Welcome back to another WWW Wednesday! Dive into this week’s post to discover what I’m reading, and join the conversation with your own updates. Don’t miss out!
This format was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.
To participate, you just have to answer these questions:
- What are you currently reading?
- What did you recently finish reading?
- What do you think you’ll read next?
What are you currently reading
I am now reading ‘The Pairing‘ by Casey McQuiston.
Synopsis
Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other’s lives once and for all.
Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers. Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but—yeah. It’s in the past.
All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately.
It’s not until they board the tour bus that they discover they’ve both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they’re trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. It’s fine. There’s nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game. And why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition?
But sometimes a taste of everything only makes you crave what you can’t have.it and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.
What did you recently finish reading
I recently finished ‘The Familiar’ by Leigh Bardugo.
Synopsis
In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family’s social position.
What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain’s king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England’s heretic queen—and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king’s favor.
Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition’s wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiell, maybe not the best––still, he’s proud of the reputation he’s built for himself. But with only a squirrel for company during his extensive travels, his social skills have grown rusty. At least, that’s what he tells himself when he impulsively delays an important mission to help a strange, vibrant girl find her way home.
What do you think you’ll read next
I’ll be reading ‘A Curse of Crows‘ by Lauren Dedroog and ‘A Dark and Drowning Tide‘ by Alison Saft.
Synopsis
Diana speaks. Gods answer.
Aedlynn strikes. Enemies fall.
In the realm where gods dance with mortals, Diana’s prayers wield unimaginable power. But when a deadly sickness threatens to consume her, she strikes a desperate bargain with an unlikely ally, invoking a journey of vengeance and deceit.
Aedlynn is a lethal weapon forged in darkness. She feels no pity, no guilt . . . no love. So when a beautiful spy finds a hidden way into Aedlynn’s heart, even the gods won’t stand in her way.
As Fate weaves its intricate tapestry, betrayal and revelation collide, plunging them all into a maelstrom of passion and peril, and a battle for power will threaten to consume them all.
Because there’s a fine line between love and hate . . .
And a woman’s heart is a dangerous thing.
Synopsis
A sharp-tongued folklorist and her academic rival must solve their mentor’s murder in this lush sapphic fantasy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic.
Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist with a quick temper and an even quicker wit, is on an expedition with six eccentric nobles in search of a mythical spring of untold power. The king wants to harness the fabled water source from which magic flows to secure his reign, and Lorelei is determined to prove herself and to make her dream come true: to become a naturalist, able to travel freely to faraway lands.
The expedition gets off to a harrowing start when its leader―Lorelei’s beloved mentor―is murdered in her quarters aboard their ship. The suspects are her five remaining expedition mates. The only person Lorelei knows must be innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia von Wolff. Now in charge of the expedition, Lorelei must find the spring before the murderer strikes again―and a coup begins in earnest.
But other dangers lurk in the dark: forests that rearrange themselves at night, rivers with slumbering dragons hiding beneath the water, and shapeshifting beasts out for blood. As Lorelei and Sylvia grudgingly work together to uncover the truth―and resist their growing feelings for each other―they discover that their leader had secrets of her own. Secrets that make Lorelei question whether justice is worth pursuing, and if this kingdom is worth saving at all.
What book are you now enjoying? Share your favorite reads with me in the comments!
With love,
heavenlybookish 