book releases

May 2024 Book Releases

Here are some May 2024 book releases that I’m excited for.

Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland

• Fantasy
• Five killers with different motives

five broken blades book cover

The Deer and the Dragon by Piper C.J

• Adult fantasy romance
• Myths, deities and a prince of Hell

the deer and the dragon book cover

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

• Adult Sci-fi
• Time travel romance

the ministry of time book cover

The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields

• Adult paranormal/fantasy romance
• Witches, magic and curses

the honey witch book cover

Evocation by S.T. Gibson

• Adult urban fantasy
• Magic and secret societies

evocation book cover

The Temptation of Magic (Empyreal #1) by Megan Scott

• Paranormal romance
• Forbidden love and secret powers

the temptation of magic book cover

Shot in the Dark by Mary Dublin and Anne Kendsley

• Urban fantasy
• Fae and enemies to lovers

shot in the dark book cover

Icarus by K. Ancrum

• YA romance
• Reimagining of Icarus myth

icarus book cover

What may releases are you most excited for?

book review

Book Review: Vows & Ruins (The Legends of Thezmarr #2) by Helen Scheuerer

vows and ruinsBook: Vows & Ruins
Series: The Legends of Thezmarr #2
Author: Helen Scheuerer
Age & Genre: Adult fantasy romance

Against all odds, Althea Zoltaire emerged from her trials as a champion. Now, she must train even harder and prepare herself to become a true warrior of Thezmarr.

But Thea’s world is turned upside down as she struggles to navigate her newfound magic and uncover the secrets of her past. Slowly, she begins to untangle the truth about her family, her powers and the evil that threatens to engulf the kingdom.

When Wilder Hawthorne returns to be her official mentor, everything changes. Dark forces are gathering, and he will stop at nothing to prepare her for the challenges to come, even if it means breaking her.

As war looms and their quest for answers leads master and apprentice deeper into danger, the undeniable connection between them intensifies – defying all odds, but also threatening to tear them apart.

With secrets unravelling and evil closing in, Thea and Wilder fight to save the world, and each other. The fate of the realms rests in their hands – will they emerge victorious, or will the darkness consume them both?

My Rating: 3 STARS

My Review:

I loved Blood & Steel which was the first book in this series so I was very excited about reading Vows & Ruins and I did enjoy this book but I didn’t love it as much as I did the first book.

The main reason why I didn’t love it quite as much as the first one was because the romance felt a little off. I love Thea and Wilder’s romance but their relationship became very repetitive in Vows & Ruins especially the sex scenes. It felt like for most of the book they kept going over the same things. I think the first book had much better pacing of the relationship which made it more interesting to read. They also didn’t open up much with each other which led to some miscommunication.

I did still enjoy reading about the characters, they each have a lot of depth to them. I love reading about Thea’s friendship with Cal and Kipp and it was interesting to read more about Torj the Bear Slayer in this book. I really like finding out more about the world of Thezmarr with each book and I find the writing and the story to be very compelling to read which makes it a quick read.

Overall I liked Vows & Ruins and I find the writing and world of this series very intriguing to read about. I do love reading about Thea and Wilder’s romance but I did feel it was a little off in this book with numerous repetitive sex scenes and some miscommunication that wasn’t needed. I still love reading about these characters and I’m interested in what is going to happen next.

wrap up

April Wrap Up 2024

What I Read in April:

trials of conviction book cover vampire game book cover vampire touch
Trials of Conviction (The Firebird Chronicles #5) by T.A. White – ADULT SCI-FI, FANTASY – 4 STARS

I really enjoyed this book and I like how we find out more about the enemies in this series and their personalities. I love reading about Kira and her complicated relationships with her family.

Vampire Game (Vampire Game #1) by Leigh Kelsey – ADULT WHY CHOOSE, PARANORMAL ROMANCE – 3 STARS
Vampire Touch (Vampire Game #2) by Leigh Kelsey – ADULT WHY CHOOSE, PARANORMAL ROMANCE – 3 STARS

This is a short why choose paranormal romance series about vampires and includes characters from Dracula. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the setting in this book, it’s set in Whitby which was the inspiration for Dracula and I liked the overall story and characters.

sword catcher vows and ruins fate and furies book cover
Sword Catcher (The Chronicles of Castellane #1) by Cassandra Clare – ADULT FANTASY – 4 STARS

Sword Catcher is an intriguing book and I liked reading about Kel, he’s an interesting character and so was Lin but I didn’t care all that much for Conor as a character. I do think I will like him more in future books as he develops more. Overall this is an interesting fantasy book but it’s not as memorable or stand out as I thought it would be.

Vows & Ruins (The Legends of Thezmarr #2) by Helen Scheuerer – ADULT FANTASY ROMANCE – 3 STARS
Fate & Furies (The Legends of Thezmarr #3) by Helen Scheuerer – ADULT FANTASY ROMANCE – 4 STARS

I enjoyed these two books but I do feel slightly disappointed by the romance in this series which I loved in the first book. There is a lot of repetitive sex scenes in Vows & Ruins and not much happens in it. Fate & Furies is better as it focuses more on the story and plot of it and overall I do enjoy reading about the world and characters within this series.

Blog Posts I Did in April:

April 2024 Kindle 99p Book Deals

Trials of Conviction (The Firebird Chronicles #5) by T.A. White Book Review

A Season for Scandal (The Agency for Scandal #2) by Laura Wood Book Review

WWW Wednesday – 17th April 2024

March Wrap Up 2024

Magical Readathon: Orilium Spring Equinox TBR 2024

What did you read in April?

www wednesday

WWW Wednesday – 17th April 2024

WWW Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Taking On a World of Words and it’s where you answer three questions. They are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?

WWW Wednesday – 17th April 2024

What are you currently reading?

sword catcher

Sword Catcher (The Chronicles of Castellane #1) by Cassandra Clare – I’m around 100 pages into this one and feel intrigued by the story so far but there is still a lot of pages to go but hopefully I’ll continue to enjoy it.

What did you recently finish reading?

vampire touch

Vampire Touch (Vampire Game #2) by Leigh Kelsey – This is the second book to a why choose paranormal series about vampires. I thought this was an okay read and gave it 3 stars, I like the atmosphere of this series.

What do you think you’ll read next?

assassins apprentice vows and ruins

I don’t really know what book to read next. I might go for the next book on my Orilium tbr which would be Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb or Vows and Ruins (The Legends of Thezmarr #2) by Helen Scheuerer which I’m more in the mood for but isn’t on my Orilium tbr.

What books have you been reading recently?

book review

Book Review: Trials of Conviction (The Firebird Chronicles #5) by T.A. White

trials of conviction book coverBook: Trials of Conviction
Series: The Firebird Chronicles #5
Author: T.A. White
Age & Genre: Adult sci-fi, fantasy, space opera

Her niece—taken. Her best friend—gone.

There’s only one mission that matters now—rescuing her loved ones from enemy hands.

Forced to embark on a dangerous journey, Kira will need every one of her allies as she prepares for the greatest battle of her life. With her mind and body failing, it’s a race against time to locate the homeworld of the Tsavitee. The alien race intent on dominating the universe.

A shadowy force stalks her every move. Their motives unclear. As secrets come to light and the danger deepens, the Phoenix will be forced to rise.

One thing is clear—not everyone will make it out of this unbroken.

The price for failure has never been so high.

My Rating: 4 STARS

My Review:

Trials of Conviction starts off in the aftermath of the ending of Facets of Revolution with Elena, Jin and Elise been taken to the Tsavitee home planet. I really liked Trials of Conviction and love how invested I am into what happens to these characters.

We learn more about the Tsavitee within this book as we have povs of Elena as she tries to survive on their planet. I felt like we got to see more about how they work and find out more of their personalities especially since they have always been mysterious as we mostly know about them from Kira’s history.

Like the previous books, I love the characters in this book and I feel like they are all fully developed even the side characters. I loved reading about Kira again but I did feel like I missed the banter between her and Jin as they are separated for most of this book. I did enjoy reading more about Pallas and the sibling dynamic between him and Kira. It was interesting to see how their relationship changes throughout the book as they come to realise more about the other.

I liked the romance between Kira and Graydon and how they understand each other. The plot did feel a bit slower than previous books with the main action happening in the last part of the book.

Overall I enjoyed Trials of Conviction and like how we get more information on the Tsavitee. The plot was a bit slower than previous books but I like reading about Kira’s adventures as she tries to help her family and friends.

book recommendations

April 2024 Kindle 99p Book Deals

Here is a list of some of the 99p kindle deals for April on Amazon UK. Some of these prices might change throughout the month so make sure to check them before buying anything and this is NOT a list of every book on the deals, just the ones I’ve read or heard a lot about.

Books I’ve read and would recommend:

new moon the inadequate heir crush

blood kiss book cover the bitter twins  a dowry of blood

New Moon (Twilight #2) by Stephenie Meyer
The Inadequate Heir (The Bridge Kingdom #3) by Danielle L Jensen
Crush (Crave #2) by Tracy Wolff
Blood Kiss (Black Dagger Legacy #1) by J.R. Ward
The Bitter Twins (The Winnowing Flame Trilogy #2) by Jen Williams
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Books on my tbr:

the endless war1

The Endless War (The Bridge Kingdom #4) by Danielle L. Jensen

Books I’ve haven’t read but have heard good things about:

The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart #2) by Stephanie Garber
Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez
The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chrocicles #2) by Mary E. Pearson
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive #2) by Brandon Sanderson
Hell Bent (Alex Stern #2) by Leigh Bardugo
The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten
One For My Enemy by Olivie Blake

Have you read any of these books?