Tag: book-reviews

Review: The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

When Minerva was young, her Nana Alba would begin all her stories with, “When I was a young woman, there were still witches,” but they were just that —stories, tales to entertain her younger self that did not predicate their existence. Now, Minerva is not so sure. A grad student studying all things horror, Minerva became fascinated by the woman horror writer Beatrice Tremblay, whose novel The Vanishing was inspired by Stoneridge College, the institution Minerva currently attends. Remaining at Stoneridge over the winter break, Minerva plans to pour all of her attention into wrapping up her untouched thesis. As she continues her research, Minerva uncovers the extent to which Beatrice was inspired by her own time at Stoneridge through an unpublished manuscript in which Beatrice detailed the events leading up to the disappearance of her college roommate, Virginia Somerset. Eerily, the signs surrounding the disappearance of half a century ago echo in the present, and Minerva swears she feels an evil force watching her steps. Finishing her thesis will require her to plumb deeper into Beatrice’s life, but uncovering the truth may come at the price of Minerva becoming a cautionary tale.

Writing in the tradition of New England horror, Silvia Moreno-Garcia returns with The Bewitching, a tale of witches tethered across generations and one grad student’s descent into the dark magic at work on her college campus. If Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes it, I’m reading it. That has been the case ever since I first read Mexican Gothic back in the early days of the pandemic and fell in love with her craft, and it is still true today. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a masterful storyteller. Her ability to immerse readers in her richly detailed landscapes and characters, regardless of the time period or the genre has always confounded me, but I am nevertheless grateful for it. The Bewitching is the latest witch struck tale to round out her lengthy backlist. This time, Moreno-Garcia spotlights the eerily quiet winter period on a Massachusetts college campus and an incoming thesis deadline, which is already its own kind of horror. Shifting between multiple timelines and integrating the lost manuscript of Beatrice Tremblay, Silvia Moreno-Garcia presents a different kind of witch, malevolent and intent on destroying others for their own gain. In The Bewitching, the unexpected reigns, and as something stalks the night, the hardest part is not being left forever spellbound.

The Bewitching is everything I have come to expect from Silvia Moreno-Garcia, full of mesmerizing magic, standout characters, and timelines intersecting across the decades. With her latest novel, Moreno-Garcia voices the witch stories of her childhood, where witches were malicious and preyed upon innocent victims. These stories and her own experiences attending college in New England form the bones of this story and the character of Minerva, a resident assistant funding her way through grad school in Massachusetts. This discovery of witches’ and their designs is split between several decades and the experiences of three different women, Beatrice, Minerva, and her grandmother Alba. Though entirely misaligned at its beginning, The Bewitching slowly pulls these individual narratives together into one comprehensive tale of witches and the inherent exploitation of the powerful. I put my fate in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s talented hands, and as always, she managed to exceed my expectations at every point of this imaginative novel.

The setting in The Bewitching is simply to die for. Opening on Massachusetts in the late 1990’s, The Bewitching introduces us to Minerva as she shunts off the last of the on-campus students for winter break and picks up her incomplete thesis on Beatrice Tremblay. From the unruly peacocks prowling Stoneridge campus to the lore of the Witch Thicket, The Bewitching first finds its footing through this campus setting. Stoneridge College is built up by an expert hand, and these quirks and college legends help better frame the narrative. The unsettling mystery of Beatrice Tremblay’s missing roommate reverberates in Minerva’s research and it is through Moreno-Garcia’s strong sense of place that this first creeps up on the reader. Wandering the woods with Minerva as we accompany her on her RA rounds, to the chilling sounds in the night echo in the disappearances of days past. Yet the past cannot be left behind as an unseen force prowls the campus ready to strike again.

