Please note this review contains spoilers for the former book in this series, Servant of Earth and Princess of Blood, and contains references to some of the events in this sequel. Read with caution.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Kenna, fae ruler of Blood House, has spilt blood and broken peace. Tricked into breaking the accords ahead of the crowning of Mistei’s next ruler, Kenna now faces the cost of her bloodshed. Many are now dead and in the wake of the chaos, Illusion House has secured control of the throne and Kenna and her allies of Void and Fire have been captured. As she fights to survive her torture at the hands of their enemies, Kenna does not know what remains of their allies not imprisoned, nor even if what she saw was truth or little more than an illusion. Separated from Kallen, Caedo, and the rest of Blood House—tormented in body and mind—Kenna knows the only way they can secure Mistei’s future is by escaping their imprisonment. Escape is tricky with their tormentors intent on their humiliation in front of all of Mistei. Allies old and new converge, and in order to achieve victory, Kenna will have to secure her own transformation. But as she walks down a path to change, Kenna must question if she is in control or if she is playing into the designs of powers far greater than her understanding. Mistei hangs in the balance and it is Kenna’s ties to her humanity that could save the realm, or leave it forever to darkness.
In Sarah Hawley’s Warrior of the Shards, the final fight over Mistei looms and the balance of the shards weighs heavily on securing the future of the fae realm. Returning to the fae world in the midst of upheaval and the brink of war, this third Shards of Magic novel could not be more precarious. Following the human turned fae Kenna Heron as she fights first for her survival deep within the cavernous fae kingdom of Mistei, then the survival of her recently resurrected Blood House, this dark fantasy trilogy takes a final bow with Warrior of the Shards. Blood spilt and broken peace mark the fractured footing of this turbulent finale. Warrior of the Shards brings us back to Kenna, our beloved feral heroine, facing fate and consequences after falling prey to the oldest rule in the fae book: trickery itself. Separated from her shapeshifting talking dagger with an unhealthy appetite for blood, and a void faerie who trades in secrets whose greatest secret is how much he adores her, this third novel returns to Kenna facing things much as she began: alone. Journeying through the long forgotten secrets of Mistei and the history of fae magic, Hawley unearths the truth of the past with Kenna at the forefront. Full of endless revelations, moral quandaries, and aching romance, Warrior of the Shards is a calculating and visceral finale. Not complete without a strong kernel of hope, in the fight to bring a better world into being.
Warrior of the Shards, alternatively titled: the gang gets together to destroy the monarchy (unhinged edition). Entering into this third novel with the knowledge of how the previous installment concluded, my only emotion was: fear. Hawley played all her cards close in Princess of Blood and the resulting bloody altercation in its ending meant this third novel could only really begin one way. Bloody and ravenous—just like our favorite talking dagger—Warrior of the Shards leads back into a moment of hopelessness for our heroine, Kenna. Her bloody outburst and the resulting capture at the hands of their enemies means we return to this series with our main character perhaps at her lowest point. I have to hand it to Hawley, there is a poetry in the ruler of Blood House falling prey to trickery and blood. The fae in this series are what they always should have been: mischievous and held captive to their whims. You never know what side of them you will get, and it makes for a cautious playing field across the entire trilogy. If there is one thing we can trust Sarah Hawley in, it’s that she has a story to tell, and she won’t leave her characters long in their torment. Alone she may be, Kenna is still armed with her wit and ferality. For Sarah Hawley, this is a power all of its own and Kenna’s greatest strength in escape, uniting the fae houses, and solving that illusive mystery that is the shards themselves. Warrior of the Shards is above all else: unhinged, clever goodness, and I could ask nothing less from a finale with such a heroine.
As for romance, we last left off with Kallen and Kenna at the most exquisite moment of torment: neither of them knowing if the other is alive. Journeying from Servant of Earth, to the previous installment Princess of Blood, Kallen and Kenna had surmounted revolution, rebirth, and betrayal. We had iconic dance scenes with tremendous yearning, sparring scenes where Kenna broke Kallen’s nose and he liked it (romantic I know), and the ongoing torment of these two characters caring for each other in a world that wants to exploit their weaknesses. That last one in particular made for such sweet, exquisite torment across the second novel. Sarah Hawley does a fantastic job balancing these different tones, rounding out a romantic arc that never lets up on the tension until right when it needs to. Warrior of the Shards is where at long last these two really put the love on the line. Separated after the breaking of the peace, both Kenna and Kallen are tested in their resolve to each other and the charge of fighting to transform Mistei. Hawley doesnt leave this transition mired in dispair. We have great moments like “I wanted him more than soup” which is the most romantic line and should constitute as a love confession. Adding in some truly comedic scenes where Kenna is just one upping Kallen and he is just: no longer shocked. Warrior of the Shards brings the series home in a lot of ways, and part of that is Kenna and Kallen being home for each other. They’ve been through a lot so reading that made me a bit misty eyed.
