I’ve talked before about how bad I am at continuing series but I’m trying to make an effort this year to be better. Enter this post. I’ve been working on this since August and it was originally supposed to be ten series but it was just taking so long to get to things that I gave up and here we are with five instead.
This is going to be the start of a little series of posts, at least until the end of the year so that I can make some decent progress on all of these series I’ve started. But for now, we’ve got to start somewhere, right?
Haunted by Shadows (Magic Wars: Demons of New Chicago #2) by Kel Carpenter
I started this one immediately after rereading Touched by Fire before I put it off and forgot everything again. I like how quickly these read, I managed to finish this one in about two hours. It’s just one of those books that I start and can’t put down. I didn’t like this one as much as the first one. I’d been hoping for more development in this story and things definitely happen, but it just didn’t grab me in the same way. I feel less enthusiastic about the story between Piper and Ronan and I’m really just holding on for the friendship between Piper and Nathalie still. I’m honestly not sure if I’m that interested in continuing the series, but the last two books do sound pretty good. I guess I’m just not sure where I sit with this one right now, I’ll swing back around to it in October I think.
Blood Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #3) by J. Bree
I won’t lie—it felt really good to finally continue this one. I read books one and two last year and then reread them this year but I just kept putting this off. This series is intense, but they’re also addictive as hell. Every time I read one I’m torn between needing a break to just breathe and decompress a little and not wanting to put it down because I just have to know what happens. It’s honestly amazing that this is only the halfway point in this series because we’re in such a different place than in the last two and I can’t even imagine where we’re going to end up by the sixth. OH MY GOD, that ending though! I genuinely did not see that one coming at all and it blew me away. My opinion on Oli’s bonds is constantly changing, but I think Gabe is still a strong favourite. I’m dying for Nox. I’m guessing by the time you see this, I’ve probably already moved on to book four if not the others as well—I’m so excited.
Of Mice & Murder (Nevermore Bookshop Mysteries #2) by Stephanie Holmes
This is honestly such a wild series—it’s a mix of wholesome Miss Marple-esque small village mysteries with a good heaping of spice. It’s honestly just a lot of fun. This one feels especially Miss Marple-esque as it follows a book club of mostly older women as they begin to get killed off one by one. I love the characters in here—especially Mrs Ellis, one of the book club ladies, who I think is just fantastic and I just really enjoyed her being a cheeky old lady. And of course, the spice—this really stepped up from the first book. I honestly can’t pick whether I like Morrie or Quoth better, I just love the way they all interact and the banter between them all. I do find that I can’t read these back to back but that checks out with the fact that I can’t usually read mysteries back to back anyway. Hoping to pick up book three in late October.
Little Fire (Warriors of the Five Realms #1) by Hollee Mands
Okay, first things first—yes, this is book one in the series, but since I read the 0.5 novella first, I’m considering this to be me continuing a series. Right off the bat, I’m just going to say that this is easily one of the best things I’ve read this year and an immediate favourite. I was already really interested in Declan’s character while reading the novella, but I was also a little unsure—the novella was fine but was missing a spark for me. The spark was here. From about page 30 or so, I was completely invested and in love with this book. I love a good hero who’s tough on the outside but a completely softie on the inside, which is exactly what Declan is. I adored the romance between him and Evangeline, and I’m excited that book two follows them again. Even more excited that book three follows Gabriel who I’m desperate to know more about.
Warriors (The Librarian’s Coven #2) by Kathryn Moon
I’ve sung the praises of Kathryn Moon many times already this year, but can I just say that she never lets me down? I was a little worried going into this one—we all know about second book syndrome, but this was about equal with the first. This series is just so easy to read. There’s some intense stuff in this one—complicated families, betrayal plus way more I don’t want to spoil, but the romance between the coven is just so pure. Callum is really the main focus on this one, but I love seeing how the characters are developing as we get to see a little more of them each time. I’m a little sad we didn’t get too much of the library in this one because I really loved that in the first one, but it was really interesting to see some more glimpses of this world. I’ll be picking up book three sooner rather than later.
And there we are. While I wish I’d had the time to get around to all the ones I’d originally planned for this post, like I said, I’ve got to start somewhere and it feels good to have any of these continued. I’ll hopefully have the next part in this little series up towards the end of the month.
Earl Grey Books 