Stepping into September with a bevy of BOTM reads

I hope you all had a nice Labor Day lengthy weekend with plenty to read. Luckily, my September box from Book of the Month Club arrived just in time and one of those titles is on my Currently Reading pile as we speak(more on that one in a moment).

First, however, I must admit that I had put my account on a two month pause (yep, the economy) but I had to break that hold early-it worked out, budget wise-because one of the Main Selections was a must have for me.

Rachel Harrison‘s Kiss Slay,Replay is subtitled “a Time Loop novel” but this is more Happy Death Day than Groundhog’s Day here!

Willa Sullivan is less than thrilled to begin with to be attending her friend’s wedding due to the fact that her most recent exe is invited as well; worse, he brought a plus-one with him. 

As it turns out, that’s actually not the worst because this particular wedding is being held at the site of a former summer camp and judging by the masked maniac who crashes the party, it’s easy to figure out why they got such a good deal on the location!

Willa, however, wakes up the next day and finds herself reliving the entire wedding over and over and over…you get the gruesome point.

Can she figure out a way to end this lethal love train of terror (and maybe find a new boyfriend to boot )or is her eternal destiny to be a blood soaked guest and never the blissful bride?

I do adore this concept and ever since I read Play Nice, have looked forward to more from Harrison and her marvelous mix of horror, humor and heartfelt drama:

I also picked up my second Centennial edition , the 1974 John Le Carre modern classic Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

This Cold War story introduces us to George Smiley, a former ringleader of spies who is brought out from retirement in order to capture a Russian mole. 

The list of suspects include many assumed friends and potential foes and perhaps a certain someone very close to his heart at one time. Will he be able to find this hidden threat or are his best hunting days over and done?

The last time I read a Le Carre book was decades ago(The Little Drummer Girl, due in part to the  1984 movie adaptation)but I do recall enjoying that one and

the state of affairs these days, exploring a good old school version of spy fare might be an intriguing diversion.

Plus, it’s a good excuse to check out the BBC miniseries adaptation from 1969, with the late great Alec Guinness as Smiley. The Centennial edition is nicely put together and before this 100 year anniversary of BOTM is up, I’m hoping to get at least one or two more, we shall see:

As for my current read among this BOTM batch, I went with an August selection in the romantasy category.

The Poison Daughter by Sheila Masterson is set between two points of civilization surrounded by a vast forest of vampiric attackers known as The Drained.

In the city of Lunamede, Harlow is the youngest daughter of a magical family that has ruthlessly dominated the social and political landscape for generations. As her personal form of protest, she uses her deadly set of inherited powers as the “Poison Vixen”, ridding the city of evil men.

Upon hearing that her parents are once again forcing her to enter a politically motivated marriage, Harlow goes out into the night, after what she believes may be her last target. Unfortunately he happens to be immune from her poisonous kiss.

Even more troubling, the man in question is her new intended husband, Henry, who is also marrying her for his family’s purposes and to spy upon his in-laws , not to mention learn more about the rebellion brewing in Lunamede against the magical ruling classes.

Being attracted to each other is also annoying but when faced with a mutual threat, the only choice for survival is perhaps to trust each other for the good of them all.

I’m over a hundred pages in(it’s a good chunky read) so far, this is a great fantasy drama. The vibes between Harlow and Henry are solidly sizzling with some good banter and the tang of intrigue hovering over the secrets and lies yet to be discovered is page turning tasty!

With the hectic nature of this week, spending some quality time with this tantalizing tome(plus a current library loan) is rather refreshing, in a charmingly twisted sort of way. Plus, hard to resist a lady with a poison kiss:

Well, we all know what the end of this week is and no matter how you honor the day, do try to take good emotional care of yourself and those around you.

As for me, I am looking forward to feeling the start of the fall season and longing for sweater weather to begin. When it comes to the four seasons, I am definitely an Autumn, the perfect time to catch up on my reading before the end of the year, if you ask me: