Falling In Love. Swoony Romance Tropes

And they lived happily ever after! A very long time ago, I shared with you that I was planning to write a discussion post about romance tropes. Now that Spring, aka the season of love, is fast approaching (in my hemisphere), I finally found myself polishing the text and creating the banners. Today, I'm talking about some of the most common romance tropes in books with some book recommendations. If you're planning a swoony Spring TBR pile, then this discussion is definitely for you.

Disclaim: Even though I'll not be mentioning couples (even if some of them are well-known), there might be some spoilers. Some of the novels mentioned feature more than one romance trope. Also, this discussion post is of the 2019 Book Blog Discussion Challenge hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight.

ARC Review // A Spark of White Fire

Title: A Spark of White Fire

Author: Sangu Mandanna

Publisher: Sky Pony

Published: September 8th 2018
Pages: 311 pages 

"The first book in a scifi retelling of the Mahabrahata. When Esmae wins a contest of skill, she sets off events that trigger an inevitable and unwinnable war that pits her against the family she would give anything to return to.

In a universe of capricious gods, dark moons, and kingdoms built on the backs of spaceships, a cursed queen sends her infant daughter away, a jealous uncle steals the throne of Kali from his nephew, and an exiled prince vows to take his crown back.

Raised alone and far away from her home on Kali, Esmae longs to return to her family. When the King of Wychstar offers to gift the unbeatable, sentient warship Titania to a warrior that can win his competition, she sees her way home: she’ll enter the competition, reveal her true identity to the world, and help her famous brother win back the crown of Kali.

It’s a great plan. Until it falls apart.

Inspired by the Mahabharata and other ancient Indian stories, A Spark of White Fire is a lush, sweeping space opera about family, curses, and the endless battle between jealousy and love."

Sunday Post. Bye, Bye January

Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviews.

Long time, no see, right? It has been a couple of weeks since I last sat down and shared with your how my week went by. Or visit any blog. Or replied to any comment. I know there's a ton of stuff I must catch up with, but I'm trying to finish my thesis. I know, I know, you're tired of listening to me talking about this never ending thesis, but I did a  lot of progress and I fear if I loose track, I'll need a few more thousand years to actually finish it. Also, I've been dealing with some troubling issues that are making hard for me to not feel lethargic... I'll try to take a day off to catch up with everything. I promise. 

ARC Review // Corpse & Crown

Title: Corpse & Crown

Author: Alisa Kwitney

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Published: February 12th 2019
Pages: 320 pages

"Agatha DeLacey’s family isn’t rich or titled, so studying nursing at Ingold’s East End hospital in London is a rare opportunity for her. Despite the school’s focus on the innovative Bio-Mechanical program, Aggie cares more about the desperately poor human patients who flood the hospital, even if that means providing unauthorized treatment after-hours…and trusting a charming, endlessly resourceful thief.

But the Artful Dodger is barely a step ahead of his underworld rivals, the menacing Bill Sykes and mercurial Oliver Twist, and Aggie’s association with him soon leads her into danger. When a brutal attack leaves her blind, she and the Dodger find themselves at the mercy of an experimental Bio-Mech surgery. Though the procedure restores Aggie’s sight, her new eyes come at an unnerving cost, and the changes in Dodger are even more alarming—instead of seeing Aggie as the girl he fancies, he now views her as a potential threat.

As war between England and Germany brews on the horizon and a sinister medical conspiracy threatens to shatter the uneasy peace in Europe, Aggie and the Dodger must find a way to work together so they can protect their friends and expose the truth…even if it means risking their own survival."

Review & Blog Tour. The Antidote

Welcome to The Antidote Blog Tour hosted by The Fantastic Flying Book Club. Witches are once again taking the bookish world by storm. In The Antidote magic is forbidden and Fee must keep it hidden. However, what happens when her magic is the only thing that might save her kingdom? Scroll down to read my review (and one of my favourite quotes) and don't forget to join the Giveaway (sorry, it's US only). Also, to read more reviews, interviews  and guest posts follow the tour.

The Perks of Being an International Reader

It's the end of the month and sharing my first discussion post of the year (I'm adding this post to both blogging challenges I joined: Blog All About It and 2019 Book Blog Discussion Challenge). I wrote this post a few weeks ago, but I've been editing my thesis like crazy in the past week (and then I lost myself in some new designs, but let's not talk about it) and only found time to share it with you today (as soon as this is done, I'm back to editing this damn thesis). Anyway, I'm a pessimist. Always have been, always will be (probably). More often than not, I find myself thinking about the negative side of an issue than about the positive one. Regarding reading, it's a fact that international readers (aka readers who do not live in English speaking countries) are in disadvantage - no pre-order swag, lack to no access to books, no physical ARCs, etc. However, I searched for the silver lining and today I'll be discussing the perks of being an international reader.

TTT. 13 Backlist Books I Meant To Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

I know, I know... I'm constantly cheating on these lists. But I just couldn't short this one to ten books. Or perhaps I could, but I just love the number thirteen. These are books released in 2018 that I was dying to read, but for many different reasons (one of them being that I'm a really slow reader) I didn't have the chance to. Hopefully, 2019 will be the year I tackle them down from my TBR pile and give them all the love they deserve,