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Review: Love Is a War Song by Danica Nava

Robin1 Comment

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Acclaimed pop singer Avery Fox’s career has hit a bit of a rough patch. Her Rolling Stone magazine feature that was supposed to launch her to real success has come under fire after she appeared on the cover wearing a feather war bonnet. The outcome of the magazine cover and her subsequent music video has led Avery’s Native American identity to be called into question and serious threats levied against her. Though Avery is Muscogee, she has been raised outside her community by her mom turned manager and has never met anyone else in her family. But in the aftermath of the national outcry over the magazine, Avery is sent to Oklahoma and to the ranch of a grandmother she has never met. Hoping to charm her grandmother and the ranch staff until things calm down, Avery is soon met with the reality of Lucas Iron Eyes, the man who runs Red Fox Ranch and decidedly not a fan of Avery, her music, or anything she represents. In the face of the ranch’s financial situation, Lucas and Avery begrudgingly team up. He’ll help her experience what it means to be Muscogee and she’ll help him save the ranch. Working side by side, Lucas and Avery push past their initial animosity, decidedly ignoring the real connection attempting to put down roots between them.

Danica Nava brings on the music in Love Is a War Song, her sophomore romance, which explores the power in forming community and finding ourselves in unlikely places. Love Is a War Song is a phenomenal follow up to Nava’s debut, The Truth According to Ember, which I eagerly read just a few days prior to starting this novel. Romance blossoming from the mess of the everyday is Danica Nava’s forte and that is made all the more clear in this play on cowboy and celebrity romance. Nava’s protagonists are flawed, a relatable representation of what it really means to be a person still figuring things out in today’s world. Where Ember had me stressed out by the protagonist’s elaborate web of lies, Love Is a War Song reasserts the power in standing in ones history and community. Featuring Indigenous love at the center of her romances, Nava gives voice to necessary perspectives in this genre and breaks apart an often monolithic view of unique Indigenous cultures. Danica Nava is easily one of the best new writers I’ve read within this genre and Love Is a War Song is a summer romance worth basking in.

Love is a War Song is a story all about first and second chances and the fallible nature of first impressions. It’s about building your community and home even when you’ve never had one to begin with. Avery Fox is uniquely placed within this romance, having been raised outside her Indigenous community to a mother who placed all her hopes in Avery’s success. This loss of her family and a greater connection to the Muscogee community is unmistakable as this story begins and it reverberates throughout the narrative as Avery pulls together the pieces of her lost history. This connection to her culture is echoed in the music Avery workshops while in Broken Arrow with help from Lucas. Music can inform who we are and the real music Avery is desperate to give voice to is nothing like the songs she is currently performing on stage. While there is a discernible sadness in knowing that Avery was denied a community in her upbringing, returning to the music gives Avery a chance to honor the one she’s found.

Hate to love fans rejoice because Love Is a War Song brings on the tension and indescribable chemistry between its two leads, Lucas and Avery. The romance that blossoms between Lucas and Avery is profound—stemming from two people who initially met with judgment actively working to unlearn those predisposed beliefs. I love romance in the details and Lucas Iron Eyes understands that to a T. He knows the extended versions of LOTR are superior, considers Avery the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, and doesn’t think she’ll choose him. I mean I had to love him after that. Hidden beneath a grumpy facade is a good heart and Lucas is the perfect balance to Avery’s warmth and softheartedness. Additionally, Lucas provides a necessary perspective in having lived life on the reservation alongside her grandmother, Lottie. Avery and Lucas are just so good for each other and I think I teared up a bit at some of these scenes, especially the one where she stands up to his parents. Nava integrates her romance within the larger themes of discovery and forging a new path and I was very moved by where it all ended up.

Danica Nava addresses a host of issues in this romance from the entertainment industry, to cancel culture, and Indigenous stereotypes, and all felt grounded in the story and its place. Alongside the romance, Avery confronts the hurt she caused the greater Indigenous community through her music video and magazine cover while becoming acquainted with her Muscogee community in Broken Arrow. Though she was ignorant of the connections through her music video and never intended harm, Avery acknowledges how her actions had greater consequences. Nava makes sure to draw on a larger critique of the entertainment industry parallel to this— an industry all too happy to capitalize on Avery’s Native American identity while also throwing her to the wolves the second she slipped up. Danica Nava handles this entire situation with nuance and her exploration into these subjects feels both timely and necessary. 

Love Is a War Song hits the mark for life affirming romance with just a dash of tropes and nostalgia. With Native American protagonists reaching for love and figuring out life and its plays on cowboy romance and grumpy/sunshine trope, Nava’s romance hits all the marks for a modern love story with such heart. Through Avery’s discovery of her home and life path, Danica Nava emphasizes the power of community and how it is never too late to return to one or build one for the first time. This is another romance only enriched by the ending authors note where Danica Nava delves a little bit more into her research and why she chose to represent the Muscogee Nation in this romance. There’s something about learning more of an author’s research and overall process that really speaks to me and this one is definitely worth the read. Built around misunderstanding but deepened in intimacy and newfound opportunity, Love Is a War Song is exactly the kind of romance I yearn for. Danica Nava leaves her mark with this outstanding romance and I eagerly await what she writes next.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this advance copy to review.

Trigger warnings: addiction

Preorder a Copy – Out 22nd July

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Review: The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

Robin1 Comment

Please note this review includes references to some events contained within The Knight and the Moth. No overt spoilers but read with caution.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

For ten long years all Sybil Delling has known is dreams and drowning. As a foundling child, Sybil was brought to Aisling Cathedral to take on the mantle of Diviner. In exchange for ten years of service she and six other girls were provided a home, sundering their names to forever be known by a number —gaining the ability to receive and interpret visions from six figures known as Omens. Across Traum, citizens and travelers wander the long roads to the Cathedral upon the tor to have their futures divined. Sybil and her sister Diviners are their guide through the magical waters of Aisling’s spring that drag them down into dreams. Just as Sybil and her fellow diviners close in on the end of their ten years of service, Traum’s king and his retinue of knights appear at the cathedral. Not long after, Sybil’s fellow Diviners begin to disappear one by one until only Sybil remains. Desperate for a way out, Sybil finds an ally in Roderick Myndacious, the foul and brash knight she met upon the tor at the side of the king. Entering a world unknown with a foul knight and a boy king grasping at a fantasy, Sybil will learn the cost of her divine gifts and the truth to the portents and their gods.

The Knight and the Moth is a fortifying dark gothic fairytale in which errant knights, vexing gargoyle companions, and ardent romance unite to bring truth to divination and the powers that sustain a kingdom and its divine figures. Rachel Gillig is back, enlisting her penchant for atmospheric gothic fantasy in her sophomore series, intricately carved in symbolism and unending power. There were few books I was more excited for from this upcoming year than Rachel Gillig’s sophomore novel, The Knight and the Moth. I think I let out an inhuman shriek when this showed up on my doorstep and in a self fulfilling prophecy sort of way it met all of my expectations and is easily my favorite book I’ve read this winter. The gothic is already one of my favorite genres, but add in lady knights, slow burn romance, and symbolism and The Knight and the Moth transforms into its own rare flavor of gothic fantasy. In her second series, Gillig continues to deliver on transportive fantasy that deals a devastating blow, and this is one I have yet to recover from. The Knight and the Moth is a novel altogether intricate in its inquiries into religion, but unflinching in exposing the roots of belief and the pull between religion and entire kingdoms.

Kicking off a classic quest narrative of knightly adventure with a ragtag cast of characters, The Knight and the Moth contests knightly virtues and the costs of service, whether fealty to one’s king or religious piety. Opening with the arrival of a young king and his retinue upon the tor, Gillig drowns readers in divination —from the inner workings of Aisling Cathedral to the kingdom of Traum. Sybil Delling, or “Six” is our veiled window into this enshrouded world as she breaks free from Aisling Cathedral and initiates a journey to unmake the Omens, or their gods. Coin, inkwell, oar, chime, loom stone, and moth connect to a mysterious sixth figure and provide a framing for this quest journey. Rachel Gillig skillfully places her narrative portents at various places to call forth and interpret at key moments across this novel. Almost endless in its symbolism, The Knight and the Moth is veiled in a wretched sort of beauty. The fetid water and rotting flowers around the Cathedral spring portray the violence in having to drown to divine and all of it encircles the haunting atmosphere which Gillig pulls forth.

The physical journey in The Knight and the Moth is made all the more profound through Sybil’s personal arc running alongside the quest narrative. Taken in as a child and transformed into a tool to be wielded in a power struggle she was wholly ignorant to, Sybil’s journey is both heartbreaking and fortifying in its unveiling. Something I love about reading fantasy is the slow process of learning a character’s purpose within the larger context of the story. Integrating into Sybil’s perspective it soon becomes clear just how connected she is to everything from the founding of this kingdom to the continuous cycle of making and unmaking. Sybil’s journey is one of personal enlightenment and agency, two things that were taken away from her the second she was drowned and initiated as a Diviner. Sibyl and her propensity to lose herself for a cause finds knighthood as a way to gain agency and begin to command her tale. Gillig removes the facades as soon as Sybil flees the Abbey upon the tor, but it takes much longer for her to stand in her truth and truly remove her mask.

The romance in The Knight and the Moth falls into the category of bitter banter with a healthy overdose of yearning. Picture me feral in the corner while reading this novel because Rory and Sybil had me drowned in their longing (like the wax scene? I think I died). There are few things I love more than two characters who misunderstand one another finding love. Those differing perspectives which clash and create tension slowly begin to fade away as the quest progresses. The relationship between Sybil and Rory presents an interesting dichotomy that integrates within the larger commentary on religion and fidelity. The tension between these two comes at the reality of their differing belief systems stemming from their upbringings. Rory as a foundling child given a chance and a purpose at the side of a king, and Sybil, a foundling child who was abandoned to serve the purpose of a manipulative and cruel mistress puts them thoroughly in opposition — or so you would think. But Rory plays into the knightly virtue of fealty, not to his king, but to Sybil herself. And that is why this romance had me on the floor: the longing and devotion that comes from seeing someone at their worst and the constancy of that devotion.

If there’s one thing I love in my fantasy novels it’s a funky little guy following the protagonist around. I’m proud to say Rachel Gillig understands this wholeheartedly. The sliver needed to underpin the more serious tones and overarching plot of this novel is the character of Bartholomew —the stone Gargoyle who flees the cathedral and joins the quest at Sybil’s side. Little did I know that this was actually going to lead to the most heartbreaking revelation in the last third of this novel. I should have expected nothing less from Gillig who expertly interweaves these symbols and character arcs together in a masterful final act that left me grasping at the threads and desperate for more signs. The foundations truly fall down in a penultimate scene connecting to the larger deception taking place within Traum and the woman at its center.  

In The Knight and the Moth, Rachel Gillig reveals the truth to divination and the powers underpinning the faith of a kingdom. Everyone from the gods —mere humans fed on shreds of power to retain divinity— to the citizens seeking meaning upon the tor are at the mercy of one woman and the waters running free from the mountain spring. The commentary on religion as a way to keep entire civilizations beholden and subservient runs deep within this story. The disunifying portions finally find cohesion in the return to Aisling Cathedral and the confrontation with the Abbess. This final section was absolutely my favorite part of this novel as Gillig disentangles her designs and provides an encompassment for her larger commentary. It is the Abbess who claims that it is the nature of humanity to seek signs and find meaning which she, or others like her, will always be able to manipulate. The final comment that when you feed people a poison disguised as salvation they will do anything you ask was a particularly apt link within the story. As Sybil’s veil comes down and the group nears the end of their quest, Gillig connects it to the deception held by the Abbess, the portents, and their intemperate gods.

Shrouded in dreams and glimmering prose, Rachel Gillig’s The Knight and the Moth is one fantasy novel I want to stay fully immersed in. Even knowing that many readers may start this having not read Gillig’s former novels, this is a paragon to her craft and may I boldly claim —the best of her work so far. Rachel Gillig has never not brought me to my knees with her enthralling gothic atmosphere and fervent romance and I’m afraid this has unseated the Shepherd King duology as my favorite. The Knight and the Moth frames faith within a greater context of power and an unending cycle of control and rebirth. Ordinary people become gods and are forever starved for the source, but immortality is a mere tool in the hands of a greater player. In the power vacuum left in the aftermath of her concluding act, Gillig drives one last swing at her readers’ sanity. I followed some of these breadcrumbs but even I was floored in its brutality. The Knight and the Moth reveals what truth lies in heresy and the idealistic views which causes the cycle to renew. Diving into dreams, faith, and devotion, Rachel Gillig deconstructs myth in one fantasy novel which will leave you similarly transformed. Forever mourning that I have to wait even longer for the next in this series and very much missing our unconventional knight crew and endearing gargoyle companion.

Thank you to Orbit Books for providing this advance copy to review.

Trigger warnings: blood, violence, murder, death

Preorder a Copy – Out 20th May

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Review: Good Spirits by B.K. Borison

Robin5 Comments

Rating: 5 out of 5.

It’s the first day of December and the last thing Harriet York expects when she returns home from work is for a mysterious ghost to appear from behind the depths of her Christmas tree —or that this mysterious stranger would tell her that her soul is in danger and he has been tasked with repairing her past. Nolan Callahan is everything a Ghost of Christmas Past should be, living his afterlife aimlessly and determined to pull off his latest assignment with time to spare. But his current haunting with Harriet York could not be more atypical. For one, she doesnt appear to be at all similar to his usual assignments, she’s not sending scam emails to friends and family or forgetting her kid’s Christmas concerts. She is shockingly normal. But no matter, the assignment rests and her past must be examined. As Nolan takes Harriet through the key moments of her life, the two find themselves abruptly pulled into Nolan’s past as well. Moving on might not just be a goal for Harriet and as time moves forward and the Christmas deadline looms, Harriet and Nolan will race to uncover what’s tethering them together while fighting the real truth: that the only way they want to move on is side by side.

On the first day of December the universe gave to me a hot Irish ghost who appeared to audit my soul from behind my Christmas tree. B.K. Borison forges a new path in her latest holiday romance, Good Spirits, that not only had me romanticizing the concept of A Christmas Carol (minus Scrooge and with a hot ghost), but more importantly had me wondering where do I sign up for this soul auditing scheme. Blanketed by holiday cheer, snow, and peppermint sticks, Good Spirits is a holiday romance of epic contradictions — much like the holidays themselves. The yuletide carols and wholesome family gatherings are out of the question for Harriet York, a late twenty-something dealing with the passing of an aunt who helped her leave behind the stifling expectations of her family. Working at the antique shop she inherited while shuffling between her everyday paths has left Harriet to become her own kind of ghost. But who doesn’t want an actual ghost to appear and tell them their soul is in mortal peril? Infusing her captivating charm and capacity for unparalleled love stories, B.K. Borison’s Good Spirits is a heartening holiday romance involving loneliness and the power of memory in refortifying our present.

Romancing a ghost wasn’t on my 2025 bingo card for romance novels but I am so glad it delivered. In Good Spirits, B.K. Borison takes readers on an introspective journey through the lives of a regretful Irish fisherman turned ghost and a former lawyer turned antique dealer, Harriet York. Now I’ve never put it past B.K. Borison to introduce a unique concept and completely take it where you never expected. Romancing the mundane is her motto — those everyday tasks and quirks unexpectedly find meaning within this flourishing romance. For Good Spirits everything has its place, and the mundane is made deeper by the overhanging weight of the past and the threads of fate which become more prevalent, not unlike the irksome mistletoe conjured up by our resident ghost. Love truly is in the details for Nolan and Harriet, working to determine the cause of Harriet’s need for redemption while discovering the unexpected ways they are bound together. Borison always leaves these delicious crumbs for her readers to uncover and as a reader who likes to find connections and mull over symbolism I feasted on this novel. Like Harriet working at an antique store called the Crows Nest while her soulmate is an out of practice fisherman? Come on! Good Spirits is a treasure trove of wonder not only in its romance, but the ways in which we can find connection to others and build affirming lives.

Good Spirits in essence challenges what really makes a ghost. It isn’t just someone who has passed away clinging to some unfinished business. In many ways, loneliness and the unfinished business of the present can leave us as little more than ghosts ourselves. Harriet York is the perfect example of someone seeking affirmation while grappling with loss that has left her aimlessly wandering through the motions. The spirit of the holidays are a way for her to find comfort and bask in the beauty of this time of year. Too bad a ruggedly handsome ghost throws a wrench into these plans. Nolan Callahan not only helps Harriet recontextualize her past and present, he is the love interest Harriet deserves. Nolan is someone who can provide insight into her past but also a loyal partner who can stand by her side as she faces her family. The messy sides of these two characters is half the fun and Borison draws this out with her typical witty banter and an abundant side of holiday charm. The draw between Nolan and Harriet is in their shared loneliness and together they make each other better. Harriet who has spent years molding herself to suit her family while just wanting to be loved finds that unconditional love with Nolan who loves her without reservation.

Good Spirits isn’t your typical holiday romance, but Borison is writing in the tradition of so many romance writers both past and present —the flavors of which I felt scattered across this narrative. At the same time there is something about this romance that feels wholly unique. It’s not everyday you read a book about a woman romancing an Irish ghost in a series of ridiculous (his words not mine) patterned pajamas. But Good Spirits is about so much more than what appears on the surface, it’s about the living ghosts that haunt our present and how we can excise them. This coalesces in a satisfying final arc with Harriet and her family as she truly breaks free from their influence, and Nolan chooses a second chance and comes back to himself. And the unifying theme is found as Harriet and Nolan choose one another and endeavor to build their lives together. 

Full of warmth, string lights, hot cocoa, and various peppermint sweets, Good Spirits is the epitome of cozy holiday romance. Surrounded by all the comforts of home and the holidays, Good Spirits brings focus on the paths we walk and the fates we resign ourselves to when we aren’t really living. The real kernel of romance within is in showing up consistently for the people we care about and opening up a dialogue to our past. Letting people see the messy, imperfect parts of ourselves is daunting, but Borison proves that it’s never not worth it in the grand scheme of things. Good Spirits starts out with a bang and never lets up on the romantic tension front. Fate and memory intertwine in a romance that is endlessly heartfelt and far too entertaining to put down. Good Spirits is a continuation of B.K. Borison’s obscene powers for soul crushing romance and I was not at all surprised that this struck an emotional chord with me. I’d like to thank B.K. Borison for this entire book and also the sexy ghost representation. Not only was it desperately needed but it’s incomparable.

Thank you to Avon Books and Netgalley for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings: death of a loved one, grief

Preorder a Copy – Out 21st October

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Let’s Talk: Romances to Read and Preorder This Winter

Robin1 Comment

We’re finally out of January (seriously how was this month 84 years long) and because of how long this month was I managed to read 55 books total, twenty of which were romances. The vibes were very much reading away the horrors while trying to curb the chance of an original thought occurring (haha just kidding……unless?) and the result was far too many books and people being concerned for my health and general wellbeing. This is my first roundup of 2025 and I’m refocusing my attentions on delivering my latest favorite romances and speculative fiction at least once a quarter. Seeing as January was a million years long this list was harder than usual to narrow down but without further ado, here are my favorite romances from the beginning of the year. The theme for my January romances was very much second chance so if that’s not your thing I hope to indoctrinate you by the end of this post.

Left of Forever by Tarah Dewitt

Second chance romance is the gift that keeps on giving and Tarah Dewitt’s latest is a sparkling and angst-fueled road trip between a former husband and wife who attempt to reconnect six years after their separation on the way back from dropping their son off at college. This journey follows Ellis and Wren on the road to discovery as they try to find themselves outside of their roles as parents and caregivers and decide if they can give their relationship another chance. Dewitt flawlessly navigates the emotional reconciliation after many years apart with her hilarious situations and exceptional dialogue. Left of Forever is quite the emotional read as Dewitt exposes what went wrong in this relationship and builds to a second chance. Ellis not wanting to become a parent again after having to parent to his siblings so young was extremely compelling and tied in with why their relationship ended the way it did. Dewitt places emphasis on communication and opening a dialogue up to compromise as Ellis and Wren unearth the past. Communication has, and always will be sexy, and Dewitt understands that wholeheartedly in this second novel. Pepper mishaps, letters, picnics, and one trip to grasp a love lost, Left of Forever is about love that grows deeper in absence and love refortified in the face of vulnerability and forgiveness. Though much of this takes place outside of Oregon it was so nice to be back with the Spunes crew and I am undoubtedly awaiting more from Dewitt.

Preorder – Out 20th May

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Unromance by Erin Connor

A trope filled journey that pays homage to the romance genre and its readers, Erin Connor’s, Unromance deserves its spot on all the romance TBR’s. A plan to ruin romance for a beloved actor you had a one night stand with while finding inspiration for the massive writers block currently plaguing you? That’s just the chaotic setup I live for. Erin Connor takes all my favorite components about romance into a blender and what emerges is a fascinating study on the genre, its tropes, and a love story for the ages. Connor delivers that classic romance meet cute but flips the script with two leads focused on anything but falling in love. Tale as old as time, as Sawyer and Mason adhere to their pact (rather loosely) while slowly opening up to trust and communication and falling for one another. Unromance is about two people that have made their careers around romance, through writing and acting, rediscovering its power in their own lives. Erin Connor moves through the tropes and genre conventions as fluidly as water, employing them in a beautiful love story intimately connected in friendship and understanding. In a setup seeming to flip the tropes, Connor instead recognizes their force for good within the overarching narrative. Unromance has humor in spades, shaken cynicism, and enough romantic moments —equal parts hot and sweet — to be your next favorite. 

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Wild & Wrangled by Lyla Sage

Anyone up on their cowboy romances knows that the Rebel Blue Ranch series is a tried and true staple. Wild and Wrangled brings this romantic saga to a close with the long awaited second chance love story between beloved Camille Ashwood and Dusty Tucker, her neighbor and childhood love. As a reader who eats, sleeps, and breathes second chance romance I can say with confidence that knowing this book was coming made me more than a bit unhinged. Sage has teased this romance in her previous installments and the crumbs were so delicious I knew this had the potential to be my favorite in the series. Integrating moments from their past as Dusty and Cam flirt with a second chance, Lyla Sage proves just how important first love can be and the support gained through vulnerability. Camille’s desire to please others was painfully relatable but her journey towards doing things just for herself was an important component of this romance arc. Now Dusty Tucker is the textbook definition of pathetically in love and I loved it so much. The years apart only intensified his love for Cam and he comes back ready to be whatever she needs. Dusty and Cam were so soft for one another which only enlivened their chemistry and highlighted why they work so well. The tension was tensioning and the chemistry was chemistrying just the way I liked. With Wild and Wrangled the romance is truly in the details and it’s absolutely Sage’s best work to date.

Preorder a copy – Out 15th April

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Flirting with Disaster by Naina Kumar

Stuck with your Ex in a hurricane while trying to convince him to sign divorce papers? Yes and yes. Naina Kumar said you can have a bit of angst as a treat and I ate it up like a full course meal. Flirting with Disaster is a ravaging storm contained in one life affirming romance. Married young and separated a year after they first tied the knot, Meena and Nikhil couldn’t get far enough away from each other — or at least Meena couldn’t. Nikhil is still living in their home in Texas ignoring her messages. Seven years later, Meena and Nikhil are brought back together when a hurricane leaves them stuck inside together, but the real storm is everything they have taught themselves to leave behind. Flirting with Disaster is not only an exemplary second chance romance, it’s also retelling the romantic comedy classic, Sweet Home Alabama, with South Asian characters at the helm. The longing and angst jumps out from the start as Nikhil and Meena are forced to cohabitate and confront the past. The conflict at the center of Flirting with Disaster is about wanting better for your partner, but how fraught that can be when you believe wholeheartedly that you aren’t good enough. Life goals changing, especially as one steps outside of parental expectations and reach for new dreams was another compelling theme that Kumar explores as she endeavours to bring Meena and Nikhil back together. If you like your romance heavy on the angst and one that addresses the perils and utterly human reality of miscommunication then give this one a try.

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The Partner Plot by Kristina Forest

Second chance romance but it’s the ‘we accidentally got married in Vegas after not speaking for a decade’ variety, The Partner Plot is a perfect romance of reconnection and flawed choices. Kristina Forest returns to her Greene Sister series in a follow up that focuses on Violet, the middle sibling, as she attempts a faux marriage after waking up in bed in Vegas next to Xavier, her childhood love, with a ring on her finger. Both Xavier and Violet quickly realize their marriage could be mutually beneficial, and agree to lie to their friends and the public until they get what they want from their respective careers. Right off the bat, Forest makes you feel the intense history between Xavier and Violet, the connection drawing them back together even as they tell themselves their marriage is a means to an end. The forced proximity on top of this was, in a word, sublime. I love how Forest modernizes romance tropes and uses them as a tool to expose the past between her two leads. Xavier and Forest have to confront how they’ve changed, but also how they have not, if they want to succeed in their second chance. As these two have led such different lives since their breakup, I wondered how Kristina Forest was going to make it all work but every single moment of this book works to build the foundations for a fresh start. I can’t fully describe how obsessed I am with Forest’s vibrant characters and this romance only had me gearing up to dive into the rest of this incredible series.

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Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

As a self described lover of mess, Meryl Wilsner has always been an author after my own heart. In their sophomore novel, Wilsner takes this notion to the next level. The premise: college senior Cassie Klein hooks up with a beautiful stranger at a bar off campus, never expecting to meet them at breakfast the next day when that stranger is introduced as her friend’s mother. Was the hookup a one off? And if not how will Cassie justify pursuing a relationship with a woman so intimately connected to her personal life. When I first started Mistakes Were Made I had my doubts because the mess was high and I had no idea how Wilsner was going to bring it all together. Luckily, Wilsner knows how to set up the messiest situation ever and expertly work to build upon that initial situation with open communication and intensifying chemistry. Though Cassie and Erin were at vastly different parts of their lives their connection becomes something more and they pursue it as they dodge the one person they have in common. Mistakes Were Made is a hot book and the forbidden romance only heightens this. The tension as Cassie and Erin deny that they have a real relationship was quite funny because they were already so compatible and establishing a life where they could be together. Emboldened by moments of vulnerability that shine through its chaotic start, Mistakes Were Made is everything I love about messy queer romance and my favorite novel from Wilsner so far. More of this immediately.

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Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura

Jo Segura’s Temple of Swoon is the perfect fix for anyone that likes their romance heavy on the action and adventure. Writing in the shadow of Indiana Jones and The Mummy, Segura follows up her debut, Raiders of the Lost Heart with a brand new romance adventure. Dr. Miriam Jacobs never expected to be leading an expedition to uncover the legendary City of the Moon in the Amazon, especially not without the aid of her mentor, Dr. Corrie Mejía. Add in the handsome and effortlessly charming journalist Rafael Monfils occupying her thoughts and a dash of sabotage and Miriam is unconvinced she will ever succeed in uncovering this city of legend. Now that I have read two novels by Segura it’s evident her talent for humorous, swoony romance that delivers on the action and a satisfying commentary on archeological pursuit. There are so many components raised in this sophomore novel and all were handled with the correct amount of attention and care. Now Rafe and Mariam were giving that classic action adventure couple and their interactions had me laughing one moment and then blushing the next. Miriam working to overcome her insecurities and raise hell was by far my favorite part of this novel. I also really enjoyed the references to Segura’s former novel and seeing how they connected to this one. Sexy times in the rainforest while a dangerous group works to sabotage your mission? What could go wrong.

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Love is a War Song by Danica Nava

Danica Nava is a relatively new to me author but I now need every book written by her on my desk immediately. Love is a War Song, her sophomore novel, follows Avery Fox, a Native American pop singer who flees to the ranch of the grandmother she’s never met after coming under fire for an insensitive photoshoot and music video. Avery has never met anyone in her family after being raised alone by her mother, but this vacation from the public eye provides her the chance to learn her family history and Muscogee identity. Unfortunately, there’s Lucas Iron Eyes, the man in charge of her grandmother’s ranch and the one person who cannot stand her or her music. Love is a War Song is a romance all about second chances and the fallible nature of first impressions. It’s about building your community and home even when you’ve never had one to begin with. The romance that blossoms between Lucas and Avery is truly heartfelt —stemming from two people who initially met with judgment actively working to unlearn those predisposed beliefs. Alongside the romance, Avery confronts the hurt she caused the greater indigenous community through her music video and magazine cover while becoming acquainted with the Muscogee community in Broken Arrow. Danica Nava addresses a host of issues in this romance from the entertainment industry, to cancel culture, and indigenous stereotypes, and all felt grounded in the story and its place. Danica Nava leaves her mark with this outstanding romance and and I eagerly await what she writes next.

Preorder a copy – out 22nd July

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Let’s Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan

Hate to love workplace romances aren’t anything new, but Amy Buchanan proves there are perspectives missing from this type of story in her debut novel, Let’s Call a Truce. When she started a new job after the passing of her husband, Juliana never expected to gain an enemy on her first day of work. Ben, unfairly attractive and rude, decided to complain not so privately about her leaving early due to an emergency with her two young daughters, and it did not go over well. It’s been two years since then and Juliana and Ben still cannot get through a simple conversation, but beneath their feud lies something else – something Juliana doesn’t dare interrogate. Let’s Call a Truce is a workplace romance surrounding horrific first impressions and a feud long gone astray. Exploring grief, single parenting, and returning to work after raising kids at home, Buchanan attempts a lot, but what emerges is a flawless, well rounded romance. Though they got off on the wrong foot, I could clearly feel Juliana’s frustration with Ben and how that spiralled into years of petty interactions and pointed remarks. It also led to a palpable chemistry which Buchanan builds upon over the course of this novel. The revelation of Ben’s background only served to make this feud more well-founded and the tension all the more delicious. Let’s Call a Truce has the perfect balance of hatred and simmering heat to make me entirely obsessed and I am all but begging for more from Amy Buchanan.

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Kiss Me, Maybe by Gabriella Gamez

Librarian Angela Gutierrez has a penchant for going viral, something her superiors are none too happy about. When she openly admits online that she’s never been kissed, while also sharing her asexual identity, the video goes viral and Angela becomes determined to achieve her first kiss at all costs. Her bold idea: a scavenger hunt across the city where the winner gets her first kiss, but she’ll have to enlist the help of Krystal Ramirez, a gorgeous out of her league bartender to pull it off. Now that I have read two romances from Gabriella Gamez the overarching vision for this series is clear, but this second novel could not be more different from her first. Kiss Me, Maybe is a romance intimately intertwined with sexuality, identity, and the societal pressures to perform against an arbitrary list of experiences. Main character Angela, has found comfort in her identity but her lack of romantic experience has led her to feel behind and out of touch in her own life. Gamez calls attention to this desire to know oneself but also the pitfalls in putting too much pressure on these goals. As she develops the romance, Gamez further explores the ace spectrum and Angela’s developing sense of identity. I appreciated the attention paid to the diverse experiences under the ace spectrum through Angela’s desire to find a label that best fits herself. That and the relationship between growing up queer and these “all important” experiences really served to ground the story. Kiss Me, Maybe is a layered romance that achieves much within the friends to lovers narrative, and I loved every second of it.

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Review: Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

When she sat down to pen her first novel all Lady Georgiana Cleeve intended was to support a life for herself and her mother. Now a celebrated writer of the gothic variety, Georgiana has a much bigger problem. Ever since she became a renowned author Georgiana has gone toe to toe with Lady Darling, another beloved writer in the genre. No one knows Lady Darling’s true identity but the similarities between her stories and Geogiana’s are far too close to be a coincidence. Determined to unmask her rival goes awry when Georgiana confronts Catriona Rose Lacey, daughter of their former butler and Lady Darling herself. Georgiana hasn’t seen Cat since her father was dismissed from service, for reasons unknown, but she has harbored the youthful infatuation she felt for her close. When a sojourn to the decaying Renwick House to research their upcoming novels leads to an unexpected confrontation, Cat and Georgiana agree to set down their swords and pen their novels side by side. But when they become trapped in the manor, fiction becomes reality, and as danger ensues Cat and Georgiana must face the desire burning its way through their bitter rivalry.

Oh no we’re two gothic novelists writing stories inspired by our childhoods together as we subconsciously yearn for the past…what happens if we kiss in a decaying manor that may or may not be haunted? If there’s one thing I am, it is a gothic romance lover to my core and Alexandra Vasti’s Ladies in Hating is a delectable feast for anyone who loves the gothic or sapphic historical romance. In the final book in the Belvoir’s Library trilogy, Alexandra Vasti pens a tender love letter to women gothic novelists, the gothic genre, and the queer people who found love and livelihood in the Regency period. Ladies in Hating is a model representation of gothic literature, in its themes and motifs, and a stunning example of what the historical romance genre can afford our greater understanding of love and connection. The persistent Lady Georgiana Cleeves meets her match in Catriona Rose Lacey, her rival and worse, the woman who could change her closely guarded principles and make her believe in love again. A wondrous rivals to lovers story submerged in fervent wanting and agonizing romance, Ladies in Hating made me feel every emotion and left me aching for more historical romance from its ridiculously talented author.

Ladies in Hating is the kind of book that feels almost written for me. This exquisite novel reached into the crumbling caverns of my heart and fortified my belief in love and existence as a radically political act. Now the gothic has long been a genre for exploring societal wounds and the intricacies of our experiences. The decaying manor house that comes to represent the fragility of the psyche or the hurts and traumas of a family is a prominent motif within the genre. Vasti understands this inextricable link as she traps two rival gothic novelists inside the dilapidated Renwick House —with its peeling wallpaper and crumbling facades, to reconcile their past hurts and confront their growing passion. But mystery takes the center stage as authors Georgiana Cleeve and Catriona Rose Lacey are left to uncover the secrets of a family long buried. 

Gothic imagery is a staple in itself and Vasti adheres to this with a cadence that submerses the reader in the intricate conventions of the genre. Renwick House and its medieval structures are transportive, invoking a period long past and ravaged by time. The host of bats that call the manor their home, the decaying trees in the orangery, and the damaged books in the crumbling library recall meaning to this place and its former inhabitants. For Catriona and Georgiana it’s a source of inspiration for their continued livelihood through their gothic novels, but it quickly becomes something far more personal. I love the sense of mystery that shrouds the narrative, wonderfully entwined with the romance between rivals. Love and horror are so often linked together and Vasti gives a dash of that in her mystery — the screams which draw Georgiana out of her bed chamber in the night to wander the hallways in the dark and the dead body unexpectedly uncovered. The moonlight conversations in the library and a conservatory hidden in the recesses of the manor are two phenomenal settings in this novel, connected to the love between these two women and the uncovered sapphic love story of Renwick’s past.

The external plotting to Ladies in Hating is essential in developing the love story at its center. Georgiana and Cat’s respective family backgrounds provide a rich foundation for the discussions surrounding sexuality, class, and sex, which Vasti brings into the fold. The tension this suffuses into the narrative as they find a mutual attraction was exquisite. Georgiana is someone who wholeheartedly believes she is responsible for bringing ruin on her family and that she will hurt everyone around her, a conviction Vasti works to shatter across this novel. It’s quite heartbreaking but an important perspective of Georgiana as a victim of emotional abuse from her father and how that necessitated having to reveal her author identity to the public. Her relationship with Cat opens up a whole world if she can only reach for it with both hands, but giving up her principles is easier said than done. Cat on the other side just wants to be chosen —an extension of their class disparities when first they met. Though brought closer in the years following Georgiana’s life away from her father, it is the basis of their understanding of one another and not easy to shake. The longing and tenderness at the center of Cat and Georgiana’s romance made me quite feral and that my friends is the barometer for an excellent romance.

Drawing her Belvoir’s Library trilogy to a close, Alexandra Vasti honors the fierce women who penned gothic stories and the queer people of the past who reached for their happiness and lived in joy. This is one of those books further enriched by its afterward where Vasti addresses the historical significance and her sources of inspiration for the text. The sheer research present is evident from the start but it was fascinating to read about the property on which Renwick House was based and the sapphic illustrations and Lesbian writers who paved the way forward. Ladies in Hating is radical in all the ways standing firm and building a life in a world that would deny you that can be. Catriona and Georgiana building a life at Renwick House is a powerful full circle moment — made stronger in the discovery of the letters between Luna Renwick and her love, Sarah Sophia Penhollow, forever immortalized in the estate. I’m truly sad to be leaving the ladies of Belvoir’s Library behind but know Vasti is nowhere near done bringing us historical romance excellence. Sapphic, mysterious, and insanely hot (praise be to Alexandra Vasti), Ladies in Hating is my latest —and eternal—historical romance obsession.

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warning: homophobia, physical abuse (mentioned),

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Review: Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Eva Kitt isn’t exactly where she’d like to be. As the host of Sausage Talk —a talk show where she interviews B-list celebrities over subpar hotdogs, her dream of a career in journalism is heavily on the back burner. Frustrated and a little drunk, Eva calls out Rylie Cooper, a popular social media talent for ghosting her during college. When the video goes viral, Eva’s superiors attempt to capitalize on that attention by having her interview Rylie live on the show. In confronting the past and her first real relationship, Eva is on edge until Rylie sits down and proposes something truly outlandish. He’ll take her on six dates to attempt to make up for his behavior during college and they’ll debrief together on his show after the fact. It’s unconventional, but Eva isn’t above making Rylie squirm. Bonus, the continued publicity could launch her out of Sausage Talks’ unfortunate shadow. As Rylie kicks off his apology dates, Eva is more than sure he is above redemption. But the dates, while a little contrived, only make her more interested in righting their shared past that is not quite done with them yet.

If you witnessed the insane levels of chemistry on Andrew Garfield’s Chicken Shop Date interview this past fall and found yourself asking “Is there a book like this?” boy does Mazey Eddings come through. With her signature knack for crafting unusual romantic circumstances, Well, Actually is a quintessential modern love story of effortless humor, second-hand embarrassment, and pop culture references served with mediocre hotdogs and a quest for redemption. It’s messy, so bisexual, and the kind of book I was always going to fall for. Well, Actually introduces Eva, a down on her luck journalist with black cat tendencies, and Rylie Cooper social media’s darling and golden retriever to his core. They seemingly have nothing in common besides the five dates they went on in college before Rylie unceremoniously ghosted Eva. Well, Actually brings exactly the kind of romance setup I go for: heavy on the mess with imperfect protagonists finding love and meaning in their lives. Mazey Eddings has a grasp on the finite ledge between the humorous and emotional situations and she employs it deftly in her strongest romance to date.

In Well, Actually, Mazey Eddings proves the past is never truly past as two chaotic individuals reach for love in spite of their tense history. Eddings brings Rylie and Eva together via an unfortunate PR nightmare that initiates a journey of rediscovery and forgiveness around their complicated past. Eva as someone desperately wanting to be chosen —having been pushed to the side in her family, and Rylie whose grief made him unable to participate fully in their relationship in college is a perfect unsteady foundation for this second chance arc to blossom. Eva Kitt, fashionable and opinionated is everything I want in my romance protagonists. She’s determined and mean when she needs to be and I love her so much. The only person who (maybe) loves her more than me is Rylie Cooper who opens up a space for her to be entirely herself. From the start Rylie was giving Nick Miller energy as Eva being mean to him just made him fall even more in love. As a lover of mean women myself I could not find blame in this.

Mazey Eddings hones her dialogue to perfection and Well, Actually is a pinnacle of her talent for witty, sharp banter. There were so many moments where I laughed, screamed, or put my kindle down out of sheer frustration. Eva and Rylie’s antagonistic, snappy interactions evolving into their deeper arguments and romantic moments was the true highlight of this novel. I’m firmly of the opinion that dialogue can make a romance and nowhere is that more on display than in Well, Actually. Rylie and Eva had so much to unpack as they embarked on a new relationship and Eddings grounds that in open and honest communication. Even though it is difficult and our leads shirk from it at points, that communication opens up an avenue for reconciliation and a true second chance. The individual journeys Eva and Rylie are on are personal, yet grounded in their shared history. Loving the idea of someone is something Rylie confronts as he tries to win Eva over despite not really knowing her, and Eva has to decide if she can move past the hurt Rylie caused. The conversations surrounding anxiety, grief, and forgiveness as these two work to surmount obstacles and reach for a relationship together are outstanding and truly some of the best I’ve read within the romance genre.

Mazey Eddings brings humor and hunger (for connection and hotdogs) in her latest romance that has all the wit, heat, and depth to send you spiraling. Well, Actually is perfection captured and bottled in a second chance romance of awkward manners and resolute natures. Through her leads Eva and Rylie, Eddings initiates a discomforting journey of reconciliation and everything caught up in forging through conflict. Haters of the third act breakup can rejoice because as far as Mazey Eddings is concerned it doesn’t exist and I praise her for it. Well, Actually emphasizes change for the right reasons and loving without conditions. This story is hilarious, it’s tender, and everything my bisexual heart needed to stay sane this winter. Mazey Eddings is still the romance author I turn to for hilarious and grounded contemporary love stories and I encourage everyone to do the same. 

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings: grief, death of a loved one

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Review: A Theory of Dreaming by Ava Reid

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Please note this is a sequel and includes references to former events and partial spoilers for A Study in Drowning.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Effy and Preston survived Hiraeth, defeating the once powerful fairy king to return to Caer-Isel where neither occupy any power in the halls of its prestigious literature college. Since publishing their thesis contesting the authorship of the Llyrian writer Emrys Meridian’s, Angharad, further doors have darkened. Unmoored by the loss of the Angharad, both the book and its true author, Effy is left unguarded in a world without magic that wants nothing more than her ruination. As Effy navigates her first semester as a literature student, Preston confronts the magic he never believed that calls out in the night in pealing bells only he seems able to hear. These bells real or imagined take him to the Sleeper Museum where Llyr’s prominent scholars rest, said to protect the nation in the war effort against Argant. In dreams, he finds power in a world free from others and completely under his control. Time is running out for Preston and Effy and as the war effort between Argant and Llyr intensifies their connection may be the only thing saving them from a world that would see them lost—to stories and to dreams.

From the moment Ava Reid first drew me into the swirling tempest of her young adult debut, A Study in Drowning, it became a lifeline entirely of its own and one I have returned to whenever I’ve felt remotely adrift. Something akin to its protagonist, Effy Sayre, a tenacious young woman navigating her first year as the only woman in her architecture college who finds comfort in the Llyrian story the Angharad, a tale of the fabled fairy king more real to her than any waking thing. With this first novel, Ava Reid penned a tale of two lost souls finding familiar ground and navigating a way towards the truth. After becoming fully enmeshed in this evocative fantasy novel, it’s no surprise that I wanted more from this world and its fabulous main pairing. With the authorship of the Angharad contested through Preston and Effy’s thesis and its connections to an unstable time between two warring countries there was undoubtedly more to unpack. A Theory of Dreaming brings readers back to Llyr as tensions rise and Preston and Effy are caught in the current of war and their respective dreams which draw them further apart.

A Theory of Dreaming is a sequel that throws our wandering academics back into the turbulent world of their literature college and a nation rife with hatred for difference and dissent. Questing further meaning beyond her extraordinary first novel, Reid plumbs ever deeper into the depths of the workings of Llyr and the connections between academic institutions, story, and growing nationalism. Far from the front Effy and Preston fight their own battles in the classroom and the streets of Caer-Isel. In spite of their love and the teamwork they found back at Hiraeth Manor, Preston and Effy retreat into their former roles and the struggles they feel they must bear alone. Trusting in the facts, magic has never had any place in Preston’s life yet it is in this sequel that he contends with magic and the power it can wield for him. Effy, who came to represent all of magic’s possibilities in book one has lost her direct access to it—the Angharad unveiled and the fairy king forever eradicated. Without her lifeline, Effy is drowning against a roaring current and scared to show the full extent of her struggles.

A Theory of Dreaming slots perfectly into the conversations that began back at Hiraeth in a manor encroaching into the sea. First and foremost is the power of story in weaving a sense of national identity, and how that is exploited. The authors of these stories are Llyr’s greatest figures—who rest forever immortalized in the sleeper museum where it is said they hold power to aid Llyr in its decades-long war against Argant. Is this a truth or fiction? Reid brings this into focus through her characters Effy and Preston fighting for their place in a system that does not want to acknowledge their humanity. Opening up to his point of view, this sequel sees Preston confronting a dream world entirely under his control and Effy losing herself to her bitter reality. Preston and Effy come to represent the conflict between two opposing worlds, the magical and the real, and Argant and Llyr. But how does one find their footing in a world that exists to marginalize them and profit off of that oppression? Preston finds this immensely difficult as the war effort amps up and he confronts further violence for his Argantian identity, and Effy receives further harassment from her peers for daring to take up space as a woman in the college of literature. 

I love when follow-up novels exemplify the work still needed, and how an established love story doesn’t mean the struggles have come to an end. That is exactly the case with Preston and Effy whose journeys diverge upon their return from Hiraeth. Preston gives into his frustration in the waking world and the peace of the past in dreams—conversations with his father and the literal pedestal he has put Effy upon. His fear of losing her causes him to be blind to her struggles while closing her off completely to his. On the opposite side, Effy’s fear of burdening her partner leads her to hide her pain. Reid continues Effy’s journey most naturally in this sequel in her search for further connection. Effy finds solace in the truth of abused and cornered women who managed to write their stories within the margins, much like her own. The power of story in mythologizing these figures and erasing them for the agendas of men and a nation is an important component of this second novel. As Llyrian writings are unveiled to be merely a prop that served to further a needless war, Reid flawlessly exposes the truth and the tragedy behind Llyr’s agenda. 

A Theory of Dreaming is a sequel that throws you back into the onslaught of the storm but does not lose hope in its eventual passing. No amount of this sequel feels overwrought, its dialogue and thematically rich commentary on a nation stand strong in today’s political landscape. Connecting the power of story in building the ideology of a nation utilized as fuel for propaganda and war, Reid highlights its scars and its lasting legacy. Ava Reid balances this with the continued love story between Preston and Effy as they chafe against the constraints of their world and their place within it. A Theory of Dreaming proves that there is still more to surmount but that love is the reason we can continue to navigate this waking world—and that sometimes we must be the ones to save ourselves. For Preston and Effy that is acknowledging just how much they need each other all over again. The undertow to this duology being Effy and Preston finding love and livelihood even as they confront fascism and violence is life-affirming as it is a form of resistance. It’s been a long time since I’ve been surprised by Ava Reid’s brilliance (it is their natural state after all) and this sequel is not only brilliant it is vitally necessary. Consider me in awe of Ava Reid from now until the end of time.

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing the advance review copy.

Trigger warnings: misogyny, xenophobia, violence, drug abuse, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, sexual harassment

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Review: The Geographer’s Map to Romance by India Holton

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

Elodie Tarrant, a geography professor with a penchant for chaos is more than ready to solve any problem. But she’s finally been handed a problem that cannot be neatly solved nor entirely avoided. Her problem is Gabriel Tarrant, another professor of geography and the unfeeling man she is unfortunately married to. Since their marriage crashed and burned over a year ago, Elodie has avoided her husband at all costs—in the shrubbery and campus byways—all to keep from confronting her mistake and his general ire. But in the aftermath of a strange magical event in a Welsh village, Elodie and Gabriel are inconveniently assigned to the case, making avoidance altogether impossible. Together, Elodie and Gabriel travel to Wales to confront this magic and determine its cause before disaster spirals back into England. Discovering how to curb the strange magic could prove disastrous, but no more than reaching for the love they have been denying for so long.

India Holton has long been an author I have turned to for strange, fantastical, and wonderfully magical love stories only she seems capable of charting. The Geographer’s Map to Romance is the latest of her Loves Academic historical fantasy series. In this second installment, two estranged geography professors reunite after their failed marriage of convenience to confront a scholarly mystery in the Welsh countryside—battling magical disasters and growing feelings with varying degrees of success. Give me a marriage of convenience between a woman who is sunshine incarnate and the grumpiest man on earth and the speed at which I will come running will be concerning to everyone around me. India Holton puts her spin on this classic pairing with hilarious turns of phrase, unrestrained magic, and twists on classic tropes within the genre. Grounded in magic and academic pursuit, The Geographer’s Map to Romance might be my favorite novel from Holton to date. Holton’s narrative voice is incomparable, bent towards crafting an imaginative, unforgettable romance. 

India Holton endeavors to suffuse her mixture of whimsy and utter absurdity into her latest historical romantic fantasy that left me far too entertained, swept up in the underlying romantic tension between two misunderstood academics avoiding their feelings as danger ensues. Endearing and entirely bemusing, The Geographers Map to Romance charts out a course rigged with chaos—American tourists turning into cows, waltzing to get out of quicksand, and intensifying versions of the “not enough bed” trope (a superior version dare I say). Holton mixes these moments of strange adventure with slow-burning romance that is the real magic weaving beneath the mystery. Gabriel and Elodie were perfectly matched from the start and Holton draws this out with a begrudging team-up that demonstrates just how well-suited these two are. Across the investigation, Elodie and Gabriel take on roles fairly representative of their dynamic as a couple. Elodie is the person who throws herself headlong into danger and Gabriel is the buttoned-up academic whose heart goes with her every single time. A true recipe for success where their romance is concerned.

As Elodie and Gabriel work towards preventing a calamitous magical cascade, Holton brings their perfectly constructed roles to a standstill. None more so than with our hero Gabriel Tarrant. Despite his emphatic aversion to poetry and anything resembling romance, Gabriel is the true romantic of this story hidden beneath a prickly facade. The grumpiness, the monosyllabic answers, and the carefully curated exterior are certainly part of his charm but they allow him to close himself off to real connection. Far away from Oxford and their academic roles, Elodie and Gabriel grapple with their self-worth. Geography is their shared passion and they’ve wielded it as a weapon against any sort of vulnerability and connection they could have together. India Holton takes her time in excising this conflict. Elodie feeling like she is too flighty for someone like Gabriel, who in turn feels like he has to change himself to be worthy of her love was a compelling center for this conflict. The reconciliation of these differing points of view and complicated feelings of self-worth is an explosion of feeling unfettered even as uncontrolled magic builds to a calamity.

The Geographer’s Map to Romance is an exemplary historical fantasy novel about loving without conditions and being loved for who you are. India Holton knows how to bring disastrous circumstances together and still wind up with a tremendously heartwarming romance by the time it’s complete. I just wanted to stay lost with this one—with Gabriel and Elodie proudly soldiering their hurts and their desire to be truly seen by one another – adding or subtracting a few near-death experiences. India Holton has struck an emotional chord of belonging with this beautiful love story about meeting people right where they are. Elodie and Gabriel bring on the yearning and the not-so-quiet grumbling and all I want is to trek off on more adventures by their side.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings: misogyny,

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Review: In the Veins of the Drowning by Kalie Cassidy

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

High up on the Isle of Seraf in a fortress of stone, the sea cannot find refuge. For Imogen Nel, ward to King Nemea, it has become her prison. Raised at the side of a monstrous king, Imogen hides the truth of her heritage beneath the very wings bolted to the wall in a warning, “The Monster is Always Slain.” Despite the siren simmering beneath her skin and the part of her that yearns for the salt of the sea, Imogen has never wanted anything less than to hide – from the king who began the scourge against her kind and the soldiers who hunt sirens down mercilessly against the shore. On the eve of her marriage to an honorable captain, Imogen encounters Theodore, a young king duty-bound and cold. When Imogen’s safety is threatened, her siren side emerges in a bloodlust that leaves her fiance dead and Theodore her only ally. Siren-bound, the two flee the kingdom with his retinue, hoping to break the bond and destroy the hold of an ancient power over waters filled with the undead. Caught between his duty to his people and her call to the deep, Theo and Imogen will tempt more than their physical ties to draw out an immortal power and hold fast to their growing connection which could serve as their salvation or their ruin

Tempestuous as a rough and stormy sea, In the Veins of the Drowning is a resplendent romantic fantasy novel that dragged me down to its depths in answer to its luring siren’s call. In the years since I first began reading folklore-based fantasy, I have keenly felt the lack of stories surrounding the siren legend. Kalie Cassidy sets out to rectify that in her debut novel with the claws and wings befitting such a tale. It didn’t take long for this to ensnare me – with its richly connected mythos and sharp prose connecting back to siren folklore I was already lost in its waters with no desire to resurface. Concerning monsters, inhuman and not, and the monstrous things we do to survive, Cassidy chronicles the lives of two individuals trapped by unerring duty and the illusive call to the deep. The ardent love story that develops is the still beating heart of this narrative, tested against powers far greater than two unlikely souls unexpectedly bound together. In the Veins of the Drowning is very much for those who support women’s wrongs but also those who prefer their fantasy served with a hefty dose of romance. Kalie Cassidy’s fantasy adventure is a tempting combination of romance, kingdom politics, and daring escapades entangled in a perfect storm of a book.

Sirens may swarm the deep, but In the Veins of the Drowning posits that the real monsters may not be so mythical. Imogen Nel, a siren and ward to a power-hungry king, lives her life in complete secrecy fighting only to retain her survival. A siren who conflictingly reveres and fears inheriting her gifts, Imogen is a puzzling figure through which Cassidy explores the monstrous. The imagery of wings splitting through the skin and claws sharpening to points as Imogen makes her first kill is an odd sort of homecoming. With her siren side unleashed in a moment of duress, Imogen is held in contrast to Theodore, the King of Varya – a man so constrained by duty he cannot break free. Theo and Imogen are opposing forces drawn together in blood, each with their unique conflicts: Imogen inheriting her siren gifts and a dark fate, and Theo, trapped by duty unbroken even by his heart’s desire.

Imogen possesses a rare self-assuredness that remains in place even as she learns the truth of her heritage and her destiny. There are so many moments where Imogen stands adamant in her decisions arming her with a multifaceted edge as she fights her fate and the consequences of giving into her siren abilities. The sequence following the death of Imogen’s fiance as she attempts to siren bond with Theo, is so iconic and I fear that it only made me love her more. Despite the siren bond that draws him closer to Imogen, Theo is caught up in his personal agendas and biases unable to see beyond his limiting perspective. Imogen realizes this almost immediately and the concise way she flays him apart – all with just her words, is by far my favorite of their interactions. Imogen is a product of her situation, trapped for years in a kingdom that restricted her nature and sought only to control her. Theo plays into this initially through his view that power is to be wielded and her heritage has been wasted because of her poor choices. But as the King of Varya, Theo is part of a system that exists to serve him. Ironically, the same kingdom that has provided him freedom is entrapping him, something he does not see until it is too late.

In the Veins of the Drowning features my specific brand of romance: a man held captive by honor falls for a woman who is his entire undoing. Theo of Varya had the perfect amount of awe-struck, begging, crawling, moaning, groveling, on his knees behavior for Imogen who deserves nothing less in the partner who stands at her side. From their first meeting upon the parapets of Fort Linum, Cassidy draws Theo and Imogen together as reluctant allies and spends the rest of the book strengthening this bond. The addition of the siren bond and their differing perspectives creates some wonderful tension as this romance evolves. Both Theo and Imogen have been taught to view relationships as transactional but that is put to the test as they become allies and unexpectedly fall in love. Theo’s profound misunderstanding of Imogen is intertwined with this. For Theo, his initial desire for Imogen is something to be held captive to like the magnetic lures she is capable of using to draw others to her will. Surrounded by people who turn to violence or insinuate that she is to be loved despite her nature, Imogen deserves to be loved without reservation. This is what she eventually finds with Theo, who uncovers the depths of his misconceptions and spends an indeterminable amount of time making up for them.

In the Veins of the Drowning is easily one of the best romantic fantasy novels I have read in recent years. Kalie Cassidy wields a power not unlike a siren in penning her magnetic fantasy debut that strikes the perfect harmony between dark fantasy and sweeping romance. Part of what I love about siren folklore is what it can lend to discussions concerning our humanity. Cassidy unpacks how monsters are often the product of power, and all the ways in which love and hate are not so easily separated. Witnessing Imogen come into her power, for good or for ill, while exposing the roots of her past was a satisfying landing place for this first installment. Very much looking forward to her ‘bringing it all down’ era in book two and everything involved in rectifying the events that concluded this first novel. In the Veins of the Drowning is relentless, both in its pacing and its conclusion that I somehow dreaded and anticipated in equal measure. With that ending it’s safe to say that Kalie Cassidy has me hanging onto her every word and I am (im) patiently awaiting their eventual reckoning.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings: blood, violence, death, murder, disembowelment

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Review: Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

Aurelia Schwartz has a secret. One she has closely guarded for twenty-three years. Aurelia is a witch, a fact she has hidden away from everyone in her life as she attempts to balance two opposing worlds. All it takes to bring this secret life crashing down is the murder of another witch and classmate during a campus soiree. The last thing Aurelia expects is to witness the aftermath of a murder, but the fact that Theodore Ingram, her academic rival should be by her side feels all the more targeted. Ever since she started at Cambridge, Ingram has made it clear Aurelia is beneath him, but now he insists she accompany him home for the holidays, pressing that neither of them is safe – because Teddy apparently has magic. As Teddy and Aurelia sequester themselves away from prying eyes with his magical family, they attempt to unravel the mystery of the murder, the culprit, and their complicated past. It appears the killer is far from finished and to uncover the truth Aurelia will have to undo her carefully constructed boundaries and set aside her animosity with Teddy, which could prove her undoing.

Modern Divination is the perfect example of a book that only settles deeper into your bones the longer it sits with you. This book is an exquisitely crafted blend of tea steeped to perfection, with dark notes of magic and a hint of bitterness rendered sweet through its stimulating academic rivalry. Having read the independently published version of Modern Divination upon its initial release back in 2023, I never expected to read the revised edition and fall even more in love but somehow that is exactly what occurred. This revised edition of Isa Agajanian’s original text is an addictive combination of witchery and fate, complete with enough yearning to make me feel like I was being repeatedly stabbed in the chest. Isa has completely raised the bar with this revised edition — sharpening the atmosphere and the incredible tension between Aurelia and Teddy into something entirely its own. If reading this for the first time left me longing for its sequel, then the updated version left me a shell of my former self and I will not recover until Quiet Spells is in my hands.

Isabel Agajanian’s, Modern Divination is a painfully relatable window into loneliness, grief, and the connections we close ourselves off to by insisting we bear our paths alone. Where the academic atmosphere of Cambridge and the secluded English countryside enthralls, Modern Divination’s true magic lies in its central duo realizing just how wrong they have been about each other. In a book set so firmly around an academic rivalry with a thread of magic weaving throughout the narrative, characters Aurelia and Teddy are an outstanding pairing. What can I say about Aurelia Schwartz besides the fact that I love her and she can do no wrong? An unyielding and ambitious young woman – Aurelia’s academic vivacity is matched only by her rival and arrogant specter, Theodore Ingram. Teddy is seemingly all ego with a past completely hidden from view, but after becoming targets to a witch killer, the carefully constructed walls these two have defended come crashing down. This is my favorite flavor of romance, there’s brooding, yearning, and snappy interactions as these two hold fast to their dynamic not wanting to be the first to concede to honesty.  

Reexperiencing Modern Divination through a revised edition feels like looking at it through an inverted lens, yet the core of the story remains the same: two rivals finally laying down their weapons and opening themselves up to connection. Casting off the protective bonds that academia has afforded her, Aurelia struggles to let people in after building a life set around pushing them away. This innate struggle is intensified by the longing she feels for Teddy in contrast to the way she’s viewed him for so long. Meanwhile, Teddy is down bad. He’s that specific type of love interest that’s just groveling and disgusting longing stuck together in one body with few ways to make those feelings known and I love it so much. Their slow burn is this wonderful give and take centered around falling for each other because of their flaws, as they unpack why they became rivals. Isabel Agajanian understands how to build a true rivals to lovers story and the layers required to deliver that satisfying emotional payoff. Aurelia and Teddy’s romance reveals the risk of love and connection is in the potential to be hurt and changed, but it is worth it no matter the outcome. Modern Divination examines the consequences of magic with an imperfect love story I’m more than a little obsessed with. Book two cannot come soon enough and I’ll be here yearning away in the meantime.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings: murder, blood, violence

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