Books with One Word Titles

By Brookelorren on 20 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday

Hello! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, where we talk about books! Top Ten Tuesday has a new topic every Tuesday, and is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! Today we’re going to talk about books with one word titles. There were a lot of ways I could go about this, but I decided to use titles from “My Books” on Goodreads, oldest ones first (to bring a little variety into the picture), arranged by date added. I’m also not going to include the articles the, a, or an. Let’s get started!

The Century

I went through four pages of books on Goodreads before I came across The Century. Here’s where I realized that it’s not going to be very easy to come up with 10 books that only have one word titles (especially if I don’t include books that start with articles). This book is over 20 years old now, but I still might reread it someday. It is a book that gives a broad overview of the history of the 20th century, using the words of people that lived through it. It also has tons of pictures.

Rora cover

I read Rora last year and… it was just okay. I liked reading about the Waldensians, who were considered heretics by the Catholic church, but the story didn’t grab me. Which is sad because this is an unknown but interesting part of history.

Divergent cover

I didn’t use Goodreads much until recently, which is why we’re already up to Divergent, which I had never heard of before the movie came out. There are three other books in this series with one word titles (Insurgent, Allegiant, and Four) and we’ll just skip over them for variety’s sake.

Legend cover

I added a lot of books with one word titles in 2014 because there are three of them on this one page alone. Both Legend and Divergent are some of my favorite books. Like the book before, Legend‘s sequels are also one word titles (Prodigy, Champion, and Rebel) so I won’t mention them here.

Mockingjay cover

Another book I added in 2014 was Mockingjay, the third book in The Hunger Games series. All of the other books in this series have more than one word in the title.

Okami cover

Ōkami is a short story that is part of the Flame in the Mist series. Another short story in the series, Yumi, is also one word.

Warcross cover

Warcross is another book that only has one word (as does Wildcard, the second book in the series). It’s a story about a girl who hacks her way into a video game and was my favorite book from 2017.

Heartless cover

Marissa Meyer’s Heartless is really good Alice in Wonderland fanfiction. I haven’t had the opportunity to read The Lunar Chronicles yet (also using one word titles) but I did like this one.

The Stand cover

Stephen King’s The Stand is another book with one word (and an article) in the title. It’s also the longest book on my list today.

Caraval cover

Last but not least, Caraval is a trilogy whose books all have one word in the title (the others are Legendary and Finale). If you like magical books with a circus-like atmosphere, you might like this series.

That wasn’t as difficult as I thought. I only went through nine pages on my Goodreads books to come up with these. Evidently most of the books I read have multiple words in the title, but there are some with only one word. What books did you come up with?

Next week we’re going to talk about authors with a fun social media presence. I’m not sure about that, I might just talk about authors who I like following on Twitter. Close enough.

March 2020 Kindle Book Deals

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It’s a new month, which means new Kindle book deals! I always like to take advantage of these deals. Here are some that I find most interesting.

Regretting You cover

I’ve seen Colleen Hoover’s Regretting You a lot recently on various book blogs. It’s about a mom who doesn’t want her daughter to repeat the mistakes she made. It’s only $1.99 this month, so if you’ve seen it and think it sounds interesting (this happens to me all the time when I’m reading blogs) then now would be a good time to get this.

Never Stop Walking Cover

I read Never Stop Walking by Christina Rickardsson a couple years ago and thought it was pretty good. My review can be found here. It’s only $.99 this month.

A Touch of Gold cover

A Touch of Gold is a story of Midas. It’ll be on sale for $1.99 this month.

Those are the deals that stood out to me this month.

Limited Time Deals

I’m not sure how long this deal will last, but Marie Lu’s three main series, Legend, The Young Elites, and Warcross, are all on sale. They’re all $1.99 today on Kindle.

Legend cover
Prodigy
Champion cover
Young Elites cover
The Rose Society cover
Midnight Star cover
Warcross cover
Wildcard cover

I don’t know how long this sale will last, but I wouldn’t wait too long.

Sensational

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Sensational cover

I recently finished reading Sensational by Jodie Lynn Zdrock. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy! This is the sequel to Spectacle, which came out last year (you can read my review here). This review assumes you’ve already read the first book, so if you don’t want spoilers or me to throw out confusing terms, then read the first book first.

It’s now 1889, and the World’s Fair has come to Paris. Nathalie is working at Le Petit Journal as well as the public morgue, where the police get her input as an Insightful. She has a boyfriend, Jules, who is also an insightful. As the World’s Fair gets into full swing, another round of murders begins. Nathalie wants to help put a stop to it.

What I Liked

Sensational brings you into the World’s Faire, which is pretty cool. It’s fun to be transported into a time when people weren’t necessarily familiar with many of the countries of the world, like we are today. In Nathalie’s world, the Eiffel Tower is new, and of course, there are also no phones or electrical technology.

Nathalie has great relationships with her friends and family. She lost her best friend towards the end of Spectacle, although we are two years into the future with this book, and the pain has ebbed a bit. She is faced with new pain regarding her family and friends, but Sensational isn’t a rehash of Spectacle.

The story itself has a satisfying ending.

What I Liked Less

Sensational didn’t seem to have quite the same magic that Spectacle did. There weren’t any thrilling chases through the catacombs, Nathalie’s Insightful powers were old hat, and the public morgue wasn’t a shock to me as a reader. I still liked the story, but not to the same degree that I did the first book in the duology.

Conclusion

If you’ve read Spectacle and really enjoyed it, then I do recommend you go ahead and read Sensational, especially if you’re curious about what happens to Nathalie. I liked it, even though I wasn’t as enamored with it as I was the first book. If you thought Spectacle was only so-so, then I wouldn’t move it to the top of your TBR list.

February 2020 Wrap-Up

By Brookelorren on 10 Comments

Hello! February is almost over, so it means it’s time for a monthly wrap-up! We have an extra day this month because it’s a leap year. If you’re reading this on the 29th, today is the ONLY day in four years you can order Brigadoon Breakfast tea at Adagio. I love Adagio teas and have waited almost 4 years to try it. I ordered 18 ounces of it, LOL. I don’t get any referral bonuses off that link, but I thought you might want to know about it if you like tea and want a once in four year opportunity. Anyway, let’s get started!

Books Read:

The last few months have been abysmal in getting books read. It’s so bad, I’m not even close to finishing my Winter TBR. I’m still on track for my Goodreads challenge, but I only read seven books last month.

  • Lord of Shadows – Cassandra Clare (reread)
  • Killing the SS – Bill O’Reilly
  • Belle Révolte – Linsey Miller
  • Queen of Air and Darkness – Cassandra Clare (reread)
  • Chain of Gold – Cassandra Clare
  • Broken Throne – Victoria Aveyard
  • Sensational – Jodie Lynn Zdrock

But I suppose there’s more to a reading life than numbers. Queen of Air and Darkness is 880 pages long. The first time I read it, I read that, Lord of Shadows, Lady Midnight, and Clockwork Princess is 8 or 9 days and it was exhausting. I took a lot more time reading them this time around.

Blog Stats:

  • Blog users have fallen but I haven’t been posting as much, so that’s not much of a surprise. Hopefully I’ll get more into the blogging and reading groove soon.
  • Twitter has been up though, to 2172. Not sure where that is coming from.

Writing:

  • I finished my fourth draft of The Brightness of Shadow. I entered into Author Mentor Match, but I know I won’t get picked, even though they won’t announce the mentees until March 3rd. That’s okay.
  • I had two of my short stories chosen for publication! Twist in Time Magazine is doing an anthology called Thank You For Your Service, and my personal essay, “September 11th” was chosen for publication. It’ll be published on November 11th this year. I also was picked for the 42 Word Story Anthology. They’re picking a lot of authors for that one.

Life:

  • My boy has been grounded from his phone and computer for most of the month, and he’s used it to read a lot. He read the entire Young Elites trilogy, which is good, because I’m taking him to see Marie Lu, Astrid Scholte, and Melissa de la Cruz on the 5th. He’s read 10 of Marie Lu’s books now, plus her short story in Slasher Girls & Monster Boys. He wanted a book recommendation yesterday and I suggested Four Dead Queens.
  • Sandhya Menon’s book launch for Of Curses and Kisses went great! The evening was spectacular, until I was almost home. I almost died. It started snowing, my windshield wipers stopped working, I couldn’t see, and then when I tried to get off the freeway, my car spun around on the freeway twice. I was so scared, and I was praying hard in the car. I hope to turn that event into a short story which I hope to submit to Chicken Soup for the Soul. Fortunately, nobody got hurt, and the weather is supposed to be nice for the Penguin Teen Tour next week.

So that was my month! I really hope to step up my reading next month because there are so many books I want to read and they’re just not getting read! I hope you had an excellent February and have a wonderful March! And that we finally see a curtailment of this snow.

Chain of Gold

By Brookelorren on Leave a Comment
Chain of Gold cover

One of my most anticipated books for the past year has been Cassandra Clare’s Chain of Gold. Funny, I was so concerned about reading all the March 3 releases and I end up getting two of them as ARCs. Once again, thank you to Bookish First and Margaret K. McElderry Books for providing me with an advanced reader copy! If you’d like to join Bookish First, you can use my referral code: 56cf541090ca608b4. We both get points if you use it!

When we first start Chain of Gold, two people are moving to London: Cordelia Carstairs, who has few London friends because her family has been living abroad for years, and Grace Blackthorn, whom James Herondale loves. Or thinks he loves. The city has seen very few demon attacks recently, but things are about to heat up in the supernatural realm.

If you’ve read “The Midnight Heir”, then you know that Grace’s adoptive mother, Tatiana Blackthorn, doesn’t approve of James. She hates the Herondales because of what happened to her parents in The Infernal Devices. Going into this story, I had seen the Shadowhunter found family tree, but if you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil the end for you. But Tatiana’s disapproval of Herondales and Lightwoods does propel some of the storyline.

Cordelia’s dad is in trouble. After an expedition went wrong, he was put under house arrest in Idris. Cordelia wants him to be found innocent, so she feels she needs to make influential friends. The friends she makes just happen to be the children of the characters from The Infernal Devices. While she is getting adjusted in the new city, all hell breaks loose. In some ways, literally. Cordelia and her new friends have to save the Shadowhunters from this new threat.

What I Liked

Chain of Gold is another outstanding Shadowhunters novel. I loved the characters, especially James and Cordelia. Cordelia’s future parabatai and James’s sister Lucie is a budding novelist and is a sweetheart. Then there’s Matthew, who drinks a little too much and has a troubled past. If you read “Cast Long Shadows” from Ghosts of the Shadow Market then you’ll know what happened. Anna, Christopher, and Thomas are also main characters that Cordelia spends time with that all have their own personalities.

The setting of Chain of Gold is different from that of The Infernal Devices. The book is set in 1903 (with some flashbacks to previous times) and Ms. Clare did a great job making it feel like a different time than that of her previous series. Technology has advanced as well as the clothing and slang the characters use. Tessa and Will, who are now in charge of the London Institute, have updated the Institute, so the decor is correct for 1903. If you read The Dark Artifices, then you’ll probably guess they were the last people to remodel the place. Clare is a master of worldbuilding and it is one of the things I love about her books.

If you’ve seen the Shadowhunters’ found family tree, then you might wonder as you start reading the book “how does X end up with Y?” I’m trying to avoid spoilers here. You find out why these two people end up together at the end of the book, and it makes a lot of sense.

Anything I Didn’t Like?

I have to wait until March 21, 2021 to read Chain of Iron. I want to find out what happens next! It doesn’t end on a huge cliffhanger like Lord of Shadows does, but I still want more.

Conclusion

Chain of Gold is another excellent book in the Shadowhunters universe. I loved the characters and the setting, and I highly recommend it. If you’ve never read any Shadowhunter books before, you can still read this one, but the other books are worthwhile. You might like the books better if you read The Infernal Devices along with some of the companion short stories that go along with this book. However, if you want to dive into this book without reading the others, you can, but you’ll probably want to go back and read the others while waiting for Chain of Iron next year.

I pre-ordered this book with my Christmas money in 2018 and it was worth the year+ wait.

Belle Révolte

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Belle Révolte

I recently finished reading Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller. Thank you so much Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an advanced reader copy! This book released February 4th. I feel a little bad that I’m behind on my ARCs, but I suppose that happens sometimes.

Emilie de Marais is a noble whose mother wants her to be a lady, learning how to divine and use the “midnight arts.” It’s an acceptable vocation for someone of her status and gender. She has other dreams, wanting to do the “noonday arts” and heal people, which can be a little gruesome and is considered to be unladylike. She sees her chance to change her fate when she runs across a peasant girl that looks a little like her.

The peasant girl, Annette, really wants to learn to be a diviner. Emilie asks if she’d like to swap. Annette takes her place at the fancy school Emilie is supposed to attend, while Emilie takes her chance at going to the university down the street. The arrangement makes both of them happy.

Society, however, is on the verge of revolution. The king is not a good man and is trying to quash the unrest. In their world, magic takes a toll on a person’s body. Using too much magic leads to an early death. Many nobles employ “hacks” to take the physical punishment for them. When Emilie discovers one of the physicians leaving one of their hacks on the verge of death, she decides to take action.

What I Liked

Belle Révolte had compelling characters and an interesting storyline. I felt empathy for Emilie. Although I’ve never been prevented from doing something I wanted to because of my gender, I did major in computer science and spend some time in the military. Also, who doesn’t love a good story where heroines take on a corrupt society to make the world a little more equal for everyone?

I didn’t have trouble picturing the setting.

What I Liked Less

The story seemed to be slightly lacking in it’s execution. There were points in the story where I had difficulty picturing what was going on. There were a few places that I thought needed a little more editing. Because the premise behind the book was good and I liked the characters, I was able to overlook this, but I definitely felt the story could have used some improvement in this area.

Overall

Overall, I enjoyed Belle Révolte and was glad I read it. The book has ace representation which can be rare. The characters and overall story were great. It’s not award-winning fiction, and if fantasy isn’t your genre or you don’t find the premise appealing, I won’t try to convince you to read it on the beautiful prose alone, but if you enjoy fantasy stories where the girls aren’t afraid to defy gender stereotypes and end up taking on a corrupt kingdom, I recommend it.

Characters I’d Follow on Social Media

By Brookelorren on 23 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday

Hello! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl). Today we’re talking about characters we’d follow on social media. I’m not sure? I have a couple of characters with Twitter accounts, but I’m not sure they’re very interesting.

Chain of Gold cover

Lucie Herondale (Chain of Gold): I was going to say I’d follow Cordelia Carstairs because she’s awesome, but let’s be real. I mostly follow writers on Twitter. I’m not really into gossip or things like that. So I’d probably follow Lucie to see how things are coming along on her book, The Beautiful Cordelia. I get the impression that it’s not very good, although I’d be happy to cheer her on as she writes her book and improves as an author. The only way to get better is to practice, right?

Fangirl cover

Cath Avery (Fangirl): Cath is another author I’d follow on social media. She kept her Simon Snow writings a secret, but after she graduated, she’d probably become a professional writer and her publicist would probably tell her to get a Twitter account. She might use a pen name so she could keep her identity a secret.

Eliza and her Monsters cover

Wallace Warland (Eliza and Her Monsters): I don’t really follow webcomics like Monstrous Sea, but Wallace writes stories. So I’d probably follow him. He’s at the beginning of his career, and it would be cool so see him as he grows as an author.

Riley Kennedy (The Christmas Pact): Riley Kennedy works in publishing. She might have some insider tips for people like me, who would like to publish a book someday.

Obsidian cover

Katy Swartz (Obsidian): Katy is a book blogger. How could I not follow her? I’d follow her to find out about all the awesome new books coming out, and I’d root (and sympathize) for her over her personal life.

When Dimple Met Rishi cover

Dimple Shah (When Dimple Met Rishi): Dimple doesn’t write books, but she is a computer programmer. My major in college was computer science, so I might follow her to see how her career is going.

Warcross cover

Emika Chen (Warcross): Emika is another computer programmer. Plus, she works for Henka Games, so I’m sure she’d share news on new technological developments with her followers. I’m sure her tweets would be worthwhile reading.

Crow Flight Cover

Gin Hartson (Crow Flight): Gin is another computer programmer. She might have something interesting to say about apps or technology. She’d be worth a follow.

Divergent cover

Cara (Divergent): I’m sure a lot of people would be following Tris and Four, but I think I’d find Cara’s posts to be much more interesting. She’s Erudite like I am, so I’d probably enjoy what she had to say on different topics. Plus, she’s not like most of the Erudite people who think they’re too good to help the factionless.

The Hiding Place Cover

Corrie Ten Boom (The Hiding Place): Corrie was a real person, so I guess this is an anomaly for this list, but she died in 1983 so maybe she can count? Anyway, I ran out of other ideas. But I’d follow Corrie because she believed in forgiveness and in helping other people. I follow a few political/news figures on Twitter and the ones I care about most follow this philosophy. I follow Operation Underground Railroad, which rescues people from sex trafficking and slavery, which I think Corrie would also follow if she was still alive today.

So those are nine characters (and one historical person) that I’d follow on social media. Who would you follow on social media? Next week we’re talking about books with one word titles. See you then!

Books I Couldn’t Put Down

By Brookelorren on 20 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday

Hello again, and welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! Today’s topic is supposed to be “The Last Ten Books That Gave Me a Book Hangover.” I don’t know if I get them? So I’m going to go with some of the most recent books I couldn’t put down. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Let’s get started!

Thousands cover

Thousands is the fourth book in the Dollar series by Pepper Winters. I don’t know what it is about these books, but they’re really difficult to put down. A warning though, they are definitely not for kids.

Every Stolen Breath cover

Every Stolen Breath by Kimberly Gabriel was another book I had difficulty putting down. I just had to know what was going to happen next!

That Night cover

That Night by Amy Giles is the story of some teens that survive a mass shooting. The characters and story kept me interested and I didn’t want to put the book down!

Rebel cover

I waited until 10 PM on September 30th to read Marie Lu’s Rebel and stayed up all night reading it. Fortunately, I had planned to do that and didn’t need to go anywhere the next day.

Naughts and Crosses

Naughts & Crosses is another book which had characters and a story that I became invested in. I had to find out what happened to this forbidden couple.

Rebel cover

2019 was the year when I read two really good books with the same title. I enjoyed Beverly Jenkins’ Rebel as well.

When Dimple Met Rishi cover

When Dimple Met Rishi was adorable and I flew through this book, finishing it well before I had planned. Now I get to be on Sandhya Menon’s street team, and I get to go to her Of Curses and Kisses launch party tonight (assuming the snow isn’t too bad).

Sky Without Stars cover

Sky Without Stars is another book I couldn’t put down. I can’t wait until the second book in this duology comes out, at the end of next month. Jessica Brody is going to be at The Tattered Cover for the next book in this series, Between Burning Worlds, and I can’t wait!

Oddly enough, I’m going to see four of the authors on this list at The Tattered Cover between tonight and the end of March, because Sandhya Menon, Marie Lu, and the next author are all going to be there soon.

Four Dead Queens cover

I couldn’t put down Astrid Scholte’s Four Dead Queens either. She’s going to be at the Tattered Cover with Marie Lu on the 5th. In October of 2018 I wrote a Top Ten Tuesday post talking about some authors I’d love to meet. Marie Lu, Kiersten White, and Astrid Scholte were all on the list. I thought I’d probably never get to meet Ms. Scholte since she lived in Australia. Kiersten White was at The Tattered Cover last month, and soon I get to meet two of the other people on my list! So far, 2020 has been pretty good to me.

Spectacle cover

Finally, I had a hard time putting down Jodie Lynn Zdrock’s Spectacle. It has murder, public morgues, mystery, and was written in a way that I didn’t want to put it down.

And here’s the part where I mention that I read all these books in 2019. Although I’ve still been reading good books, I’m behind on my ARCs (in fact, I have the ARC of Sensational, the sequel to Spectacle, and haven’t started it yet, even though the finished copy is out). I’ve barely touched my Winter TBR. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been doing a lot of writing lately or something else.

So what books did you list for this week? What was the last book you couldn’t put down?

Favorite Ships

By Brookelorren on 34 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday

Hi! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!). It’s Valentine’s Day in a couple days, so this week is a love freebie. So I’m going to talk about some of my favorite ships! Some you can probably already guess, but hopefully there will be some new ones in there too. I’ll try to include at least some that are different from the Favorite Couples in Books that I did last year.

So as I’m writing this, I realize there might be some spoilers within the paragraphs for each book. If you don’t want any spoilers on each ship, like if you haven’t read the book yet, just skip the paragraph, please. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

Legend cover

My favorite ship is Day and June from Legend. I’m a sucker for cinnamon roll boys and strong girls (which will probably become apparent in this post).

Cruel Prince Cover

Since I did do a similar topic last year, I’m going to mix it up with come couples that I didn’t mention before. I really love Jude and Cardan in The Cruel Prince. Yes, they are toxic. But they’re toxic together, at least! I don’t think I’d like them as a couple if one of them was a bully and the other was a victim, but they seem to be okay with being wicked together, and I’m okay with that.

Divergent cover

Divergent is one of my favorite books of all time and I blame Four and Tris for that. This is one of the series I plan on rereading this year, and I’m so excited! I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read this book (which I’ve also read in Spanish and German, and the first 50 pages in Russian) because I read this book several times before I started using Goodreads to track it. I love this book!

When Dimple Met Rishi cover

Dimple and Rishi in When Dimple Met Rishi are the cutest couple! This is a book I just couldn’t put down! It was such a funny book and they make such a cute couple. It doesn’t hurt that Dimple is into computers.

Shadow and Bone cover

I know some people like to ship other couples in the Grishaverse, but I happen to like Alina and Mal. There’s just something I find sweet about these two teens who grew up friends with each other and eventually fell in love.

The Rose Society cover

I adore Adelina and Magiano from the last two books of The Young Elites series. This book would have been a much different book without the twist that happened at the end of the first book. This is one of the series I plan on rereading this year and I’m so looking forward to it!

Fangirl cover

I don’t think I’ll be able to find time to reread Fangirl this year, but I absolutely adore this story! Cath and Levi are such a sweet couple.

Enchantée cover

Enchantée was my favorite book I read in 2018 and I absolutely love Camille and Lazare. I’m so glad I get to read another book with these characters, set in the French Revolution. I’m a little sad it won’t come out on Bastille Day this year, but I’d rather wait a little longer to get a better book than get a rushed book in July. I feel the same way about An Ember in the Ashes 4.

Carve the Mark cover

I loved Akos and Cyra in Carve the Mark. And here’s another ship I love with a boy with a sad story (he was kidnapped) paired with a strong girl. Weird that the book I’m writing and the book I’m editing are both stories like that. I read this story in 2019 so I probably won’t get around to reading this one again this year. But I’m sure I’ll read it again someday.

The End and Other Beginnings cover

So I know I’ve already mentioned two Veronica Roth books today already, but this is a new ship! Ms. Roth just writes these beautiful characters I fall in love with, sorry! But I loved Matt and Claire in “Inertia.” It’s a short story (also available in Summer Days and Summer Nights if you enjoy short stories set in the summer by various authors) but I just can’t help but love these two characters, long after I read this story the first time. It was optioned for a movie, but there’s so many steps between getting optioned for a movie and it actually getting made.

So those are some of my favorite ships! I know there were a few repeats from last year, but there are some people I just can’t get off my mind! What are your favorite ships? I’m looking forward to seeing what you did for Top Ten Tuesday this week!

Of Curses and Kisses

By Brookelorren on 8 Comments

Hello! I am super excited to be a part of Sandhya Menon’s street team (AKA Sandhya’s Sweethearts) and to be part of the Of Curses and Kisses blog tour! This is a great story and you’ll all be able to meet Jaya and Grey in just a little over a week! If you live near Denver, she’s having a launch party at the Tattered Cover Colfax location and you’re invited! You can meet Ms. Menon, and she’s really sweet. If you see me there, say hi. I know I can’t compare to Sandhya, but it’s always good to meet people that like the same books as you, right? I’m an introvert so I have trouble approaching people, but I promise I’m nice.

Standard Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Of Curses and Kisses is a Beauty and the Beast retelling set at an exclusive Colorado boarding school. The elements she uses in the story are so beautiful. Here’s a quick synopsis:

Will the princess save the beast?

For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply no way she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending… Right?


His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’s doomed once he turns eighteen. Sequestered away in the mountains at St. Rosetta’s International Academy, he’s lived an isolated existence—until Jaya Rao bursts into his life. Sparkling and elegant, Jaya’s unlike anyone Grey has ever met. Still, he can’t shake the feeling that she’s hiding something. Something that might just have to do with the rose-shaped ruby pendant around her neck…


As the stars conspire to keep them apart, Jaya and Grey grapple with questions of love, loyalty, and whether it’s possible to write your own happy ending.

My Thoughts

Of Curses and Kisses cover

Who doesn’t love a good enemies-to-lovers story? This story has so many wonderful Beauty and the Beast elements: a girl that loves books, the rose that loses petals, magic, and two people falling in love. However, it also has other amazing elements, such as the sister relationship, loyalty to family, and questions about duty.

The story is told in two points of view, so you get to see both Jaya and Grey’s perspectives. I don’t want to give too much away, but these characters are put into an impossible situation and react with normal human emotions, and somehow they work through it.

The setting is great too. It’s at a boarding school! I live in Colorado, and so does Ms. Menon, and she does an excellent job describing things. There was one scene with a formal dance… so beautiful. Writing goals, I tell you. If you’ve never been to Colorado before, after reading this book, it’ll feel like you have.

If you’ve read her other books, you might notice that Of Curses and Kisses has a slightly different tone than the When Dimple Met Rishi books. It’s a little more serious and not as rom-com-ish. It still has both its funny moments and themes you’ll find in her other books, such as the line “Kiran was one of those guys who thought Jaya’s X chromosome stood for ‘xplain things to me.'” (The line was taken from the ARC and is subject to change).

Hopefully you’re excited for this book now. There were so many great lines from this book, I filled up two pages in my book journal of lines that I really liked. This is the first book in a trilogy, and you’re likely to love this one and be hooked for the other two (the next book, and likely the third, will also deal with characters in this universe). There’s still time to pre-order, but if not, it will still be available on the 18th.

Here are a few places where you can get Of Curses and Kisses (in the US, although it’s available in many countries):

You can also request an autographed copy from The Tattered Cover if you can’t go to the launch event. Their web site says that they can’t guarantee that it’ll be autographed, but I bet it will.

About Sandhya Menon:

Sandhya Menon

Sandhya Menon is the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi, Of Curses and Kisses, and many other novels that also feature lots of kissing, girl power, and swoony boys. Her books have been included in several cool places, including the Today show, Teen Vogue, NPR, BuzzFeed, and Seventeen. A full-time dog servant and part-time writer, she makes her home in the foggy mountains of Colorado. Visit her online at SandhyaMenon.com, on Twitter @smenonbooks or on Instagram  @sandhyamenonbooks.

So are you excited about this book? I know I’m excited about getting a finished copy because that cover is gorgeous. I’m also excited about the launch event.

Blog Tour Schedule: