Category: Musings of a Bibliomaniac

I wish I could tell you, honestly.

Y’all. Depression and an excessively busy schedule can be a real bitch when you want to keep up with a hobby you’re passionate about. Over the course of the last…7 months? I’ve been reading and preparing to write, but apathy is the enemy of progress, and burnout is the mother of both.

I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about. Life is hard around these parts these days. If you’re feeling the way I’ve felt, I highly recommend taking a quick stop and becoming ‘one’ with that person inside you. Do this often–make time for her/him/them.

I didn’t, and that shit can burn you out right quick.

In an interesting/scary/necessary turn of events, the universe made it well known that I needed a break. I’ve had to sit back and relax, release, and reassess. I took a break from my hobbies and all the things I love that even resembled work of any type (with the exception of books, but that’s like breathing for me and doesn’t count). As it was before the universe intervened, I was working 50 hour weeks coupled with the last few semesters of my second bachelors and had left very little in the way of energy to put toward anything, including writing. Not to mention the pervasive existential dread that seems to be permeating all of our nerve centers, but that goes without saying. Burning the candle that hot will melt you down into the table if you let it. I hope you can trust me on that and take better care of yourself than I did!

All that said, one way I’ve been taking better care of me is by reading genres I know I love and giving my brain some tasty little tidbits to chew. I’m looking forward to writing about all the pages I’ve gathered as I’ve rolled along. There are some reviews covering spicy romances, dark fantasies, and even a space heist coming soon!

In conclusion: Listen to what the forces beyond you are saying. Try to catch those voices when they are whispers and don’t be a pound cake (dense) like I was and not take heed of them until they start screaming into your face. Matter of fact, read a low stakes fantasy like Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree when you need to reset. It’s super cozy and warm and it helped me through some tough emotions. Need I say review coming soon?

Forever Bookish,

SL Wolf

by Sabrina Jeffries. Pub Date May 24, 2022

4*s. Sabrina Jeffries strikes (my heart) again!

Publisher’s Synopsis:

“Self-made civil engineer Geoffrey Brookhouse has unexpectedly inherited the dukedom of Grenwood. But he has a secret that could ruin his family. Hoping to save his timid sister from that fate, he seeks to marry her off to a respectable, protective gentleman. With the London Season imminent, Geoffrey hires Elegant Occasions to orchestrate her debut. Yet Lady Diana Harper, spirited fashion expert, proves more than he bargained for. Suddenly, Geoffrey’s sister is emerging from her shell, and he is beleaguered with social invitations and gossip! Worse, Diana is attempting to transform him into a presentable duke—when all he really wants is to make her his own . . .

Diana doesn’t know what to make of the handsome, disheveled duke. The man bristles at the very idea that his fashion faux pas might spoil his sister’s chances. Yet Geoffrey’s stubbornness simply inspires Diana to ruffle his feathers—by setting him on a course of self-improvement. Although there’s something endearing, even irresistible about his flaws, can a man who hates the ton tolerate a woman who makes her living catering to them? Little does either know that they have more in common than they suspect—and that two can create a society all their own . . .”

Review:

Sabrina Jeffries is one of my absolute favorite historical romance writers. I adore her books and A Duke for Diana, although not one of my favorites, was not an exception. 

Geoffrey Brookhouse has recently inherited the Grenwood Dukedom from a distant cousin through his late father. However, he has a secret, one that could cause ruin to his family. He feels a great burden, and with his new found title comes the possibility of safety for his younger sister and mother. But he has no idea how to move around in society as a Duke, and as an ironworker and engineer who has spent his life building actual bridges rather than those in society, he knows even less about debuts and balls. 

Diana and her sisters, on the other hand, have made a business of debuts, balls, and other gatherings that have made their place amongst the set tolerable after they themselves endured a scandal set upon them by their own parents. The sisters and their company, Elegant Occasions, are perfectly positioned to help Lady Rosabel find a match. What the newfound Duke and Diana herself are not prepared for is the spark between them, a growing attraction that could quite possibly put them both in hot water if they aren’t careful. 

I really enjoyed this first installment in the new Designing Debutantes series. Diana is a strong character and her sisters Eliza and Verity are ripe for stories of their own. The relationship between Geoffrey and Diana is fiery and passionate, and they are both entirely too strong headed for the sake of their own hearts. Diana is proper in a way Geoffrey isn’t but is simultaneously caught in the bonds of societal expectations, and Geoffrey is protective and less than thrilled with the binds put on him by his new social standing. Each one has the ability to help the other through their own trials and tribulations, and we see an almost enemies to friends to lovers story arc that makes you root for them and their family members. 

I am very excited to start the next book in this series, What Happens in the Ballroom, featuring two prominent characters from A Duke for Diana. Keep an eye out for my soon upcoming review!

Thank you to Netgalley and the ever lovely Kensington Books for the advanced copy in exchange for this fair and honest review. I’m a bit late to the ball on this one, but it was such a beautiful read and I’m primed and prepared for the next. 

by Emily Thiede. Pub Date 6/28/2022

4 Stars. Pub Date 6/28/2022

Publisher’s Synopsis:

Three weddings. Three funerals. Alessa’s gift from the gods is supposed to magnify a partner’s magic, not kill every suitor she touches.

Now, with only weeks left until a hungry swarm of demons devours everything on her island home, Alessa is running out of time to find a partner and stop the invasion. When a powerful priest convinces the faithful that killing Alessa is the island’s only hope, her own soldiers try to assassinate her.

Desperate to survive, Alessa hires Dante, a cynical outcast marked as a killer, to become her personal bodyguard. But as rebellion explodes outside the gates, Dante’s dark secrets may be the biggest betrayal. He holds the key to her survival and her heart, but is he the one person who can help her master her gift or destroy her once and for all?

Thoughts:

This Vicious Grace was full of fantastic and varied characters that both supported and deterred Alessa on her journey toward fulfilling her purpose as a Finestra, the protector of her island home. Her place in the beginning is very lonely. Usually, she would have been married near the beginning of coming into her power, but acting as what is essentially a megaphone for her Fonte (her partner’s) power. Every so many years, there is an invasion of what basically amount to Giant Beetles From Hell that threaten the people of the ocean communities in which they live. However, Alessa’s power seems to work tenfold to what her various predecessors did, and her touch draws an immense amount of power from her Fontes. She has killed three already, and there are certain factions that are feeling like maybe she is an abomination. If she were to be deemed an abomination, she would have to be killed in order for a new Finestra to be created to take her place. However, Alessa finds a strange ally in Dante, who doesn’t seem to succumb to her touch in the same ways as most people, meaning he doesn’t die almost immediately from her drawing all of his power immediately. There’s a good reason for it, but I don’t want to give it away. She decides to hire Dante as her bodyguard, and because he can touch her and vice versa, they begin training with one another and he helps her to control her powers. This is great, because the day of reckoning is fast approaching when the entire civilization of her island home will be counting on her and her Fonte to succeed. It’s especially good to have control as there are many potential Fontes in the running, and she needs to find one FAST if she’s going to keep everyone alive.

My favorite part of this book was the found family aspect that comes later in the book. The romance was also great. The plot, however? It was a steady underlying pulse that slowly ramped up into a mystery. Something really big is happening and it’s possible that the powers of the Finestra are just a symptom.

I’m super excited to read the sequel to this one. It left so many unanswered questions and I want more of Alessa and Dante’s story.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Book 3 of the Duke Hunt series

by Sophie Jordan, Pub date August 23, 2022.

4*s. Best Enjoyed when you need a proper scoundrel in your smithy.

Publisher’s Synopsis (Avon & Harper Voyager):

“A devil’s bargain burns the hottest….

For years, fiercely independent Gwen Cully has worked as the village blacksmith, keeping her family’s business going. But when a local rival threatens her livelihood, Gwen has nowhere to turn … until a devastatingly handsome fugitive takes shelter in her shop and sparks fly. 

Unrepentant rogue Kellan Fox’s entire existence has been a dangerous game of deception that leads him into a fight for survival—and straight into the arms of a tall, fiery beauty. When Gwen protects him from an angry mob of villagers, Kellan sees the perfect solution to both their troubles. A marriage—in name only—that will last a single year. 

Only a marriage of convenience can’t hide their searing attraction. It glows hotter than Gwen’s forge and reaches deep below the tempting mask Kellan wears for the world. With every sizzling glance and scorching kiss, Gwen surrenders more of herself to the molten passion she finds in Kellan’s strong embrace. But can she ever truly trust her heart to a scoundrel?”

My Review/Synopsis:

Yes! Another amazing book in the Duke Hunt series. Here we go:

Gwen Cully (I’ve been waiting for this one—I love Gwen!) is the village blacksmith. She’s spent her entire life living in the twilight gray between womanhood and men’s work, having learned the smithing trade from her father and uncle growing up. She’s talented and has been able to make a living until her uncle grew ill and she had to spend more of her time caring for him and less at the forge. It was the perfect opportunity for another family of smiths to waltz into town and begin taking her clients. With the unfortunate passing of her uncle, however, she is ready to start building her business up again. But can she? Or as her boorish rival and his neanderthal sons—who like to stare at her openly like they own her–taken all of her work (Seriously, dudes are gross. They drool and fight over who she ‘belongs to’. Then the father makes some very inappropriate overtures. It adds to the high-stakes feeling)?

Kellan Fox has been posing as the Duke’s son for a few months, causing the ladies of Stanhope to be all aflutter at his rakish good looks. Although he is the son of the ‘Duke’, the ‘Duke’ is his conman father (a true POS). One day, Kellan wakes up not only to the knowledge that the real Duke is on his way to take over his seat, but also that his father has left and absconded with some of the royal jewels, leaving Kellan to take the fall (See?). In his escape from a ragtag mob of villagers, he finds his way into hiding in Gwen’s smithy and begs her not to tell them he’s there. Although she tries, the villagers eventually drag him out (rudely trespassing in her space, btw). Gwen, seeing a mob of people who would rather met out punishment than true justice, yells the one thing no one is expecting—not even her. “I LOVE HIM!”

It has the desired affect and after a little bit of role playing, she is able to spare him—for now. However, the true duke has caught on and insists that he cannot wait for them to marry. Now Gwen’s reputation—and Kellan’s life—are on the line. They make a pact to marry for one year, just long enough to keep most of Gwen’s reputation intact and for the heat to be off of Kellan (yeah, ‘cuz that always works).

What Gwen and Kellan didn’t expect (really? You’re both hotties) was the sparks that would fly between them and the molten-metal heat that would sear them with every glance and touch. As Gwen’s defenses fall and Kellan’s true face begins to show through his mask, their declarations of love begin to seem less and less faked. However, can Gwen really trust Kellan? And can Kellan trust himself?

This one was tasty. They’re all really tasty, but this one felt especially so as it’s one of those almost enemies to lovers/one bed/found family/good boy raised bad/bad boy goes good romances. There’s a lot of depth to it. I really like the Duke Hunt series, and Gwen’s story is definitely high up there for me. She lives much differently than other women of her time, and she meets those challenges head-on. Plus, Kellan is totally into her Amazonian vibe and he’s also freakishly tall and handsome himself. And the spice is (3.5 fire emojis). 

I would recommend the entire Duke Hunt series to anyone who loves a somewhat  spicy historical romance. It’s honestly so great and I love me some Sophie Jordan!

Thank you to Sophie Jordan, NetGalley, and Avon Harper Voyager for the advanced copy in exchange for this review!

by Melanie Rose Clarke. Pub Date 10/14/2021

5*. Best enjoyed when you really want a historical romance but you also want some comedy thrown in.

The Synopsis:

Lady Emma Sinclair is betrothed to the influential Earl of Peyton—or, at least, that’s what she wants everyone to think. See, the Earl of Peyton doesn’t exactly know that they are engaged as he’s not even in England and isn’t scheduled to return until after she disabuses the Ton of the engagement. In the meantime, she plans to use her newfound influence as the future Lady of Peyton in order further her own political prowess for the betterment of society as a member of the secret social justice society, The Ladies of Distinguished Purpose. And after the vote is cast, she will be able break the engagement with the Earl none the wiser. 

What Emma doesn’t plan for, however, is the early return of the Earl. 

Philip Fitzgerald, Earl of Peyton, finds himself oddly engaged while he was far away from England on a secret mission. His faux-finacee, Lady Emma Sinclair, is an intelligent woman with her own secrets, secrets he plans to find out before allowing her out of the engagement she started. 

Philip follows Emma during one secret charity outing in a rough part of town and, masked so as not to be seen and give away his secret work, saves her from a group of ruffians. Word quickly spreads to the ton about the Masked Avenger that seems to be one of their own. 

As Philip tries to hide his identity and Emma works to uncover the person who saved her in order to make sure her secret is kept, they grow begin to grow closer. Their dance of deception and secrecy can only last so long, however, and as each gets closer to the other’s truth, danger lurks right around the corner for them both. Will they be able to admit their growing attraction before it’s too late?

The Review: 

I can’t say enough about how M R Clarke writes her internal and external character dialogues. There are absolutely moments when I laughed out loud and startled the dog. Or the cat. Or my husband. The characters are just so funny. Part of that is because they are well fleshed out as imperfect people trying to find happiness and make it through whatever crazy scenario they have gotten themselves into. In this case, a false betrothal that begins to slip into a magnetic attraction and eventual affection. That’s the true mark of a mainstay historical romance, but the hilarity is what truly sets Clarke apart. 

Emma Sinclair’s imperfections are on full display. Some reviewers have said she’s a little bit of a flibberty gibbet in that she can’t see what’s right in front of her, but really she’s just in denial. It’s not that she doesn’t think it could be Philip, it’s more that she knows it’s him but that would be too good and fit too well. It’s just too perfect to fit in the imperfect world she finds herself in. Plus she is still in full denial of her feelings. Her entirely ‘irrational’ feelings. 

Philip as a spy is also so perfect. As Emma tries to uncover his secrets and the identity of her masked savior, he is able to sidestep and dispel her notions that it could be him. It speaks to his cleverness and abilities as a spy. Unfortunately, his profession is also his downfall as he has isolated his family and must repair his relationship with his sister. He also isn’t able to be true to himself until his current case is over. That also means that he cannot admit to anyone his growing affection for Emma, which lends to the overall suspense in the perfect way. It’s a true will they won’t they throughout. 

I really enjoyed this book and I am excited to start the third book in the series!

Thanks to NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for this fair and honest review. 

It’s been awhile since I posted something that was NOT a review, and this particular post is something special to me…

It’s always been a dream of mine to write my own book and I have been occasionally working on this one. I’m beginning to get a little more serious about my writing and making this book thing happen, and I wanted to share the second draft of my first chapter and get some content feedback. I already had the opportunity for Adrienne Young (squee!) to give me notes, but I want content feedback from the world beyond.

The second chapter is well underway and goes back a few days from the first to give some background on the main protagonist and where she comes from. I will provide that when I have the first draft done as well, and maybe a few more after that.

Thanks in advance and I hope you enjoy 😉

(TITLE IN THE WORKS) BY S. L. WOLF

Chapter 1

Isa walked as silently as she could through the darkened wood, her path lit only by the eerie light of the full moon. The cool wind whispered gently through the leaves, caressing the skin of her face with icy fingers and seeming to murmur her name as it passed. She inhaled the intoxicating scent of decaying leaves and night air laced with woodfire smoke and the barest hint of tallow, bracing herself and steeling her soft heart for what she might have to do.

She was getting close. 

Removing the hood of her cloak so it wouldn’t obscure her vision, she tightened the strip of leather that bound her dark brown hair and double checked that her hunting knife was strapped to her hip in its crudely crafted leather sheath. She made sure it was not hindered by the knot of her dark, worn skirts where she had tucked them into her belt to keep them from dragging through the dry underbrush that blanketed the forest floor. 

Adjusting the knot a bit, she looked down to check that no more than a sliver of her skin was exposed above her worn boots. Anything more would be a pale target set against the dark of backdrop of the forest. She couldn’t allow anything to give her away. 

She still remembered new leather smell of her beloved boots when her parents had proudly gifted them to her during the Harvest Festival two years prior. The embroidery was once a pattern of intertwined tendrils in deep forest green and bright sky blue which traveled up the sides of the laces and curled around each calf, meeting at the back of each beneath subtly-stitched red songbirds. She had worn them every day since, the leather softening over time and forming perfectly to her feet and calves like a second skin. 

Although the brightness of the red songbirds were now faded, she still knew they were there. She prayed silently that they would help her feet move swift and sure. Taking a deep breathe, she tried her best to put aside her fear and anxiety and pressed on.

 She crept closer to the source of the woodfire smoke. She could now see the flicker of firelight through the trees and hear the cadence of chanting voices interweaving with the sounds of the forest, the rhythm matching that of her pounding heart. She removed the wooden bow at her back and nocked one of the arrows carved from a stick of rowan wood with fetching made from a blue-black raven’s feather. She hadn’t always been the best with it and hoped that fate would guide her arrows straight and true. 

Her sister’s life depended on it.  

Although the village elders often told stories of the witches of the wood, it had been so many years since a girl had been taken that many thought it had been a tale left in children’s ears at the hearthside to scare them. Her own parents, who were seen as superstitious people by many of their fellow villagers, had often told their three girls that their minds need not be occupied with occultist frivolity, and would often shut down the mere mention of them. The same parents who left cream out for house faeries, refused to travel if they thought they may find themselves at a crossroads at night, and kept a stock of rowan wood arrows with iron tips on hand. 

“Just in case.” Her father would say to her and her two sisters whenever they asked, often punctuating it with a tap on the nose. 

Although they never clarified the ‘why’, Isa knew the superstition behind the materials they were made from, materials meant to harm magical beings. It’s the very reason she now had a quiver full strapped to her back, something she had never thought would happen even a few days prior to now. 

Three days had passed since her youngest sister, Lilliana, had disappeared from her bed in the middle of the night. The only clue left behind had been a strange note written in charcoal on an impossibly large and already crumbling autumn leaf: We will return the last in exchange for the first. You have until the peak of the Full Moon’s Rise.  

She was moments away from the time when the moon would reach its apex. Silently, she slipped between the trees toward the source of the fire’s glow and chanting voices, concentrating hard to not to make too much noise in the undergrowth.

She finally came upon a small clearing and quickly dipped behind a large forked tree at the edge. Looking through the opening formed between the twin trunks, she surveyed the almost primal scene before her. 

Women ranging in age and in various stages of undress danced around a large bonfire set in the center, the sparks from which looked like fireflies racing toward the starry sky. A hodge-podge of candles in various colors and sizes—there must have been thousands—rimmed the edge of the clearing. The women, their feet and arms moving in a rapturous dance, sang ancient words that seemed to bend the very fabric of the night itself. The haunting melody was intoxicating, pulling at Isa’s every bone and sinew, coaxing her to join in. It took her all of her control to keep herself still.

Occasionally, one of the many women—there had to be at least twenty–would break from the group and dance toward one of four tables stationed evenly around the circle at what seemed to be the points of a compass. They would feast upon the various food and drink, using their hands to tear off bits of meat from bone and flesh from fruit. The tables were practically groaning beneath the weight of the fare laid out upon them.

The table to the west held foods she recognized, such as bright and shining apples of various hues, flaky fall pastries, and a whole roasted pig, things she had partaken of herself only three days ago. 

It seemed like an eternity. 

The tables to the east and south bore strange, bright fruits and glistening, juicy meats that she couldn’t quite pinpoint. Globes of orange and large, spiked fruits that were split in half, the light dancing across the golden meat within, as well as a bowl of oddly bright green berries that seemed to glow on their own. There was also a roasted bird that she had never seen before that was similar to a  rooster, if a rooster could reach the size of a boar. The bird had a strange bright-blue comb atop its head and its beak was a strange green that she had only ever seen on spring saplings.

As her gaze travelled to the final table to the north, she felt her heart stop in her chest. Not because of the table itself, which appeared to be forged from ornately twisted silver strands and surrounded by a light dusting of snow. Not even because of the elaborate and beautiful cakes that bookended the surface next to steaming roasts and bowls of sugar plums would put even the best royal baker to shame. It wasn’t even the ethereal light that seemed to surround it. It was because of the small and happily swaying little girl who sat at the center of the table in a throne-like silver chair upholstered in purple velvet, the dark color turning her bouncing golden curls into a beacon. 

It was Lilliana.

Seeing her sister snapped her memory back to when she had discovered her sister’s empty bed after coming in late from the first night of this year’s festival, the imprint left from her small body still warm to the touch, and that dreaded leaf on the pillow where her small, blonde head had dreamt its dreams. 

Seeing her here and now, seemingly unharmed and well taken care of caused an overwhelming flood of relief and fear to course through her, followed swiftly by a cold wave of resolve. No matter what happened tonight, she would make sure Lilliana made it home safe. Even if she had to trade herself to the Dark Protector to do it.

I’ve been on hiatus for a couple of weeks while trying to finish my BA in History. I will get back to the book reviews soon. I’m working on a couple of pretty amazing books that I’m really enjoying. Another piece of good news is I graduated, and I graduated with a pretty good gpa, enough to get honors recognition. Super psyched and hyped. Yes: I’m bragging. Yes: I know it’s not always the most becoming thing to do, but I worked very hard for a very long time. To be honest, it most likely it’s not over for me yet as I may be applying to grad school (more to come on that later).

Putting aside the efforts towards self praise, the actual essence of today’s entry is something I hold super close and dear to my heart and that is the importance of women supporting–and subsequently praising–other women. I had two very excellent examples within the last week, one being from a professor I was in close contact with throughout my journey into the very relevant subject of history whom I finally had the chance to meet (I did distance learning–I work full time, it’s nearly impossible for me to drive to classes & still find time to live). The other was from today with an acquaintance-come-friend from high school (that feels so long ago) who just recently started to share a blog that she’s been working hard on for awhile and I think it’s beautiful.

The first story is in regards to the professor whom, whether she knows it or not, was a serious guiding light both during and after I took her class. She is the kind of teacher that makes you want to learn. She provides the instructions, soil, and the sunlight needed to help a student grow. When I finally met her in person, I wasn’t at all surprised to see she was just as warm and intelligent as she was via email, but I was completely taken aback by how infectious and magnetic she was face to face. Let me put it this way: my spouse was with me when I met her and she made him want to learn things even in our extremely short interaction. My spouse, who completely abhors most educational institutions and is skeptical of most teachers. That’s saying something. I was also surprised when she turned to me and looked me in the eye and asked what my plans were. She then proceeded to effortlessly convince me that I should consider grad school, throwing in some extra incentive by offering to write me a recommendation. She is the kind of woman I aspire to be, the one who builds other people up, and guides and inspires other women to strive for their highest potential in the most uncomplicated and subtle-yet-straightforward of ways. However, I realized that the reason I know these qualities is because I look for them so often now because those are the kinds of women I want in my life.

Sometimes all you need to do is like their post, send them an encouraging text to let them know you think they’re doing something awesome or that they’ll get through a hard time, or even by following or sharing their blog. Sometimes the best way is to create something using your own personal experiences that allows others to see our truth and commiserate and grow in the knowledge that we are all flawed and it’s not the end-all-be-all of who we are.

So many people these days think that showing success as an uncomplicated and flawless marble staircase is the way to encourage others. “If you do ‘a’ you will get ‘b’–it’s easy! You just have to seem perfect and courageous and thin and rich and you can’t show anyone any of your flaws ever!!!! I’m totally perfect so that’s how I got here, and I also never slow down or fail.” But that’s now how you lift others up, it’s how you discourage those in this world who see themselves for who they are: perfectly imperfect humans. That’s not providing handholds, that’s building a wall. It’s just greasing those marble stairs in a way that discourages all who try to step on them and slide off due to the weight of expectation that you’re dropping on their shoulders.

In reality, success and life in general are a messy and complicated set of wooden stairs that sometimes make you feel like the blueprints were drawn by M. C. Escher. This is why I find it so amazing that people like Ashley (http://momsbeautifulmess.com) are writing blogs about their messy lives and are realizing that their journey has brought them wisdom that needs sharing. She talks about her life experiences with anxiety, substance abuse, infertility and PCOS and how they’ve affected her journey. However, they were never the destination and that is the crux of it. She has a beautiful family and a home and although these experiences were a part of her, they never defined her. Although we’ve known one another since we were kids, I don’t think we ever actually knew one another. I’m not even sure we wanted to back then. However, as women who have lived our lives and made our mistakes and suffered mental and physical illness, our experiences and flaws have made us anew. We’re changed. We’re survivors, and we understand the importance of letting others know that the ugliness in life is only a small part. We’ve owned our experiences and through this we are able to explore the strengths that have come from them and encourage others to do the same.

It absolutely is beautiful because life is so messy and so complicated and it’s an experience we all share, despite the scrubbed, brushed, and patched public face we try to show every day. Owning your experience is something that is so important both for the world to see and for your personal self worth. Our flaws make us human and despite what the world wants us to think, they’re part of our success as well and are sometimes the very thing that make us successful. Our flaws are the things that actually bring us closer to other people. Our weaknesses make us vulnerable enough to open ourselves so other people can see us and grab hold.

Allowing other women to see our own vulnerabilities helps them find a kindred spirit and also helps us to find peace. Given that we’re often more empathetic because that’s how we’re built, we can connect to other women who are similar to us, and it’s through this connection that we can see their strengths and encourage them. It is so easy to step on someone to elevate yourself, but you don’t get as far as when you lift those around you to a place where they can reach a hand down and pull you up when you need it. Success comes in all shapes and sizes as well and sometimes you don’t even see it until you look at another person and see what success looks like to them, but you will never see it by stepping on them without looking. By crushing others, you are only burying yourself.

We just need to be honest with ourselves and those around us. Encourage others to reach their potential whenever you find the opportunity. Share your experience with another person and build bridges with them so that you can know them and help them and they can know you and help you as well. Ladies, I implore you to reach out to your sisters and brothers and embrace them. Show everyone how valuable we are to this world. I truly believe that in doing so, we will create a place we all want to live in and if we can do that, we can make it better for all of humankind.