Stolen Vows by Sav R. Miller

Title: Stolen Vows (Black Rose Auction #3)

Author: Sav R. Miller

Publisher: Trinkets and Tales 2025

Genre: Romance

Pages: 288

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Preordered

Spice Rating: 6

For three days, the doors to this luxe New York estate are thrown wide for anyone with a taste
for the obscenely rich, the ultra-exclusive, and the once in a lifetime thrill of the forbidden: where
nothing is off the table and everything—and everyone—can be had for the claiming.

In STOLEN VOWS by Sav R. Miller, a Rapunzel remix, a virgin is forced to marry a
mafia heir determined to kill anyone who touches her—only to flee from him the day
after their wedding. But he's done waiting and has the perfect trap in mind to lure her
back...

Not my favorite within this series so far, but a pretty decent Rapunzel story. We get our FMC being kept int a proverbial tower and a MMC attempting to rescue her. But of course, we are going to twist the story to fit our dark romance tropes. We get a very broody, dangerous MMC attempting to rescue our FMC but also stumbling around tragically. I liked seeing their dynamic once we actually get to the auction, but the lead up was a bit much. It took so long to get there that I started to lose just a bit of interest. Once we get our characters back together, I was enjoying things but also a bit frustrated that the two characters could never actually speak to each other. Oh well. It was a decent romance novella.

Black Rose Auction

#1 Wicked Pursuit
#2 Divine Intervention
#3 Stolen Vows
#4 Irresistible Devil
#5 Shattered Innocence
#6 Royal Heart

Next up on the TBR pile:

We are Legion by Dennis E. Taylor

Title: We are Legion (We are Bob) (Bobiverse #1)

Author: Dennis E. Taylor

Publisher: Ethan Ellenberg 2016

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 299

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

Where I Got It: Our server

Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street. Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets. The stakes are high: no less than the first claim to entire worlds. If he declines the honor, he'll be switched off, and they'll try again with someone else. If he accepts, he becomes a prime target. There are at least three other countries trying to get their own probes launched first, and they play dirty. The safest place for Bob is in space, heading away from Earth at top speed. Or so he thinks. Because the universe is full of nasties, and trespassers make them mad - very mad.

I finally (after years of J encouraging me) read the first of the Bobiverse books. it took me a few chapters to really get into the story, mostly until Bob dies. Once we enter into the world of the Bobiverse, I got sucked into the story. I really enjoyed following along to see all the different iterations of Bob. The narration gives them just enough distinct personalities to keep everyone straight. Ryker and Homer are my favorites hands-down. I love their enemies to friends relationship. I sped through the book during a few slow weekend days. There were so many interesting developments that I’m definitely going be continuing the series.

Bobiverse

#1 We are Legion (We are Bob)
#2 For We are Many
#3 All These Worlds
#4 Heaven’s River
#5 Not Till We are Lost

Next up on the TBR pile:

September 2025 Wrap-up

September TBR Pile (13/14):

Bookworms BC: The Antidote by Karen Russell ✓
Bookworms BC: A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck ✓
Friend BC: Lone Women by Victor Lavalle ✓
Nerdy Bookish Friends: The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud ✓
Kid Book Club: The Story Collector by Kirstin O’Donnell Tubb ✓
Kid Read Aloud: Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne ✓
Kid Read Aloud: The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown ✓
Kid Read Aloud: Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Romance: Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto ✓
Romance: Irresistible Devil by Jenny Nordbak ✓
Scifi: Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove ✓
Horror: Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson ✓
Horror: In the Shadow of Spindrift House by Mira Grant ✓
Nonfiction: Dr. Mütter’s Marvels by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz ✓

1,000,000 Page Goal

Monthly Total: 3667 pages
Pages Remaining: 132,293 pages

Current Read - We are Legion by Dennis E. Taylor; Stolen Vows by Sav R. Miller

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Books Bought/Received (0)

UnRead Shelf Progress

Starting Number: 307
Books Read: 4 (antidote, lone women, irresistible, of monsters)
Books Acquired: 0
Books Unshelved: 0
Finishing Number: 303

