Tag: romance

August reads, 2025

MarilkaLeave a comment

Back to work after summer holidays, and free weekends and even though I wrote a fairytale of my own (The Tale of the Twisted Tree), and did a bit of painting (Swan in Snowfall, Watching the World Burn, Hummingbird on Full Moon), I somehow ended up reading 17 books, just shy of 6000 pages. So, quite some reads to cover here, better get started:

  • Glorious Rivals (book 2 of The Grandest Game trilogy), by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – so much expected, only to (obviously) leave me on another cliffhanger in the end 😅 Such delicious suspence! Devious and clever, and now I’ll just have to wait a year for the finale.
  • A Curse of Crows, by Lauren Dedroog – first book of the A Curse of Crows and Serpents duology and I totally, fully enjoyed the book! The surprises, the secrets, the masks and facades, the fragile and sweet relationship between the protagonist and her love interest, but not void of banter and fun. Book 2 coming in the autumn.
  • George Michael: Elämäkerta (orig. The Life), by Emily Herbert – kinda like a book to read while waiting for an order to arrive 😄 Tragic life, but as a read, the book was mediocre.
  • The Enchanted Greenhouse, by Sarah Beth Durst – back to the world of the Spellshop, connected while not. Took me a while to get into the story, but then it flew and I totally loved it.
  • A Witch’s Guide to Magical Inkeeping, by Sangu Mandanna – so not disappointing! Wonderful, whimsical, heartwarming – a lovestory but also so much more. A story about finding your way Home.
  • The Glimmer Falls trilogy (A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon, A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch, A Werewolf’s Guide to Seducing a Vampire), by Sarah Hawley – surprisingly substantial examples of the genre of steamy(ish) romantacy. Mysteries, family issues, and personal growth.
  • The Library at Hellebore, by Cassandra Khaw – uh, I’d rather forget that I read the book. The sole purpose of the book was to showcase gore and disgusting stuff. So much so that I simply grew numb. Thin plot to support the, uh, gore.
  • Koira, joka pelastaa kissoja and Ginny, suurkaupungin enkeli (orig. The Dog Who Rescues Cats, and The Blessing of the Animals), by Philip Gonzales – my palate cleaners after Hellebore, sweet sweet true story that restores one’s faith in humanity. Or doganity. Or both.
  • Regency Secrets, books 1-3 (The Persephone Code, The Elgin Conspiracy, The Wordsworth Key), by Julia Golding – a bit of a Veronica Speedwell meets Robert Langdon but in the Regency era. I loved Dora and Jacob, and can’t hardly wait for book 4 (coming in November).
  • The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, by Roshani Chokshi – a dreamy, ethereal tale with the kind of uglyish undertone as is common for fairytales. Magic is insinuated, but never proven, leaving the reader forever guessing what is “real” and what simply the perception or fancy of the storyteller(s). I loved it.
  • Neverthorn, by Shannon Mayer – some good ole dark academy, book 1 of a duology, and gah I need to wait for a year for book 2! Actually adults (if young), and a proper plot with deception, surprises, and some bits of romance. Oh, and gotta love the frucking potty mouth rune gag!
  • The Baby Dragon Bakery (book 2 of The Baby Dragon Cafe), by A.T. Kureshi – Firends to lovers is not my thing I guess. Too much of this being too scared of ruining things to talk. I mean, I get it, but one pining already is ruining it. So when things start happening, maybe, um, talk? Also, I may be too old for 24yo immaturity (esp. the girl; the guy had shit parents so kinda excused). So, no, I didn’t enjoy this like I did the first book. Maybe book 3 with the enemies to lovers trope is more to my fancies again, I hope, bc I love this baby draggo world.

Aug 11, Every now and then you (or at least I) stumble upon the most bizzarre (I’d like to say disturbing but that would be dishonest and not quite right since I’m not actually DISTURBED at all) thing you’ve read since the previous most bizzarre thing you’ve read since… you know…

Right now that most recent most bizzarre thing is the book I just started: The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw (pic on the left), which is the most bizzare thing since I read Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham (pic on the right) several years ago.

