Weekly Spotlight - Series I've continued into 2024

 

Iron Flame

“The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

My Review

The Duchess

The thrilling second book in New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s amazing new high concept series, The Scandalous Ladies of London, which chronicles the lives of a group of affluent ladies reigning over glittering, Regency-era London, vying for position in the hierarchy of the ton . They are the young wives, widows, and daughters of London’s wealthiest families. The drama is big, the money runs deep, and the shade is real. Life is different in the ton . “I liked my husband well enough … but I like him even better dead.” It’s been a year since her wretched cad of a husband died and Valencia, the Dowager Duchess of Dedham, is finally her own woman. Flitting from party to party, freedom is sweet and life should be perfect. Until the new duke surfaces.  Nothing like the haughty noblemen who populate the  ton , Rhain, the newly minted Duke of Dedham, is a big brawny Welshman with an accent that makes Valencia’s knees go weak as he boldly moves into  her  home with his six wild unwed sisters. The rude and humorless usurper thinks her vain and spoiled. But with a pittance to her name, Valencia needs his support to remain in London and enjoy all the pleasures her new position as a merry widow has to offer.  So a bargain is struck. Valencia will usher his sisters into Good Society and see them happily betrothed. In return, he’ll give her the financial security and independence she craves. But the more time they spend beneath the same roof, the more she realizes it's not safety she wants but the dangerously seductive Rhain. Valencia has vowed never to risk marriage again. And yet how can she resist the tempting man when he might be the greatest adventure of her life?  

My Review 

House of Roots and Ruin

A modern masterpiece, this is a classic Gothic thriller-fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Erin A. Craig, about doomed love, menacing ambition, and the ghosts that haunt us forever.

In a manor by the sea, one sister is still cursed.

Despite dreams of adventures far beyond the Salann shores, seventeen-year-old Verity Thaumas has remained at her family’s estate, Highmoor, with her older sister Camille, while their sisters have scattered across Arcannia.

When their sister Mercy sends word that the Duchess of Bloem—wife of a celebrated botanist—is interested in having Verity paint a portrait of her son, Alexander, Verity jumps at the chance, but Camille won’t allow it. Forced to reveal the secret she’s kept for years, Camille tells Verity the truth one day: Verity is still seeing ghosts, she just doesn’t know it.

Stunned, Verity flees Highmoor that night and—with nowhere else to turn—makes her way to Bloem. At first, she is captivated by the lush, luxurious landscape and is quickly drawn to charming, witty, and impossibly handsome Alexander Laurent. And soon, to her surprise, a romance . . . blossoms.

But it’s not long before Verity is plagued with nightmares, and the darker side of Bloem begins to show through its sickly-sweet façade. . . .

My Review

House of Roots and Ruin

House of Roots and Ruin
by Erin Craig
 
Book: Sisters of the Salt #2
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pub Date: July 25, 2023
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Suspense
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Book Links: Goodreads  Amazon

A modern masterpiece, this is a classic Gothic thriller-fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Erin A. Craig, about doomed love, menacing ambition, and the ghosts that haunt us forever.

In a manor by the sea, one sister is still cursed.

Despite dreams of adventures far beyond the Salann shores, seventeen-year-old Verity Thaumas has remained at her family’s estate, Highmoor, with her older sister Camille, while their sisters have scattered across Arcannia.

When their sister Mercy sends word that the Duchess of Bloem—wife of a celebrated botanist—is interested in having Verity paint a portrait of her son, Alexander, Verity jumps at the chance, but Camille won’t allow it. Forced to reveal the secret she’s kept for years, Camille tells Verity the truth one day: Verity is still seeing ghosts, she just doesn’t know it.

Stunned, Verity flees Highmoor that night and—with nowhere else to turn—makes her way to Bloem. At first, she is captivated by the lush, luxurious landscape and is quickly drawn to charming, witty, and impossibly handsome Alexander Laurent. And soon, to her surprise, a romance . . . blossoms.

But it’s not long before Verity is plagued with nightmares, and the darker side of Bloem begins to show through its sickly-sweet façade. . . .

 

My Review: This second book picks up a few years after the first book ended.

Some sisters are off living their lives. Camille is running the estate. Things seem normal again. 

Except when Verity introduces Camille to someone who is not there and the truth is revealed to her. 

In a haste, Verity leaves home in the night and goes to paint this portrait. It is all new to her. Leaving abruptly, going away from home, seeing a new town. 

It is a lot at first, but Verity is welcomed with such kindness (minus granny’s tude). She quickly becomes fond of Alex, and they explore the home for hours finding the right place to sketch and learning about each other. 

Things seem good, too good at that. As the end nears, things change quickly.

Siblings revealed experiments were more than just on plants.  Truth of Verity coming besides painting a portrait. In the end leaving a handful of people lost, a marriage and a whole new start you didn't see coming.

Compared to the first book, this one was better and held my attention more. Did I love this? No, it is still just okay for a series. I did not hate it, but I didn’t love it either. Overall, an okay series worth reading if you have the time.  

My Rating:

✪✪✪

House of Salt and Sorrows

House of Salt and Sorrows
by Erin Craig
 
Book: Sisters of the Salt #1
Publisher: Delecort
Pub Date: August 6, 2019 
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Horror
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Book Links: Goodreads  Amazon
 
In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.

 
My Review: Annaleigh just put another sister to rest. It seems something is always happening to tjem and theu constantly live in mourning clothes.  
 
Annaleigh thinks this is more than a curse. Her sister wouldnt have just fallen... she believes something else is causing this, or maybe a someone. She now takes it upon herself to figure it out. 
 
I do have to say, it took me a few tries to get through this book. I had to put it down a few times as the first 10 chapters alone were just so boring and slow paced. Annaleigh is the only character that made it somewhat bearable to get through this book. 
 
The stepmom reveals a surprise which all of a sudden mourning period isn't going to happen. Instead they plan to just skip the sadness and go right into the next stage of life. Picking out colors for new dresses and shoes and planning a ball for the triplets birthday. 
 
It took until about 80% of the book for it to finally grab my attention. Finally things are being reveald. Why people are dying, this curse isnt what it seems and so much unraveling occurs. At the very end is where it was for me and while I did like it and will read the second book, I won't exactly be jumping to it. 
 
It is simialr to Dark and Shallow Lies, so if you read that book and enjoyed it, this style is very similar and would.be right up your alley! 
 

My Rating:

✪✪✪