Thanks so much for joining me on my stop of the Realm of Knights book tour! Huge thanks to Xpresso Book Tours for allowing me to participate and for forgiving my lack of review! ?
As you'll find out when you read the synopsis below, this book sounds freaking amazing! It's giving me major Mulan vibes - I love that right from the get go we're presented with such a strong female character and I was so looking forward to reading it. Sadly, homeschooling, running a business and generally being a bit run down got in the way of me getting started and so, instead of my review, today I'm hosting an excerpt of the book and your chance to win a $100 Amazon Giftcard (open INTL). Admittedly, I haven't even managed to read the excerpt myself yet but check it out and let me know what you think in the comments! You can also click on the banner above to check out the rest of the tour!
Reid has spent her whole life pretending to be a man so she can inherit her father’s estate, but when a chance encounter threatens to expose her lie, she is forced to risk everything.
In the kingdom of Marsden, women are subservient to men and land can only pass from father to son. So when Reid Ellington is born, the fifth daughter to one of the wealthiest landholders in the kingdom, it’s announced that Reid is a boy. Eighteen years later, Reid struggles to conceal the fact she’s actually a young woman. Every day, her secret becomes harder to keep. When one of Marsden’s princes sees her sparring with a sword, she is forced to accept his offer and lead her father’s soldiers to the border. Along the way, she discovers a covert organization within the army known as the Knights of the Realm. If Reid wants to save her family from being arrested for treason and robbed of their inheritance, she will have to join the Knights and become a weapon for the crown. To protect her family, Reid must fight like a man. To do that, she’ll need the courage of a woman. Excerpt
As always, you can add the book to your Goodreads TBR by clicking on the book cover above and feel free to let me know what you think in the comments below!
Now, enter here for your chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card. This competition is open internationally! Good luck!
Calling all fans of Anyta Sunday, friends to lovers, M/M romance and second chance romance!
If any of the above applies to you, I have a special treat lined up for you today! I was feeling a bit crappy on Thursday night last week when I reached for my ARC of Happy for You by Anyta Sunday and it turned my mood right around, my grin growing with every page I turned. Today, I'm taking part in the Release Day Blitz for Happy For You (book 3 in the Love & Family series). You can check out my reviews for Book 1: Taboo For You and Book 2: Made For You on Goodreads because I just found out that apparently I never added them to the blog ? I've loved every book in this series so far, as with most of Anyta Sunday's books I have a habit of devouring them in one sitting and laughing my head off at characters antics. Keep reading to see what I thought of Book 3. Plus, read an exclusive excerpt, a Q&A with the author herself and an international giveaway!
STARS: 4 STARS!
Genre: MM Romance/LGBT
Series/Standalone: Love and Family #3 How I got this book: ARC from A Novel Take Promotions
Mort wants his de facto family back. . . .
He knows he doesn’t deserve them. Not yet, anyway. Not without making up for leaving them in their time of need. But it’s not easy to make amends. Mort must show how much he wants the Rochester family back in his life. When his best friend’s younger brother, Felix, has his license suspended, Mort jumps at the chance to play chauffeur and to win back the family he desperately wants to call his own. Repairing his broken relationships—with all five Rochester siblings—becomes Mort’s personal mission. Especially with Felix. Felix, who used to follow him everywhere. Felix, who idolized him. Felix, whom Mort has not stopped thinking about . . . Felix is just trying to keep it together. . . . With a perma-smile as his armor, he’s determined to make his family happy. Determined to be a positive role model to his three younger sisters, while their mum struggles with depression after her kidney transplant. Unfortunately, no amount of smiling can save his license when he gets pulled over for the umpteenth time, and he still needs to get his sisters to school, soccer, and dance classes. The solution to his problem emerges in the return of their prodigal neighbor, Mort. Mort, who left their lives without a word. Mort, who was in love with Felix’s older brother. Mort, who is the last guy Felix wants charging back into their lives. . . . Mort and Felix. Two guys bound by a rocky past-- —a past they must come to terms with to find true happiness in the here and now.
