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February Wrap-Up/March TBR

01 Thursday Mar 2018

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I said goodbye to February on Monday. It may have been a little pre-mature, but after all the problems I had in February between health and home, I don’t think that it’s too surprising that I decided to flee from it faster than a girl with a hell hound on her heels.

The weather this week has started to slowly warm up, and I can only hope to leave the frozen behind as I welcome March and it’s unspun possibilities with open arms.  Were you able to finish everything you hoped to in February? Are you moving what you haven’t finished over to this month to try and successfully finish it?

I’m not going to review my goals for 2018 because I know it’s been a struggle. I’m taking a flag pass and counting this as my bye month in the grand scheme of things. What it does mean, is that I don’t get another one so pending no more health or home issues, I will do better moving forward.

February Wrap Up

When I set up my February TBR I tasked myself with reading six books, five new and one that I had started. I don’t think that this was overly too ambitious considering I had been able to read five during January. And truth be told, I think I did fairly well. I was able to read five books this month. It just so happens that some of them weren’t on my TBR, though.

The books I finished:

  • The Terms #1 by Ruby Rowe
  • The Terms #2 by Ruby Rowe
  • Twisted Palace by Erin Watt
  • Daughter of Magic by Teresa Roman
  • Buying Beth by Izzy Sweet & Sean Moriarty

Three of the five weren’t on my list, but they caught my attention and I stopped my list to read them. Sometimes things just catch my attention.

The books I didn’t finish off my February TBR:

  • The Elite by Kiera Cass
  • Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
  • A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest
  • Message of the Crow by Ellen Dugan (started)

Most of these books I’m looking to shuffle over to March because I still very much want to read them. Over all, even though I wandered off my TBR list for other books, I managed to read the number of books I had hoped to, so I’m still proud of myself for getting through them.

February Book Haul

Keeping with what I started last year, I figured it’d be fun to list all the books I purchased in February too.

  • Elizabeth and the Clan of Dragons by Ava Mason
  • The Terms #1 by Ruby Rowe
  • The Terms # 2 by Ruby Rowe
  • His Haven by Harper A Brooks
  • Wicked Favor by Sawyer Bennett
  • Awakened Spells by Logan Byrne
  • Prism by Nina Walker
  • The Masterkey by Olivia Wildenstein
  • My Favorite Husband by Pam McCutcheon
  • Werewolves in the Kitchen by Shauna Aura Knight
  • Sex, Lies & Sweet Tea by Kris Calvert
  • Lost Souls ParaAgency and the Three Witches of Burberry by K.M. Waller
  • An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
  • Becoming: The Balance Bringer by Debra Kristi
  • First World by Jaymin Eve
  • Flesh and Blood by Willow Rose
  • Faery Born by Donna Joy Usher
  • Null and Void by Susan Copperfield
  • Te Price by Ruby Rowe
  • Queen of Gods by Scarlett Dawn
  • The Virgin and the Kingpin by Allyson Lindt
  • The Wedding Trap by Adrienne Bell
  • Mr. Sugar by L.D. Fox
  • Buying Beth by Izzy Sweet & Sean Moriarty
  • Princess SOS by Sara Page
  • Craving Maul by Sara Page
  • Chosen by Stacy Jones

March TBR

Because I did so well in February, I’m once again setting my goal at six books for the month. It’s longer than February by a couple day, which means extra time to get those six books read, right?

Without further ado, the books I’m looking to read in March are:

  • The Elite by Kiera Cass
  • Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
  • Message of the Crow by Ellen Dugan
  • An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
  • Null and Void by Susan Copperfield
  • Shadow Queen by Harlow Thomas & Anastasia James

I don’t plan for books that might catch my interest, because I never know when I’ll stumble across them and pause my TBR to devour a stray instead. But I won’t stop myself from doing it either. It always makes it interesting when that happens.

For those that know about Erin Watt’s books, no, Fallen Heir isn’t on my TBR for this month. It’s not that I’m not interested in East’s story, I whole heartedly am. And it is on my GoodReads’ TBR because I want to keep an eye on it. But because it’s book one in the two book set about East, and until Cracked Kingdom is released I’m going to want to hold off on reading the first one. I love the books enough that I’ll want the second one out so I can roll right into it.

