Day One: July 9, 2018
I left for Raleigh straight from court today and I should have used my drive to start listening to Firelight, but instead I couldn’t resist listening to more of Bonds of Justice because Nalini Singh owns my soul. Or something. The eighth book in the Psy-Changling series, this book follows human enforcement detective, Max Shannon, and J-Psy, Sophia Russo. The two of them are chosen by Nikita Duncan to investigate the recent deaths of three of her top level employees. Of course, we also get to see Faith and Vaughan, Sascha and Lucas, Dorian, and many other of the characters now so familiar I’m starting to feel like they’re real. If you haven’t given either of Nalini Singh’s paranormal romance series a shot, I’m going to have to suggest you change your mind soon because, oh boy, do I adore them. Anyway, this book doesn’t really fit any of the challenges. But I did start Scoring Off the Field and read a few pages, but now it is definitely bedtime.
Day Two: July 10, 2018
TAYLOR SWIFT DAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED. But first…
I made myself start Firelight when I left Raleigh for D.C., but I gave in and finished off Bonds of Justice before I’d gotten very far because I just couldn’t resist. Of course, once I finished and adored the book (and cried!! What the heck, Nalini?!), I couldn’t not jump straight into Play of Passion. Conveniently, Play of Passion is a friends to lovers romance novel so it counts toward the SmutAThon challenges even if it wasn’t on my TBR. Play of Passion follows Drew, the Snow Dancers tracker, and Indigo, one of Hawke’s two most trusted lieutenants as they navigate the mating dance and the fight for dominance. Interestingly, despite having a somewhat similar conflict as that in Mercy and Riley’s novel, this couple’s conflict feels completely fresh and I really enjoyed spending time with them.
Also, before I left this morning, I started To Scotland, With Love which I’m enjoying, but not loving? I’m not sure what my feelings are toward it really. It’s my choice for stranded together and so far our hero has gotten mad because this idiot ran off to Gretna Green with his unsuspecting best friend. Because of the MacLean curse, his anger caused a snow storm and our heroine and her lying abductor wind up stranded at an inn where our hero shows up, obviously.
Day Three: July 11, 2018
Seeing Taylor last night was absolutely amazing and perfect. Well worth the drive. Not to mention getting to see one of my best friends the day after her birthday. On my drive back home, I finished listening to Play of Passion, which was so good!! Seriously, though, what is it with Nalini Singh and having me in tears, three Psy-Changling books in a row? I wanted to jump straight into the next book (Hawke and Sienna’s book FINALLY), but neither Hoopla nor Scrib’d were cooperating. So instead of going back to Firelight, I started listening to Rock Hard. The audiobook is almost as perfect of an experience as reading the ebook, for the record. If you haven’t heard me rave about Rock Hard before, it’s a contemporary romance between Charlotte and Gabriel Bishop, who she nicknames T-Rex. She’s his employee and even though so much of this book takes place in the workplace, the fact that it’s a boss/employee relationship didn’t cross my mind for ages. I’m not sure how Nalini pulled it off, but the book is utter perfection. One of my favorites of the year, if you didn’t know already! So I’ve stayed up too late to finish listening to it when I got home tonight. Off to bed now though.
Day Four: July 12, 2018
I finally tackled some of the books on my TBR! I finished reading Scoring Off the Field, which might have been the best friends to lovers story I’ve ever read. It felt so real to me. Naima Simone is a fantastic author so I think I’m going to have to do a deep dive and read everything she’s written. Scoring Off the Field follows Dom, a NFL quarterback dedicated to football, and his best friend and personal assistant, Tennyson. Tenny has been in love with Dom for years, but he remains oblivious. She confessed her feelings for him drunkenly one night, but they brushed it off. Suddenly though, Tenny’s quitting her role as Dom’s PA and the sexual tension has sky-rocketed. This book was seriously amazing and I cannot recommend it enough.
Once I finished, I wasn’t ready for bed so I read Fair Game by Amy Andrews. I chose the novella because the blurb made it sound like a love triangle and that’s there enough that I don’t feel bad counting it toward that challenge, but it’s also another friends to lovers. I’m not sure why I didn’t love this one as much as I was hoping to… Maybe if it had been longer? That’s not to say it was bad, I rated it a 3.75, it’s just that something felt like it was missing.
Also, I made it to the 30% mark in To Scotland, With Love and I’m just really struggling. It’s not that the book is bad, it’s just that I don’t care.
Day Five: July 13, 2018
Well, if nothing else, I started Kiss of Snow today, which I’m already obsessed with. I’ve been waiting anxiously to get to Hawke and Sienna’s book for AGES and now that it’s finally here, I’m utterly delighted. I also started The Kiss Quotient, which I was expecting to adore immediately, but I’m mostly just easing in. Like, it’s enjoyable, but not what I want right now or something? I’m not sure. And… I started the novella Declaration of Courtship from the Psy-Changling series and made it a third of the way through. I did not, however, finish anything.
Day Six: July 14, 2018
I finished off Declaration of Courtshipthis morning and then tried to lay around and listen to Kiss of Snow, but I finish it difficult to do that for very long so… For the record, Declaration of Courtshipwas a fun little novella, but as usual, was a little too short for me to fully immerse myself. It was cool to finally see a dominant/submissive relationship in the context of the Psy-Changling world, which is very different from a dom/sub BDSM relationship. Also, Grace is a science tech person, and you know, it’s hard to resist heroines in STEM fields.
But, if you’re wondering if I went on a completely pointless trip for almost two hours of driving time so that I could listen to Kiss of Snowand finish it in the car, the answer is yes. Ridiculous? Yes. Worth it? Also yes. Kiss of Snowhad such an explosive ending, I loved it SO MUCH. The wait for Sienna and Hawke’s book was definitely worth it and I want to spend hours more with them. I just adore this series so much. I can’t even explain to you how much. The plot of the books keeps getting more and more expansive and I just adore every single thing about it.
And finally, I started reading Devil in Spring. I picked it up on Wednesday when I got tired of sitting in the car and hopped out to explore a random Target and Books A Million I passed. It was one of my absolute favorite books from last year and reading the first little bit reminded me of exactly why! I adore Pandora so much and kept giggling throughout.
Day Seven: July 15, 2018
Today’s trip listening to the next book in the Psy-Changeling series, Tangle of Need was not pointless, but did wind up being fairly long because I needed to get my nails done. They are giving me serious Psy-Changeling vibes too because they remind me of the Psy Net. What a delight.
I did not, however, finish Tangle of Need. But! I did finish Devil in Spring, which was equally as delightful as it was last year. I will say that Gabriel was occasionally annoying, but mostly the book was wonderful.
I so enjoyed this readathon! Did you participate?
xx
firewhiskeyreader 