2022: My Year in Review

Image credit: Lindsey Arber Photography

2022 has absolutely flown by - how is it almost 2023 already? Honestly, I can't believe how quickly this year has gone. Surely it was 2021 only yesterday?

This year has definitely been a busy one for me, with lots of planning and prep, a big life event, and of course, plenty of fun and games along the way too. 

But what were my highlights of 2022? Read on to find out!

Book Review: The Invisible Circus by Lindsey Bakken

AD* | The world as you know it, but with a dash of the fantastical.

When Michelle (Mikey) leaves home to work a circus job for the summer, she dreams only of shaking the depression that haunts her. But she gets more than she bargained for after a freak accident leaves her with the power to turn invisible.

Desperate to carve a future for herself as a performer, eighteen-year-old Mikey must learn to control her dark emotions and mysterious gift. But not everyone is glad to have a new performer, and Mikey must balance being “other” in a world dominated by flashy promises and hidden secrets.

Between a suspicious death no one talks about, guys vying for her attention, and her boss’s hidden agenda, Mikey has her work cut out for her.

As her life and power spiral out of control, she’ll have to choose carefully who to give her loyalty - and love - to.

Book Review: The Christmas Holiday by Phillipa Ashley

AD* | She’s planned the perfect Christmas. But fate might have other ideas...

Krystle didn’t have a normal childhood and longed for warm family Christmases with presents under the tree. Now she makes sure everyone else has the perfect Christmas she never had, bringing beautiful decorations to cheer as many people as possible.

With her festive business booming, she decides to celebrate by renting a secluded house in the Lakes, with a plan to make this the ultimate yuletide getaway.

But fate immediately throws a spanner in the works in the form of a broken-down car, a flooded river and Max; a man who despises Christmas.

Krystle becomes determined to show Max the joys of the holiday. She won’t take no for an answer.

Can she melt Max’s Grinch-like heart? And can he show her that life doesn’t need to go to plan to take you somewhere magical...

Book Review: The London Girls by Soraya M. Lane

AD* | London, 1941. The Blitz. When a Royal Navy memo arrives at head office, requesting female recruits to sign up as motorcycle dispatch riders, delivering highly classified orders across the country, three women jump at the chance to sign up for the most dangerous jobs in London.

Olivia grew up riding motorcycles with her brothers, and with them fighting abroad she feels it is her duty to join up. The thrill of adventure draws Ava, but with more enthusiasm than skill, will she learn to navigate the treacherous London streets safely? Having lost her family during one of the first air attacks, Florence knows how important it is to have help arrive on the scene - fast - and so she steps up, out-manoeuvring the men behind the wheel of an ambulance. When Olivia, Ava and Florence meet for the first time they know they have found something all of them need - family.

As bombs fall, decimating the city they love, these three brave women build a sisterhood amid the rumble, facing down anyone - even their own families - who object to their service. And while romances bloom and fade, their connection grows ever stronger. But none of them dares consider the terrifying reality that one night Florence’s ambulance may be rescuing someone she loves...

Book Review: The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix

AD* | Monster. Butcher. Bloodwinn.

Ranka is tired of death. All she wants now is to be left alone, living out her days in Witchik’s wild north with the coven that raised her, attempting to forget the horrors of her past. But when she is named Bloodwinn, the next treaty bride to the human kingdom of Isodal, her coven sends her south with a single directive: kill him. Easy enough, for a blood-witch whose magic compels her to kill.

Except the prince is gentle, kind, and terrified of her. He doesn’t want to marry Ranka; he doesn’t want to be king at all. And it’s his sister - the wickedly smart, infuriatingly beautiful Princess Aramis - who seems to be the real threat.

But when witches start turning up dead, murdered by a mysterious, magical plague, Aramis makes Ranka an offer: help her develop a cure, and in return, she’ll help Ranka learn to contain her deadly magic. As the coup draws nearer and the plague spreads, Ranka is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her power, her past, and who she’s meant to fight for. Soon, she will have to decide between the coven that raised her and the princess who sees beyond the monster they shaped her to be.

But as the bodies pile up, a monster may be exactly what they need.