The Saucy Wenches Book Club

She's always smelled that way to me; the promise of a hot new girlfriend that might just be a nut job.  Feversong ~~Karen M. Moning 

The Saucy Wenches Book of the Month for May is A Court of Frost and Starlight , book 3.1 in the wildly popular PNR series A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. If you’ve already read ACoTaR, then you’re probably as anxious as I am to get your hot little hands on the next book. So is Wench Kathi, who got hooked after I enthused about it. If you haven’t read ACoTaR, wonder why it has so many new fans, and are waffling about whether to try it, we’re both here to pique your interest light a fire under you! You can thank us later! We just loved these books! They made us giddy with anticipation, like in our early Wench days, when we first fangirled into the wee hours over our extraordinary discoveries like Cat and Bones, Mac and Barrons, Ethan and Merit, Jamie and Claire... *dreamy sigh*  These books sparked that special kind of excitement we rarely feel when we read now, and made us realize how much we’ve missed it. “The first book is a magical fairy ta...

Love is funny. Even though you don't have that person anymore, you still have the feeling. You didn't lose your LOVE. You lost the tangible, tactile, sense-sational ability to experience the person or animal you lost. High Voltage by Karen Marie Moning

“There is no struggle too vast, no odds too overwhelming, for even should we fail - should we fall - we will know that we have lived.” ~ Steve Erikson, Toll the Hounds

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“I know that it's hard to believe that the people you look to for safety and security are the same people who are causing us so much harm. But I'm not lying and I'm not delusional. I am scared and I am hurting and we are dying. And I really, really need you to believe me.”  Ijeoma Oluo's So You Want to Talk About Race

Words could cut just as deep as sharpened claws, and while the skin could heal, the wounds words left behind never faded as quickly. Every Last Breath, Jennifer L. Armentrout

In the corner house of an empty street, there is a boy inside a box. In that boy, there lives a secret, one so dark, it’s sealed with locks.  Nearly ten years have passed since the night I was captured. Tricked and betrayed, I suffered the hours of brutal torment with death’s cold whisper across my skin. And when the nameless faces that haunted my nightmares took everything and everyone I loved, I feared I’d never be free of the darkness.  But that's the thing about fear. Over time, it breeds anger, and when anger fills the box, vengeance bleeds out.  It's been almost a decade since I escaped their hell, staying in the shadows, hiding my demons, and God help them now that I've tasted retribution and crave more of it.  Blood is the price for pain, and I vow to take everything and everyone they love. I’m no longer a frightened boy, but the intrepid vigilante, a ruthless executioner, who will stop at nothing to punish the depraved few that stole my life and walked free...

Keep the light shining in your heart; death is a hungry darkness. It wants to swallow it. You're different and will always be misunderstood--never let that touch you. You're a terribly real thing in a terribly false world. The world is fucked up, not you.   High Voltage ~~Karen Marie Moning

“I love it when you look at me like that.” The purr in his voice heated my blood. “Like what?” “Like my power isn’t something to run from. Like you see me.” ~ Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury

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"How was the penthouse?" Thabiso asked, changing the subject. "And I believe that you never wear the same suit twice in a row, but what have we here?"  He tugged at her lapel, which bore a red stain of some sort. Lipstick? "There is a term native to this region. I learned it last night. 'nunya."  "Nunya?" " 'Nunya business.' is the full colloquialism."  A Princess in Theory ~~Alyssa Cole

When I read Annihilation last fall, I was intrigued, repulsed, mystified, enchanted, horrified, compelled, absorbed, and ultimately so unable to articulate what had happened that I didn’t attempt a review. But it has never stopped growing on me, new insights twining around in my brain. It’s insidious. Then the movie happened. I. Had. To. Go. I didn’t think anyone could film the book, and I was on Cloud 9 when I saw the abundance of rave critical reviews. It got compared to Apocalypse Now and 2001: A Space Odyssey ! It got called “stunning” and the “Best Sci-Fi Film in Years” that “ranks among great philosophical sci-fi”! And though there were many differences from the book, it sounded almost as batshitcrazybrilliant as the book!! Which means there are now two equally haunting versions of this story for me to wonder WTF happened. I might not have all the answers, but I’ve certainly enjoyed replaying scenes in my mind and pondering the possibilities. And I suspect that’s...

Tante Isabelle says it’s better to be bold than meek. She says if you jump off a cliff at least you’ll fly before you fall.  The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

“And yet I found myself deciding that if you took his hand, I would find a way to live with it. It would be your choice.” ... “And if he had grabbed me?” There was nothing but uncompromising will in his eyes. “Then I would have torn apart the world to get you back.” ~ Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury

Source and more photos! Waiting for spring (and avoiding snow) is keeping us busy, but some of us are finding clever ways to enjoy a bit of reading nonetheless. Click through to see what we’ve discovered this week.

“Secrets make life more interesting. You can be in a crowded room with someone and touch them without touching, just with a look, because they know a part of you no one else knows. And whenever you’re with them, the two of you are alone, because the you they see no one else can see.”  Mohsin Hamid's Moth Smoke

One of my mom’s favorite sayings had been:   The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed. ~ Kresley Cole, The Dark Calling , ( The Arcana Chronicles #5)

“She soon discovered that she was one of the very few women animators there." "That’s when I realized why princesses in their films were so helpless: They had all been created by men,” she recalls. She promised herself that she would create a new type of princess.” Elena Favilli, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

“I will say this once—and only once,” ... “You can be a pawn, be someone’s reward, and spend the rest of your immortal life bowing and scraping and pretending you’re less than him, than Ianthe, than any of us. If you want to pick that road, then fine. A shame, but it’s your choice.” The shadow of wings rippled again. “But I know you—more than you realize, I think—and I don’t believe for one damn minute that you’re remotely fine with being a pretty trophy for someone who sat on his ass for nearly fifty years, then sat on his ass while you were shredded apart—” ~ Sarah J. Mass, A Court of Mist and Fury

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