Category: books

blog tour, books, Young Adult

The Prison Healer or How to World Build Well in a Single Setting

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on The Prison Healer or How to World Build Well in a Single Setting
The Prison Healer or How to World Build Well in a Single Setting

You might have seen my review a little while back on The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni, and it was safe to say that I adored it. It was such a great YA fantasy and turned out to be just what I needed when I read it. Once again, I’d like to thank the folks at Hodder and Stoughton for sending me a proof copy. As well as that, the second book will be out in October, and you are all gonna wanna preorder that just like I’ve done. So bear in mind that you will not have that long of a wait! With this book out today, I couldn’t resist being part of the social blast to celebrate its release.

Having already reviewed it, I’ve been wanting to dive into a particular aspect a little more. Whilst still remaining spoiler-free. Just in case any curious people decide to read this post before the book! If you’re debating reading this book – do it! I’m here to give you a few more reasons why.

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books, Reading

Chick-Lit Isn’t Dead – Why We Should Still Be Talking About It

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books5 Comments on Chick-Lit Isn’t Dead – Why We Should Still Be Talking About It
Chick-Lit Isn’t Dead – Why We Should Still Be Talking About It

Chick-lit is a genre that I read a lot and one that I’ve spoken about a lot. At university, I even did a project on it, which gave me an excuse to look more into it. Chick-lit isn’t a term that I see used by others as often anymore, and when it is, it’s often used negatively. Jokes about what the male version is, about how the term is ridiculous etc.

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Adult, ARC, books, Review

Book Review: The Man I Didn’t Marry by Anna Bell

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review: The Man I Didn’t Marry by Anna Bell
Book Review: The Man I Didn’t Marry by Anna Bell

I wanna start this review by saying that Anna Bell is one of my favourite chick-lit authors. I’ve adored her books since I read Don’t Tell The Groom a good few years ago now. And I look out for her new books with excitement.

This is a book that I preordered myself before getting a copy of the physical proof in a giveaway from HQ/Harpercollins. So thanks so much to those guys. I was extremely grateful. It’s definitely weird having two copies of a book though, ha!

In this book, we follow Ellie Voss, a very pregnant woman with a 1-year-old daughter, the perfect husband and a house in their home town near his parents. Life is great until the day that her husband, Max, loses his memory. The doctor’s don’t know why or how long the memory will be gone, and Ellie has to accept that maybe it won’t come back. Max has no memory of the last five years, and because of that, it’s like he’s a totally different person. He and Ellie have to get to know each other again, and she hopes, fall in love.

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book tag, books, middlegrade, Young Adult

Try A Chapter Tag

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Try A Chapter Tag
Try A Chapter Tag

This was a tag that I tried out back when I was on Booktube because it seemed like a fun way to talk about some books that I’ve not read. It went a little…messy, but I enjoyed it. It was something that I wanted to do again, but this time on my blog! Usually, people pick 5 books, and they read the first chapter.

I’ve pulled out four books that are all very different, that I’m not quite sure how I’m going to feel about them. They’re all books I want to read, obviously. But two came from book boxes, so I didn’t pick them myself, and the other two are books I’ve heard good things from other people about.

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Adult, books, tbr, Young Adult

Mini TBR – April 2021

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books8 Comments on Mini TBR – April 2021
Mini TBR – April 2021

Hello guys!

I know this post is a little later than usual. Things have been a little chaotic at my end. And my brain has been a little bit of a mess too. If I’m honest, I only just realised this post was going to be late. But that’s fine, it’s my blog, so I can do what I like. Plus, it’ll still be up at the beginning of the month, so, y’know.

This is probably going to be a little shorter than my mini TBR’s usually are because, well, my reading hasn’t been going great. Where I usually wind up starting on my mini TBR books before the month actually begins – oops – this month, I still have three books on my current TBR. So, for once I should be only reading these books during the month. And since they’re not exactly tiny books, I want to be able to actually get through them all.

I also won’t be listing any ARCs this month. I do have a few to read including a manga book. But since none of them are published in April. And focusing on ARCs so much has exhausted me a little. I’m taking a break for at least the first half of the month. I’m gonna focus on reading books I’ve bought for a bit, but I should hopefully be getting some reviews up for those too. I will have a Manga ARC review coming up sometime soon, but I don’t include manga on my TBR.

So without further ado: my mini TBR!

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Adult, ARC, blog tour, books

Blog Tour – Two Metres From You by Heidi Stephens

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Blog Tour – Two Metres From You by Heidi Stephens
Blog Tour – Two Metres From You by Heidi Stephens

I know a lot of people would rather avoid books that feature the pandemic. The world is still scary, and who knows when it’ll finally be over. But, it’s something that has affected us all and will affect the way we see things for many years to come. So it’s safe to see that when I stumbled across a chick-lit book set during the early days of lockdown? I was very curious.

I do have to say that some things happen in this book that probably shouldn’t actually happen during a real lockdown for safety reasons. But umm, the romance can be excused at least with support bubbles and stuff. Though, I’m not sure when exactly those came into place… They do consider themselves part of the same household though, as technically they do live on the same property. So, it gets a pass.

Anyway, this book follows Gemma, a freelance writer who has just discovered her boyfriend cheating on her. Her solution? Stay in a cottage owned by a friend in the countryside. It would only be a few days, and it would give her a much-needed break before she went back to London to find a new flat. And then the lockdown happens. Gemma is stuck in an unfamiliar house in a village with her dog. Her only other company? The man who lives in the shed at the end of the garden.

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book tag, books

Cute Mutants Book Tag

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Cute Mutants Book Tag

I’m here with another book tag! I know, that’s two fairly close together. But that’s because that one’s I actually want to do have been popping up. I saw about this one a while ago, and I asked to be tagged when it was done. That’s because this was based off a book I have adored. Yes, I said book. Because I still need to read the other two that are out in preparation for the fourth one. Thanks so much to El, Andee and Finn for creating this and tagging me. Check them all out too.

I might not be up to date, but I still can’t wait.

Just like the last book tag I did, I’m only going to write a little bit on each book and show you the covers. So if you’re interested in any of these books, please look into them as I promise they’re all good. As well as that I highly suggest you check out the Cute Mutants books, if you want to read my opinion on that my review is here.

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ARC, books, Review

Book Review: Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books1 Comment on Book Review: Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Book Review: Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

This is a book that’s been out for a good while now, I know. But it’s finally getting released in the UK on the 18th of May. And that allowed me to read this book through the publishers. Thanks so much to Bethany Carter from Faber & Faber for sending me this gorgeous proof. I actually loved it, and it really was a book I needed to read.

Felix Love has never been in love. He’s 17-years-old and focused on the summer art program at his school. He wants to fall in love, he wants to figure out what to do for his portfolio, and he wants to figure out why guy doesn’t always fit right. Sometimes he wonders if being black, trans and queer is too much and when someone at school reveals old pictures of him with his dead name… He starts to spiral.

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books

To DNF or Not To DNF

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books12 Comments on To DNF or Not To DNF

Putting down books or DNFing (DNF stands for Did Not Finish) is a contentious topic within the book community. Many people don’t like leaving books incomplete. Other people feel they have to reach a certain amount of pages before they can give up on a book.

Personally, I DNF a lot. If I don’t get into a book within the first few pages. Or at least see some promise. Then I will put it down.

I’m both proud of this, and I’m not. No one wants to give up on a book. Whether we’ve bought or borrowed, if we’ve picked up a book then we want to read it. We want to love it. Giving up on a book might mean we can move onto reading something that we’ll actually like. But it’s still disappointing. So by DNFing a lot I both free up space. And I also wind up getting a lot of books that I don’t actually like.

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book tag, books

Drag Race UK 2 Book Tag!

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books2 Comments on Drag Race UK 2 Book Tag!
Drag Race UK 2 Book Tag!

I’ve been looking for some book tags to do, so when Ross from The Royal Bookshelf asked if anyone wanted to do a Drag Race UK themed book tag on Twitter I asked to be tagged. My family watches Drag Race together and with the UK version we at least usually get the references on Snatch Game. It’s a lot of fun to watch so I’m happy to be associating books with these contestants!

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