The Shards of Magic is a series that took me by surprise, but has solidified its own home in the caverns of my heart. All it took was one feral woman going up against an entire kingdom of fae in Servant of Earth and I was sold. Add in morally grey characters, talking weaponry, and a unique history and magic system and it was entirely over for me. One thing that has set this series that much higher in my regard is how committed Sarah Hawley has been to her character journey and portraying the conflicting nature of our humanity across all three installments. If book two was about what happens after an end to tyrannical rule—the resulting power vacuum and sustained rhetoric within the populace—book three brings together the fight to create the foundation for new leadership and the costs of enacting it. This overarching journey resonates so deeply, especially in characters that embody the transformation happening from within Mistei. Fierce, feral, and imperfect (my favorite combo), Kenna is a character who journeys from adversity to triumph across the series. It is such a privilege to witness her falter, succeed, regress, and ultimately pick herself up again and again. In many ways she is the best romantasy heroine of recent years and I do not say that lightly. Bloody, unrelenting, and so damn hopeful, Warrior of the Shards nails the ending and makes it immortal. Sarah Hawley has crafted one of my favorite romantasy trilogies and main characters of all time with The Shards of Magic. This ending is as much a coming home as it is a closing of the door—though hopefully not for good.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing the advance review copy.
Ruby Hirsch had a bit of a life setback—if you can call breast cancer that. Not wishing to define herself by the often singular narrative given to survivors, Ruby wishes to step into the future she had to set down in her treatment. As luck would have it, the wedding of a former friend presents her the chance to initiate the get back to life plan. There she finds herself at the mercy of her former friend Penelope who is desperate for her to take over as the wedding planner for her own forthcoming nuptials. Knowing Ruby is rebuilding her writing career, Penelope promises an introduction to her literary agent in exchange for taking on the job. Wedding planning shouldn’t be a hardship, especially not in exchange for a publishing contact, but with Penelope’s immense extravagance in mind it is very much that. If that weren’t enough the best friend of the groom is a petulant presence that threatens her grand get back to life plan. Eitan is everything Ruby is not, sunshine incarnate, charismatic, and romantic, and he promises to help her in exchange for her helping him in his best man duties. Across camping trips, mix tapes, and car rides Ruby and Eitan are drawn together. There’s just one wedding to get right and one get back to life plan begging to go wrong—to get rewritten entirely.
There is an indescribable magic in finding a romance that was meant for you, in the exact moment you need it. Rebecca Brodkey has written that book with her tour de force of a romance, All the Days Before Tomorrow. Part wedding rom com, part stark look at breast cancer and the way illness rewrites our lives, this is a love story without comparison, one grounded in a realism that is refreshing as it is invigorating. Facing life after her life-altering experience with breast cancer, Ruby, a young Chicagoan, takes on the wedding planning duties for a former friend. Floral arrangements and cakes are one battle, the other she must endure: the sunshine nuisance of a best man determined to help her in her plan. Weddings, book deals, and get-back-to-yourself plans, there’s certainly a lot on the line for this romance and Brodkey displays it all with an unparalleled frankness. All the Days Before Tomorrow flowers from Brodkey’s own experiences as a breast cancer survivor and it echoes in her approach to this romance, both in genre conventions and its heart. This is a romance narrative, one that really grasps what it means to stand by another person through thick and thin. For Brodkey, life is truly grasped when we realize we aren’t, nor do we have to go through it alone.
Brodkey turns her pen toward incandescent, modern romance with her second novel, All the Days Before Tomorrow. Paying homage to the rom coms of the early 2000’s, All the Days Before Tomorrow puts a spin on the classic wedding story with a cancer survivor finding her place after treatment as wedding chaos ensues. Like all the best rom coms, this novel is one that captures a snapshot of life, and expertly balances competing emotions. All the Days Before Tomorrow casts innumerable shades, a true representation of the lives we lead. Everything life can be is encapsulated within these pages, the frustration, isolation, the hope, and the joy. Just as Ruby experiences a myriad of emotions, so too does this novel honor all the glimmering facets that make up the fabric of our contemporary existence, giving them all voice and a necessary weight. There are several moments across this book where I had to set it down and just bask in feeling. The Northern lights scene in particular made me weep, and Ruby finding connection with other cancer survivors was certainly another. My favorite moments are the ones that hint at community and the power in finding it, reveling in it. We’re not in this alone, and that is certainly one thing I came away from this romance reminding myself.
Now I love a meddlesome bisexual man and Eitan takes the cake. It was over when he started ecstatically singing Dancing Through Life but the hand flex at the river and him burning her a CD (in 2026) had me folding. Brodkey’s talent continues to be the character dynamics and Eitan and Ruby were these opposite sides of the same coin type pairings I just adore—Ruby, as someone who has been the epicenter of loss, and Eitan, unexpectedly shaped by it. There are these moments of kinship before they even know each other as they face social norms they are on the outside of. It makes for great connection as they work to build understanding and trust with one another. Of course there’s an initial misunderstanding, a meeting scene that sets the tone for most of their future interactions (it wouldn’t be a rom com without it). I couldn’t help but adore these two and their grumpy x sunshine dynamic as Eitan charms Ruby into letting him help her get back to herself. Brodkey really sets a hopeful energy with these two. Her attention to the vulnerability in letting someone see you after breast cancer treatment is so raw, the tenderness that emerged threatened to buckle me. Across this romance, Eitan and Ruby are able to see each other entirely, flaws and all, so much that we know they’re going to outlast anything life throws their way.
One thing is for certain about Rebecca Brodkey, her talent is only growing. That and her talents are certainly not only applied to writing fantasy and I need another rom com from her immediately. This story is one that is so many things, a cancer survivor narrative, a story of finding your place and community, and a nuisance to lovers romance. Brodkey reflects so much of what I love about this genre: the possibility. Yes we can have the angst, humor, and romance together in one narrative, and All the Days Before Tomorrow is proof of that. When it comes to possibility, this novel has a tight hold, and that is perfectly evidenced by Brodkey’s usage of key genre conventions. The way this novel ends utilizes one of my favorite narrative choices that still adheres to the pivotal rule of romance. Love me a book that ends in a way true to the characters, that serves the overarching narrative presented by the author. Eitan and Ruby face down a lot over the course of this novel, but the greatest test is choosing to face a future of uncertainty together. Rebecca Brodkey’s, All the Days Before Tomorrow is the kind of romance that comes around to remind us to pause, to take collection of our lives and what we need. This is one of the best romance debuts around and I am thrilled for more romance or fantasy from Brodkey—whichever comes next.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an advance review copy.
It feels like just yesterday that I was unveiling my mid-year freakout for 2025 and in all that time an entire year has passed. I am certainly not who I was before reading the two hundred or so books I have since then, so here we are back again to address my new picks for 2026. For the newbies around here, the Mid-Year Freakout Tag is like my Oscars, but for books. I get overly invested in nailing down the choices that I may go *slightly* insane, but well worth it for the chance to sort things into categories and lists. It feels like every year is getting more and more difficult—as my favorite author’s appear determined to outdo themselves. This year has been chock full of some truly phenomenal debuts as well that the choosing was not at all easy. I suppose I can thank my job for keeping me from reading as much as I read last year. Read on for my predictions for my top book of the year, the best sequel, books that made me cry, and more!
BEST BOOK OF 2026
Everyone in my life is either begging for me to shut up about this book or saying exasperatedly “Robin, we know” whenever I come their way. But I am getting back on my soap box in case you are one of the few people who have yet to be held captive by my recommendation for Veronica Roth’s latest masterpiece, Seek the Traitor’s Son. Prophecy, fever, and fated love combine in a series debut that sees Roth once again taking the crown for dystopian fantasy. Tethering three characters across a futuristic earth where fever reigns, Roth brings us to an incident that changes everything: the day a prophecy is given to two individuals who will fight to take it. Seek the Traitor’s Son is a masterclass in the balancing act of the speculative genre. Roth brings together a unique blend of science fiction fantasy elements, dystopian, and romance, and the result is an unforgettable speculative epic the like of which I have not seen in years. Throw in my absolute favorite: a deeply tormented man and a reluctant heroine and this could not have been more for me. Don’t let the fact that Roth is releasing another book this year fool you, this is the one to watch, the one that reflects her continued rise within the fantasy genre. You can read my full review here.
