719 books on the TBR. This almost never happens because I have no self control, haha. I would like to contribute that to the fact I read quite a few books off my backlist last month. Of course, with the amount of books off my backlist I read, that number should have gone down way more… but remember how I said I have no self control? Haha… yeah 😅

Anyways! Let’s see if I can trim this list down a little bit more.

Extropia by Robin Bootle

I have no recollection of adding this book whatsoever, haha. The cover is cool, though, so that’s probably how it ended up on my TBR. Reading the synopsis, it’s about a boy that must save his father who has become stuck in a virtual reality realm named Extropia. And that sounds right up my alley! It’s also a standalone, which means I won’t be committing series.

Verdict: Keep

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Yup, I have yet to give this very popular YA series a try. I dunno… I’ve never been particularly drawn to fae stories. I’ve only read one Holly Black book and it was alright, nothing that made me eager to read her other work. I think the only reason this stays on my TBR is because of the hype. Honestly, though… I’m not feeling it anymore.

Verdict: Remove

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

This is one of those books I remember adding to my TBR but kind of forgot about in the shuffle of newer, shinier books. That being said, I’m still very interested in this series. I think the concept of three magical sisters having to fight over one crown is fascinating. Perhaps they’ll turn on whoever made up that stupid rule and kill them, instead 😂

Verdict: Keep

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blog tour · book spotlight · Uncategorized

Blog Tour Spotlight: These Walls Were Never Really There by Bryan Blears

March 22, 2022March 21, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

Hello, reader!

It’s my pleasure to bring you another spotlight for a blog tour sponsored by The Write Reads! The book I’m featuring today is a compelling contemporary that is partially based on the author’s own life experiences. These Walls Were Never Really There by Bryan Blears sounds riveting and I can’t wait to tell you more about it.

First, I want to thank Dave @ The Write Reads and all the folks behind the scenes for allowing me to participate in this tour. It’s always fun discovering new reads, even if I’m too busy to read them right this second. And I do love promoting books and authors ❤

Speaking of, let’s get to the post!

Book Details

Title: These Walls Were Never Really There
Author: Bryan Blears
Publication date: April 1st, 2022
Genre: Literary Fiction
Age group: Adult

Book Links

TBD::B&N::Amazon::
Goodreads

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Uncategorized

WWW Wednesday: Feb 3, 2021

February 3, 2021February 3, 2021 kerrimcbooknerd4 Comments

It’s time for another WWW Wednesday! This is a bookish meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words where bloggers answer the 3 Ws:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

If you’d like to learn more about any of these books, click on the cover to be taken to the Goodreads page.

Current Reads

Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke: I’ve been doing quite a bit of blog tours lately and I’m reading this book for yet another one! This will be with TBR & Beyond Tours and I’m excited to get to read it. It’s a young adult fantasy with intrigue and hints at a possibly sapphic relationship. It sounds like it’ll be a great time, but I’ve barely just started it. I’ll let you know all my thoughts and feelings soon!
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: I am now firmly in an Agatha Christie kick, thanks solely to my wonderful buddy group within The Write Reads gang! We’ve planned a fairly chill readalong of all the Poirot books in order, though the first book has already been read by quite a few of them. This is me catching up! So far, I’m enjoying this book quite a bit. Poirot is a such a singular and dynamic character that I can’t help getting caught up in his investigations.

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book blogger hop · Uncategorized

Book Blogger Hop: Dec 18 – 24

December 20, 2020December 20, 2020 kerrimcbooknerd7 Comments

Book Blogger Hop

The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Crazy-For-Books and is currently being hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer. Every Friday, a new question is posted for book bloggers to answer in the coming week. The purpose of the hop is connection and community. You can discover new blogs to follow, new books to read, and you may end up with some new followers, as well!

Hello, reader!

It’s been a minute since I’ve done a Book Blogger Hop. As in, I haven’t done one since October 😅 But, when I read the question for this week, I knew I wanted to join in! You’ll see why in a moment.

This Week’s Question

Do you have any bookish ornaments on your Christmas tree?

This week’s prompt submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer.

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but Hamlet is my all-time favorite Shakespeare play. I’ve read it multiple times. I’ve seen several of the adaptations. I even had a couple of monologues memorized for awhile in college for absolutely no reason. I just liked them 🤷🏾‍♀️ Years ago, my best friend told me she had to give me part of my Christmas present early. She knows I tend to be a “open presents on Christmas ONLY” kind of person, so I wondered why she was so insistent that it had to be before Christmas.

Well, this was the present:

Look at him! It’s a little tiny Hamlet ornament with a tiny skull!! I love him so much and he’s always the first ornament I hang on the tree every year 💖 I’m also the only one allowed to hang him up because he has to go in the perfect spot, lol. This BBH makes me realize that Tiny Hamlet is the only bookish ornament I own, however. I think it’s time to start rectifying this situation *nod*

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any bookish ornaments that you put on your Christmas tree? Let me know in the comments!

And, as always, happy reading!