Glimpses Of My Books

It is hard to believe we are saying goodbye to 2021 already. Insane! My Top 10 list for this past year consists of 7 romances (unsurprisingly since that is what I read most), 2 young adults, and 1 fiction (historical fiction to be exact). You will find my Top 10 below, but I would also love to see yours. Send me a message on Instagram  with the link to your list so I can have a look (and I will happily share on my Instagram stories too)!  They are in no particular order and the ones with title only are clickable, that will send you to the review. Have fun and happy reading!  I hope you find something to love in this list and that you end up loving it as much as I did.  1 - Raphael by Tillie Cole  (Dark Romance) 2 - Priest by Sierra Simone  (Taboo Romance) 3 - The Vixen and the Vet by Kat Regnery (Modern Fairytale Retelling Romance) Great modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Savanah was a struggling journalist and Asher a wounded veteran living in hidi...

I haven't laughed while reading a romance book this much in a long time! It is no secret that although contemporary romance and/or romcoms are not usually my go to that Lucy Gilmore always hits the spot. Probably because of the addition of puppies :) point is, her romances are always a delight to read. This time the story was not just a great and at times emotional romance, it was also absolutely hilarious!  and very very sexy :)  If I were to recommend you only one contemporary, and from those only one romantic comedy, this would be it.  The Glimpses of My Books Award for best romcom in 2021 goes to:  I Hate You More  by Lucy Gilmore! Ok ok, that award means absolutely nothing and I just made it up, but you get the point right? I loved the book and you must read it. Here is the Blurb for you: Discover what makes Lucy Gilmore an instant fan favorite with this unforgettably funny enemies-to-lovers romcom starring: • a grumpy dog show judge • a determined former ...

I was very excited about this read. The reviews are good, the people recommending it were people whose recommendations I have liked in the past. And in the end, at did like this one. But I will confess from the start that Promises and Pomegranates  did not blow me away. Blurb: Elena To most, Kal Anderson is a villain. Harbinger of death, keeper of souls, frequenter of nightmares. Doctor Death. Hades incarnate. They say he stole me. Usurped my fiancé and filled the cracks in my heart with empty promises. Imprinted his crimson fingerprints on my psyche and tried to set me free. They’re not wrong, per se. Except it was my choice to stay. Kal To most, Elena Ricci is an innocent. Goddess of springtime, lover of poetry, angel of my nightmares. Little one. Persephone personified. They say I ruined her. Shattered her virtue and devoured her soul like a succulent pomegranate. Embedded my evil as deep as I could possibly get and tried to set her free. They’re not wrong, per se. Except it was...

This book is going to go on my favorites list for 2021. I know the year has not ended yet but it doesn't matter. It is what it is. AmAzInG ReAd! Blurb: To take back life, one must first face death... One man stripped of his freedom, his morals...his life. Conditioned in captivity to maim, to kill and to slaughter, prisoner 818 becomes an unremorseful, unrivaled and unstoppable fighter in the ring. Violence is all he knows. Death and brutality are the masters of his fate. After years of incarceration in an underground hell, only one thought occupies his mind: revenge...bloody, slow and violent revenge. Revenge on the man who lied. Revenge on the man who wronged him. Revenge on the man who condemned him and turned him into this: a rage-fueled killing machine. A monster void of humanity; a monster filled with hate. And no one will stand in the way of getting what he wants. One woman stripped of her freedom, her morals...her life. Kisa Volkova is the only daughter of Kirill ‘The Silenc...

Miss Eliza's English Kitchen  was a very intriguing read. I do like a good historical fiction from time to time, specially when it is based in real facts and real people (if you like historical fiction, see  Tsarina - it even made on my top 10 of 2020) and this one did not disappoint. Perfection! Blurb: In a novel perfect for fans of Hazel Gaynor’s A Memory of Violets and upstairs-downstairs stories, Annabel Abbs, the award-winning author of The Joyce Girl, returns with the brilliant real-life story of Eliza Acton and her assistant as they revolutionized British cooking and cookbooks around the world. Before Mrs. Beeton and well before Julia Child, there was Eliza Acton, who changed the course of cookery writing forever. England 1837. Victorian London is awash with exciting new ingredients from spices to exotic fruits, but Eliza Acton has no desire to spend her days in the kitchen. Determined to be a poet and shamed by the suggestion she write a cookery book ins...

