It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? January 2, 2023

Good Morning,

It’s the start of another week. It’s Monday! What are you Reading is hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, this is a weekly event to share what we’ve read in the past week and what we hope to read, plus whatever else comes to mind.

I was off all of last week and did not finish reading anything. However, these are the last two books that I finished since I apparently missed a week of posting.

Recent Books

The Heretic Royal by G.A. Aiken | The Scarred Earth Saga #3 | Fantasy | Add to Goodreads

GODS SAVE THE QUEEN!

Ainsley Farmerson has always planned to break free of the family business—and the family drama. But what was once farming, smithworking, and bickering over the dinner table has turned into open warfare between sisters. Sides have been taken, lives are on the line, and Ainsley has no doubt which sister must be queen. She’ll do whatever is necessary to take down the soulless Beatrix. Even if that means joining forces with angry battle nuns, irritating monks, and overbearing centaurs.

Gruffyn of the Torn Moon Clan has no time for human beings. And yet . . . there is something about the uncontrollable princess that he can’t ignore. Maybe it’s the way her eldest sisters underestimate her. Or her bravery facing down dragons and mad queens from distant lands. Whatever the reason, Gruff is willing to fight by this human’s side. Not only for the entertainment value, but because she’s right. Beatrix must never be queen. So whatever he has to do, whoever he has to destroy, Gruff will battle beside Ainsley. Fast. Hard. And with absolutely no mercy . . .

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Inuyasha. VizBig Edition, Volume 9: Uneasy Allies by Rumiko Takahashi | Inuyasha VizBIG Omnibus Series #9 | Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction | Add to Goodreads

Our friends are drowning in enemies! First, Miroku and Sango face a poisonous adversary; then, Inuyasha is attacked by the half-man, half-machine–but all evil–monstrosity known as Ginkotsu. Later, our friends encounter a mountain so sacred that most of them aren’t even good enough to set foot on it. And finally, when their battle with the undead assassins known as the Band of Seven looks all but lost, Inuyasha and his comrades get some unlikely help from his brother, Sesshomaru, and rival, wolf demon Koga. Everything comes down to a fiery climax as another one of Naraku’s malevolent plots is revealed!

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Currently Reading

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong | Foul Lady Fortune #1 | Young Adult, Historical Fiction | Add to Goodreads

It’s 1931 in Shanghai, and the stage is set for a new decade of intrigue.

Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging—and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption for her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country.

Code name: Fortune.

But when the Japanese Imperial Army begins its invasion march, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai, and the Japanese are under suspicion. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and identify the culprits behind the terror plot before more of her people are killed.

To reduce suspicion, however, she must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong, and though Rosalind finds Orion’s cavalier attitude and playboy demeanor infuriating, she is willing to work with him for the greater good. But Orion has an agenda of his own, and Rosalind has secrets that she wants to keep buried. As they both attempt to unravel the conspiracy, the two spies soon find that there are deeper and more horrifying layers to this mystery than they ever imagined.

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Queen & Conqueror by Isabelle Olmo | The Queen’s Red Guard #1 | Fantasy, Romance | Add to Goodreads

How does one conquer a kingdom without spilling blood? You offer your hand in marriage to the king who killed your husband.

Almira was raised by a calculating father who forged her in political cunning. She’s prepared for this moment since childhood. Like pieces on a board, she lays out the players one by one.

One. King Alton, the brother-killer. The spare heir who killed his brother for lust of throne.

Two. The perfect seamstress. The people must admire a queen and welcome her with open arms. Even with a deadly armada behind her.

Three. The Queen’s Red Guard. The group of warrior women who have one purpose; to protect the queen at all costs. Even from her husband. Even from herself.

Queen & Conqueror is the first book in an epic feminist fantasy series told from the perspective of the women who rule and shape the future.

“Men will never be ready for women like us and it is not our job to ready them.”

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What are you hoping to get to read this week?