Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

Title: Blood Over Bright Haven

Author: M.L. Wang

Publisher: Del Rey 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 428

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Seasonal - Random Library Pick; Cover Lover - Alliterative title

Where I Got It: Library

For twenty years, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry.

When Sciona finally passes the qualifying exam and becomes a highmage, she finds her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues are determined to make her feel unwelcome—and, instead of a qualified lab assistant, they give her a janitor.

What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was not always a janitor. Ten years ago, he was a nomadic hunter who lost his family on their perilous journey from the wild plains to the city. But now he sees the opportunity to understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the privileged in power.

At first, mage and outsider have a fractious relationship. But working together, they uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first.

The opening chapter to this book was amazing and sucked me in immediately. I wanted deeply invested in what was going to happen in the city. But then, the story started to get bogged down. I found the explanation of the magic system to be tedious and long-winded. I was willing to look beyond that to focus on the bigger themes and the characters. But those also let me down. The themes of colonialism, propaganda, and misogyny were shoved down our throats over and over until all the factions and thoughts felt like caricatures of themselves. The main character had to stand in for so many different kinds of people and ideas. I couldn’t really connect with either of them. Thomil was the better of the two, but I still couldn’t really connect with him. I think the book would have benefitted from chapters in his POV. Overall, I was pretty disappointed in this one.

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Next up on the TBR pile:

Lights Out by Navessa Allen

Title: Lights Out (Into Darkness #1)

Author: Navesaa Allen

Publisher: Slowburn 2024

Genre: Romance

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Dark Psychology (Mirror Wing: Stalker romance or romantic thriller); Cover Lover - Minimal cover art/design

Where It Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 6

I want someone with a soul as black as night. Someone who would burn the world down for me and not lose a single minute of sleep over it.

Trauma nurse Aly Cappellucci doesn’t need any more kinks. She likes the one she’s landed on just fine. To her, nothing could top the masked men she follows online. Unless one of those men was shirtless, heavily tattooed, and waiting for her in her bedroom. She dreams about being hunted by one in particular, of him chasing her down and doing deliciously dark things to her willing body. She never could have guessed that by sending one drunken text, those dreams would become her new reality.

I want things most people don’t, craving darkness and depravity instead of light and love.

Josh Hammond has spent his life avoiding the limelight, but his online persona is another story. At night, he posts masked thirst traps for his millions of fans to drool over, but one follower has caught his eye: Aly. After reading a comment begging him to break into her house wearing a mask, he decides to take her up on her offer.

Together, Aly and Josh live out their darkest fantasies, unaware that Aly has captured the attention of someone else. Someone with far more sinister intentions than a little light stalking. As Josh turns from predator to protector and the stakes heighten, he must ask himself how far he’s willing to go for the woman he’s obsessed with.

I have seen this book absolutely everywhere, which of course made me very suspicious that it was any good. I finally picked it up after a friend confirmed that they liked it. We dive right into a stalker romance with two very strong leads. I immediately fell for Aly and her dark humor and resilience. It took a bit more for me to warm up to Josh, but that was mostly due to the constant reminders of his insecurities. Once he started opening up, I was all in. The conceit is a bit ridiculous and definitely leans fantasy as opposed to realistic romance. But, I was all in for the fantasy this week. I loved the push and pull between the lead characters. The tension and play was perfect. I will admit that once we get the mob involved in the storyline, I ended up taking off a star. The story almost turned into a comedy and I wasn’t loving the tone shift. I still really enjoyed this one and will read more from the author.

Into Darkness

#1 Lights Out
#2 Caught Up
#3 Game On

Next up on the TBR pile:

Voices in the Snow by Darcy Coates

Title: Voices in the Snow (Black Winter #1)

Author: Darcy Coates

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press 2019

Genre: Horror

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR - Snowy Setting; Cover Lover - Ice in some form

Where I Got It: Library

Clare remembers the cold. She remembers abandoned cars and children's toys littered across the road. She remembers dark shapes in the snow and a terror she can't explain. And then... nothing. When she wakes, aching and afraid in a stranger's gothic home, he tells her she was in an accident, a crash in the snow. He claims he saved her. Clare wants to leave, but a vicious snowstorm has blanketed the world in white, trapping them together, and there's nothing she can do but wait.

At least the stranger seems kind... but Clare doesn't know if she can trust him. He promised they were alone here, but she sees and hears things that convince her something else is creeping about the surrounding woods, watching. Waiting. Between the claustrophobic storm and the inescapable sense of being hunted, Clare is on edge... and increasingly certain of one thing:

Her car crash wasn't an accident. Something is waiting for her to step outside the fragile safety of the house... something monstrous, something unfeeling.

Something desperately hungry.

I wanted something wintery. I wanted something propulsive. I wanted something creepy and maybe even a bit scary. I got everything I wanted in this book. I loved the mounting tension through the majority of the chapters. We really do not know if Clare is a reliable narrator for almost the entire time. It created a sense of unease that I ate up! And Dorran was such a mystery. I kept going back and forth about him until the end. As it stands, the creepy appearances were perfectly creepy. My only complaint was the reveal of who was controlling the “people.” I didn’t love that. But I will keep reading in this series.

Black Winter

#1 Voices in the Snow
#2 Secrets in the Dark
#3 Whispers in the Mist
#4 Silence in the Shadows

Next up on the TBR pile:

Mate by Ali Hazelwood

Title: Mate

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher: Berkley 2025

Genre: Romantasy

Pages: 457

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Nightshade Society Club (Full Moon Fever); Cover Lover - Mythical creature

Spice Rating: 6

Serena Paris is orphaned, pack-less, and one of a kind. Coming forward as the first Human-Were hybrid was supposed to heal a centuries-long rift between species. Instead, it made her a target, prey to the ruthless political machinations between Weres, Vampyres, and Humans. With her enemies closing in on her, she has only one option left—if he’ll have her.

As Alpha of the Northwest pack, Koen Alexander commands obedience. His authority is so absolute, only a fool would threaten his mate. It doesn’t matter if Serena doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, nothing will stop him from keeping her safe.

But power-hungry Vampyres and Weres are not the only threats chasing Serena. Sooner or later, her past is bound to catch up with her—and Koen might be the only thing standing between her and total annihilation…

I really enjoyed Bride when it came out and was hoping the same level of plot and romance. Unfortunately, this one disappointed me. My biggest issue was the romance. What romance exactly? For most of the book, the main characters have no interest in each other. Even after they start having sex it’s because of Serena being in heat, not because they really want to. I never bought them actually being into each other at all. I really really dislike the being in heat trope for werewolf stories. Come to think of it, I really dislike werewolf stories. I dislike the power dynamics and misogynistic undertones to every interaction. I much prefer the vampire dynamics. As to the plot itself, so much was left unresolved. What happened to the bounty? Who was behind the bounty? What about Serena’s disease? Did sex magically cure that? What about the cult and all the weird things surrounding that? And even beyond the plot holes, there was so much unresolved trauma in this book. Not everything needs to be tied up in a neat bow, but my goodness, they never even addressed the trauma. So bad.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Overgrowth by Mira Grant

Title: Overgrowth

Author: Mira Grant

Publisher: Tor Nightfire 2025

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 469

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter - Speculative Fiction

Where I Got It: Library

This is just a story. It can't hurt you anymore.

Since she was three years old, Anastasia Miller has been telling anyone who would listen that she's an alien disguised as a human being, and that the armada that left her on Earth is coming for her. Since she was three years old, no one has believed her.

Now, with an alien signal from the stars being broadcast around the world, humanity is finally starting to realize that it's already been warned, and it may be too late. The invasion is coming, Stasia's biological family is on the way to bring her home, and very few family reunions are willing to cross the gulf of space for just one misplaced child.

What happens when you know what’s coming, and just refuse to listen?

I was so disappointed in this book… I have loved Grant’s previous books, especially Drowning in the Deep, but this one was boring and lacked any punch or horror. I was pulled in by the comparison to Day of the Triffids and Annihilation. It is neither of those things. Instead, we get almost 400 pages of Anastasia warning of the invasion and people talking about how weird she is. That’s about it. The actual invasion seems super anti-climatic after all those pages. I wanted action. I wanted horror. Instead, this read like a young adult novel where the main character repeats how unlikeable they are and how people don’t understand them. I was thoroughly bored.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Hooked by Emily McIntire

Title: Hooked (Never After #1)

