Leather and Lark by Brynne Weaver

Title: Leather and Lark (Ruinous Love #2)

Author: Brynne Weaver

Publisher: Zando 2024

Genre: Romance

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; 52 Book Club - Musical Instrument on Cover

Spice Rating: 5

Contract killer Lachlan Kane wants a quiet life working in his leather studio and forgetting all about his traumatic past. But when he botches a job for his boss’s biggest client, Lachlan knows he’ll never claw his way out of the underworld. At least, not until songbird Lark Montague offers him a deal: use his skills to hunt down a killer and she’ll find a way to secure his freedom. The catch? He has to marry her first.

And they can’t stand each other.

Indie singer-songwriter Lark is the sunshine and glitter that burns through every cloud and clings to every crevice that Lachlan Kane tries to hide inside. The surly older brother of her best friend’s soulmate, Lachlan thinks she’s just a privileged princess, but Lark has plenty of secrets hiding in the shadows of her bright light. With her formidable family in a tailspin and her best friend’s happiness on the line, she’s willing to make a vow to the man she’s determined to hate, no matter how tempting the broody assassin might be.

As Lachlan and Lark navigate the dark world that binds them together, it becomes impossible to discern their fake marriage from a real one. But it’s not just familiar dangers that haunt them.

There’s another phantom lurking on their doorstep.

And this one has come for blood.

After the amazingness of the first book in the series, I had to snatch up the second and immediately read it. Unfortunately Lark and Lachlan aren’t my favorite couple in the romance world. This volume is much more of a slow burn romance than the first. We really draw out the story here focusing on their relations with the families instead of each other. I didn’t need them to really get going in chapter 3, but waiting until practically the end was a bit much. And I did wish for more banter and smoldering than what we actually got. Still, I’m really enjoying this series and cannot wait for the last in the trilogy to be released.

Ruinous Love

• #1 Butcher and Blackbird

• #2 Leather and Lark

• #3 Scythe and Sparrow

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - The Ramona Flowers "Up All Night"

Last week I featured a song from Scott Pilgrim This week I’m featuring a band named after a character in that comics series. This one has such a great beat

Next up on the TBR pile:

Witch King by Martha Wells

Title: Witch King

Author: Martha Wells

Publisher: Tordotcom 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 415

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.

But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?

Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.

He’s not going to like the answers.

I finally picked this one up and unfortunately, it was a disappointment. I adore Wells’s Muderbot series and was hoping for more intriguing characters and adventures. This one is very lackluster in comparison. Kai was okay, but I didn’t really get his appeal throughout the book. There’s a lot of telling us that he’s very charming and charismatic, but we just don’t see it. He’s a morose, moping witch king throughout most of this book. The side characters are much more interesting, but we see precious little of some of them. The characters I could deal with. What ended up tanking this one for me was the complicated world building. Wells dumps the read straight in without much explanation. Okay, I can deal with that. But then proceeds to never really explain anything. The most clear explanations we get are when the child Kai rescues asks a direct question. Otherwise, we’re really left in the dark. I had trouble even visualizing a lot of what was going on throughout the chapters. I never really felt like I was immersed in this world. I felt like I was thrown in without a life raft. Not my cup of tea.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Title: Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2)

Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Publisher: Knopf Books 2016

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 659

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.
     The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.
     Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy's most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.
     When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station's wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.
     But relax. They've totally got this. They hope.
     Once again told through a compelling dossier of emails, IMs, classified files, transcripts, and schematics, Gemina raises the stakes of the Illuminae Files, hurling readers into an enthralling new story that will leave them breathless.

I am totally in with this series. Kicking myself for not reading it sooner! For the second book, we switch to Heimdall to meet two new characters and follow them through a harrowing action story. Hanna and Nik are fun characters (arguably Nik is way more fun than Ezra from Illuminae). We get another badass young woman who takes the rescue of the station very personally. We follow Hanna and Nik as they go up against an elite extermination squad and some unwanted newborns. I know that some people will be very grossed out by the aliens, but I loved the horror fun. This is my book series! I cannot wait to see what happens in the third book.

The Illuminae Files

• #0.5 Memento

• #1 Illuminae

• #2 Gemina

• #3 Obsidio

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Book of Scandal by Julia London

Title: The Book of Scandal

Author: Julia London

Publisher: Pocket Books 2008

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 360

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; She Reads Romance - Second Chance

Spice Rating: 4

Nathan Grey, the Earl of Lindsey, is infamously known as the Libertine of Lindsey for his scandalous ways with women. But when he hears gossip that his estranged wife, Evelyn, is about to be named in The Book of Scandal, he has no choice but to remove her from London to protect her and himself from charges of treason -- even if it calls for abduction! While Evelyn has no legal recourse against the man who broke her heart years ago but is still considered her lord and master, she is no longer the immature girl Nathan married. Her enforced homecoming quickly turns into a battle of wills that tears down her husband's defenses and lays bare the passion that still burns between them. Before it is too late, Nathan must confront powerful adversaries as he convinces Evelyn that she is not only his wife, but the one woman he will love for all time.

