Life and Things

Well, this was certainly an interesting week. Not a lot of books logged, but more writing done! Finally got around to getting my hair trimmed, and found a plague mask! Decorative, to be sure, and the archaeologist in me would love a real one, but I’ve always wanted one, so yay.

 

Spent the entirety of Friday in not one, but two ERs after I suddenly and mysteriously took all leave of my senses and started rambling nonsense and faceplanting in various locations. Like, in the ER for nearly 12 hours. I was shipped from one to the other via ambulance and don’t even remember it! Battery of bloodwork and diagnostic tests inconclusive, and verdict was finally ‘well, sometimes it just happens’. No, son. Delirium doesn’t just happen.

 

Went to Build-a-bear and lo’ and behold, they had Pokémon plushies! So excited! Meet Freyeth and Aladar. These games still have a special place in my heart from way back when. I played the first iterations while recovering from surgery after surgery on my right eye. Kept me kinda sane and focused.

 

Books read, reviewed, and posted/scheduled this past week:

Habitat for Human Remains by Scott Lerner, 5*

The Ice Queen by Rebecca Bauer, 4*

 

Favourite read of the week:

The Ice Queen by Rebecca Bauer, Aug 9, 4*

 

“Ten years after a chilling coup, Aria finds her hopes quashed in a lifestyle she never chose. Closed off and quiet, she’s resigned herself to servitude–until a fortuitous set of circumstances send her back to her home realm.

Nothing but an instinct drives her to reveal her face to a man determined to kill her, but when he forces her to expose her true identity, the course of her life changes forever.

In a kingdom on the brink of civil war, Aria must rediscover the woman she was meant to be–and to take back the seat stolen from her as a child, she must overcome more than her past.

The only way to win is by the blade.”

 

Current Read:

Banged Up Heart by Shirley Melis

 

“Banged-Up Heart by Shirley Melis is an intimate and clear-eyed account of finding love late and losing it early—and of the strength it takes to fall madly in love a second time, be forced to relinquish that love too soon, and yet choose to love again. When her husband of thirty years dies suddenly, Shirley Melis is convinced she will never find another man like Joe. Then she meets John, a younger man who tells her during their first conversation that he has lived for many years with a rare but manageable cancer. She is swept off her feet in a whirlwind courtship, and within months, made brave by the early death of a friend’s husband, she asks him to marry her! What follows is a year-long odyssey of travel and a growing erotic and creative partnership—until a mysterious bump on John’s forehead proves to be one of several tumors in his brain and spine. The nine months that follow are filled with a life-threatening infection, three brain surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy. Two years and one week after their wedding, John dies at the age of fifty-nine. More than just a love story or a memoir of mourning, Banged-Up Heart comes down solidly on the side of life. It takes you deep inside an ordinary woman, her deeply felt grief butting up against her desire for more than companionship: passion, sexual fulfillment, and self-realization. It bears eloquent witness to the wild trust it takes to fall madly in love and risk profound loss—a second time. Ultimately, it shows that it is possible to dance with a banged-up heart.”

 

Next Up

Women Within by Anne Leigh Parrish. Aug 10. CBR

The Wardrobe Mistress by Meghan Masterson, release Aug 15, St Martin’s

Mr Prescott by Carlos Dash  Aug 16 XP

The Funeral Flower by Michelle Jester  Aug 17  XP

Northwood Magick by Desiree LaFawn  Aug 20, Xpresso

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller, release Aug 29, Sourcebooks/Fire

 

Book Haul:

No hardcopies this week, but several egalleys. I’m most looking forward to is:

 

The Mage King by Rebecca Bauer

 

“At the age of eighteen, Aria reclaimed her stolen throne. At twenty, the Ice Realm prospers under her leadership, and the struggle for peace lives as but a scar–until a fall evening reveals the failure of her sterilization spell.

Reports of weakening magic become more widespread, and a dream Aria witnesses like a prophecy sends Casimir to the mage college for answers. Soon, the fulfillment of the prophecy will embroil the entire continent in war–but the realms, and those without magic, have little to do with it.

As Aria navigates an alliance with the west, whispers of discontent in the Forest Realm, and reports of a mad king, Casimir attempts to stay one step ahead of the complex and insidious politics of mages. But in a game filled with secrets, lies, and manipulation, honesty and good intentions only go as far as the indulgence of the players.

No matter where Aria and Casimir turn, war will come–and the hard fought peace Aria brought to the Ice Realm soon crumbles under the weight of fate and fire.”

 

New events added!

Blog Tour: Coletti Warlords series by  Gail Koger, July 31- Aug 14

Blog Tour: The Book Barn Mysteries series by Kym Roberts, Jul 31- Aug 31

Blog Tour: Wicked Bite by Rebecca Zanetti, Aug 1- Sept 1

Blog Tour: Welcome to the Apocalypse by DL Richardson, Aug 1- Sept 1

Blog Tour: Within a Captain’s Soul by Lisa A Olech, Aug 2- Sept 2  

Blog Tour: Across the Darkling Sea by K Ferrin, Sept 18- 29