Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

Tag: bookish

  • Betsy’s Book Report: Untethering Dark by Desiree M. Niccoli

    Betsy’s Book Report: Untethering Dark by Desiree M. Niccoli

    Set in the Black Forest (der Schwarzwald) in Germany we are introduced to Astrid a Hexe, a witch with aspirations to become a hag like her adopted mother, Mutter Perchta. Every Night for years Astrid has left out an offering to Altes Geweih, Old Antlers, an ancient forest protector who lives with her in the forest.

    Then one night a group of hikers come to Astrid’s home causing chaos, releasing her goats, and destroying her nightly offering to Altes Geweih. Realizing he has come and accepting her fate she brings a plate of cookies, and comes face to face with the monster in the woods. Expecting to be eaten, instead he allows her to live and accepts her offer of cookies.

    Soon she is flirting with him, and he is flirting back? He reveals his true name to her, Gudariks. And, Astrid begins to feel true attraction and affection for her unlikely new friend. The two of them have a burgeoning relationship that develops alongside the two also working together to attempt to rid the forest of a group of poachers who seem to be plaguing the forest.

    The characters in the book may be monsters, but they are beautifully developed and nuanced. The relationships also feel so real, including those between Astrid and her human friends. The inclusion of lore, history, and traditions of the area just adds to the richness of the story. I can believe that in this world there are mysteries in the dark woods that we cannot comprehend, set to protect the natural world from human corruption. In fact, I want to believe.

    I gave the book five stars and would recommend highly to monster romance lovers, and to those curious about the genre. I will warn you, though, that you may come out the other side with a longing for German Christmas Cookies.

    Untethering Dark by Desiree M. Niccoli is the first Monster Romance to be released by Harlequin books, a publisher every romance reader probably knows, and I was lucky enough to get approved to receive an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy). The book will be available February 4, 2025 as an ebook only at https://shop2.harlequin.com/shop/books/9780369762214_untethering-dark.html

  • 2024 Reading Recap

    2024 Reading Recap

    I read 575 books in 2024 according to goodreads, though I suspect a couple of ARCs and audiobooks may have been missed, and some of these books just blew me away with how well written they were, how immersive they were, how entertaining they were, how smutty they were, and occasionally how truly unhinged they were (looking at you Nicole Parker and Unfortunate Reads). Below is a collage of books I truly loved reading in 2024.

    Each of these books left an indelible mark on my mind and I would recommend them to anyone, well some of them I would recommend to anyone with a super open mind, but still…get into these.

    What were your favorite books of 2024?

  • Back and Bookish

    Hi! It has been a minute (or you know over a year) but I am back and, as mentioned in the title and blog rebrand, bookish.

    In the past two years (2023 and 2024) I read 947 books, novellas, ebooks, ARCs/ALCs and audiobooks. I have joined several street teams. I have attended several bookish events, boughts lots of book boxes, special editions, signed books, and so much more.

    What I am saying is that I am in my bookish era and I am taking this blog with me. I will post about events, review books, talk about authors, post unboxings, and anything else I can think of. Very bookish. Can you tell it is bookish?

    Also I am setting a goal to finish my own book in the first quarter of 2025, so I will post sneak peaks, and walk through the editing and publishing process.

    So…stick around.

    Welcome to 2025.

    Let’s read some books.