The Saucy Wenches Book Club

Henry IV, Part 2 by William Shakespeare  

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“But if monsters could look like humans, and humans could look like monsters, how could anyone ever really be sure that the right people stood on the outside of all those cages?”

"The memory was always there, that’s how you found it. I merely kicked it beneath a rock. You put the entire force of your will behind my kicking it. You helped me hide it. I relieved you of what you considered a despicable stain in your mind. Best fucking night of my existence.” He laughs and shakes his head. “And you couldn’t get rid of it fast enough. I didn’t want to hide the memory from you. I wanted to cram it down your goddamn throat. I wanted to force you to face it, to want it, to want me, to be willing to fight for what was possible between us with the same single-minded devotion as you fucked. Well, Ms. Lane, you’ve got your precious memory back. Will you throw me away now?” Burned ~~Karen Marie Moning

  Some had been smart and some had been funny, and others still had given him big eyes while being both. And he loved women. He loved the filthy temptresses and the newly, earnestly horny, and the women who fucked for money. Rachel wasn't special because they were less...    She was special because they were all fucking amazing, and she still felt like more.   There was no one trait, no logical reason. Nothing he could point to and say,  This, this makes her better than those other women . No defining moment where his honest lust for everything she represented had slipped over the line into this gnawing, obsessive hunger he couldn't escape.   She was a work of art. Jared saw the paint and the canvas and a few pleasant shapes. Ace felt the earth move.    BEYOND JEALOUSY (BEYOND #4) by Kit Rocha.  

The other day I happened to be going through my old Kindle, deleting stuff and checking out books I had bought because I am a sucker for sexy covers. I had bought SO many books purely based on hot people on the cover it was kind of funny. I came across a bundle I had bought a while ago, the first three Beyond books and thought "well, why not?"  I had attempted reading the first book last year, but my mood was way off, and I just never got into it. Timing matters. This time around, I made my way through the first 4 books in less than a week, even though I was barely home! So what better thing to Fangirl over this week than the wonderfully gritty, uncompromisingly sexy, intense, sometimes dark, always intriguing Beyond series! (I will keep spoilers to the minimum! But there will be quotes from the books.) Click through to read more!

Dance after dance after dance, until sweat was running down my back as I worked to keep up, keep that smile on my face, to remember to laugh when my hands were within strangling distance of his throat. A Court of Wings and Ruin , Sarah J. Maas

“Don’t worry, honey,” he said, his lips mere inches from mine. “We’re on the same page.” “But how  do you know?” I asked. “What if we’re not even reading the same fucking book?” “Because I know.” His mouth quirked up at the corners as a confident smile took over his lips. “We’re on the same word, in the same paragraph, on the same page, in the same fantastic fucking book.” “But how do you know?” “Because it’s our book, Cassie. Yours and mine. This is our story, and I’ll be damned if I let it end badly.” - Max Monroe, Banking the Billionaire

We actually got a lot of reading done this week! Some of us have been rereading old faves, but we've also discovered some brand new books and series that have been keeping us occupied! We love authors so much, what would we do without them? It has been an exciting week for us because we just became Wench Aunties again!! We're sending super happy thoughts to Wench Anne and our new Wench Baby.  Click through to see what we've been reading

“You do not fear,” Rhys breathed. “You do not falter. You do not yield. You go in, you get her, and you come out again.” I nodded again, holding his stare. “Remember that you are a wolf. And you cannot be caged.” ~ A Court of Wings and Ruin , Sarah J. Maas

We were both quiet in the aftermath, at a loss because it was at once beautiful and scary--beautiful because when we were together, we were whole and complete, and scary because we knew there was no turning back. We were too fat gone to take any of it back. The Paper Swan ~~Leylah Attar

I’m looking forward to a busy and exciting year of reading in 2018. First, I’m intrigued by some of the Wench Books of the Month scheduled throughout the year. I’m halfway through the first one as I write this — The Woman in the Window — and riveted by the mystery and suspense. I am a complete sucker for a good thriller with an unreliable narrator! There’s also an assortment of books awaiting my attention on my e-reader, and I’d like to tell you about the ones I’m most interested in right now. The list is still heavy with my last-year’s favorite dystopian, post-apocalyptic themes and complex fantasy worlds. But there’s room for the occasional thriller or literary work completely unrelated to my usual fare, and some rereads of old favorites, and I’m delighted that PNR/UF is making a bit of a comeback for me! As excited as I am about this list, I should mention that I can’t promise I’ll stick strictly to it. Because I can be a bit fickle, easily distracted, and shamelessly susce...

I knew the child. I know the woman. She'll never be satisfied with a single lover. ~She~ craves experience, challenge, change, tempering, growth. She needs to taste it all. I understand that. One day she'll choose a mate. She'll hunger to be a wolf running with a wolf of her own at her side, equals in everything, and when that time comes, she'll need to know she's chosen the absolute best. I am that man. But she has no basis for comparison. She'll give her virginity to <spoiler>. Soon. She's on fire. She wears my brand. I'll feel far too much of it. This time and every time. Immortal though I am--if I survive the next week--the coming years might seem my most eternal yet. I will never be her first. But one day I'll be her last. Feversong ~~Karen Marie Moning

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“We left a debt in blood,’ she said, baring her teeth. ‘Malazan blood. And it seems they will not let that stand.’ They are here. On this shore. The Malazans are on our shore.”

Because when we love, we carry it on the inside, and we can turn on its light even in our darkest moments. The deeper we love, the brighter it shines. The Paper Swan ~~Leylah Attar

Six was swaying too, crushed between Noelle and one of the newer girls -- Ace's apprentice, Emma. It made a hell of a picture, Noelle sweet and soft and Six with her stark, hard edges and Emma a mixture of pretty and punk, covered in ink.     They looked like they came from different worlds, but they laughed like they were family. And when Six twisted around to meet his eyes, the slow smile that curved her lips was drunk on a feeling he recognized all too well.     Belonging.  Kit Rocha's Beyond Pain (Beyond #3) 

www.pixabay.com So, how did my must-read list for 2017 pan out? I had 11 books planned that I wanted to read this year and I managed to strike 7 off my list. Not, a bad year all up when you think it's easy to get distracted by other books that catch your eye. So let's look through each book and see why I finally managed to get them read or not read as the case may be. Angela's Must Read List 2017

“Is it...dead?" asked Tom, his voice all quivery with fright. "A town just ran over him," said Hester. "I shouldn't think he's very well...”   Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles), Philip Reeve

Damian grabbed my hands and pinned them behind my back. His lips found mine and he latched on with a hunger that left me breathless. He was an ocean of want and need. All the raging, submerged currents that he'd kept at bay unleashed themselves on me. I tried to keep afloat, clutching at him, but I didn't stand a chance. My hurt, my anger, my tears were tossed aside by something deeper, something vast and true and powerful and endless. It was a kiss that had sneaked in through an open window, a kiss that lay folded in a paper giraffe, in the silences between, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, in the pits of mini mangoes and here, now, at last, it was set free. And the rightness of it, the feeling of longing and belonging, made me want to hold on to it forever. I wanted Damian to keep kissing me, keep kissing, keep kissing, until every other kiss had been erased, until this was the only kiss.  The Paper Swan ~~Leylah Attar

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“I painted stars and the moon and clouds and just endless, dark sky.” I finished the sixth, and was well on my way sawing through the seventh before I said, “I never knew why. I rarely went outside at night—usually, I was so tired from hunting that I just wanted to sleep. But I wonder … ” I pulled out the seventh and final arrow. “I wonder if some part of me knew what was waiting for me. That I would never be a gentle grower of things, or someone who burned like fire—but that I would be quiet and enduring and as faceted as the night. That I would have beauty, for those who knew where to look, and if people didn’t bother to look, but to only fear it … Then I didn’t particularly care for them, anyway. I wonder if, even in my despair and hopelessness, I was never truly alone. I wonder if I was looking for this place—looking for you all.” ― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury

If you close your eyes and think about someone you love, what comes back is not a precise list of hair color, eye color, or the things that go on their driver's license. Rather, it's the bits and pieces that seep through your consciousness, the things about them that you never realized you were storing away. The Paper Swan ~~Leylah Attar

I love mystery/thrillers. Books, movies, TV shows, I love them all. So, for this Fangirl Friday I'm here to tell you about two recent mystery/thrillers I read that I enjoyed very much. Those of you who follow our What the Wenches are Reading posts will know that I listened to two books by  B.A. Paris . First was Behind Closed Doors . I enjoyed that one so much, when I finished it, I sought out her most recent book, The Breakdown , to listen to as well. Both are mystery/psychological thrillers that take place in England. They are both in the same vein as Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train . If you liked those, I think that you'll like these as well. That's why I'm here today. I'm going to do a short review on both books and hopefully convince you to give them a shot. Join me after the break to hear my (non-spoilery) thoughts!

There were no shades to black. Black was absolute, impenetrable. Black absorbed all the colors. If you fell into black, it swallowed you whole. Yet here was a different kind of black. It was black ice and burning coal. It was well-water and desert night. It was dark tempest and glassy calm. It was Black battling Black, opposite and polar, and yet still...all black. The Paper Swan ~~Leylah Attar

“We go downstairs and in the hall, he takes my coat from the cupboard and holds it open while I slip my arms into it. In the drive outside, he holds the car door for me and waits until I’m in. As he closes it behind me, I can’t help thinking it’s a shame he’s such a sadistic bastard, because he has wonderful manners.” Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

Click through to see what we're reading this week. What are you reading, Saucy Reader?! 

“This is our time. Until that time stops - for one of us, for both – it is our time. Now. Will you waste it, because you are afraid?”

“For last year's words belong to last year's language  And next year's words await another voice.”  ― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

Welcome to our new section where each month the Wenches are going to select a book to group read. We've got a varied selection planned and there's sure to be something for everyone over the course of the year. We hope you can join us for some of the reads on our Facebook page. Our selection for January Book of the Month is The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn.  We selected this book as many of the Wenches have read Gone Girl and loved it.  What a great way to start off the year with a murder, thriller, that we hope will capture our attention. There seems to be a bit of buzz around this debut novel from A.J. Finn, where isn't already been optioned to be made into a movie. Thanks to Wench Anne for selecting this one. Check after the jump for the book details.