Book Spotlight - Midnight Horizon: Star Wars: The High Republic by Daniel José Older, Todd Haberkorn + Giveaway

About The Book:

Title: STAR WARS THE HIGH REPUBLIC: MIDNIGHT HORIZON

Author: Daniel José Older

Pub. Date: February 1, 2022

Publisher: Disney Lucasfilm Press

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 496

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

Centuries before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, in the era of the glorious High Republic, the Jedi are the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy!

After a series of staggering losses, the Republic seems to finally have the villainous Nihil marauders on the run, and it looks like there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Until word comes of a suspected Nihil attack on the industrial cosmopolitan world of Corellia, right in the Galactic Core.

Sent to investigate are Jedi Masters Cohmac Vitus and Kantam Sy, along with Padawans Reath Silas and Ram Jomaram, all fighting their own private battles after months of unrelenting danger. On Corellia, Reath and Ram encounter a brazen young security specialist named Crash, whose friend was one of the victims of the Nihil attack, and they team up with her to infiltrate Corellia’s elite while the Masters pursue more diplomatic avenues. But going undercover with Crash is more dangerous than anyone expected, even as Ram pulls in his friend Zeen to help with an elaborate ruse involving a galactic pop star.

But what they uncover on Corellia turns out to be just one part of a greater plan, one that could lead the Jedi to their most stunning defeat yet….

The New York Times best-selling series continues.... For light and life!

 

About Daniel José Older:

Daniel José Older, a lead story architect for Star Wars: The High Republic, is the New York Times best-selling author of the upcoming Young Adult fantasy novel Ballad & Dagger (book 1 of the Outlaw Saints series), the sci-fi adventure Flood City, the monthly comic series The High Republic Adventures. His other books include the historical fantasy series Dactyl Hill Squad, The Book of Lost Saints, the Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series, Star Wars: Last Shot, and the Young Adult series the Shadowshaper Cypher, including Shadowshaper, which was named one of the best fantasy books of all time by TIME magazine and one of Esquire’s 80 Books Every Person Should Read. He won the International Latino Book Award and has been nominated for the Kirkus Prize, The World Fantasy Award, the Andre Norton Award, the Locus, and the Mythopoeic Award. He co-wrote the upcoming graphic novel Death’s Day. You can find more info and read about his decade long career as an NYC paramedic at http://danieljoseolder.net/

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of STAR WARS THE HIGH REPUBLIC: MIDNIGHT HORIZON, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

2/1/2022	Mythical Books	Excerpt/IG Post
2/2/2022	Daily Waffle	Excerpt
2/3/2022	Living in a Bookworld	Excerpt
2/4/2022	Sadie's Spotlight	Excerpt/IG Post
2/5/2022	Writer of Wrongs	Excerpt

Week Two:

2/6/2022	YABooksCentral	Excerpt
2/7/2022	#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Excerpt
2/8/2022	Rajiv's Reviews	Review/IG Post
2/9/2022	Lifestyle of Me	Review
2/10/2022	@lexijava	Review/IG Post
2/11/2022	Wishful Endings	Review/IG Post
2/12/2022	Kait Plus Books	Review/IG Post

Week Three:

2/13/2022	Nerdophiles	Review
2/14/2022	Eli to the nth	Review/IG Post
2/15/2022	The Desert Bibliophile	Review/IG Post
2/16/2022	Dr Roha Tahir	Review/IG Post
2/17/2022	A Bookish Dream	Review/IG Post
2/18/2022	@coffeesipsandreads	Review/IG Post
2/19/2022	BookHounds YA	Review

Week Four:

2/20/2022	Karen Dee's Book Reviews	IG Spotlight
2/21/2022	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt
2/22/2022	@jypsylynn	Review/IG Post
2/23/2022	@thebookishfoxwitch	Review/IG Post
2/24/2022	The Momma Spot	Review/IG Post
2/25/2022	Eye-Rolling Demigod's Book Blog	Review/IG Post
2/26/2022	@drewsim12	Review/IG Post

Week Five:

2/27/2022	Two Points of Interest	Review
2/28/2022	onemused	IG Spotlight

Book Review - Finding Tessa by Jaime Lynn Hendricks

 

To outsiders, Jace and Tessa appear to be a happily married young couple who are deeply in love with each and have nothing to hide. However, looks can be deceiving especially when Tessa goes missing.

Jace Montgomery returns home late one evening from entertaining clients, when he discovers his wife Tessa is missing. The back door has broken glass with clumps of her hair and blood. The cops believe Jace is guilty after he exploded on a reporter during a press conference. Jace claims he is innocent even as the evidence against him is mounting. A coworker he is accused of having an affair with goes missing and then an illegal gun turns up in his home during a search conducted by the police. He fears that with all the signs pointing to him that the police will stop searching for other leads to Tessa.

Tessa finally feels like she has left behind all the years of abuse and that she can finally be safe. She even set up a trap for her husband to take the fall for her disappearance. She enlisted someone close to him to help execute her plan and put him behind bars. She is desperate to start over and avoid men who abuse and hurt her. However, while she is trying to start over, she realizes that she can't run for her past and someone is after her.

The novel started out to be an interesting read. As readers, we were constantly left guessing who is behind Tessa's disappearance or is this something she is plotting. Towards the middle of the book, I felt like the story was dragging and it felt like that the plot was a bit unbelievable especially with the amount of red herrings that appeared. I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters and didn't care for any of them. It was an okay read but, I felt like books like this are overdone and can be boring if not done correctly.

Book Review - A Rogue to Remember by Emily Sullivan

 

After enduring five seasons, Lottie Carlisle is tired of the polite London society. She wants more adventure in life and wants her uncle Alfred to stop meddling in her life. Lottie is devastated when he announces that if she doesn't accept a proposal by the end of the next season, he will choose a husband for her. She decides to create a shocking scandal that will make sure no suitor wants her and she will instead spend her life as a spinster in the country.

Five years ago, Alec Gresham left Lottie without saying a word. When the two crosses path again, Alec isn't surprised that Lottie is annoyed at him. He brings news that her uncle is dying and that she will need to return home. As the pair make the journey back to London, it becomes obvious that the pair still have feelings for each other.

This was the second book I read from the author and I thought the second book in the series was a better read. I found Lottie to be annoying and Alec to be boring. Lottie wants to be treated as an adult but constantly acts like a child by stomping her feet and pouting. She knows that Alec is working as an undercover spy but, she puts them in danger because she feels jealous and wants his attention on her. I  was more than 75% done with the book before I lost interest in the novel. The story was so slow and boring with too many details that didn't add to the story. Each novel can be read as standalone so, I would recommend skipping this one and reading the second book in the series instead. 

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**

Book Spotlight - Bluebird At My Window by H. Noah + Giveaway

About The Book:

Title: BLUEBIRD AT MY WINDOW

Author: H. Noah

Pub. Date: February 15, 2022

Publisher: H. Noah

Formats: Papreback, eBook

Pages: 394

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, TBD, Bookshop.org

When faced with trauma, how would you react?

Would you survive, succumb, or lose yourself to your own meaning of justice?

Ann was only seventeen when she died. She tried to be a dutiful daughter, to pray, to repent. But it wasn’t enough. Her mother, Diane, didn’t mean to kill her but when she found Ann consorting with devils, she had no choice. She believed the angels—that in the end, the water would save them both.

But every choice holds weight.

One death, and Arthur is thrown back into the work he wanted to leave. One death, and Richard must face the reality of his choices. One death, and Maddie and Marie are confronted with the hardest parts of love.

If only good intentions were enough to keep them from the carnage of their own decisions . . .

A dark contemporary fiction drenched in blood, this debut novel from H. Noah has an intricate true crime feeling with psychological depth.


Content Warning

The following book centers around processing trauma. Please be aware that it will touch upon such topics as violence, sexual assault (not overly descriptive), racism, microaggressions, misogyny, incest, and homophobia. This book also focuses on mental health and will cover depression, anxiety, PTSD, suicidal ideation, hearing voices, religious fixations, delusions, self-harm, and drug abuse.

This book is dark due to the topics covered. This is not a horror or thriller meant to scare you. Please be kind to yourself and put the book back if you are not in a good place to read any of the things mentioned above.

About H. Noah:

They’ve been a massage therapist, social worker, poet, teacher, and more. Picking up a B.A. in Criminology and an M.S. in I-O Psychology. They’ve also lived in Alaska, Maine and many places in-between. They are currently still trying to find a forever place as they travel the US.

 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card, International.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

2/7/2022	Rockstar Book Tours	Kickoff Post
2/7/2022	@jaimerockstarbooktours	IG Post
2/8/2022	Mythical Books	Guest Post/IG Post
2/8/2022	Writer of Wrongs	Excerpt
2/9/2022	The Momma Spot	Excerpt
2/9/2022	BookHounds YA	Guest Post
2/10/2022	Daily Waffle	Excerpt/IG Post
2/10/2022	Rajiv's Reviews	Review
2/11/2022	The Girl Who Reads	Review
2/11/2022	Jazzy Book Reviews	Review

Week Two:

2/14/2022	Take A Look At My Bookshelf	Review
2/14/2022	#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Review
2/15/2022	Adrienne Woods	Excerpt /IG Post
2/15/2022	Karen Dee's Book Reviews	IG Spotlight
2/16/2022	Sadie's Spotlight	Excerpt/IG Post
2/16/2022	@coffeesipsandreads	Review
2/17/2022	Two Points of Interest	Review
2/17/2022	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt
2/18/2022	Momfluenster	Review
2/18/2022	Dr Roha Tahir	Spotlight

Book Spotlight - The Swallowtail Legacy 1: Wreck at Ada's Reef (The Swallowtail Legacy) by Michael D. Beil + Giveaway

 

About the Book:

Title: THE SWALLOWTAIL LEGACY: Wreck at Ada's Reef (The Swallowtail Legacy #1)

Author: Michael D. Beil

Pub. Date: February 15, 2022

Publisher: Pixel+ink

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 256

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

Punctuated with transcripts, letters, maps, black-and-white illustrations and more, The Swallowtail Legacy: Wreck at Ada's Reef is a vibrant contemporary mystery with a classic feel exploring righting past wrongs, redefining family, and finding yourself.

Twelve-year-old Lark Heron-Finch is steeling herself to spend the summer on Swallowtail Island off the shores of Lake Erie. It's the first time that she and her sister will have seen the old house since their mom passed away. And while her stepfather and his boys are okay, the island's always been full of happy memories--and now everything is different.

When Nadine, a close family friend, tells Lark about a tragic boat accident that happened off the coast many years before, Lark's enthralled with the story. Nadine's working on a book about Dinah Purdy, Swallowtails's oldest resident who had a connection to the crash, and she's sure that the accident was not as it appeared. Impressed by Lark's keen eye, she hires her as her research assistant for the summer.

And then Lark discovers something amazing. Something that could change Dinah's life. Something linked to the crash and even to her own family's history with Swallowtail. But there are others on the island who would do anything to keep the truth buried in the watery depths of the past.

A compelling and complex mystery with a classic feel, Wreck at Ada's Reef is perfect for fans of The Parker Inheritance, Holes, The Westing Game, and anyone looking for a satisfying puzzle that stretches across decades.

Review:

★ "Each character, historic and contemporary, sparks with life. Lark’s process and the reveals are perfectly paced. . . . Most heartwarming, Lark develops feelings of loyalty toward her blended family and uncovers a surprising link to their property. Readers will be hooked—more, please!"—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

 

 

About Michael D. Beil:

In a time not long after the fifth extinction event, Edgar Award-nominated author Michael D. Beil came of age on the shores of Pymatuning Lake, where the ducks walk on the fish. (Look it up. Seriously.) He is the author of the Red Blazer Girls series, Summer at Forsaken Lake, Lantern Sam and the Blue Streak Bandits, and Agents of the Glass: A New Recruit. For reasons that can't be disclosed until September 28, 2041, he now lives somewhere in Portugal with his wife and their two white cats, Bruno and Maisie. He still gets carsick if he has to ride in the back seat for long and feels a little guilty that he doesn't keep a journal. For more on the author and his books, visit him online at www.michaeldbeil.com.

 

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon

 

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of THE SWALLOWTAIL LEGACY: Wreck at Ada's Reef, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

2/7/2022	Pick A Good Book	Review/IG Post
2/7/2022	The Reading Wordsmith	Review/IG Post
2/8/2022	YABooksCentral	Excerpt
2/8/2022	Kait Plus Books	Excerpt/IG Post
2/9/2022	Nonbinary Knight Reads	Review/IG Post
2/9/2022	Girls in White Dresses	Review
2/10/2022	Little Red Reads	Review
2/10/2022	@jypsylynn	Review/IG Post
2/11/2022	Eye-Rolling Demigod's Book Blog	Review/IG Post
2/11/2022	The Bookwyrm's Den	Review/IG Post

Week Two:

2/14/2022	Rajiv's Reviews	Review/IG Post
2/14/2022	OneMoreExclamation	Review/IG Post
2/15/2022	Nerdophiles	Review
2/15/2022	@coffeesipsandreads	Review/IG Post
2/16/2022	The Momma Spot	Review/IG Post
2/16/2022	BookHounds YA	Review
2/17/2022	Lifestyle of Me	Review
2/17/2022	@enjoyingbooksagain	Review/IG Post
2/18/2022	Two Points of Interest	Review
2/18/2022	Locks, Hooks and Books	Review

February 2022 Haul!

 

Wow, February is almost half way done! I can't believe how fast the month has sped by! I did get a few new exciting things I am excited to try out. 

I got a few new face sheet masks and I been trying to use them more often. I love The Beautiful Factr. masks and I got a new hydrating one. I feel like the winter has dried out my skin. My skin is usually left glowy after using their masks, so I am excited. I also like the "I'm sorry for my skin" masks. These masks come PACKED with thick hydrating serum. These are masks a great for dehydrated skin. 

I love taking baths and I am so excited to try these lovely scented foaming bath bombs from Find your happy place. Even the name sounds fun! I got a new detox shampoo from Ouai because my hair is always in it's mood. I rarely put excess products in my hair but, I still find that my hair feels so much better when I do a scalp scrub or use a detox shampoo.

I believe I have tried a few things from Malin+Goetz but, I got a mojito lip balm and it sounds like it would be amazing. I know this brand has a cult following, so it must be good. So, I have had Kombucha but, my tummy doesn't agree with it. However, I am hoping this kombucha mist from ElishaCoy works some miracles on my dehydrated and dull skin! 

Did you get anything this month that you are excited to try?