Tome Thursday: Captivated by Dominik

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome.

 

Welcome back to the world of Sziveria, the post-apocalyptic situation people find themselves in when they read Sarah Westill's novels.

 

If you've been following me on this blog for a bit, then you'll know I've pretty much devoured every single Gen-Heirs book that's come out from under her pen, or, keyboard I suppose.

 

Because despite the fact that I stumbled into the world completely by accident, thinking it was going to be more romance than adventure, I ended up falling head-over-heels, and literally scrambling to get copies of the books as they were releasing.

 

My next goal this year is to grab them all so I have them ready at a moment's notice and sitting pretty on my shelves! So, you know, challenge accepted haha.

 

But until then, I'll just be reading the e-book versions.

 

And the new series is now hard-launched into orbit, so here we go.

 

Welcome back to Sziveria, and to the Ralston clan, with Captivated by Dominik!

 

Talkie Tuesday: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

 

"Love is friendship." 

 

Hello everyone!

 

Yes, I'm still in my Bollywood era.

 

No, I don't particularly care if this bothers anyone.

 

I'm finding it hard to get back into any other movie because these ones are just so entertaining for the most part, and also visually stunning! To say nothing of the acting chops on these stars, DUH.

 

So I'm slowly working my way through the list I've accumulated on Netflix so that I can confidently say I've seen everything that needs seeing.

 

Which does of course mean I VERY often run into none others than Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, who seem to have been everywhere in an era of Hindi cinema that people look back on with fondness and nostalgia.

 

I mean, they even got a statue in the UK not too long ago! Talk about history.

 

Without further ado, let's hop right into tonight's installment, then, titled Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

 

Tome Thursday: Poison Petals

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to tonight's book of choice.

 

And oh MAN is it a GOOD one!

 

So a while back in 2025, I joined this cute little ARC team - for Ms Lea Rose.

 

This was after I read Where We Burn, which introduced me to Hot Daddy Cowboy Christian Crawford and convinced me that I need to switch religions so I can worship at that altar.

 

I'm only partially joking.

 

But I've had the honour and privilege to read several more of Ms Rose's books, and pretty much all of them have been absolute bangers, so I wasn't even all that worried going into this one.

 

Did I not quite feel 100% about the beginning part of this duet? Yes.

 

But the ending one? Oh it's absolute magic.

 

Let's stop talking about the trappings and go straight into Poison Petals.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Mardaani

 

"This is India!"

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back to another one of those moments where you probably look at the blog and go 'oh heck, she's doing it again'.

 

Because yes, yes I am!

 

I can never stay away from Bollywood for long.

 

I mean, I'm still not quite over the last movie I watched, but that's beside the point, as right now, tonight, I'm picking one of the newer ones.

 

And one of the ones with a female lead I absolutely ADORE.

 

Rani Mukerji is just -chef's kiss- I have to watch more of her work. She's amazing.

 

So without further ado, let's hop right into the drama of tonight's movie of choice.

 

Because that's what we're getting with Mardaani.

 

Tome Thursday: Ghost Overboard

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back to the blog.

 

For tonight's book of choice, we're picking a series that's been ongoing for a bit, but always seems to keep fresh no matter which one you choose to read!

 

I've been a fan of Dina Marie's work since I accidentally stumbled upon Going Ghost, and I've loved the rest of the books ever since.

 

I'm sure plenty of people out there will argue with me and say these books are short, bring nothing to the table, and are much too simple to be considered proper sleuthing ones.

 

I disagree!

 

It doesn't always have to be a crime so deep you need to bring out Holmes or Poirot.

 

Sometimes, all you need is logical thinking, a little bit of luck, and a ghostly companion while you're at it.

 

So let's check that out in Ghost Overboard.

 

Talkie Tuesday: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

 

"In the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave;

In the name of the Father, I charge you to be just;

In the name of the Mother, I charge you to defend the innocent."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome.

 

Welcome, welcome, back to the continent of Westeros, and the stories and (mis)adventures that happen to take place within it.

 

Now, I've by this point made my peace with the fact Martin will absolutely never finish his A Song of Ice and Fire series. That's cool, that's great, let's move along now.

 

And yes, season 8 was basically trash and we're not here to talk about it again.

 

House of the Dragon returns for its third season this summer, but IN THE MEANTIME, we get to talk about our very favourite hedge knight!

 

Buckle up, grab those spears, make sure your shields are strong and reinforced enough, and then find the nearest snorting charger, because we're about to enter a tournament, and boy, will you need all the luck you can get to survive it.

 

The first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, everybody!

 

Tome Thursday: The Blood Locket Mystery

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back to the blog.

 

I'm finally climbing out of the hole that is our Mardi Gras, which we celebrated just this week, and for which the bakery I work at produced ... insane amounts of sweet treats, let's put it that way.

 

So we're FINALLY now entering more normal stages again, and I don't feel like I'm drowning anymore.

 

Instead, I get to enjoy some really, really good books.

 

Among them is this one.

 

I actually read it much sooner than it's making the debut here on the blog, but I just couldn't get to it sooner.

 

Too many books, too little time.

 

Now, at last, here we are back in Byrd Nash's imaginary world where ghosts run around and ghost talkers try to lasso them back, and one apprentice finds herself on her own for a mysterious case.

 

That's what we get in The Blood Locket Mystery!