Goodbye February

26 Monday Feb 2018

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Hey! It’s Monday! I’m a little late with the post, but it’s still Monday!

Not sure I can count this for starting March off on the right foot or not. Since, you know, it is still February. But It’s definitely not hurting for starting March off. Getting the posts back on track and where they belong.

I subscribed to OwlCrate back in December. I do have to say, I’m loving the crates. I keep meaning to do a blog post for the unboxings, and I keep forgetting with the whirlwind that is life. I’ll try and get one done for February’s though. Just need to get some good pictures in for it. So far I’ve been loving their book choices too. I can’t wait to get into those books.

Reading has picked up this last bit of the month. I don’t know if I’ll finish the whole of my February TBR, and the books I don’t will be moved up to March, but I’m at least getting some done. I always forget how nice it is to curl up and read a good book when I’ve not been doing it a while.

Writing and Editing are going a little slower than reading, but I am getting some of the stuff done.

We had more rain this weekend too, so that didn’t help the whole, my basement is a lake scenario. But now that it’s warm and sunny, it seems to finally be clearing up the way it needs to. Thankfully. So excited for that issue to be done.

What are you excited for come March? Any book releases? Movie releases? Writing or Editing goals? Let me know down in the comments!

Down and Dirty

23 Friday Feb 2018

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It’s the last full week of February. February has not been kind to my life. And as a reflection, this blog has started posting on Fridays instead of Mondays.

I’m hoping to get back on track starting with next week. But it’s a small hope. One that I’m going to cling to.

The weather has been crazy here. One day 70’s the next 30’s. That doesn’t seem terrible, but when you get migraines at the drop of a hat due to the shifts in pressure caused by those radical temperature shifts, it becomes a serious issue. I’ve been lucky to be at work most days with the weather turning back and forth like it has been.

I was able to get about one page of editing done this last week. Just one page. It’s not a lot, and I’m actually a little disappointed in myself for it.

And reading wise, I haven’t been after a couple of books at the beginning of the month. So I’ve got some catching up to do there too. I have goals and books to finish – both my own writing wise and other people’s reading wise.

Short update because short week. Also, my basement flooded the last two days, and I’m exhausted from the up and downs of pumping all that water out. So I’m just going to leave you with, I will do better! And the cute picture of the cat sleeping on a ball of yarn above.

Halfway Gone

16 Friday Feb 2018

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Can you believe we’re a little over halfway through February. The second month of the year. We’re almost a sixth of the way through 2018. I’m not even sure where the month went.

I lost a whole week due to a root canal getting slightly infected and being on both antibiotics to kill it and pain meds to mange everything going on in my mouth. It’s why I didn’t get to post Monday, and it’s why I’ve been fairly quiet on Twitter recently. It’s taken everything in me to be able to get into work and focus. Especially with the cold and the snow storm we ended up having.

I mean, look at those icicles up in that picture! That’s the eve of my roof as the sun rises over my neighbor’s house. The bushes in front of my house are about a foot shorter due to the weight of the snow we received over last weekend. Of course, Wednesday and Thursday were in the 40’s so all the snow and ice is slowly melting. But it’s supposed to drop back into the teens for the weekend. At least it means I’ll be snuggled in the house, finally feeling better, so I can write, edit, and read all weekend.

I want to get Chapters 2 and 3 of my current WIP edited by next Thursday! The goal is to get them to my writer’s group for feedback.

I also want to work on the short that a friend of mine is helping and encouraging over on her blog. You should check her out here!

Hopefully though, the end of February will be good to me. After the pain the first half caused me, I think the month owes me.

Book Review: Twisted Fate by Jessi Elliott

07 Wednesday Feb 2018

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Author: Jessi Elliott 
Publisher: Jessi Elliott
Series: Twisted #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy (New Adult)
Release Date: February 13, 2018
Rating: 5 Stars

Everything in Aurora Marshall’s life is going smoothly. She’s in her final year of her business degree, she’s on track to graduate, and she has plans for her own business after she graduates. It looks like everything will happen the way she’s planned it to.

