Blogmas Day 18: Netgalley Arcs I Need To Read #6

Hey guys! It’s time for another update on the Netgalley arcs I need to read. I ended up reading 11 this year which I feel is really good. I did try to make it a point to read some of the older ones I had on the list. I’m pretty sure the oldest one I had was from 2017 and I read that. So I’m very happy about that. I have requested some books. I’ve been trying really hard not to but sometimes I just can’t help myself. It’s hard when a book just sounds so good. Anyway let’s dive in to see what books I still need to read.

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Blogmas Day 9: Book Review – Malibu Rising By Taylor Jenkins Reid

Malibu Rising By Taylor Jenkins Reid

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Adult, Romance, Historical, Adult Fiction, Family
Pages: 369 pages
Publication Date: June 1st 2021
Publisher: Ballantine Books

Plot: Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever.

Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.

Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them… and what they will leave behind.

Blogmas Day 1: 25 Reads of December

Hey guys! I’m back and hoping to stay back. This year has been a tough one like last year. So for a while I just wasn’t in the mood to blog. I’m hoping Blogmas helps lifts my blogging spirits. I’m not going to have as much free time as I use to but I’m still going to try. I just wanted to give you guys a little update.

Anyway, it’s time again for 25 Reads of December. The 25 Reads of December is done by Riveted. Everyday leading up to Christmas a different book will be free to read for one day. I really love this idea so much. They always include so many amazing books that are in different genres. Also they have a good amount of books that have just recently come out this year.

Once again I haven’t really heard of majority of these books. I have read The Perks of Being a Wallflower By Stephen Chbosky. I’ve also been wanting to read Take Me Home Tonight By Morgan Matson. So maybe I’ll end up picking that up. I do plan on doing more Try A Chapter with some of these books. So let’s dive in and see what I’m going to try to read!

Blogmas Day 18: Netgalley Arcs I Need To Read #5

Hey guys! So I figured it was time for another Netgalley update. I am still backed up on e-arcs. I do have some on my TBR for the next couple months. I have decided if I don’t read the ones from the last couple years then I won’t worry about reviewing them. I keep saying I want to get on top of my e-arcs and I keep slacking. This year has been a mess so I’m giving myself a pass. So let’s dive in to see what arcs I need to read from Netgalley.

Blogmas Day 3: October Wrap-up

Hey guys! So it is time for my October Wrap-up. I know that this is a bit late. I didn’t end up blogging during the month of November. I still wanted to update you guys on what I ended up reading in October. It did end up being a bit more than I remember. However I did read some short stories and some comics so that is part of it. I honestly felt like I read some of these books a while ago. My brain is definitely shot from this year. I do look forward to 2021 and starting a clean slate. I do hope it ends up being better. Anyway now let’s dive in to see what I read in October!

September Wrap-up

Hey guys! I am here with my September Wrap-up. I honestly have no clue where September went. I do feel September was a bit of a weird month for me. I made a bit of an ambitious TBR. Then when the time came to read I found myself not really interested in what I picked out. I also found myself not really wanting to read so I tried to resort to audiobooks. Overall I did find a couple new reads I liked so let’s dive in to see what books those were!

Blog Tour: Kingdom of the Wicked By Kerri Maniscalco

Kingdom of the Wicked By Kerri Maniscalco

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Historical, Mystery, Fiction
Pages: 448 pages
Publication Date: October 27th 2020
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson
My Rating : 3 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: Kerri Maniscalco introduces her next series, a dark tale of a beautiful young witch, a troubled demon, and their epic romance, set against a 19th century Italian backdrop.

Emilia and her twin sister Victoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Victoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to discover who did this, and to seek vengeance at any cost—even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, the outlier among the seven demon brethren, always choosing duty over pleasure. He’s been tasked by his master with investigating a series of women’s murders on the island. When Emilia and Wrath’s fates collide, it’s clear this disturbing mystery will take a bewitching turn…

Author Bio:  Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC where her fascination with gothic settings began. In her spare time she reads everything she can get her hands on, cooks all kinds of food with her family and friends, and drinks entirely too much tea while discussing life’s finer points with her cats.

She is the #1 NYT and USA Today bestselling author of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series and the forthcoming Kingdom of the Wicked.For an extended bio, please read on below!

Social Links: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website | Tumblr | Pinterest

Book Review: Mexican Gothic By Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Mexican Gothic By Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Genre: Horror, Fiction, Gothic, Mystery, Fantasy, Historical, Adult, Thriller
Pages: 304pages
Publication Date: June 30th 2020
Publisher: Del Rey
My Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets

After receiving a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find – her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.

Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind. 

My September TBR

Hey guys! August seriously came and went. I ended up reading everything on my TBR besides one book. I did squeeze in some comics as well. I have a pretty ambitious TBR for September. There are just so many books I want to read. I am trying to fit more audiobooks in there cause those help a lot. So let’s dive in and see what I want to read in September!

Blog Tour: The Last Story of Mina Lee By Nancy Jooyoun Kim

The Last Story of Mina Lee By Nancy Jooyoun Kim

ISBN:
Pages: 409 pages
Publication Date: September 1st 2020
Publisher: Park Row Books
Buy Links: Harlequin, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Books-A-Million, Powell’s

Synopsis: (on sale: September 1, 2020; Park Row Books; Hardcover; $27.99 US/ $34.99 CAN). opens when Margot Lee’s mother, Mina, doesn’t return her calls. It’s a mystery to twenty-six-year-old Margot, until she visits her childhood apartment in Koreatown, Los Angeles, and finds that her mother has suspiciously died. The discovery sends Margot digging through the past, unraveling the tenuous and invisible strings that held together her single mother’s life as a Korean War orphan and an undocumented immigrant, only to realize how little she truly knew about her mother.

Interwoven with Margot’s present-day search is Mina’s story of her first year in Los Angeles as she navigates the promises and perils of the American myth of reinvention. While she’s barely earning a living by stocking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing Mina ever expects is to fall in love. But that love story sets in motion a series of events that have consequences for years to come, leading up to the truth of what happened the night of her death.

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Author Bio: Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nancy Jooyoun Kim is a graduate of UCLA and the MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Guernica, The Rumpus, Electric Literature, Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s The Margins, The Offing, the blogs of Prairie Schooner and Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. Her essay, “Love (or Live Cargo),” was performed for NPR/PRI’s Selected Shorts in 2017 with stories by Viet Thanh Nguyen, Phil Klay, and Etgar Keret. THE LAST STORY OF MINA LEE is her first novel.

Social Links: Author Website, Twitter: @njooyounkim, Instagram: @njooyounkim, Goodreads