Tag: Book Reviews

Book & Tea Review: Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Book & Tea Review: Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Today I’ve got a tea-infused book recommendation for you! This post contains affiliate links.

The tea:
Plum Spice from Simple Loose Leaf Tea

The book:
Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin

I managed to snag a signed copy at a local bookstore without even realizing it.

These two pair well because they’re both: Tart, bold, and with spice. And I thought the color perfect for this sometimes bloody tale.

This tea was in my November subscription box. I do love a good herbal tea for when I can’t have caffeine. It has coconut, apple, and cranberry pieces, as well as hibiscus, cranberry, and ginger. And of course that gorgeous color is from the hibiscus and cranberries.

“I leaned back, studying her as she finished my bun. A bit of icing covered her lip. Her nose was still red from the cold, her hair wild and windblown. My little heathen.”

Lou possibly is a little heathen, a strong-willed survivor with a snarky attitude who has been living in the attic of a theater (hiding from the other witches) until her unfortunate run-in with the witch-hunters, the Chasseurs.

โ€œI’ve been thinking,” he said finally.
“A dangerous pastime.โ€

Serpent and Dove is YA Fantasy, rife with deadly magic, snarky characters, and a enemies to lovers romance that I actually enjoyed (seeing as how I am very selective of romance reads). I would definitely classify it as New Adult though, because of the ๐Ÿ”ฅ spicy scenes.

Towards the end, I immediately bought books 2&3 because I was hooked.

The intricate magic system fascinated me, since I always think fictional witches are interesting. Every bit of magic has a price. From broken fingers to losing memories, Lou must always sacrifice something.

The only thing that drew me out of the book from time to time was the thoroughly modern language Lou used sometimes. She was clever, and witty, and occasionally anachronistic.

So all in all, this book was definitely my cup of tea. And so was the cup of tea.

The Alchemyst’s Mirror Blog & Bookstagram Tour

The Alchemyst’s Mirror Blog & Bookstagram Tour

I’m so excited for the release of The Alchemyst’s Mirror on October 27th! This steampunk/gaslamp fantasy novel is the first in the Everturn Chronicles, but is a standalone story, so you don’t have to worry about cliffhangers or catching up for the next book.

Check out all the stops along the Blog & Bookstagram tour with some great features; this post will be updated daily.

10/26/2020

C.O. Bonham’s blog ~ featuring a review of the book and a recipe for chocolate strawberry scones

DreamingInPages bookstagram:

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โ€œThere is an alchemy of quiet malice by which women can concoct a subtle poison from ordinary trifles.โ€ โ€” THE SCARLET LETTER, Nathaniel Hawthorne ๐ŸŒฒโฃ โ€ขโฃ โ€ขโฃ Today I am so excited to be featuring THE ALCHEMYSTS MIRROR By Liz Delton, a YA steampunk fantasy about two sisters who are searching for their brother who went missing while hunting for an alchemycal artifact. Their search pulls them into a mysterious and shadowy world of alchemy and secret societies. This beauty releases tomorrow, so add to your tbr, preorder it (itโ€™s only 2.99 for kindle!), and check it out when it releases Tuesday! ๐ŸŒฒโฃ โ€ขโฃ {SYNOPSIS}โฃ โฃ A missing brother. A secret society. And a mysterious artifact thatโ€™s worth more than gold.โฃ โฃ Petra and Maisie Everturn just want to run their familyโ€™s tea shop, but when their explorer brother Jiordan goes missing while looking for an alchemycal artifact, none of them are safe.โฃ โฃ The sisters must enlist the help of another explorer in order to find Jiordan or the artifactโ€”before the mysterious alchemyst society finds them first.โฃ โฃ However, when one of the sisters stumbles into the clutches of the most dangerous alchemyst in the city, the race to unravel the clues becomes desperate. And when they discover the truth about the artifact, their quest to infiltrate the alchemystโ€™s secret society becomes a matter of life and death. ๐ŸŒฒโฃ โ€ขโฃ {BUY LINKS}โฃ Purchase on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2TqB0Ec (clickable link in linktree)โฃ โ€ขโฃ โ€ขโฃ {HASHTAGS}โฃ #thealchemystsmirror #lizdelton #supportindieauthors #indiebooks #yafantasy #yabooks #yalit #youngadultbooks #indieauthor #bookishcandles #ireadya #yabookstagram #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #novellyyours #steampunk #thedarklibrarians #booksandcandles #book #bookquotes #booklover #books #booksandcoffee #bookaddict #bibliophile #fiestaware #bookhoarder #fallvibes #darkbookstagrams #darkvibes

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nightc0urt‘s bookstagram– & Hardcover giveaway!

