Bookish Travels: December 2025 Destinations

I saw this meme on It’s All About Books and decided to do it once a month. Many thanks to Yvonne for initially posting this!!

This post is exactly what it says: the places I travel to in books each month.

Enjoy my travels, and please let me know if you have read these books.


Countries I visited the most: United States, England

States/Provinces I visited the mostIllinois, Florida

Cities I visited the most: Chicago, London, Rosewood


United States

Missouri (Kansas City), Illinois (Chicago), California (Napa Valley)
Illinois (Chicago), Alabama (Birmingham), Tennessee (Chattanooga)
Florida (Rosewood)
Nevada (Las Vegas)
Florida (Rosewood)
Florida (Rosewood)
North Carolina (Rome)

China (during the Opium Wars)

Linhua, Changsha, Canton, Shanghai, Wuhan

England

London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London
London

December 2025 Wrap-Up

Personal Highlights from this month:

  • We took Jesper (my deaf tuxedo) to the vet and explained what was going on between him and the other cats. I agreed to try him on Fluoxetine. But, not a pill or a liquid. Instead, the vet sent a prescription to Chewy’s pharmacy, and they compounded it (I didn’t know that could be done for animals). And, I’m not giving it to him orally or through food. Instead, I am putting it on the inside of his ear. The vet said it gets absorbed faster there.
  • We finally got around to putting up our Christmas lights. They went up on December 7th. Usually, I would have had them up the weekend after Thanksgiving, but it rained. And we both were busy during the week.
  • We still do not have a tree. But not from lack of trying. I have a brilliant orange-and-white cat (Tony) who likes to destroy Christmas trees. And he has taught the younger cats (Kevin, Yuki, and Marcy) to destroy, too. So, we’re getting a stick-on one… lol.
  • We also had mice get into the tote (it was stored in my outdoor storage), where I had my ornaments and decorations. Everything was destroyed, from the skirt to the ornaments that the kids made in elementary school to my nativity scene. Nothing was salvageable, and I was distraught over the kids’ ornaments.
  • I decided to combine two of my shelves on Goodreads, and well, that blew up in my face. Somehow, and I am still not sure how this happened, my “Read” shelf got copied to the shelf I was trying to delete, and to my “Want to Read” shelf. So everything was in triplicate. I ended up going through every single book and placing them where I wanted to go. It took me about a week, and I am still a little grumpy about it.
  • I was very sad to hear that Sophie Kinsella passed away from brain cancer. I loved her Shopaholic series, as well as her other books.

Reading Highlights from this month:

  • I finished the Cambric Creek series (The Minoan Bride, Morning Glory Milking Farm, A Blue Ribbon Romance, Sweet Berries, Moon Blooded Breeding Clinic, Two for Tea: Welcome to Asathe, and He Loves Me Not) by C.M. Nascosta. I loved this series, but it might not be for everyone. The books’ spice level ranges from very mild to scorching hot.
  • I finished book 1 of the Industrial November on Tour series (Hiding in the Smoke). I liked the story, but didn’t like how Bren acted for 65% of the book. Sofia was very upfront about what she wanted in a relationship, but Bren didn’t listen. Of course, there is a very predictable twist to the storyline.
  • I finished book 1 of The Gunpowder Chronicles (Gunpowder Alchemy). I enjoyed this book. The book’s steampunk and historical angles were on point. The romance was a little “meh.” I enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
  • I am going to finish the year up reading The Knight’s Ridge Empire series (Wicked Summer Knight, Wicked Knight, Wicked Princess, Wicked Empire, Deviant Knight, Deviant Princess, Deviant Reign, One Reckless Knight, Reckless Knight, Reckless Princess, Reckless Dynasty, Dark Halloween Knight, Dark Knight, Dark Princess, Dark Legacy, Corrupt Valentine’s Knight, Corrupt Knight, Corrupt Princess, Corrupt Union, Sinful Stolen Knight, Sinful Knight, Sinful Princess, Sinful Kingdom, and Knight’s Ridge Destiny). This is a very dark and very sexual series. I loved it….lol.

Books I Read:


Monthly Playlist (I use songs featured in the book, if there are any, along with a playlist generated by ChatGPT).


Featured Song of the Month

WWW Wednesday: December 9th, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!


What I am currently reading:

USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Tracy Lorraine brings you the next installment of her new dark mafia, high school bully romance series.

She didn’t want to believe me.

She wanted to believe the threat wasn’t really there.

But as the sirens ring out in the distance and she stares down into my eyes, she can no longer deny what’s right in front of her.

I’m not going to go down without a fight.

And I’m sure as hell not going to lose her now.

Even as our stubbornness tries to force us apart, severing everything we’ve built thus far.

With our nerves frayed and tempers close to breaking point, our fractured family sets about discovering the truth.

But we soon uncover more corruption and betrayal that only causes more pain to those I love.

Our entire empire is at risk, and it’s time to put the past behind us and carve out the future we deserve.

Dear Readers,

Wicked Empire is the third and final in Stella and Sebastian’s trilogy and the first couples story in my Knight’s Ridge Empire series. This book is a dark bully romance that contains mature content and demanding alphaholes that some readers may find disturbing. You have been warned.


What I recently finished reading:

USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Tracy Lorraine brings you the next installment of her new dark mafia, high school bully romance series.

My entire life has been a lie.

The one person I’ve trusted despite all his secrets has shattered my faith, and the men around me have proved just how unworthy they really are.

As my reality becomes clear, I discover that I’m right in the middle of something far more dangerous than I ever could have imagined.

I’ve always been a fighter. I’ve been trained that way.

But this time, all I can do is run.

Only, it isn’t that easy. Because there’s one person I’ve left behind who won’t allow me to.

But he’s going to get a shock, because he seems to have forgotten who he’s dealing with.

I’m Stella Doukas, mafia princess, and I will not bend for any man.

Even the one who’s stolen my heart.

Dear Readers,

Wicked Princess is the second book in Stella and Sebastian’s trilogy and the first couples story in my Knight’s Ridge Empire series. This book is a dark bully romance that contains mature content and demanding alphaholes that some readers may find disturbing. You have been warned.


What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Tracy Lorraine brings you more in her dark mafia, high school bully romance series.

Whoever said to keep your friends close and your enemies closer… was right.

Being around her is the worst kind of torture.

Emmie is an obligation I can’t avoid… an oath I can’t break.

And having her in my life is the last thing I want or need. But thanks to my father, I have no choice.

This Family—this life, is my future, and I’m sure as hell not going to let some spitfire from the wrong side of town get under my skin and in my way.

When the time comes, I will take what I need and walk away. I’ll finally be free from her shadow and she will know the truth, even if it leaves her broken.

The only problem… she might not be the only one left in pieces.

Dear Reader

Deviant Knight is the fourth book in my angst-filled new adult mafia Knight’s Ridge Empire series. It’s the first book in Emmie and Theo’s trilogy. It’s a dark bully romance with themes that might make you squirm in all the right ways!

I should have known better than to play with fire…

I’d been burned by Theo Cirillo enough to know that I should have seen this coming.

He loved to show me his merciless side, but I couldn’t stay away from the deviant even if I wanted to.

A prisoner of my own making, playing a game without knowing all the rules. Until the lies he’d been telling, the secrets he’d been keeping began to unravel around us.

He’s the only person I trusted with the truth about my past, but my confession was all for nothing.

He never cared. He already knew.

He was only manipulating me.

Using me.

I was nothing more than a job. A nut he had to crack.

And he split me right open, but he’s about to get a shock because I’m not the kind of girl to roll over and take it.

I’m Emmie Ramsey.

And I’m about to make him pay for ever trying to play me.

Watching her walk away for a second time… nearly destroyed me.

But it was nothing less than I deserved from the things I put her through.

I should have let her go. I’d already caused Emmie enough pain to last a lifetime. But I’m a masochist.

Her pain is my pain.
And she’s mine.

Whether she likes it or not.

She’s my wife.

And the sooner she understands that she belongs by my side, the better.

Till death do us part…
I’m not letting her go.

Nothing she can do will convince me that we’re not made for one another.

We might be toxic. Combustible. A match made in hell.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

And together.

I wanted to drown. I wanted the world to swallow me up whole and take me back to a time when everything was okay. A time when I hadn’t just buried the only father I’ve ever known. One where I’m not watching as my mother loses herself to her grief. One where the pain isn’t so insufferable. Everything in my world is a dull muted grey. I crave colour. Excitement. Recklessness. And that’s when he walks into my life. Tall, dark, handsome, and able to drag me from my own head for just a few hours of wild abandon. He’s the perfect one-night stand. But is everything as simple as that?