Tag: Monthly Wrap-Up (Page 5 of 9)

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 March Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from March were:

✮ We still have SO much snow!  Spring?!  Yeah right, it’s all a total lie here!  I finally took a picture in front of our snow berms.  That isn’t a hill.  There’s only houses 20-30 feet behind the berms.  You can check it out here.
✮ We went to a Monster Truck Show.  My two little boys had an absolute blast, even though my oldest couldn’t believe that Grave Digger didn’t win, and they are already counting down till next years show!
✮ My youngest turned 6.  On his actual birthday I brought cupcakes into his classroom and the weekend before we had a big birthday party with all of our family.  There was lots of chocolate cupcakes, In N Out burgers, baseball and bike riding.  He said it’s good to be 6 lol!

✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

What Arielle, Cassie, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2) by Holly Black
✮ Fraternize (Players Game #1) by Rachel Van Dyken
✮ Windwitch (The Witchlands #2) by Susan Dennard
✮ Vicious (Sinners of Saint #1) by LJ Shen
✮ Risky Play (Red Card #1) by Rachel Van Dyken
✮ Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
✮ Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer
✮ House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
✮ Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
✮ Yard Sale by Charleigh Rose

4.5 Stars:
✮ To Best the Boys by Mary Weber 
✮ Dangerous Hearts (A Stolen Melody Duet #1) by K.K. Allen
✮ Destined Hearts (A Stolen Melody Duet #2) by K.K. Allen
✮ Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1) by Susan Dennard

4 Stars:
✮ Sherwood by Meagan Spooner
✮ Make Me Bad by R. S. Grey
✮ The Au Pair by Emma Rous

3.5 Stars:
✮ We Told Six Lies by Victoria Scott

2 Stars:
✮ Bring Me Their Hearts (Bring Me Their Hearts #1) by Sara Wolf

✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

Our Favorite Books of the Month:

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (Arielle’s Choice)
I’m just going to hit the ground running here by saying that this is now one of my favorite books of all time. I honestly don’t even know how I’m supposed to review this?? Other than to just do my usual fangirl flail and hope I properly can get my feelings across to all of you about this wonderful, beautiful book.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (Cassie’s Choice)
It’s sexy, it’s funny and it’s emotionally heart-warming.  I can’t wait to get this in printed form and read it whenever I need a pick-me-up. 

✩✮✩

Vicious (Sinners of Saint #1) by LJ Shen (Chelsea’s Choice)
I loved The Kiss Thief-more than was safe for my own health-but when I picked up this book? It sang to my soul and dragged me down into the watery grave of obsession, because I literally could not get enough of each word spoken on every page. It was like there weren’t enough words, yet they were all so perfect no more could be said. Which is the best kind of predicament to be in, naturally, for a book DEVOURER such as me. But now, of course, I’ve spiraled into a void I can’t get out of, because literally no other book is going to compare now. Like, ugh.

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 February Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from February were:

✮ The area I live by has had SO much snow!  As of February 22nd, when I typed up this post, Lake Tahoe had received almost 250 inches of snow.  That is just for the month of February.  Here are some of my snow pictures throughout the month….picture 1,  picture 2  and  picture 3.
✮ I went to the #sfggae19 last month, which is a book signing in San Francisco.  I had SO much fun and met some of my favorite authors!  I’m working on a wrap up post right now, but I almost didn’t think I was going to be able to attend.  We were hit with the worst storm ever. We got 41 inches of snow in under 8 hours, and of course it was when I was driving there Friday.  The weekend totaled almost 9 feet of snow, so it was fun trying to come home too lol.  Here’s a picture of me trying to get back home here.
✮ My kiddos had ski week off from school, so we worked on learning how to snowboard.  Their enthusiasm was so much fun and I was so proud of how far they came!

✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

What Arielle, Cassie, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ Soul in Darkness by Wendy Higgins
✮ Fuel the Fire (Calloway Sisters #3) by Krista and Becca Ritchie
✮ Bad Intentions (Bad Love #2) by Charleigh Rose
✮ The Kiss Thief by L.J. Shen
✮ Darker Water (Once and Forever #1) by Lauren Stewart
✮ The Risk (Briar U #2) by Elle Kennedy
✮ The Hot Shot (Game On #4) by Kristen Callihan
✮ Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

4.5 Stars:
✮ The Girl in the Tower (Winternight #2) by Katherine Arden

4 Stars:
✮ King of Scars (Nikolai Duology #1) by Leigh Bardugo
✮ The Boyfriend Whisperer 2.0 (The Boyfriend Whisperer #2) by Linda Budzinski
✮ The Winter of the Witch (Winternight Trilogy #3) by Katherine Arden
✮ The Lost Sisters (The Folk of the Air #1.5) by Holly Black

3.5 Stars:
✮ To Dream Is To Die (Dead Dreamer #1) by Sarah Lampkin

3 Stars:
✮ Fireblood (Frostblood Saga #2) by Elly Blake

2 Stars:
✮ The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight #1) by Katherine Arden

✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

Our Favorite Books of the Month:

 Darker Water (Once and Forever #1) by Lauren Stewart (Jen’s Choice)
Darker Water was a steamy, heart-felt story that constantly had me smiling.  Just within those first few pages, I was already laughing and obsessed with our two main characters.  It all flowed so seamlessly and I devoured it in no time at all. Darker Water became an instant favorite and I’m kicking myself that I didn’t pick it up sooner.  Especially since I bought this book four years ago.

✩✮✩

The Risk (Briar U #2) by Elle Kennedy (Arielle’s Choice)
This was everything I wanted it to be AND MORE. Guys. At this point I could literally read Elle Kennedy’s grocery list and probably fall in love with it. She is the queen of hilarious banter and steam and I am all here for it.

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 January Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from January were:

✮ My oldest turned 8 *cries*.  Time is going by so fast!  He wanted to spend his birthday go-karting and then having all of our family over for pizza and cake.  It was such a fun day!
✮ My youngest lost his first tooth and he wondered out loud if every single house has a tooth fairy that lives under it. 😉
✮ The four of us have been obsessed playing different kinds of board games that we got for Christmas.  And it’s been so much fun having game nights together.  My favorite so far is Walls and Warriors, my husband is obsessed with Anti-Virus, the boys love Twister and we all love Otrio which is like a suped-up tic tac toe.

✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

What Arielle, Cassie, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #3) by Cassandra Clare
✮ Even If I Fall by Abigail Johnson
✮ The Wicked King (Folk of the Air #2) by Holly Black
✮ Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
✮ Tangled Like Us (Like Us #4) by Krista and Becca Ritchie
✮ Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry
✮ Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon
✮ Moonlight Scandals (de Vincent #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

4.5 Stars:
✮ The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses #1) by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu
✮The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black

4 Stars:
✮ The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton
✮ The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) by Roshani Chokshi
✮ Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer
✮ Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7) by Jill Shalvis
✮ Luna and the Lie by Mariana Zapata

✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

Our Favorite Books of the Month:

 The Wicked King (Folk of the Air #2) by Holly Black (Chelsea’s Choice)
You love the first, you anticipate the second, and then wonder what’s to come with the third-but you can’t ever really know if that author is going to do what you want. Yes, I have MANY favorites. YES, lots of things happen that I like and that placate me. But rarely-VERY RARELY-does an author do every maniacal thing I could possibly imagine-and even take it farther than I could even fathom. And this is what Black did. She came. She wrote. She F****** conquered.

✩✮✩

Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry (Jen’s Choice)
Only a Breath Apart was a beautifully, emotional story.  It held my heart in the palm of its hand and I kept finding moments here and there that stole my breath away.  This book was filled with heartfelt characters and friendship, love, forgiveness, bravery and finding oneself was a huge part of this story.  

✩✮✩

Tangled Like Us (Like Us #4) by Krista and Becca Ritchie (Arielle’s Choice)
Lololol I’m in so deep with this family it’s not even funny at this point. This book was everything I wanted it to be and more, to say the least. I have been wanting Jane and Thatcher’s story since the time Thatcher made sure all of Jane’s cats were safe when they escaped the townhouse. We never truly saw much from him other than a tough and stoic exterior so you better believe I was dying to dive into his POV.

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 December Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from December were:

✮ We hosted Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after Christmas Day for all of my family.  Our days were filled with a ton of games, we ate way too much food and relaxed.  I absolutely love how magical the holidays are to my two little boys.  It’s so much fun watching the joy they get from baking cookies, to building a gingerbread house and opening presents.  Speaking of presents, I took a picture of one of my doggies helping open a Christmas present that wasn’t his ha – click here.
✮ Two of my childhood friends stayed with us back to back, along with their husbands and kiddos.  We live right by Lake Tahoe, so it’s the perfect place to vacation. We spent a lot of time sledding in the mountains and it even snowed on us one of the days.  The rest of the time we were busy playing more games and even playing baseball outside in a high of 19 degrees.  Wheeeee!
✮ I made one resolution for 2019.  I just want to focus on happiness.  Spending time with those I love, reading great books and enjoying life.  It seems like a great resolution to try and work towards every day for the New Year.  So cheers to all of my bookish friends!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday and a happy New Year!

✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

What Arielle, Cassie, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns #1) by Kendare Blake
✮ Bad Habit (Bad Love #1) by Charleigh Rose

4.5 Stars:
✮ Smiling Irish (The Summerhaven Trio #2) by Katy Regnery
✮ Evermore (Everless #2) by Sara Holland

4 Stars:
✮ The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) by Roshani Chokshi
✮ Fighting Irish (The Summerhaven Trio #1) by Katy Regnery
✮ A Curse So Dark and Lonely (A Curse So Dark and Lonely #1) by Brigid Kemmerer
✮ Loving Irish (The Summerhaven Trio #3) by Katy Regnery
✮ City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

Our Favorite Books of the Month:

 Bad Habit (Bad Love #1) by Charleigh Rose (Jen’s Choice)
A forbidden love story that was filled with angst and had a strong hate to love vibe.  The characters quickly reached deep into my heart and it was so easy to feel every single one of their emotions. This book was exactly what I was looking for!

✩✮✩

Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns #1) by Kendare Blake (Arielle’s Choice)
HIGHLY recommend this series.

✩✮✩

Evermore (Everless #2) by Sara Holland (Cassie’s Choice)
Evermore was an excellent bookend to its companion, Everless.  I absolutely loved this book!

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 November Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from November were –

✮ My youngest is in Kindergarten and I swear he brought home every germ last month.  First it was a cold, then it was the flu and then croup.  Thankfully we were all healthy by Thanksgiving, but it was a rough road to get there.  And hopefully that means we’re good for the rest of the year?!  Fingers crossed!
✮ I discovered a new favorite cookie while baking.  They are Soft Caramel Snickerdoodles from Sally’s Baking Addiction (Chelsea and I are both love with her recipes).  A snickerdoodle with caramel inside….oh my gosh, yum!  I highly recommend them if you adore baking and snickerdoodles.  You can find the recipe here.
✮ We celebrated Thanksgiving at my parents house.  My parents, brother, aunt, uncle and my Grandma now live by my husband and I so we only have to drive 18 minutes to celebrate the holidays.  It was such a nice, relaxing day with family and my boys had so much fun!

✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

What Arielle, Cassie, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ Dangerous Exes (Liars, Inc. #2) by Rachel Van Dyken
✮ Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7) by Sarah J. Maas
✮ Not So Nice Guy by R. S. Grey
✮ Before the Devil Breaks You (The Diviners #3) by Libba Bray (Chelsea)
✮ The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
✮ A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
✮ Before the Devil Breaks You (The Diviners #3) by Libba Bray (Arielle)

4.5 Stars:
✮ The Diviners (The Diviners #1) by Libba Bray
✮ You Had Me at Cowboy (Cowboys of Creedence #2) by Jennie Marts

4 Stars:
✮ Shifters and Glyphs (Fairy Tales of the Magicorum #2) by Christina Bauer
✮ Arrogant Devil by R. S. Grey
✮ Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray
✮ The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
✮ #Murdertrending (Murdertrending #1) by Gretchen McNeil

✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

Our Favorite Books of the Month:

 Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7) by Sarah J. Maas (Arielle’s Choice)
I swear to God I spent this entire book crying, laughing, heart racing, scared out of my wits, clutching my heart or throat because I was damn invested in what I might find on the next page. If some evil person were to tell me that I was only able to read one author’s books for the rest of my life, it would be hers.

✩✮✩

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager  (Cassie’s Choice)
I was breathless up until the last page and I was left fully satisfied. I cannot wait for future books from Sager if his first two novels are an indication of what’s to come next.

✩✮✩

Before the Devil Breaks You (The Diviners #3) by Libba Bray  (Chelsea’s Choice)
When I love something, I love it with every fiber of my being…and this series deserves all the praise. I just hope I can last until that final book comes out…because Ms. Bray literally holds my heart in the palm in her hand.

✩✮✩

 Dangerous Exes (Liars, Inc. #2) by Rachel Van Dyken (Jen’s Choice)
I loved how they toyed with each.  I loved the games they played. But I loved the passion between them the most.  It was crazy addicting and created so many explosive scenes bursting with sexual tension.