Author: Emily McIntire

Publisher: Bloom Books 2021

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 397

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Romanceopoly - Velvet Room (Dark romance with walking red-flag love interest); Fairytale retelling - Peter Pan

Where I Got It: Under the Cover, Kansas City, Retreat Weekend 2025

Spice Rating: 6

James has always had one agenda: destroy his enemy, Peter Michaels. When Peter’s twenty-year-old daughter Wendy shows up in James’s bar, he sees his way in. Seduce the girl and use her for his revenge. It’s the perfect plan, until things in James’s organization begin to crumble. Suddenly, he has to find the traitor in his midst, and his plan for revenge gets murkier as James starts to see Wendy as more than just a pawn in his game.

Wendy has been cloistered away most of her life by her wealthy cold father, but a spontaneous night out with friends turns into an intense and addictive love affair with the dark and brooding James. As much as she knows James is dangerous, Wendy can’t seem to shake her desire for him. But as their relationship grows more heated and she learns more about the world he moves in, she finds herself unsure if she’s falling for the man known as James or the monster known as Hook.

I picked this up last Bookish Retreat at the romance book store, I do love a morally grey love interest and a romance filled with dark themes. I was excited that this was a Hook centered romance. But somehow I completely missed that this was a straight romance, no fantasy elements at all. Thankfully I still really enjoyed this one. Hook is out for revenge and thinks Wendy is going to be the perfect tool to achieve that revenge. Instead, Hook finds himself drawn to Wendy. On the other side, Wendy breaks out of shell and figures out what she wants. I loved the twists and turns and all the murdery bits. I love the combination of murder and romance. I think the genre mashup is my sweet spot. This volume ends with a HEA, but I’m excited to keep reading McIntire’s redone fairy tales.

Never After

#1 Hooked
#2 Scarred
#3 Wretched
#4 Twisted
#5 Crossed
#6 Hexed

Next up on the TBR pile:

What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher

Title: What Stalks the Deep (Sworn Soldier #3)

Author: T. Kingfisher

Publisher: Tor Nightfire 2025

Genre: Horror

Pages: 179

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR - Horror; Cover Lover - Compound word in title or author’s name

Alex Easton does not want to visit America.

They particularly do not want to visit an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia with a reputation for being haunted.

But when their old friend Dr. Denton summons them to help find his lost cousin―who went missing in that very mine―well, sometimes a sworn soldier has to do what a sworn soldier has to do...

Another really good novella featuring the indomitable Alex Easton! This time finds our hero deep in an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia searching for a friend’s cousin. Of course Easton is going to find something creepy and probably dangerous down in that mine. I love how Kingfisher can ramp up the tension throughout the chapter until the big reveal to Alex and the audience. This one wasn’t quite as terrifying as the first one or as atmospheric as the second one, but it was definitely a solid horror novella. I cannot wait to see what Kingfisher dreams up next for our favorite Sworn Soldier.

Sworn Soldier

#1 What Moves the Dead
#2 What Feasts at Night
#3 What Stalks the Deep

Next up on the TBR pile:

Sphere by Michael Crichton

Title: Sphere

Author: Michael Crichton

Publisher: Ballantine Books 1987

Genre: Scifi

Pages: 371

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Seasonal - Leftover from 2025; Cover Lover - Does not include the words “and” or “the”

Where I Got It: Library

A classic thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Crichton, Sphere is a bravura demonstration of what he does better than anyone: riveting storytelling that combines frighteningly plausible, cutting-edge science and technology with pulse-pounding action and serious chills. The gripping story of a group of American scientists sent to the ocean floor to investigate an alien ship, only to confront a terrifying discovery that defies imagination, Sphere is Crichton prime - truly masterful fiction from the ingenious mind that brought us Prey, State of Fear, and Jurassic Park.

It had been probably 20 years since I had read Sphere. I had decided that 2025 was the year to reread but never got around to it. Finally accomplished it this week. This is definitely in the top of Crichton books. It’s no Jurassic Park. or The Andromeda Strain, but it’s still a very solid scifi adventure story. Crichton is definitely an ideas man with his books. I don’t come for the characters or the dialogue. I come for the interesting questions he raises through adventure stories. In this one, we get an interesting take on reality and power with some great twists and turns. J and I rewatched the movie. till holds up!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Title: Binti (Binti #1)

Author: Nnedi Okorafor

Publisher: Tordotcom 2015

Genre: Scifi

Pages: 96

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Speccy Fiction - Speculative Novella

Where I Got It: Library

Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti's stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.

If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself ― but first she has to make it there, alive.

Our book club selection for January and it was a novella. I was glad for the shorter length after a frantic holiday season. We are dumped into a very strange world based partly on our own history and partly on imagination. It took me a few pages to get my bearings, but once there, I really enjoyed this short story about a woman discovering herself and the world outside her planet. I loved watching Binti transform in just a short amount of pages. She truly feels like a new character but also the same by the end. I am interested in seeing where this series goes. I may just pick up the other two books soon.

Binti

#1 Binti
#1.5 Sacred Fire
#2 Home
#3 The Night Masquerade

Next up on the TBR pile:

All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor

Title: All These Worlds (Bobiverse #3)

Author: Dennis E. Taylor

Publisher: Worldbuilder Press 2017

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 336

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Speccy Fiction - Scifi with Spaceship or Space Station Setting; Cover Lover - X, Y, or Z in author’s name

Where I Got It: Our server

Being a sentient spaceship really should be more fun. But after spreading out through space for almost a century, Bob and his clones just can't stay out of trouble.

They've created enough colonies so humanity shouldn't go extinct. But political squabbles have a bad habit of dying hard, and the Brazilian probes are still trying to take out the competition. And the Bobs have picked a fight with an older, more powerful species with a large appetite and a short temper.

Still stinging from getting their collective butts kicked in their first encounter with the Others, the Bobs now face the prospect of a decisive final battle to defend Earth and its colonies. But the Bobs are less disciplined than a herd of cats, and some of the younger copies are more concerned with their own local problems than defeating the Others.

Yet salvation may come from an unlikely source. A couple of eighth-generation Bobs have found something out in deep space. All it will take to save the Earth and perhaps all of humanity is for them to get it to Sol - unless the Others arrive first.

And with this book, we come to the end of one arc in this series. I was definitely wanting to know what would happen with the Others, the Deltans, the last Earthlings, and every other random storyline. This book wraps many of those stories up with plausible endings. There’s no big deus ex machina here, just realistic space battles and human (Deltan, etc) failures and triumphs. I don’t think I love this series quite as much as J, but they are good fast-paced space centered scifi. The audio is well done and I can read one of these in a weekend while cleaning, organizing, or crafting. I will probably keep going after a short ear break.

Bobiverse

#1 We are Legion (We are Bob)
#2 For We are Many
#3 All These Worlds
#4 Heaven’s River
#5 Not Till We are Lost

Next up on the TBR pile:

Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver

Title: Tourist Season (Seasons of Carnage #1)

Author: Brynne Weaver

Publisher: Slowburn 2025

Genre: Horror Romance

Pages: 368

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Seasonal Winter - Romance; Romanceopoly - Secret Stacks Club (Plot Twist Pages); Cover Lover - Weapon from the board game Clue

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 6

Welcome to Cape Carnage! Visit Once, Stay Forever.

You can hide in the farthest reaches of the deepest hell, and I will still drag you out. Even the devil can’t save you from me.

Cape Carnage is a seaside town of colorful houses, quirky shops, and an unusually high body count. With tourists comes trouble, and Harper Starling won’t let anyone ruin her picture-perfect home. A skilled gardener with killer instincts, Harper protects her sanctuary—and her aging mentor with a fading memory—at any cost. Troublesome tourists don’t check out of Carnage. They compost beneath Harper’s award-winning flowerbeds.

But Nolan Rhodes isn’t your average tourist. Devilishly handsome, disarmingly charming, and skilled with a blade, Nolan is relentless in the pursuit of revenge. On every anniversary of the hit-and-run accident that fractured his life, Nolan slays another target. And he’s saved the best for last: the undeniably beautiful Harper Starling. The problem? Harper isn’t the monster he expected. And she won’t go down without a fight.

When an amateur true crime investigator comes to Cape Carnage on the trail of a long-lost serial killer, Harper and Nolan strike an uneasy truce. If Nolan helps Harper protect her town, she’ll keep quiet about his hunting habits . . . for now. But their alliance soon spirals into obsession, one that threatens to shatter every secret in Carnage—including their fragile love.

