Tag: beth o'leary

Mini Reviews: Reading Challenge Edition

kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

Hello, reader!

I am, once again, woefully behind when it comes to writing reviews these days. 2022 has been a busy year with loads of change happening and I’ve found myself with less and less time to sit and write reviews. Though I’ve been reading a ton! Perhaps that is the problem 😂

That being said, I thought I would try and catch up with some of my reviews by talking about three books I’ve finished from one of the year long reading challenges I’m doing in 2022. I’ve not been doing great with my 22 in 2022 TBR, but I’ve checked up a good amount from my 12 friends, 12 recommendations TBR! And, today, I’m going to finally review three of them.

Title: Battle Royal

Author: Lucy Parker

Publisher: Avon

Genre: Romance

CW/TW: Death of a parent (past), abusive familial relationship, emotional abuse (past)

Rating: ★★★★

Links:
Bookshop::TBD::B&N::Amazon::
Goodreads

This was such a delightful read! It made me realize that food + romance may just be my thing, because I loved the backdrop of this sweet story. Two rival bakers competing to bake a royal wedding cake while also working together on a hit baking competition is apparently the recipe to win my heart, haha. Not only did I get a cute (and sometimes steamy) romance, but I got to drool over delicious sounding desserts at the same time. Win-win!

I truly enjoyed the chemistry between Sylvie and Dominic, though Sylvie is hands-down my favorite character. Sorry, Dominic… but she has an enchanted forest in her bakery’s basement! That’s a default win! They were both wonderfully written and complex characters, though, and I truly enjoyed getting to know them throughout this book. There were a few plot points that stretched the imagination, but, overall this was a charming and fun romance that left me smiling from ear to ear.

And the steamy bits weren’t half bad, either 😈

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WWW Wednesday: Apr 6, 2022

kerrimcbooknerd6 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:

  1. What are you currently reading?
  2. What did you recently finish reading?
  3. 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

  • Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica: This will be my second read for the Magical Readathon and I’m glad I picked it as my quick read! I am flying through this thriller and having a great time while doing it. Do I sometimes want to shake some of the POV characters? Yes. Very much so. Kate. But the fact that I’m so invested tells me I’m really enjoying myself. I was thrown off by the use of the r-word near the beginning by a pretty terrible person. I get that this person is the type that would throw that slur around… but we couldn’t find something else to demonstrate they’re awful? In 2021? I dunno, I’m probably being overly sensitive. That aside, I’m having a great time with this read!
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Magical Readathon: Orilium Spring Equinox TBR

kerrimcbooknerd4 Comments

Hello, reader!

As some of you may or may not know, I took place in the opening phase of the Magical Readathon last September. During that readathon, players took their characters through the Novice Path to reach the magical academy of Orilium. This was all in preparation of our first classes to come in April. And now the time is finally here! It’s time for the Spring Equinox readathon!

But what is the Magical Readathon? It is the brain child of the marvelous G @ Book Roast, who created the world of Aeldia, where Orilium dwells, and every aspect therein. It’s an incredibly creative readathon where you build a character, choose and guild, and guide your character through classes to achieve their calling. I am notoriously bad at giving all the details in a coherent way, so you should definitely watch G’s announcement video for the scoop:

My Character

Before I get into which calling I choose for the Spring Equinox readathon, let me tell you more about my character!

✨✨✨ Name: Korrin Musgrave ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Guild: The Order of the Crescent Moon ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Conduit: Quarterstaff ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Legacy: Wolf familiar (Venandi) ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Background: Wildling ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Province: Irtheria ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Heritage: Earthling (earth element) ✨✨✨

If you want to learn more about these various choices, you can check out the Brief History of Aeldia on the Google drive. It’s awesome what G has dreamed up!

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WWW Wednesday: Mar 23, 2022

kerrimcbooknerd9 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:

  1. What are you currently reading?
  2. What did you recently finish reading?
  3. 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

  • Highway of Tears by Jessica McDiarmid: Yup, I’m still reading this non-fiction. Don’t worry, though… I’m not taking awhile with this one because I don’t like it. On the contrary, I’m finding it fascinating! Heartbreaking, yet fascinating. And I think that’s why I’m taking my time with it. I want to absorb all the information this book has to offer on the struggles First Nations women and girls have to deal with simply because of who they are. It’s a topic I know only a little about and I want to expand my knowledge. This book does it in a way that is both respectful to the victims and doesn’t feel like I’m sitting in a lecture. I’m really enjoying it, so far.
  • Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega: I finally started one of my most anticipated reads of the year and, so far, it’s just as magical as I was imagining! I’m only a few pages in, but there’s already a toad named Edgar Allan Toad and Seven is utterly endearing. I can’t wait to continue!
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The 12 Challenge: 12 months, 12 books, 12 friends

kerrimcbooknerd13 Comments

Hello, reader!

If you spend anytime in the online bookish community, you probably already know what this post is about. You probably saw a certain graphic floating around the internet at the beginning of 2022. If not, let me give you a peek at the beautiful template made by @shadowbooker over on Instagram!

Image

This graphic/challenge prompts you to read 12 books that have been recommended to you by 12 friends. It sounded like fun (and was literally everywhere), so I figured I would give it a shot! So, through a mix of both online and IRL friends and family, I cobbled together a TBR of twelve recommendations that I wish to read in 2022.

My 12 Challenge

First, I want to say “Thank you!” to everyone who gave me a recommendation! I made sure to ask for books beyond my usual SFF realm and y’all certainly delivered. I think I have a good mix of SFF, mystery/thriller, and romance going on here and that’s exactly what I asked for. I do love my fantasy and science fiction, but 2022 feels like a good year to try and branch out a little more. That being said, let’s take a look at the books that I ended up choosing from all your wonderful recommendations ❤

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