WWW Wednesday | Check Out My Fantastical Week of Reads

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

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Currently Reading

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I am so looking forward to starting The Gilded Wolves today. I’ve seen so many wonderful thoughts about this book. And, I picked the ebook up from the library, which has me totally patting myself on the back. I would have loved to have the physical book with that beautiful cover, but physical books are so impractical for me. Perhaps, if I love it…

About This Book

• Genre: Fantasy
• Print Length: 400 pages
• Publisher: Wednesday Books
• Publication Date: January 15, 2019
• Series: The Gilded Wolves (Book 1)

No one believes in them. But soon no one will forget them.

It’s 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

To hunt down the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin calls upon a band of unlikely experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian banished from his home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in arms if not blood.

Together, they will join Séverin as he explores the dark, glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the course of history–but only if they can stay alive.

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Just Finished

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I absolutely loved everything about A Dance with Fate by Juliet Maillier. It’s over 500 pages but is so good and has such a quick pace that I easily finished it in two days. The Vanished Queen by Lisbeth Campbell was almost the polar opposite of A Dance with Fate. I had to force myself to get it read in the three days I needed to finish it in. Queen Mirantha’s (the vanished queen) story is very compelling and moves quickly but it is told intermittently in chapters that dot the current day story. That current story is congested with details and is very slow and very dry to read. I wanted to love the story as much as I love the cover, and I’m sad that I didn’t. I did like it however and would still recommend it, but I really loved Mirantha’s story and wanted the whole book to read the way those sections did.

About This Book

• Genre: Epic/High Fantasy
• Print Length: 495 pages
• Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press
• Publication Date: August 18, 2020
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc

When a country is held in thrall to a vicious, despotic king, it’s up to one woman to take him down.

Long ago, Queen Mirantha vanished. King Karolje claimed it was an assassination by a neighboring king, but everyone knew it was a lie. He had Disappeared her himself.

But after finding the missing queen’s diary, Anza—impassioned by her father’s unjust execution and inspired by Mirantha’s words—joins the resistance group to overthrow the king. When an encounter with Prince Esvar thrusts her into a dangerous game of court politics, one misstep could lead to a fate worse than death.

Esvar is the second son to an evil king. Trapped under his thumb and desperate for a way out, a chance meeting with Anza gives him the opportunity to join the resistance. Together, they might have the leverage to move against the king—but if they fail, their deaths could mean a total loss of freedom for generations to follow.

Set in a world where resistance is as dangerous as it is important, The Vanished Queen is a tale of the courage and sacrifice it requires to take on a tyrant.

About This Book

• Genre: Epic/High Fantasy
• Print Length: 526 pages
• Publisher: Ace
• Publication Date: September 1, 2020
• Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
• Series: The Warrior Bards (Book 2)

A young woman who is both a bard–and a warrior–seeks to repay her debts and settle scores in this thrilling historical fantasy series.

The young warrior and bard Liobhan has lost her brother to the Otherworld. Even more determined to gain a place as an elite fighter, she returns to Swan Island to continue her training. But Liobhan is devastated when her comrade Dau is injured and loses his sight in their final display bout. Blamed by Dau’s family for the accident, she agrees to go to Dau’s home as a bond servant for the span of one year.

There, she soon learns that Oakhill is a place of dark secrets. The vicious Crow Folk still threaten both worlds. And Dau, battling the demon of despair, is not an easy man to help.

When Liobhan and Dau start to expose the rot at the center of Oakhill, they place themselves in deadly danger. For their enemy wields great power and will stop at nothing to get his way. It will take all the skills of a Swan Island warrior and a touch of the uncanny to give them a hope of survival. . . .

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Reading Next

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My thoughts on this book before reading it will really depend on how much I enjoy The Gilded Wolves. I’m very glad I took the time to make room for the first book in my schedule after being given the ARC of this one and I hope that reading them back to back will just add to the experience.❤️

About This Book

• Genre: Fantasy
• Print Length: 416 pages
• Publisher: Wednesday Books
• Publication Date: September 22, 2020
• Series: The Gilded Wolves (Book 2)

They are each other’s fiercest love, greatest danger, and only hope.

Séverin and his team members might have successfully thwarted the Fallen House, but victory came at a terrible cost ― one that still haunts all of them. Desperate to make amends, Séverin pursues a dangerous lead to find a long lost artifact rumored to grant its possessor the power of God.

Their hunt lures them far from Paris, and into the icy heart of Russia where crystalline ice animals stalk forgotten mansions, broken goddesses carry deadly secrets, and a string of unsolved murders makes the crew question whether an ancient myth is a myth after all.

As hidden secrets come to the light and the ghosts of the past catch up to them, the crew will discover new dimensions of themselves. But what they find out may lead them down paths they never imagined.

A tale of love and betrayal as the crew risks their lives for one last job.

Talk to me about the book(s) you are reading this week (in the comments). I love hearing about books ❤️