teatimelit

ARC Review: This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron

How much would you risk to save the ones you love? Would you tempt even the most dangerous fate?

Briseis has one chance to save her mother, but she’ll need to do the impossible: find the last fragment of the deadly Absyrtus Heart. If she is to locate the missing piece, she must turn to the blood relatives she’s never known, learn about their secret powers, and take her place in their ancient lineage. Briseis is not the only one who wants the Heart, and her enemies will stop at nothing to fulfill their own ruthless plans. The fates tell of a truly dangerous journey, one that could end in more heartache, more death. Bolstered by the sisterhood of ancient magic, can Briseis harness her power to save the people she loves most?

Read more

Blog Tour + Review: Please We’ve Never Been by Kasie West

A sweet and swoony contemporary Young Adult novel about a cross-country family road trip that puts one girl and her childhood best friend on an unexpected road to romance!

Norah hasn’t seen her childhood best friend, Skyler, in years. When he first moved away, they’d talk all the time, but lately their relationship has been reduced to liking each other’s Instagram posts. That’s why Norah can’t wait for the joint RV road trip their families have planned for the summer.

But when Skyler finally arrives, he seems…like he’d rather be anywhere else. Hurt and confused, Norah reacts in kind. Suddenly, her oldest friendship is on the rocks.

An unexpected summer spent driving across the country leads both Norah and Skyler down new roads and to new discoveries. Before long, they are, once again, seeing each other in a different light. Can their friendship-turned-rivalry turn into something more? 

Read more

ARC Review: Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean

When Japanese-American Izumi Tanaka learned her father was the Crown Prince of Japan, she became a princess overnight. Now, she’s overcome conniving cousins, salacious press, and an imperial scandal to finally find a place she belongs. She has a perfect bodyguard turned boyfriend. Her stinky dog, Tamagotchi, is living with her in Tokyo. Her parents have even rekindled their college romance and are engaged. A royal wedding is on the horizon! Izumi’s life is a Tokyo dream come true.

Only…

Her parents’ engagement hits a brick wall. The Imperial Household Council refuses to approve the marriage citing concerns about Izumi and her mother’s lack of pedigree. And on top of it all, her bodyguard turned boyfriend makes a shocking decision about their relationship. At the threat of everything falling apart, Izumi vows to do whatever it takes to help win over the council. Which means upping her newly acquired princess game.

But at what cost? Izumi will do anything to help her parents achieve their happily ever after, but what if playing the perfect princess means sacrificing her own? Will she find a way to forge her own path and follow her heart?

Read more

Review: Cover Story by Susan Rigetti

Netflix’s Inventing Anna and Hulu’s The Dropout meets Catch Me If You Can, a captivating novel about an ambitious young woman who gets trapped in a charismatic con artist’s scam.

After a rough year at NYU, aspiring writer Lora Ricci is thrilled to land a summer internship at ELLE magazine where she meets Cat Wolff, contributing editor and enigmatic daughter of a clean-energy mogul. Cat takes Lora under her wing, soliciting her help with side projects and encouraging her writing.

As a friendship emerges between the two women, Lora opens up to Cat about her desperate struggles and lost scholarship. Cat’s solution: Drop out of NYU and become her ghostwriter. Lora agrees and, when the internship ends, she moves into Cat’s suite at the opulent Plaza Hotel. Writing during the day and accompanying Cat to extravagant parties at night, Lora’s life quickly shifts from looming nightmare to dream-come-true. But as Lora is drawn into Cat’s glamorous lifestyle, Cat’s perfect exterior cracks, exposing an illicit, shady world.

A whip-smart and delightfully inventive writer, Susan Rigetti brilliantly pieces together a perceptive, humorous caper full of sharp observations about scam culture. Composed of diary entries, emails, FBI correspondence, and more, Cover Story is a fresh, fun, and wholly original novel that takes readers deep into the codependency and deceit found in a relationship built on power imbalance and lies.

Read more

TeaTimeReads June Pick: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Hi, everyone! We hope that you’ve been enjoying LIKE A LOVE SONG! We’re looking forward to starting discussion questions soon! Today is the 22nd, which means it’s time for us to announce our June pick for TeaTimeReads. We’re so excited to announce that in June we’ll be reading THE CARTOGRAPHERS by Peng Shepherd! 

Here is the full summary for The Cartographers:

What is the purpose of a map?

Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map.

But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence… because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way.

But why?

To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the true power that lies in maps…

From the critically acclaimed author of The Book of M, a highly imaginative thriller about a young woman who discovers that a strange map in her deceased father’s belongings holds an incredible, deadly secret—one that will lead her on an extraordinary adventure and to the truth about her family’s dark history. 

Links for The Cartographers: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

Content Warnings for The Cartographers: death, murder, gun, estranged parents, grief, fire

We’ll be doing a loose reading schedule this month, but of course, feel free to read at your own pace!

We hope that the rest of May treats you well and that you’ll join us in reading THE CARTOGRAPHERS next month! As always, you can join the Discord here.

Mini Reviews: The Cartographers, Bartlett Plays 1, Burns: When Anger Comes Home, The Comfort Book, and Something Wilder

Hello, friends and happy Friday! I can’t believe May is almost over — there’s so many books I wanted to get to this month and haven’t yet, but that’s okay. I’ve been reading quite a lot this month, and so I wanted to share some mini-reviews with y’all today! So, grab a cup of tea — or a beverage of  your choice, and get cozy! 

Read more

Let’s Talk: Upcoming Special Editions

Hi, hello everyone! I hope you’re all keeping well, and the month of May is delightful! As special editions of books become increasingly popular, the likes of Illumicrate and Fairyloot are releasing more and more, it’s often hard to keep track. So, I thought it would be fun to go through five of my favourite announcements as of late, and get everyone excited for some amazing book releases coming soon. 

Read more

Let’s Talk: Bookstagram Q&A + Tips & Tricks

Happy Friday, dear friends! Today, I’m super excited to bring to you some of my bookstagram tips and tricks. I’ve been meaning to do a quick little post on some of the things I’ve learned about bookstagram during my time on the platform, and finally sat down to write this post! In all honesty, this post is inspired by a conversation in one of my bookstagram group chats (hello, bookstagram eye doctors), where my dear friend Stef realized that I photoshop the covers of my books sometimes!

I’ve always found Instagram to be an interesting form of social media. I’m not particularly active on my personal Instagram anymore (there’s a longer conversation about how people use Instagram, curated feeds, what’s real vs. what’s fake) but surprisingly enough I’ve kept up with bookstagram over the last year and a half. I wrote a post last October reflecting on my one year of Bookstagram, and shared a few things I’ve learned there, but I wanted to do a longer post today! I compiled some questions through Twitter/Instagram/Discord, and then have some other tips of my own, so as always, grab a cup of tea and get cozy! 

Read more