Tag: Scarred Earth Saga

REVIEW: The Heretic Royal by G. A. Aiken

REVIEW: The Heretic Royal by G. A. Aiken

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Kensington in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Queen Annwyl the Bloody (Dragon Actually) – the Mad Queen – has come to Forgetown, the lands ruled by Keely, the Blacksmith Queen. And Annwyl is not alone. She has a group of shapeshifting dragons with her.

While Keely and her sister Gemma try to figure out what to make of the unpredictable woman and her dragon allies, their sister Ainsley is trying to make her mark and get her family to take her seriously. So when an opportunity arises for her to take a swipe at her sister Beatrix’s rival army, Ainsley and her friends take it.

Review

Wow! I have some mixed feelings on this one, but the bottom line is WOW. The epilogue left me gasping and growling. I read this 4 months ago, so I am looking at 16-18 months or more of waiting until book 4 releases. Ugh. I need it!

Almost a year ago, when I first saw the pre-order for this, the third book in the Scarred Earth Saga, I couldn’t hit the pre-order button fast enough. I was thrilled to get a chance to read an early review copy, something I treated myself to during my 2022 sabbatical. I have adored this series since I first heard about The Blacksmith Queen (♥♥♥♥♥).

That said, I struggled with this one. I loved the glimpses of Ainsley in the last book. But the fun, punchy moments earlier in the series became these longer fights with Gemma that were hard to enjoy. Also, the arrival of the dragons at the end of book 2 became a long “introduction” to this book, and it dragged. And I could not get a handle on the various dragons. (Readers who have read the author’s Dragon Kin series will not struggle like I did. I didn’t realize this was a crossover until after I finished reading.) But on the first read through, I couldn’t keep them straight. I would have loved more scenes with Ainsley and her friends, too. They were a curious trio, and I wanted more of them together, bantering and battling, which would have been a fun attempt to balance the more stagnant dragon parts. Also, the romance here was only okay. I didn’t feel it had the same build up – and fun – as in the previous two books.

To me, this felt like a transitional book, one with a goal of moving characters to wherever they need to go to be ready for book 4. So for me this lost something by not having a strong, driving story of its own. Most of the “action” here centered on Keely’s stronghold and trying to build an alliance, teeing things up for later.

That said, I am still fully invested in this Saga. I adored Isadora’s appearances in this book. I imagine the next book will be hers. I’m eager to read it, but that anticipation is tempered by the dragging parts of this one and the experience of loving Ainsley in bits and pieces earlier in the series, but not loving her quite so much when the full focus of a book was on her. But I have my fingers crossed for book 4 to be a better fit for me.

These books absolutely need to be read in order. You do not want to miss the amazingness of The Blacksmith Queen and The Princess Knight. I re-read both in preparation for this, and loved them just as much in a re-read as I did the first time through. I feel like this series is fantasy with hints of romance. If that sounds up your alley, pick up the whole trio of books out now so you are ready for book 4 when it releases. (Language, violence, gore, sex)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥ = Might re-read.

SABBATICAL - Must Read Series, Part I

SABBATICAL – Must Read Series, Part I

Posted on by Jaymie

I am on a “sabbatical” from my blog this month, so I am sharing some posts that compile information my readers might find useful. Today it’s a look at what I consider my “Must Read” series. These might be books I buy or books I get at the library, but either way, I am NOT missing a book in these series. (It’s highly likely that I have forgotten some series, but this is a great starting list.)

This week I am focusing on series that are ongoing. Next week I will post some completed series that were must-reads when they released.

Series Still Releasing New Books

Meg Langslow mysteries – This series kicks of with Murder with Peacocks. The most recent addition to the series, book 31, is Round Up the Usual Peacocks; a new Christmas book will release in October, Dashing through the Snowbirds. I love these because Meg feels so much like me in a lot of ways, and I have grown to love the chaotic, fascinating group of family and friends who populate each book.
Andy Carpenter mysteries – This series kicks off with Open and Shut (my least favorite book in the series – but it sets things up). The most recent addition to the series, book 25, is Holy Chow; a new Christmas book will release in October, Santa’s Little Yelpers. I love these because the mysteries are so good, and Andy is sarcastically delightful.
Gargoyle Queen series – This series kicks off with Capture the Crown and then Tear Down the Throne. The next book, Conquer the Kingdom, will release in the spring of 2023. I am thoroughly enjoying this series spun off from the Crown of Shards series (which will be in next week’s post). The world is fantastic, and I love the characters here. These books can’t release fast enough for me.
Scarred Earth Saga – This series kicks off with The Blacksmith Queen and The Princess Knight. The next book, The Heretic Royal, releases at the end of the year. The first book was an unexpected delight – violent but SO fun, with clever world-building and a fascinating family at the center of the story.
Kitty Katt-Martini/Touched by an Alien series – This series kicks off with Touched By an Alien. The last book released was Aliens Abroad in 2018 – book 16 in the series. The next book will be Aliens Like Us, but there’s no release date set for that yet. This series, which I picked up after the release of book 3, changed my reading life. I discovered a fun, sexy sci-fi series with a strong, bright, hilarious, sarcastic heroine I wanted to have as my best friend. These are my comfort reads, and I read at least a few of them, if not the whole series, every year.
Galactic Cold War series – Now considered book 0 or a prequel, this series kicks off with The Caledonian Gambit, while The Bayern Agenda is considered book 1, and The Aleph Extraction is considered book 2. Book “3”, The Nova Incident, just released this summer. It’s my favorite book in this scifi-spies series.
Bromance Book Club series – This series kicks off with The Bromance Book Club. The fifth book in the series, A Very Merry Bromance, will release later this fall. I love this series about a group of guys who help each other with their romantic relationships by reading romance novels together.
Countess of Harleigh mysteries – This series kicks off with A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder. Book 5, A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder, released this summer. You’ll notice there’s not a lot of historical fiction on my list, but there are a couple series where the characters and the mysteries are so good, they have worked past my mental block against historicals.
Rosalind Thorne mysteries – This series kicks off with A Useful Woman. Book 6, The Secret of the Lost Pearls, complete with a new cover design, will release later this year. This is the other historical fiction series that I love for the fantastic mysteries.
By the Book mysteries – This series kicked off this year with Buried in a Good Book. I fell in love with the characters in this, and the mystery was fantastic. Book 2, On Spine of Death, releases in November, and book 3, Murder Off the Books, will be out next spring.
Pies Before Guys series – I picked up the first book, Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies, at the library this summer, zoomed through it, but never had space to post a full review, although I have talked about it in other posts. The first book really connected with the small, angry part of me that sees how women have been harassed and dismissed for centuries and feels powerless to effect real change. Book 2, A Good Day to Pie, will release in 2023.
Inheritance Games series – This YA mystery series kicks off with The Inheritance Games followed by The Hawthorne Legacy. The third and final book. The Final Gambit, released a couple weeks ago.
Castles in Their Bones series – This fantasy/royalty series kicked off earlier this year with Castles in Their Bones. It was stunning. Exactly the right kind of book for me. Next year’s release will be Stardust in Their Veins. I cannot wait!!
Teen Titans Graphic Novel series – This DC graphic novel series kicked off with stand alone books for both Raven and Beast Boy. Then there was a book where they teamed up, Beast Boy Loves Raven. Book 4 will be Robin, and it releases in the spring of 2023.
HiLo series – There is no middle grade series I am as excited about as this one! This series started with a six-book arc, kicked off with HILO. They are now in a second arc starring Gina, which has released two books – Gina, the Girl Who Broke the World and Gina and the Big Secret– so far. Book 9, Gina and the Last City on Earth, will release in February. (I’ve already recommended it to my library!)

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My 2020 Favorites

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My 2020 Favorites

Posted on by Jaymie

There were moments in 2020 when I despaired of ever finding my reading groove. There were others where reading was the perfect escape. What a unique year in so many ways! Here are some of my reading statistics for 2020. (If you’d like to see my past Year in Review/favorites posts, you can go here.)

