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[Book Review] Black Widow By Jennifer Estep & Coffee Beanery Caramel Apple
Gin Blanco, the badass ice and stone elemental wielding assassin with a seemingly perpetual target on her back, is back in the 12th installment of the Elemental Assassin series. The person targeting Gin this time around is very different from her usual adversaries – M.M. Monroe is calm, confident, and very very cunning, patiently bidding her time and quietly weaving a web of misfortune around Gin and her friends from behind the scenes using all the power money and connections can buy in a town as overrun with corruption as Ashland, and that’s before she even unleashes a drop of the powerful acid magic she has at her finger tips.
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[Book Review] The Resurrectionist By E.B. Hudspeth & Raven’s Brew Coffee Resurrection Blend
The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black is a book told in two parts; the first half is a fictional biography of Dr. Spencer Black, the second is a series of illustrations attributed to the doctor. When I picked up the book, the first thing I did was leaf through the illustrations in the back. I was immediately struck by how well-done and detailed they were and became fascinated with the combination of mythological creature anatomy and medical science – little did I know at the time, but after finishing the fictional biography part of the book, I would never look at those images the same again.
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[Book Review] The Circus Of The Damned By Cornelia Grey & Bean Devil Coffee Co. Oblivion
The Circus Of The Damned is set in a shadowy Victorian-esque world sprinkled with a few steampunk elements (I pictured it with kind of a Tim Burton goes to the circus kind of vibe) and populated with a cast of unique circus performers with unusual abilities, highly organized street thugs, and one frustratingly debonair devil.
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[Book Review] Stand By You By A.M. Arthur & Godiva Chocolate Truffle Coffee
Oh, man, I told myself I wasn’t going to cry… and then I did. Multiple times. Sad tears. Happy tears. “Oh, Honey” tears. I just wanted to give Romy a hug half the time. The other half of the time I wanted to hug Brendan. I’m just so happy they have each other to hug. This book was so emotional and sweet. It’s a slow burn, slow build romance between two men who care so so deeply for each other and it’s really a beautiful thing to watch.
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[Book Review] Precious Metals By L.A. Witt & Paramount Coffee Let It Snow: Mocha Mint
Precious Metals is the second book set in L.A. Witt’s Metals Universe – a series of standalone historical action/adventure romances set in a steampunk version of the Klondike Gold Rush – and follows the story of a young man desperate to return to the frozen Klondike gold fields to save his kidnapped younger brother, the Mountie assigned to help him, and the deep emotional and physical connection the two men develop while on their dangerous quest.
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[Book Review] A Groom For Christmas By Cara Marsi & Starbucks Christmas Blend
I love Hallmark Christmas movies. They’re feel-good movies at their finest and they get me through the stress of the holiday season. They’re a little too cutesy, and cliché as all get out, but also so heartwarming and romantic - they’re my guilty little pleasure and I just can’t get enough of them. A Groom For Christmas reads exactly like a Hallmark Christmas movie. (Well maybe not exactly like a Hallmark Christmas movie, but if Hallmark movies were x-rated, then it would be exactly like a Hallmark Christmas movie - this book has a couple pretty explicit, steamy scenes)
books, mindful living, and everyday magic