And by bizzarre, I don’t by any means mean bad or not good or not likeable – on the contrary. It’s good to get your mind twisted a bit now and then. So, high expectations for Hellebore – I certainly enjoyed Winterset Hollow!

Aug 16, Update: I’m a bit disappointed. The Library at Hellebore is definitely gory and then some, prolly to the point where it should be disgusting and disturbing – and I’m sure it would be if it was a movie, for the thing is that my brain does not visualize words to a level that would make anything vivid enough to truly bother me.

I find myself more like bored. Kinda like excessive chase or sex scenes bore me. Really, anything that becomes repetitive and goes on too long. The gore upon gore being most of the storyline, paired with complicated interrelational musings(also not something I endure wel), the actual plot seems thin at best, spun for the sole puprpose of offering a stage for the gruesome characters to be gruesome.

Aug 17, So, as a palate cleaner I wanted to read something heartwarming and grounding, which led me to finally reading the two books about Ginny the dog who rescues cats (The Dog Who Rescues Cats, and The Blessing of the Animals, by Philip Gonzales) which I have in Finnish because they used to belong to my grandma. I remember her talking about them and discovered that I actually gave her the other one back in !999, but just hadn’t gotten around to reading them yet. Now I did, and what a wonderful trip that was! Exactly the kind of story I needed, reminding me that there IS love and beauty in this real world ❣️

June reads, 2025

MarilkaLeave a comment

My June weekends were mostly full of all sorts of things like hosting a birthday (my own, round 50) 🎂, hunting for a fridge (old side-by-side started dying, see A Tale of Two Fridges), shopping with my daughter 💜, and some reno-related stuff I don’t even have the energy to get into. Surprisingly enough, I still seem to have found time to read almost as much as any other month. June reads were a mix of long-awaited sequels and new releases from favorite authors, and some completely new finds.

  • A Letter from the Lonesome Shore, by Sylvie Cathrall – I loved this sequel to A Letter to the Luminous Deep ❣️ The same ethereal ambiance, some twists and turns and a happy ending.
  • Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me, by Django Wexler – Sequel to How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying. Fun and gamey, but a bit more of a serious undertone as life for Davi is not a game anymore. Mysteries are unraveled and yes, this book too has a happy ending.
  • The Amalfi Curse, by Sarah Penner – A superb witchy realism story where past meets present and romance wins.
  • The Haunted Housekeeping series (4 books), by R.A. Muth – Funky, quirky cozy mysteries with just a touch of supernatural and magic. A bit “easy” reading for my liking.
  • Fearless, by Lauren Roberts – book 3 in the Powerless series (the final one), which was, well in line with the other ones, but liked it somewhat better again than the first one. I think Book 2 was my favorite in this trilogy (series – as it has a book 1.5 which I somehow didn’t feel like reading even though I have it).
  • The Resurrectionist, by A. Rae Dunlap – Historical gothy fiction from a time when autopsies were considered sacrilege, but the more advanced though hushed Parisian syle training, ie. hands on and cutting corpses open, was in need of bodies to work on. Also, forbidden gay romance 💜
  • The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris, by Evie Woods – magical realism romance, sweet and heartwarming, while quite predictable.
  • Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil, by V.E. Schwab – Three vampire women, destiny tied together in a way that is not entirely guessable in the beginning. Intriguing travels through centuries, stopping here and there for a bit longer to shed light on the evolution of the characters.
  • Phantasma, by Kaylie Smith – Not quite as enchanting as I expected, not quite as ingenious as I hoped. More like a “everything tries to kill you and you just need to survive (though you’re really not up to the task)” kind of a story than witty and puzzly, like I’d prefer. Quite enjoyable none the less, and now I’m a bit past the half mark on the sequel, Enchantra (which is more of the same while different).
  • Enigma, by RuNyx – I absolutely love RuNyx and her way of weaving these dark romance mysteries. Full of twists and turns and secrets to unravel bit by itty bit, clues to tickle your brain and lead you astray, passion, even obsession (which maybe is not my thing, but I can accept it here). Can’t wait to get more RuNyx!