One night changes everything when she meets Tristan Westbrook. Dragged into the Fae world, Aurora’s carefully planned out life tilts sideways and she struggles to keep her life as normal as possible while handling the dangers that come with being of interest to the dark fae’s leader and plunged deeper and deeper into all things fae.

I have to say, honestly, I loved this book. The characters were engaging, the world was built beautifully, and while time did pass quickly the author did it in a very organic way. I found myself rooting for Aurora as she faced obstacles, wanting her to come out the other side unscathed. Caring about Aurora and what was going on with her life, and with her family, became second nature and at one point in the book I felt as deeply sad as she was.

Now, lets be clear, I’ve read books where sad things happen before. But I will say, it takes a special kind of talent to get your readers so involved with the characters that they cry with them. Jessi has a beautiful way with words and how she weaves this tale.

The story of the fae, and their world and everything about them interests me with how Jessi made it her own and weaved her own mythos for them. I feel for the fae, for everything they’ve been through even as Aurora gets the raw end of a deal with having to deal with them and move in their world.

The completion of the book left me both satisfied with the ending of the plot within its covers, but also craving the next installment of the series.

Disclaimer: I did receive an arc of the book in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion. All thoughts are my own, and were not colored for receiving the arc.

Synopsis

Being kidnapped by the leader of the fae really puts a dent in your senior year.

Aurora Marshall is sharp, witty, and always has a plan. Ready to finish her business degree and graduate, her life is going smoothly—until the night she meets Tristan Westbrook.

Tristan, the overbearing, gorgeous fae leader, and an admired businessman in the human world, is all kinds of dangerous. While he finds Aurora intriguing, her refusal to bend to his will keeps them locked in a constant power struggle.

Entering into a deal is the only way to escape Tristan’s clutches, which only plunges Aurora deeper into the fae world. With her future at stake, she is forced to handle his arrogance and extraordinary fae abilities as she fights to stay grounded in her mundane life.

Not to mention her struggle to ignore the growing attraction she knows she shouldn’t feel for the man who kidnapped her.

When people said college would be the most exciting time of her life, Aurora never thought this is what they meant.

 

Available February 13th

 

 

About The Author

 

Jessi Elliott is a newly graduated law clerk and debut author of both young adult and new adult romantic fiction. Her love of writing was born after many years of reading and reviewing books on her blog Living Within Fiction.She lives in Southwestern Ontario with her family and two adorable cats.
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When she’s not plotting her next writing project, she likes to spend her time hanging with friends and family, getting lost in a steamy romance novel, watching Friends, and drinking coffee.You can find Jessi at www.jessielliott.com, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay up to date on book news and upcoming releases.

 

Frozen but Working

06 Tuesday Feb 2018

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The Midwest had a couple days of nice weather. Just a couple. And then it plunged right back down into single digits and dumped a bunch of snow on us too. The above photo is not from after it snowed, but it is from this winter. I have an outdoor mall near me, and they have a fountain that runs all winter to keep the pipes from freezing over. So the top of this fountain, for the most part, is all frozen except for where the jets of water come out. It’s super cool to see.

With the snow has come the one thing I hate with weather shits. Migraines. Sunday I was knocked back for a good chunk of the day with a migraine and I couldn’t do much of anything.

One thing I managed to do was rewrite the beginning of a short I had started that caught my attention. I was proud of myself. I took this bit of story and the three pages I had flourished into six pages after expanding on the detail and reworking everything.

And then in the shower my brain went – but what if we do this, that, and the other.

Needless to say, I’m hoping to get it rewritten for a third time this week. and then hopefully that will be put to bed enough that I can flush it out and finish it. I’m only expecting a 10k short from it. But it’d be nice to get it finished. One more thing off my long list of open WIPs that I can cross off.

How is your WIP going? Do you have one you have as your sole focus? Do you have many with an idea book beside you to jot down any wayward plots that cross your brain? Let me know down in the comments!

Also! Stay tuned tomorrow for my review of Twisted Fate by Jessi Elliott! You’re going to love it!

