2019 Bookending Winter Day 3: Blanket, Tea, Read!

Bookending Winter is  a wonderful month-long event created by Clo @ Cuppa Clo and Sam @ Fictionally Sam where each day has a different prompt for the participants to talk about.

It's day 3 of the Bookending Winter event!! Laurie @ Laurie's Bookshelf is hosting today and her prompt of the day is Book, Tea, Read!" or the books that get you in the winter/Christmas mood. People, I have a TON on books that get me in the mood for Christmas Don't forget to check out Laurie's post here. Without further ado, let's get started!

2019 Bookending Winter Day 2: Reflection Time

Bookending Winter is  a wonderful month-long event created by Clo @ Cuppa Clo and Sam @ Fictionally Sam where each day has a different prompt for the participants to talk about.

It's day 2 of the Bookending Winter event and today's host, Laurie @ Laurie's Bookshelf has a very interesting prompt. As she says, December is the perfect time to look back over how the year went, if we managed to hit the goals we set out for ourselves in January, and also set goals for the new year. Don't forget to check out Laurie's post here. Without further ado, let's get started!

Blogmas Day 1: November Wrap-Up

It's December already. Can you guys believe it? Because I cannot wrap my head around the fact that there's only 31 days left of 2019. It seems like 2019 flew by me, and it took me completely by surprise. I'm going to do Blogmas this year (and unlike last year, this time I'll do the full month, I promise). I thought I'd start with a proper month wrap-up, because this has been one of my best reading months of the year, with over 20 books read. Let's dive right into it, shall we?

2019 Bookending Winter Day 1: Ways A Villain Could Ruin the Holiday Season

It's December 1st and that means it's time for Bookending Winter!! In case you don't know what Bookending Winter is, let me enlighten you. It's a wonderful month-long event created by Clo @ Cuppa Clo and Sam @ Fictionally Sam where each day has a different prompt for the participants to talk about. Basically awesomeness all around! And there's hosts, so you can not only do some blog hopping, but also discover new bloggers while you're at it, and since we're an amazing community, we need to all be friends and be merry. 'Tis the season, people!!!

The first host of this year's event is Sophia @ Bookwyrming Thoughts and her prompt is Ways  A Villain Could Ruin the Holiday Season. Let me tell you, these villains have tremendous power to destroy all nice things, including the Holiday Season. Let me tell you how they could ruin mine.

Audiobook Review: Kulti by Mariana Zapata

Author: Mariana Zapata
Series: N/A
Narrator: Callie Dalton
Audience: +18
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Length: 16 hours and 13 minutes
Release Date: July 28th 2015 (first published March 20th 2015)
My Rating: 5 Cups
Source: Audible
Blurb (from Goodreads):

“Trust me, I’ve wanted to punch you in the face a time or five.”

When the man you worshipped as a kid becomes your coach, it’s supposed to be the greatest thing in the world. Keywords: supposed to.

It didn't take a week for 27-year-old Sal Casillas to wonder what she'd seen in the international soccer icon - why she'd ever had his posters on her wall or ever envisioned marrying him and having super-playing soccer babies.


Sal had long ago gotten over the worst non-break-up in the history of imaginary relationships with a man who hadn't known she'd existed. So she isn't prepared for this version of Reiner Kulti who shows up to her team's season: a quiet, reclusive shadow of the explosive, passionate man he'd once been.

I've been meaning to read Mariana Zapata for a while now. In fact, she's the author that finally convinced me to try out the Audible Escape subscription I now love so much. Because I didn't know where to start, since I've heard a lot of good stuff about her books, I pestered my dear friend Sam from Fictionally Sam to point me in the right direction and Kulti was the second book on her list I think. Since it was also the first book that I noticed by her on AE, I decided to go with it. And let me tell you, it was glorious.

Book Review: A Holiday By Gaslight by Mimi Matthews

Author: Mimi Matthews
Narrator: Alex Wyndham
Series: N/A
Audience:  +18
Genre: Historical Romance, Christmas Romance
Publisher: Perfectly Proper Press
Release Date: November 13th 2018
My Rating: 4 Cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

A Courtship of Convenience

Sophie Appersett is quite willing to marry outside of her class to ensure the survival of her family. But the darkly handsome Mr. Edward Sharpe is no run-of-the-mill London merchant. He’s grim and silent. A man of little emotion—or perhaps no emotion at all. After two months of courtship, she’s ready to put an end to things.

A Last Chance for Love

But severing ties with her taciturn suitor isn’t as straightforward as Sophie envisioned. Her parents are outraged. And then there’s Charles Darwin, Prince Albert, and that dratted gaslight. What’s a girl to do except invite Mr. Sharpe to Appersett House for Christmas and give him one last chance to win her? Only this time there’ll be no false formality. This time they’ll get to know each other for who they really are.

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC from Netgalley and Perfectly Proper Press in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of my review in any way.

The first thing that caught my eye was the cover. How could I ignore it, when it's so pretty? The next thing that made me want to read this book was the fact that it was not only a Christmas story, but a historical romance one. So basically you have the two best things in the world put together. I've never read Mimi Matthews before, but I absolutely loved this introduction into her world and I believe I shall dive into her backlist in the upcoming year.