The stories of witches feel grounded in place, Stoneridge Campus for Minerva and Beatrice, and Alba’s family farm in Mexico during the early 1900’s. I have always appreciated the historical connections and deep dives Silvia instills into her novels. The Bewitching is no different in that regard. Much of this novel deals with the dichotomy between the practice of magic and nonbelievers, landowners versus city folk, and the upper and lower class. All of these are connected across timelines and Silvia Moreno-Garcia uses them to initiate the journeys of her three characters. Generational knowledge has a real power here and connection through storytelling tethers Alba and her granddaughter Minerva in the present day. The exploration into the exploitation of the lower class to fuel the lives of the wealthy, spiritualism of the 1930’s, and the folklore of witches are heavily scrutinized across this novel. Moreno-Garcia further challenges this notion of what makes a witch through her stories villains—not only flipping the script on witch folklore but who is truly pulling the strings.

The Bewitching is the latest in a long line of incredible novels from Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Part gothic, part horror, and part historical fiction, the true connection to her past works is that this is a standard Moreno-Garcia genre meld. The Bewitching represents all the horror writers writing on New England, and the horror within these spaces themselves. The way setting informs the horror and the cultural wounds intrinsically tied to a place is central to this novel, and New England horror as a whole. If you’re up on the genre you’ll notice some clever nods to the horror writers of today and I loved dissecting those in line with the actual mystery. The Bewitching is an eerie journey through the folklore surrounding witches across three distinct decades and all of it is extraordinary. Unsettling to the extreme, I never could have expected this novel to end where it did, but I’m afraid that’s yet another Silvia Moreno-Garcia standard. Come for the chaotic grad student desperately trying to finish her thesis, and stay for the real horror underlying a New England college and decapitation unknowingly tethering a family together (no further comment).

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

Trigger warnings: blood, death, gore, murder, animal death, incest, sexual assault

Preorder a Copy – Out 15th July

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Review: Voidwalker by S.A. MacLean

Robin1 Comment

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Ever since she was brought close to death at eight years old, Fionamara Kolbeck has been able to see the gateways separating worlds, and can traverse the boundaries between them—a rare talent coveted by many. Fi makes her living smuggling goods across the fractured lands. In return, her village continues to thrive without aid from the Daeyari, the forest entities who exist off of tithed sacrifices and hold the coveted energy technology that fuels humanity’s survival. When Fi is given the payment of a lifetime to smuggle unknown goods into the capital of Thomaskweld, she unknowingly becomes embroiled in a coup to oust the ruling Daeyari. In the aftermath, Fi is left vulnerable to Antal, the deposed Daeyari who insists she help make things right. As it turns out, Antal has been staving off his hunger as best he can, and Thomaskweld’s new ruler is not so magnanimous. Neither Antal nor Fi want this to stand, but righting the situation will require them to join forces. Nothing could have prepared Fi for being in close quarters with a monster, yet, she finds that Antal is startlingly balanced to her inner fire and she actually enjoys his company. Being caught within a monster’s clutches may no longer be the worst fate imaginable but giving in to temptation will require a leap greater than the one into the void itself.

Voidwalker asks the age old question, what if you romanced your inner demons and the result is the best fantasy romance I have read all year. S.A. MacLean understood the assignment with this deeply bisexual fantasy novel involving the toils of revolution and the alluring call of the space between worlds. A world walking smuggler equipped with eyeliner as sharp as her energy blade and a cracking dye-job and a forest entity with antlers who is more than a little pathetic team up to take down their enemies, trying and failing to avoid romance in the process. As a fan of idiots to lovers and reluctant allies this book was already primed to be a hit for my reading tastes. But what makes Voidwalker so incredible isn’t just MacLean’s two pathetic main characters and her select use of tropes, but in her soundly layered narrative. Integrating satisfying character arcs, romance, cross dimensional worlds, and an impeccably paced external plot, Voidwalker is fantasy honed to perfection. It’s also really really hot. Like SO hot. This book is for the readers who stare into the dark wishing the dark stared back…and was a hot forest demon equipped with antlers and claws with the disposition of a wet cat. Voidwalker is a dark, messy, romantic story—one that undoubtedly met my cravings but has me begging for more. 