Time – I know not how

29 Monday Jan 2018

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Sometimes I really don’t know how time flies in my life. I look around and the day is gone, or the week is gone. Take last week as an example. I’m not sure how, but I completely phased through last week and I’m not sure how.

Or I guess to a point maybe I do. A good chunk of the first part was spent editing Chapter 1 of my drafted novel. I’ve been wanting to get to editing it, get to plotting book 2 for the series, and get everything moving along. And I sat down last week and I worked my way through Chapter 1.

Unfortunately I got tangled up enough in my words that I missed getting a blog post out last week. But fear not! I have not forgotten you, my dear readers! This week I’ll have two posts up. Today’s update of how things are going – great, I got Chapter 1 edited! I’ll also be doing a January Wrap-Up/February TBR post on the 1st! So thankfully I’ll make up for missing the post last week.

Aside from editing, I have been video gaming, not going to lie. Microsoft and Rare have a new game coming out called Sea of Thieves (March 20 – not sponsored). It’s a pirate game where you sail the seas, hunt for treasure and glory, and defend or attack other pirates as they too hunt for treasure and glory. The Closed Beta is currently in full swing for another couple of days and my friends and I got in so we’ve all been taking advantage of being able to spend some time together on the high seas.

To make it even more enticing, the game really is stunningly beautiful. You have to really, truly learn how to sail your ships from a one/two man boat to the beautiful galleon you can see behind my friend and I in a screenshot our third friend took.

It’s been an incredible time playing it, and I will truly be sad when the Beta closes in the next few days. This is completely and totally how I spent my weekend. Not going to lie.

I also stopped long enough to read a book, and while I have certain books on my January TBR list, I think I’m going to slip past them briefly because the one I read left off in a cliffhanger and I’m dying to know what happens next so I may skip to that book instead and slide my waiting TBR list forward to Feb. We’ll see how fast I can devour the second book. I do have a few more days left in January, after all.

Also, We’re a few days out before we finish with the first month of the new year. Can you believe it’s almost February yet? Can you believe we’ve had a whole 31 days of 2018 yet? Is the year treating you well so far? I’d say it’s treating me pretty well currently. No real complaints here.

Craziness = Life

18 Thursday Jan 2018

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So, life has been a wee bit crazy this week. And apologies for this being posted a few days behind schedule.

I can’t remember if I mentioned I ended up joining a friend in a knit-along for a scarf that’s done very DnD fashion, in that you create a character and deck him or her out in awesome adventure gear, and every week a new installment of the adventure is released and you actually roll to see which chart you’ll end up doing for the different sections of the chapters. It’s been a small process for me to get everything all set up for it. Namely, I bought some nice yarn, didn’t have anything to make my life easy for winding it into a usable ball, and did it by hand. My first attempt took me two days to un-knot. -_-  Thankfully my second attempt in a different color went incredibly smoothly because I had learned. But needless to say, it’s week three of the knit-along and I have one row of the first chart of chapter one done. I’m a wee bit behind.

I will say, with great confidence, that I’ve finished two of the books on my January TBR list. So Reading wise, I have been doing well.

Writing wise, I’ve been trying to plot out a small series of novellas. That part has been slow going, but it’s getting done. I’m hoping to spend a good chunk of my weekend on it in order to hopefully start writing the first one in Feb.

I’m also getting settled in to work on the edits for the first draft of my finished novel. If all goes well, my hope is to get the first two chapters edited by the end of the month. Part of me though, feels like it’s crazy that we’re already more than halfway into our first month of 2018.

As well, I’m trying to follow along on my friend’s 2018 writing challenge. She just posted the third week of this challenge over on her blog this morning, so you should definitely check her out: Follow the clicky Link to Writing Fun! 

How is your first month of 2018 going? Let me know down in the comments!

Starting Right – January TBR

08 Monday Jan 2018

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So I wasn’t kidding when I said that I wanted to read more, and make sure to keep the reviews coming on my blog. I said in my resolutions that I wanted to read a minimum of two books a month, for a grand total of 24 for the year. That’s my minimum.

Last year I started the year late with the Good Reads Reading Challenge, so I set myself up for 15 books. Jumping it to 24 isn’t a large increase, in the grand scheme of things. But, I think it’s a good building block. And in 2019, we’ll see how well I did this year and adjust from there again. But I have started a good momentum for reading again and I want to grow it slowly, so I don’t lose sight of the other tasks on my list, or get overwhelmed with one thing on its own.

That being said, my January TBR (To Be Read) list is pretty hefty.

What am I hoping to read this month?

I’m looking to finish a couple books I started in 2017, to start with:

  • Message of the Crow by Ellen Dugan
  • Shattered Circle by Cassandra Larsen

I’m fairly early on in Message of the Crow, but I’m almost 80% done with Shattered Circle, so I think that finishing both will be doable.

I’m also looking to read the following:

  • Twisted Fate by Jessi Elliott (ARC – Watch for the Review in early Feb! And Cover Release tomorrow!)
  • Resurrection by Tucker Malarkey
  • Paper Princess by Erin Watt
  • The Selection by Kiera Cass

Now, if you’re keeping up, that’s 5 books to finish in January. That’s a ton considering I was only originally thinking of doing 2 a month. I had been hoping to finish Shattered Circle before the new year, but life, ya know. But I will finish it soon. Very soon.

Over all, I’m pretty excited for my January TBR.

Do you have a TBR for January? Is it one book or multiple? Let me know down below!

Book Review: Esme Novella Trilogy by Lizzy Ford

03 Wednesday Jan 2018

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Author: Lizzy Ford 
Publisher: Lizzy Ford
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Rating: 3 Stars

Esme is a half angel living in a tiny town with her full angel mother and a zoo. Her home life is warm, loving, and she loves it. However, she’s bullied and alone at school. Everything shifts for her when two strangers come to town and start renting a couple rooms from her mother in their house.

This review is for all three Novellas as a whole, because honestly while the author calls them novellas, they read more like a serial trilogy than three separate novellas. The plot doesn’t resolve itself at any point during the first two, Halloween and Thanksgiving, instead everything builds and builds until the final installment, Christmas. As well, both Halloween and Thanksgiving both end in serious cliffhanger reveals, which push you to pick up the next one. While not a bad way to lead someone to buy and read the next installment, is a little frustrating when called a Novella. I expect some resolution at the end of a novella, even if it’s part of a trilogy for an over arching storyline.

Over all, it did take me a little bit to get into Halloween but I was curious enough that I persisted. About half way in, Halloween hooked me and I consumed the rest of it, and the other two, in record time. The three are fairly quick reads at only roughly 100 pages a piece, so it is easy to pick them up and finish them in a short sitting. The plot is interesting, and I was very curious how it would wrap itself up.

You’re probably asking, but Meri if you liked the plot and enjoyed the books as a whole, why is it only three stars? Well, unfortunately, there were some grammatical errors littered throughout the first two that for me (maybe because I’m a writer myself) pulled me out of the story as my brain paused to fix the error before continuing the story. And while the auto-fixes for my brain were fairly quick it happened enough times that it made it noticeable to me. It’s something that a little more time editing them would have fixed.

As well, there were times that I was incredibly frustrated at the lack of details given. An example, in Thanksgiving Esme wears a dress to the Thanksgiving event at the Community Center of their small town. We’re told that this is something she never does. We’re told that she’s going to wear her boots with it anyway. And we’re told her mother bought the dress for her. But we are never told what the dress looks like, on a hanger or on her. Not the color, not the cut. Is it floor length or tea length? Is it blue or pink? is the neckline sweetheart cut or scoop neck? Does it have a pattern on it?

This may sound like something trivial in the grand scheme, but it wasn’t just the dress that wasn’t described. After reading all three, I still honestly can’t tell you exactly what Esme looks like. I know she mentioned she doesn’t look like her mother, the blonde angel, but that still doesn’t tell me what Esme looks like. And when I’m trying to envision this story playing out in my mind, these details that were missed or skipped over leave shadowed patches in my head and it disconnects me from the book some. Which does make it less enjoyable as a whole.

Would I recommend these books as a read? If you’re looking for a quick, cute, HEA ending read? Completely. They are a good read, and the plot is engaging enough to be worth it.