Well, I’m back from my travels to Central Europe! We went to Vienna (Austria), Brno (Czech Republic), Budapest (Hungary), and Bratislava (Slovakia) to check out the various Christmas markets. It’s something we wanted to do for a while and we finally did it! It was a lot of fun and so nice to just take trains everywhere. We also did other touristy stuff like a museum here and there. The highlight for me was The Nutcracker in Budapest; gorgeous sets and absolutely stunning opera house!

Anyway, we arrived in the D.C. area yesterday around 2:30 pm and let me tell you, Global Entry is so worth it. I was so glad not to have to stand in the immigration line for 1.5 hours (sometimes longer). At least in the D.C. area, immigration can take a long time. So if you travel internationally fairly frequently, Global Entry saves so much time. Then we stayed awake and hopped over to two separate holiday parties last night. Let’s just say sleep was most welcome last night!

On to the Sundays in Bed With… meme. It’s hosted by Midnight Book Girl, dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning. Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross

This has been on my TBR for a while now, so I added it to my Series Completion Challenge to make myself read it. It’s the second book of a duology, the first of which is A RIVER ENCHANTED. I started this while in Europe. Travel is always a good way to make me read purchased books on my Kindle; otherwise I just read ARCs or purchased physical books. It’s longer than I realized (500+ pages), but I made great progress on the plane yesterday and binged over 50% of it. I have about 90 pages left now.

While I enjoyed the first book, I think I like this one even more since A FIRE ENDLESS isn’t setting the premise up for the reader. There’s a lot of moving pieces, distrust between the two clans, and interactions with the spirit realm. I wouldn’t call this a bingeable book. It’s one where you need to make yourself cozy and go along for the well-paced ride.

Author: Rebecca Ross
Series: Elements of Cadence, #2
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Publish Date: December 6, 2022
Print Length: 512

From Bookshop.org:

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divine Rivals returns to the magical isle of Cadence to find the balance between the human and faery realms imperiled in this stunning conclusion to the Elements of Cadence duology that began with A River Enchanted

East and west. Humans and spirits. Breccans and Tamerlaines. The Isle of Cadence has always held itself in a tenuous balance. But now Bane, the spirit of the North Wind, has pushed everything off-kilter in a bid to claim dominion over human and spirit alike.

In the east, a sickness is spreading among the people of the Tamerlaine clan. As healer Sidra desperately searches for a cure, her husband, Torin, the clan’s new leader, attempts to draw answers from the spirits. But the further he strays into the realm of the elementals, the more lost he and the clan become. In the west, Jack decides to take up his harp and cross the clan line, not only to reunite with Adaira, but to unravel a sinister mystery that would grant him the knowledge to defeat Bane and restore peace to the isle. Yet no one can challenge the North Wind without paying a price, and the sacrifice required this time may just be the ultimate one.

Rebecca Ross weaves an enchanting tapestry of mystery and magic, love and sacrifice, in this thrilling conclusion to the Elements of Cadence duology.