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Mikayla

@mikreads98

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• Newcastle, NSW 📍
• Romance, thrillers, fantasy 💖🔪🐉
• Indie and queer authors 🇦🇺🏳️‍🌈
• No AI in my reads thanks ❌

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

✨ Meet the bookstagrammer ✨ About time I introduced myself! Do we have anything in common?

#books #bookstagrammer #reader #ausbookstagram by @mikreads98

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6 months ago

🩸The Taste of You by Sam Silberberg @samsilberberg.author ❤️

If you’ve found yourself playing Baldurs Gate 3, or any DnD game variant, and have wanted the romance side plot to steal the show, this book is for you
The Taste of You is a standalone romantasy featuring a second-chance romance between the hunter x vampire combo of Haleth and Lhysander 🏳️‍🌈
The Taste of You is out in ONE MONTH and preorders are open now! 🗓️
Find it at @swoonbookstore.au for us Aussies

ARC REVIEW:
Grateful to have ARC read this one!
This story definitely puts you through the wringer as I fell in love with Haleth and Lhysander right from the start.
It starts off slow with a build up around the relationship and the complex nature of the world they live in, to a fast paced roller coaster of emotions by the end.
This is a must read for fans of high fantasy, second chance romance, queer normative worlds, and morally complex stories.

DESCRIPTION:
The day his human partner died was the day Haleth Maerenthros became a monster hunter.

Nearly three centuries later, Haleth is apathetic, loveless, and haunted by the memories of his long dead partner. For years, his sole purpose has been destroying vampires, but even that is beginning to lose its appeal as Haleth wishes more and more to fade into nothingness.

When the master of the Monster Hunter Guild himself assigns Haleth a job he can’t turn down, he journeys to the far north hunting for a vampire that could threaten the safety of every mortal in Karrador. Only, when Haleth finally reaches his mark, he finds himself staring into the reddened eyes of his long dead partner. Grappling with his morals pitted against a deep well of love as their spark reignites, Haleth must decide where his loyalties lie, and if loving on borrowed time is worth facing the Monster Hunter Guild’s deadly retribution.

#arcreview #romantasy #bookreview #queerbooks by @mikreads98

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2 days ago

🦑 Squid Ward by Chloe Jayne 🦑

Another day, another thrilling Halloween read 🎃👻
I spent my Saturday afternoon reading this brilliant novella by @thelabrarian
Some really raw themes of motherhood and infertility, racism and the consequences of blindly following medical advice
I wouldn’t recommend this to everybody, but if you check out the content warnings and want to go along for the ride, give Squid Ward a go! Quite possibly my favourite part was how many nautical-themed/punned names were squeezed in there 🌊
And yes, this guy does just perfectly match the book cover 🤷‍♀️

REVIEW
4.25 🌟
This book was wild, weird, and brilliant. I was sucked in, despite having to cringe at the body horror, and couldn’t look away. What a ride!

DESCRIPTION
At hell’s heart a desperate choice is made to have a baby.

Motherhood has always been out of reach and after years of loss and grief, Dory Angler believed she would never hold her own child in her arms.

When a charming doctor comes into her life with a promise of finally becoming a mother, hope inspires Dory to go to all lengths, including undergoing a revolutionary procedure for one last shot at pregnancy.

Post surgery, Dory is changed forever. Will she give birth or is this the worst mistake of her life?

TESTIMONIALS
“A glorious, unexpected, twisted and thrilling read! Get your jigs ready! We are going squidding!” – B.J. Twigg @benjamintwiggwrites Indieverse Award Winning Author of Can’t Refuse Him

“Squid Ward is a dark and twisted sci-fi horror with unexpected stakes and raw emotional turmoil. I was captivated by every page of Dory’s desperate journey to motherhood.” – Brendan Arnold @brendanarnold big Award Winning Author of Rise of the Phoenix by @mikreads98

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6 days ago

Love Your Bookshop Day 2026 @loveyourbookshopau @penguinbooksaus @penguinrandomhouse 🐧🧡

I always love an excuse to go into @macleansbooks and today didn’t disappoint. Will be following along to see who got the golden ticket- I had a quick look but didn’t see it!

Thank you to @harryhartog.hunternewcastle - I have wanted to pick up An Ancient Witch’s Guide to Modern Dating for a while- and the only thing better than sprayed edges is an ARC

And couldn’t go to Westfield without going to @qbdbooks - I hadn’t heard of this book before but feels like my sort of fantasy

Did you pick up any new books at your local bookshop today❓

#loveyourbookshopday2026 #bookstore #penguinbooks taken in Newcastle, New South Wales by @mikreads98

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9 days ago

A thrilling night hearing @emmababbington talk about her newest book, The Gardens, with Kate at @uminabeachbooknook 🩵
I stayed up until after 1am finishing this one as it was one of those thrillers that just hooks you in. It was such a pleasure hearing Emma talk about the inspirations behind the setting, her publishing journey, and what’s to come!

DESCRIPTION
It might look idyllic, but the secrets buried there are deadly...
When human bones are found in the garden attached to the glamorous London home where she grew up, Jess McIntyre prepares to receive the news she has dreaded for thirty-four years: that her sister, Nina, is dead and now here is the proof.

Nina disappeared without a trace in 1992, aged eighteen, the summer she fell in with a charismatic group of friends who squatted in a vacant house on the other side of Willow Gardens.

Having moved to Australia years ago, widow and single mum Jess arrives back in London to provide a DNA sample to help the investigation, with her teenage son, Ollie, in tow.

As they try and unravel the secrets of Nina’s past, and her connection to a sinister cult, will they discover that some bodies are best left buried...?

#bookstagram #authortalk #centralcoast #uminabeachbooknook taken in Umina Beach Book Nook by @mikreads98

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9 days ago

My non-comprehensive list, for whatever your spook-tober vibe may be 🎃👻

#spooktober #halloween #bookstack #bookrecs #halloweenbooks by @mikreads98

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10 days ago

The best night hanging out with @k.s.elliottauthor for the second stop on the Ultan Academy tour 🩶
If I wasn’t already sold by the card-magic premise, I would definitely have been won over by the yap session tonight
K.S. is so lovely and relatable, so of course I had to get a matching shirt. Petition for more authors to make merch for their books! 📚
Thank you to @inkandivybookstore for hosting, see you at the next one!

#authortalk #bookstagram #ultanacademy by @mikreads98

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11 days ago

In our @noahkahanmusic uniform 🫶
Still buzzing from the weekend!

#noahkahan #twinning #braids by @mikreads98

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12 days ago

❤️💙 Not usually a big sports fan, but seeing Newy come together to support the Knights was really something
Here’s my red and blue stack (all Aussie authors of course)
#bookstack #newcastleknights #betterthanlego taken in Newcastle, New South Wales by @mikreads98

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13 days ago

✨ Noah Kahan Sydney, Night 1 highlights ✨

Not my usual post but I had too much fun not to share 💖
#noahkahan #thegreatdividetour #stickseason taken in Afterpay Arena by @mikreads98

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16 days ago

Please take this as my official stance on book length 📚
(Yes, I own Alchemised)

Do you have a preference?

#trend #books #bookstagram by @mikreads98

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17 days ago

✨ Come on a reading sprint with me ✨

Reading Marked by Instinct by @a.s.worthington
Loving this one so far- the dual storyline has me hooked!

What’s your current read?

#reader #timelapse #readingsprint by @mikreads98

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19 days ago