During our Monthly Wrap-Up, we’ll take a look at what has happened around here in the last month. That’ll include what’s happened in my life, what the four of us have read, any other posts we may have had, giveaways still going on, our most popular Instagram posts, and books that I’ve added to my ever-growing TBR.

*We linked this post to the August Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from August were –

✮ The smoke from all of the California fires has been suffocating us.  With the air quality reaching 400 out of 500, and spending weeks on and off being trapped in our home, we decided to escape to Southern California for 9 days.  We spent time with family at the beaches in Orange County and also visited my high school friend in Del Mar….a super cute little town north of San Diego.  Our days were filled with surfing, boogie boarding and playing in the sand at the ocean.  We even went to Lego Land for two days and had so much fun between the park, aquarium and water park.  It was exactly what we needed and we weren’t ready to head back home into the smoke.  You can check out some of my pictures from our vacation here – picture 1, picture 2.
✮ I threw my bestie a baby shower!  She’s the one I have to give weekly shots to so that way she can make it to 35 weeks for her pregnancy, which she did this last Monday.  Now it’s just a matter of days before I get to meet their baby girl.  Here’s two pictures from the shower.
✮ My kiddos started school this month, my oldest is now in 2nd grade and my youngest started Kindergarten.  I loved school as a child, but as an adult I’m definitely not a fan, although they don’t know that lol.  I miss my kiddos, I love our days together in the summer!  We spent our summer days at the beach, pool, park and in our backyard playing together.  I can’t wait until they get out of school and I’m always looking forward to the weekends!

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What Arielle, Cassie, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ Wicked (A Wicked Trilogy #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
✮ The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black
✮ The Prince by Jennifer L. Armentrout
✮ The Darkest Legacy (The Darkest Minds #4) by Alexandra Bracken
✮ Seafire (Seafire #1) by Natalie C. Parker
✮ The Sweetest Oblivion (Made #1) by Danielle Lori

4.5 Stars:
✮ A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes #3)

4 Stars:
✮ Cradled (Beholder #4.5) by Christina Bauer
✮ The Chase (Briar U #1) by Elle Kennedy
✮ All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

3 Stars:
✮ War Storm (Red Queen #4) by Victoria Aveyard

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Our Favorite Books of the Month:

The Darkest Legacy (The Darkest Minds #4) by Alexandra Bracken  (Arielle’s Choice)
Once I started, I was COMPLETELY hooked. See, that’s the thing about these books and Bracken’s writing. I become so immersed that I have to drag my eyes away from the writing and when I do, it takes me a few seconds to come back to the real world. That’s when you know you’re reading something amazing. This book gave me the butterflies, it made me shake with rage, and it made me buzz with anticipation.

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A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes #3) (Cassie’s Choice)
I love them. I totally get why everyone loves this series. It’s so good. It’s dark, like really dark, but so good nonetheless.

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The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black (Chelsea’s Choice)
For me, a little peril, a forbidden romance, some cruelty and smexy I-hate-you-but-let’s-make-out is all I really need-BAHA! I mean, what more could I possibly ask for?

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The Prince by Jennifer L. Armentrout  (Jen’s Choice)
It was a page turner, had a sigh worthy male, a heroine I loved, an addicting storyline, and by just that second chapter I found myself bawling my eyes out.  Between the tears, smiles and laughter, my emotions were all over the place.

During our Monthly Wrap-Up, we’ll take a look at what has happened around here in the last month. That’ll include what’s happened in my life, what the four of us have read, any other posts we may have had, giveaways still going on, our most popular Instagram posts, books that I’ve added to my ever-growing TBR and updates on my Reading Challenges.

*We linked this post to the July Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from July were –

✮ We spent the 4th of July with all of my family at our house and then headed to the beach to watch the fireworks.  I’ve been to 11 different firework shows in 5 different states and Lake Tahoe is still hands down the best I’ve ever seen!  Here are some of our pictures from that night picture 1 and picture 2.
✮ I went back to California for my High School Reunion.  This is a picture of some of us from a few years ago.  And here’s one of the few group shots we got from that night.  And of course it’s from the after party at the local bar lol!  It was such an amazing time!  I’m from a small little town and we all went from Kindergarten up to High School together.  It was like one huge group of friends getting back together and I loved every minute of it!
✮ Our oldest dog turned 12 years old.  She is the sweetest little thing ever and we still call her our first born. ♥
✮ We took our 7 year old go-kart racing, spent countless days at the beach and also at the pool, went to music in the park in our little town, went to a wonderful bbq with live music with my Grandma, I saw Luke Bryan in concert and we had a lot of family dinners with all my family that lives near by.  It was a wonderful but crazy busy month!

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What Arielle, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ In Harmony by Emma Scott
✮ The Supervillain and Me (Morriston Superheroes #1) by Danielle Banas
✮ Under Locke by Mariana Zapata
✮ Superhero High by T.H. Hernandez
✮ Addicted After All (Addicted #3) by Krista and Becca Ritchie

4.5 Stars:
✮ Addicted for Now (Addicted #2) by Krista and Becca Ritchie

4 Stars:
✮ Alpha (The Infinity Division #3) by Jus Accardo
✮ Addicted to You (Addicted #1) by Krista and Becca Ritchie
✮ The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls by Jessica Spotswood
✮ Firstlife (Everlife #1) by Gena Showalter
✮ I Think I Love You (Oxford #5) by Lauren Layne
✮ Girls’ Night Out by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke
✮ Over Raging Tides (Lady Pirates #1) by Jennifer Ellision
✮ Furyborn (Empirium #1) by Claire Legrand

3.5 Stars:
✮ Nowhere Else But Here by Rachel Cotton

3 Stars:
✮ After Nightfall by A.J. Banner

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Our Favorite Books of the Month:

Addicted After All (Addicted #3) by Krista and Becca Ritchie (Arielle’s Choice)
What a ride this series has been. It has been so fun re-reading these books again after having read about their children in the About Us series.  While you could read those separately, and even the Calloway Sisters series separately, it makes more of an impact if you had started at the very beginning with Lily and Lo.

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In Harmony by Emma Scott (Cassie’s Choice)
If you’re looking for a slow-burn YA contemp romance, you have come to the right place. Because there is a lot both Isaac and Willow have to deal with in their personal lives, as well as their feelings for each other. I really appreciated nothing being rushed and the small moments and interactions as they got to know one another. It honestly felt so real and natural, which is exactly what I love.

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Under Locke by Mariana Zapata (Chelsea’s Choice)
That moment when you know an author has changed your life forever….it’s this one. This moment.

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Superhero High by T.H. Hernandez (Jen’s Choice)
I got completely wrapped up in the characters lives and lost in the pages.  Bullying, first love, friendships, finding yourself and mystery was splashed across the pages.  And that made this book emotional, sigh worthy, and I fell in love with so many of the characters.

During our Monthly Wrap-Up, we’ll take a look at what has happened around here in the last month. That’ll include what’s happened in my life, what the four of us have read, any other posts we may have had, giveaways still going on, our most popular Instagram posts, books that I’ve added to my ever-growing TBR and updates on my Reading Challenges.

*We linked this post to June Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from June were –

✮ School is out and summer is here.  It’s my favorite time of the year!  My kiddos and I, along with a group of my mommy friends and their kiddos, go to the beach a few days a week and then the local pool once a week.  Being out doors is our favorite way to spend summer.  Here are two pictures of some of my favorite beaches that we go to.  Beach #1 and Beach #2.
✮ It was the birthday of where we live, so our town celebrated with a huge parade and then a carnival.  My oldest, who is 7, was braver than me and went on all the rides he was tall enough for like Extreme Scream….a ride that takes you up high and then drops you.  No thank you.  I was scared enough on the Ferris Wheel, my 5 year old was telling me to be brave lol, and the swings I kept closing my eyes and my oldest was saying open your eyes mommy this is fun!  At least I have a year before we have to go on all of the rides again lol!

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What Arielle, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
✮ Trick (Foolish Kingdoms #1) by Natalia Jaster
✮ Alphas Like Us (Like Us #3) by Krista and Becca Ritchie
✮ Sugar and Spice (Glitter and Sparkle #3) by Shari L. Tapscott
✮ War Storm (Red Queen #4) by Victoria Aveyard

4.5 Stars:
✮ Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf
✮ A Boy Like You (Like Us #1) by Ginger Scott
✮ Moonlight Sins (de Vincent #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
✮ A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir
✮ Moonlight Seduction (de Vincent #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
✮ Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman

4 Stars:
✮ The Bet (The Bet #1) by Rachel Van Dyken

3.5 Stars:
✮ All of This is True by Lygia Day Penaflor

3 Stars:
✮ Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne

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Our Favorite Books of the Month:

 Alphas Like Us (Like Us #3) by Krista and Becca Ritchie (Arielle’s Choice)
I think this is my favorite book in this series.  I recommend, recommend, recommend. Read them all from the very beginning if you haven’t already. They may not all be easy to read (especially Loren and Lily’s books) but to me, it’s so worth it.

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Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman  (Cassie’s Choice)
This book blew my out of the water. Haha, see what I did there?  The writing style is near perfection. Without being overly descriptive and wordy, the author clearly paints an image of everything we (the reader) sees.

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To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo (Chelsea’s Choice)
Guys. I adored this book. And the writing-it was seriously out of this world. Savage. Unrelenting-the most vicious kind of poetry. If I could write, and, believe me, the last few books I’ve read have made me pine for it so, this is exactly how I’d want to write.

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Sugar and Spice (Glitter and Sparkle #3) by Shari L. Tapscott (Jen’s Choice)
Sugar and Spice made me laugh, smile and fall hopelessly in love with these characters.  And when I closed the book, I was left wanting to spin circles with my arms out and smiling up at the sun.  Seriously. It was that adorable!

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Other Posts:

✮ Our Most Anticipated Releases For June
✮ TOP TEN TUESDAY – Books We Decided to DNF
✮ Welcome Post: Say hello to my dearest friend, Cassie!
✮ TOP TEN TUESDAY – Books On Our Summer TBR

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Instagram:

We thought it would be fun to share Chelsea & Jen’s most popular posts for June.  And they are….

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Books Added To Jen’s TBR This Month:

I’m contemplating going to a book signing in San Francisco next year.  So a lot of the books I added to my TBR are from authors that will be attending the event. 🙂

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Reading Challenges:

This is the first year I’ve EVER joined a Reading Challenge. I went through Nicole’s huge list of reading challenges – check it out here – and found three that sounded absolutely perfect for me. Here’s where I am so far….

Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge
Status: 17
Goal: 16-20

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Beat The Backlist
Team Book Bard!
Status: 13
Goal: 15-20

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Library Love Challenge
Status: 0
Goal: 12 books

I tried some books this month and ended up stopping, they just weren’t for me.

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So that was our June. Did you read any of the same books that we did? Or share the same favorite book as us? If not, then what was your favorite book? Or have you read any of the books I just added to my TBR?

Here’s hoping you all had a wonderful June too. And cheers to July being fabulous for all of us!

During our Monthly Wrap-Up, we’ll take a look at what has happened around here in the last month. That’ll include what’s happened in my life, what the three of us have read, any other posts we may have had, giveaways still going on, our most popular Instagram posts, books that I’ve added to my ever-growing TBR and updates on my Reading Challenges.

*We linked this post to May Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from May were –

✮ Our lives are filled with baseball, baseball and some more baseball.  Between my two littles being in different divisions, we usually have it 5 days a week.  Our last game is this Saturday and it’s definitely a bittersweet feeling.  I love watching their games and practices but I’m excited we’ll have more time to get together with friends!
✮ I got to attend #RT18 on Saturday and wrote a huge post about it here.  Spoiler alert – it was amazing!!

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What Arielle, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1) by Sabaa Tahir
✮ ISAN (International Sensory Assassin Network #1) by Mary Ting
✮ The Importance of Being Scandalous (A Tale of Two Sisters #1) by Kimberly Bell
✮ Everless (Everless #1)  by Sara Holland
✮ From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata

4.5 Stars:
✮ Caught Up in a Cowboy (Cowboys of Creedence #1) by Jennie Marts

4 Stars:
✮ A Bridge Through Time (Thistle & Hive #1) by Jennae Vale
✮ No Cowboy Required by JoAnn Sky
✮ Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
✮ Moonlight And Midtown (Fairy Tales of the Magicorum #1.5) by Christina Bauer
✮ Damaged Like Us (Like Us #1) by Krista and Becca Ritchie

3 Stars:
✮ Finding Felicity by Stacey Kade

2 Stars:
✮ Hot Asset (21 Wall Street #1) by Lauren Layne

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Our Favorite Books of the Month:

Damaged Like Us (Like Us #1) by Krista and Becca Ritchie (Arielle’s Choice)
I was so happy to be back with these characters and will 100% be reading the rest of the series (and will just be sitting here pining away until Jane and Sully get their own books). ♥

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From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata (Chelsea’s Choice)
These characters aren’t just characters, they’re YOU. They’re your BEST FRIENDS and soul mates and whatever you want them to be. You care THAT much about them. Or, at least, I did.

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ISAN (International Sensory Assassin Network #1) by Mary Ting (Jen’s Choice)
If you’re a fan of dystopian, kick ass girls and a sprinkling of romance then you have to check out this book!  Or even if you liked the Bourne movies (one of my favorite movies!), then you’ll probably enjoy this story as much as I did.  

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Other Posts:

✮ Our Most Anticipated Releases For May
✮ RE-READ BLOG TOUR: A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) by Sabaa Tahir
✮ #RT18 – My Saturday at RT Booklovers Convention

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Instagram:

We thought it would be fun to share Chelsea & Jen’s most popular posts for May. And they are….

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Books Added To Jen’s TBR This Month:

I didn’t include the books I got from RT since I included those in my #RT Post. 🙂

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Reading Challenges:

This is the first year I’ve EVER joined a Reading Challenge. I went through Nicole’s huge list of reading challenges – check it out here – and found three that sounded absolutely perfect for me. Here’s where I am so far….

Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge
Status: 12
Goal: 16-20

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Beat The Backlist
Team Book Bard!
Status: 10
Goal: 15-20

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Library Love Challenge
Status: 0
Goal: 12 books

I tried to read a few books through Overdrive, for authors attending RT, but they just didn’t work for me.  I’m definitely not doing good at this challenge lol!

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So that was our May. Did you read any of the same books that we did? Or share the same favorite book as us? If not, then what was your favorite book? Or have you read any of the books I just added to my TBR?

Here’s hoping you all had a wonderful May too.  And cheers to June being fabulous for all of us!

During our Monthly Wrap-Up, we’ll take a look at what has happened around here in the last month. That’ll include what’s happened in my life, what the three of us have read, any other posts we may have had, giveaways still going on, our most popular Instagram posts, books that I’ve added to my ever-growing TBR and updates on my Reading Challenges.

♥ Enjoy!

I’m not sure if you’ve heard but Arielle had her baby girl on April 10th.  She is the most beautiful, little girl ever!  Chelsea and I are so happy for Arielle and her husband! ♥♥♥

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from April were –

✮ We finally took our littles to their first real baseball game.  It seemed fitting since they play it at least five days a week, ha!  They had so much fun cheering on the Reno Aces.  We lucked out too, it was a gorgeous day in the mid 70’s and the boys got to watch the Aces win the game.  It was the perfect day!
✮ I celebrated my birthday on April 10th….also the same day Arielle had her little girl.  My day was filled with take-out Mexican food and cheesecake – my favorite food ever!  My five year old was sick, so we ended up just celebrating it with the four of us at home.  But that following weekend we got to have again Mexican food and cheesecake with all my family that lives here.  Best week ever!
✮ Last month I learned how to give my bestie shots so she doesn’t go into early labor.  She’s only 18 weeks pregnant but I’ll give her a shot every week until she hits 37 weeks in September.  I was super nervous because the needle is a little more than 1 1/2″ long and the nurse had told me to “just pretend you’re throwing a dart into her“.  WHAT?!  But it was a lot better than I ever could have imaged…..besides the prep work which takes a long time since the medicine is so thick.  But regardless, I can do it so that’s what matters, yay!

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What Arielle, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ Glitter and Sparkle (Glitter and Sparkle #1) by Shari L. Tapscott
✮ To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
✮ Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

4.5 Stars:
✮ The Shadow Weave (Spell Weaver #2) by Annette Marie
✮ Shine and Shimmer (Glitter and Sparkle #2) by Shari L. Tapscott
✮ Spies, Lies, and Allies by Lisa Brown Roberts

4 Stars:
✮ Another Saturday Night and I Ain’t Got No Body (Page Turners #1) by Jennie Marts
✮ The Demon King (Seven Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima

3.5 Stars:
✮ Unmaking Hunter Kennedy by Anne Eliot

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Our Favorite Books of the Month:

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren (Arielle’s Choice)
Seriously, please read this book. It’s such a sweet story of two young people that are soul mates who have connected over books and words and who find their way back to each other even after tragedy rips them apart. I really think it would be impossible to be disappointed.

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To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo (Chelsea’s Choice)
Guys. I adored this book. And the writing-it was seriously out of this world. Savage. Unrelenting-the most vicious kind of poetry. If I could write, and, believe me, the last few books I’ve read have made me pine for it so, this is exactly how I’d want to write.

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Glitter and Sparkle (Glitter and Sparkle #1) by Shari L. Tapscott (Jen’s Choice)
Glitter and Sparkle was the cutest book ever!  If you’re a fan of Cookie O’Gorman, or even the feelings you got while watching the movie Clueless, then you definitely have to give this one a try!

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Other Posts:

✮ Our Most Anticipated Releases For April
✮ TRAILER – Moonlight Seduction (de Vincent #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
✮ TOP TEN TUESDAY – Books We Loved but Will Never Re-Read
✮ TOP TEN TUESDAY – Books That Take Place In Another Country

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Instagram:

We thought it would be fun to share Chelsea & Jen’s most popular posts for April. And they are….

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Books Added To Jen’s TBR This Month:

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Reading Challenges:

This is the first year I’ve EVER joined a Reading Challenge. I went through Nicole’s huge list of reading challenges – check it out here – and found three that sounded absolutely perfect for me. Here’s where I am so far….

Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge
Status: 9
Goal: 16-20

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Beat The Backlist
Team Book Bard!
Status: 8
Goal: 15-20

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Library Love Challenge
Status: 0
Goal: 12 books

I actually read two books this month from the library, but their reviews are scheduled for next month.  So next month. 🙂

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So that was ourApril. Did you read any of the same books that we did? Or share the same favorite book as us? If not, then what was your favorite book? Or have you read any of the books I just added to my TBR?

Here’s hoping you all had a wonderful April too. And cheers to May fabulous for all of us!

**We linked this post to March Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction**