Review: With a Little Luck (Fortuna Beach #2) by Marissa Meyer

Title: With a Little Luck

Series: Fortuna Beach #2

Previous book in this series: Instant Karma

Author: Marissa Meyer

Illustrator: Chuck Gonzales

Genre: YA, contemporary romance

Publication date: February 13th 2024

Published by: Feiwel & Friends

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: After being magically gifted with incredible luck, a boy discovers this gift just may be a curse when it comes to love, in this YA novel by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer.

Jude is determined to fly under the radar. He just wants to draw his comics, host regular D&D night with his friends, work at his parents’ vinyl record store, and escape high school as unscathed as possible. That is, until the night he comes across a mysterious twenty-sided dice and finds himself inexplicably gifted with a bout of supernatural good luck.

Suddenly, everything Jude has ever wanted is within reach. His first art submission is accepted to his favorite fanzine. He helps his friend’s song become a finalist in a songwriting competition. And he’s the 100th caller to a local radio contest, winning him a pair of coveted concert tickets, which he uses to ask out the popular girl he’s been crushing on since elementary school. For a few blissful weeks, he feels invincible.

But when he loses the magic dice at a local music festival, his luck takes a turn for the worse. He struggles to reclaim his good fortune while fighting off long-buried feelings for his best friend―who is definitely not the girl he’s supposed to be in love with. Can Jude risk stepping into the spotlight long enough to win the true girl of his dreams? Or is he doomed to be unlucky in love forever?

My rating: ★★★★★

"These lucky coincidences seem to be happening to you a lot lately," Pru mutters. She studies me a long moment, then gets an odd, faraway look in her eye. She turns away, sighing, "Enjoy it while it lasts.”

Pru knowwws! 😂 After all she went through and Instant Karma, Pru gets it. Lol. I loved Instant Karma, so I was really looking forward to reading this book, and it was as good as I was expecting!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #364: A Little Bit of Everything

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #397: Finding Rare Books

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: Krimson Run (Krimson Empire #1) by Julia Huni

Title: Krimson Run

Series: Krimson Empire #1

Prequel novella: The Trophany

Author: Julia Huni

Genre: Adult, sci-fi, adventure

Publication date: October 2023 (originally published March 2020)

Published by: IPH Media

Source: Backed on Kickstarter

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Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: The Federation made three mistakes:

Leaving Quinn to die
Framing Quinn for treason
Taking Quinn's kids

She could get over the first two.

With her friend Tony, a man of surprising connections and mysterious family, Quinn rescues herself and the other "inconvenient" spouses left to die on the abandoned asteroid outpost. When Quinn launches her campaign to retrieve her kids, the Federation will realize taking children from their mother is the biggest mistake of all. Because Quinn will do whatever it takes to get them back—even start a revolution.

My rating: ★★★★☆

It’s been three weeks since the event of The Trophany (the prequel novella) went down, and now Quinn has been convicted of aiding and abetting a Krimson Spy and is currently waiting in jail to be executed.

Review: Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura

Title: Raiders of the Lost Heart

Author: Jo Segura

Genre: Adult, contemporary romance

Publication date: December 2023

Published by: Berkley

Source: Borrwed from library (thank god!)

Add it on Goodreads (I don't actually recommend you do though 👀)

Buy it (but don't actually 🙃): Amazon | B&N | Book Outlet | Thrift Books

Synopsis: Rival archaeologists must team up on a secret Aztec expedition, or it could leave their careers—and hearts—in ruins.

Archaeologist Dr. Socorro “Corrie” Mejía has a bone to pick. Literally.

It’s been Corrie’s life goal to lead an expedition deep into the Mexican jungle in search of the long-lost remains of her ancestor, Chimalli, an ancient warrior of the Aztec empire. But when she is invited to join an all-expenses-paid dig to do just that, Corrie is sure it’s too good to be true...and she’s right.

As the world-renowned expert on Chimalli, by rights Corrie should be leading the expedition, not sharing the glory with her disgustingly handsome nemesis. But Dr. Ford Matthews has been finding new ways to best her since they were in grad school. Ford certainly isn’t thrilled either—with his life in shambles, the last thing he needs is a reminder of their rocky past.

But as the dig begins, it becomes clear they’ll need to work together when they realize a thief is lurking around their campsite, forcing the pair to keep their discoveries—and lingering attraction—under wraps. With money-hungry artifact smugglers, the Mexican authorities, and the lies between them closing in, there’s only one way this all ends—explosively.

My rating: ★★☆☆☆

Whoever keeps comparing this book to the movie The Mummy, please stop slandering that beloved movie in that way because this was nothing like that! 😭