#maxon beauty

[countrymusiclover]

13 - Greatest Date Ever

Part 14

Dr. Redheaded Neighbor

Tag list - send an ask to be added @annieradcliff @watermeezer @zaidatorcuatomorgado @kmc1989 @tallrock35 @melvia-ito

Slipping on a light red dress that fell down to my ankles Will and I had called into work for the evening so that we could have the whole time to ourselves. Maxon was being watched at the Firehouse by Brett so we had no real worries. Hearing a knock on my door I pulled it open shaking my head at him. “You know you wouldn’t have to knock if we were living together.”

“I know but I like the idea of coming over and not knowing what you’re gonna wear on date night.” He chuckled standing in the doorway. “You look beautiful by the way.”

“You look nice too.” I eyed him and down dressed in some dark blue jeans and a black dress shirt. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a full on suit but I bet that is a sight to see for sure.

Will held out his hand for me to take. “So shall we head out for dinner?”

“We shall, Dr. Halstead.” Placing my hand in his he rolled his eyes.

“I’m not at work, Mal. Just call me Will.”

Clicking my tongue I closed my door and locked it behind us before we headed down to the lobby area of our apartment building. “Uh Will we might have a slight problem.”

“Shit!” He cursed under his breath running a hand through his hair. “This is not what I had planned for tonight at all.”

Raising a brow at the auburn haired man beside me. “What’s so special about tonight?”

“I wanted to take you out to dinner. I wanted to buy you your favorite dessert before we went to the fairs wheel that you’d told me you’d never been on. And then I’d - it’s not gonna be here. Come on.”

I giggled when he grabbed my hand dragging me back to the elevator and we headed right outside our apartment doors. “Will! What are we doing - what are you - oh my god.”

“Mallory, I know you haven’t been in my life since we were kids. But it feels like I’ve known you my whole life. You know me better than I’ll probably ever know myself. You are beautiful, smart and funny. And I’ll never get tired of your sarcastic remarks. But all in all, it’s your kind heart and love for helping people that drew me towards you and Maxon. So will you please marry me because I love you so much.” He had himself down on one knee with a tiny black box opened in his hands

Covering my mouth with my hand I laughed through happy tears I couldn’t truly believe this was happening right now. “Yes. Yes, Will.” He slides the ring on my left hand that he was holding onto.

Will rose up from the carpet floor kissing me deeply. “You’re not thinking we’re going too fast I’m guessing.”

“Not at all. Now kiss me, Halstead.” Looking up into his eyes I wrapped my arms around his neck bringing him in for another kiss. He wrapped his arms around my waist where we just held onto the other, deeply kissing and pulling at the clothing of the other until we broke the heated kisses for air.

Will held my face in his hands seeing a weak smile cross my face. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Will , I’m there’s something I need to tell you before we do anything further.” He nodded opening the door to his apartment where we stood near his bedroom after removing our coats and boots at the door.

“What do you need to me, Mallory?”

Closing my eyes I paused for a moment worried that he would laugh at me or worse. Regardless of him being my best friend I knew that he had slept with other girls. I mean he’s attractive and an ED doc at Med, what girl wouldn’t want to be sleep with him. “Will, I’ve never slept with anyone before. So, before we went any further as an engaged couple, I thought you should know that I’m a virgin.”

“Mallory don’t think for a minute that it’s a bad thing. You’ve been waiting for the right person.”

Draping my arms over his shoulders I sent him a genuine smile. “And now I have. It’s you, William Halstead.”

“You’re my person too, Mallory Easton.” He leans down cupping my face in his hands and I deepened the kiss threading one of my hands into his ginger hair.

I broke the heavy kiss nuzzling my nose with his whispering up to him. “Will, I – I want you to take my virginity tonight.”

“I’d say we should wait until the wedding night, Mal-“

Cutting him off I passionately kissed him, gripping the fabric of his dress shirt in between my fingers until I broke the kiss declaring to him. “I love you, Will. I don’t want to wait till the wedding night. I’m not worried we’re going too fast, we’ve spent a long time to get to this moment. So I wanna sleep with you tonight.”

He kissed me back passionately and he gently dropped me down to the bed. My back hit the soft silk sheets before I rose up from the bed staring at him softly and brought a hand to his cheek stroking it softly. He leaned into my touch, and he lifted his shirt over his head and threw it to the ground.

"I'll go slow with you." He reassured me, grabbing my hand with his. "We can stop anytime if you want. I don’t want to make you do anything you’re not comfortable with."

"I want to do this." I said, wishing my heart would stop beating so rapidly like I was scared.

My best friend still silently looked at me, slowly kicking his shoes off. "You're sure you wanna do this?”

"Yes. I want you to be my first." My hands started to trace his form, I began to run his fingers up and down his chest softly while I began to feel his hand start to crawl underneath my shirt. He lifted my shirt off my head, throwing it to the ground only once breaking the kiss

He hovered over me and brought his lips down upon mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and embraced more into the kiss. I felt a hard rock positioned at my lower religion, he placed his member at my center and looked up at me. "Babe, this will hurt a little. Just tap my shoulder twice if you want to stop."

He nodded and aligned himself against me before thrusting into me softly , I hissed out in pain as I felt him breaking through my wall, tears began to well in my eyes. "I’m sorry, Mal. I promise once the pains gone you’ll enjoy it." He moved slowly against her, I bit down on my lip hard trying to bear through the pain.

Within moments I felt the pain suddenly vanish and began to feel pleasure. I began to move against him and leaned up pressing my lips down upon his. I came moaning out loudly as I felt a wave of pleasure come over me. He came seconds later as I felt him emptying inside of med, both moaning and groaning until we fell back onto the mattress together.

"Will, can I ask something of you now that I’m your fiancé?” I whispered cuddling up into his chest giving us time to catch our breath.

Will stopped moving his fingers through my tousled hair. “Anything.”

“I don’t want to wait for the off chance that I may or may not come back from serving for our country again. I want to marry you before I am deployed. I want to become your wife when I have to leave with Maxon. Can you do that for me?”

Will’s soft gaze scanned over my face before he touched the side of my face bringing my lips up upon his gently. “I’d want nothing more than to call you Mrs. Halstead as soon as possible.”

“There is one more thing that we need to take care of. I’m finally gonna have to meet your brother Jay.” We kissed for a few minutes until a thought came to my mind where I broke the kiss running my hands up his bare chest.

Will tilted his head suggesting a place to start. “How about we have him meet us at Molly’s?”

“That sounds like a great idea.” I grinned up at him before he placed his hands on my hips, rolling himself onto his back so I was on top. Connecting my lips with his again we got lost in one another for the rest of the evening.

[divinemare]

Cruel Cauldron

✎ᝰ┆azriel x oc

ᝰ┆part two

part one

—— —͙ – -

Maxon had insisted in coming with her. Not that she had put up any fight, honestly. They arrived to Prythian in a week, and were immediately greeted by a blonde, known face in the company of other three females she had never seen before in all her visits.

Karina got out of the ship, being trailed by Maxon and Bastian, who had to come on duty, and close behind came three more of her Third Imperial soldiers.

“You look amazing as always, Karina,” the sly smile of the blonde female made her smile just as wickedly, the female put two fingers to her forehead, and Karina soon repeated the act, as the way of formal greeting and respect in Anthra went.

“Please, have you seen yourself in a mirror? You’re too kind, Morrigan.”

The third in command of the Night Court smiled, and turned to the three females behind her.

They were suited in armors very similar to those she remembered Illyrian soldiers wearing, and it wasn’t until they signaled their respectful greetings the same way Morrigan had, that she noticed that one of them actually had Illyrian wings.

“I hope you don’t mind, but Rhys wanted to give you a proper welcome party. You remember the Valkyries, don’t you?”

Karina’s eyebrows shot to her forehead in amused surprise. She hadn’t been alive during the Valkyries times, but Arisa had, and Karina had heard great stories about them.

“I remember some stories. I thought they were all dead.”

“We rebuilt, Your Highness,” the sharpest-looking of the three said, her voice as sweet as a knife, just like Karina had imagined it to be.

“Please, I’m Princess Karina, my sister is Your Highness,” she smiled sideways to the deadly looking female, who only nodded with a sharp eyebrow raised.

“She’s Nesta Archeron,” Morrigan said pointing at the female Karina had just talked to, the deadly gorgeous looking one. “Gwyneth Berdara,” now she signaled to the beautiful red head female, whom Karina smiled to, her gorgeous teal eyes shimmered like clear ocean water. “And Emerie,” she finally signaled to the light brown skinned Illyrian, who’s eyes assessed her like a threat. “The Valkyries.”

Karina couldn’t help but laugh slightly, making the four females give her questioning looks.

“So, with ‘welcoming party’, you mean Rhys sent me four deadly females to make sure I was not here to attack?”

Before Morrigan could answer, Karina waved a hand, not at all offended but rather amused.

“It’s good to see that this shit hole finally has some females doing what needs to be done, honestly. Shall we?”

Without further ado, the four females guided her company into the Hewn City. The most dreadful place Karina had visited ever. And she lived in her mothers palace, for Cauldron’s sake.

“Still as charming as always, I see,” she sighed as they entered the city under the mountain, and Morrigan took them to the council meeting room.

Inside the big doors, stood the most powerful male she had ever met before, and beside him, a female that resembled too much the one she had only just met as Nesta, who radiated an energy so powerful Karina considered rival to that of Rhysand.

“High Lord,” when the male turned his head towards her, he immediately managed to hide his surprise with a devilish smile instead, putting his fingers to his forehead and mimicking her greeting action.

“Karina, what a pleasure to see you here,” she chuckled, moving as gracefully as a viper towards the awaiting High Lord and Lady.

Another thing she had inherited from her mother, that sly and devilish way of swaying her hips.

“Awww, if you weren’t smiling so tightly, I would say you actually mean those words,” this time it was Rhysand who chuckled, but Karina didn’t miss the tightness in his wide shoulders.

“I’m not here for pleasantries, Princess, I’m here for politics.”

“What a coincidence! So am I,” she said with a witty voice, raising a proud eyebrow as she surveyed the looks around.

There was Rhysand and his mate, then Morrigan and her father as well, and on the far side of the room, a presence so dark she almost stared straight at it waited for the moment he dimmed worthy to appear.

“You?” Rhysand raised an eyebrow as well, and Karina rolled her eyes in a way no one else would dare standing in the face of the most powerful and dreaded High Lord of Prythian.