BEST SEQUEL OF 2026
The best sequel in the house for 2026 is also the book that had me the most squeamish, Robert Jackson Bennett’s, A Trade of Blood. Third in the series that began with The Tainted Cup, this installment sees our favorite investigative duo called out to a far away canton to stop the bloodshed between two rival families. What they discover is a gruesome scene and a murderer who is willing to set the canton alight in blood to settle the score. Now everyone knows the love I have for Dinios Kol, disaster bisexual and general chaotic presence, and Ana Dolabra, a peculiar investigator and confounding personality. Robert Jackson Bennett has created two of the most endearing, frustrating, delightful (all of the above) characters who are only getting better with every passing mystery. Bennett always has a handle on his themes and what he is exploring within the confines of the mystery and this time it is the cattle industry. Why we hunger and what for are two of the lodestones for this mystery and the path Bennettt carves to answer them will leave you shaken. Rest assured A Trade of Blood is only further proof that Bennett is at the helm of the best in fantasy right now. That and Din and Ana continue to delight and the mysteries are only getting better—and bloodier—from here. Read my full review.
NEW RELEASE I HAVE YET TO READ
So funny thing about this one is I started it a few months ago and put it down one day and just completely forgot to pick it back up. I’m not unique in thinking Kennedy Ryan is one of the most talented writers in the romance genre right now. I and hundreds of others were frothing at the mouth for her next contemporary romance, Score. Score plots the second chance love story between a screenwriter and musician whose decade ago romance failed epically and left them both scarred. Brought back together to work on a Harlem Renaissance Biopic, Monk and Verity are drawn into close quarters where they fight the feelings that never left and test whether time indeed heals all wounds. From what I have read so far this book is delicious, a gorgeous second chance romance that is unafraid in depicting the realities of life and love and where the two are in conflict. I love the queer representation from Kennedy in Verity, whose bisexuality is a large part of the opening section of the novel as she experiments with her sexuality and desires. It’s frank and just really refreshing to see laid bare so honestly. Maybe it’s cheating since I already started this, but this is one recently released book I am planning on getting back to as soon as possible.
MOST EXCITED FOR IN SECOND HALF OF 2026
When it came to yearning books of the last year, Kalie Cassidy’s, In The Veins of the Drowning was at the top of my list. A romantasy debut that follows a siren on a mission to claim her freedom by binding herself to a king, this book introduced me to a new favorite couple and author all in the same breath. Look no further for a series that expertly balances the plot, romance, and character work. As a fan of both plot and characters this book kept me endlessly fed (just like Eusia *wink* *wink*). Between duty bound Theo of Varya and the impassioned siren Imogen Nel the character work in this duology is astounding. Cassidy’s background in theatre and her continued enjoyment of historical romances is evident in the contrast between her characters and the yearning that develops. The tension is in the unsaid, in the conversations that are rife with misunderstanding. These two clash, they retreat, and come back ready to do the whole thing all over again while realizing that they are in fact more to each other. I really appreciate Cassidy’s commitment to drawing out the conflict, to continue testing the resolve of Theo and Imogen both. While I have had the immense privilege to read an early version of the second book, I am still most looking forward to In the Wake of the Ruined releasing July 7th. The entire book had me on edge and the ending had me sinking to the floor (in a good way). Review coming soon but in the meantime preorder here.
