Can't Wait for . . . The Forgotten Kingdom by Signe Pike

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hoste at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. If you're continuing with WOW, feel free to link those up as well! Find out more here.

I thought I was going to have to wait another year for the sequel to The Lost Queen, one of my favorite books from 2018, but I just discovered that it is coming out in 2 short months!!

The Forgotten Kingdom by Signe Pike

Release Date: September 15, 2020

**** DON'T READ UNLESS YOU ARE CURRENT WITH THE SERIES,

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ****

Synopsis: "The story continues in The Forgotten Kingdom, the second book in the astonishing Lost Queen trilogy, already hailed as “Outlander meets Camelot” (Kirsty Logan) and “The Mists of Avalon for a new generation” (Linnea Hartsuyker).

AD 573. Imprisoned in her chamber, Languoreth awaits news in torment. Her husband and son have ridden off to wage war against her brother, Lailoken. She doesn’t yet know that her young daughter, Angharad, who was training with Lailoken to become a Wisdom Keeper, has been lost in the chaos. As one of the bloodiest battles of early medieval Scottish history scatters its survivors to the wind, Lailoken and his men must flee to exile in the mountains of the Lowlands, while nine-year-old Angharad must summon all Lailoken has taught her and follow her own destiny through the mysterious, mystical land of the Picts.

In the aftermath of the battle, old political alliances unravel, opening the way for the ambitious adherents of the new religion: Christianity. Lailoken is half-mad with battle sickness, and Languoreth must hide her allegiance to the Old Way to survive her marriage to the next Christian king of Strathclyde. Worst yet, the new King of the Angles is bent on expanding his kingdom at any cost. Now the exiled Lailoken, with the help of a young warrior named Artur, may be the only man who can bring the Christians and the pagans together to defeat the encroaching Angles. But to do so, he must claim the role that will forever transform him. He must become the man known to history as “Myrddin.”

Bitter rivalries are ignited, lost loves are found, new loves are born, and old enemies come face-to-face with their reckoning in this compellingly fresh look at one of the most enduring legends of all time."

When was the last time you were surprised by a release of a book?

Review of Beach Read by Emily Henry

Read for: Recently Added/ Anticipated Release

Synopsis: "A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They're polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really."

My Review: I was really looking forward to this book, thinking it would be a light and fun read for the summer. It ended up being a lot more heavy hitting than I was expecting but I ended up really enjoying it. It still had some of my favorite romance elements, enemies to lovers, forced close proximity, and the angsty/broody guy. I loved the banter between the characters, January was so quick witted and so many times the things that came out of her mouth made me laugh. I also loved Augustus, he seems so dark and brooding and stand-offish but really has a soft side. The tension between them was great, a lot of push and pull and build up. While it wasn't quite what I expected, a lot more drama and baggage between them than I had thought there would be, it was a great summer read!

My Rating: This seems to be the 'it' book of this summer and I am glad I got to read it.  It wasn't quite as light as I had expected, but it was still very entertaining.  I loved January's witty personality and the banter between her and Augustus.  I give it a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag.

Blog Tour, Exerpt & Review: Arrogant Bastard by Jennifer Dawson

Today I am excited to share an excerpt and giveaway to celebrate the release of ARROGANT BASTARD by Jennifer Dawson. This is the second standalone novel in the Bastard series and shares Cat and Caden's romance. Enjoy and be sure to download your copy! 

Arrogant Bastard 

Previous Books:

Review of Cold Hearted Bastard

Synopsis: "I’m Cat McKay, and I’m in desperate need of a man. 

My farm manager deserted me six weeks before our grand opening that will help put my family’s business on the map. Now I need to find a replacement, because I’m not about to be the reason we fail. Unfortunately, Caden Landry— whose arrogance, evasions and good looks rub me the wrong way—is my only option on a list of zero candidates. 

So, as much as it pains me to admit it, I need him to step in and save the day. Yeah, I hate it too. 

I’m Caden Landry, and I have a self-destructive streak a mile wide. 

One thing is clear, I need to stay the hell away from my new boss, Cat McKay. Not an easy task, considering she’s the kind of woman I find irresistible. But I’m tired of running, tired of living paycheck to paycheck with nothing but a flatbed to my name. I’m determined this time I’m going to get my life together. 

So, I’m not about to screw a golden opportunity because I can’t keep my hands off the woman in charge. This time, self-preservation will prevail."

My Review: . I found that while reading the previous book, that I really loved the family dynamics in this series and was excited to continue with this book. I ended up finding this book very difficult to read, not because of the writing or anything wrong with it but I connected with and felt Cat on a very deep level. It was almost soul bearing and painful. While I was only able to take this book in small doses because of that, it was still a great book! It is amazing when you can find a character that you connect with so completely. To watch Cat fight through and come out the other side all the better for the battle, it gives me hope. In addition, the chemistry between Caden and Cat was off the charts! Good gordy, the steam coming off the pages of this book! I really enjoyed this journey and look forward to getting more of the McKay family in the future!

