The Saucy Wenches Book Club

NOLA was a city that preferred the dark. Shadows softened the rough edges, and moonlight made her sing.   The Hunt ~~Chloe Neill

"It's a big city. You never know where you're going to wake up." I snorted. "That sounds like a personal problem." Gavin grinned. "Personal, but never a problem..." The Hunt by Chloe Neill

Click through to see what we're reading this week! 

“The past can teach us, nurture us, but it cannot sustain us. The essence of life is change, and we must move ever forward or the soul will wither and die.”

It's blog tour time again, Saucy Readers!! The third installment in Chloe Neill's fantastic Devil's Isle series hit shelves an e-readers today, and we've got a fabulous giveaway to celebrate. (Thanks CN!) Be sure to check out our review of The Hunt, posted yesterday here , then come along to enter our giveaway, and pop over to CN's page to enter her grand prize giveaway! From the  New York Times  bestselling author of the Chicagoland Vampires Novels—the hunter becomes the hunted in a New Orleans devastated by a Paranormal war…. When bounty hunter Liam Quinn discovered that Claire Connolly was a Sensitive and infected with magic, he should have turned her in to be locked up in the prison district known as Devil’s Isle. Instead, he helped her learn to control her power and introduced her to an underground group of Paranormals and humans who know the truth about the war and those who fought it. Now the weight of Liam’s own secrets has forced him into hiding. When...

He'd wanted to reach out, I realized. Wanted to touch me, but was working to hold himself back. We were holding ourselves back from each other, still looking for that place of comfort and trust. But I didn't think we'd find it tonight. Not out here in the darkness. The Hunt ~~Chloe Neill

It's time once again, Saucy Readers, for the next fabulous book by one of our very favorite people in the world, Chloe Neill. This is the third installment in her Devil's Isle series which we have adored and told you about here and here . Anne and I had a slightly different reaction to reading the book, although we ended up at the same place in the end.  Come through the jump and see what we thought of The Hunt , spoiler free of course!

"Everywhere I stopped strangers talked to me, and many of them told me a story. Their voices poured into the void, filling the silence that you had left.” “Who knows if the tales people told me are true or false? I suspect that some of them are complete fabrications, others are exaggerations - but perhaps some of them are real. You can decide." Cartes Postales from Greece, Victoria Hislop 

"There is a set of religious, or rather moral writers, who teach that virtue is a certain road to happiness, and vice to misery, in this world. A very wholesome and comfortable doctrine, and to which we have but one objection, namely, that it is not true." ~ Henry Fielding "The History of Tome Jones a Foundling"

Click through to see what we're reading this week!! 

My favorite postcards are from the 2030s and 2040s, the last decades before the planet turned on the country and the country turned on itself. They featured pictures of the great ocean beaches before rising waters took them; images of the Southwest before it turned to embers; photographs of the Midwestern plains, endless and empty under bluest sky, before the Inland Exodus filled them with the coastal displaced. A visual reminder of America as it existed in the first half of the twenty-first century: soaring, roaring, oblivious. ~ American War , Omar El Akkad

"The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution." Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone ~~J.K. Rowling

This isn’t a story about war. It’s about ruin. American War speculates about a second U.S. Civil War, set a few decades into the future. 2074–2095 to be exact. It isn’t so much about why they fought a war, though that was interesting. It is about what happens when people give in to war as the solution. Once they blindly embrace the nationalist flag waving, the deep conviction that their side supports a cause noble enough to justify mass murder. Once they become so damaged, the only things that matter are exacting revenge and never, ever surrendering. How endless cycles of violence begin. How terrorists are born. I was excited to find this book. I thought it might allow me to vent feelings of frustration at the current political quagmire in the U.S., but it did not. American War scared the crap out of me. And it made the destruction of a country and a culture very personal; it inflicted the ongoing devastation on people I cared about. It’s not a “war book”, it’s a...

All human lives are so profoundly and intricately entwined—those dead, those living, those generations yet to come—that the fate of all is the fate of each, and the hope of humanity rests in every heart and in every pair of hands. Therefore, after every failure, we are obliged to strive again for success, and when faced with the end of one thing, we must build something new and better in the ashes, just as from pain and grief, we must weave hope, for each of us is a thread critical to the strength—to the very survival of the human tapestry. Every hour in every life contains such often-unrecognized potential to affect the world that the great days and thrilling possibilities are combined always in this momentous day. From the Corner of His Eye ~~Dean Koontz 

" Tête dure ." "I'm not hardheaded." "And that's exactly what a hardheaded person would say." I didn't have an argument for that. The Veil by Chloe Neill

Some lighter fare, a few old favorites, and a bit of indecision make up our reading list this week. Click through to see what were reading, and share what you're reading on any of our social media platforms. Seriously, Saucy Readers, we need suggestions! 

“As individuals they were each of them fallible, discordant as notes without harmony. But as a band they were something more, something perfect in its own intangible way”

"You hit me again and I'll--"  "What? Bleed more?" Halfway to the Grave ~~Jeaniene Frost

Into the Fire , the last of the Night Prince books by Jeaniene Frost, was released on February 28th of this year. This book has been a long time coming and I'm really glad it's finally here. I have always loved Vlad and I really enjoy Leila and all of the other new characters introduced in this series. But, I think that it is definitely time for this series to come to an end. This book has been out for awhile, so I'm not going to hold back on the spoilers. So, be warned, spoilers abound ! Keep reading after the jump to read my thoughts on Vlad's last book.

“It seemed any young woman at odds with her place in life—be she a genteel lady or a serving girl—might find a happier home within the pages of a book.”    Tessa Dare's  Any Duchess Will Do

We aren't very vocal about it on here, but the Wenches (though not all of us are American) are firmly on team #resist. We are appalled by the job #45 has done so far and are doing our part to spread unity and love, not his intolerance, racism, xenophobia, and his general idiocy. We aren't looking to alienate our readers, but we can not stay silent on this issue. This is something we all feel strongly about. We can not let this country go backwards rather than forwards. So, today for our Fangirl Friday, we are listing the books we feel embody the #resist movement. Keep reading after the break to see what we are featuring!

The only time I would dare to walk through a puddle was at twilight, when the evening stars came out. If I looked in the water and saw one lighted pinprick there, I could splash through unafraid—for if I should fall into the puddle and on into space, I could grab hold of the star as I passed, and be safe. Voyager , Diana Gabaldon

We are delighted to have been selected for a blog tour stop for the release of the next October Daye novel, The Brightest Fell . This is one of my must read series every year. The anticipation to find out what happens next with October Daye is always a highlight of my reading calendar. How lucky was I to received an ARC for this book. Very.  Check out our review for The Brightest Fell and the opportunity to win the first book in the series Rosemary and Rue! Click through to read more!

It seems to be a week of experimentation and waiting for the Wenches. A few of us have been trying new books, and some of us are waiting for new releases or new seasons of our favorite TV shows to come back on air! Hiatus time sucks! Reading helps make the wait a tiny bit better, doesn't it? Romance, Mystery, Urban Fantasy, we've been reading it all! Let us know what you've been up to in the comments below! Click through to see what we've been reading! 

“In all circumstances, no matter how difficult, a gentle lady’s role is simply to be present and calm—to visibly display unswerving fortitude, no matter our inward feelings—so as to hearten and encourage those around us. And you are entirely capable of that.” Arabella took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I will endeavor to keep your advice in mind. But it will be difficult.” “Of course it will. If it were easy, any commoner could do it.” ~ David Levine, Arabella and the Battle of Venus

Although many individual caregivers and teachers intuitively grasp the need to form a connection with children, it is not rare for such persons to find themselves at odds with a system that does not support their approach. Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers - by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate

Olympus Bound by Jordanna Max Brodsky I've been looking for an interesting new UF series and have been surfing the net for a very long time. I'll give every book a chance and that's what I did with this series, Olympus Bound . I was attracted to the synopsis of the first book, Immortals , on Goodreads and liked it. You see, I'm a History professor and I really liked the whole Greek pantheon theme of these books. I was also intrigued by this series because their writer is a History professor, too. So, the series has two books so far, Immortals and Winter ofthe Gods . The third is scheduled for February 3rd, 2018 (according to Goodreads). I'll only talk about the first book here and rate the second in a few short lines. The reason is simple, the first book sets the stage, and I don't want this post to be the size of War and Peace (LOL). With the arrival of Christianity, the Greek Gods were abandoned by the human race. They stopped being worshipped and...

Today is all about a particular kind of romance genre that I enjoy from time to time: Sexy Happily Ever Afters . Call it romance, adult fiction, new adult, erotica... it all boils down to the same storyline. A sweet young woman who is suffering from a recent tragedy, misfortune, betrayal, or heartbreak meets an alpha male who is rich (a millionaire, at least), heart-stoppingly gorgeous, and sexy. You know the stereotype: finest specimen of manhood, sex on a stick, yadda yadda. Usually he looks cold and aloof, but underneath he has a generous, caring personality. He doesn’t want a serious, committed relationship and vows never to love or love again, because he is hiding a painful past or experience. He might be seen in restaurants, balls, and galas with glamorous women hanging on his arm, but it’s never real. He knows these women are after his money and fame, nothing more, so he devises a way to protect himself and his fortune from the greedy clutches of womankind by offeri...