Down The TBR Hole #5: In Which I Surprise Myself

 

Down The TBR Hole is hosted by Lia @ Lost In A Story

Hello dear book lovers and welcome to another post in the Down The TBR Hole feature hosted by the awesome Lia.

Spinning The Yarn: Harry Potter Edition Part 1

Hello my dear bookish lovers and welcome to today's edition of Spinning The Yarn, which is going to be all about Harry Potter.

I'll admit, I started getting back in the habit of knitting and crochet because of a pattern inspired by Luna Lovegood, that I'll get back to in a little bit. So I thought I'd start this feature with the most obvious choice, because who doesn't want more Harry Potter nerdy stuff in their life? So without further ado, let's get started!

ARC August 2018: Sign-Up Post

Can you believe it's already time for the annual ARC August challenge? I can't believe how fast time has flown. Also, this is my 5th year participating! 5 YEARS!! Wow! In case you don't know what ARC August is (HOW?), it's basically a month-long reading challenge where you commit to reading ARCs. It's a challenge hosted by the wonderful girls from Read.Sleep.Repeat. There are also a few surprises planned, like two readathons AND a bingo card that I am very excited about. For more information, rules and how to sign up, check out the original sign-up post here.

This year I'm looking at making a dent in my shame pile, meaning those ARCs that are long overdue. So without further ado, here's my reading list for this year:

• Reign of The Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh
• Bonfire by Krysten Ritter
• Bayou Born by Hailey Edwards
• The Accidental Bad Girl by Maxine Kaplan
• Wolf Hollow by Nikki Jefford

• Red Sister by Mark Laurence
• The Illusionist's Apprentice by Kristy Cambron
• Becoming Bonnie by Jenni L. Walsh
• Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon
• The Dark Of The Moon by E.S. Bell

I've settled on just 10 books this time, which seems doable to me. If I manage to read all of these books *fingers crossed* and there's still time, I might add a few more older ARCs. We'll see. I am so excited for August to start!!

What about you guys? Are you participating in ARC August? 

Blog Tour Book Review: Siren Beloved by Lexi Blake

Author: Lexi Blake
Series: Texas Sirens #4
Audience: +18
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance
Publisher: DLZ Entertainment, LLC
Release Date: July 17th 2018
My Rating: 5 Cups
Source: InkSlinger PR
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Aidan O’Malley walked away from his fiancée, Lexi, and their best friend, Lucas, after a night of passion left him shaken to his core. Years later, Aidan returns home from Iraq haunted by all he has lost. The enemy broke his body, destroying his dreams of a career in music. Worse still, he lost Lexi and Lucas. That damage he’d done all by himself. While he can’t restore what combat took from him, he’s determined to reclaim the two loves of his life.

Lucas Cameron is a changed man. After connecting with his brother, he found the discipline to get his life on track. His legal career is flourishing, but his love life is a train wreck. The woman he loves is spiraling out of control. After Aidan abandoned them, Lucas and Lexi clung together but no matter how hard he tries, Lucas can’t find a way to heal the wounds that Lexi carries.

Lexi Moore feels like a jigsaw puzzle with too many missing pieces. Losing Aidan was hard, but the true reason for her shattered spirit is a secret she only shares with her beloved Lucas. She knows she is drowning and the time has come to heal, but the holes in her heart hold her back from moving on. Shedding the burden she carries is her only hope for a happy future, but she fears she will never have the strength to reveal her secret.

When Aidan walks back into their lives, Lucas and Lexi know everything is about to change. But as they fight to reconcile their past and reclaim what they lost, a vicious predator stalks Lexi. In order to stop the killer, all three must confront the secrets they’ve carried…before they’re buried by them.

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of my review in any way.

**Disclaimer: This book contains mature content. As a result, my review may contain references to content intended for mature audiences only.

Wednesday Chatter: Why Blog Tours Rock

Wednesday Chatter is a weekly feature at Ruby's Books where we'll be talking about anything and everything related to books and reading. Click here if you want to see what we talked about in the previous weeks

WARNING: Some bad words might be used in the following post. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Hello my fellow book lovers! Today's mini-rant post was inspired by Vicky's post on Privilege in the bookish community. If you haven't read it yet, do yourselves a favor and go read it. Go on! I'll wait here.

Top Ten Tuesday: 5 Favorite Novellas & 5 Novellas I Want To Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Hello book lovers! Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is all about novellas and short stories. While I do read novellas and I like them, it takes a special kind of story to make me love it and give it a 5-cup rating, because usually I don't feel that there's enough page-time to get to that potential. That being said, there have been a few short stories that I adored enough to get to that high rating. Because of that, I'm going to split today's Top Ten list into two sub-lists: one for my top five favorite novellas, and one for my top five novellas I want to read. So without further ado, here are my

Top Five Favorite Novellas/Short Stories

     

1. Flame's Dawn (+18) is the prequel to the Hell To Pay trilogy by Jillian David and let me tell you, it is as beautiful as it is heartbreaking. Beautiful, because you get to see how Barnaby and Jane met. Heartbreaking, because since this prequel is listed as the fourth story, and I read it last, I know how their story ends. Read my review here
2. Fish Out Of Water (+18) tells the story of Harlow and her road to regaining her old self and overcoming the trauma of being kidnapped and tortured by the serial killer Charybdis. I have nothing else to say, except for the fact that this is Hailey Edwards, and y'all know I love basically everything I've read by her. Read my review here
3. Another author that can do no wrong is Larissa Ione. I don't think I've ever been disappointed by anything this author has written, and I don't think I ever will. Her Guardian Angel (+18) is one of the 6 novellas part of the Lexi Blake Crossover Collection, and it continues Ione's collection of Demonica Underground of short stories. It's hard to pick a favorite in the D.U. collection, because each and every short story that has come out so far have provided both a way for me to calm my impatience until the first book in the Demonica spin-off is published AND a way to expand the universe of the Demonica as a whole. I ultimately settled for the latest novella, because out of all of the short stories, I feel like this one was the biggest game changer ever and I can't help but wonder if past events were similarly affected, the readers just never knew about it. And that's all I'm going to say, otherwise I'll start giving out spoilers and I don't want that. Read my review here
4. Blood Red Kiss (+18) is an anthology that includes three of my favorite paranormal/urban fantasy writers on the planet: Kresley Cole, Larissa Ione, and Gena Showalter. Out of all the three short stories, I've only previously read The Warlord Wants Forever, by Kresley Cole. Rereading it has reminded me how much I actually enjoyed reading the Immortals After Dark series, and the added short stories by Ione and Showalter has made me want to try out the series these short stories are a part of. Read My Review Here
5. Shade's Lady (+18) is a great short story about the National President of the Reapers MC, Shade, and how he found his perfect lady. It's a great story that I've read and reread many times, and each time I fall in love more and more with Wylde's characters. Read my review here



Top Five Novellas/Short Stories I Want To Read




6. It's no secret that I love the Caster Chronicles series, so it really shouldn't be a big surprise that Dangerous Dream is on this list. I'm really curious to see everything involving Lena, Ethan, Link and Ridley, so even a short story will be enough for me. Of course, I'm planning a reread of the entire series before I can read the spin-off duology later this year, because why not?
7. Although I wasn't the biggest fan of Partials, I am curious to read this prequel story, Isolation, if only because maybe this will give me a little bit of extra knowledge that may offer some incentive to keep reading the series. I still am curious to see what happens in the series, but not quite enough to make me want to find out right away.
8. I talked about the fact that I loved Mila 2.0 in a previous edition of Top Ten Tuesday, so of course I'll do it again now. I'm very curious about Origins: The Fire, especially because I'm curious to see if and what will Mila and the readers discover in this novella. Very curious indeed.
9. I seem to be more and more attracted to stories about villains lately and I've been interested in reading Fairest ever since I first heard about it. Hopefully I'll get to it sooner rather than later.
10. The Dead House is my favorite psychological thriller/horror ever. I still can't make up my mind if it's the scariest paranormal horror ever or the most tragic psychological thriller ever, but either way I loved it. I feel like The Nadia Tapes can either answer my questions or have me question the book even more. I want to read this novella, but at the same time I am so, so, so scared of doing it. But I will read it!

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So this is it, guys, my Top 5 Favorite Novellas and my Top 5 Novellas I Want To Read. What about you? What are your favorite short stories? What about the short stories you want to read?