TW: Depression and generalized anxiety (of a side character)
Unlike the other two books in this series, this one took me a little longer to get into. I was a little confused at the beginning, as though there was a little information missing and so parts of the relationship felt a little rushed almost. But the characters quickly got under my skin with their flirty, clueless ways. Anyta writes the most adorable, bashful characters and the slow-burn just sizzles. This book did sadly have a bit of an uncomfortable (for me at least) twist to it that I didn't really like and that to be honest almost made me lower the star rating, but the cute, likeable characters won me over. Anyta does deal with some difficult topics in this book including depression, grief and sexual anxiety through the side characters in a way that gives more depth to the story but doesn't detract from the mushy, slow-burn romance. I can't say that this is my favourite book in the series, as that's probably reserved for Taboo For You, which I adored. Made For You also came in a close second with Happy For You falling into third place, just because of that one, uncomfortable twist (I don't want to give too much away but it's relating to Mort's relationship with Felix's older brother as hinted on in the synopsis). If you love clueless, romantics with big families and light-hearted drama, Happy For You is a book not to be missed. Now, keep reading to check out an excerpt, Q&A with Anyta Sunday and your chance to win! ExcerptQ&A With Anyta Sunday
What is the significance of the title “Happy For You”?
AS: This book’s all about happiness – where to find it for ourselves, how to make others happy, and how to live with the fact that we can’t make everyone around us happy. Mort and Felix have to learn it the hard way: if they’re both only trying to make others happy, they’ll lose sight of themselves. They have to find their own happiness first to finally be happy together. What were the key challenges you faced when writing this book? AS: While every book has its own challenges, this one was special because it features a large family that wanted to have ample space on the page. To give all of them their rightful place was not easy, but they all demanded to be heard ☺ This spring and summer, when I worked on “Happy For You”, was also a time of transitions for my family – from my son changing schools to me transitioning to a new diet, so finding time for the book wasn’t always easy. Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about? AS: I am always working :D At the moment, I’m diving back into astrology and star signs, and tackling book 5 in the “Signs of Love” series. A Cancer and an Aquarius are the lucky couple in this one, and I’m already having so much fun with them. It’s quite emotional, but just like all the other SoL books, also full of banter and romantic comedy! Where do you draw inspiration from? AS: Inspiration is all around – walking the streets, seeing a couple interact at the café, getting a lovely message from my husband. So many things can spark an idea, like a smell that brings back a memory or a piece of music that becomes alive in my head. I try to soak it all in and scribble it down as soon as possible. Do you have any new series planned? AS: There are a few ideas currently swirling in my head, and I never know how they’ll finally arrive on the page. One series idea I just cannot stop thinking about is what I call the “Love Shack” in my head. A beachside house that brings different roommates together, always sparking new misadventures and love stories! Another idea is a cozy, super sweet and romantic mystery. But whatever series comes next, you can be sure it’ll be full of slow burn romance! About Anyta Sunday: I'm a big, BIG fan of slow-burn romances. I love to read and write stories with characters who slowly fall in love. Some of my favorite tropes to read and write are: Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Clueless Guys, Bisexual, Pansexual, Demisexual, Oblivious MCs, Everyone (Else) Can See It, Slow Burn, Love Has No Boundaries. I write a variety of stories, Contemporary MM Romances with a good dollop of angst, Contemporary lighthearted MM Romances, and even a splash of Fantasy. My books have been translated into German, Italian, French, Spanish, and Thai. Connect with Anyta: Author website:http://www.anytasunday.com/ Author newsletter signup: http://www.anytasunday.com/newsletter-free-e-book/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anytasundaybooks Twitter: https://twitter.com/anytasunday Instagram: https://instagram.com/anytasunday BookBub: https://bookbub.com/authors/anyta-sunday Giveaway
Click the cover photo above to add the book to your Goodreads TBR and enter below for your chance to win one complete paperback set of the Love & Family series: Taboo for You, Made for You, and Happy for You, or, one of three e-books of Happy for You. Prizes are open internationally. Must be 18 to enter and win.
