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JUNE, JULY & AUGUST RECAP // oops i disappeared again but let’s catch up on work, reading & other life updates!
Oops I missed another 3 months. We were doing so well and then I got a corporate life and it went downhill of a sudden. But I shan’t be taken down. Let’s catch up and we shall end on my blood oath to never disappear again. Sounds fun right? — Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane {★★★★½}: I have actually reviewed this one already (!!!!) so I shan’t say all that much. Idk how I went about my life thinking this was some typa of tragic romance and I do fully blame the synopsis for that. Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and worship the ground Mhairi McFarlane walks on. Go read the book kay. Ty to William Morrow Books for the eARC, full blog review over here *sighs* Thank You For Listening by Julia Whelan {★★★★½}: I’m on fire with reviews lately because same as before, you can find a full review. Also, I put off reading this for far too long and deserve to be whacked over the head for it. Julia Whelan is an audiobook goddesss and I am obsessed with this book!!! Ty to Harper Collins for the ALC, more thoughts here <3<3<3 Heartstopper Volume 5…
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VILEST THINGS BY CHLOE GONG // blog tour book feature: yelling about one of my fave authors and how i need to start this series yesterday!
Indeed I am extremely late but my life is far too chaotic for my own good and here is my personal apology to Chloe Gong. You can yell at me all you want about me not having started this series but I promise you I’ve had a thorough talking to myself already. Anyways, of course, I couldn’t miss posting about this during release week and,,, I’m on the blog tour. Ha there’s that too. I do deserve to be shunned for this but let’s not dwell on the negatives here,,, Anyways, big thanks for joining me and TBR and Beyond Book Tours to celebrate the release of Vilest Things, book two in a trilogy I am terrified but excited to sink my teeth into *insert devil emoji* Title: Vilest ThingsSeries: Flesh and False Gods book #2Author: Chloe GongPage count: 384Date published: 10 September 2024Genre: Adult Fantasy Sci-fi 💫 Synopsis: Calla Tuoleimi has succeeded in the impossible. Despite the odds, she has won San-Er’s bloody games and eliminated King Kasa, her tyrant uncle and the former ruler of Talin. She serves now as royal advisor to Kasa’s adopted son, August Shenzhi, who has risen to the throne. Only Calla knows it…
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THE WISTERIA SOCIETY OF LADY SCOUNDRELS BY INDIA HOLTON // spoiler-free book review: the most delightful historical fantasy romance genre-bending chaos book you need in your life right this second <3<3
Look at me staying semi-up-to-date with reviews AND reading books from my physical TBR. I’m a changed woman? Yeah no, that’s wishful thinking but I am proud of myself just a smidge. Enough chit-chat, into the review we go my fine friends!!! Title: The Wisteria Society of Lady ScoundrelsSeries: Dangerous Damsels book #1Author: India HoltonPage count: 324Date published: 15 June 2021Genre: Adult historical fantasy romance 🪻 Synopsis: A prim and proper lady thief must save her aunt from a crazed pirate and his dangerously charming henchman in this fantastical historical romance. Cecilia Bassingwaite is the ideal Victorian lady. She’s also a thief. Like the other members of the Wisteria Society crime sorority, she flies around England drinking tea, blackmailing friends, and acquiring treasure by interesting means. Sure, she has a dark and traumatic past and an overbearing aunt, but all things considered, it’s a pleasant existence. Until the men show up. Ned Lightbourne is a sometimes assassin who is smitten with Cecilia from the moment they meet. Unfortunately, that happens to be while he’s under direct orders to kill her. His employer, Captain Morvath, who possesses a gothic abbey bristling with cannons and an unbridled hate for the world,…
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CAREFUL WHAT YOU WITCH FOR BY EMMA JACKSON // blog tour book feature: i need this grumpy-sunshine witchy rom-com in my life right now ft moodboard aesthetic <3<3<3
Hello and welcome to my stop on the Careful What You Witch For blog tour, where I am late but excited nonetheless! As always ha! Big thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for having me on the blog tour. As I touched on, I have not finished this read but just about everything I can see and have read on it (yes those are words) have me SO FREAKING EXCITED so I thought I’d share with you in the meantime xoxo Title: Careful What You Witch ForAuthor: Emma JacksonPage count: 406Date published: 1 August 2024Genre: Adult romantic comedy 🪄 Synopsis: Two complete strangers. One life-changing spell. Becca Ashworth’s family is in trouble and with their magical legacy under threat, it puts their small village of Biddicote at risk too. So going against the witching tenets to summon an ancestor for help seems like a small price to pay to fix the problem…at first. Connor Lynch is the Witches Council’s secret weapon and he’s just been deployed to find out exactly what the Ashworths are up to. But how he ends up posing as Becca’s fake husband at a magical inn in Cornwall as they hunt down a magical artefact is…
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LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT BY JESSICA GILMORE // blog tour book feature: an adorable summer rom-com to add to your tbr ft a moodboard aesthetic <3
Hello and welcome to the final stop on the blog tour of Love At First Sight *insert happy dance* Huge thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for having me on the blog tour. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to finish this read so instead I thought I’d grace your presence with some other cute things <3<3<3 Title: Love At First SightAuthor: Jessica GilmorePage count: 333Date published: 4 July 2024Genre: Adult romantic comedy Synopsis: She’s in love. Just with the wrong man… Nora is done with dating, but still dreams of finding the one. So when a handsome stranger comes to her rescue one night and vanishes leaving only a business card, it’s like a scene out of a movie… It doesn’t take long for the two to ‘bump’ into each other again, and Nora falls for the perfect-on-paper Gabe. Only a few weeks later, he invites her to Sicily, and she cannot believe her luck! Until Gabe is forced away for work, leaving her alone with his big and warm family in gorgeous Sicily who welcome her with open arms. Everyone but Luca, his older and distrustful brother, who is always around. Soon Nora finds herself on a dreamy, romantic…
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JUST LAST NIGHT BY MHAIRI MCFARLANE // spoiler-free book review: another banger from my fave that’ll make you laugh and swoon and sob uncontrollably… have fun!
Hush you with your judgement. I shall not be taking it as this time otherwise we shall run out of time. Into the review! Title: Just Last NightAuthor: Mhairi McFarlanePage count: 393Date published: 1 April 2021Genre: Adult contemporary fiction 🪴 Synopsis: Eve, Justin, Susie, and Ed have been friends since they were teenagers. Now in their thirties, the four are as close as ever, Thursday pub trivia night is sacred, and Eve is still secretly in love with Ed. Maybe she should have moved on by now, but she can’t stop thinking about what could have been. And she knows Ed still thinks about it, too. But then, in an instant, their lives are changed forever. In the aftermath, Eve’s world is upended. As stunning secrets are revealed, she begins to wonder if she really knew her friends as well as she thought. And when someone from the past comes back into her life, Eve’s future veers in a surprising new direction… They say every love story starts with a single moment. What if it was just last night? 🪴 🪴 Big thanks to William Morrow Books for the eARC via Netgalley! All thoughts and opinions are my own.…
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BEGIN AGAIN BY EMMA LORD // spoiler-free book review: you 1000% need this friends-to-lovers NA contemporary romance that’ll also make you cry in your life!!!
IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING BUT, IT’S YOU AND ME, THAT’S MY WHOLE WORLD. Had to start this one off with a Taylor Swift reference, I just couldn’t pass it off hehe Let’s dive right in! Title: Begin AgainAuthor: Emma LordPage count: 352Date published: 24 January 2023Genre: New adult contemporary 🌳 Synopsis: As usual, Andie Rose has a plan: Transfer from community college to the hyper competitive Blue Ridge State, major in psychology, and maintain her lifelong goal of becoming an iconic self-help figure despite the nerves that have recently thrown her for a loop. All it will take is ruthless organization, hard work, and her trademark unrelenting enthusiasm to pull it all together. But the moment Andie arrives, the rest of her plans go off the rails. Her rocky relationship with her boyfriend Connor only gets more complicated when she discovers he transferred out of Blue Ridge to her community college. Her roommate Shay needs a major, and despite Andie’s impressive track record of being The Fixer, she’s stumped on how to help. And Milo, her coffee-guzzling grump of an R.A. with seafoam green eyes, is somehow disrupting all her ideas about love and relationships one sleep-deprived wisecrack…
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JANUARY RECAP // ya contemporary reads, rare book shopping, all the films & life updates
Only a TEENSY bit late this time. Just a smol week. Not helpful crying over spilt milk folks, let’s just get right into it!!! One of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus {★★★★☆}: gosh I love me a McManus book because I just KNOW I’ll have a great time. It’s a guarantee at this point. This was no exception. Didn’t beat book two for me but it was still a blast and I highly enjoyed my time with her. Still deciding if I’m doing a full review for this one, so I’ll send you over to GR for now!!! Ty to Penguin Random House SA for the review copy! When You Get The Chance by Emma Lord {★★★★★}: finally got off my lazy ass and have mostly caught up with my fave Lord and saviour *sighs* I have a whole review coming very soon so stay tuned for that but yes I am incredibly stupid for doubting this author AGAIN GAHHHH. This book was literally everything and I’m so excited to yell about it. Big thanks to Pan Macmillan SA for the review copy and Wednesday Books for the eARC via Netgalley! Click here for the GR review xoxox…
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THE BEST OF 2023: BOOKS, MOVIES & SHOWS // ranking my top reads and watches of last year in journal spreads ft. some honourable mentions
At least the wait was not long in between. You could at least be grateful for that. I’m kidding. Yes I am embarrassed it took this long. But I’m wrapping up 2023 with a BANG. One might say that I’ve been ~inspired~ or,,, creative? Who’s to say? Not me. But I saw some people on TikTok do these journal spreads for books and suddenly I had FOMO. But, of course, I’m not about to make spreads for all the books I’ve ever read (never going to do that btw) but I thought I’d start with my favourite reads of the year for funsies. Then suddenly LIGHTBULB! I am going to share them here. And I’ve written reviews for basically all of them so to switch it up, I’m sharing my favourites in pretty graphics aka journal spreads I created on my iPad. That was long-winded but I hope you understood. Before we get into the books, I do have movies and shows to share. Whilst I have not made spreads for each of them individually, I have made some rankings. Enjoy the ride *wink wink* BEST OF 2023: SHOWS Hope you were here yesterday for my 2023 recap, and in…
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AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER & NOVEMBER RECAP // oops i am late again aka turning 22, my degree kept me very busy ft. finishing my dissertation, some great reads & lots of book mail
Even though I quote Britney Spears “Oops I did it again”, I don’t think even she describes my predicament over the last few months. Have we ever seen this many months in a singular Ruby recap? You all know the answer to that. Um anyways, we’ll get into it later but in short, uni kicked my ass and I have therefore had no life. — The Hundred Loves of Juliet by Evelyn Skye {★★★☆☆}: gah the premise was so promising but unfortunately I was not hooked and this one was just underwhelming. A fun read that I sped through but not a new favourite. Ty to Headline for the eARC via Netgalley – GR review here! The Priest and The Shepherd by Chloe Gong {★★★★★}: kicked my butt into gear and devoured this lil prequel novella before jumping into the big guns and ugh!!! Phoebe and Silas are such babies and I love them so much!!!! Foul Heart Huntsman by Chloe Gong {★★★★★}: I shan’t say much here because I did a lot of that in my review but, yes this is the best book I’ve ever read and I do not exaggerate. Okay maybe a but but she was…
