Alas, we are here at the end of this event

This has been amazing, y’all! I appreciate every single one of you reading these posts so so much!!
Especially the members of Team Maple!

Hannah Katja Kellyn Sylvie Riley Rose

Kate and Rebekah are wonderful! Huge shout out to them for putting this together and making it so great! I’m so grateful to have been part of this!
Also don’t miss on their last posts the giveaway winners(congrats ladies!!!!) and an easy access list of most of the books mentioned over the week!

Here we go for some books that have stood out to me this year(so far -winks-)

The Mammoth Series – Brian McBride
This series is such a ride!!!
Adventure, dealing with a myriad of life battles, mystery, exaggeration of the reality of events (but just fits the Indiana Jones vibes perfectly and does make it more fun), found family, breaking free of stereotypes, facing pain and grief and revenge to decide what kind of person you want to be… this is what heroes and the epic tales told of them are made of!

It’s Always Sonny – Kate Watson
This series was so fun, it says you can read in any order but I didn’t hop around and I’m glad I didn’t, but this one stuck out to me the most!
A family reunion with competition and banter galore, honored matriarch, second-chance romance!
Super sweet and heartwarming themes! I really liked the ending of this one; things didn’t go in the direction both MC’s thought it would, and FMC’s relationship with her parents isn’t conveniently all fixed, but it just left my heart warmed!
Clean with kissing, panic attacks, dysfunctional relationships, mild peril during a blizzard with one tent scene dealing with hypothermia(cuddling with less layers on but all brief), mentions of family member infertility struggles.

Splintered Mind – W.R. Gingell
I was so so happy to find the author has been cranking out more books!!!!
What’s funny about this though is that unlike The City Behind series, this MC has zero concept of the para/abnormal and is in absolute denial it exists where Pet from TCB just kinda rolls with it. We definitely are just figuring stuff out as Viv does(she has no idea what’s going on and it’s kinda hilarious at points), and so this one especially, the bigger picture still isn’t there, but I loved the ride!
I do have one complaint: these books end at the weirdest spots, like they broke them up so they wouldn’t be huge but just chose random spots as the endings. The World Between was doing better but TCB does this too. Beware the cliffhangers is the bottom line hahahah
Contains creepy moments, complicated relationship with a hypochondriac parent, violence(implication of

My Lucky Charm – Courtney Walsh
A solid nod to the sports rom-com binge I went on, it was so hard to choose which one to feature, but I loved this so much!
The author writes such multi-faceted, relatable characters weaving in their mistakes and/or struggles as not things to “get over” but learning to handle it all with grace(towards others as well) and making them better people, better together! I also adore the holiday theme and can’t wait for the next one! Oh, and the deaf/ASL rep is so good!
CW = def secular, ogling, child out of wedlock, sweet kisses

& Ruins of Gorlan(Ranger’s Apprentice series) – John Flanagan
Okay, so when I first put this on my list, I apparently merged the prequel(TaG) and actual main series in my head and just began labeling it all Ranger’s Apprentice. Also, I haven’t finished the rest of the series yet but I’m working on it!!
I’m actually glad I read TaG first because I can see how the author has grown as a writer from when he wrote the main series to writing the sequel(usually I kinda hate that but since I’m late to the party it worked out for me, heh heh).
I love the Robin Hood-esque, found family/friendship dynamics, coming-of-age, story that this is! A series I will love for my kids to grow up on!!

I know it’s going to take the next week to really dig into the other posts, but this event is so worth it and I have no regrets over the amount I’m adding to my TBR list.
I’ve never really thought about it, but… it does look like I’m in for a long haul actually making a dent into that… but hey, I’m not complaining a bit! Let’s go!!

I hope y’all found some amazing reads this week that maybe will become some of your favorites too!

Fare thee well for now,With love, Olivia