teatimelit

Spotlight: A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it’s her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her—the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu.

When Ning hears of a competition to find the kingdom’s greatest shennong-shi—masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making—she travels to the imperial city to compete. The winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning’s only chance to save her sister’s life.

But between the backstabbing competitors, bloody court politics, and a mysterious (and handsome) boy with a shocking secret, Ning might actually be the one in more danger.

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Monthly Wrap Up: March 2022

Hi, hello friends and welcome back to another wrap up post! We’re super excited to be sharing what books we read this month – it’s been yet another successful reading month for us all! 

This month Caitlyn read 25 books, Cossette read 31 books, and Mary read 10 books. 

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Review: Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

A clever and steamy queer romantic comedy about taking chances and accepting love—with all its complications—by debut author Ashley Herring Blake.

Delilah Green swore she would never go back to Bright Falls—nothing is there for her but memories of a lonely childhood where she was little more than a burden to her cold and distant stepfamily. Her life is in New York, with her photography career finally gaining steam and her bed never empty. Sure, it’s a different woman every night, but that’s just fine with her.

When Delilah’s estranged stepsister, Astrid, pressures her into photographing her wedding with a guilt trip and a five-figure check, Delilah finds herself back in the godforsaken town that she used to call home. She plans to breeze in and out, but then she sees Claire Sutherland, one of Astrid’s stuck-up besties, and decides that maybe there’s some fun (and a little retribution) to be had in Bright Falls, after all.

Having raised her eleven-year-old daughter mostly on her own while dealing with her unreliable ex and running a bookstore, Claire Sutherland depends upon a life without surprises. And Delilah Green is an unwelcome surprise…at first. Though they’ve known each other for years, they don’t really know each other—so Claire is unsettled when Delilah figures out exactly what buttons to push. When they’re forced together during a gauntlet of wedding preparations—including a plot to save Astrid from her horrible fiancé—Claire isn’t sure she has the strength to resist Delilah’s charms. Even worse, she’s starting to think she doesn’t want to… 

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Book Recs: Books to Read Based on Your Favorite Musicals

Happy World Theatre Day my friends! Today is one of my favorite days because, and I truly am not exaggerating here, theatre is my life. I was in my first musical when I was 15, and since then I have been in over 15 shows, and worked on over 30 shows (including directing and stage managing) and my day job is running the education department at a theatre company. I really do live and breathe theatre.


As I will take any opportunity I can to combine theatre and reading — two of my favorite things(if you read that to the tune of My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music, bonus points to you!) — I thought it would be fun to do a book recs post based on some of my favorite musicals!

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ARC Review: I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.

But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.

On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she’s not the only one Shara kissed. There’s also Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square.

Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too.

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tea time reads: Ophelia After All Discussion

Hello friends and happy Friday! For those of you who have been partaking in our book club, tea time reads, we’ve loved reading Ophelia After All alongside you! If you’re new — or newer to the blog, we have a book club that’s centered around diverse reads. We’re hosted through Discord and would love you to join us if you haven’t already.  This month, and moving forward, we’ll be sharing the discussion questions and our answers ahead of discussions. 

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Interview with Emma Lord, author of When You Get the Chance

Hello tea party attendees! I’m so excited to announce that Emma Lord, author of Tweet Cute, You Have a Match and When You Get the Chance is joining our tea party today! Emma is one of my favorite authors, and well loved here at teatimelit! Her stories are fun, creative, heartfelt and filled with characters you can’t help but love! 

An effervescent, endearing, joyful contemporary romance of one young woman searching for her birth mother one summer, by New York Times bestselling author Emma Lord.

Nothing will get in the way of Millie Price’s dream to become a Broadway star. Not her lovable but super-introverted dad, who after raising Millie alone, doesn’t want to watch her leave home to pursue her dream. Not her pesky and ongoing drama club rival, Oliver, who is the very definition of Simmering Romantic Tension. And not the “Millie Moods,” the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm, always at maddeningly inconvenient times. Millie needs an ally. And when a left-open browser brings Millie to her dad’s embarrassingly moody LiveJournal from 2003, Millie knows just what to do. She’s going to find her mom.

There’s Steph, a still-aspiring stage actress and receptionist at a talent agency. There’s Farrah, ethereal dance teacher who clearly doesn’t have the two left feet Millie has. And Beth, the chipper and sweet stage enthusiast with an equally exuberant fifteen-year-old daughter (A possible sister?! This is getting out of hand). But how can you find a new part of your life and expect it to fit into your old one, without leaving any marks? And why is it that when you go looking for the past, it somehow keeps bringing you back to what you’ve had all along?

Joyous, heartfelt, and brimming with emotion, WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE is a novel about falling in love, making a mess, and learning to let go that will have you happy-sobbing and cheering all the way to the end.

Links for When You Get the Chance: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

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TeaTimeReads April Pick: Fresh by Margot Wood

Happy Spring, everyone! We hope that you’re enjoying OPHELIA AFTER ALL – we can’t wait to start discussion questions! We’re super excited to announce that our April book club pick will be Margot Wood’s FRESH!

Here is the full summary for Fresh:

A hilarious and vulnerable coming-of-age story about the thrilling new experiences––and missteps––of a girl’s freshman year of college

Some students enter their freshman year of college knowing exactly what they want to do with their lives. Elliot McHugh is not one of those people. But picking a major is the last thing on Elliot’s mind when she’s too busy experiencing all that college has to offer—from dancing all night at off-campus parties, to testing her RA Rose’s patience, to making new friends, to having the best sex one can have on a twin-sized dorm room bed. But she may not be ready for the fallout when reality hits. When the sex she’s having isn’t that great. When finals creep up and smack her right in the face. Or when her roommate’s boyfriend turns out to be the biggest a-hole. Elliot may make epic mistakes, but if she’s honest with herself (and with you, dear reader), she may just find the person she wants to be. And maybe even fall in love in the process . . . Well, maybe. 

Links for Fresh: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

Content Warnings for Fresh: drinking, drug use, profanity, sex, and one scene with sexual assault

This month we’ve decided to try some new things that we’re all really excited about! We decided that this month we would try a loose reading schedule, which you can see in the image below. We also thought that since Fresh is a retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma, it would be fun to stream some Emma adaptations (2020 Emma, Emma Approved, Clueless, etc.) as well as some new and fun ways to interact with each other through social media! More information about that will be coming soon, most of which will be detailed in the Discord. 

We’re super excited to read this fun and hilarious retelling! See you in April!

Spotlight: The Undead Truth of Us by Britney S. Lewis

Hi, hello friends! This week, I have decided to spotlight The Undead Truth of Us by Britney S. Lewis because let me tell you: when Cossette sent me this book on TikTok I knew I had to feature it. While I’m not the biggest fan of zombies, in fact they scare me to high heaven, this book sounds too good not to instantly preorder. This book is releasing on August 9th, and I am anxiously waiting for this to load onto my kindle so I can jump into this thrilling debut by Britney S. Lewis. Here’s the synopsis:

Death was everywhere. They all stared at me, bumping into one another and slowly coming forward.

Sixteen-year-old Zharie Young is absolutely certain her mother morphed into a zombie before her untimely death, but she can’t seem to figure out why. Why her mother died, why her aunt doesn’t want her around, why all her dreams seem suddenly, hopelessly out of reach. And why, ever since that day, she’s been seeing zombies everywhere.

Then Bo moves into her apartment building―tall, skateboard in hand, freckles like stars, and an undeniable charm. Z wants nothing to do with him, but when he transforms into a half zombie right before her eyes, something feels different. He contradicts everything she thought she knew about monsters, and she can’t help but wonder if getting to know him might unlock the answers to her mother’s death.

As Zharie sifts through what’s real and what’s magic, she discovers a new truth about the world: Love can literally change you―for good or for dead.

In this surrealist journey of grief, fear, and hope, Britney S. Lewis’s debut novel explores love, zombies, and everything in between in an intoxicating amalgam of the real and the fantastic.

I cannot wait to get my hands on this book, and if you feel like it’s something you’d enjoy too, there’s links below for where you can preorder! 


Links for The Undead Truth of Us: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | Indiebound

ARC Review: Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Meddy Chan has been to countless weddings, but she never imagined how her own would turn out. Now the day has arrived, and she can’t wait to marry her college sweetheart, Nathan. Instead of having Ma and the aunts cater to her wedding, Meddy wants them to enjoy the day as guests. As a compromise, they find the perfect wedding vendors: a Chinese-Indonesian family-run company just like theirs. Meddy is hesitant at first, but she hits it off right away with the wedding photographer, Staphanie, who reminds Meddy of herself, down to the unfortunately misspelled name.

Meddy realizes that is where their similarities end, however, when she overhears Staphanie talking about taking out a target. Horrified, Meddy can’t believe Staphanie and her family aren’t just like her own, they are The Family–actual mafia, and they’re using Meddy’s wedding as a chance to conduct shady business. Her aunties and mother won’t let Meddy’s wedding ceremony become a murder scene–over their dead bodies–and will do whatever it takes to save her special day, even if it means taking on the mafia.

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