October TBR Pile:

Bookworms BC: A Short Stay in Hell by Steven Peck (already read)
Friend BC: North Woods by Daniel Mason
Nerdy Bookish Friends: The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (already read)
Kid Book Club: The Bellwoods Game by Celia Krampien
Kid Read Aloud: Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Romance: Stolen Vows by Sav R. Miller
Science Fiction: We are Legion (We are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor

Movies Watched

Suicide Club
The City of Lost Children
Nobody 2
Death of a Unicorn

TV Shows Watched

Finding Stray Kids: Get Edition (2022)
Foundation S3
The Nice Guy S1
Babylon 5 S1
Only Murders in the Building S5
Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy
SKZ Code (2023)
SKZ Talker (2023)
SKZ Talker-Go (2023)

Comments -

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W7: Two Weeks of Pushing Through

What We Studied

We’ve actually had our first Flex Week and a regular week these two past weeks. Our Flex Weeks are unplanned curriculum weeks that we can use to catch up with anything we got behind in and/or give us a break. We also had two weeks of activities and errands.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G6 for his language arts this year. While I love H&S, there’s never enough literature in there. Thankfully we have a stack of books just waiting to be picked up and read. Beyond H&S, we are focusing on expanding vocabulary and reading comprehension this year. We started our next read aloud, getting close to the end, but not quite finishing it. This is actually our co-op book club selection for September.

Poetry: Hearth & Story G6
Poetry: A Child’s Introduction to Poetry by Michael Driscoll
The Vocabulary Workbook for 6th Grade by Kelly Anne McLellan
The Story Collector by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G3 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 3 and random books that we have around the house. We are also starting the Reading Explorer series to focus on reading comprehension and word choice. We started one of my favorite books getting about halfway through the book in these weeks. We should be able to finish next week without a big problem.

Poetry: National Geography Book of Nature Poetry
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World by Virginia Hamilton

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 2. Effectively this is Singapore’s 7th grade math text. We continued Chapter 2 focusing on integers. I think this book will force us to slow down a bit and take more time for mastery. We don’t have formal logic book this year, but are focusing on lots of critical thinking and math puzzles.

Math in Focus Course 2 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 3B and 4A. We finished up our logic book before moving to more complicated puzzles. We started our next chapter about money.

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 3B

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Modern History Vol. 1. Unfortunately CC only has volume 1 published so far. This will take us to Christmas break. If they don’t release volume 2 by then, I’m going to have to do it myself. We covered two sections: one on Latin America and one on the failure of Reconstruction and end of slavery.

Curiosity Chronicles Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
A Journey Through Art

Quentin is using Build Your Library Level 5 to begin our two year exploration of American History. We finished our study of indigenous cultures in North America. We also finished watching Native America S2. I really enjoyed the documentaries in the series.

History Quest United States History
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
A Kid's Guide to Native American History by Yvonne Wakim Dennis and Arlene Hirschfelder
The Earth Under Sky Bear's Feet: Native American Poems of the Land by Joseph Bruchac and Thomas Locker
Turtle Island: The Story of North America’s First People by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger
What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion and Renewal by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger
Native American Stories for Kids: 12 Traditional Stories from Indigenous Tribes Across North America by Tom Pecore Weso
The Girl Who Helped Thunder and Other Native American Folktales by James and Joseph Bruchac
Native Americans: A Visual Exploration SN Paleja

Science

Arthur is using RSO Earth and Environment 2 and later RSO Astronomy 2 for science. Arthur covered the chapter about absolute dating in geology. He also completed his first science test.

RSO Earth and Environment 2 (August-November; March-May)
RSO Astronomy 2 (November-March)
DK Eyewitness Energy

Quentin is using RSO Physics 1. We covered the chapter about friction exploring some topics and terminology.