The fractured landscape of Voidwalker is a second home to our protagonist Fionamara who makes a living traversing the shattered plains, smuggling goods between worlds to help her village thrive. MacLean captures a rough beauty within this disunified landscape. The crisp winter which ravages the population, the pine trees, the snow capped mountains, and the intense green of the polar lights envelop the narrative and feels entirely connected to the alluring call of the Daeyari and the void itself. MacLean’s debut, Phoenix Keeper, was a riot of color and magical beasts and she infuses this into her sophomore novel, admittedly with different flavors. Voidwalker is home to a variety of magical creatures—aurora beasts, void horses, and the mysterious void creatures, to name a few. I am very much partial to the void horse myself, with my love of animal sidekicks how could I choose any different. MacLean brings on the details but all help establish these split worlds and construct the initial foundation for this novel with a smuggling job gone wrong and two unlikely allies on the run. 

Two bisexuals in a cabin in the woods with nothing but their failures between them—the byline for this novel, and if I could so boldly claim, the real romance between Fionamara and Antal. These two start out by dragging each other headlong into danger both believing the other capable of fixing things, yet they are immediately confronted with the fact they are way out of their depth. Reaching rock bottom is the perfect way to elevate this romance and start to deconstruct Fi and Antal’s facades. The walls come down as Fionamara drags Antal back to her cabin in the village of Nyskya, where the two hope to prepare an uprising against the ruling Daeyari, Verne. Close proximity is at the forefront of this scheme, as Fi and Antal cohabitate in secret amidst their plans to retaliate. Now S.A. MacLean understands the innate allure of a pathetic freak man and unfortunately neither I nor Fionamara were immune. I really am here for this rabid demon creature who would rather sulk inside a snow bank with his antlers sticking out and hang from the rafters like a feral bat than emote/behave normally. It’s all part of his charm, and trust me, it’s endearing as hell.

Now I would be remiss to not elaborate on how seriously hot this book is. Like SO hot. The tension between Fi and Antal is like a sharp knife through butter and I was standing there in rapt attention as they toed the line between forced allyship and something more. MacLean elevates this tension through her extensive focus on the backgrounds of these two characters, particularly in the first section of this novel. At the start of this book both Fi and Antal have reached rock bottom and can really only rely on each other, albeit begrudgingly. This partnership brings on some wonderfully sharp verbal sparring which of course is the veil over their greater compatibility. Part of what makes Voidwalker so profoundly hot isn’t just the “romancing a hot forest entity with antlers” of it all, but how Antal and Fi open up a space for honesty and look out for each other again and again. They keep each other on their toes while romancing through small gestures—like Antal recovering Fionamara’s favorite coat and blade just because he knew how much they meant to her. Don’t get me wrong, the sex is hot, but the tension between “bite me I dare you” and walking willingly into the embrace of a monster gives just as much besides. 

In Voidwalker, successfully forging a new future means confronting the past for our two protagonists. Though fully established in Fionamara’s point of view, Voidwalker provides deeper insight into Fi’s and Antal both, all to help construct a greater picture of what they are working to overcome. Fionamara’s arc is framed at the center of this narrative, and the true standout for this novel is in her reorienting her perception of the past and standing strong in her choices. Fi’s journey through self-preservation and her perceived cowardice is a hard one, especially as she is torn between competing perceptions—her brother, Boden and childhood friend, Astrid. Astrid and Boden are two facets of this journey in their differing views of the past and reconciling them is a vehicle through which Fionamara gains further agency in her own life. Antal on the opposite side, is entirely alone. He has held people at a distance to save them from the violence of his kind, and he is scared to see the past repeat itself. Both Fi and Antal are excruciatingly aware their feelings run deeper but giving voice to them is easier said than done.

You’d be hard pressed to find a book more tailored to my tastes than S.A. MacLean’s Voidwalker. Every part of this novel is exquisite and I really could go on and on with how much I love it. Reading this, it’s clear S.A. MacLean suffused all of her favorite fantasy elements and character archetypes into one novel and not one of them feels out of place. The disaster bisexual characters trying to prove themselves without admitting they care is my bread and butter and Fi and Antal took that challenge and pushed it to extreme limits. There are not enough books with a pathetic guy who endears himself to the main character with his freakish charm and Antal is that character. Like this is a weird little guy…this is a freak of nature, but I love him so much. And Fionamara is my coffee obsessed hellion ready to fight and so so important to me. Seriously this book has it all, along with the audacity of being hot as all hell. S.A. MacLean’s talents for unique romantic fantasy are seemingly endless and no more is that on display than in her sophomore novel. Voidwalker is fantasy wrapped up in a bisexual little bow and I am so grateful that it exists. The fact that this is a duology just means I can yell about it louder and for far longer than I would typically until the sequel is in my hands. 

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

Trigger Warnings: blood, death, gore, murder, drug use, alcoholism

Preorder a Copy – Out 19th August

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Review: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

Robin1 Comment

Rating: 5 out of 5.

For twenty-four years peace has reigned within the Empire of Orrun. But per the laws of the empire this peace will be tested in a brutal competition to determine its next ruler. Neema Kraa is a Raven Scholar and eight years prior —at the emperor’s behest—she carved the exile edict that would seal the fate of an innocent young woman and propel Neema to High Scholar. An event that would echo in the fates of more than just the solitary Raven Scholar. Thousands of people now flock to the Imperial Island, the epicenter of the empire’s power where its fate will soon be determined in the Festival of the Eight. On the night before the festival commences, Gaida Rack, the Raven contender, is found murdered in her apartment. As Gaida’s least favorite scholar, Neema is one who would stand to gain from her death, and thus, in the emperor’s eyes, the perfect candidate to solve her murder. Not only is Neema tasked with uncovering this crime but she is now the Raven contender in the fight for the throne. Dodging fights and avoiding losing to the dangerous trials, Neema soon becomes embroiled in a devious plot decades in the making, one that like the trials themselves, can have only one victor.

With The Raven Scholar, Antonia Hodgson pens the first in an audacious high fantasy trilogy. Epic in scale, bold, and extraordinarily detailed, this book burrowed its way into my heart where it is more than content to remain. As sentient ravens bear witness to events and murder abounds, The Raven Scholar expertly integrates a murder mystery within an immersive fantasy setting as a devious plot comes to fruition within the fraught empire of Orrun. When I set out to read this seven hundred page tome, I had no idea I would venture into one of the most cleverly wrought fantasy debuts I have read in many years. Hodgson hits all the marks for an epic fantasy novel with characters that bite (pun very much intended), and ones that lean into their morally grey natures. The plot takes the lead in this series debut, but it is only elevated through a detailed world history and extended mythos. Truly the pillars of this story are in the details and Hodgson is intentional in their placement as she builds to her grand reveal. The footnotes and folktales scattered across the narrative, the pesky ravens, all of it serves to build up an integral foundation for this new series. The Raven Scholar is everything high fantasy should be and I loved every single page of this intricately layered, clever novel.

Turning inward on the Imperial Island, Hodgson calls witness to the exile of Yana Valit, a decision that led to her brother becoming the Tiger contender and our protagonist Neema Kraa her position as High Scholar. Not quite a prologue, this look into the past soon transitions into Neema’s point of view, our window for the rest of the novel —a jarring shift made all the more so in the eight year jump to the present. The Raven Scholar has a claustrophobic aura, as thousands crowd the Imperial Island for a scheduled transfer in power, soon finding themselves caught up in more than a game. It all feels very locked-room, except the room is an entire island and everyone on it a suspect. Hodgson’s narrative is ever shifting, flitting back to new perspectives and integrating folktales from Orrun’s history. There is so much to sift and parse over here and no part of this story feels out of place, nor the narrative bogged down at any moment. Every single part of The Raven Scholar’s seven hundred pages is perfectly paced and expertly plotted. Through the ravens, the footnotes, and the folktales, what emerges is a vivid fantasy world with characters that leap off the page. 

I would place The Raven Scholar in the category of: what if there was an animal who was just following you around all the time (but the burrowing inside your chest cavity and offering unsolicited opinions-variety). The Raven Scholar dances around perspective and flashes between the implied author and narrator across the narrative. The implied author being the raven guardians circling the island providing their commentary was a fresh way to hone in on key events. I’m very much here for the flock of Raven Guardians having an omnipresence as Hodgson shifts between perspectives to orient her story. Hodgson layers in these perspectives to better serve the story and build to a smashing final act. Where the raven companion comes into the story is another strong suit. The “Solitary Raven” who was banished from the flock pushes forward through ink, page, and cover to become a fragment within Neema’s mind, acting as a guide in the fight for the throne. Sol is that nettlesome presence needed to further the story and its humor. I found the body horror aspect of this extremely hilarious. The imagery of Sol just chilling in Neema’s ribcage ready to burst forth in viscera whenever he needs to come to her aid or remove himself from a situation could only ever be viewed as relatable and painfully funny. 

One thing I appreciate about this novel is its heavily detailed character work. For most of the book we are in Neema’s perspective and her views cloud our opinions of the past and future of Orrun. Neema is the solitary Raven Scholar, brought up from her station as a commoner to take up space within the Emperor’s court. With such a rise comes many enemies and a perspective that reflects inward more often than not. Antonia Hodgson is comfortable exposing the flaws of this character and the blind spots that place Neema in danger as the plot progresses. I love ambitious women but just as much I love that Neema’s ambitions come at a price. The huge reveal at the end would not have come about without the manipulation of several key figures, one of which was the High Scholar herself. Characters grappling with their morality and the justification of past decisions is a central part of this novel. Neema, Cain, and Ruko are three characters who really stood prominently within this —figures who will undoubtedly continue to shape the progression of this series and its core themes.

The Raven Scholar is a true fantasy gem, sharp, gleaming, and rare in its splendour. As prophecies are fulfilled and the Festival of the Eight draws to a close, the Eternal Path series finds a strong footing in an unstable final act that I was in no way prepared to venture into. And wow oh wow what a conclusion. I don’t think I breathed for the entire last third of this book. It was that intense. Antonia Hodgson pulls the rug out in every sense, making you feel like the dominant players are aiming for one thing when in reality it is something else entirely. Integrating unique points of view —the animal guardians staking their claim on the narrative and the future of an empire and a daring scholar courting danger to solve a murder, among others —this is an artfully designed fantasy novel with a host of characters to enjoy. I cannot emphasize enough how this fed my cravings for epic fantasy to the extreme. Much like our Solitary Raven, I want to live inside this book and I’d feel comfortable burrowing into its pages to wait out the eventual sequel. 

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

Trigger warnings: death, abuse, murder, blood, violence, imprisonment, drug use, execution

Preorder a Copy – Out 15th April

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Review: A Letter from the Lonesome Shore by Sylvie Cathrall

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Please note this review contains reference to some of the events contained within this novel, and the former installment, A Letter to the Luminous Deep.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Former correspondents E. Cidnosen and Henerey Clel bonded over an academic mystery, but they never expected that mystery to involve travelling through a mysterious structure in E’s garden. Now, E. and Henerey find themselves in a sunken city that holds the secrets they’ve been searching for —of an archaic floating society that retreated into the sea after some indescribable danger led them to flee the world above. The mystery of the fate of E. and Henerey captivated many following their disappearance, but none more so than their respective siblings, Sophy and Vyerin. Piecing together the truth through the letters E. and Henerey penned across several years, Sophy and Vyerin now find their siblings forever out of reach. Drawn deep into the life of the archaic scholars and their city of secrets, E. and Henerey confront the limitations imposed by this society while desperately yearning for a way home. Meanwhile Sophy and Vyerin relentlessly chase the gateways that could reunite them with their lost siblings. With Sophy and Vyerin on the case and E. and Henerey seeking the truth to their world, neither party understands the true threat stalking the deep which brought a once thriving archaic society low.

A Letter from the Lonesome Shore returns readers to the elusive deep after the revelation that scholars E. and Henerey did not perish in the destruction of the Deep House. Told entirely through letters, this epistolary novel concludes the Sunken Archive duology and unravels the mystery of the gateways and the archaic scholars. Long thought dead, these scholars have remained within an underwater city awaiting those fleeing the mysterious threat that brought them to its sunken waters. Knowledge has a cost in A Letter from the Lonesome Shore, and Sylvie Cathrall tests the bonds of our undaunted scholars, E. and Henerey, while a larger threat closes in on their underwater world. A Letter from the Lonesome shore is flitting in its shades of enchanting light academia and winsome romance. Sylvie Cathrall pushes her frontier, integrating new perspectives and roundabout ways to ensure character points of view remain at the forefront of this novel. These narrative subtleties lend themselves to the greater conversation of academic pursuit and the human connection at the center of academic inquiry. A Letter to the Lonesome Shore is an endlessly fascinating series conclusion and all I want is to continue to chart the immeasurable depths of this extraordinary duology.

In concluding her Sunken Archive duology, Sylvia Cathrall reorients her underwater world with E. and Henerey having gone through the portal by the Deep House, and Sophy and Vyerin initiating a mission to follow them through to the other side. This sequel proves there is so much more lying beneath the surface as we are introduced to the enigmatic scholars of a sunken city who have awaited refugees since they first abandoned their world above, and the scatterings of a future we encroach ever closer upon. Between E. and Henerey’s private diary entries, Cathrall brings new perspectives into the forefront. The back and forth between the Thirtieth Second Scholar maintaining records for the archaic society and the Fifteenth First Scholar providing their interjections was an intriguing addition —while suffusing some necessary humor into the text. The contrast between the eager Thirtieth Second Scholar offering his commentary and the particular Fiftieth First Scholar trying to stick to protocol was not only deeply hilarious, it uplifted the more serious elements within this novel.

Endearingly awkward should be the main descriptor for the romance between E. and Henerey. Two people in love who believe they aren’t worthy of the other person while constantly exhibiting signs of “you remembered” and “of course I did” is the recipe for this academic romance. After book one detailed their charming correspondence over the mystery of the Deep House and the garden structure, E. and Henerey find themselves united at long last within the underwater city of the archaic scholars. Sylvie Cathrall begins to test the bonds between these two as they leave behind their comforts and find themselves within this sunken city. The courtship rituals are thrown into an entire new orbit as they soon learn they may be stuck there unable to return home. In this series, the relationships on the periphery are just as strong. Sophy and her wife and Vyerin and his husband remain some of my favorite romantic subplots within this duology. A Letter from the Lonesome Shore continues to represent queer relationships at the forefront and I appreciated how Sylvie Cathrall brought in new layers to these relationships as she raises the stakes in this sequel.

What I’ve always relished in this series is its focus on academic research. Cathrall makes the reader feel as if they are pouring over the primary and secondary sources to construct theories for how this underwater society came to be and what happened to the archaic world from long ago. Part of what makes this sequel so fascinating is getting to see where the individual pieces from book one slot into place. The mysterious island, the Darbeni poem, and the Fleet are part of a plot that spans back thousands of years. Cathrall expands upon this underwater world that is actually just one drop in a universe that is an entire ocean. The introduction of an interworldly threat was the perfect addition to underpin this revelation and the connections between the individual threads from book one. The predator as a primordial being that feasts on knowledge, swimming between these worlds to consume any that have become overly abundant was an insanely clever reveal. Cathrall’s imagery of this boundless universe ocean is thoroughly evocative and places the entire world stage in a new perspective.

A Letter from the Lonesome Shore maintains the lighthearted atmosphere from book one yet expands upon the boundaries of this world and the mysterious underwater society of the archaic scholars. Just as A Letter to the Luminous Deep was about the pursuit of knowledge and romance set within scholarly inquiry, this sequel demonstrates that knowledge is nothing beyond the connections that make us human. Finding a home after a devastating event brings E. and Henerey to a newfound shore that feels fitting for their individual paths and the partnership they have built side by side. Sylvie Cathrall knows that the real treasure in the deep is the bonds we keep with one another and it is worth any sacrifice. Lush and fathomless, The Sunken Archive duology is one series I will certainly return to to rechart and navigate anew. The real treasure for me is this series from start to finish.

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

Trigger warning: anxiety

Preorder a Copy – Out 6th 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

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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.

Preorder a copy – Out 6th May

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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: 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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