Another absolute dud of a book for me. This has been sitting on my Unread Shelf for a few years. I finally dive and absolutely hate it. This is a second chance romance that I could have gotten behind if not for how the infidelity was handled. Now cheating is one of my deal breakers. The setup of why it was introduced in this story I understood. It was the reconciliation that I hated. Evelyn thinks about maybe cheating with a man and spends the rest of the book begging and pleading Nathan for forgiveness. Nathan actually has sex with multiple women and absolutely nothing. It’s just swept under the rug because apparently not having an emotional connection with those women makes it okay and you know “men have needs.” Nope nope nope. I am very much out of this series. Removing the other two from my unread shelf. Done.

The Scandalous Series

• #1 The Book of Scandal

• #2 Highland Scandal

• #3 A Courtesan’s Scandal

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

Title: The Lost Bookshop

Author: Evie Woods

Publisher: One More Chapter 2023

Genre: Magical Realism

Pages: 435

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Lower Case on Spine; In Case You Missed It - 2023

‘The thing about books,’ she said ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.’

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found…

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.

But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder… where nothing is as it seems.

I won’t be around for this book discussion, but a friend had already told me that I needed to read this one, so off I went. And what a delight this was! We get three characters’ stories interwoven into a magical tale of books, stories, and identity. Martha and Henry are our present day characters, both running from situations and lives to something new. And we get Opaline back into 1920s also escaping an unwanted life. I love seeing all the parallels between the characters and timelines. Usually I don’t love a dual timeline book, but this one was done very well. I cared about all of the stories. I was rooting for both Opaline and Martha to find some semblance of happiness in this harsh world. And all throughout we get the magical nature of the lost bookshop and possible the house at 12 Ha’penny Lane. There was a section in the middle dealing with an asylum that was hard to get through, but the story pays off in the end. I’m sad to miss the discussion. But at least I can discuss it with a friend.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Summer Adventures - June

Instead of a summer bucket list, we are just taking the weeks as they come. But we ended up having many adventures this month.

Visited the Omaha Zoo complete with splash pad fun

Strawberry picking - we missed it last year

Used our quarterly pass to Bounce U

Took a walk at Fontenelle Forest

Took swimming lessons - The boys passed Level 1!

Pool time with friends! (We also had a mini pool party with a friend at her house.)

Despite their expressions, we loved going to see Inside Out 2

A very hot walk at the OPPD Arboretum

We stopped at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines

We also popped into Reiman Gardens. Such a beautiful place even if it was super hot.

Visited an indie bookstore (The Nook), yummy pizza (Urban Pie), and ice cream (The Vibe) in Cedar Falls

We spent an entire day at the Lost Island Waterpark

We also spent a day at the Lost Island Adventure Park

We had ice cream with friends (not pictured) at Graley’s to kick off our ice cream tour

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #11

Reading: Getting ready to dive into the 3rd book in The Illuminae Files series, Obsidio. I am really enjoying this series.

Watching: While I was gone, J started watching Barry S1. He paused, backed up, and restarted it so I could watch too. This is one of those shows that we wanted to watch when it aired, but then it got lost in the media shuffle.

Listening:I started S10 of the Revolutions podcast. This last full season is on the Russian Revolution. Eleven episodes in and we are just now covering anything to do with Russia. There was a lot of political and economic philosophy set-up to the season.

Making: We switched from Paprika to Mealie for our recipe management, so I need to make some meal plans for the rest of the summer. I like the interface, but the transfer is a bit of work.

Feeling: I wasn’t feeling great this past weekend (migraine), but thankfully I’m doing better. Ready to tackle the rest of the week.

Planning: Working on our late summer trip to Indiana and then Ohio and Michigan. I think I’ve got the basics mapped out. Now I need to work on hotels and restaurants.

Loving: After horrid hot days, a nice rainstorm moved in yesterday. It was so nice to wake up to the sound of the rain.

Next up on the TBR pile:

July 2024 Life Goals

Let’s check in on June’s goals and my progress.

• Read 18 Books - Not quite, I did get to 17.

• Pause All Library Holds (Except Book Club Selections) ✓ - I am doing so well finally!

• Schedule a Academic Coop Planning Meeting ✓

• Plan our Indiana Trip for late July, early August - in progress

July Goals:

• Read 18 Books

• Finish Planning Indiana Trip

• Complete Our Summer Bucket List (or at least come close)

• Prep August and September Homeschool Plans

• Get Academic Coop Off the Ground (planning meeting is July 14th)

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Metric feat. Brie Larson "Black Sheep"

Why do I keep coming back to old music? Still love it!

Next up on the TBR pile: