Weekly Reads: July 22 to 28, 2024

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent (2022)

Fantasy romance. Book 1 of the Crowns of Nyaxia series. Human girl, Oraya, gets adopted by the vampire king and coddled and protected all her life. Plus given some brutal self-defense skills. In order to gain immortality in the form of a gift from the goddess Nyaxia, Oraya will need to win a fight-to-the-death trial of strength and cunning. The entire book is incredibly action packed with all the vampires fighting to win the trial, plus the politics of vampires coming from different kingdoms. One rival vampire Raihn offers Oraya protection and an alliance, but they both know that there can only be one winner. She has a tough time trusting him throughout the trial, but also grows closer to him along the way. It’s a slow-burn enemies-to-allies-to-lovers situation that is super interesting to read. While the book ends when the trial does, we have complete and total political upheaval that will be addressed in Book 2.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

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Tempting the Viscount by Suzanna Medeiros (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 9 of the Landing a Lord series. Fairly quick and easy read here. Widowed Lucy is out of mourning for her terrible husband and ready to take on a lover. Viscount Holbrook is intrigued by Lucy but wants to court her instead. They make a bargain having to do with helping her find pleasure in exchange for a courtship. It’s all very straightforward and it was nice seeing Holbrook focus his attentions on Lucy and trying to convince her that she deserves pleasure, companionship, and love.

Advance ebook provided by Suzanna Medeiros via BookSprout.

Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer (2024)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Super awkward and tragic set-up here when Alison shows up to her ex-boyfriend’s funeral and his family thinks that they were still very recently dating. The ex-boyfriend’s sister insists on keeping up the ruse because it might help the family deal with their grief and all, and then she ends up volunteering to pack up his condo. Also on the job is Adam, the ex-boyfriend’s grumpy best friend who’s trying to make his own amends towards his deceased friend. As Alison and Adam spend every weekend together, they inevitably get closer together, but it’s all sorts of guilt-ridden since Adam thinks that he’s falling for his fresh-in-the-grave buddy’s girlfriend. Alison has her own hang-ups about living life to the fullest after having a preventative mastectomy due to her risk of breast cancer, even though she’d probably be happier as a cozy homebody. This was cute and funny and the relationship build-up was so good!

Advance ebook provided by Penguin Random House via NetGalley. Advance audiobook provided by Penguin Random House Audio.

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Sinfully Mine by Kathleen Ayers (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Five Deadly Sins series. Gambler Drew inherits a farm from a fellow gambler with a stipulation about the man’s widow retaining residence at the farm. He goes off to the country to find a way to pay off the widow, sell the house, and invest the money with his friend. Except when he gets there, he finds a widow his own age with tons of stubborness. Hester is the daughter of the town drunkard, married to a man thrice her age, and basically the steward of the estate, trying her best to turn a profit off the land. She’s not backing down or moving out, so she ends up at odds with the conniving Drew. They bicker and fight and make no concessions to each other, until they start a physical relationship instead. There’s additional drama in the form of attacks on Drew’s person and a somewhat suspicious solicitor who is overly familiar with Hester. This book had all the fun parts of a property dispute romance with just the right amount of animosity between our two main characters.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

Jewel Me Twice by Charish Reid (2024)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Super fun and steamy heist novel. Celeste and Magnus have a history of working together as jewel thieves, plus a little friends with benefits thing on the side. Until one of the heists goes wrong and the team breaks up and they don’t talk to each other for five years. When their team leader and mentor passes away, she sets up a series of clues and wrangles the team back together for one more big score. We get to read a steamy, flirty, action-packed adventure. Loved it.

Advance ebook provided by Canary Street Press via NetGalley. Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Sinfully Yours by Kathleen Ayers (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Five Deadly Sins series. Mercenary Malcolm just wants to go home but is stuck doing a job for a spoiled and arrogant lord. His task is to kidnap the heiress that the lord is thwarted from courting. Except he catches the cantankerous cousin Alyss instead. They end up stranded at a cottage together, have a one night stand, and then go off their separate ways. Is it possible to have actually fallen in love in that short of a time? Especially when Alyss doesn’t really know Malcolm’s identity? Maybe, maybe not, but it was still a very enjoyable read.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

The Scenic Route by Katie Ruggle (2024)

Romantic Suspense. Book 1 of the Beneath the Wild Sky series. Private investigator Bennett is looking for some missing jewels and is detoured by running into his target’s daughter Felicity. She’s a bounty hunter with a thieving mother who skipped bail and is trying to track her mom with her sisters. However, Bennett is her new stalker, so Felicity zigs while her sister zags to try to get the stalker away from her mother. Felicity and Bennett end up in a cozy mountain town to search for yet another bail jumper, this one with ties to a local militia and a history of dealing meth. It’s a fun adventure as Felicity finds new friends and allies in the town, along with tons of enemies. It’s all sorts of action-adventure in this book, and Felicity and Bennett grow closer as they survive all their wacky scenarios. Super crazy and chaotic and messy, and now I want to go back to Ruggle’s previous series to read more about the couples from this mountain town.

Advance ebook provided by Sourcebooks via NetGalley. Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

A Bump In Boohail by Kimberly Lemming (2022)

Paranormal romance. Part of the Mead Mishaps series. A super short little quickie featuring Cinnamon and Fallon, the spice farmer and her dragon shifter husband. Really, that’s it. It’s three chapters long and serves as a mini slice of life for them.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

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