Hoohoo, friends of the Blade.
There isn’t much happening in my personal life these days. I’m basically just working and seeing friends and stressing over stressing too much. That’s it. But I went to the cinema a couple of times! I saw Nosferatu (2024) with my partner and my cousin and we had such a fun evening with food and film discussions. The film was okay, especially the scenery and Lily Rose Depp were amazing. I also saw the newest Count of Monte Cristo and while I’ve seen better films, I am absolutely stunned by the costumes!! Leather coat in slow motion, nice sword fights, other coat in slow motion, scenic landscape,… Revenge has never been sexier.
And then I also saw my favourite movie of all time (well, after LOTR): Pride & Prejudice (2005). The cinema was completely sold out, everyone laughed and sighed at the right instances, I went with my friend who drove two hours just for this, my partner and my partner’s sister and also met hsi best friend and her partner and also my coworker, so really this was a group event. If you ever have the chance to see your fave film in the cinema, go and watch it, the experience is something else entirely. 10/10 would recommend.
Now, let’s head over to the bookish part of the wrap up.
BOOKS I READ
Angel’s Blood by Nalini Singh
Guild Hunter #1
Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux is hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael. But this time, it’s not a wayward vamp she has to track. It’s an archangel gone bad.
The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other–and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion. Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break.
Read this book about 15 years ago for the first time, loved it, then never continued the series. Now I’m back and I don’t like it as much anymore. It’s still a very okay read with sexy vampires and sexier angels which I’m totally here for, but I didn’t enjoy Angel’s Blood as much as I thought I would. Will I continue the series? Probably.
My Vampire Plus-One by Jenna Levine
My Vampires #2
Amelia Collins is tired of constant questions about her non-existent dating life, so she decides to get everyone off her back once and for all by inviting the worst person she can find to pose as her date to a family wedding: Reginald Cleaves.
Reginald is extremely handsome (which is not in his favour for Amelia’s purposes), but he’s also rude, infuriatingly arrogant, and wears a riot of clashing clothes that make him look like he got dressed in a skip – all factors in the plus column.
And the date goes well: everyone at the wedding, including Amelia, is horrified by Reginald and his actions, which include crashing the bar, starting up a breakdancing routine on the dance floor, and encouraging the kids to play frisbee with the fine china being used for dinner. (It really is a shame he’s so attractive).
After the evening is over, Reginald admits to Amelia that he’s a vampire, which doesn’t frighten her the way he expects it will. In fact, she asks if he would be willing to accompany her to a few more events over the course of the summer to help her further her goals of getting everyone to leave her alone. But there’s a fine line between love and hate, and the last thing either of them expects is there might be a growing spark between them…
Yes hello, I love Reginald “I suggested blood play” Cleaves, weirdest vampire around town. But also very sweet and caring and I couldn’t help but root for him. I wasn’t his biggest fan in the first book and was slightly skeptical about this book but I love Amelia and Reginald and how they are such opposites but work so well together. A very fun read and I’d love to read more about those Chicago vampires, please and thank you.
A Werewolf’s Guide to Seducing a Vampire by Sarah Hawley
Glimmer Falls #3
Werewolf Ben Rosewood is happy with his life. One hundred percent. Everything is fine. His business, Ben’s Plant Emporium, is thriving, and he’s even expanding the shop. His anxiety disorder is…well, it’s been better, but that comes with the territory of running a business and having beastly urges every full moon, right? As for romance—who has the time? Though his family is desperate to see him settled, Ben is fine approaching forty as a single werewolf. But after drunkenly bidding on and winning a supposedly-possessed crystal on eBay one night, he finds himself face-to-face with a beautiful but angry vampire.
Eleanora Bettencourt-Devereux is a rare breed—a vampire succubus born from two elite European bloodlines during medieval times. But thanks to an evil witch, she’s been stuck in a crystal since she was thirty, forced to obey orders from the possessor of the rock. Eleanora’s been dreaming of breaking the spell and severing the witch’s head for centuries. But did this witch really sell her to someone new, and for only ninety-nine cents?
Eleanora would claw this werewolf’s heart out and eat it, if only the binding spell would allow her to. But Eleanora and Ben soon realize they can help each other with both vengeful and less hostile needs. And why not have a little fun along the way?
We’re sensing a theme with my January reads, aren’t we? We’re staying in the quirky urban fantasy corner to enjoy a fun, lighthearted romance that has deeper topics as well. I simply love the whole Glimmer Falls series and they just get better from book to book and I love seeing the characters from the previous books still kicking ass (literally). I loved how fierce Eleanora was and how she didn’t take shit from anyone while Ben was the sweetest person in existence just trying to do right by her. My heart is full of love and happiness when I think of them.
The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson
Mackenzie hasn’t had a successful date in months. She’s only a year out of residency, and her grandmother’s obsession with finding the perfect mate threatens to drive her barking mad, so it should be a small thing when she lies about meeting someone . . . until she blurts out the name of the last man she would ever date: Noah ‘The Big Bad Wolf of Denver General’ Taylor.
Noah, interventional cardiologist and all-round grump, has spent his entire life hiding what he is – an unmated alpha. But when an anonymous tip brings everything to light, he’s left with two choices: come clean to the board and risk his career or find himself a mate. So, when the chatty, overly friendly ER doctor asks him to be her fake boyfriend the same day he’s called to meet the board, it must be kismet, right?
Mackenzie gets her grandmother off her back, and Noah gets the chance to prove he can continue to work without a real mate – it’s a mutually beneficial business transaction. But when the fake-mate act turns to a very real friends-with-benefits arrangement, lines start to blur, and they quickly realise love is a whole different kind of animal.
Uhhh. I’m not sure what I just read there but I didn’t like it much? There was a lot happening with the drama, the families, the fake dating, fake mating, friendships and it was all a bit chaotic while also being kind of uninteresting. The pacing was just off and I can’t remember anything really except that there was a gay best friend who helps her dress for her date and there was a lot of sex (to the point of me rolling my eyes because not again, please, give me a bit of story). Eh.
Not Another Love Song by Juli Soto
Gwen Jackson and Xander Thorne are both musical prodigies, but each has had very different paths to success. Xander was born into classical music royalty, while Gwen had a natural ear for music that was nurtured by a kind shop owner.
After Gwen performs at his friend’s wedding, she’s mortified when she realizes Xander has no clue who she is—despite having worked together for a year at the Pops Orchestra. But she’s more furious that he arrogantly critiques her performance.
When Gwen is offered the role of First Chair of the orchestra, something Xander had secretly coveted for years, their existing hostility goes up a notch. But their respect for each other’s music is undeniable, and their onstage chemistry off the scale. As they begin to explore their feelings for one another, suddenly they’re box office dynamite and the fragile romance that’s growing between them is in danger of being crushed beneath a publicity stunt…
I loved this!! I loved the musical aspect and how its woven into every part of the story, not just are the characters musicians but their whole lives are somehow melodies and symphonies and notes and I liked how metaphors were used and how changes were described in music. Also, this was a Star Wars fic and it shows, I’m here for it.
BOOK HAUL
A Monsoon Rising by Thea Guanzon
The Hurricane Wars #2
After a lifetime of war, Alaric and Talasyn were thrust into an alliance between their homelands that was supposed to end the fighting; however, being married to their sworn foe feels far from peaceful. Now Talasyn must play the part of Alaric’s willing empress while her allies secretly plot to overthrow his reign. But the longer the couple are forced together, the harder it becomes to deny the feelings crackling like lightning between them. When the time comes to act, can she trust him, or must she ignore her heart for the sake of so many others?
As the master of the Shadowforged Legion, Alaric has trained for battle all his life, but marrying a Lightweaver might be his most dangerous challenge yet. With tensions between nations churning, he needs to focus on the greater threat—the Moonless Dark, a cataclysmic magical event that could devour everything. Only he and Talasyn can stop it, with a powerful merging of light and shadow that they alone can create together. But saving their world from this disaster is a mere preface to his father’s more sinister schemes, and his wife is a burning flame in the darkness, tempting both his loyalties and his desires.
The Hurricane Wars aren’t over. It’s time to choose what—and who—to fight for. The world holds its breath amidst a whirlwind of new magic and old secrets that could change everything.
A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson
London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivian Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.
With her parents arrested and her sister missing, all the safety Viv has worked for is collapsing around her. So when a lifeline is offered in the form of a mysterious ‘job’, she grabs it. Arriving at Bletchley Park, Viv discovers that she has been recruited as a codebreaker helping the war effort – if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die.
At first Viv believes that her challenge, of discovering the secrets of a hidden dragon language, is doable. But the more she learns, the more she realises that the bubble she’s grown up in isn’t as safe as she thought, and eventually Viv must What war is she really fighting?
Now that’s my January wrapped up! How was your January? What did you read? Did you see any films, wether it was in a cinema or on a smaller screen?
Until next time,