But if she rolled her eyes at her mother, she wasn’t gonna stop at any male’s face either.

“Oh, don’t look so surprised, Rhysie, you hurt my feelings.”

Just as Rhysand had his game of being terrifying, Karina had built her name based on the impression she was a witty, bratty Princess. And it had worked wonders for her in the last 300 years.

“I’m deeply sorry, then, I was just not expecting…you. I thought we would be meeting with your sister, or your mother,” at that Karina couldn’t contain her amused, genuine laughter, making everyone in the room freeze for a second at how similar she looked as the cruel vision of her mother.

“Please, you thought my mother would actually bother to come meet up with you, Rhysand? Come on, you’re more intelligent than that. And regarding my sister…well, the Heir has been throughly occupied by all this conflicts between our lands, and so she’s very much needed in court at the moment. So here I am, your sorry last option,” Karina lied about her sister, keeping the next-heir matters a secret until they actually became true.

“None of that, I actually find you more of a pleasing company than your mother and sister,” this time, the High Lord’s little cruel smile let on a little bit more of sincerity.

“Considering you hate them, I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment.”

Her mother had every reason to be hated all around the Continent. Queen Verena Basdearg was not known to be a soft, pleasant female at all. And considering Rhysand had appealed to her bad side since the first moment they met, things between the Queen and the High Lord had always been tense, dragging the Heir to Anthra’s throne alongside.

“So, are you not going to introduce me to the famous High Lady? If I’m being honest, she’s the only reason I agreed on coming here at all,” Karina said looking at the beautiful female who stood beside the High Lord like a Queen, and who smiled politely at her once their gazes met.

“I feel flattered, thank you, Your Highness. I’m Feyre Archeron, High Lady of the Night Court,” the confidence in her voice made Karina like her a little bit more, putting her two fingers to her forehead in Anthra’s respect.

Karina noted in her mind that the High Lady and the sharp-looking Valkyrie warrior were, in deed, sisters, hence the resemblance.

“You can call me Karina, High Lady.”

“In that case, you can call me Feyre, Karina,” both females smiled, and then Karina turned around to acknowledge the two males standing behind her. “Allow me to introduce you to my cousin Bastian Basdearg, Prince of the Red Land. And Captain Maxon Hatchett, son of Lord Nikolai Hatchett of the Red Land.”

The rest of her company had stayed outside.

Rhysand’s eyes immediately shone with recognition at both their names, as Bastian was well known all around the Continent for being one of the best swords male alive, while Maxon was well known as one of the best strategists. And Maxon’s father as well, as he had been famous during the The War 500 years ago. Bloody, brutal, efficient, and merciless had just been some of the adjectives used to describe the male.

A fucking drunk asshole, Karina would use to describe him now.

“I was honestly hoping to see more of your little…squad, specially that tree of a male, Cassian,” She said with an eyebrow lifted, surveying the room around them.

“He had things to do in the Illyrian Camps, but I’m sure that, when this whole matter is settled, we can share a more appropriate gathering all together.”

“Well, then I guess you’ll have to do, hello Azriel,” Karina sighed nonchalantly, looking then with a playful smile towards the darkest corner of the room.

Shadows slowly solidified into a male body. Tall, strong, and hot as hell as he was. Azriel stepped out of the shadows with his arms crossed over his chest and a look of pure death in his hazel eyes.

“Princess,” his gravelly voice made her smile like a cat, popping a vain in the males forehead.

He positively couldn’t stand her, that much was evident. “A bratty fucking princess” he had called her ones when he thought she wasn’t hearing his conversation with Rhysand.

Karina had been terribly disappointed when she learned that all that hot body was nothing with that awfully dull and killing personality its owner had.

She adverted her unbothered eyes off the Shadowsinger to put them again on the High Lord and Lady, turning to walk towards the table in the middle of the room like the place belonged to her.

“Well, then, shall we begin with the inevitable unpleasantries?”

៚ ·

“This is getting us nowhere, Rhys,” Karina sighed, she had forgotten just how much she hated politics.

Rhysand’s jaw ticked, annoyed, they had been discussing for about an hour now, and couldn’t seem to get to a mutual agreement.

Tho it was very hard to get to an agreement when her mother’s specifications had been so absurdly outrageous.

She had to admit, she felt a little bit bad for Rhys and Feyre, since they were trying so hard to appeal to her mothers requests.

“Karina, your mother won’t meet with us, and she sends terms we are in no place to be able to agree to right now. I don’t know what she expects from us,” the High Lord’s tone sounded exasperated, the muscles in his back tightening as he laid back in his chair.

His mate placed a hand on his leg, as some sort of reassuring and calming gesture, but by the way her back was so straighten, Karina could see that the High Lady was just as tired of this discussion.

Karina sighed, she was 20 minutes away from reaching utter exasperation, but if she went back home with nothing…well, let’s just say she would rather stay here and let herself be tortured by the famous Shadowsinger of the Night Court, whose personality was already enough to torture her, than go back to her mother with nothing out of this.

“I would like to speak privately to you two, if that’s okay,” it wasn’t a request Rhys and Feyre were in a position to argue with, and that only made their companions stand in disagreement all the more intensely.

“Rhys…” Azriel approached his High Lord, his hand tightly clasped on his side, where Karina knew he kept that knife of his.

“Please, allow us a moment with the Princess,” Rhysand said without looking at his friend.

Morrigan sigh was audible as she approached Azriel to try and take his arm to lead him out of the room, Kier got up from his seat with an exasperated curse under his breath, and both Bastian and Maxon looked at her only to confirm she was completely sure of what she was doing.

She wasn’t, really, but she still nodded to them.

The Shadowsinger’s eyes drifted towards her while being escorted out by the blonde female, his gaze screaming murder at her, a warning that surely worked with many other’s, yet not with her.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, Rhys,” she said with a sigh when the door finally closed, and only the three Fae were left. “My mother didn’t consider any terms that she knew you would be able to take. You should’ve known that the moment you saw me enter and not her.”

“We feared so, yes,” Feyre nodded.

“But…” Both High Lord and Lady’s head straighten at her words, their pointed ears more elevated and their eyes shining with curiosity and hope.

“But…” Rhys tried to sound not too hopeful, raising a questioning eyebrow.

“The Rashana is coming, I could arrange, maybe, just maybe, for you and your Court to come to Anthra to celebrate with us, convince my mother that you want to show respect to our country and extend an olive branch personally. You could try to reason with her. But I can’t make no promises, this is as far as my help can go.”

Rhysand exhaled a hopeful sigh, making Karina feel a little bit bad for simply postponing the inevitable misfortune.

“I understand. And I appreciate your help, Karina, we appreciated,” Feyre nodded, looking as relieved for a possible solution to this whole mess as her mate.

Karina nodded, and stood up from her chair concealing her facial expressions.

“Well, then, I think that’s everything we can do for now. I’m rather tired from all this, and I need my beauty sleep or else I won’t be such a nice forgiving and collaborative Princess anymore.”

“Of course, of course, Mor will escort you to your bedchamber, if that’s ok.”

Just as he said his cousin’s name, the blonde female entered the room again, having surely been summoned by Rhys via that daementi power of his.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Feyre, I do hope we get to interact later in more appropriate circumstances.”

“So do I, Karina, rest well.”

“Same to you two,” with a wink of her eye to both regents, Karina followed Mor outside the meeting room.

Outside, Azriel was, as she expected, wrapped in unnerving shadows, his murdering gaze had not disappeared as he saw her exit the room.

“Something wrong, Shadowsinger? Looks like a vein or two are about to pop.”

“Nothing wrong, Your Highness, nothing wrong yet,” Karina giggled, making Azriel raise one of his dark eyebrows and stop playing with the knife he had in hand.

“It’s good to see you haven’t gotten any more interesting in the last decade, Azriel.”

“Sleep with an eye open, Karina.”

“Uh, is that a dirty invitation? I like dirty invitations,” she played, making him hold his breath with annoyance.

Karina winked with a false seduction towards the male, making his jaw clench and his eyes roll.

“Shall we?” Mor said, gaining back her attention.

The female took her and her companions up to the Moonstone Palace. Even if she wasn’t a big fan of the Hewn City, she had to admit, the Moonstone Palace was an spectacular place.

“If you need anything, just ask for it, okey? Rhys wants to make sure you’re as comfortable as you can during your stay,” Morrigan smiled slightly when they finally reached Karina’s temporary room.

“As long as I don’t have to go back down, I’ll be fine. Tell Rhys the room is beautiful, but if I catch Azriel sending his shadows to spy on me here, I’m going to incinerate them, and then him,” Morrigan laughed, and nodded slightly.

“Noted, I’ll make sure to deliver your message,” the female went to leave, but Karina stoped her for a second.

“It’s good to see you, Morrigan,” and she meant that, she liked the female, at least enough to feel bad for what was about to fall upon them.

“It’s good to see you too, Karina, rest well,” and with a goodbye nod, both females said their good nights and Mor left her alone in her temporary room.

Karina sighed, throwing herself in the bed in complete tiredness. It had been a long trip, and a long day, and now the only thing she wanted to do was fall asleep below the beautiful stars that shone upon her through the ceiling opening.

But, before she could do that, Karina sighed and opened her palms, summoning a wave of lights that came from candles and fae lights to scan the room, to take themselves to every single corner until they made sure there weren’t any sneaky shadows sent by a certain Shadowsinger to spy on her.

When she was 100% sure that the room was clear, she closed her eyes and allowed sleep to wash over her tired body.

[littlefoxwithadagger]

Zee's 2023 Reads

Stats:

Books read ˋ°•*⁀➷ 62

Books DNFed ˋ°•*⁀➷ 9

Five-star reads ˋ°•*⁀➷ 23

Note: ☆ counts as a half star, since there isn’t a half star emoji

I tried not to tag any books I didn’t like because I don’t like to hate on books in their fandom tags, so if I accidentally tagged something I have a bad review, please tell me 😭

This list is chaos and I defintely ripped into some of these books because I hated them. Be warned. (I’m sorry ACOTAR fans. Maybe don’t read this if that’s your favorite book series. I didn’t hate them, but I certainly had quite a few criticisms.)

Also, if you see the reviews start to get way longer in October, that’s because I started this post in October, so everything I read after that was reviewed immediately after reading.

↳ March (2)

Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard

March 3rd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this by request of my aunt (it's her favorite book series) and honestly it was just kinda boring and not my taste...not to mention the ending REALLY pissed me off. The whole powers thing was kinda cool, but the dystopian main plot was kind of generic? Which is fine, but this was kind of bland for a first book. Will not be finishing the series.

Glass Sword - Victoria Aveyard

March 10th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️, DNF

This is the sequel to Red Queen, and frankly I think I read about three chapters of it before I DNFed. The main reason I DNFed this was because of the ending of the first book. I won’t go into detail about it because it spoils the end of the first book, but after my favorite character was taken away from me, I couldn’t finish this series.

Overall, I think this series had great potential but bad execution. I may try to read it again in the new year just to give the entire series a proper, full review, but at the time that I read this, I wasn’t into reading much at all and therefore couldn’t read a book just to say I’d read it.

↳ May (7)

Les Misérables - Victor Hugo

May 5th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

By far my favorite classic thanks to my mom encouraging me to read it. Loads of beautiful prose and a compelling plot line. I especially liked how he wove a bunch of stories that seemed not at all connected into one. Jean Valjean was a very complicated character, and I enjoyed following his story as it progressed. It felt very full-circle, even if the ending was a bit sad. The author took us all over France, and I felt very immersed in the world even though there was no visual for it. I also appreciated seeing the side characters grow over the length of the story. There were quite a few side characters who got a full arc despite not needing it. I'll probably reread this someday, just not now.

Flip the Script - Lyla Lee

May 20th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a cute sapphic love story between two teenage actresses starring together in a Korean drama. Fun fact - I didn't realize it was sapphic for a good while and was confused why sexuality was a hot topic in the book. Whoops! Cute anyways, and the plotline kept me interested.

The Selection - Kiera Cass

May 26th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This was my first reread of the year! I read this book back in 2021 originally by request of a friend. Rereading it was a bit of a let-down. I found the main girl annoying at times and overall the plot just kinda felt...meh. I will say that I was a bit disappointed that Maxon was the main guy at first because I really loved Aspen, but I think Maxon grew on me quite a bit more towards the end of this book. It was also easier for me to love him on the reread because I’d followed the full story already, so I think I appreciated his character more on this read than I did on the first read. I'm also not huge into dystopian, so that did kill my enjoyment of this a bit.

The Elite - Kiera Cass

May 27th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

To continue my Selection reread, I read this. This book was better than the first one, though some of it was just very boring if I'm remembering correctly. It was nice to have a smaller group of girls and get to see them getting to know each other better, and this alone made the book more enjoyable than the last. I think the political tension upped a bit in this book, which I didn’t really like, but it did lead to quite a few great scenes between America and Maxon.

The One - Kiera Cass

May 28th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

To complete the Selection reread, I read this. This was by far the best book in the trilogy. It was fun and full of action, and Maxon and America finally got themselves together. There was a great love confession from Maxon at the very end which will forever have my heart. Five stars just for making me swoon honestly. There were a few things that frustrated me in this book, such as the fact that America and Maxon still didn’t seem to trust each other for a lot of this book, but that’s their problem, not mine. I definitely enjoyed the scene where America saw Maxon’s scars for the first time. It was a very sweet scene, and I love emotional vulnerability between characters. 💔

Honorable mention - The Heir - Kiera Cass

May 29th, ⭐️⭐️, DNF

This book sucked to put it frankly. I recall enjoying it the first time I read it, but upon reread I found the main character entirely unbearable (making America look like a saint) and I think I made it about ten pages before deciding it wasn't worth the reread. I wish I didn't own this book.

The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood

May 29th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This book was what really got me back into reading, and I'd been wanting to read it for months after hearing about it all over the internet. I gave it four stars at the time because I cringed a bit at the number of times the main girl referred to the main guy as "big" or something of the sort but overall found it enjoyable. Honestly, I'd probably rate this lower if I re-read it, but I'm not going to bother testing that theory. It got me back into picking up books, and that's what matters.

↳ June (9)

A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas

June 10th, ⭐️⭐️☆, DNF

This book...was disappointing. This was the first book I bought from the store without reading it first because the internet had me so convinced I'd enjoy it. I didn't. I found myself so bored I didn't bother reading past page 100 before I returned the book to the store. I don't really have much to say about it other than it was boring, honestly. Feyre also annoyed me a decent bit.

The Romantics - Leah Konen

June 14th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️, DNF

This book had the same problem as ACOTAR, only far worse. This book felt like it had absolutely no substance, and I read at least half of it. The entire book was narrated by the entity of Love, and all of the characters we got introduced to were only ever surface-level. I felt like I was watching a bunch of strangers interact with each other. Perhaps it was just that young teenage romance isn’t really my cup of tea, but I found the plot entirely uninteresting.

Once Upon a Broken Heart - Stephanie Garber

June 19th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My babyyyyyyyyyy <3 My bread and butter, the reason I got into fantasy books. Definitely not as compelling as the second book, but compelling nonetheless. Jacks and Evangeline have insane tension and it was overall just great. I absolutely loved the whole kisses deal, though I’ll admit this book was NOT what I thought it was. When I picked it up, I was expecting Jacks to be an actual prince, and I was quite surprised to find that he was more of a demigod. Either way, it was a great book, and if you love romantacy, I’d recommend this for SURELY. (I’m biased, can’t you tell? This is a OUBAH blog, after all.)

The Ballad of Never After - Stephanie Garber

June 20th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'd give this book six stars if I could. This entire book was just pining and drama, and I live for it. Not to mention...the Hollow? Yes. Yes, yes yes. Everything about this book, yes. The curses in this book were completely crazy, and I felt like we got a lot more world building in this book. The entire world felt a lot more complete in this book, and we really got to start to piece together Jacks’s backstory. Lovely.

One True Loves - Elise Bryant

June 21st, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm pretty sure I actually read this book last year, but it got put into my book tracker in July so I'm leaving it here. This was a cutsey little romance about a girl who goes on a cruise in Europe. I don't remember much about it, but I remember loving the two main characters and the realtionship they had with each other.

Happily Ever Afters - Elise Bryant

June 21st, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pretty sure this is the book before One True Loves? They're in the same series, I know that. This was a cutsey little book about a baker guy and a writer girl who ended up at the same high school. Absolutely loved the character growth the main character had over the course of the book.

In Order to Live - Yeonmi Park

June 26th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a biography written by a woman who escaped North Korea. It was truly an amazing read, and this is the one book I cried while reading this year! I would definitely recommend this to anyone because it is extremely informative while also being very immersive.

Caraval - Stephanie Garber

June 27th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Back to Stephaine Garber! Honestly, I started reading this series for Jacks, but the first book is something entirely on its own. I absolutely loved Julian and Scarlett, and I'll be rereading this again soon. The book very much immersed the reader, and I felt like I was a player in Caraval myself. There was so much fun to be had in this book, and honestly it could just be read as a stand-alone.

Legendary - Stephanie Garber

June 31st, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I drove all the way to the other side of town to get this book, that's how good the first one was. This book was less enjoyable than the first, but the plot was extremely compelling. Sadly, I’m not a huge fan of Tella, so I struggled to immerse myself in this book the way I got immersed in Caraval.

↳ July (11)

(Was I ok in July? How many books is this, Zee?)

Finale - Stephanie Garber

July 1st, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jacks. That's about all I have to say about this book.

Sugar, Spice, and Can’t Play Nice - Annika Sharma

July 2nd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not sure why, but I decided to dump $16? $17? on this when I went to Barnes and Noble with a friend, so I had to finish it. There was a tad too much sexual tension and not enough romance between the main characters for my taste, but it was a good book. I especially enjoyed that the author did so much with her own culture in the book. Both of the characters learned the importance of truly connecting with someone over the course of the book, and I thought it was lovely.

The Spanish Love Deception - Elena Armas

July 2nd, ⭐️⭐️, DNF

This book was...something. I - yet again - purchased a book without reading it first. Learned my lesson this time. I have honestly no idea what this book is about because I read only fifty pages of it and there was...too much of her referring to him as "big" and "tall". I get it. He's tall and wide. Can we please discuss why you hate him? I'd love to know, really. Perhaps this book is for you if you like extreme sexualization of tall, buff men, but it’s not for me.

The Inheritance Games - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

July 6th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Queen. Puzzles and drama galore, and I love the boys. That's really all I have to say about this. I LOVE puzzles so this book was a big hit with me. Avery is a little genius and I appreciate it, and I also loved getting to see her adapt to her new life.

The Cruel Prince - Holly Black

July 9th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This read is courtesy of my bestie. She had not finished the series when she recommended it. Still hasn't. (Nani, this is a plea for you to finish it.) I don't recall much of the book, honestly, but the plot was good enough for me to rate it four and a half stars, so...?

The Wicked King - Holly Black

July 11th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

Cardan and Jude...on the couch...with- ahem. I mean what. What was this book about? Also I love the way Cardan speaks. He’s very formally-spoken and I love that for him.

The Queen of Nothing - Holly Black

July 11th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

yESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. This entire book. The ENDING??? Insane. How do I not remember any of the plot of these books besides the end of this one? We'll never know.

Skin of the Sea - Natasha Bowen

July 14th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆, DNF

This book was probably pretty great. I personally found the introduction to the plot a bit dragging and it lost my interest because of this, but it sounded like it would eventually be a good and intriguing plot. I may eventually pick this back up, but currently there are other books I am actually excited to read, so for now this will be only a DNF.

These Violent Delights - Chloe Gong

July 17th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️, DNF

Ahem...this was actually a great book, despite the DNF and star rating. I DNFed this book because it was too gorey, but I'm currently attempting to finish it. The writing is beautiful and the characters are very compelling. The tension between the main characters is lovely. I'm hoping to give this five stars when I finally finish it.

Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo

July 18th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Delicious. A heist, six morally grey characters, lots of fighting and tension - both romantic and plot-wise. Absolutely ate up the characters' backstories. I love a good trauamtic backstory. I was reading fanfics about this book before I even finished reading it, that's how good the character building was. (Sadly I got a ton of the plot spoiled for me between this book and the next because I decided to join the online fandom before finishing the books. I will NOT make that mistake again.)

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories - Holly Black

July 19th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A goofy short read about Cardan. I love him. That's it.

(Zee said no reading during birthday month apparently? Was I spending too much time being lovesick over my coworker? We'll never know.)

↳ September (6)

The Forgetting - Sharon Cameron

September 1st, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book surprised me. I had no idea what it was about going into it, and I was entirely surprised. Apparently it's dystopian? Sci-fi? Who knew? (not me) Anyways, I loved the two main characters, and the plot was extremely creative. This is definitely going to be a re-read next year. Sadly, the sequel was not about this pair of characters, so I didn’t end up reading it.

Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros

September 15th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well, this is a funny story. I put in a request at the library for this book in July, having about zero clue what it was about beyond dragons. I was intrigued, of course, because I LOVE dragons. By the time I got my hands on the book, I'd heard many reviews about how awful the book was. I was convinced I'd hate it, but of course, I had to read it because I waited TWO MONTHS for it. It took a few pages for me to be interested, but it was a VERY good book. I love Xaden. I will kiss him on the head. This got four stars because those smut scenes GAGGED me (and not in a good way), but I have since read worse smut, so perhaps this will be a five-star someday. The smut was truly something, though. I sat on the couch and sobbed from laughter while reading them.

The Stolen Heir - Holly Black

September 16th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was...gorey, honestly. But other than that, a great read. Both main characters are very compelling, and I adore Oak. Sweetest boy. I can't wait to read the second book. It really took us a lot farther into the world of Elfhame, and I appreciated the book for that.

Lightlark - Alex Aster

September 16th, ☆, DNF

I truly wish I could just say "No." and move on with this list, but this book was probably the worst book I've ever read. I read three pages and was so extremely confused that I couldn't continue. To confuse me that awfully in the first three pages of a book is a feat, I'll give her that. I would not recommend this book to anyone, and generally I believe that everything has an audience. I'm sorry if you're a fan of this book, but I just...can't.

Fireworks - Alice Lin

September 20th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cute book about a girl and her childhood best friend turned Kpop star when they finally reunite at age 18. Soooo much romantic tension, and I loved how the book dealt with mental health. I hope these two live happily ever after.

Reread - Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros

September 25th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Yes, I reread it a week after I read it. Sue me. It was a good book. I’ll be rereading it again when my holiday edition shows up.

↳ October (8)

Imogen, Obviously - Becky Albertalli

October 5th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is going on the list of cutesy sapphic books that make me cry. Absolutely loved the way the realtionship between the two main characters developed, and I thought it did a good job about commenting on what it means to be queer. Also, arguably the best college friend group ever in this book. I'm jealous.

When You Wish Upon a Lantern - Gloria Chao

October 6th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was ok. It was cute, but I found it slightly boring. I will say it was very good for a first-person dual POV book, which I usually hate and refuse to read.

Assistant to the Villain - Hannah Nicole Maehrer

October 14th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a funny read, because I expected to hate read it, but it had me kicking and screaming, especially the ending. I was so insanely upset when I realized it was a trilogy (mostly because the ending was absolutely jarring and I didn’t expect it to end on a cliffhanger), but at the same time I'm glad this isn't the last we'll see of these characters. I love books where the villains are villains because they felt like that was all they could be. I love. Beyond all of this, I simply enjoyed to see all the characters interact with each other, and I felt like the author did a good job of humanizing all the characters. Not to mention Kingsley. He’s arguably my favorite character despite having no real lines in the book.

The Hawthorne Legacy - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

October 15th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Puzzles, Hawthorne boys, and...strip bowling (I forgot about this scene until a coworker told me she didn't read the book because there was stripping in it. I laughed.) Anyways I loved Jameson and Avery in this book and that's about all I have to say.

The Final Gambit - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

October 18th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ok I’m going to be completely honest this book was one huge blur and it almost felt disconnected from the rest of the series. Don’t get me wrong, it was GREAT, but it was like complete whiplash while simultaneously tying up all the loose ends we had in the last two books. Also *spoilers* but JamesonAvery endgame YAYYYYYY.

Reread - Once Upon a Broken Heart - Stephanie Garber

October 19th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I reread this in preparation for the third book and it took me a month to read. Idk man.

Reread - The Ballad of Never After - Stephanie Garber

October 23rd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Good soup. Send me to the Hollow, please.

A Curse for True Love - Stephanie Garber

October 24th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*ahem* drum roll please… 🥁🥁🥁 …LOVELY!! Evajacks kiss. This is all I wanted. Also his dimples. And Archer. And- Ok enough about that. To actually review this book, I think it was a great wrap-up of the series. The book had an amazing vibe, and I loved how the first half of the book felt shrouded in mystery since we spent the majority of the time in Evangeline’s head. I read this entire book in one five-hour sitting, completely skipping all the homework I had to do that night just so I could read this IMMEDIATELY. It was totally worth it. I also just loved seeing Jacks as the tortured man I always knew he was. Yes bby be so tortured. Now kiss.

↳ November (8)

A Court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J. Maas

November 3rd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was...a book. It had potential to be a great book in the first 100 pages, but somewhere along the way it got kind of insane. Honestly, I feel like it should've been two books. It was over 600 pages and yet I found most of the scenes were a bit too short. Also, there were too many location changes, and this book is where the bad smut truly is. I couldn't even read the smut scenes...I can usually tolerate them. (Is it clear I don't like smut?). The first half of the book set up this lovely dynamic between Rhys and Feyre that I loved and showed me this new, fun world of the Night Court. I only wish that I’d enjoyed the second half of the book as much as I did the first. The second half didn’t get enough development and kind of just all ran together, which sucked. I would’ve given this four stars if the second half had had better pacing.

Honorable mention - The Queen of Nothing - Holly Black

November 8th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*cough* *cough* ahem. I reread like half this book for the scenes between Cardan and Jude…especially a specific scene in chapter 21 (if you know you know) and also the ending <3 yes queen get your ma-

Iron Flame - Rebecca Yarros

November 12th , ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(I just finished this book right before I started typing this so excuse my screaming) BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR. HANDS DOWN. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING ENDING AND I LOVE YOU REBECCA YARROS. If you like fantasy, I’d recommend this book. (Also rep for the messed up joints girlies 🙏🏼) I love Xaden and Violet sm.

These Violent Delights - Chloe Gong

November 14th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This book was very good. Great prose, amazing characters, original plot. I only didn’t give it five stars because I personally felt just a bit disconnected from the story. I didn’t really feel all that stressed by the plot, though this may have been because I only had four hours to read the book. Overall, it was a great book and I’ll be reading the sequel when I have time. (Also, coming off the Iron Flame high does make this book a bit less fascinating.)

Crooked Kingdom - Leigh Bardugo

November 15th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After four months, I finally bring myself to finish this. A masterpiece. I didn’t want to leave this world, and yet I finally had to. The entire crew has my heart, and that ending broke me. I wanted so badly to simply not read it and make sure it didn’t happen, but here we are. Our gang all got their not-quite-happily-ever-after, and this may or may not have been the only book to make me cry ever. (That’s not true, but I can’t remember which other book I cried at. Perhaps it was my own.) Five stars. I will be returning to this duology someday to reabsorb the masterpiece that it is.

Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things - Maya Prasad

November 22nd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This book was pretty good. The sisters had a cute relationship and the inn was fun. The book was split into four parts - one for each sister - and personally I enjoyed the first two the best. The third one was also pretty cute, but the last one…I didn’t connect with the character as well, and her plot seemed to drag. I actually stopped reading like 3 pages before the end because the plot was basically over like 20 pages before and it was just focusing on side characters. I think I’m just not a huge fan of slice of life in book form, so if you like that, then this book is for you. I have the sequel sitting on my shelf, but I might just take it back to the library at this point.

A Court of Wings and Ruin - Sarah J. Maas

November 23rd, ⭐️⭐️

This book was way too long, to put it bluntly. I considered DNFing it a number of times, and the plot just seemed to drag on. I don’t understand what Maas has against question marks, either. I can’t tell you how many times I read a question in here that ended with a period. I’m not sure whether it was supposed to emphasize tone or what she was trying to do, but it was extremely irritating and distracting. I didn’t notice this happening in the other two books, but maybe I just missed it. The only reason I finished this book was so that I could read ACOSF with full context because I do love Cassian and Nesta, but otherwise I probably would’ve DNFed about 2/3 of the way in. The fandom wasn’t kidding when they said ACOMAF was the best book in the series. I’m only glad I finished this because of the Nessian scene we got at the end 💔 my heart cried.

A Court of Silver Flames - Sarah J. Maas

November 25th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

To my surprise and delight, this book has question marks!!! Yayyy!!! To start this review off, I’ll begin by saying - Sarah finally got a decent review out of me. I really enjoyed this book except for a few small details. Now, that may just be because I love Cassian and Nesta, but I consider it a win that she wrote two characters that I LOVE.

That being said, this book made me dislike Rhysand even more than I already did. I’m not sure what it is about him, but I find him a bit intolerable. I won’t dwell on this point, but I found him especially irritating in relation to the Feyre B-plot. Oof. That in combination with the ridiculous number of smut scenes made me knock this down a star. I was fine with them at first, but then it just became too much. Google says there were only 7 smut scenes in the book, but I swear there were more. This is just a personal gripe and nothing against the book or its readers, but it certainly downgraded my enjoyment of it.

Beyond that, I really loved the tension between Cassian and Nesta, and I also enjoyed seeing the two of them work through their issues. They’re extremely sweet and I love them. One thing though - Sarah, why did you tease a mating ceremony for like three pages and then we don’t even get to see it??? Miss ma’am at the very least I wanted to see Cassian being all sweet as they consummated the mating or whatever. But instead we get another scene of someone crying over Feyre’s painting??? COME ON!!! This will probably be the only time I’ll rate an SJM book over 3 stars.

↳ December (11)

The Brothers Hawthorne - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

December 2nd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

To start this off, I was completely thrilled to read a book about the boys. Don’t get me wrong, I love Avery, but the three youngest Hawthorne brothers have always piqued my interest more. I honestly didn’t think a book in this series could be better than the others, but there was something about this book that was even more incredible than the trilogy. This book was even better than I thought it would be. I expected to enjoy Jameson’s part of the story even more than Grayson’s part, but I actually found myself enjoying getting to know Grayson quite a bit more. (Don’t get me wrong, I loved Jameson’s part of the story, but this book made me love Gray a lot more.). I’d give this book six stars if I could. Absolutely lovely and completely compelling read, and I love all the new characters we’re introduced to. I do hope that someday we get a book about Xander and Nash, but for now, this will quench my Hawthorne thirst. I definitely have a new favorite Hawthorne though (sorry Jameson). I will kiss Gray-

The Half-Life of Love - Brianna Bourne

December 9th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Uh so to put it simply. I hated this book (in the best way possible). I don’t know why I read this. I knew how it would end from the start, but it intrigued me enough that I read it anyways!!?? Haha. I sobbed at the ending. I never want to think about this book again. I loved the characters but I hated the plot. That’s it. (I will also say this book dealt HEAVILY with death and was very heavy so. Yeah. Be warned.) Update after a week of processing: I actually loved this book a lot, but it broke my heart. I loved the character development that Flint went through over the course of the book, and it absolutely broke me that that was the end. I may change my star rating for this before I officially post this, but for now it stays at 3 for hurting me.

Fireborne - Rosaria Munda

December 16th, ⭐️⭐️☆, DNF

This book was…odd, to say the least. It had potential, but something about the world building felt off to me. Perhaps it’s just not my vibe. My main gripe with it has to be the characters’ names. Some of them had very modern names, some of them had very old names, and some of them only went by extremely weird nicknames. The names alone took me out of the immersion of the world, because every time I’d finally get into it, I’d read a name and go oh, yeah, this is a book. It took me about a week to decide to DNF this, but after reading so many books I genuinely enjoyed, I just couldn’t force myself to finish it.

Greymist Fair - Francesca Zappia

December 16th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the season. I saw the cover at the library and was like oh, yeah, that’ll be a good read. I didn’t even read the summary. Turns out, I was so right. The book kind of has similar vibes to the tales of The Brothers Grimm, but oddly I didn’t find any of this story very creepy. It was dark and a bit gory, but I thoroughly enjoyed the progression of the story. I wouldn’t say this was a five-star read, but I really enjoyed this book. It’s a collection of stories about Greymist Fair that weave together very beautifully, and I absolutely love the atmosphere this book created. Come to find out after I read it, it’s classified as a horror book? I would’ve probably said it was more paranormal fiction, but alas. This was not a horror book to me. I should know, I hate horror. Would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes morally twisted fantasy books - especially classic fae stories. This book gave me similar vibes to those.

The Matzah Ball - Jean Meltzer

December 22nd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

This book was so much fun. I think I read it in 3.5 hours. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this, because honestly it’s one of the four Christmas (this book wasn’t technically Christmas but based on certain themes I think you could categorize it that way) books I impulsively rented from the library, but I loved it. The main girl had a chronic illness, and as someone who struggles physically myself, I really enjoyed reading about a main character going through the mental struggles of such a thing. This book gave silly Hallmark movie vibes, but it was completely enjoyable. The main guy was extremely sweet albeit a bumbling idiot, and I actually didn’t mind the major misunderstanding trope that carried this plot. I also really enjoyed reading a book that included lots of Jewish culture. It felt like home. There were a few aspects of this book I found a bit childish for a book about two people who were nearly thirty, but I guess different people enjoy different things. It was a fun, quick read if you’re looking for something with a holiday theme.

These Hollow Vows - Lexi Ryan

December 23rd, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

I’m not really sure why, but I started reading this in October and couldn’t get into it. A couple pages in and I was HOOKED. I love me a book about Fae realms. (At least, the original Fae. ACOTAR was too far from the source material for me to enjoy it, sadly.) This book has all the mystery and wonder of the Fae lands while being extremely simple to read and understand. I LOVED the plot progression, and the plot twists were predictable in a roundabout way where you could sort of guess them, but they still surprised you. The ending made me scream in both an angry and excited way. I totally saw the ending coming, but it still pissed me off!

I can’t wait to read the next book, but sadly I must wait until I return from vacation. I would DEFINITELY recommend this if you like fae books, especially if you enjoyed The Cruel Prince. The only reason I didn’t give this book five stars is that I felt the side characters were all a bit underdeveloped. I’m not sure if this was on purpose since the book is from the main character’s point of view, but I felt like I didn’t even know the love interests well enough to actually make a good judgement of either of them. I did, according to the ending, end up pegging both of their true characters correctly, but I still felt they were underdeveloped for how much time they spent in the book.

Honorable mention - The Queen of the Tearling - Erika Johansen

December 24rd, unrated, DNF

I tried to read this book about ten different times before I had to return it to the library, but it just isn’t my cup of tea. It didn’t capture my attention in the twenty pages I read, and I don’t think I can follow the character on her journey. It’s very sad, because I truly love a learned royalty plot, but I couldn’t do it. Perhaps I will pick it up again someday, but I don’t plan on it being anytime in the near future.

Defy the Night - Brigid Kemmerer

December 25th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ok, this one surprised me. I picked this book up at the library back in the summer, but I realized it was dual POV, and at that point I just couldn’t handle reading that, so I returned the book. I picked it up again on Christmas because my grandma bought me a kindle and I really wanted to try it, but the options at my library that were immediately available were limited. I’m so glad I gave it a second chance, because I loved it. This book had everything I love in a fantasy novel. There were so many twists I didn’t see coming, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book made me enjoy a wholly political plot, and I love that for it. Usually, I’m not a huge fan of political plots, but I loved the way this one developed. The romance was absolutely adorable as well, and it made me so happy I decided to give this book a second chance. As it stands, I will probably be reading the sequel tomorrow, and I am very excited, although I’m a bit upset the third book isn’t out until January! I was so happy to give another book five stars this month, because with how it was going, I didn’t think I would be.

Defend the Dawn - Brigid Kemmerer

December 26th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

Hah. This book. True to my word, I finished it the day after Defy the Night. I’ll be honest, this book was slightly disappointing after how amazing the first book was, but I’ll let it slide solely because we got to know a new and amazing character. Besides that, this book did BOUNDS of character work. We got to know more and more about our main characters, and they all learned to overcome their stubbornness in this book. One thing I really loved about this book is that we got to see more about how close the brothers are. I feel like I don’t read many books where boys are very close to each other, especially not in a royalty setting, so it was refreshing to read a book where two brothers rule the throne united instead of going to war over it.

I was a bit disappointed that they spent the majority of the book on a ship, but because of the development that happened in the ship both character-wise and plot-wise, I can’t necessarily complain. For one, we got away from Allisander in this book, and I really had no character in this book more than him (yet). I’m very excited to read the last book when it comes out, though I wish I could read it right now. This series is truly worth the hype it had when I first discovered it, and I can’t wait to see where the relationships go in the next book.

The Lost Sisters - Holly Black

December 26th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Truth be told, this was a whole lot shorter than I thought it would be. It was essentially a letter from Taryn to Jude about the events of the first book. I found it to be a very interesting character study, honestly, and it showed us a bit more about Cardan too. I would recommend reading this if you’ve read The Cruel Prince series.

These Twisted Bonds - Lexi Ryan

December 29th, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Oh my gosh this book did more than I could’ve ever imagined it would. This book gave me all the character development the first book was lacking, and the way the plot developed was insanely amazing. I absolutely love Finn, and the way he calls Abriella Princess just absolutely melts me. The world got extremely fleshed out in this book, and I really enjoyed seeing how this author put her own twist on the world of the Fae. I also, oddly, really liked how the spice was done in this book. It was there but it mostly lacked detail and description, which is how I like my spice. I want a vague idea and nothing more! 😆 Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and it will probably be my last book of the year. I think it was a great conclusion to this year’s reading, and I’m glad I ended the year on a high note.

If you read this far, thanks for sticking around! For 2024, I will be doing monthly wrap-ups, so don’t expect another post like this…unless I decide to do a yearly wrap-up after my monthly ones are done…

If you have any recommendations to start my year off, tell me! I currently am planning on reading the Percy Jackson series, but that’s the only thing I’m really looking forward to reading

[dansamouravecwolfstar]

how am i ever going to to find someone to be the sirius to my remus?? there’s no one in this world who could possibly be the lily to my james. but i hope to find someone who can be the addie to my henry, the tris to my four, the maxon to my america. we constantly compare our own personal love lives to those of fictional characters, and yea mostly it’s a joke, but sometimes i do wonder how anyone could ever love me as much as sirius loves remus. i try to keep in mind that they are fictional, but i can’t help and think: why do we write their love so real? why is the most beautiful love in the world, found inside a story?

just some food for thought

[theroyalthrones]

Behind the Scenes | The Soiree |Capri, Orillia

beginning | previous | next

Translation:

Mi Amada. (My Beloved)

Mi amor, te invitaré a algo especial esta noche. (My love, I'll treat you to something special tonight.)

~Transcript~

FRANCESCA ORTEGA We're late, Lea. LEANDRA ORTEGA I thought you said this wasn't important. Clearly there's someone you want to impress. FRANCESCA ORTEGA I just- Don't want to make a bad impression. Let's go. LEANDRA ORTEGA Damn, this place is nice. FRANCESCA ORTEGA You should see the palace it- Doorbell rings Shh! *Laughter from inside. LORRAINE DE'CREMONESI *Laughing* Nona, I'll kill you for saying that. LORRAINE DE'CREMONESI Oh! Hello… And you are? FRANCESCA ORTEGA Franc- LORRAINE DE'CREMONESI Francesca! Come in, Luc has told me so much about you! FRANCESCA ORTEGA Hope it was good things. LORRAINE DE'CREMONESI No, not all good things. FRANCESCA ORTEGA … LEANDRA ORTEGA Whispering What'd you do? FRANCESCA ORTEGA SHHH!! Setting change, in living room with group of people. LORRAINE DE'CREMONESI Everyone, meet the Ortega sisters! Francesca and … FRANCESCA ORTEGA Leandra. LORRAINE DE'CREMONESI Leandra Ortega! Show them we don't bite, yes?

WINONA DE'ASTURIAS Our honeymoon ended in Manceras. You can't imagine how beautiful it was, Right Bas? BASTIEN DE'LABANDEIRA Not as beautiful as you, Mi Amada. (My Beloved) WINONA DE'ASTURIAS Mi amor, te invitaré a algo especial esta noche. (My love, I'll treat you to something special tonight.) LORRAINE DE'CREMONESI Ugh, Get a room Nona! A SAD LOOK ON KAIS FACE WINONA DE'ASTURIAS Don't be sad, Lala. You'll fall in love soon. LILLIAN BRASWELL Love is overrated. VANYA BLANCHARD Your just jealous, Lorraine. Being married is a gift. Right, Maxon? MAXON GATTILUSIO Don't bring me into this, Vanya. LORRAINE DE'CREMONESI I'm not drunk enough to listen to this yet.

KAINALU ALANA I vote we change the subject. LORRAINE DE'CREMONESI Thank you, someone agrees with me. WINONA DE'ASTURIAS Kai always agrees with you. LORRAINE DE'CREMONESI Nona… I have a… Guest. GUESTS NAME No- it's alright, Rainie. LILLIAN BRASWELL Rainie? GUESTS NAME I'm just interesting in getting to know your friends. LORRAINE DE'CREMONESI Thank you, babe. KAI WATCHING SAYING NOTHING FRANCESCA ORTEGA I'm going to go freshen up a bit. LEANDRA ORTEGA Okay, sure. I'm eating this drama up. FRANCESCA ORTEGA Yeah, you enjoy this. SHE WALKS OUTSIDE AND LOW AND BEHOLD LUCIAN IS OUTSIDE. FRANCESCA ORTEGA Oh- sorry I didn't think- Lucian? LUCIAN DE'CREMONESI Oh Francesca, what you doing here? FRANCESCA ORTEGA Your kidding? You invited me, I can't believe y- LUCIAN DE'CREMONESI Laughing I'm joking, relax. I didn't think you'd come and I was scared that you would. FRANCESCA ORTEGA … W-why? LUCIAN DE'CREMONESI We're really not going to talk about it? FRANCESCA ORTEGA Talk about what, I can't read your mind. LUCIAN DE'CREMONESI You used to be able to. FRANCESCA ORTEGA Luc- I'm leaving. LUCIAN DE'CREMONESI No wait, Cici… Come sit and join me. FRANCESCA ORTEGA Okay.

[antoniosvivaldi]

Hey! Hope you’re having a good day/night! I came across this gif post on my feed and I can’t get over how beautiful it is! Can you tell me how did you do it?

Hi! Thank you so much for the message - this means a lot to me 💖

This is one of the most resource intensive gifsets that I've made to date, but I've experimented with the following to create the special effects:

Neural Filters (Photoshop): The artistic effects seen in the small component gifs of the gifset make use of Neural Filters, namely the Landscape Mixer & Style Transfer filters. I happen to be working on a comprehensive tutorial on using Neural Filters with gifs, so stay tuned :D

Maxon One plugin (After Effects): The transition effects seen in the even numbered panels are few of the presets from Maxon's Universe Suite (used as a plugin on Adobe After Effects)

Cinema 4D: This is another app that's part of my Maxon One subscription under student discount. The moving 3D shapes (seen in panels 1, 3, 4, 8, 9) were made on this 3D rendering software. I'm still pretty new to Cinema 4D, but this tutorial is very helpful!

Rotoscoping (After Effects): I use the Rotoscoping tools on Adobe After Effects to make the cutout gifs as seen in panel 1 + even numbered panels. I have a detailed tutorial on Rotoscoping here!

I hope this helps and I hope you have a lovely holidays season 🎅

[longsightmyth]

America goes, hey, nobody feels good about this, let's just not do it! And Celeste and Kriss consider it pretty hardcore but then Elise declares that it's a trick. Sylvia tells them to pipe down and then they parade into the room, and Maxon looks happy.

“Ladies and gentlemen of Illéa, today the final four beautiful young women of the Selection come before us all to present themselves to the law. Our great laws are what hold our nation together, the foundation for the peace we’ve so long enjoyed.”

To America's credit she's like, peace? My dude what the fuck? But also why is literally everything about how beautiful they are.

[stuckindigital]

Cloth Unleashed from Andrew Hess on Vimeo.

A montage of cloth simulation experiments from the last couple weeks using the new cloth simulation toolset in Cinema 4D 2023. Powerful and a lot of fun to play with.

This experimental project allowed me to get very familiar with all the components of these new cloth simulation tools while creating a canvas for me to texture and light in interesting ways (my favorite part). Maxon, creator of Cinema 4D, has done an incredible job at creating something versatile that competes with the previous industry standard of Houdini for cloth sims (No shade on Houdini of course, nothing can truly match it's versatility at this current point in time - key word "competes"). I can easily see how these new tools could be used to visualize an athletic brand's latest line or bring a textile company's materials to life. If you or your client have such a product and need a visualization with a design-focused, art directed core, get in touch and let's make something beautiful together!

[onedirectdeals]

Maxone External Hard Drive 1TB HDD 2.5" Ultra Slim Aluminum USB 3.0 Backup for PC/Desktop/Laptop/TV/Mac/MacBook/XBox/PS4/Chromebook/Windows - Charcoal

Price: Buy Now Last Updated: From the brand About Maxone We have been innovation. Provide better product quality. Maxone has been focusing on hard drives for 5 years, and we pursue product quality. It has its own unique design, perfect high-value appearance and use feel, which will make you love it. With super fast speed, plug and play solve your troubles. Save your beautiful things and make…

[shadowqueenjude]

Hello~ I hope you're having a wonderful day! ^^

I absolutely loved reading your thoughts on my last question. Your responses always make me smile! It's not just that I agree and relate to them, but it's also so much fun talking with someone who loves and appreciates Elain and Lucien as much as I do <3

Let's keep the fun going with another question ^^

What AU couple(s) do you think has the most Elucien vibes?

Also, what are some of your favorite fictional couples besides Elucien (they don’t have to be limited to books)?

- Your Secret Santa 💗🦊

AHHHHHH HI SECRET SANTA

Sorry for answering late, I took a looong nap haha.

I’m not sure what you’re asking for on the first one, so I hope this is what you were looking for!

Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are SOOOOO elucien coded. Nick being sly as hell (and a literal fox??) and teasing Judy and Judy being prim and proper yet matching him for every stroke!

I shared this video here some time ago, but this is literally Elucien!

Rapunzel and Flynn Rider are SOOOOOO elucien coded! I headcanon Elain as a healer, and Rapunzel can heal. people. with. her. HAIR??? And Flynn being this snarky, smooth talker who’s rendered completely awkward around Rapunzel??? Magnificent. Flynn showing Rapunzel the lanterns 🤝 Lucien showing Elain the tulips

Lastly, Finnick and Annie are so Elucien coded! Imagining Elucien in the Hunger Games, I imagine it would’ve gone something like that! Elain is more resourceful than people realize, so she could’ve won just like Annie, but it would hurt her. It robbed her of her light. She becomes close to the Elain at the beginning of ACOWAR. Meanwhile Lucien being so fucking hot that it’s literally pointed out by everyone but he’s in love with only one person. And Finnick and Lulu are both SA victims 😢

As for my favorite ships…

I recently got into Star Wars and when I tell you I have the biggest Anidala (Anakin and Padme) obsession 😩they’re actually happily married and living with their twin children your honor.

I love the Bridgerton TV show, but of course my favorite couple is Kanthony (Kate and Anthony)🥰. Ugh, their RAW chemistry on screen…you forget that Jonathan Bailey is actually gay😂

(also a bonus but Kanthony is regency Neris coded)

I loooooove Snowbaird! If I had a nickel for every time my blonde hair blue eyed blorbos fumbled a baddie and became a genocidal dictator, I’d have two nickels, but it’s weird that it happened twice.

My bio says Jurdan (Jude and Cardan), but Ima be real I’m not a huuuge fan of the ship because of how Cardan treats her in the beginning… I’m more just a Jude fan haha.

Elide and Lorcan from Throne of Glass has my whole heart! My favorite SJM couple that is confirmed endgame! Ruhn and Lidia from Crescent City is amazing too!

My first ever OTP was Percabeth (Percy and Annabeth) from Percy Jackson and they will always hold a special place in my heart even if they’re not my CURRENT obsession.

Maxon and America from The Selection is pretty great too!

And of course, I’m a P&P addict, so Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy has to be on here😍

A super niche one, but Queen Katharine and Pietyr Renard from the Three Dark Crowns series is so beautiful too!

[countrymusiclover]

1 - An Unexpected Visitor

Part 2

My Genius Prince

Tag list - @the-girl-wh0-cries-w0lf

Walking through the store Islas of Walmart I was hanging out with one of my friends named Malia. We were hanging out at my apartment until we got bored so we decided to run around the store at midnight. “Let’s go raid the toy section.”

Malia and I headed over to the toy section. We found the aisle that had dress up clothes hanging on the walls on either side of us. “Oh hey, try on the blue one.”

“Got it. You need to try on the pink or yellow one.” I pointed at the set hanging behind her head until she turned around and took each one down. Picking out the yellow one to look like Belle.

I chuckled seeing her twirl around in the dress that was made for young girls or that was only worn on Halloween. “You look almost like Belle.” I didn’t care if we were adults in our late 20’s who still mess around as kids every once in a while.

“Oh it is a pleasure to meet you, Cinderella.” Malia teased me with a curtsey once I had slipped the light blue dress over my head and it fell down all the way to the tile floor.

She placed her hands in mine and we began spinning around in circles. Our laughter could be heard through the store but we couldn’t care. My hair that was in a braid was falling apart and in my face so when I tripped over my own feet I didn’t see I tripped myself. “Woah ah!” I was close to hitting the floor but I felt someone holding me up by my forearms.

“Easy, easy. I’ve got you.” I heard a guy’s voice respond in my ear and I felt some of his hair brushing against my cheek.

Glancing over my shoulder I was met with a pair of chocolate brown eyes and brown curly hair. “Oh uh I’m sorry mister. I didn’t mean to be so clumsy.” I apologized, getting to my feet as quickly as I could.

“It’s okay. Glad I was able to catch you. Uh, are you and your friends dressed up like princesses for a party or something?” The stranger tilted his head standing in front of me where I had to lock up at him since he was taller than me.

I lowered my gaze to the ground blushing at how childish this made us both look. “No. To be honest we were bored and decided to just come down random stuff around Walmart. Oh geez that makes me sound so childish.” Smacking a hand to my forehead I groaned.

“Sometimes we all have to embrace our childish behavior every now and then. It doesn’t make me think any less of either of you.” He responded by looking between me and my friend Malia.

Tilting my head to the side I became curious at his words, never seeing any guy embrace my child like wonder. “What’s your name, stranger?”

“Uh, it's Dr. Reid. Spencer Reid…you don’t have to call me Dr…it’s just Spencer.” He cleared his throat, clearly becoming nervous by my question like he was shy about talking to girls. “What’s your name?”

Extending my hand he eyed my hand before briefly shaking it and then we dropped our hands down at our sides. “Rosalind, Rosalind Maxon. It’s nice to meet you, Spencer.”

“Could I buy you two a coffee or something?” He asked shifting his attention to Malia briefly but he held his focus on me the longest now.

Malia looped her arm through mine after we had hung the dresses back up the way we found them. Squeezing her hand in mine I nodded towards the nervous doctor. “Sure. I think we’re down for that.”

“We sure are, Spencie.” I grinned up at him following him when we walked towards the Starbucks inside the grocery store.

2 years later

Coming down the stairs carrying my light brown boots in my left hand and my other hand opens the door revealing my boyfriend of two years as of today. I was wearing a light red lace shirt, some blue jeans with my hair loose except for two strands tied back. “Hey Spencer, what do you think?”

“Hi Rosalind, you look….beautiful.” He hung his mouth open and was frozen in the doorway.

He was wearing a black jacket over one of his blue dress shirts paired with some dark brown pants and his sneakers. He also carried his sachale around like normal. “Come on in. Don’t want you getting cold or someone snatching you off my doorstep.” I moved out of the way and he stepped inside, shutting the door behind himself.

“You know we should probably make a password or get you a security camera. That way you can see the people outside your house before you answer the door.” He suggested sitting his bag by the door.

Grabbing my keys from the kitchen island I raised a brow at him. “Is that really necessary?”

“Studies have shown repeatedly that it is.” He said back.

I nodded. “Guess I should not argue with a genius with an eidetic memory. So am I picking where to eat tonight or you?”

“You pick. But I’m paying for dinner.” He says picking up his bag again and heading towards the door. I shut the door behind me, locking it following behind his one stride to my two strides. We drove to the Arby’s near my house.

Sliding into one side of the booth Spencer slides in on the other side. We both had gotten roast beef sliders with cheese and I got some curly fries. Spencer and I have been together secretly for almost two years. “I know we haven’t had this conversation yet, but why aren’t we telling your team yet?”

“I just don’t want to rush you into it. I told you before about the job that I have. The things that we see day in and day out. I just don’t want to freak you out.” He explained sitting his slider down on the napkin.

Shaking my head at him I smiled. “Spencer, calm down. You won’t freak me out.”

“Yeah but when we met you and Malia were dancing around like princesses. You have an innocence in you that I don’t want to see gone from you.” Spencer replied.

Reaching for a fry I smiled tossing some fries at him. “Oh you mean like this.”

“Roz!” He chuckled, holding his hands up to not get a fry in the eyes.

I picked up some more fries and threw them where some actually ended up in his hair. “Don’t pretend you don’t like it. You freaking love Halloween. This is no different.”

“If I do this right then it should land…right there.” He bent his spoon back with a fry on it. He released it and I scrunched my nose when it hit me dead between the eyes.

Blinking my eyes I glared at him briefly before I giggled back at him. “See you like your inner child, same as me.”

“Yeah we make a good team that way.” He chuckled, staring down at his watch seeing it was almost ten now. “Oh we should probably go. I have to be at work early tomorrow morning.”

He laid down enough money and a tip then we drove on home. Unbuckling my seatbelt Spencer came around opening the car door for me. Putting my hand in his he led me up to the house and I got the door open again looking over my shoulder at him. “Hey I know you said it’s late and you have to work early. So I was thinking you could sleep here for the night if you wanted to, I mean.”

“Uh I appreciate it. I don’t want to intrude though. It’s your house.” Spencer shrugged his shoulders at me, he ran his fingers through his locks.

Throwing my hands up from my sides I tired once more. “Come on, Spencie. I don’t mind one bit. Otherwise I wouldn’t offer.”

“I appreciate the offer. I really do but I don’t want us to move too fast.” He avoided my gaze for a minute and I knew why. He wasn’t used to having a relationship. Even though it’s been two years we have only kissed a couple of times but we never slept the night at the other place.

Walking up to him I smiled, draping my arms over his shoulders, kissing him gently. “Can I still call you if I’m bored later?”

“Yes.” He smiled putting one hand on my waist holding me close to him, but he broke the kiss briefly.

Parting my lips I paused thinking about what I had told him a few months after we had been dating. “If I have nightmares again can I call ya?” Something that I didn’t like talking about after what happened to me. He never judged me over what happened.

“Definitely yes.” He nodded, kissing my forehead where we separated and I walked backwards into the doorway. He turned on his heels reaching into his pocket drawing a necklace from his pocket. “I almost forgot to give you this. I found it at the store one day.”

He dropped it into my hands and I grinned seeing it was a necklace with a tiny silver looking slipper attached to it. “Awe Spencer. It’s my own glass slipper.”

“Yeah I remembered Cinderella was your favorite.” Spencer smiled, clicking his tongue and I saw him get slightly embarrassed.

Clipping the jewelry around my neck I waved bye to him finally going inside and shutting the door behind me. “Night Reid.” Turning around on my feet I moved past the kitchen feeling the cold wind coming in but I knew I didn’t leave the windows open when we left. The wooden floor creaked underneath my boots and I paused when I noticed broken glass from the back door.

The floor creaked in a different room making me whip my head around and I gasped stumbling backwards to see my father Deacon. “Long time no see, Ella.” He stood in front of me holding something behind his back.

“How did you find me?” I questioned him.

He responded back. “It took time after your mother put me in jail. But it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I’m here now and that we can pick up where we left off.”

“I was six when she got you locked up. We can’t go back and change the past.” I attempted to walk away from him and grab my phone from my pocket but I heard a gun cock behind me.

He instructed me to aim the gun at me when I slowly turned around to face him again. “We’ll see about that, princess. You come with me willingly or we have to do this the hard way.”

“Like hell I will!” I ran forward and managed to tackle him to the floor. My father dropped the gun but was stronger than me so he held me down with his body.

He snatched the gun that was by one of my feet, aiming it at me where I froze knowing he meant business now. Wrapping my hands around his wrist he only had the gun barely from pressing my chest. “You’re done fighting now.” He raised the gun and hit me over the head with it where I blacked out.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[divinemare]

Cruel Cauldron

✎ᝰ┆azriel x oc

ᝰ┆part five

part four

—— —͙ – -

Two weeks ago…

“Are you really making me do this?” Karina’s husky, low voice asked her mother minutes before her departure from Anthra.

“My sweet girl, I would’ve thought that you would have understood your purpose by now. I must say I’m disappointed, I raised you to be more intelligent than that, Karina,” her mother’s fake sweet voice sounded more cruel than anything, giving Karina chills.

“I’m sorry to be a disappointment, mother. Yet again. But what’s new, right? So please just explain to me why the fuck do I have to marry that pretentious batstard!” She exploded, because just at the thought of Azriel’s face —a thought that, annoyingly and inevitably had been printed in her mind since what happened in the balcony—, made her blood absolutely boil.

“A bat what?” If her mother didn’t scold her for raising her voice, it was only due to her perplexity at the ridiculous name Karina had just spilled.

“He looks like a bat and his a… you know what, forget it mother, I’m just gonna disappoint you further.”

Verena sighed and rolled her eyes as if to say that that was, in fact, true. Karina ignored the sting in her heart as she had been doing for 250 years now.

“I’m sending you there not as a bride but as a weapon. You’ll bring them to their knees, destroy them from the inside out, without them even knowing what happened. You and I, my dear, we’ll take Anthra to glory.”

The hairs in the back of her neck stood on end, and her skin went so cold with dread that she had to suppress a shiver.

Karina had no idea what her mother was talking about, and Verena would surely not elaborate any further, she would only know when her mother considered it was the perfect time. That only intensified her dread, because nothing remotely good could ever come from that look of absolute cruelty of Queen Verena Basdearg.

Oh good Mother, what have I gotten myself into.

៚ ·

Present Day…

Arisa used to compared her a lot with camaleones, claiming that her little sister had a huge ability when it came to adapting. Karina could mingle in any given space, attracting attention and looking so natural like she was just a part of.

Yet it was the start of her second week in Prythian, and in the Night Court more specifically, and she couldn’t still get used to the horrendous predicament she found herself in.

She barely left her room, only at late hours of night to explore the breathtaking castle she now apparently lived in. She knew, —not only by her power but for the instinct of already knowing him—, that Azriel watched her every step, and that was the only thing keeping her from dying of boredom, toying with him until she could feel the vein in his forehead pop without even seeing it.

That, and her brunches with Mor and Feyre. The two females had been her only consolation in here. Feyre, from the moment she arrived, had tried to make her feel as comfortable as she could possibly, and Mor and her had always gotten pretty great along in the decades of knowing each other.

But as much as she enjoyed the company of both females, and appreciated the beauty surrounding her and the way Rhysand had tried to make up for the whole mess by giving the most ravishing, luxurious gifts, it wasn’t enough to appease her sorrowful heart.

She missed her castle, her guards; those who had accompanied and guarded her since she was merely just a youngling. She missed visiting the Silver Land to make presence as their Princess. She missed her sister, greatly, their morning walks in the palace’s immense garden, their horse rides whenever Arisa was too tired from Crown Princess duties, and of course, their endless talks. Karina missed her confident, her greatest advisor, her big sister.

And, of course, she missed Maxon, so fucking much she started scolding herself and her heart for being so stupid.

Of course she could’ve never married him, marry the male she loved, marry for love. She had been stupidly naive to even believe it a possibility.

But she had, deep inside her, she had. Karina had dreamed marrying her best friend in the Talihsiz River. Moving to a Estate in the Silver Land and finally finding some peace by herself.

Now her reality was very, very far away from that.

She would no longer have a beautiful wedding in the place she considered the most beautiful place on earth, she would no longer move to a beautiful Estate in her beautiful piece of land, in fact, she may have to live in here for the rest of her life, and, most importantly, she would no longer marry her best friend, but rather the male she couldn’t stand at all, and whom couldn’t stand her at all too.

What a change of scenery that had been.

A knock on her door adverted her attention from the bubbles of the bath she was playing with. With a sigh, she sent sparks of her power to every corner of the room, covering those spots where shadows could linger.

“Who is it?” Karina asked in an innocent voice, making spirals with her fingers in the water.

“Azriel,” the rough voice of the shadowsinger sent a shiver down her back, even tho the water was hot and steamy.

“Then come back later, Karina’s not available right now,” she smiled wickedly even tho Azriel couldn’t see her, and she could almost hear his jaw and his fists clenching at the other side.

“When would that be, then?”

“When a rock falls down your head and I’m delivered with the tragically awful news of your passing.”

A frustrated groan was everything she heard for a moment, as if Azriel had to take a couple of seconds to regain patience before speaking again. That only made things much more amusing for Karina.

“It is important, Karina,” the way he used her name always sounded like a scold, like a grumble, like it was difficult for him to even pronounce every syllable without clenching his teeth.

“Ok then, come in,” she sighed dramatically, and only lifted her gaze from the water when the door closed.

Her cat-like smile only intensified when she saw the shock and redness creeping up Azriel’s face, for a moment, he looked so unlike the Spymaster she had known for so long it was… refreshing. Only for a moment, of course, because quickly enough, he recovered and went back to full seriousness, the only hint of his uncomfortableness was the way his eyes moved all around the room, suddenly finding the dust in the carpet very, very interesting.

“Really, Karina?” His clenched teeth told her he was probably mad with her.

But when was he not, right?

“What? You said it was important,” for toying purposes, Karina lifted a leg out of the bathtub, the rock beneath her skin felt cold now, and the air gave her sudden chills. But everything was worth it while watching Azriel go rigid in his spot.

“Please just… put on something, anything,” he was damn good at hiding it, but the small color in his cheeks was proof enough for her to know her game was working.

“What? Are we not supposed to get married in, what, a week?” She said it so nonchalantly that Azriel’s jaw tightened at the point of almost snapping.

“Can you please just…put something on?” He said through gritted teeth, causing a slight laugh from Karina.

As she knew Azriel wouldn’t dare to look at her, she simply got out of the bathtub and climbed the stone stairs to the floor, fully naked, to where she had left her bathrobe.

“So, what was that so important thing you came to say?” She fell to one of her bedroom sofas with a dramatic sigh, crossing her legs and playing with her wet hair.

Azriel only dared to look at her for a fraction of a second. His eyes went up to her, and as fast as they came, as fast as they stared away. Karina caught a glimpse of something in them, but they were gone so quickly she did not have the time to guess what it was.

“Rhys wants to talk to you about the ceremony preparations,” his tone was as serious as ever, his back so straightened she wondered if it hurt, and his wings so tucked in they look rigid.

At least all of this would have some fun, after all.

“No thanks,” with another dramatic sigh, she dismissed what it even hadn’t been a question, and stood up to go to her closet to start looking for something to wear.

“Karina, this is really important.”

“Well then you can do it, both of you can do it, if I only may request we add some drops of poison in the dessert so I can die before this whole thing starts, that’ll be great, thanks.”

The male tensed his jaw for literally a split of a second in an attempt to calm his anger, but by the way his eyes moved so fast, Karina could bet it was not working.

“You think I want this? Believe me, it brings me no joy to think I’ll have to be bound by you for eternity, but you can thank all of this to your mother. Now, if you want to stop this wedding, then go convince her not to start a war with us,” 99% of the time, Azriel was the most impassive, nonreactive male she’d ever known, nothing could bother him, nothing could face him, nothing could make that serious mask slip off.

But that 1%, the one he was remotely close to her, he could lose every bit of temper and calmness like nothing in this world could ever.

“Maybe you are stupider than I thought, because how in the holy Cauldron’s name do you expect me to do that. Now I may be pretty and smart and funny and charming, Azriel, but I don’t do miracles.”

“You know what? I’m gonna walk away from this conversation before you make me a 500 years older,” with a heavy sigh, and more of a defeated look than anything, he hurried out of the room. Not before turning around when he was nearly out, and speaking his last words. “Rhys wants to meet up at dinner. Don’t be late.”

Those last words felt so threatening anyone else would immediately get the message: it was a threat. But even tho the hairs on Karina’s back straightened at hearing his grave voice, she made it a point to communicate her displeasure with a huff before Azriel left the room completely.

Well, at least she could wear a pretty dress tonight.

[rotting-steel]

Remnants of the Past

"Elder Maxon was pleased you accepted his request to talk."

"Is it really a request if it's delivered with two vertibirds aiming their guns at me?"

The unarmored knight let out a loud laugh, readjusting the gauss rifle in his lap as he sat up straight a little more, looking to Allister who stared back.

"Why the name Bastard?"

"What?"

"I mean the name, Bastard, it's clearly an alias so why choose it did you not know your fath-?"

"I knew my father. He was a good and kind man. A man with the last name Bastard."

"Fuck me, what sewer did his family decide that family name in."

"When they came from overseas."

"No shit, your family is from the East? They ever tell you what it's like over there? I mean we get our whispers now and again, but nobody that has made the trip across has ever contacted back."

"It was a beautiful place, they were from Ireland, my father often told me about how amazing it looked to simply walk throughout the green."

"Green? Did they live somewhere unaffected by the bombs or was this nuclear green?"

"There were no bombs."

"Wait, are you telling me Ireland is a fucking clean zone?"

"No."

"Then what bullshit are you spouting?"

"It was a beautiful land before the bombs fell."

"Before the.. shit is your father a Ghoul now or something?"

"No."

"Then how the f-"

The knight finally realized what Allister was getting at, it wasn't the first time he'd met someone pre-war but typically it was a filthy Ghoul or a dweller that had been put on ice. Never did he think he'd find someone that was likely neither.

"Did you ever get to see it with your father, Ireland?"

"No."

"What happened to him?"

Allister turned his head away from the knight, looking out at the water as the vertibird was quickly approaching the little blimp they called home. They were smart to have it above water this time after his previous threats, but he'd still detonate a core before ever letting them have his suit.

"Executed. In front of me."

"Jesus, I'm sorry."

"It was a long time ago."

"..How old were you?"

"Seven."

"Not that I'm complaining, but why tell me all of this? Your records say you're incredibly tight lipped about your own past, why me?"

"You told the vertibirds to not open fire, I appreciated that. Also, if Maxson doesn't keep his hands to himself, I thought you'd want the last story you ever heard to be an interesting one."

Allister looked back to the man who had gone a bit pale, after all he could now see the glowing red hot armor on his bottom right side, where a fusion core was beginning to become unstable. He seemed completely unfazed by the heat pulsing into his body and simply stood as the vertibird came in to dock.

"It was a pleasure, Knight Callus."

[allthingsdarkanddirty]

💙 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐁𝐈𝐄 💙⁠

⁠

Pieces of Us, a single parent, second chance romance by A.L. Jackson is 𝑭𝑹𝑬𝑬 through Sunday! ⁠

⁠

Love audio?🎧 You can listen for just $7.49!⁠

⁠

𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 -> https://geni.us/POUAmznOP

⁠

Izzy Lane was everything I never deserved.

Sweet and kind.

Beautiful in a way that stole my breath.

I started crawling through her window when I was just a boy to escape the brutality of my father.

She became my best friend.

My safe haven.

The girl I’d do anything to protect.

Only what she really needed protecting from was me.

I left town when Maxon Chambers broke my heart at seventeen.

For years, he refused my calls.

It devastated me even more when he pretended we’d never existed.

Thirteen years later, I’m back with the son he doesn’t know we share.

Now, he’s grown into a man I know I should resist, but who makes my knees weak.

Sexier than sin and more tempting than ever.

A detective on the Charleston force, he lives on the outside of safety, devoted to protecting the people of his city.

But with the way he’s looking at me now? I’m pretty sure what needs protecting is my heart.

Can we mend the pieces of us? Or will the danger that ruined our pasts steal the hope of our future…

[majianguo]

Beautiful view from the rooftop bar and pool at MaxOne Bukit Jimbaran. I especially like the view of patung GWK in the background.

[longsightmyth]

It was huge. The paneling was dark, some wood I wasn’t familiar with lining the whole space. On the far wall, a wide fireplace stood, waiting to be used. The whole thing must have been for show since it never seemed to get cold enough here to justify a fire.

His bathroom door was cracked open, and I could see a porcelain tub on the elaborately tiled floor. He had his own collection of books and a table near the fireplace that looked like it was intended for dining rather than work. I wondered how many lonely meals he’d had here. Near the doors that opened to his private balcony, a glass case full of guns sat, perfectly lined up. I’d forgotten his love of hunting.

His bed, also made from a dark wood, was massive. I wanted to go and touch it, to see if it felt as good as it looked.

“Maxon, you could fit a football team in there,” I teased.

“Tried it once. Not as comfortable as you’d think.”

...fellas?

It was then, looking past his smiling face, that I saw the pictures. I inhaled sharply, taking in the beautiful display behind him.

On the wall by Maxon’s door was a vast collage, wide enough to be wallpaper for my room back home. There didn’t appear to be any sort of order to it, just image upon image piled up for him to enjoy.

I could see photos that surely had to have been taken by him, because they were of the palace, which was where he was almost all the time. Close-ups of tapestries, shots of the ceiling he must have lain flat on the carpet to get, and so many pictures of the gardens. There were others, maybe of places he hoped to see or had at least visited. I saw an ocean so blue it didn’t seem possible. There were a few bridges, and one of a wall-like structure that looked like it went on for miles.

But above all this, I saw my face a dozen times over. There was the picture of me that was taken for my Selection application, and the one of Maxon and me taken for the magazine when I wore that sash. We seemed happy there, as if it was all a game. I’d never seen that photo, or the one from the article on Halloween. I remembered Maxon standing behind me while we looked at designs for my costume. While I’m staring at the sketch, Maxon’s eyes are slightly turned toward me.

Then there were the photos he took. One of me shocked when the king and queen of Swendway visited and he’d quickly yelled out “Smile.” One of me sitting on the set for the Report, laughing at Marlee. He must have been hiding behind the blinding lights, stealing little images of us when we were all just being ourselves. And there was another one of me in the night, standing on my balcony and looking at the moon.

The other girls were in them, too, the remaining ones more than the others; but every once in a while I’d see Anna’s eyes peek out from under a landscape or Marlee’s smile hiding in a corner. And though they were just taken, pictures of Kriss and Celeste posing in the Women’s Room were up there, too, next to Elise pretending to faint on a couch and me with my arms wrapped around his mother.

Maxon has gone up SEVERAL creeper levels and that he has a giant bedroom, giant bathroom, and a creeper collage are supposed to make him more attractive to us-the-reader is ASTONISHING. He has pictures of Marlee, a girl he had beaten bloody with intent to maim in front of a live audience and broadcasted live for kissing another boy.

Sometimes defenestration really is the only option.