My Rating: Even though it was a difficult book for me to get through, it was still a really fantastic read. Maybe I will revisit again when I am in a better mindset myself.  I give it a rating of Four Paws!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Caffeinated PR. The following is my honest review and opinion.

You can find out more about Jennifer Dawson and her books on her Goodreads Page or Website.

Arrogant Bastard was just released in May, so you can now obtain your own copy.

Amazon | iTunes | Kobo | B&N | GooglePlay 

Read an Excerpt

I point to the empty seat at the end of the counter. “Did you not hear me say I want to be alone.”

“I did.”  He points to the shot glass. “You gonna let me do a shot all by myself?”

“You would have been doing it all by yourself if I wasn’t here.”

“But you are here,” he points out, oh so helpfully.

I contemplate irrationally throwing the tequila in his face but that seems a bit too dramatic and wouldn’t really work in my favor. Not only does it show my cards, but it wastes perfectly good alcohol.

Doesn’t mean I can’t work out a deal.

I tilt my head. “If I do a shot with you will you leave me alone?”

“Probably not.”  He grins.

I think he intends it to be all good-natured and disarming, but it doesn’t come across like that at all.

Heat kicks up low in my belly.  I shake my head. “You know, I kinda hate you.”

“Oh, I know you do.” He laughs, and it hardens my nipples under the thin cotton of my tank top.

“I find you annoying.”  I straighten my spine, feeling all justified. Which is probably the liquor. But isn’t that the point in drinking? To justify your actions while you’re in the headspace to not give a shit about the consequences.

“You don’t say.” He drinks his beer before placing it on the bar and shifting toward me. “What else?”

“You’re infuriating.”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that.”

I wrinkle my nose. “You think you know everything.”

“Not everything, but most things.”

I’m on a roll now and it feels good to let loose of the reins a little, I’ve been strung too tight for too long. I need to snap a little to find some balance.  “I hate how everyone likes you.”

He flashes that smile at me. “That is frustrating.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Oh my god, stop it.”

“I’m just listening to your list of grievances.”

“Well, stop it.”

He picks up his glass and tilts it in my direction. “About that shot.” 

Bastard Series

Amazon | iTunes | Kobo | B&N | Google Play | Goodreads

Giveaway

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Monday Reading List

It is Monday again, and time to update with what I read last week, what I am currently reading and what to look forward to next week.

Reviews Posted Last Week:

Links will take you to my review

America the Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates & Illustrated by Wendell Minor

 Books Finished Last Week:

Reviews will be posted at a later date

Sergeant's Christmas Seige
Arrogant Bastard

Currently Reading:

You Can't F*ck Up Your Kids by Lindsay Powers - Print - on page 98 of 320
Realm by Alexandrea Weis - ebook - on page 46 of 397
The Ranger of Marzanna by Jon Skovron - print/ebook - on page 134 of 528
Kill the Farmboy by Kevin Hearne & Delilah Dawson - Audio - 58%

Pages Read/ Time Listened
520:10 Hours Listened (10:34 listened this week)
15,697 Pages Read (361 this week)

Books Added to Shelves Recently: TBR
The Eyes of Tamburah (gift)
The Wolf in the Whale
~~~~~~~~~~March Birthday Waiver Books ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Rain Dragon Rescue
The Order of the Unicorn
#Frankenstein
All the Wandering Light
Life on the Leash
Phoenix Unbound
You Can't F*ck Up Your Kids  (gift)
Mary Shelley Monster Hunter Vol. 1
The Caged Queen
The Mum Who'd Had Enough
Ash and Quill
The Voyage to Magical North
I Needed a Viking
Smoke and Iron
The Overdue Life of Amy Byler
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Birthday Waiver~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Red Hood (gift)
Scavenge the Stars
Beefcakes
Hades & Persephone
Red, White & Royal Blue
Dark Skies
No Country for Old Gnomes (gift)
About That Kiss
The Ranger of Marzanna
A Heart of Blood and Ashes (gift)
The Girl and the Stars
A Choir of Lies
Loving Cara
This Will Kill That
One to Watch
Woven in Moonlight
Steel Tide
Girl of Fire & Thorns (gift)
Murder Past Due
Books Can Be Deceiving
Due or Die
Book Line and Sinker
Apple Cider Slaying
All My Loving
Fury of a Phoenix
Homicide in Hardcover (gift)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


It was a truly miserable week last week. We had to make the difficult decision to put our dog, Niko, down. He was in far too much pain for us to keep him with us. Thankfully, the vets office made an exception and allowed us to accompany him inside and stay with him through the end.  Needless to say it was difficult for the whole family and this is the first time I can remember in my life not having any pets. I am sure it won't last long but we are taking time to grieve and mourn the loss of our beloved pets recently.

In the book world, I am trying to play catch up as much as I can. I have a bunch of reviews to write and posts to get up. I also am working on catching up on requested reviews.  I am also going to try to branch out into a new genre, Cozy Mysteries. I think it is time for a bit of a change.