BOOK TAG: Bad Bunny X 100PRE

Okay, so, if you follow me anywhere on social media at all, you have to know that I love and adore Bad Bunny and his music. It’s just…impossible for you to miss.

I was first introduced to him last year by my dear friend Piper asking if I had seen the music video for MIA. I had not, so I watched it, and the song was super catchy and I fell for his adorable ass the moment he did that tongue thing he does. Hooked from the word go and haven’t looked back! (I even saw him in concert back in November!)

So, again, when I saw Adriana of Boricua Reads had created this book tag with prompts based on Benito’s debut album, there was nothing to do but share some of my own recommendations! And please be sure to check out Adriana’s post for even more books!

~*~

ARC REVIEW: Burn Zone by Annabeth Albert

Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: April 27, 2020
Received From: NetGalley

Danger lurks everywhere for Central Oregon’s fire crews, but the biggest risk of all might be losing their hearts…

Smoke jumper Lincoln Reid is speechless to see Jacob Hartman among his squad’s new recruits. Linc had promised his late best friend he’d stay away from his little brother. And yet here Jacob is…and almost instantly, the same temptation Linc has always felt around him is causing way too many problems.

Jacob gets everyone’s concerns, but he’s waited years for his shot at joining the elite smoke jumping team, hoping to honor his brother’s memory. He’s ready to tackle any challenge Linc throws his way, and senses the chemistry between them—chemistry Linc insists on ignoring—is still alive and kicking. This time, Jacob’s determined to get what he wants.

Close quarters and high stakes make it difficult for Linc to keep his resolve, never mind do so while also making sure the rookie’s safe. But the closer they get, the more Linc’s plan to leave at the end of the season risks him breaking another promise: the one his heart wants to make to Jacob.

BOOK TAG: Halsey Is MANIC

If you follow me on Twitter, you may or may not know that I love Halsey and her music. So when I saw that Fadwa of Word Wonders created a book tag for Halsey’s latest album, Manic, I couldn’t resist the need to participate, despite the obvious lack of posts coming from this blog lately.

I honestly don’t know how active I will be on this blog once I finish the ARCs I currently have, but for now, this seemed like a fun post that I’m happy to do, so I hope it’s interesting for you too.

And be sure to check out Fadwa’s booktube video where she introduces the tag!

~*~

ARC REVIEW: American Sweethearts by Adriana Herrera

Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: March 30, 2020
Received From: NetGalley

Juan Pablo Campos doesn’t do regrets. He’s living the dream as a physical therapist with his beloved New York Yankees. He has the best friends and family in the world and simply no time to dwell on what could’ve been.

Except when it comes to Priscilla, the childhood friend he’s loved for what seems like forever.

New York City police detective Priscilla Gutierrez has never been afraid to go after what she wants. Second guessing herself isn’t a thing she does. But lately, the once-clear vision she had for herself—her career, her relationships, her life—is no longer what she wants.

What she especially doesn’t want is to be stuck on a private jet to the Dominican Republic with JuanPa, the one person who knows her better than anyone else.

By the end of a single week in paradise, the love/hate thing JuanPa and Pris have been doing for sixteen years has risen to epic proportions. No one can argue their connection is still there. And they can both finally admit—if only to themselves—they’ve always been a perfect match. The future they dreamed of together is still within reach…if they can just accept each other as they are.

#YARC2019: Completed the Challenge but Not As Much As I Wanted

As some of you may know, the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge is a year long challenge that is focused on reading books by authors of the variety of Asian nationalities. The challenge is hosted by 4 Asian bloggers:

• Lily | blog: Sprinkles of Dreams | twitter: @sprnklsofdreams
• Shealea | blog: Shut Up Shealea | twitter: @bookshelfbitch
• Vicky | blog: Vicky Who Reads | twitter: @vickycbooks
• CW | blog: The Quiet Pond | twitter: @artfromafriend

Also, there’s a variety of challenge levels from participants to choose from, and I elected to read the MALAYAN TAPIR challenge, which consists of reading 21-30 books.

#MBookBingo: Another Year Long Reading Challenge

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen me occasionally posting to a hashtag called #MBookBingo with a bingo card and sharing updates on my reading, as I did with the #RomBkBingo challenge I previously talked about on the blog.

Again, the reading challenge was started by my very own blogging partner M, and was meant to be a year long challenge! I finished mine with less than a month to spare, completing my final book on December 2!

So, today, I’m here to share with y’all the books I read this year and utilized towards the bingo card!

And be sure to check out the hashtag to see what books other people read as well!

~*~

REVIEW: The Death of Baseball by Orlando Ortega Medina

Publisher: Cloud Lodge Books
Release Date: 29 Nov 2019
Received From: Netgalley

Former Little League champion Kimitake “Clyde” Koba finds strength in the belief that he is the reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe as he struggles to escape the ghost of his brother and his alcoholic father.

Born on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, teen prodigy Raphael Dweck has been told his whole life that he has a special purpose in God’s plan. The only problem is, he can’t shake off his doubts, his urges, or the trail of trouble and ruin that follow in his wake.

A decade later, Raphael and ‘Marilyn’ find each other wandering the plastic-bright streets of Hollywood and set out to make a documentary about the transmigration of souls. But when the roleplaying goes too far, they find themselves past the point of no return in their quest to prove who and what they are to their families, God, the world, and themselves.

Japan and Israel collide in the City of Angels in this explosive psychological novel about faith, idol worship, and the search for identity by the author of Jerusalem Ablaze, Stories of Love and Other Obsessions.

REVIEW: Kings Queens & In Betweens by Tanya Boteju

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: May 7. 2019

Perpetually awkward Nima Kumara-Clark is bored with her insular community of Bridgeton, in love with her straight girlfriend, and trying to move past her mother’s unexpected departure. After a bewildering encounter at a local festival, Nima finds herself suddenly immersed in the drag scene on the other side of town.

Macho drag kings, magical queens, new love interests, and surprising allies propel Nima both painfully and hilariously closer to a self she never knew she could be—one that can confidently express and accept love. But she’ll have to learn to accept lost love to get there.

REVIEW: We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Publisher: Melia Publishing Services LTD
Release Date: May 14, 2019

People lived because she killed. People died because he lived.

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the sultan on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.

REVIEW: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc
Release Date: March 7, 2017

Let me be clear: I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise. If there’s anything I’ve learned from him in the years since, it’s that the dead hide truths as well as the living.

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.

In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha-one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles…and make a powerful choice.