Once Upon A Peach

Living a life one book at a time.

[thebelchers]

[bahtmun-deactivated20240623]

It’s October 3rd.

[phantomrin]

Three days until Kerri Maniscalco’s “Stalking Jack the Ripper” novel is released!! (http://kerrimaniscalco.tumblr.com/)

Thomas & Audrey Rose

[phantomrin]

Audrey Rose Wadsworth

(“Stalking Jack the Ripper” by @ kerrimaniscalco)

Drawing Victorian fashions + bloody/bony stuff makes me go mua-ha-ha-ha:))

[onceuponapeach]

‘STALKING JACK THE RIPPER’ and ‘HUNTING PRINCE DRACULA’ by Kerri Maniscalco

Me every time I encountered something disturbing but brilliant....

These books were amazing guys! I was fortunate enough to have BOTH available from the library (Bless libraries) so I did not have to wait between books (though I just saw there will be a 3rd and fourth so I am SCREAMING) and O.M.G. I am also fortunate that I was not spoiled on anything going into them because these are books that you HAVE to experience it as it happens or else it will take out the punch. I mean I gasped out loud (and my stomach turned)! I was on the journey with them and so many times I thought I knew something only to find out how wrong I was. I actually learned a lot too which was a plus!

I was riveted from beginning to end with both books and I adore the characters. If you could see how many times I have typed in Cressworth the past several days it would be embarrassing if I was ashamed...which I’m not because I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Audrey Rose Wadsworth is a formidable and intelligent young woman. When I hear the saying ‘She’s beauty, She’s grace, She’ll punch you in the face’ (or more likely scalpel you in the face) I will think of her. I personally feel she was really well rounded as a character - you see her strengths and weaknesses, she is smart and beautiful and does not apologize for either. She is battling the pull between how society THINKS a young woman should be and her own dreams. Then there is THE Thomas Cresswell....be still my beating heart... I adore him (I am kicking myself for not getting into this series sooner since I missed out on ‘Meeting Thomas Cresswell’ sobs)! He is so funny and flirtatious but also caring and intelligent.....and and and he is an instant favorite for me. His adoration for Audrey Rose can move mountains - they are perfect together and the progression of their relationship just feels so right and I have swooned so much. I can only hope for more more more from them and if the author decides to show us some hot and heavy I will not complain (hint hint) because so far it’s just.....sigh....wonderful.

As I said, you really have to experience everything for yourself so I am not going to talk to much about what happened IN the books but I could not encourage you more to RUN and get them!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28962906-stalking-jack-the-ripper

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33784373-hunting-prince-dracula

https://kerrimaniscalco.com/

[onceuponapeach]

Fairytales for Wilde Girls - Allyse Near - Review

This book was magical, strange and creepy in all the best ways. When I read the synopsis of this online I really really reeeeaaallllly wanted to read it!!! but then I couldn’t find it ANYWHERE then I saw that BookDepository and Fishpond had it so I ordered it on BookDepository (whoo whoo free shipping and cheaper) and it arrived from Australia a couple weeks later.

It had a deepness and layering I was not expecting and actually didn’t see the plot twist until towards the end (though once I figured it out I feel like I should have caught on).

Love love love the characters and there are so many! I want brother princes too! I laughed, I cried.

Life lessons, pop culture references, awesome writing style. No joke, I adored this writing style and how the book was split up.

I want to keep this short because this is a book best read for yourself.

I give it a 4 star rating!

I REALLY THINK YOU WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK TOO!

This book jangles my thoughts.

INSTA-FAVE!

[onceuponapeach]

ROOK

[onceuponapeach]

An Enchantment of Ravens - Margaret Rogerson - REVIEW

This book was.....drum roll......enchanting (badum toosh)! It had the right feel, the writing style was beautiful and the plot was good.

The feel felt very..... Howl’s Moving Castle/Uprooted? Adventure, Leads that care for each other but also exasperate each other, magic happenings.

Rook....ah Rook....tall, dark, handsome and very vain but hey he is a Fair Folk Prince of the Autumn Court so I let it slide because he charmed my pants off.

Isobel was a relatable and likeable character and I enjoyed seeing the book through her.

