2025 Book Round Up

This year hasn't been my worst year in terms of numbers. That award goes to 2023 with 55 books. This year I had 60 books read (or listened to) including five re-reads on my birthday. Unfortunately, I have 54 reviews to write (some from 2024 *cringe*), so you'll see nearly all without links for now. Eeek! 

2025 has been another year to remember. Mostly in a good way. My brothers and I sold the family farm (very sad) and I used my inheritance to pay for my divorce and do some major renovations to my house. From February until November we've had work going on and while it's been very stressful, it has turned out gorgeous. I absolutely love what's been done! And hopefully, 2026 means I will have more time to read. AND write reviews. 

Anyway, 60. Not as bad a year as I thought I would have only because I listened to audiobooks from Chirp when driving my son to and from work. About 45 minutes a day (M-F and some Saturdays) when I'm alone in the car. Then Anna started working at the same place in October and my audiobook listening went down to nothing. Except when he had to go in early and she didn't.

33 audiobooks

7 tour books (BBNYA & The Write Reads)

It's been a pretty good year in terms of quality, 

with 42 of the 60 rated 4 bites or above.

5 bites ~ 14

4 bites and a nibble ~ 17

4 bites ~ 11

2025 The Write Reads Book Tour Round Up

 9 tour reviews this year though I haven't finished 5 of them yet.

It's been a hard year.

I also did 16 spotlights which I included after the review list. There are several spotlight tours that I wanted to read the books, but just didn't have the time and/or energy. 

2024 BBNYA Book Tour Round Up

 

These books were the 2024 Winner and Finalists that had 

BBNYA Blog Tours this year. Many genres represented!

Friday Featured Spotlight ~ The Write Reads Blog Tour: People's Choice by Litty Williams

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

Friday Featured Spotlight ~ The Write Reads Blog Tour: This Is Me Trying by Jenna Adams

 

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

BBNYA2024 Blog Tour Spotlight ~ 5th Place Finalist ~ Madame Eldridge's Wayward Home for Unruly Boys by Benjamin Ryan

Deep in the heart of Virginia’s dense backwoods, the Wayward Home for Unruly Boys hides more than just troubled youth. Under Madame Eldridge’s watchful eye, three strict rules govern their behavior

1. What happens here stays here.

2. You must complete all eight steps—no exceptions allowed.

3. Forget your name; you’ll be known only by your problem.

But, there’s one unspoken rule that sends shivers down the boys' never enter the forbidden third-floor bedroom of the boy who vanished, leaving nothing behind but whispers.

When Vandalize and Stealer defy this warning, they uncover a treasure trove of bewitched artifacts, each with a strange and powerful ability. Using these relics, the boys tackle Madame Eldridge’s whimsical—and often bizarre—challenges, only to learn magic always demands its price.

Amidst the chaos, Fibbsy stumbles upon a peculiar object that sends him hurtling back in time, revealing an unfathomable truth about Madame Eldridge, the eerie town, and the missing boy’s fate. But who will trust the words of a liar?

Bound by the house’s darkest mysteries, Fibbsy, Defiance, Slob, and Secret form an unlikely friendship as they race to unveil the shrouded secrets surrounding the Wayward Home. Together, they confront their deepest fears, uncovering that the real magic lies in facing their own personal demons—and each other.

Friday Featured Spotlight ~ BBNYA2024 Blog Tours: Finalists 6 & 5

 

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA

The Write Reads Blog Tour Spotlight ~ People's Choice by Litty Williams

In near-future NewBrit, where only Winners succeed, Maz Tallis is a Loser. All she wants is the expensive medicine that could save her half-brother, Kyle.

As her final term at Albion House Academy begins, Maz enters the Manticore Challenge, a competition offering the winner 1,000 Life Chances—credits that can be exchanged for life-saving treatments. For Maz, this could be her only shot at getting the medication Kyle so desperately needs.

To improve her chances of winning, Maz comes up with a bold plan. But when Felix, a charismatic Winner, steals her idea, they become fierce rivals. To make matters worse, Kyle gets a superbug, making the need for treatment even more urgent.

As Maz uncovers a disturbing secret at the heart of the competition, she faces an agonising save her brother or expose the threat. Battling self-doubt and a corrupt system, Maz must decide if she will risk everything to reveal the truth. And will she find a way to save the people she loves without losing herself?

The Write Reads Blog Tour Spotlight ~ This Is Me Trying by Jenna Adams

A contemporary YA romance novel exploring sexual consent, mental health, and co-dependency. 

When 14-year-old Brooke and 17-year-old Matt are cast as romantic leads in their drama group's performance of Romeo and Juliet, they didn't mean to actually fall in love. Brooke considers secrets and lies a small price to pay for a relationship with an older guy, until she discovers that Matt's role in taking their relationship to the next level one night was illegal. When her anxiety reaches breaking point, she makes a decision that changes her life forever.

Years later and now adults, Matt is reunited with Brooke, desperately seeking redemption. Can they both find the strength to forgive one other, or is it too late?

Told in three acts this captivating debut reveals a young woman’s journey for independence as she strays away from everything she has ever known to navigate her traumatic past.

Friday Featured Spotlight ~ The Write Reads Blog Tour: The Demon Series by Valerie Storm

 

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

The Write Reads Blog Tour Spotlight ~ The Demon Series by Valerie Storm

The Demon Storm series follows Kari Kasente, the wolf demon destined to destroy the world. While battling an innately crueler self, a Shadow Witch intent on controlling her, and a series of other enemies, Kari must learn to trust herself and those around her. Only then can she find her light and save the world.

The final book in the series, Fate of the Storm was released on May 13, 2025.

Friday Featured Spotlight ~ BBNYA2024 Blog Tours: Finalists 12 & 11

 

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA

Friday Featured Spotlight ~ TWR Ultimate Blog Tour: The Notorious Virtues by Alwyn Hamilton

 

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

BBNYA2024 Blog Tour ~ 12th Place Finalist ~ Undine's Blessing by Tessa Hastjarjanto

A dutiful daughter, a mystical archipelago, and a hidden power waiting to command the tides...

Marella spends her days caring for her sick mother and selling her father's fish. Bound by duty and love, she dreams little of adventure. But when her mother must travel to the city for treatment, her father takes her out to sea, despite her fear of water.

A storm steers them to Emberrain, home to a tribe of magical nymphs and a place of secrets, where Marella discovers a startling truth: her father is a frequent visitor to these mysterious islands. Soon she learns that Emberrain isn't the only secret he had kept from her.

Marella has the power to control water and communicate with aquatic animals.

Overwhelmed by the magical but dangerous islands, and the secrets of her father, Marella must learn to harness her powers to save herself and her new aquatic friend before they are separated from their parents forever.

Undine's Blessing is a journey of wonder, where fears are faced and mysteries unravel, and a young girl learns that true adventure begins when you dare to embrace who you truly are.

TWR Ultimate Blog Tour: The Notorious Virtues by Alwyn Hamilton

A glamorous media darling, a surprise heiress, and the magical competition of a lifetime.

At sixteen, Honora “Nora” Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in all of Walstad. Her family controls all the money–and all the magic–in the entire country. But despite being the center of attention, Nora has always felt like an outsider. When her mother is found dead in an alley, the family throne and fortune are suddenly up for grabs, and Nora will be pitted against her cousins in the Veritaz, the ultimate magical competition for power that determines the one family heir.

But there’s a surprise contestant this time: Lotte, the illegitimate daughter of Nora’s aunt. When Lotte’s absent mother retrieves her from the rural convent she’d abandoned her to, Lotte goes from being an orphan to surrounded by family. Unfortunately, most of them want her dead.

And soon, Nora discovers that her mother’s death wasn’t random–it was murder. And the only person she can trust to uncover the truth of what happened is a rakish young reporter who despises everything Nora and her family stand for.

With everyone against her, Lotte’s last hope is hunting for the identity of her father. But the dangerous competition–and her feelings for Theo, one of the Holtzfalls’ sworn protectors–turns her world upside down.

Incredible tests, impossible choices and deadly odds await both girls. But there can only be one winner.

Friday Featured Spotlight ~ BBNYA2024 Blog Tours: Finalists 14 & 13

 

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA

Saturday Spotlight ~ TWR Ultimate Blog Tour: While We're Young

 

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

Friday Featured Spotlight ~ TWR Blog Tour: Buddy the Knight and the Queen of Sorrow

 

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

Other Buy Links

TWR Ultimate Blog Tour Spotlight ~ While We're Young by K.L. Walther

A whirlwind romance inspired by Ferris Bueller’s Day Off about four friends whose hearts are broken and mended over the course of an epic senior skip day—from the bestselling author of The Summer of Broken Rules!

Grace, Isa, and Everett used to be an inseparable trio before their love lives became a tangled mess. For starters, Grace is secretly in love with Everett, who used to go out with Isa before breaking her heart in the infamous Freshman Year Fracture. And, oh yeah, no one knows that Isa has been hanging out with James, Grace’s brother—and if Grace finds out, it could ruin their friendship.

With graduation fast approaching, Grace decides an unsanctioned senior skip day in Philadelphia might be just what they need to fix things. All she has to do is convince Isa to help her kidnap Everett and outmaneuver James, who’s certain his sister is up to something.
In an epic day that includes racing up the famous Rocky steps, taste-testing Philly's finest cheesesteaks, and even crashing a wedding, their secrets are bound to collide. But can their hearts withstand the wreckage?

BBNYA2024 Blog Tour ~ 14th Place Finalist ~ My Heart is Hurting by S.E. Reed

Jinny Buffett is lonely…

She’s never had the comfort of a white picket fence with a loving family. Her subsidized apartment in Hollywood Florida echoes with the void of her dead Daddy, and the nights drag long into twilight while her Mama works the block outside the Margaritaville resort.

It’s idealistic Ms. Fleming, who’s brave enough to come knocking first. She wants to see Jinny rise up and use her ace scores to escape the wheel of poverty, convincing Jinny to start a school book club, where she finds the friends and boyfriend she never knew she needed.

But when her Mama spirals out of control and threatens her entire existence, it’s Jinny’s Everglade ancestors who arrive in a mist of magic, bringing the swamp and hope with them.