Category: TBRs & Wrap-Ups

Tackling My Netgalley TBR – March 2018 Update

karenjo464 Comments

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Time for another update! I know I’m behind posting this, but I still wanted to see where I am so I know how much more I have to do… And by the looks of it, I’m still pretty behind haha. So, let’s see which books I’ve read and those I couldn’t help but add.

I’ve crossed out the books I’ve read.

 

  1. The Book of Whispers by Kimberley Starr DNF 3.4.2018
  2. Odd and True by Cat Winters
  3. Rosemarked by Livia Blackburne
  4. Nyxia by Scott Reintgen
  5. Love Songs and Other Lies by Jessica Pennington
  6. Booke of Hidden by Jeri Westerson
  7. All the Wrong Chords by Christine Hurley Deriso – Finished 3.12.2018
  8. Gray Wolf Island Tracey Neithercott
  9. The Canary Club by Sherry D. Ficklin
  10. Berseker by Emmy Laybourne
  11. Nemesis by Anna Banks
  12. The Breathless by Tara Goedjen
  13. A Poison Dark and Drowning by Jessica Cluess
  14. 36 Questions that Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant
  15. Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
  16. Just Friends by Dyan Sheldon
  17. The Midnight Dance by Nikki Katz
  18. Playing by Heart by Carmela Martino
  19. All the Wind in the World by Samantha Mabry
  20. A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen
  21. The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
  22. My New Crush Gave to Me by Shani Petroff
  23. Plague Land by Alex Scarrow
  24. Stronger by Janey Nissenson
  25. Pumpkin Spice Secrets by Hillary Homzie
  26. Kiss Me in New York by Catherine Rider
  27. Fraternize by Rachel Van Dylen
  28. Run Away With Me by Mila Gray
  29. Always Red by Isabelle Ronin
  30. Flight Season by Marie Marquardt
  31. The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody
  32. Breaking the Ice by Julie Cross
  33. What the Valley Knows by Heather Christie (approved Jan 8)
  34. Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian (approved Jan 8)
  35. That Secret You Keep by Brenda Benny (approved Jan 8)
  36. Cold Hard Truth by Anne Greenwood Brown (approved Jan 8)
  37. How You Ruined My Life by Jeff Strand (approved Jan 8)
  38. Love Between Enemies by Molly E. Lee (blog tour)
  39. Pretty Dead Girls by Monica Murphy (blog tour)
  40. The Dating Debate by Chris Cannon (blog tour)
  41. A Kiss in the Dark by Gina Ciocca (approved Jan 30)  Finished early this morning
  42. Bad Business by Nicole Edwards  Finished 3.29.2018
  43. This Heart of Mine by C.C. Hunter Finished 3.18.2018
  44. On The Line by Liz Lincoln
  45. Thirsty by Mia Hopkins
  46. Blood Type by K.A. Linde
  47. Rumor Has It by Jessica Lemmon
  48. Bookish Boyfriends by Tiffany Schmidt
  49. Blood Veil by Megan Erickson
  50. Out of Left Field by Kris Hui Lee
  51. Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
  52. Phoenix Fire by S.D. Grimm (Somehow I forgot to download this from Netgalley and now it’s been Archived so I can’t DL. Crossing this out because of that)
  53. Our Dark Stars by Audrey Grey and Krystal Wade Finished 3.15.2018
  54. Furyborn (The Empirium Trilogy) by Claire Legrand – YAAAASSS
  55. Ace of Shades by Amando Foody
  56. The Hook Up by Eric McCarthy
  57. The Art of French Kissing by Brianna Shrum

So, my feedback is still under 50%… I did get there at one point, but then one or two of the Blog Tours I signed up for had the ARCs through Netgalley. I was also really busy in March with all the party preparations for my mom’s 60th birthday party which was actually yesterday night, so my mind was all over the place. I even forgot to download an ARC and now it’s archived and I can’t DL it anymore… However, I did read 4 books from the list and DNF 1, so that’s some progress right?

Here is the updated list as of 4.16.2018. I decided to take out all the books I’ve read cause I’m getting a confused haha.

  1. Odd and True by Cat Winters
  2. Rosemarked by Livia Blackburne
  3. Nyxia by Scott Reintgen
  4. Love Songs and Other Lies by Jessica Pennington
  5. Booke of Hidden by Jeri Westerson
  6. Gray Wolf Island Tracey Neithercott
  7. The Canary Club by Sherry D. Ficklin
  8. Berseker by Emmy Laybourne
  9. Nemesis by Anna Banks
  10. The Breathless by Tara Goedjen
  11. A Poison Dark and Drowning by Jessica Cluess
  12. 36 Questions that Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant
  13. Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
  14. Just Friends by Dyan Sheldon
  15. The Midnight Dance by Nikki Katz
  16. Playing by Heart by Carmela Martino
  17. All the Wind in the World by Samantha Mabry
  18. A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen
  19. The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
  20. My New Crush Gave to Me by Shani Petroff
  21. Plague Land by Alex Scarrow
  22. Stronger by Janey Nissenson
  23. Kiss Me in New York by Catherine Rider
  24. Fraternize by Rachel Van Dylen
  25. Run Away With Me by Mila Gray
  26. Always Red by Isabelle Ronin
  27. Flight Season by Marie Marquardt
  28. The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody
  29. What the Valley Knows by Heather Christie (approved Jan 8)
  30. Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian (approved Jan 8)
  31. That Secret You Keep by Brenda Benny (approved Jan 8)
  32. Cold Hard Truth by Anne Greenwood Brown (approved Jan 8)
  33. How You Ruined My Life by Jeff Strand (approved Jan 8)
  34. On The Line by Liz Lincoln
  35. Thirsty by Mia Hopkins
  36. Rumor Has It by Jessica Lemmon
  37. Bookish Boyfriends by Tiffany Schmidt
  38. Blood Veil by Megan Erickson
  39. Out of Left Field by Kris Hui Lee
  40. Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
  41. Furyborn (The Empirium Trilogy) by Claire Legrand
  42. Ace of Shades by Amando Foody
  43. The Hook Up by Eric McCarthy
  44. The Art of French Kissing by Brianna Shrum

So, when I decided to keep track of my Netgalley TBR in an effort to try to bring my feedback ratio over 50% and eventually get to 85%, I was at 32 ARCs. Now I’m at 44 and I really don’t know what to do with my requesting obsession… All I can do is keep pushing through and hopefully one day, I’ll get to where I want to be…

sincerelykarenjo2

March Wrap – Up

karenjo464 Comments

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Hello bookish friends! I hope you all had a wonderful reading month. I actually did pretty well considering I was also so busy prepping for my Mom’s 60th Masquerade Party. I was able to read 10 books which has been the most I’ve read in a month this year. I’d say that’s an awesome progress. I’m still 4 books behind my Goodreads challenge though and my Netgalley feedback ratio is not where I want it to be, but I think I’ll catch up soon enough. I also enjoyed the books I read with just one exception… but most were 5 stars and I really LOVED some of them so yay!

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at all the books I read this month.

Remember to click the book titles to read my reviews and view the posts. 

The Book of Whispers by Kimberley Starr

1 ★ –   DNF, NOT FOR ME

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So, this was unfortunately a DNF for me. I really hate not finishing a book….The Book of Whispers by Kimberley Starr had an intriguing premise, but sadly, I just did not find anything exciting about the story. I tried to read this a few times, but it never did work out.

Smoke and Ruin by Tiffany Duane

4.5 ★ – Breathtaking Conclusion

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I really enjoyed this series and Smoke and Ruin was a fantastic conclusion. I should have had my review up for this already, but I’m a bit all over the place and I did accidentally delete it, so I’m hoping to post it sometime this week or next. I will say this though, I didn’t love it as much as Curses and Ash though. It was still pretty amazing and thrilling.

A Kiss in the Dark by Gina Ciocca

4.5 ★ – ADORABLE AND WONDERFULLY SWOONY

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With a mixture of drama, mystery, romance and humor, this book had me positively entertained throughout the entire time. There are so many things I loved about this book – great friendships, lovable characters, sweet romances, and important life lessons. I truly enjoyed this novel and my heart was so full of happy with how Ciocca beautifully ended the story.

All the Wrong Chords by Christine Hurley Deriso

4★ – HEARTFELT AND SWEET

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Within the first few chapters, this book had me feeling all kinds of happy. It’s a heartfelt story that will make you smile, fall in love, hope and have an amazingly good time.

Distorted Love by T.L. Smith

5 ★ – Satisfyingly Sexy, Deliciously Dark, and Amazingly Addictive

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This book was dark, twisted, and disturbing, but I devoured it in less than 24 hours.  Distorted Love left my heart broken and barely beating, but I can’t seem to let it go. T.L. Smith is such a brilliant writer who knows just how to tease, seduce, and reel you in. Once you have a taste, you’ll keep coming back for more. As soon as I finished reading, I immediately requested for Sinister Love and hoped I would get approved.

Our Dark Stars by Audrey Grey and Krystal Wade

5 ★ – An Incredibly Entertaining and Fascinating Read

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So head over heels in love with this book! Such a blast and amazingly delightful read! There’s plenty of action, drama, conflict, and a cute swoony romance that had me completely glued to the pages. I really wish this was a series because I want more and I do think there could be another book or two… but the ending was more than satisfying and definitely left a huge smile on my face.

This Heart of Mine by C.C. Hunter

4 ★ – Emotionally Heartwarming

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Had tears in my eyes several times. Some parts dragged and the ending was just okay. Overall, I enjoyed the story and can’t wait to check out more books from this author. Full review to come.

Recovered by Jay Crownover

5 ★ –  So Achingly Beautiful and Addictive

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Recovered was such an intense, sexy, and amazingly affecting story. Jay Crownover managed to reel me in from the very first page and made me feel so many different emotions – love, helplessness, sadness, guilt, anger, confusion, hope, beauty, and SOOO MUCH MORE. This book was dangerously, but wonderfully addictive that I found it extremely difficult to put the book down.

Beach B!tch by Marika Ray

4 ★ – Charming, Sweet and Wonderfully Entertaining

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Beach B!tch is definitely a fun kickass beach read! While the story dealt with some serious issues, there were plenty of sweet moments, delicious flirting, heartwarming friendships, swoony romances, and awesome twists and turns.

Bad Business by Nicole Edwards

3.75 rounded to 4 ★ -Steamy, Hilarious and Fun

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So, this was the last book I finished in March and it was surprisingly really good. I started reading in February, but somehow was not in the mood for it. About a week or so ago, I decided to give it another try…again and it was pretty entertaining.  The story was funny, interesting, and absolutely sexy. Full review will be posted soon — Might even be today…

Sooo, how did you do with your March TBR? What was your favorite book? Have you read any of these books? Any recommendations for me?

Let me know in the comments down below and have a fantastic week!

sincerelykarenjoendsign