I wish there was more to this book because I loved the world, the author’s take on the Fair Folk and how they interacted with the humans and would have loved to have more time seeing it. The time Rook and Isobel spent together “pre-adventure” (finger quotes) ended in a snap - their time together is fast moving with only small snippets of the in between and I felt it set up the book JUST ENOUGH to still make it enjoyable and to feel their connection but still not enough to not make me grumble about it. Grumble grumble. I want to touch a bit more on this because it had me thinking on it. I mentally compared it to Celia and Marco in ‘The Night Circus’ who weren’t together that much and time spanned far between but they just had that *clench fist* that something that you know they were for each other and it was still beautiful despite not seeing a long drawn out courtship. Make sense?

Rook and Isobel’s banter is A+ stuff and their scenes together made me swoony mcswoon and laugh and cry (because at the end when I thought something might happen and was considered I was dry heaving but then it was thrown off the table and I could breathe a bit easier)

I NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS WORLD! I need another book because how it ended I was like woooooooooooooooooooooooow how is it going to be for them? but it is a standalone so alas I will take what I get.

I would rate this at a 4ish because it could be a bit more because of the gorgeous visuals it gave me (and Rook) but with that needing more 4 it’s going to be.

Holla to Charlie Bowater’s art on the cover which is so beautiful and perfect.

[propshophannah]

i'm still mad that we didn't get a dorian and abraxos first interaction in empire of storms, i don't believe for a second that dorian saw an animal and didn't try to pet it or at least talk to him

DUDE. RIGHT. I once made a post about how I wanted an Abraxos novella just on what happened to him on the ship when Manon was recovering. Like did he and Gavriel hang out. Was Lysandra the first one to be nice to him? Was Aedion mean to him? Did Rowan throw him a fish? Did Dorian wake him from a baby wyvern nightmare and then calm him down when couldn’t remember where he was or what had happened to Manon?! THESE ARE THE THINGS I NEED TO KNOW. 💀💔🗑

[onceuponapeach]

Abraxos Chapter 1: I just came into this world to have fun and I am honestly feeling so attacked right now.

Abraxos Chapter 2: Though he be little he be fierce.

Abraxos Chapter 3: First rule of Wyvern Fight Club - be the meanest (I’m really not mean though, just misunderstood, kay?)

Abraxos Chapter 4: Wake up and smell the roses! A new outlook on life, my new friend Manon!

Abraxos Chapter 5: A WHHHOOOLLLLEE NEEEEWWW WOOOOORRRLLLD! ( I can fly good now *sparkle sparkle*)

Abraxos Chapter 6: Make friends with small one, eats meat, life is good.

Abraxos Chapter 7: Scratch that, rescue small one and act like nothing happened. *sniffs flower*

Abraxos Chapter 8: WE’RE GOING ON A RESCUE MISSION! (what?.... oh, Manon said it is NOT a rescue mission, it’s a sacking...)

and thus continues......

[propshophannah]

Merry Christmas to Manon & Dorian 🎄 May they be doing each other like bunnies

😂😂😂 @onceuponapeach Maybe I should share some of your amazing headcanons for this….

[onceuponapeach]

@propshophannah Oh my, if you want to. ;)

[stagecoachjessi]

Classic Hollywood Bloopers

[izzzzzzieeeeeeeee]

And the greatest Hollywood blooper of all time:

[mermaidsandcats29]

These are WONDERFUL

[stagecoachjessi]

Two more of my favorites:

[absolutelyaddictedpoldarky]

These are great..made me smile😊💖

[darkseraphscorner]

The fact these exist are truly amazing.

In the olden days, if footage was not used in a film, it was either destroyed or erased so they could reuse the reel, because it was cheaper than storing unused film.

Google the BBC’s lost archives to find out more.

[onceuponapeach]

I LOVE THESE! I NEED TO LOOK UP MORE!

[shesafaefromslytherin]

Happy Birthday Feyre!

[feysandfeels]

THIS.IS.EVERYTHING! 

[feysandfeels]

re-reblogging this to ask who is the artist???

[something-called-sno]

Dude. Credit the artist please.

[onceuponapeach]

Artist is Aykut Aydoğdu https://www.instagram.com/aykutmaykut/?hl=en

[illyriandragon-deactivated20180]

Rowan: Okay, here’s the plan…

Aelin: We kill him?

Rowan: No! We enter the castle…

Aelin: And kill him?

Rowan: Stop that! You put something elsewhere on fire to distract the people…

Aelin: And then we kill him?

Rowan: We won’t kill anyone tonight! We just go into his room and take what’s yours.

Aelin: And then torture him? He has to suffer for what he did?

Dorian: I TOOK JUST ONE BOOK.

[onceuponapeach]

NOOO MY BABY!!!!

[creatingaquietmind-deactivated2]

People in Iceland are genius.

[wendyy-b-gone]

My kind of holiday ✨

[jamiesshelves]

sign me up

[onceuponapeach]

This is perfect.

[onceuponapeach]

Zzz...

Actually Dorian:

[onceuponapeach]

(Video from Youtube)

DREAMCATCHER playing the pocky game was so funny and cute oooomg.

and them all going straight for the chicken is so relatable.

[iserenademefan]

Manorian Headcanon

Dorian reading to Manon— Manon who can’t be bothered to read, is immensely bored by it. But she starts watching Dorian read at night, and at some point he notices and reads her a paragraph he finds interesting. It’s gradual, and not altogether intentional, but eventually Dorian reads full novels to Manon and later to her and their children. It becomes a nightly tradition.

[propshophannah]

ACCEPTED.

[propshophannah]

Dorian: Witchling, it’s getting good.(clears throat) ‘No one had ever looked at Eloise the way Reginald did in that moment—like he’d devour her. His gaze dragged up her hot, sweaty thighs and she tipped her knees open ever-so-slightly in offering. He wanted her. She knew it. In a second, Reginald ripped open her bodice, baring her bre—‘

Manon: Dorian, I thought you said it was getting good?

Dorian: Patience. She’s gonna stab him in a minute.

Manon: (gets comfortable) Okay, continue.

[propshophannah]

Dorian: ‘Gulls cried in the distance, but Larry didn’t hear them above Delilah’s soft, panting breaths. He slid a hand down her naked stomach until he cupped her between the legs. She was hot and aching and we—‘

Manon: Princeling, what are you reading?

Dorian: Sunset Passions.

Manon: (narrows eyes) Aelin gave you this book didn’t she.

Dorian: …yes…?

Manon: (shrugs) Continue.

[propshophannah]

Dorian: ‘Every candle in the old manion went out. They huddled together, breath fogging before them on the cold night air. They rounded the corner and BOOM—‘

Manon: (jumps slightly, her head is in Dorian’s lap)

Dorian: ‘—thunder cracks, lightning flashes, illuminating Desmond’s broken, bloody body on the library floor.’

Manon: (sits up, shocked) That bitch! Sabrina killed him so he wouldn’t talk didn’t she!

Dorian: …Well, I don’t know, witchling. We haven’t finished the book. Could’ve been Old Man Wriggly.

Manon: Oh. True. (lays back down) Continue.

[tragically-broken]

@propshophannah WHY IS EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH LITERALLY GOLDEN WHAT THE HECK PLS KEEP GOING WOW I NEED TO SIT DOWN 

[propshophannah]

@tragically-broken thanks!! This is for you:

Dorian: ‘He slipped from her grip and she watched as her knight in shining armor, the love of her life, tumbled from the sky—‘

Manon & Abraxos: (gasp)

Dorian: ‘But Jeremy, her faithful dragon companion, would not let fate deal his mistress so cruel a hand. Diving into a barrage of arrows and spears, Jeremy wrapped his claws around the Knight, saving him from certain death, only to be hi—‘ (skims ahead, turns page, frowns)

Manon: What? WHAT HAPPENS?!

Dorian: (bites lip) Witchling, Brax…I don’t know how to tell you this…but…Jeremy the dragon dies.

Abraxos: (whines)

Manon: (jumps up) WHAAAT?! WE’VE WASTED HOW MANY HOURS OF OUR LIVES ON THIS SERIES AND THE DRAGON DIES?! THERE ARE, LIKE, TEN OTHER CHARACTERS THAT COULD’VE DIED INSTEAD. LIKE BERNADETTE.

Dorian: (gives Brax a sympathetic look) To be fair…Bernadette is the main character.

Manon: (throws book into the fireplace) SO?!

[propshophannah]

Dorian: ‘The White Witch was chained and utterly at the Lost King’s mercy. As he surveyed her, he realized with no small amount of satisfaction that he would finally—after months of fantasizing—have his way with her. Yet the devastatingly handsome and powerful Lost King, who the White Witch would soon find out was hung like a stallion—‘

Manon: Princeling, I don’t remember these characters being in Sunset Passions last time you read it to me….and the prose is…a little off.

Dorian: This is a deleted scene, witchling. It’s in the very exclusive, one of a kind King’s Edition of the book. I happen to have the only copy.

Manon: (considers) … Oh. Okay. Continue.

[onceuponapeach]

This is the best.