June 1, Finally, finally reading (well, started already yesterday) A Letter from the Lonesome Shore, by Sylvie Cathrall 🤩 I loved the first book, A Letter to the Luminous Deep; this sequel is one my most anticipated reads of the year!

June 14, Started the fourth book of The Haunted Housekeeping, by R.A. Muth, series last night. While the books are kinda funny and quirky – enough to keep me reading through them all, especially when they’re not very long – they are a bit simple to my liking. I realize cozy mystery (even with a paranormal/fantasy/magical realism twist) is just not my cuppa. Things are too easygoing, a bit lame and simple. I want some actual suspense, gory bloody gruesomeness and such. Go figure.

March reads, 2025

MarilkaLeave a comment

My March weekends were again taxed with reno work at home and some other Life® related stuff, but you can’t keep a reader down 😂 Though ok “only” 11 books read, but some real quality books, most of them! Not that that’s unusual, so.

  • Torinon enkeli, by Taina Latvala, was my first March read. A Finnish book, one I bought some years ago at a book fair where I seemed to buy a lot of books that interested me only mildly. Still I read it, and I guess it was a quite nice story.
  • After that bookstore on my way home from work had done that reno, making English books more visibly displayed, I first found out that The Inheritance Games (by Jennifer Lynn Barnes) acually had a book 4: The Brothers Hawthorne, so I had to get that (in Kindle though), obviously! Loved it!
  • Also loved to discover, upon finishing that, that Jennifer Lynn Barnes has started a new sequal trilogy: The Grandest Game, of which the first book (that’s the name of the book too) is already available and so I got and read that too. Book 2 coming out in July.
  • Perhaps the read of the month, though, was the Belladonna series: Belladonna, Foxglove, and Wisteria, by Adalyn Grace. Maybe. These rating things are hard for me 😂
  • The Village Library Demon Hunting Society, by C.M. Waggoner, on the other hand was a tiny bit of a disappointment, plus the ending puzzled me a touch.
  • The Other Bennet Sister, by Janice Hadlow, was another “read of the month” along with Belladonna and the Hawthornes (no, not the Thorn Grove ones, the other ones)
  • I also absolutely loved Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle and Dante, book 1), by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, and am 4/5 through book 2, so that will be featured in April reads
  • Finally, Evidence of a Folktale (Autopsy of a Fairytale, book 5), by Nicole Scarano! As excellent as expected! Also, book 6 coming out in October, yey!
  • And last but not least, Simon and Milt Bevell and the Sorceress of Oden, by LIsa M Whitehead, which I finished only last night. Maybe not my favorite – I found the story kinda jumpy and sometimes it felt like something had been edited out or changed but not fully edited, and a lot of grammatical errors that occasionally made reading a bit difficult – but I think I’d like a loan arhcer to come and kill my loans with his silver arrows 😝 Fun story, though!

March 15, The Belladonna series by Adalyn Grace – those books I bought at the end of Feb and had an actual conversation about in the book store – they were fabs! They’re right at the top of my best reads so far this year! They’re gothicy, sinister, mysterious, deliciously dark, decadently atmospheric – as Kerri Maniscalco states on the cover of Foxglove, and I can’t put it any better.

Belladonna starts the series, hooking you right up, Foxglove brings it to its peak – definitely the best book of the trilogy, and finally Wisteria brings the storyline to its end. Wisteria started kinda slow, and I didn’t exacly like the ending, but still an excellent read❣️

March 27, Finally, finally! Book 5 of Nicole Scarano’s Autopsy of a Fairytale series, Evidence of a Folktale, was published and dropped into my Kindle on March 21, and just finished it tonight. I didn’t get to it immediately as I was still in the middle of The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow – the longest read of the year so far with 660 pages or so – at that point, but it was naturally next in line. At the end of book #5 I learned that there’s book #6 to come in October, so another Kindle preorder, another Autopsy book to look forward to still this year!

About that other Bennet sister. It was a wonderful Austen spin-off book, the story of Mary, where we see her bloom and become a charming young lady. It was totally Austenian in the storytelling as well as the ending, and I loved it!