RSO Physics 1
The Story of Science Vol. 1 by Joy Hakim
Physics: Investigate the Mechanics of Nature by Jane Gardner
Physics for Curious Kids Introduction
The Way Things Work Now
Why Do Moving Objects Slow Down? A Look at Friction by Jennifer Boothroyd
Energy by Andi Diehn
Give It a Push! Give It a Pull! A Look at Forces by Jennifer Boothroyd
All About Forces by Angela Royston

Enrichment STEAM Co-op

We’re so close to finishing Enrichment for the year. The boys had fun exploring geometry and art in these weeks. Only one more to go before we are done!

Art and Music

DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge
The Story of the Incredible Orchestra by Bruce Koscielniak

Field Trip/Activities

We visited Vala’s multiple times these past weeks. .

High

Um… Vala’s I guess. I do love going there in the fall.

Low

Changes in Nick’s work schedule caused changes in my activity schedule interrupting our plans. Oh well. Sometimes things do not go as planned.

Next Week

Finishing our read aloud and possibly starting new ones
Moving forward with our math chapters
Learning about the European invasion of North America (Q) and the Reservation System (A) for history
Covering erosion and weather (A) and motion (Q) for science
Prepping for Physics with Academic Co-op (A)
Listening to Mozart
Visiting Vala’s and the Zoo
Getting school pictures taken for the year!
Attending the last week of Enrichment Co-op for 2025!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Jungkook "Standing Next to You"

It’s a K-Pop summer! After doing my Top 10 Stray Kids songs, I decided to focus on some other K-Pop groups and people that I enjoy.

Jungkook’s album was much harder to pick a favorite. Really I love every song on Golden, but I had to narrow it down. I went with “Standing Next to You” mainly because this song always makes me want to get up and groove along with it. So good!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #25

As I look outside my window: It’s dark outside… the day really got away from me. So many tasks to be completed and errands to run.

Right now I am: Relaxing and watching some television before reading and bed.

On my bedside table: I made a small stack of spooky books to hopefully get to before November.

On my tv this week: Not much of anything. I was gone most nights this past week so no regular television watching. We did sneak in a few episodes of Only Murderers in the Building. I also watched some 2023 episodes of SKZ Code.

Listening to: All my playlists on shuffle. I’ve been alternating between K-Pop and Heavy Bangers.

On the menu for this week:

Monday - Tuna Melts
Tuesday - Apple-Cheddar Stuffed Chicken
Wednesday - Ham and Potato Soup
Thursday - Avocado, Bruschetta Chicken
Friday - Pizza Night
Saturday - Seafood Stew
Sunday - Tater Tot Casserole

On my to do list: I need to buckle down and finish my Academic Co-op lesson plans for Regional History. I have two out of the nine weeks completed. The rest I have started, but need to nail down and finish. We start on October 9th.

Happening this week:

Monday -Vala’s Visit
Tuesday - School Pictures
Wednesday - Zoo Visit
Thursday - Last Enrichment Co-op of 2025!
Friday - Vala’s Visit
Saturday - Co-op Book Club
Sunday - Home Day

What I am creating: Nothing beyond lesson plans. Ugh!

My simple pleasures: Time with friends, a good night’s sleep

Looking around the house: I need to spend some time early this week and clean up the kitchen better, vacuum the playroom and dining room, and do a ton of laundry.

From the camera: Another visit to the Christmas bar after Bingo Loco. I really love the vibe in there.

The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud

Title: The Strange

Author: Nathan Ballingrud

Publisher: Saga Press 2023

Genre: Science Fiction; Horror

Pages: 304

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; I Read Horror - Black, Gray, Orange, or Red Cove

Where I Got It: Library

Since Anabelle’s mother left for Earth to care for her own ailing mother, her days in New Galveston have been spent at school and her nights at her laconic father’s diner with Watson, the family Kitchen Engine and dishwasher, as her only companion. When the Silence came, and communication and shipments from Earth to its colonies on Mars stopped, life seemed stuck in foreboding stasis until the night Silas Mundt and his gang attacked.

At once evoking the dreams of an America explored in Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chroniclesand the harsher realities of frontier life in Charles Portis True Grit, Ballingrud’s “brilliant” (Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of The Cabin at the End of the World) novel is haunting in its evocation of Annabelle’s quest for revenge amidst a spent and angry world accompanied by a domestic Engine, a drunken space pilot, and the toughest woman on Mars.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

Title: Lone Women

Author: Victor LaValle

Publisher: One World 2023

Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction

Pages: 275

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project; Spooky Season; Read Around the USA - Montana

Where I Got It: The Bookworm, Omaha NE March 2024

Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear.

The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will become one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can tame it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing that will help her survive the harsh territory.

This was perfect! We dive headfirst into a bleak and unforgiving story of a women attempting to survive on her own in the wilds. We don’t know exactly why Adelaide is running from California, but we know that it was bad. We follow her to Montana where she faces a different set of struggles. Along the way, we meet a varied cast of characters, all of whom are suspicious in their motives at least once. I found myself really rooting for Adelaide to survive and come out stronger than ever. There is violence in this book. There is some spookiness in this book. But ultimately, I found a lot of strength and hope in these pages. This is my brand of feminist rage!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dr. Mutter's Marvels by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz

Title: Dr. Mütter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine

Author: Cristin O’Keefe Aptoqicz

Publisher: Avery 2014

Genre: Nonfiction - History, Medicine

Pages: 371

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Nonfiction Reader; Cover Lover - Depiction of a Famous Person

Where I Got It: Library

A mesmerizing biography of the brilliant and eccentric medical innovator who revolutionized American surgery and founded the country’s most famous museum of medical oddities

Imagine undergoing an operation without anesthesia, performed by a surgeon who refuses to sterilize his tools—or even wash his hands. This was the world of medicine when Thomas Dent Mütter began his trailblazing career as a plastic surgeon in Philadelphia during the mid-nineteenth century.

Although he died at just forty-eight, Mütter was an audacious medical innovator who pioneered the use of ether as anesthesia, the sterilization of surgical tools, and a compassion-based vision for helping the severely deformed, which clashed spectacularly with the sentiments of his time. Brilliant, outspoken, and brazenly handsome, Mütter was flamboyant in every aspect of his life. He wore pink silk suits to perform surgery, added an umlaut to his last name just because he could, and amassed an immense collection of medical oddities that would later form the basis of Philadelphia’s renowned Mütter Museum.

I’m always interested in micro-history books and this one did not disappoint. We dive into the life of Thomas Mütter, exploring the world of medicine in the early 1800s along the way. I loved how the author tried to explain some of the choices of Mutter by pointing to other events and trends of the day. We get a comprehensive look of the time. We get an in-depth and oftentimes gory look at medicine. Do not pick it up if you are squeamish at all. But for the rest of us, it was a fascinating journey. My only issues are that the overall story meanders some times dragging my reading speed down. If I ever go back to Philadelphia, I definitely want to visit the Mütter Museum. Unfortunately, I was last there when the twins were 10 and they were definitely a bit young for that museum. Still, the book was a very interesting biography in context.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Irresistible Devil by Jenny Nordbak

Title: Irresistible Devil (Black Rose Auction #4)

Author: Jenny Nordbak

Publisher: Trinkets and Tales 2025

Genre: Romance

Pages: 271

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Preordered

Spice Rating: 6

For three days, the doors to this luxe New York estate are thrown wide for anyone with a taste for the obscenely rich, the ultra-exclusive, and the once in a lifetime thrill of the forbidden: where nothing is off the table and everything—and everyone—can be had for the bargaining.

In IRRESISTIBLE DEVIL by Jenny Nordbak, a Rumpelstiltskin remix, a society darling is willing to make any bargain to benefit her family, but each deal draws her deeper into a dark and decadent world ruled by the dangerous man who's been pulling her strings from the start...

I enjoyed the Katee Robert story in this series. I did not enjoy the RM Virtues story in this collection. I was hoping that this one was going to be a hit and it was. I am always drawn to the villains in stories as they are much more complex and interesting. In this one, we finally get to explore Reaper (Rumplestiltskin) and learn more about his own wants and desires. I knew he was going to be a great character. I was just concerned that he wouldn’t find his partner. Thankfully Juliet shows a spark right away and continues to grow and strength throughout the story. I was glad that she didn’t immediately submit to Reaper, but ended up finding her own path even if it was difficult. We get to see her come into her own identity and eventually take what she wants. I sped through this book in two days not wanting to put it down for even a minute.

Black Rose Auction

#1 Wicked Pursuit
#2 Divine Intervention
#3 Stolen Vows
#4 Irresistible Devil
#5 Shattered Innocence
#6 Royal Heart

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

Stormy weather has thankfully broken the high temps. I am much more comfortable now.
I think my reading mojo is back. I have blown through multiple books this week, even while still reading fan fiction. I’m so excited! I might actually get to 230 books this year.
All my dinner recipes have celebrated fall flavors. I cannot get enough of fall!
I should really pull out my fall home decor. I pulled the bins, but did nothing with them last weekend.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck

Title: A Short Stay in Hell

Author: Steven L. Peck

Publisher: Strange Violin 2011

Genre: Speculative Fiction

Pages: 104

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season

Where I Got It: Library

An ordinary family man, geologist, and Mormon, Soren Johansson has always believed he’ll be reunited with his loved ones after death in an eternal hereafter. Then, he dies. Soren wakes to find himself cast by a God he has never heard of into a Hell whose dimensions he can barely grasp: a vast library he can only escape from by finding the book that contains the story of his life.

Our book club selection for October. I am very unsure what I feel about this novella. I went into the story completely blind (as I think you should as a reader), but at the end, I wasn’t sure that I actually enjoyed the story. We get about a hundred pages of existential rambling. Overall, I enjoyed the philosophical thought-experiment. But that’s basically all this is. We cannot read this as an actual story with characters and an arc. We get just a snippet of some rambling thoughts. I would have liked to se more from the main character and more from his journey. This story feels incomplete.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Antidote by Karen Russell

Title: The Antidote

Author: Karen Russell

Publisher: Knopf 2025

Genre: Speculative Fiction

Pages: 432

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Cover Lover - Real Historical Photograph

Where I Got It: Amazon purchase

The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing—not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the dust bowl drought but beneath its own violent histories. The Antidote follows a "Prairie Witch,” whose body serves as a bank vault for peoples’ memories and secrets; a Polish wheat farmer who learns how quickly a hoarded blessing can become a curse; his orphan niece, a basketball star and witch’s apprentice in furious flight from her grief; a voluble scarecrow; and a New Deal photographer whose time-traveling camera threatens to reveal both the town’s secrets and its fate.

I kept waffling between three and four stars for this book. There are some parts that I absolutely adored! On the other hand, there were parts that stretched believability (not the magical parts) and parts that dragged on so much. I fell for the strange otherworldly atmosphere of Uz Nebraska during the Dust Bowl. The historical fiction aspects of the book really sucked me into a time and place. I loved those parts! I also really enjoyed the magical realism sections. The short chapters narrated by the scarecrow were great. I loved the injection of strange-ness to the story. I also really enjoyed the Prairie witches and their entire lore. The parts that I did not like all centered around Dell and Cleo. Dell was such a flat character most of the time that I really got annoyed with her. The long passages about Dell and basketball really pulled me out of the story in a very bad way. I did not care at all. Also, the completely dropped mystery of her mother’s murder left me wanting. As for Cleo, I just could not believe that a single Black woman in 1930s Nebraska could really join the community that easily. It really stretched my belief in this story. While I had mixed feelings about the book, I ended up enjoyed most of it. Cannot wait until tonight’s book club meet to discuss!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - J-Hope "Killin' It Girl"

It’s a K-Pop summer! After doing my Top 10 Stray Kids songs, I decided to focus on some other K-Pop groups and people that I enjoy.

Another super catchy song! I’ll admit to not being a fan of BTS. But I do love some of the member’s solo stuff. I love J-Hope’s rough exterior and catchy beats.

Next up on the TBR pile: