Release Blitz: The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout

"Jennifer L. Armentrout has absolutely blown me away with this entire series! I've turned into a swooning fangirl!" -- Larissa Ione, New York Times bestselling author

The day you’ve been waiting for is FINALLY here!

The Crown of Gilded Bones, the highly anticipated third book in bestselling Blood and Ash series from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout is out now!

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes book three in her Blood and Ash series.

She's been the victim and the survivor…

Poppy never dreamed she would find the love she’s found with Prince Casteel. She wants to revel in her happiness but first they must free his brother and find hers. It’s a dangerous mission and one with far-reaching consequences neither dreamed of. Because Poppy is the Chosen, the Blessed. The true ruler of Atlantia. She carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. By right the crown and the kingdom are hers.

The enemy and the warrior…

Poppy has only ever wanted to control her own life, not the lives of others, but now she must choose to either forsake her birthright or seize the gilded crown and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire. But as the kingdoms’ dark sins and blood-drenched secrets finally unravel, a long-forgotten power rises to pose a genuine threat. And they will stop at nothing to ensure that the crown never sits upon Poppy’s head.

A lover and heartmate…

But the greatest threat to them and to Atlantia is what awaits in the far west, where the Queen of Blood and Ash has her own plans, ones she has waited hundreds of years to carry out. Poppy and Casteel must consider the impossible—travel to the Lands of the Gods and wake the King himself. And as shocking secrets and the harshest betrayals come to light, and enemies emerge to threaten everything Poppy and Casteel have fought for, they will discover just how far they are willing to go for their people—and each other.

And now she will become Queen…

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About Jennifer L. Armentrout
#1 New York Times and #1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. She spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, hanging out with her husband and her Border Jack Apollo. In early 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and death of cells in the retina, eventually resulting in loss of vision, among other complications. Due to this diagnosis, educating people on the varying degrees of blindness has become of passion of hers, right alongside writing, which she plans to do as long as she can.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Tor, HarperCollins Avon and William Morrow, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her Wicked Series has been optioned by PassionFlix. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA. Her adult romantic suspense novel TILL DEATH was an Amazon Editor’s Pick and iBook Book of the Month. Her young adult contemporary THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER is a 2017 RITA Award Winner in Young Adult Fiction. She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.
She is the owner of ApollyCon and The Origin Event, the successful annual events that features over a hundred bestselling authors in Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult Fiction, panels, parties, and more.

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Website: https://jenniferlarmentrout.com

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Review: Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was amazing!  

I did receive an ARC from Netgalley, but I ended up listening to the final production version of the audiobook.  All opinions are my own.  I highly recommend the audiobook!  The narrator is excellent.  She does a wonderful job bringing Daunis and the rest of the characters to life.  I've read several reviews that indicated that this book was paced too slowly or too long.  I didn't feel that way at all with the audiobook.  I found it hard to put down, it is just over 14 hours and I got through it in about 3 days.  If you do pick this up and find that the pacing is a bit slow for you or you have trouble with the language on the page, there is quite a bit of Anishinaabemowin spoken in the book, I'd give the audio a try before giving up on it.  

This is marketed as a YA thriller, but I never got that heart racing suspense vibe.  There is a criminal investigation happening, but it lacked the suspenseful feeling I want from thrillers and mysteries.  It does have a crime procedural feel as the investigation goes through its paces and uncovers who is at the heart of the murders and drug ring in the community.  That being said, the story was still wonderful and I'm so glad I read it.  This book discusses several different issues that Native Americans struggle with and it isn't the first book I've read this year that talks about these issues.  The author discusses racism, acceptance, drug use, corruption especially in the justice system, and the importance of cultural heritage.

There is a lot going on in this book, which will not work for some readers.  There are several different plot lines going on all at once, and some of them do not end with a happy ending and are not wrapped up neatly with a shiny bow.  I think this is done purposefully to shed light on real problems in the indigenous community that most readers know nothing about.  I think the author did a great job bringing awareness of Ojibwe customs and beliefs to the reader through Daunis.  Despite being biracial and not always accepted by her community, she is very deeply connected to the Firekeeper side of her family and their customs.  She loves her family and wants to protect her community and preserve the things that are important.

Overall, I loved this!  It is one of the best books I've read this year so far.

View all my reviews

Series Review: Rescue Me Series by Katana Collins

I was provided these novellas from the author in exchange for an honest review.  These came out in November 2020, but I just got around to reading the 3rd one.  Not sure what happened there, I read the first two right away.  Each of the stories is under 100 pages and they are all standalones.  They follow one of 4 brothers from the Murphy family and are set in the world of Silhouette Studios.  There is a 4th story that is part of 1001 Dark Nights Short Story Anthology 2020.  I have that anthology as well and plan to get to that later this year, it has some shorts by some of my favorite authors.

Each of these is pretty steamy and they are all really fun.  Each story takes on a different romance trope, so there is something for everyone.



Her Alpha Dog by Katana Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first of 3 steamy novellas coming in November 2020. I believe they are all set in the world of the Silhouette Studios series, don't hold me to that as I am still slowly making my way through the author's backlist. This is roughly 70 pages and follows Josh Murphy, a well known actor and Chelsea Griffin, his new dog walker. Josh has a husky names Cola, and he works long hours on set. His trusted dog walker has left for grad school and recommended Chelsea for the job. Cola immediately takes to Chelsea, and Josh likes her too. As they get to know each other, they find it hard to deny that the attraction between them.

I was really impressed that we actually got alot of relationship development in such a short story. The author uses the timeline to her advantage to allow the characters to get to know each other off page, which gives the reader the satisfaction that there is substance to the relationship and it isn't all insta-love and lust driven. That is hard to is a novella, but I felt it was done really well here. Don't get me wrong the are plenty of lust filled moments in this short little story.

If you are looking for a light, fun read I highly recommend this. I really enjoyed it!

Her Top Dog by Katana Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a really a really cute, steamy novella.

Love at first...soup...I mean sight is the name of the game between funny man Sam "Smurf" Murphy and executive producer and lawyer Nina Miller. Nina was brought in to Silhouette Studios to help management stay out of lawsuits and cut shows that aren't doing well. The Murphy's prank show does well in ratings, but could be cause for a lawsuit if they don't clean up their jokes which Nina has experience with firsthand. When Sam comes to apologize for involving her in their show the tables are turned as neither of them can deny the attraction between them. Both of them fall hard and fast for each other and the rest is history.

If you like alpha dog romance stories, this is a fun one! I'm really enjoying these novellas and can't wait to see what is in store for the other brothers.

His Summer Kitten by Katana Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Really cute short story and pretty steamy too!  

This is the third of 3 novellas in the Rescue Me series, with a 4th story in the 1001 Dark Nights Short Story Anthology 2020.  The stories are all steamy standalone romances about one of the 4 Murphy brothers who are on a very popular comedy prank show.  This one follows Cal Murphy, as he runs into a beautiful woman at a bar once night as the crew from the show wraps up filming for the season.  They dance, they kiss, she walks away, and he finds out she is his twin brother's little sister who is now all grown up.  Laurel. used to be the annoying little sister who has been hopelessly in love with Cal for as long as she can remember.  She is 9 years younger than Cal so he never gave her a romantic thought growing up, but now that they are adults all bets are off and she can finally tell Cal how she really feels and he can see her as a woman not a little girl.

This a little insta-lovey for my tastes, even if the couple already kind of knows each other.   It is still fun and steamy in the 50 or so pages.  If you are looking for something light and quick this is a good option!

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Review: Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur

Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not really sure how to rate this book.  There were parts I really liked and parts I didn't.  This probably falls somewhere between a 2.5 and 3 stars for me.  It is well written, has a unique storyline, and interesting characters.  

I love mythology and folklore.  I wasn't very familiar with Korean folklore before, but after reading this I feel like I need to investigate the subject more.  I also love learning about cultures different than my own.  I feel reading own voices books such as this one is a good way to do so.  I was fully immersed in the parts of the story surrounding the folklore and mythology aspect of the story.  Elsa's journey into learning about her mom, her Korean heritage, the magical realism, and the folklore of her ancestors was great.  Unfortunately the writing style didn't work for me.  I spent most of the book being completely confused about what was happening and felt like I was reading several different books at once.  I'm not a fan of stream of consciousness writing, it doesn't work for me personally, though I know some readers love it.  I find it confusing to follow the plot because even though everything is connected, they aren't organized and I find it very hard to follow and connect to the story and the characters.  I constantly feel like I missed something because the subject would dart from one thing to the next.  

This hits on many social justice issues that are timely with social media bringing to light the crimes against those of Asian decent.  The main character gives the impression that she is very anti-white and anti anyone not Korean, as she has experienced racism, prejudice, and bigotry her entire life.  She is going through a discovery and acceptance phase after the death of her mother and part of her journey is to come to terms with her past, her family's past, and who she is not only as a Korean American but as Elsa Park the person.  This also speaks to mental health issues.  I'm not sure I care for the way mental health was portrayed in this book, however it does show what can be the very real and ugly side to living with mental health and perhaps these were written from first hand experience or accounts in the author's life.  If that is the case, then my opinion on the matter doesn't really count.  The author states on her goodreads page that this book is her spiritual debut, and I feel like she accomplished that.  I'm not sure which of her own experiences are on the page, but you can feel the emotion coming through and the care she took with the telling of the story.  She is very blunt about various traumas in this book.  That is either going to really appeal to you or it is not.  There are many heavy and uncomfortable moments in the book.

If you enjoy genre bending stories written in the stream of consciousness style give this one a go.  This is well written and the own voices aspect and folklore is well done.  Being that I don't care for the stream of consciousness style of writing, it made it really hard for me to get through this and connect with the book, but that is a me issue not necessarily an issue with the book itself.  While I may not have loved it, I do think many people will enjoy this.  I think we need more books like this out there.

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Review: Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson

Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of the audiobook via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  

I went into this not knowing what it was about.  I had previously read and enjoyed [book:Never Have I Ever|36679186] and figured I'd also enjoy this.  It was a bonus that the audiobook was narrated by the author.  I jumped at the chance to read and review this audiobook.  I like to go in blind into thrillers and mysteries, but should have read the synopses because on of the things I care for in thrillers in books and crime drama shows on TV is a plot that involves kids.  Had I actually read the synopsis, I probably wouldn't have picked this up, that being said, I held out to see what would happen with the kidnaping situation.  I'm glad I did because the it was worth it in the end.

As I mentioned earlier, the narration is done by the author and I thought she did a great job.  She was able to give a distinct voice to each of the characters.  I was able to tell when she was voicing Bree, Marshall, the old woman, as well as the other characters who have less time on the page.  Jackson's love and support of the performing arts comes through in the book.  Not only do the daughters participate in theater, but Bree has to use her own skills as an actor to get her through this horrific event.  She has to play multiple parts if she wants to save her son and uncover the truth of why he was taken in the first place.  

I also thought the author did a good job of tackling some social issues.  She touches on privilege as well as consent and victim shaming.  As far as the plot goes I did find it to be a bit predictable.  I didn't find the big reveal all that revealing not were the twists and turns that unexpected.  I kept waiting for the big plot twist, but it never came.  The big twist was a bit underwhelming for me.

If you like revenge plots, give this one a go.  While I found it a bit underwhelming, you may not.  I have pretty high standards for thrillers, mainly because I read alot of them.  I usually see it coming, which is why my husband hates watching TV with me.

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Review: The Lost Village by Camilla Sten

The Lost Village by Camilla Sten
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  This book was published on March 23, 2021.

This is a fairly slow paced thriller.  I think the comparison to The Blair Witch Project is fair.  It is very much like that given that this follows a film crew making a movie and some strange stuff starts happening.  Blair Witch was a bit more ominous and creepy in my opinion.  I thought the premise was really interesting.  An entire town of people up and disappears without a trace with the exception of a newborn baby and a woman who was stoned to death in the town square.  The police conduct an investigation and no one is able to find anyone from the town.  Now years later, the granddaughter of one the former inhabitants wants to find out what really happened and tell the story of the town.

This is told in two different timelines and different perspectives.  The Now is told from Alice's perspective, and the Then is told from her great-grandmother Elsa's perspective.  We also get letters between Alice's grandmother Margareta and her great-aunt Aina which help paint the story of what happened in the past.  I much preferred the Then sections to the now sections.  I felt like they moved the storyline along a bit more than the Now sections.  I also didn't connect with the present tense characters, and was much more invested in what was happening with the characters from the past.  Alice and her film crew weren't very likable and they were all very unprepared 5 days of filming in an abandoned, rotting, mining town.  There are some pretty unrealistic situations in the book that took me out of the story.  I also didn't appreciate the way mental illness was portrayed in the book.  

I thought the storyline was interesting, however I found the pacing to be far to slow for my liking.  I also found the plot to be very predictable.  I did find the final reveal of what happened to be clever and very fitting, but I kind of suspected something similar to be the case from the start.  This never gave me the creepy and tense thriller vibe I look for in thriller/mysteries.  This book isn't bad, there was just missing for me.  I think alot of people will enjoy this, I think I have high expectations when it comes to thrillers.

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Cover Reveal: FORBIDDEN by Karla Sorensen

Release Date: May 20

No man has ever been able to rattle Isabel Ward. Until Aiden Hennessy walks in the door of her gym—ownership papers in hand. 

 

The former fighter is a lot of things- a devoted single dad, a widower trying to start over, and a watchful presence that knocks her off her very capable feet. 

 

To make matters worse, Isabel had a crush on him for the entirety of her teenage years. Doodles in her diary, and letters declaring her admiration—while never sent—haunt the absolute crap out of her now that she has to face him every single day. 

She’s not the only one affected. 

 

No woman has tempted Aiden to move on from the memory of his wife—until Isabel. But she’s too young, too feisty, too much of everything he should avoid. 

 

Working together makes avoidance impossible, and so is pretending like the blistering chemistry between them doesn’t exist. 

Now that the unshakeable woman is shaken and the un-temptable man is tempted, Isabel and Aiden have to decide what they’re willing to risk for a taste of the forbidden. 

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Meet Karla Sorensen

Well, let’s see ... I’m a wife and a mother. If the things that I write bring a smile to someone's face, then I've done my job.  

I am obsessed with Outlander (both the books and the show). I’m almost exclusively a romance reader, which means some people will never consider me a literary snob. 

If I could meet one historical figure, it would be Jane Austen. I received my Bachelors in Public Relations and worked in health care marketing before I had my babies. 

I hate Twitter. I do it, but I hate it. Also, if you want to get on my good side, bring me wine and I'll love you forever. 

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