2020 Stats

Through the course of 2020 I read 342 books.  There were 35 more that I started but did not finish. I started the year intending to take my time, maybe read FEWER books but really savor them – and maybe even remember them once the year was done. In reality, though, that  didn’t happen. I committed to reading a large number of books for publishers which kept me turning pages all year long.

Of those 342, the break down for target audience is

  • 47% adult
  • 19% teen/young adult (including both prose books and graphic novels)
  •   5% older middle grade for readers 10-14
  • 18% middle grade (standard middle grade prose books as well as kids graphic novels)
  •   8% picture books
  •   2% transitional chapter books and early readers

The main genre breakdown is

  • 24% Fantasy
  • 18% Realistic/Contemporary
  • 18% Romance
  • 21% Mystery
  •   6% Science Fiction
  • 11% Nonfiction in various categories (36 books – My goal was at least one per month, so I exceeded that.)

This year most of the books I read were review copies from publishers – 216 books. (63% of the total – more than double what I read from publishers each of the last two years, and 4x 2017.) I also read 44 books from my To Be Read shelves, including 15 brand new books (read within 2 weeks of acquiring them), as well as  60 books from the library. I also re-read 16 favorites this year – not nearly as many as I wanted to re-read.

In 2020, I had a goal of reading 1 nonfiction book each month, specifically from a stack of spiritual growth resources I set aside for the year. As I mentioned,  I met the numerical goal, but I didn’t get to every book in the stack. (And I added several books, too!) I used the Book Riot spreadsheet (which is customizable!) again, which was super helpful in tracking my books for the year as well as helping me with monthly stats. You can check out the 2021 version here. I already have mine customized and ready to go for my first read of the new year.

In 2021, I need to scale back my ARC reading. While I love discovering new books, new authors, and new series – as well as continuations of my favorite series – I found myself wrestling with what I needed to read vs. what I wanted to read all throughout 2020. I have committed to 80 ARCs already for 2021. That means weeks where I have two or three reviews to post per day in order to stay on track with release dates as much as I can. That becomes a reading obligation, which does not leave room to read whatever I feel like – or to take any time off for a break.

Speaking of breaks, I took 21 days off from reading in 2020. That’s more than double what I did in 2019 when I started keeping track. 2020 was intense at times, and it was hard to get lost in a book some weeks. I liked the freedom to do other things – and discovered I need some new hobbies since reading has become a job in a lot of ways – but it added to the pressure and feelings of obligation when I had fewer days to read the next week’s ARCs. So, in 2021 I am seeking better balance.

2020 Favorites!!

At the end of the year, I go back through my reading log and pull out the titles of the best of the best from the year.  (Not every 5 star review makes it onto the blog, depending on my publishing schedule, but you can find many of the reviews here.) Then I compare them to one another until a list of 10 or so rise to the top. This year there were 53 that made it onto the list. And the results are fascinating. There are two re-reads on the list – my top two books from 2019. And there are two books on the list that haven’t even released yet. So, here are my most favorite favorites from 2020:

12. What’s Your Enneatype? – This is my favorite Enneagram resource from this year. The book is small, and packed with great information and color-coded graphics. I am looking forward to digging into this one again in 2021. You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

11. Microphones and Murder – I loved this first-in-a-new-series mystery. Book 2 in the Podcasting Sisters series, Up Next, Murder, is out now. You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

10. Undercover Bromance – Book 2 in the Bromance Bookclub series was even better than the fantastic series starter. There are three books in the series so far, and book 4, Isn’t It Bromantic?, will release this summer. You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

9. Talk Nerdy to Me – Book 4 in the fantastic Bookish Boyfriends series I have adored since the beginning. Book 4, Get a Clue, releases later this month. You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

8. Cast in Firelight – This amazing YA fantasy story will release later this month. It was originally supposed to release in November, so I read it and prepared my review only to discover the release date had been pushed back. This is well worth the wait. Do NOT miss this one! My full review will post in a couple weeks.

 

 

7. Chasing Vines – The second nonfiction book of this year’s list is a fascinating exploration of vines and vineyards and vine growers, both from scripture and from the author’s experience in Italy. Don’t miss this one! You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

6. Gina, the Girl Who Broke the World – This is the second 2021 release on my 2020 favorites list. This one doesn’t release until February. But I adored the first six-book story arc so much, I read this one the second I was approved for the review copy. All of my favorite characters are back, adjusting to the fallout from the earlier books. But this launches everyone right into a new, harrowing adventure with a MAJOR cliffhanger. The only downside to reading this so soon is that I have to wait that much longer for the next book. Put this one on your February list and watch for my review.

 

5. Polaris Rising – It’s probably unfair to include old favorites in the list, but I re-read this one, and the sequel, Aurora Blazing, to get ready to read book three, Chaos Reigning. And it really stands up well to re-reading. I just love it. The perfect mix of science fiction and romance with tons of sass. When I have time, I want to re-read the whole series. This was my most favorite book of 2019. You can read my full review here.

 

 

4. Crush the King – This is the final book in the outstanding Crown of Shards series after Kill the Queen (my most favorite book of 2018) and Protect the Prince. This series was excellent. The spin off series, Gargoyle Queen, launches with Capture the Crown this summer. You can read my full review here.

 

 

3. The Princess Knight – This is book 2 in the Scarred Earth Saga after The Blacksmith Queen, the book that tied with Polaris Rising for my most favorite of 2019.  Both are fantastic (but violent). You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

2. The Blacksmith Queen – My second most-favorite book of 2019 (after a tie with Polaris Rising), and my most favorite re-read on the list. This series is often shelved with romance, but for me it is a straight-up fantasy series, far more violent than what I usually read, but truly fantastic in humor and in storytelling. I have never posted a full review of this one to the blog, but you can see my Goodreads review here.

 

 

1. Crownchasers – Even while I was in the process of reading this book, I knew it had the potential to be my most favorite book of 2020. This was the perfect fit for me as a reader, and I am eager to re-read it as I wait for the sequel. Out of the 340+ books I read this year, this one has consistently stuck in my memory, and in my heart, as exceptional. You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

Honorable Mention

For honorable mention here are some other favorites by category:

Most Favorite Picture Books

Burt the Beetle Doesn’t Bite – This delight will not release until June 1, but you will want to put it on your list.
Madeline Finn and the Therapy Dog

 

Most Favorite Middle Grade (that have been released so you can enjoy them now!)

Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor
Hilo: All the Pieces Fit – The final book in the original story arc.
Tune It Out – This is targeted to older middle grade readers between 10 and 14.
Primer

REVIEW: The Princess Knight by G. A. Aiken

REVIEW: The Princess Knight by G. A. Aiken

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Kensington in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Keeley has taken up the title of The Blacksmith Queen out of obligation. Her soulless younger sister, Beatrix, has married the Old King’s merciless son, Marius. She helps him in his quest to kill his brothers and have the throne to himself. Although her true aims have nothing to do with her husband. He is a means to an end. Keeley can’t have the murderous couple in charge. So while she’d rather return to her forge and her comparatively quiet life, she leads and she fights.

Keeley’s sister, Gemma, fights at her side. The two also fight with each other every chance they get. But when push comes to shove, they always have each other’s backs.

When someone starts wiping out the various religious orders in the land, including Gemma’s War Monks, she returns to her old order, hoping to convince them to take Keeley’s offer of sanctuary. But Gemma’s order has changed a lot in the two years since she left.

While Gemma deals with the War Monks, Keeley is still trying to figure out what Beatrix is up to and how to stop her. It may seem like all of their worries when this began two years ago were unfounded. But anyone who knew Beatrix would know she’ll stop at nothing but full control and domination. They may not yet see or know what she is plotting, but there is no doubt she is up to no good.

Review

I cannot get enough of this series! I reread book 1, The Blacksmith Queen (♥♥♥♥♥) to prepare for this, and then read this cover to cover. In fact, I’m ready to read this again, and I just finished. This is far more gory and violent than I usually like or read, but the story and the characters are outstanding enough that I push past the yuck to stick with the awesome rest.

You will likely find this in the romance section of the bookstore, but for me this is a fantasy series first and foremost. Yes, there’s a romance in each book. But the real focus here is on the world, the political and religious action, and on this particular family.

I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy the shift from Keeley as the focus in book 1 to Gemma as the focus here. But it was perfect! We get a tremendous amount of information and understanding for Gemma here, and I loved it. This made me like her more than I did in book 1. I have my fingers crossed that Ainsley is the focus of book 3 because she was probably my favorite character in this book full of awesome characters.

I keep coming back to this series for the excellent world-building, the humor and sass in the writing, and the fantastic characters. There are tons of fantasy elements here – magic, sword fights, allies and enemies – with some romance thrown in. For me, this is the perfect blend of genres! (Language, sex, violence/gore, LGBTQ+, TW: Sexual assault)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥♥ = Outstanding!

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My 2019 Favorites

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My 2019 Favorites

Posted on by Jaymie

I read a lot of books every year.  I like to keep track of what I read every year and see how it stacks up to years before. Here are some of my reading statistics for 2019.

2019 Stats

Through the course of 2019 I read 400 books.  There were 75 more that I started but did not finish. My stated goal for the year was 300, but I was hoping to get to 365 – and I did! I’m a little behind last year’s record-setting pace (418 books read), but I am okay with where I landed. I’m pretty proud of all the reading I did this year, and even more proud of walking away from books that weren’t working for me.

Of those 400, the break down for target audience is

  • 43% adult (173 books)
  • 18% teen/young adult (70 books)
  • 19% middle grade (76 books)
  •  13% picture books (51 books)
  •   7% transitional chapter books and early readers (30 books)

And of those, 23 were graphic novels for various ages.

The main genre breakdown is

  • 31% Fantasy
  • 19% Realistic/Contemporary
  • 15% Romance
  • 13% Mystery
  • 10% Science Fiction
  • 4% Nonfiction (27 books – my goal was at least one per month)

This year most of the books I read were from the library (114 or 29%). I read 101 books from my To Be Read shelves (which are overflowing), including brand new books, as well as 106  advanced reader copies from publishers. I also re-read 39 favorites this year. Next year I want to prioritize my truly “TBR” books that have been on my shelves for awhile.

In 2019, I had a goal of reading 1-2 nonfiction books each month and I did. I also added a spreadsheet to my tracking process to see if I can better track authors and characters of color and other factors and I loved it. You can find the 2020 version of the Book Riot spreadsheet (which is customizable!) here.

In 2020, I plan to be intentional with nonfiction reading once again and make a concerted effort to get through more books on my TBR shelves. I am also participating in one book challenge.

2019 Favorites!!

At the end of the year, I love to pull the titles of all of my favorites and then compare them to come up with my favorites for the year. I might not remember every detail about them, but I remember how I felt about them. These are the books I recommend time and time again, the ones I re-read and long to re-read.

You can see my list of favorites from 2016 here and 2017 here. The list from 2018 is here.

When I went back through my list of the 400 books I read in 2019, I pulled the best of each month (something I track) for a total of 71 books in my top tier.  This year, because of some re-reads that made it into the list and the way the numbers fell, it was better to go with 12 than 10. So here they are – my 2019 favorites:

12. A Duke by Default – Book 2 in the Reluctant Royals series. You can read my summary of the series here. This book was my favorite of the series, and a favorite from 2019, because of the characters, especially Portia. I loved reading about her efforts to improve herself and work on her personality quirks.

 

 

11. Star Trek Discovery: The Way to the Stars – Sylvia Tilly is my favorite character on Star Trek Discovery, and this book just reinforced that love. This reads a bit like a YA coming-of-age-story to me, which is a feature, not a bug. I adored reading this, and I’m looking forward to reading it again in 2020. (The latest Discovery novel, Dead Endless, focuses on other characters, but that author does a terrific job with Tilly, too.)

 

 

10. Well Met –  A woman coming home to help her sister after an accident is roped into participating in the local Renaissance Faire. Her lighthearted take on the faire puts her in conflict with the man responsible for the volunteers who bears the weight of his family’s legacy. This was a delight from the first page! I already have book 2 on my wish list. This is one I will read again. (♥♥♥♥♥)

 

 

9. Deadly Little Scandals – Book 2 after the delightful Little White Lies. While I rated this a 4.5 and most of the books on this list were 5s, the intricate, twisty plotting of this was something I couldn’t forget. When I compared this to other books on the list, that masterful level of plotting helped this rise above other titles.

 

 

8. The Storm – This is book 6 in the Sons of Destiny series, a romance/fantasy series I re-read usually once every year. It’s unusual for a re-read to make my top favorites of the year, but there are two on the list this year. I’ve written about this book before because it focuses on my favorite of the 8 brothers in the series. I especially enjoyed my re-read this year. I felt like I picked up on nuances with the character that I hadn’t considered before, which is why this rose to the top of the stack when compared to some of the other books I read this year. The emotional depths of this particular book get me every time. (♥♥♥♥♥)

 

7. Prince in Disguise – The second re-read that made my top 12 this year is this delightful YA romance by Stephanie Kate Strohm. The first time I read it, I rated it a 5+++, which is my way of saying a book is among the best of the best. (You can see some other five-plus reviews here.)  In my re-reading, that rating held fast, which doesn’t always happen. I find this book to be a perfect “comfort read” when I need a book I know I am going to adore.

 

 

6. Spiritual Rhythms for the Enneagram – This is the only nonfiction book to make my favorites list this year. I didn’t read a ton of nonfiction in 2019, and what I did read, while mostly enjoyable, didn’t stick with me enough to rise to the top of the list. But I got so much out of this book, and I think about the things I learned when I read it. I have it in a stack of resources I want to read through again in order to glean some more of its wisdom. You can read about this book, and the other Enneagram books I read in 2019, here.

 

 

5. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill – 2019 was the year of romance and romantic comedies for me. And this was one of my favorites! In fact it’s another book on the list that received a 5+ rating. One of my favorite features of this book, in addition to the terrific story, is the smart, snappy writing. It begs to be read aloud. You can read my full review here.

 

 

4. The Boy Next Story – Book 2 in the Bookish Boyfriends series after A Date with Darcy. I adored the first book so much, I was afraid book 2 couldn’t possibly live up to my expectations, but it actually exceeded them. I knew back in April when I first read this that this book would end up on my 2019 favorites list.  This was another 5+ book for me and I can’t wait to see what comes next in this terrific YA series.  You can read my full review here.

 

 

3. 10 Blind Dates – This YA romance was hysterical, and I absolutely adored it.  The premise is fantastic and clever, and the execution was even better. This was the book I was telling everyone about this fall. Here’s my full review.

 

 

 

2. The Blacksmith Queen – A prophecy about a rising queen to replace the recently dead king angers his sons who want no part of anything that would force them to give up the throne. When it looks like the new queen will be her younger sister, a blacksmith gathers supporters to help her defend her family.

There was a tie for first place in my tally at the end of 2019. When I list the top book, I’ll tell you how it edged out this one for first place, but both are fantastic. This is a quirky book, and I cackled my way through it from the first page to the last. When I see this in the book store, it’s often shelved in romance, but I think it makes more sense in fantasy as that is the bigger plot line, at least in my opinion. It’s more violent (and gruesome) than I usually find in romance stories, and at times it was even more than I expected from a fantasy story. But I was hooked by the premise and drawn in by the humor and the characters. I can’t wait for book 2.

 

1. Polaris Rising – I read this awesome sci-fi/romance twice in 2019, and BOTH times it ended up on my best-of-the-month lists, which is why I gave this the top spot for 2019 after the tie with The Blacksmith Queen. I loved the characters in this and the world building. You can read my review here. Book 2, Aurora Blazing, was also great. And book 3, Chaos Reigning, can’t get into my hands soon enough!

 

 

 

Honorable Mention

None of the middle grade, mystery or picture books that I enjoyed this year made it to the top 12. But here are the top two in each category.

Middle Grade: Broken Strings AND Finding Orion

Picture Books: Madeline Finn and the Shelter Dog AND Pluto Gets the Call (follow the link here for a description)

Mysteries: Murder Once Removed AND Restaurant Weeks Are Murder (follow the link here for a description)

 

What were YOUR favorite books in 2019?