Welcome to Litsy!

A good Norse inspired saga. I feel like it could have been a bit shorter (did we need every character‘s thoughts at each scene?) it was good and read pretty quick for the length. Jael is a badass, annoying characters develop, & the side characters grow on you.

Jael is stuck in an arranged marriage to drunken buffoon Eadmund in order to forge an alliance between their lands. Lost of sword swinging &secret alliances ensue.

+ 390 Word Search Words.

#BookSpinBingo #HolidayBookDragons #SnickerdoodleSprint #ReadAway2024 #SeriesLove2024 #Adventathon #LittenListen Wreath and another bingo line for #AVeryMerryBingo. Letter J for #ChristmasAtoZ. Candy Cane for #ISpyBingo. Wreath for #ChristmasCheer. Blind Date for #ItsATrope. I found Art Gallery, completing December‘s #WickedWords (lobster was also in this book in case my last lobster post didn‘t count 😆)

For a short as it is… there‘s a lot of repetition & filler. Vaguely festive.

+ 75 Word Search Words.

#BookSpinBingo #HolidayBookDragons #ReadAway2024 #SeriesLove2024 #Adventathon #LittenListen Mistletoe for #AVeryMerryBingo. Letter S for #ChristmasAtoZ. Neck Tie for #ISpyBingo. Holly for #ChristmasCheer. Grumpy/Sunshine for #ItsATrope. I found Necklace for #WickedWords

I liked this, a research station in Antarctica is attacked because of a virus found in the permafrost, leaving the cook & a gruff (former military) scientist on the run through the frozen conditions
The romance was fun, the action& setting was interesting… but I didn‘t like the villain POV or care who was really behind it or any of the “black-ops” stuff.. could have just kept it a regular woman & regular-ish man in this tense situation.

LOVED IT. I was worried because I thought this would be related to Cinderella is Dead, which wasn‘t totally for me… but it wasn‘t and the fairytale references & imagery were elaborate & fun. I loved the characters, it was so good!

I didn‘t go back and read the novellas between 3 & 4 which is recommended, but aside from some new friends it was fine. Well, not fine, it is the end of days after all. The spice was good, but Willow was so back & forth with Max, major situations drag, the ending is vague… eh

I wanted to like it. It started off strong, (FMC is taken by the Dragon, no one knows why the girls are taken from the village, but it turns out less nefarious than she guessed, subverts so tropes when the ‘handsome prince‘ arrives) but it got …confusing? Or maybe it just didn‘t hold my attention. But suddenly there were a lot of characters & battles built up to end in mere pages… +forced love story…

A quick & festive listen. I find Talia Hibbert balances the cuteness, spicy & emotional baggage well in general and I loved the set up here (a woman seeks employment from a hot well known tattoo artist) along with the good deeds & the Christmas spirit that permeates the book.

I have LOVED this series & this was a great installment. Dasha has to face her demons (internal & real, it is magic after all) & choose how to move forward with her life while dealing with trauma from losing her parents, sabotaging her relationships & hosting a legendary dark power.
This book came along way from the starting premises but I‘ve enjoyed the progression to higher stakes & harder topics.