Now, excuse me while I enter the competition myself! Rating: 4.5 STARS! Genre: Adult Fantasy/LGBT Series/Standalone: The Nevernight Chronicle #2 How I got this book: Bought Assassin Mia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church ministry think she’s far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she’s no closer to ending Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo, or avenging her familia. And after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church itself. When it’s announced that Scaeva and Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself to a gladiatorial collegium for a chance to finally end them. Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold within the collegium walls, and the body count rises, Mia will be forced to choose between loyalty and revenge, and uncover a secret that could change the very face of her world. If you're looking for a bloody spectacle of a book with more 'boobs and blood' (Jay Kristoff's words, not mine) than its prequel, you'll love Godsgrave. At the beginning of this book, we rejoin our heroin but not where I expected to. The first half of the book jumps between the present day and four mounts prior and leaves you doing a lot of guesswork as to what's going on and why. Mia is still on her quest for vengeance and blood and it leads her in new directions and to new, shocking revelations. What I love most about Mia is her 'couldn't care less' attitude and I think, in particular, the way that Jay Kristoff writes her sexuality (and her self-discovery) is really beautiful (not a word often used to describe this series) but the fact that when Mia recognises her sexuality and just accepts it, without a thought of what anyone will think, it's just perfect and personally, I want more bisexual heroines like this. I'd waited a while since finishing Nevernight to read Godsgrave (I wanted to read it closer to the Darkdawn release - more on that later) and I was so excited to get back to the characters that I'd grown to love in book one, but what I hadn't expected was so many amazing new characters that really made this book something special. I'm going to start with my absolute favourite new character Sidonius who is an absolute legend. I love him and his crass, no filtered mouth and personally, after reading this book I just want someone to be proud enough to call me a 'magnificent little bitch!' The author introduces several other characters; Maggot, Bryn and Byern, Wavewalker, Bladesinger, Furian, Arkades and Dona Leona - all fantastic (and terrible) in their own ways and fantastic additions to the cast. I loved each and every moment with these characters including the unexpected surprises they delivered at the end. Now, I have rated Godsgrave at 4.5 stars instead of 5 and that's simply because I enjoyed Nevernight more. Nevernight blew me away, I'd never really read anything like it and it both shocked and thrilled me. With Godsgrave there were certain parts, and please don't hate me for saying this, that felt a tad predictable and a few revelations that I'd already guessed back in book one and so, whilst the characters themselves deserve the full 5 stars, for me at least, the book itself didn't grab me quite as much as Nevernight but it was still an immersive, thrilling second book of the trilogy and I'm both excited and terrified of what's yet to come. A Conversation with Jay Kristoff in ManchesterLast night was the Manchester stop on Jay Kristoff's Darkdawn book tour and I was lucky enough to grab two tickets for my partner (also a huge Jay Kristoff fan) and I. Let me just say that the 1.5 hour drive to Manchester was not enjoyable in the slightest, neither is driving in central Manchester - why do pedestrians just walk in the middle of the road and where the hell are the road markings??? Anyway, after holding our breaths as we dodged pedestrians, trams and other vehicles, we finally made it to Deansgate Waterstones in time for the event. Listening to Jay Kristoff was a slightly surreal experience. I've read a few of his books (admittedly not that many); Nevernight, Godsgrave (which I finished at 1:30am the day of the event) and Illuminae (which is incredible) and I was almost nervous to meet him if that makes sense; you know what they say about meeting your heroes. But Jay was fantastic, he was incredibly funny, intelligent, kind and witty and hearing about his methodology (writing Godsgrave in Venice), his inspirations (Roman history/politics and Ludovico Einaudi) his funny anecdotes (like the time he almost died in Venice, and getting his wife to proofread his sex scenes) and gaining a little insight into the mind behind these incredible books was a fantastic experience and well-worth the wait, even if we sadly couldn't get any of our books signed due to the massive wait time (5 year old girls will wait for no one, even someone as talented as Jay Kristoff). Now I'm off to try and pry Darkdawn from the hands of my partner who stole it while I wasn't looking! |
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About Kay (She/Her)
Book addict, film mad, music lover, business owner, writer and mum (not necessarily in that order), living in the UK. About Sophie (She/Her)
Sophie loves books (obviously). She has a passion for photography and spotting wildlife, and is interested in anything made with passion and creativity. THIS BLOG IS SPOILER FREE!
Rating system: 5 Stars - AMAZING!! 4.5 Stars - Almost perfect! 4 Stars - I really loved it 3.5 Stars - I liked it alot 3 Stars - I liked it (I don't typically review books that I rate below 3 stars)
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