@glimpses_of_my_books Oh the beauty that is discovering new authors! Kristin Vayden is someone I had not heard of before Fortune Favors the Duke  was announced and Sourcebooks told me she is local to Washington State. I am planning a signing event with her and Lucy Gilmore this December at  Inkling Bookshop  and of-course I had to read the book ahead of time.  Fortune Favors the Duke  was utterly adorable! I managed to read this beauty in two sittings and I will be reading the other books in the series. Blurb: Quinton Errington is perfectly happy teaching at Cambridge, with his elder brother carrying the duties of being the Duke of Wesley. But when a trip to celebrate Wesley's last week of bachelorhood ends in tragedy, Quinton, who becomes the Duke of Wesley, would give anything to have his brother back. Now, under the most heartbreaking circumstances, Wesley's would-be bride, Catherine Greatheart, is left wanting. Her only protection left, her grandmother, ha...

I adore Katee Robert, as a person and as a writer. I had the privilege of meeting her this past August and fangirled internally hard. I mean, one can't show the crazy and scare her off at first meeting right?! I don't have tons to say on this one, all in all it was a fun read. I think that if you are new to Katee and this is your first book you will love it.  The problem for me is that I am not new to Katee and the series this book is a spin off of is one of my favorite mafia romances of all time. Not just that, but Rose, the main female character here, is the daughter of my favorite couple too. How does one top that?  Dante's devotion was commendable. He wants Rose, regardless of how their relationship started (she  shot him, he abducted her...) and is certain they can make it work. Rose is one badass heroine. Once she finds out Dante was lying to her she shoots him and carries on.  They have chemistry plenty and make a great pair. The first half of the book was awe...

Two Young Adult reviews in a row? That has not happened in a very very long time. I obviously still read them, but just not as often anymore. Margaret Rogerson is one of those authors I will drop everything to go and read her next title. I absolutely loved her two other books: An Enchantment of Ravens  and Sorcery of Thorns ,  so as you can imagine I was very excited about this one.  Blurb: The dead of Loraille do not rest. Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on; otherwise, they will rise as spirits with a ravenous hunger for the living. She would rather deal with the dead than the living, who trade whispers about her scarred hands and troubled past. When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia defends it by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a saint’s relic. It is a revenant, a malevolent being that threatens to possess her the moment she drops her guard. Wielding its ext...

Adrienne Young has written some amazing stories and some really bad ones too. But the amazing ones are so so so good that I can't resist when a new book comes out. The Last Legacy  was the first book by Adrienne Young that I neither loved or disliked. It had a very good story but it was a little slow to start and the end was abrupt.  The Blurb: When a letter from her uncle Henrik arrives on Bryn Roth's eighteenth birthday, summoning her back to Bastian, Bryn is eager to prove herself and finally take her place in her long-lost family. Henrik has plans for Bryn, but she must win everyone’s trust if she wants to hold any power in the delicate architecture of the family. It doesn’t take long for her to see that the Roths are entangled in shadows. Despite their growing influence in upscale Bastian, their hands are still in the kind of dirty business that got Bryn’s parents killed years ago. With a forbidden romance to contend with and dangerous work ahead, the cost of being accept...

Western Romance... I am sure you, romance aficionado, knows all about it. Because I avoid reading too many cowboy romances (just not my thing) I kind of put Western in that same category and never read it. Thankfully Entangled Publishing saw to rectify my mistake by sending me a book with a fabulous cover, awesome title, great blurb, and therefore trapped me into reading it. And now that I've read it... where is the next one Michelle McLean ?  And of-course, now that I know this is not your average 'put me to sleep' cowboy romance (again, just not my thing), I also have to go on a quest to find all things Western Romance. I am currently listening to Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath and loving it just as much as I loved this beauty. Two completely different books, but both Western Romance, and both amazing!  Now that you know my history with Western Romances you will understand when I say I went into this book with zero expectations. In my mind I just had: "it sounds f...

Blurb: He was the most beautiful man alive. And if I wasn't careful, he was going to be my death. *A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Psyche and Eros that's as sinful as it is sweet.* In the ultra-modern city of Olympus, there's always a price to pay. Psyche knew she'd have to face Aphrodite's ire eventually, but she never expected her literal heart to be at stake...or for Aphrodite's gorgeous son to be the one ordered to strike the killing blow. Eros has no problem shedding blood. But when it comes time to take out his latest target, he can't do it. Confused by his reaction to Psyche, he does the only thing he can think of to keep her safe: he marries her. Psyche vows to make Eros's life a living hell until they find a way out of this mess. But as lines blur and loyalties shift, she realizes he might take her heart after all...and she's not sure she can survive the loss. Electric Idol is Katee's modern take on Eros and Psyche and my first ev...

Ruff and Tumble, Lucy Gilmore " If there was a way to hide a heavily pregnant golden retriever under a desk, Hailey had yet to discover it. " Adorable puppies, emotional pasts, and a happily ever after... the perfect read to submerge yourself in!  I adored this little book. Hailey is a production assistant for the Puppy Cup. It is pretty much what it sounds like, puppies "playing football". The Puppy Cup is an yearly event where rescue dogs simulate playing football during the football season. Hailey therefore knows all things puppy and all things football. Specially the Seattle Lumberjacks. What she doesn't know is family. She lost her parents young and grew up in the foster system. She is a pre-teen by the time she is adopted and her adoptive father leaves her too soon. She has no one, just the puppies. It is a lonely life but she is going through the motions and making it work. She loves her job, she loves fostering pups, and takes immense joy in finding home...

I am late to the party with this one and there are reasons for it.  Reason number one: my least favorite trope- kids. It doesn't matter if it is single mom, single dad, big party of the story or small, kids in books are only ok when is not romance. There is nothing romantic about a kid... making the kid maybe :) Reason number two: I adore Christina and Lauren's older books and series, but their latest books have all been mid range and since parts of the plot were already not my thing I was just worried I would dislike it. I am happy to say I didn't dislike it, but it wasn't a 5 star book. Much the contrary, I skipped the audio book a few times because I got bored.  Here is the Blurb: Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents--who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno--Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting any...

Crow and Reaper by A. Zavarelli (Boston Underworld #1 and #2) @glimpses_of_my_books These books are (to me at least) two VERY different books and the reason you should never give up on an author after just one book. I did not like Crow  one tiny bit. But I absolutely loved Reaper . One is a 1 star, while the other is a 4...  Let's start with the good first, Reaper . Ronan is likely to break your heart. Throughout the book we get snippets of his past, accounts of everything he had to go through before Crow and his mother find him and save him from the horrible life he was leaving. In a way, although I wasn't a fun of Crow in the first book, his love and care for Ronan had made me like him a little better. Ronan is not quiet, moody, and broody by choice. It is a consequence of all the things he has been through, the things I mentioned above that will break your heart... He is caring and loving, but he has no idea how to put those things in action. He is, in a way, one of the mo...

Priest and Sinner by Sierra Simone are books 1 and 2 of her Priest series. As the title suggests, one of the characters starts of as a Priest. I found that she managed to write a rather respectful book towards those that are religious (myself included), but it is a taboo topic and if you can't get over that perhaps you should not read it. But if you can, prepare yourself for two amazing books!  Priest and Sinner by Sierra Simone @glimpses_of_my_books Priest Father Bell is still new to the priesthood. After some horrible things that happened to his sister, that ended with her taking away her own life, he decides to dedicate himself to God and show those around him that not all Priests are monsters.  And Poppy needs someone to talk to. What better way than to turn to God and use confession?  Things take a turn rather fast. Tyler (Father Bell) loves God and being a Priest, but perhaps he didn't consider how much he would have to give up from his previous life. And Poppy ma...

Aphrodite in Bloom by  @glimpses_of_my_books I find it really hard to review books that are a collection of stories or novellas, some are always going to be great while others are not going to be exactly to my taste. That is definitely the case here. There are some amazing novellas in this book that could easily be turned into full books, there are others that I could have done without. That being said, I was impressed, most of them were actually really good. The other difficult thing with reviewing novellas is saying why you liked it without giving away the story. So I apologize in advance if this review will come across vague. Before we get to it, here is the blurb, which I find 100% accurate :) This erotic anthology has something for everyone and caters to many different tastes and proclivities. Discover what interests or excites you. Explore which is your perfect story. Return to it again and again. We dare you. A virgin receives an especially satisfying gift at a masked ball.....