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๐Ÿ‚ G I V E A W A Y ๐Ÿ‚ . . Happy Monday Beans!! Itโ€™s another dreary day here in PA so Iโ€™m going to make a big pot of beef stew and cuddle up with AGGGTM (which Iโ€™m really enjoying). Iโ€™m also feeling a bit blah today, idk if itโ€™s allergies or what but I just feel like I need to relax a bit! BUT I am hosting a giveaway for the book in this picture so keep reading to enter!! ๐Ÿ˜โค๏ธ . . ๐Ÿ‚ A missing brother. A secret society. And a mysterious artifact thatโ€™s worth more than gold. ๐Ÿ‚ . . ๐Ÿ‚ GIVEAWAY ๐Ÿ‚ – One hardback copy of The Alchemystโ€™s Mirror by Liz Delton . . ๐Ÿ‚ TO ENTER ๐Ÿ‚ – Must be following Me (@nightc0urt ) and @lizdeltonwrites – Like, comment, save & tag 1 friend! . . ๐Ÿ‚ EXTRA ENTRIES ๐Ÿ‚ – Share in your story for 24hrs and donโ€™t forget to tag me & @lizdeltonwrites so we will see it! – You can share every day until the giveaway closes . . ๐Ÿ‚ RULES ๐Ÿ‚ – Giveaway will be ending Oct. 30th at midnight EST – Winner will be picked by me at random – US ONLY – Must be a public account so I can verify entries – 16+ or have parental permission! – not affiliated with Instagram . . ๐Ÿ‚ I will leave the synopsis down in the comments for you & and link on my link tree for those who want to see what this book is about! Itโ€™s also worth mentioning that the preorder price is only $2.99!! May the odds be ever in your favor โœจ ๐Ÿ‚ . . QOTD: what do you do to pamper yourself or help yourself feel better? . . #alchemystsmirror #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookworm #booklover #booksofinstagram #booksofig #igreads #bibliophile #yalit #yabooks #yabookstagram #bookblogger #readersofig #readersofinstagram #mybookfeatures #instabooks #bookishlove #bookishlife #ireadya #lizdelton

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L.M. Durand’s Book Blog- Interview

& L.M. Durand’s Instagram:

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๐—ค๐—ข๐—ง๐——: ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ? ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ?โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ Today, Iโ€™m excited to feature this gorgeous book, ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—น๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜†๐˜€๐˜โ€™๐˜€ ๐— ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐˜‡ ๐——๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜๐—ผ๐—ป. To celebrate tomorrowโ€™s release, the author answers a few questions for us. โฃ โฃ โฃ โžก๏ธ๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ. ๐˜“๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ.โฌ…๏ธโฃ โฃ โฃ ๐˜ผ๐™ก๐™จ๐™ค ๐™–๐™ซ๐™–๐™ž๐™ก๐™–๐™—๐™ก๐™š ๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ข๐™ฎ ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™– ๐™—๐™ค๐™ค๐™  ๐™š๐™ญ๐™˜๐™š๐™ง๐™ฅ๐™ฉ, ๐™—๐™ค๐™ค๐™  ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™–๐™ž๐™ก๐™š๐™ง ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™š ๐™ค๐™ง๐™™๐™š๐™ง ๐™ค๐™›๐™›๐™š๐™ง.โฃ โฃ โฃ ๐—”๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ข๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿณ, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌโฃ โฃ โฃ ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€: Petra and Maisie Everturn just want to run their familyโ€™s tea shop, but when their explorer brother Jiordan goes missing while looking for an alchemycal artifact, none of them are safe.โฃ โฃ The sisters must enlist the help of another explorer in order to find Jiordan or the artifactโ€”before the mysterious alchemyst society finds them first.โฃ โฃ However, when one of the sisters stumbles into the clutches of the most dangerous alchemyst in the city, the race to unravel the clues becomes desperate. And when they discover the truth about the artifact, their quest to infiltrate the alchemystโ€™s secret society becomes a matter of life and death.โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ, ๐˜“๐˜ช๐˜ป ๐˜‹๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ.โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ #lizdelton #thealchemystsmirror #yafantasy #yafiction #booksofinstagram #bookworm #bookaddict #bookaholic #lovereading #bookphotography #yalovin #igreads #yabookstagram #ireadya #yalit #yabooklover #yareads #bookstagram #bookworm #iheartyabooks #lmdurand โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ

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10/27/2020

KB Benson’s bookstagram

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If you could cast any spell, what would it be for?โฃ โฃ First thing Iโ€™d do if I had access to ANY type of magic is get my house to start pulling its own weight and start cleaning itself ๐Ÿ˜ Do you know how much extra time Iโ€™d have? Seriously though, whereโ€™s a fairy godmother?โฃ โฃ A HUGE congrats to @lizdeltonwrites on her new release THE ALCHEMYSTโ€™S MIRROR! This #beautifulbook just released today. โฃ โฃ โœจโœจโœจโฃ โฃ A missing brother. A secret society. And a mysterious artifact thatโ€™s worth more than gold.โฃ โฃ Petra and Maisie Everturn just want to run their familyโ€™s tea shop, but when their explorer brother Jiordan goes missing while looking for an alchemycal artifact, none of them are safe.โฃ โฃ The sisters must enlist the help of another explorer in order to find Jiordan or the artifactโ€”before the mysterious alchemyst society finds them first.โฃ โฃ However, when one of the sisters stumbles into the clutches of the most dangerous alchemyst in the city, the race to unravel the clues becomes desperate. And when they discover the truth about the artifact, their quest to infiltrate the alchemystโ€™s secret society becomes a matter of life and death.โฃ โฃ You can grab a copy here:โฃ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FXTF81Cโฃ โฃ *****โฃ #newrelease #kindlebooks #alchemybook #bookrelease #bookbirthday #newbooks #readerlife #cozylife #readergram #bookworm #lovetoread #cozyvibes #mybookfeatures #prettybooks #simpleandstill

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simplybeccamee‘s bookstagram

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๐ŸŽƒ๐€๐‘๐‚ ๐‘๐„๐•๐ˆ๐„๐—ช๐ŸŽƒโฃ โฃ โ€œ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ. ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ. ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถโ€”๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏโ€™๐˜ต ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ.โ€ โฃ โฃ โฃ The Alchemyst’s Mirror by @lizdeltonwrites tells the story of two sisters whose dogged search for their missing brother leads them into a world of alchemy, secret societies, and adventure. The Alchemyst’s Mirror was actually a pretty fun read. From the beginning, the plot gets rolling and doesn’t stop for the entire novel. The pacing in this book is really good, and I found Maisie and Petra’s desperate quest to reunite their family to be a narrative that was super compelling and engaging. I loved how the bond between sisters is truly the heart of this book. Maisie and Petra would do anything for each other, and seeing their relationship was really rewarding. I thought the plot and the different factions wanting the Alchemyst’s Mirror was really well-thought out and intriguing. The Alchemyst’s Mirror is a delightful steampunk fantasy about the lengths we will go for family and power. โฃ โฃ Thank you @lizdeltonwrites for the ARC and swag!โฃ โฃ ๐๐Ž๐“๐ƒ Favorite fall hot drink? โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ #bookstagram #bookstagrammers #bookworm #booklover #bookdragon #bibliophile #bookaholic #readersofinstagram #readerlife #bookish #bookaddict #ireadya #igreads #instareads #bookcommunity #bookobsessed #amreading #bookphotography readersrejoice #spookytime #halloween #tuesday #thealchemystsmirror #newreleasetuesday #lizdelton #arcreview #steampunkfantasy

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clockwork.bookdragon‘s bookstagram

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โš—๏ธAlchemystโ€™s Lab โš™๏ธ โ€ข โ€ข Hello there my spooky, Bookwyrms! I am so thrilled to be featuring @lizdeltonwrites new book The Alchemystโ€™s Mirror for todayโ€™s #clocktobereadathon prompt. The theme is Magical Objects and the firs think I thought of was the Philosopherโ€™s Stone. Red Stone Necklace from @sweetmelissasgiftsetc. โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข The Alchemystโ€™s Mirror was officially published just yesterday! I was so excited when I received my bookstagram tour package. It includes an exclusive tea blend called Brass Breakfast, an exclusive book mark made by the author and of course the book itself. I absolutely love the cover design and the color scheme. Of course itโ€™s steampunk af and I look forward to reading it soon. I just been so involved with reading spooky books this month I couldnโ€™t squeeze it in but I will definitely read this in November! โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข Also some shop news from @orderofchaospins. She will no longer be producing any Harry Potter inspired designs due to WB cracking down on fans selling thier art based on the series. So that means once her poster designs sell out the will not be returning. Link in my bio use code CLOCKWORK15 to save! โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข Question: What are some of your favorite magical objects? Can be from any book or show or video game. Please just let be know what itโ€™s from wan what it does. TIA โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข Answer: From the Wizarding World I really love the Ravenclaw Diadem before it was turned into a Horcrux. Having seemingly infinite wisdom sound amazing but also a bit unsettling. โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข #thealchemystsmirror #lizdelton #steampunk #steampunkstyle #steampunktea #steampumkin #yareads #yabooks #yabookstagram #bookish #bookdragon #bookwyrm #booklover #bookreader #sweetmelissagiftsetc #orderofchaospins #enamelpins #spooky #spookyvibes #spookyseason #bookmark #newbook

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10/28/2020

Podcast Interview and Post on The Plum Report

Paws4Thought Blog Feature by Debbie Manber Kupfer

10/29/2020

Book Review of The Alchemyst’s Mirror from The Plum Report

Interview on the Lands Uncharted Blog

10/30/2020

Random Interview with H.L. Burke – with recipe for blueberry white chocolate scones

11/1/2020

Selina J. Eckert’s Blog – with a recipe for Cucumber tea sandwiches

More stops to be added as they become live!

Final Stop: The Launch Party on November 10th
Book & Tea Review: Heart of the Curiosity by H.L. Burke

Book & Tea Review: Heart of the Curiosity by H.L. Burke

A book with heart, and a hearty tea

I’ve been in a reading slump for a while now. I don’t know whether I’ve just been busy with my new fall releases, or if it’s the social/political/health climate, or what. But I finally finished a book!

I chose this one because H.L. Burke writes fun and snarky characters, and I figured it would keep my interest until the end. And it definitely did. So today I have a book & tea review for you; keep reading to see which tea I chose to go with it and why!

This post contains affiliate links.

๐Ÿ“– The book: Heart of the Curiosity by H.L. Burke

Key points:
๐ŸŒ‡ Awesome world building
๐Ÿ‘ฅ Great characters
๐ŸŽญ Theater
๐Ÿช„ Magic
โš™๏ธ Steampunk
๐Ÿฅ Pastries
๐ŸŒ Snails

Having read this author before, I knew I was going to be in for a fun yet heartfelt tale. And it was set in a theater, with characters who can do magic? Sign me up.

Leo and Muse find a home in The Curiosity Theater, their respective “knacks” (little magics) giving them jobs as a dancer (Muse can levitate) and a professional audience member (Leo can influence other people’s emotions).

When the theater becomes in danger of closing after a tragedy, their livelihoods, their home, and their happiness are all threatened.

Leo is a great main character, her scruples about using her knack on other people an excellent point of character development. And her love of pastries… Comes close to her growing love for another certain someone at the theater.

There are so many interpretations of what the title could really mean as you read the book; there is so much heart in this story and these characters. I definitely found myself actually smiling the last two chapters.

Where do the snails come in? I’ll let you read it to find out!

“Yes, people need food and shelter and goods and services, even buttons, but they need art as well. They need to smile and laugh and cry and see ideas expressed in ways that make them think and feel. They need The Curiosity, or at least what it stands for.”

– (Paxton) H.L. Burke, The Heart of the Curiosoty

โ˜• The tea: Rooibos Lemon Cloud by Adagio Teas

Tea choice inspired by the somewhat magical pastry shop that Leo frequents, this tea has a bold rooibos flavor with the right amount of creamy lemon. Great hot in this cool weather!

I’m careful not to oversteep this tea, because as with most rooibos teas, the hearty rooibos will overpower any flavor if left too long. I also like to use my disposable tea bags, because, again, the rooibos flavor can get intense, and I’m far too lazy to clean my usual teamaking stuff with soap everytime I use it!

The only thing this tea could be wanting is maybe some lemon peels for added flavor and vibe. But it’s a great decaf tea for anyone who likes lemon, with a hearty rooibos base.