Not quite to the level of the Ruinous Love trilogy, but I did thoroughly enjoy this book full of more murder than spicy scenes. I enjoyed the strange cat and mouse game the leads played throughout the chapters. We get to see two very broken people deal with traumatic pasts and find romance along the way. The murder scenes were delightful. My favorite was the hands clapping. Morpheus the murder bird was a great addition to all of those scenes. I loved the interactions between Harper and Arthur. The few spicy scenes were very strong. But I felt that the chemistry between Nolan and Harper was lacking a bit. I would have liked some more conversations and/or pining from either of them. The ending does have a cliffhanger, but Nolan and Harper gets a HEA or at least a happy-right-now. I will definitely be picking up the next book when it releases in June.

Seasons of Carnage

#1 Tourist Season
#2 Harvest Season
#3 TBD

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Wildest Things by Andrea Hannah

Title: The Wildest Things

Author: Andrea Hannah

Publisher: Wednesday Books 2025

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 320

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fairytales - Snow White; Cover Lover - Palindrome (Author Name); Winter - Fairytale

Where I Got It: Library

When her glass coffin unexpectedly shatters, Snow White awakens to anything but a dream. The land is rotting. The animals have mutated. In the twenty years that have passed since Snow bit into the poisoned apple, the kingdom of Roanfrost has transformed from a luscious wild land to a blight-ravaged nightmare. In search of answers and a way to restore her kingdom to its former glory, Snow sets out on a dangerous journey that will test the strength she never knew she had.

Friends will become foes.

New alliances will form.

The Queen with the blood red lips will stop at nothing to seize her power as well as her heart.

If Snow has any chance to survive and restore not only her kingdom, but all of Garedenne, her only option is to become the Seasonkeeper and access the life-giving magic that will heal the plague. But the path to becoming the Seasonkeeper is more treacherous than she could ever imagine―because the wild things have awakened and Snow’s darker impulses yearn to set them free.

I was hoping for a fun dark fairy tale retelling with a sapphic twist. Instead, I got a plodding tale devoid of fun or adventure and definitely no sapphic relationship. My first book of 2026 was definitely a disappointment. I just couldn’t get behind Snow at all as a character. She was too naive for her own good even after the audience learns more about their world and the things she should figure out much more quickly than she does. The entire process of becoming a season keeper was just pretty boring. Nothing exciting to really hold my attention. And do not get me started on the fact that she never really interacts with the Queen’s daughter in person. I wanted so much more! The only thing that saved the book was the chapters told from the mirror’s POV. Those were at least interesting!

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

Title: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

Author: Megan Bannen

Publisher: Orbit 2022

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; She Reads Romance - Historical (sorta)

Where I Got It: Rainy Day Books, Kansas City, MO June 2023

Spice Rating: 5

Hart is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the strange and magical wilds of Tanria. It’s an unforgiving job, and Hart’s got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness.

Mercy never has a moment to herself. She’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest.

After yet another exasperating run-in with Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to “A Friend”. Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born.

If only Hart knew he’s been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most—Mercy. As the dangers from Tanria grow closer, so do the unlikely correspondents. But can their blossoming romance survive the fated discovery that their pen pals are their worst nightmares—each other?

This is a very loose retelling of You’ve Got Mail, which honestly did not encourage me to read this book. I was not a fan of the movie and hesitated with this one. Thankfully the book is a very loose retelling with a lot more fantasy plot. I wasn’t quite sure about our main characters at first, but they quickly grew on me. I loved Mercy and her take charge attitude and drive. I loved her care for her family and the business. Hart was a little less likable, but he really started to warm up after being paired with Pen for work. And boy does this book have some great side characters. Zeddie and Pen were definitely my favorites, but there’s also something to be said for the nimkillin. Loved them! And throughout the interpersonal relationships and a bit of romance, we get a big mystery of the increase in drudges. I loved finding out all the threads were interconnected. After the success of this volume, I may just have to pick up the other two in the series.

Hart and Mercy

#1 The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy
#2 The Undermining of Twyla and Frank
#3 The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam

Next up on the TBR pile:

Bingsu for Two by Sujin Witherspoon

Title: Bingsu for Two

Author: Sujin Witherspoon

Publisher: Union Square & Co. 2025

Genre: YA Romance

Pages: 320

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Foodie; She Reads Romance - New Adult

Where I Got It: Library

Meet River Langston-Lee. In the past 24 hours, he’s dumped his girlfriend, walked out of his SATs, and quit his job at his parents’ cafe in spectacularly disastrous fashion—even for him.

Somehow, he manages to talk his way into a gig at a failing Korean cafe, Bingsu for Two, which is his lucky break until he meets short, grumpy, and goth: Sarang Cho. She’s his new no-BS co-worker who’s as determined to make River’s life hell as she is to save her family’s cafe.

After River accidentally uploads a video of his chaotic co-workers to his popular fandom account, they strike viral fame. The kicker? Their new fans ship River and Sarang big-time. In order to keep the Internet’s attention—and the cafe’s new paying customers—River and Sarang must pretend that the tension between them is definitely of the romantic variety, not the considering the best way to kill you and hide your body variety.

But when Bingsu for Two’s newfound success catches the attention of River’s ex and his parents’ cafe around the corner, he faces a choice: keep letting others control his life or stand up for the place that’s become home. And a green-haired girl who’s not as heartless as he originally thought . . .

Completely by chance I happened upon this book at the library. And I’m so glad that I actually checked it out and dove in a few days ago. This is a typical angsty teen romance, but it also has a lot of heart and great banter in between ridiculous situations. The book reminded me of Emma Lorde’s Tweet Cute, but even more updated for today. We get two teens trying to find their own identities through the process of saving a family coffee shop. The characters are cute but also very real and relatable. They make mistakes but also grow and change for the better throughout the story. Witherspoon has crafted a cute story with propulsive writing that kept me turning the pages. I’m excited to see what the author writes next.

Romanceopoly 2025 Board Light Skin Brown Hair.jpg

Next up on the TBR pile:

Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks

Title: Morbidly Yours (Love in Galway #1)

Author: Ivy Fairbanks

Publisher: Lassen Press 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 328

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Luck of the Irish; She Reads Romance - Contemporary

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 5

Callum Flannelly would rather dive into an open grave than take a stranger to dinner. But he can only inherit the family undertaking business under one condition: He must marry before his 35th birthday. So it’s out of the mortuary and into the dating scene. Lark Thompson came to Galway, Ireland to embrace life, not be reminded of losing her husband by moving in next to a funeral home.

Then the vivacious Texan animator learns of painfully shy Callum’s dilemma and makes it her mission to help him find The One. Although sworn off love herself, she’s certain Callum will find his match. But as the dating project progresses and their friendship grows, their attraction is undeniable. Spending time with serious, sarcastic Callum starts to crack the ice around Lark’s heart, and the more color Lark brings to Callum’s monochrome existence, the less he can imagine life without her.

If they think they can ignore their connection, they’re dead wrong.

Pretty disappointed in this one. I liked Callum, but Lark just seemed to be very one-dimensional. Her “quirky” Texan personality just left me wanting more. And her insistence of not telling Callum about the fact that she is a widow really annoyed me. I’m not wanting everyone to tell all their secrets within minutes of meeting someone, but it should have been brought up. I liked Callum and the discussions about his stutter and social anxiety. I just didn’t buy those two together. And don’t get me started on the spicy scenes. Really for not happening until over 50% of the way through the book, the sex scene came off stilted and not very hot. I just didn’t buy the sexual chemistry between the two characters. Unfortunately, this book really fell flat for me.

Love in Galway

#1 Morbidly Yours
#2 Heart Strings
#3 The Autumn Affair

Next up on the TBR pile:

Lore Olympus Vol. 9 by Rachel Smythe

Title: Lore Olympus Volume 9

Author: Rachel Smythe

Publisher: Inklore 2025

Genre: Fantasy Comic

Pages: 432

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Where I Got It: Library

“The Underworld has a queen!”

Persephone and Hades are finally reunited when the banished goddess of spring returns to the Underworld to claim her rightful place as queen. Now that Hades and Persephone have defeated and imprisoned the power-hungry Kronos once more, nothing can keep them apart, and years of being separated have only made their desire for each other grow. But the other Olympians can’t help but meddle, pushing the pair to make things official with a coronation—and a wedding.

Ignoring the others who try to define their relationship, Hades and Persephone choose to take things at their own pace and focus on rebuilding the Underworld. They begin by investigating how Kronos was first able to escape, and they learn the horrifying truth that he has captured a powerful young god whose abilities help Kronos project his thoughts outside of Tartarus—thoughts he uses to plague Hera’s every waking moment. Though Kronos’s physical form is locked away, Olympus will never be free until they can rescue the child from the furious Titan’s grasp.

To save the realms, Persephone must figure out her fertility goddess powers and embrace her role as Queen of the Underworld—even as it takes her further from her mother’s expectations and her former place in the Mortal Realm.

This edition of Smythe’s original Eisner Award–winning webcomic Lore Olympus features a brand-new, exclusive short story from creator Rachel Smythe and brings the Greek pantheon into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

This volume collects episodes 207–233 of the #1 WEBTOON comic Lore Olympus.

Still really enjoying this series. I loved seeing Persephone start to come into her power and role as Queen of the Underworld. I loved seeing her take confident steps towards a full relationship with Hades. I loved seeing her stand up to some of the other characters, especially her mother. My biggest complaint is the seemingly confusing timeline. Some of the chapters are definitely not in linear order and it was a jarring transition to follow. I wish they had been labeled better. But I will keep reading this interpretation of the Greek myths. Only one more volume to go!

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

Title: The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

Author: Ally Carter

Publisher: Avon 2024

Genre: Romance/Mystery

Pages: 293

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - The Book Nook (Bookish Main Character); She Reads Romance - Holiday

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 4

The bridge is out. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room two days before Christmas.
Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt:
She’s the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery.
He’s Mr. Big-time Thriller Guy.
She hates his guts.
He thinks her name is Marcie (no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise.)
But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the world: Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself.
That night, the weather turns, and the next morning Eleanor is gone.
She vanished from a locked room, and Maggie has to wonder: Is Eleanor in danger? Or is it all some kind of test? Is Ethan the competition? Or is he the only person in that snowbound mansion she can trust?
As the snow gets deeper and the stakes get higher, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other. Because, this Christmas, these two rivals are going to have to become allies (and maybe more) if they have any hope of saving Eleanor.
Assuming they don’t kill each other first.

Wow! This was such a disappointment! I was hoping for a great romance mystery with the blurbs likening it to Knives Out. It was no Knives Out. That mystery was smart, intriguing, and complicated but ultimately explainable, even easy enough for the audience to figure it out if they paid attention. This mystery was intriguing but ultimately left unsolved. We get the ultimate letdown by just saying that some mysteries should be left unsolved. NO! The whole point of a mystery book is to solve the case. I was highly annoyed but that part, but what really tanked the book was the romance angle. This was not a romance. This was a jumble of tropes that never really made any logical sense and two characters that I never thought had any chemistry. The FMC was a total grinch most of the time and then did a complete 180 in an instant. Nope. The MMC was creepy and leering constantly needling the FMC but in a stupid childhood playground kind of way. No thank you! And having their first time having sex while the FMC is bleeding from a head wound?!?!?!? No fucking thank you! Ultimate disappoint for the season.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Lodge by Kayla Olson

Title: The Lodge

Author: Kayla Olson

Publisher: Atria Books 2025

Genre: Romance

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Read Around the USA - Vermont; She Reads Romance - Romcom; Cover Lover - Wintery Scene

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 2

Alix Morgan just got her big break as the ghostwriter of a memoir by Sebastian Green, a former member of the boy band True North. And when he offers her a penthouse at a luxurious resort in Vermont, she jumps at the chance to work far away from her noisy, cramped apartment.

Her career as an entertainment journalist has been building toward this dream job—after all, she used to cover True North and was one of the last people to interview former front man Jett Beckett before he disappeared. As she combs through her client’s voice memos, the specter of the missing lead singer remains, and fans are desperate to know the full story.

But Alix also has time for some fun at this glamorous resort, where she begins ski lessons with a handsome instructor named Tyler. As Alix and Tyler fall in love on the slopes, Alix’s work takes a complicated turn—and the mystery of True North’s downfall may be hers to solve.

Completely random holiday romance from the library that actually kept me interested and entertained. I didn’t even realize until the end that this book is essentially a closed door romance. I usually don’t read anything lower than a 5, but this one slipped through. Thankfully Olson has created a compelling story with some vivid characters and enough mystery to keep me picking it back up. I was sucked into the mystery of what happened to Jett and how as Alix going to ghostwrite Sebastian’s memoir. I was with the story until the third act. I was slightly annoyed by how Alix handled (or didn’t handle) her sister and then her sister’s photo leak. I felt like there needed to be a much more serious confrontation. But maybe that was just me. Overall, I enjoyed this snowy romance.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Tender Cruelty by Katee Robert

Title: Tender Cruely (Dark Olympus #9)

Author: Katee Robert

Publisher: Sourcebooks 2025

Genre: Romance

Pages: 304

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; She Reads Romance - Suspense

Spice Rating: 5

The barrier that's protected Olympus for generations has fallen. The enemy's breached the gates and the Thirteen are scrambling to protect themselves, their loved ones, and the city they've sworn to protect. At least they would be if they weren't at each others' throats instead.

Hera has no intention of letting her husband, Zeus, survive the oncoming storm. But despite the white-hot hatred burning between them, when Hera and Zeus are forced to work together, enmity crystalizes into something brighter. Hotter. Too powerful to deny or destroy.

Hera never bartered on falling in love with the man she married―the man she once swore to kill. But now, standing back-to-back in the ruins of Olympus, she may be forced to admit that she's been wrong about Zeus all these years…and there may be something about their marriage worth saving if they can survive long enough to turn sworn enemies into something more.

Finally finally finally we get Hera and Zeus’s story!!!! I have been waiting basically the entire series for this story. After the last two volumes, I was hoping that this one was going to be good one but was leery going into it. Thankfully there is a great blend of larger plot and romance in this one. We get to finally see the inner workings of Callisto and Perseus as they find their way through the cluster fuck of Olympus and their own marriage. There is so much packed into this slim novel, but I loved every page of it. The political dealings have come to a boil and things are changing in the city. Seeing our two main characters attempt to fix their situations was suspenseful. The romance aspect isn’t lovey dovey as appropriate for our characters, but much much more realistic. I loved seeing these two frosty closed-off characters slowly open up and become close. This sets up the last book in the series perfectly. I cannot wait until next summer!

Dark Olympus

#0.5 Stone Heart
#1 Neon Gods
#1.5 Hades and Hades
#2 Electric Idol
#2.5 Zeus and Hera
#3 Wicked Beauty
#4 Radiant Sun
#5 Cruel Seduction
#6 Midnight Ruin
#7 Dark Restraint
#8 Sweet Obsession
#9 Tender Cruelty
#10 Shattered Gods

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Compound by Aisling Rawle

Title: The Compound

Author: Aisling Rawle

Publisher: Random House 2025

Genre: Thriller??

Pages: 292

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Cover Lover - A sunrise or sunset

Where I Got It: Library

Lily—a bored, beautiful twenty-something—wakes up on a remote desert compound, alongside nineteen other contestants competing on a massively popular reality show. To win, she must outlast her housemates to stay in the Compound the longest, while competing in challenges for luxury rewards like champagne and lipstick, plus communal necessities to outfit their new home, like food, appliances, and a front door.

Cameras are catching all her angles, good and bad, but Lily has no desire to leave: why would she, when the world outside is falling apart? As the competition intensifies, intimacy between the players deepens, and it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between desire and desperation. When the unseen producers raise the stakes, forcing contestants into upsetting, even dangerous situations, the line between playing the game and surviving it begins to blur. If Lily makes it to the end, she’ll receive prizes beyond her wildest dreams—but what will she have to do to win?

Another big disappointment for me. I had picked this up from a recommendation rom a friend. I was thinking it would be a fun thriller with some social commentary. Unfortunately, I found this to be a huge mess. We get a line here or there about the fall of the world outside, but nothing actually comes of it. So why should we care? We are presented with people to explore a character study into motivations and desires, but all of the characters are incredibly unlikable. Plus most of the characters disappear quickly anyway. The pacing is terrible. The first part was pretty interesting, but once we reach the second part, everything slows down and stalls at certain points. I didn’t even want to keep turning the pages at certain parts. And then we get to the end. The book just ends. There’s absolutely no real conclusion and I didn’t even care. Such a miss for me.

Next up on the TBR pile: