Monthly Wrap-Up — March 2020

Hi everyone and welcome to the third wrap-up of the year. March may not have been the best month with everything that's happening and I hope everyone is staying safe and doing well. Reading-wise I had a very good month, though. I read a lot of books that I know will be all time favorites for years to come. I finally had my first five star read of the year and even my second. You can find them below.

Also, I'm super behind on posting my reviews but I swear they're coming!

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1. Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa (audiobook) — 4/5★ (Review to come)

2. A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes — 4/5★ (Review to come)

3. Tell Me Lies by J.P. Pomare (audiobook) — 4/5★ (Review to come)

4. Administrations of Lunacy by Mab Segrest — DNF (Review to come)

5. Mating Theory by Skye Warren — 5/5★ (My Review)

6. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas — 5/5★ (Review to come)

7. The Beast by Katee Robert — 4/5★ (Review to come)

8. Twice a Wish by Pepper Winters — 4.5/5★ (Review to come)

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Favorite book of the month:

BOUND BY BLOOD.
TEMPTED BY DESIRE.
UNLEASHED BY DESTINY.

Bryce Quinlan used to light up Crescent City, partying all night in the clubs where the strict classes of angel, shifter, human and Fae merge intona sea of beautiful bodies.

And the a demon murdered her closest friends.

Two years later, when the supposed killer is behind bars but the ceimes start up again, the city's leaders command Bryce to help investigate. They assign an enslaved fallen angel, Hunt Athalar, to make sure she does. But as Bryce fights to uncover the truth - and resist her attraction to the brooding angel who shadows her every step - she finds herself following a trail that leads deep into her own dark past.

This book was just epic! I still need to post my review which I'm hoping to do soon but oh my god I loved it so so so much. And I have a feeling no other book is going to beat it for favorite book of the year. Yes, it was that good. It reminded me of the urban fantasy books I used to read years ago. SO GOOD!

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What was your favorite book of March?

Cover Reveal: Third a Kiss by Pepper Winters

   

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Title: Third A Kiss

Series: Goddess Isles #3

Genre: Dark Romance

Author: Pepper Winters

Release Day: April 21, 2020

Release Tour: April 22 - 24, 2020

Cover Designer: Cover It! Designs

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“There was hate once. Hate born from dangerous attraction and fate’s cruel design.
There was love once. Love destined to kill us if we didn’t surrender to our war.”
Eleanor Grace suffers an awful affliction. She’s falling for a man who doesn’t deserve her affection or her forgiveness. But there is no cure, so she does something reckless, stupid—she throws safety to the sea and leaps into danger.
Sully Sinclair suffers the same affliction. He’s falling for a goddess who will never earn his trust or his heart if he can help it. However, he wasn’t prepared for the lengths she’d go. How far she’d push to either stop such a bond or kill them both trying.
An elixir given to a monster.
A goddess running for her life.
An ending neither of them can survive. 

Finished Book One and Two? Join the discussion group HERE!

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Love Sully? Check out Pepper's merchandise shop!

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Enter the Cover Reveal Giveaway HERE!

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Pepper Winters is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today International Bestseller. With a catalogue of over twenty titles, she’s hit the bestselling lists over thirty times.
She loves romance, star-crossed lovers, and the forbidden taboo. She strives to write a story that makes the reader crave what they shouldn’t, and delivers tales with complex plots and unforgettable characters.
After chasing her dreams to become a full-time writer, Pepper has earned recognition with awards for best Dark Romance, best BDSM Series, and best Hero. She’s an #1 iBooks bestseller, along with #1 in Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, and Erotica Thriller. She’s also honoured to wear the IndieReader Badge for being a Top 10 Indie Bestseller.
After releasing two books with Grand Central, Hachette (Ruin & Rule and Sin & Suffer) Pepper is a Hybrid Author of both Traditional and Self-published work.
Represented by Trident Media, her books have garnered foreign interest and are currently being translated into numerous languages, including already released titles in Italian, French, Hebrew, German, and Turkish. Audio Books for her entire back-list will be available soon.

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ARC Review: The Earl Takes a Fancy by Lorraine Heath

Title: The Earl Takes a Fancy
Author: Lorraine Heath
Series: Sins for All Seasons #5
Publication: March 31st 2020 by Avon
Genre: Historical Romance
Purcase it on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Play | Kobo
Rating: 4/5★

New York Times bestselling author Lorraine Heath pens another richly satisfying romance in her Sins for all Seasons series.

She’s looking for a nobleman to wed…

Though born out of wedlock, Fancy Trewlove is determined to fulfill her mother’s wish that she marry into nobility. Fancy’s keen intellect and finishing school manners make her the perfect wife for any gentleman—if he’s willing to overlook her scandalous lineage. But Fancy’s plans are thrown into chaos when an intriguing commoner begins visiting her bookshop—and she finds herself unable to stop thinking about him.

He’s looking to escape his title…

Widowed just a year ago, the reclusive Matthew Sommersby, Earl of Rosemont, has been besieged by women hoping to become his next wife. Desperate for anonymity, he sheds Society life to search for the peace that eludes him. Fancy’s shop is his one refuge, until the night their passion erupts into a kiss that nearly leads to her ruin—and leaves both longing for much more.

Together, they discover an unlikely love…

As Fancy finds herself torn between her family’s expectations and her growing feelings for Matthew, secrets are exposed—secrets that force Fancy to question if she can trust her heart’s desire...

So first of all, this is a series that can also be read as standalones. This is kind of the way I'm reading them, I guess. Because I've only read the previous book, The Duchess in His Bed, which is book #4 (because of Gen's beautiful review on her blog Whispering Chapters) and now The Earl Takes a Fancy, which is book #5. I haven't read the first three books but I really want to because this series has easily become one of my favorite historical romance series. I love it so much!

This book was so much fun to read. It had everything I love in a historical romance or even just romance in general. It was like my eyes were glued on my Kindle screen and could hardly stop reading. And I just know that this story and especially the heroine who's name is Fancy will speak to so many readers who have a love for books and reading like I do. Also, how awesome is this title? I love it!

The Earl Takes a Fancy was a wonderful and beautiful love story. This is only the second book I've read by Lorraine Heath but she definitely has gotten a new fan in me. This story was one I just couldn't help but totally adore. It had a bookworm heroine (who has her own bookshop!), a cynical but oh so swoonworthy hero and togeter they hot some blazing hot chemistry together. I loved the romance so very much.

About the author:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lorraine Heath always dreamed of being a writer. After graduating from the University of Texas, she wrote training manuals, press releases for a publicist, articles, and computer code, but something was always missing. When she read a romance novel, she became not only hooked on the genre, but quickly realized what her writing lacked: rebels, scoundrels, and rogues. She's been writing about them ever since. Her work has been recognized with numerous industry awards including RWA's RITA(R).
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Review: Barbarians at the Wall: The First Nomadic Empire and the Making of China by John Man

Title: Barbarians at the Wall: The First Nomadic Empire and the Making of China
Author: John Man
Publication: January 23rd 2020 by Corgi
Genre: Nonfiction, History, Ancient History
Purchase it on: Amazon | Book Depository | Google Play
Rating: 4/5★

'Man does for the reader that most difficult of tasks: he conjures up an ancient people in an alien landscape in such a way as to make them live.' - Guardian

The people of the first nomadic empire left no written records, but from 200 BC they dominated the heart of Asia for 400 years. They changed the world. The Mongols, today’s descendants of Genghis Khan, see them as ancestors. Their rise cemented Chinese unity and inspired the first Great Wall. Their heirs under Attila the Hun helped destroy the Roman Empire.

We don’t know what language they spoke, but they became known as Xiongnu, or Hunnu, a term passed down the centuries and across Eurasia, enduring today in shortened form as ‘Hun’. Outside Asia precious little is known of their rich history, but new evidence reframes our understanding of the indelible mark they left on a vast region stretching from Europe and sweeping right across Central Asia deep into China.

Based on meticulous research and new archaeological evidence, Barbarians at the Wall traces their epic story, and shows how the nomadic cultures of the steppes gave birth to a ‘barbarian empire’ with the wealth and power to threaten the civilised order of the ancient world.

I've previously enjoyed Amazons: The Real Warrior Women of the Ancient World by John Man so when I saw Barbarians at the Wall: The First Nomadic Empire and the Making of China at the bookstore I decided to buy it to see if I would like another one of his books. And I did! Which made me insanely happy because it's always nice to discover a new author and continue to enjoy their books. 

This book is about the Xiongnu, the first nomadic empire. It also focuses on their relationship with ancient China. This was a topic I knew next to nothing about but it was so fascinating to read about their story. I was very much hooked and I also really liked looking at the photographs included in the book. 

This quote from Guardian says it all really: 

'Man does for the reader that most difficult of tasks: he conjures up an ancient people in an alien landscape in such a way as to make them live.'

This author certainly did all that and especially with a nonfiction that is hard to do but somehow he really managed it. 

About the author:
John Anthony Garnet Man is a British historian and travel writer. His special interests are China, Mongolia and the history of written communication. He takes particular pleasure in combining historical narrative with personal experience.

He studied German and French at Keble College, Oxford, before doing two postgraduate courses, a diploma in the History and Philosophy of Science at Oxford and Mongolian at the School of Oriental and African Studies, completing the latter in 1968. After working in journalism with Reuters and in publishing with Time-Life Books, he turned to writing, with occasional forays into film, TV and radio.

In the 1990s, he began a trilogy on the three major revolutions in writing: writing itself, the alphabet and printing with movable type. This has so far resulted in two books, Alpha Beta and The Gutenberg Revolution, both republished in 2009. The third, on the origin of writing, is on hold, because it depends on access to Iraq.

He returned to the subject of Mongolia with Gobi: Tracking the Desert, the first book on the region since the 1920s. Work in Mongolia led to Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection, which has so far appeared in 18 languages. Attila the Hun and Kublai Khan: The Mongol King Who Remade China completed a trilogy on Asian leaders. A revised edition of his book on Genghis Khan, with the results of an expedition up the mountain on which he is supposed to be buried, was upcoming in autumn 2010.

The Terracotta Army coincided with the British Museum exhibition (September 2007- April 2008). This was followed by The Great Wall. The Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan combines history and leadership theory. Xanadu: Marco Polo and the Discovery of the East was published in autumn 2009, and Samurai: The Last Warrior, the story of Saigō Takamori's doomed 1877 rebellion against the Japanese emperor, was published in February 2011.

In 2007 John Man was awarded Mongolia's Friendship Medal for his contributions to UK-Mongolian relations.
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