BOOK THAT SURPRISED ME
Natasha Siegel wrote one of my favorite books of 2025, As Many Souls as Stars and then she turned right around and wrote my next favorite with her upcoming novel. How far would we go to achieve our hearts desire? That’s what Siegel’s latest, Chateau Reverie asks in earnest. A young woman wishing to forget the death of her companion, and a young man desiring his liberation are extended invitations to the mysterious Chateau Reverie where as the invitation details, they could achieve their greatest desires. Once at the Auction of Secrets they are held captive by a larger power that will not rest until all but one stands the winner. As Leander and Genevieve fight to secure their futures, they face a love that could spell both of them their doom, or bring one of them to happiness and the other forever to ruin. With a premise like that it’s hard not to immediately drop everything to read Chateau Reverie and when I did, it came as no complete shock that I loved it. Even so, this one still managed to surprise me—as much of Siegel’s novels often do. One reason why Siegel’s works have resonated so much is that she always seems to be standing on the beat of humanity, what makes us tick and why we are driven to do certain things. This was certainly true to her last novel and it echoes in this one. This is essential to Chateau Reverie, especially to the romance that evolves between its two main characters. Now I’m not often one for a romance condensed into such a short period of time, but Genevieve and Leander completely had me swayed. It’s got to be Siegel’s extreme powers for yearning because I am apprehensive and still she manages to get me by the second or third page. I’ll be summarizing my thoughts in a review soon, but the twist in this one is completely magnificent and still has me in shock. Surprising indeed!
NEW FAVORITE AUTHOR
If I were to point to the romance novel of the year it would be Ríoghnach Robinson’s forthcoming romance Bad Words. Everyone who ever heard me say I don’t believe in enemies to lovers in a contemporary romance setting has seen me proven wrong since reading this novel. When a renowned book critic and a novelist come to blows after a bad review, the interaction is filmed without their knowledge, leading to a viral feud that spirals out of control. As the two spark a larger conflict online, the necessity of literary criticism and journalistic integrity are called into question—the bad words underpinning the good in the wider literary ecosystem. Drawn into conversation again and again, Parker and Selina slowly realize: sometime’s the person that knows you best is the person that has known you at your worst. And the person that saw you at your worst up and wrote a bad review about it. What’s so fun about a novel so deeply entrenched in the publishing industry and the foundations of literary criticism is that I read this truly disbelieving how Robinson could pull off the romance between author and critic. And how I love being wrong. The viral feud between author Parker Navarro and critic Selina Chan has widespread implications for the entirety of the novel, the elephant in the room as they slowly start to fall in love with each other. One can almost feel the tension radiating off of the page as Parker and Selina frantically rage back and forth on twitter, to even the quieter moments across their email correspondence. Being proven wrong has never felt so right and this book is evidence of that entirely. My full review
NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH
Am I talking about Emma M. Lion, Young Hawkes, Islington, or Niall Pierce? The answer is clearly all four. Now I know everyone and their mother is reading The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion right now. For those of you uneducated, this epistolary historical fiction series follows the elusive return of one Emma M. Lion to London after many years away to secure her inheritance and residence at Lapis Lazuli House. Foiled by her eccentric cousin who has spent the bulk of her inheritance, Emma will have to resort to unconventional means to remain in London. Including but not limited to: lying about having a chaperone to one’s demanding aunt, establishing a new tenant (a photographer no less) in residence, rejecting numerous proposals from one Charles Goddard, participating in the neighborhood scavenger hunt, exchanging favors with a nuisance, and so much more. One thing about these volumes, they suck you in until you come to having read all eight of them. I already had this series on recommendation from my dear friends Tara and Jeanne so I knew they were going to be a hit from the get go. Yet still I was not prepared for how charming these ended up being. I even went so far as to purchase each volume in hardback so you know it’s serious. Beth Brower is responsible for four new fictional crushes (and don’t make me choose between them please).
FAVORITE FICTIONAL COUPLE
Voidwalker by S.A Maclean was a dark fantasy gem I uncovered in the depths of the London spring. After a voidwalking smuggler named Fionamara accidentally gets roped into a coup, she ousts the ruling member of their winter territory, Antal. Antal is one of the Daeyari: creatures that originated in the void who consume human flesh to survive. Without a true plan, all that’s left is to team up with the cannibal monster to set the government to rights, or fail together (and isn’t that romantic). Now there is a lot going on in this premise but just trust me in that it is one of the best fantasy romances of the last year. If you like your relationships freak for freak or where they are both pathetic (affectionate) then the Beasts of the Void duology is most assuredly for you. The sequel was high up on my list of most anticipated reads for this year and I was thrilled to be back with my beloveds Fi and Antal. Sunsplitter asks what else there is to confront after successfully toppling the government and falling in love with a cannibal??? Daddy issues. This sequel sees Maclean deepen her themes, her character work, to test the bond between human and Daeyari. Lots of angst and tension ahead babyyyyyyy (and you know that is my favorite flavor of romance). Fi and Antal continue to take the crown for favorite fictional couple. They are just too good and no one else should even try.
NEWEST FAVORITE CHARACTER
My first Ilona Andrews? As a longtime fantasy reader this feels like a sin to admit but I am so happy to have found a new favorite author, character, and series in just one read. For the portal fantasy fans out there, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is all about waking up in your favorite fantasy novel and fighting like hell to survive. Who amongst us wouldn’t leap at the chance to try this? And who among us would actually succeed. Well if you don’t know the currency conversion of your favorite series you might just not. Fortunately our protagonist Maggie has a memory like a steel trap and remembers almost everything from her favorite dark fantasy series. After waking up in Kair Toren, a city she has yearned to venture into, Maggie soon knows she will not survive if she doesn’t quickly get scrappy. She robs a character she knows carries wealth and uses information about the plot™ to ally herself with a tortured byronic hero to acquire security. Maggie is everything I love about complex, layered heroines. She knows her worth, stands by her principles, and is unafraid to tell it like it is. Also clever to the extreme (I’m serious). Of course she’s not perfect or it would make for a most boring narrative, but her sharp wit and quick thinking make for a vastly entertaining read. I’ve got to hand it to the writing duo that is Ilona Andrews: this is how you write fantasy and female characters.
PRETTIEST BOOK BOUGHT
If you are reading this and you are a coworker of mine you know this is in fact on the holds shelf (but it’s the thought that counts). I am always singing endless praise to the historical fantasy powerhouse that is Katherine Arden. Her work invigorated my love of both genres and the possibilities in melding the two. The Winternight Trilogy is one of my favorite all time works of fiction and her latest, The Unicorn Hunters, is another stunning meld of fiction and fantasy. Not without a kernel of romance either! How to paint a picture for this hardback other than it has tapestry endpapers and a silver foiling on the naked cover. Truly a gorgeous edition that is representative of the contents of the book within. Want more reason to pick this one up? Read my review.
BOOK THAT MADE ME CRY
I am not the kind of reader who cries often, so when a book guts me to my core or has me close to tears I know it is flawless. Elizabeth Lim’s upcoming historical fantasy adult debut, Fishbone Cinderella did that for me. A generational saga and cinderella story following a family of women with strange abilities who are torn apart by war and circumstance, Fishbone Cinderella tests familial bonds and the cost of generational wounds. Across 1940’s Hong Kong and San Fransisco in the 1960’s, we follow mother and daughter both as they face the consequences of trauma, their choices, and their respective gifts. Lim is the master at the fantasy narrative and while this one is firmly placed within our world, it still has that speculative gleam to it. Magic here is viewed as a curse, yet one perfectly aligned with situation: to disappear in the face of those who wish you harm and to know by touch the memories of those around you. Lim understands how to utilize the speculative to inform her characters and get after themes and situation. Fishbone Cinderella is a heartrending portrait of mother’s and daughters, the pain we bury, and the lengths one must go to reconcile the past. If you’ve read this you’ll understand how moving the final scenes were. Sheer perfection.
BOOK THAT MADE ME HAPPY
How to explain Alicia Thompson’s latest other than its for the Leap Year and While You Were Sleeping lovers. As that is me two and two this was the perfect romance. Waking up on the lawn of the brother to your horrible date of the previous evening (after telling him you’d rather be on a date with his brother) is one hell of a coincidence. That lawn also happens to be in Ireland thousand of miles from where you were last night. No Money, no passport, no anything, protagonist Jess must figure out how to get home and unfortunately Eamonn is her only shot. He begrudgingly agrees to help her and the rest is romance history. In Every Possible Way is a contemporary romance that pushes the line of the possible and I am endlessly grateful for it. Because everyone yearns to be squired around Ireland by a hot mechanic while basking in all of life’s possibilities. Who even cares how you got there? I was simply along for the ride. In Every Possible Way is a romance that made me feel all the things, but the emotion I felt most of all was happiness. Alicia Thompson’s latest is there to remind us that we’re allowed to have it all even if we have to risk it.
BOOK TO READ BEFORE END OF 2026
Liana De la Rosa what cant you do? Taking a detour from the historical romance for which she is best known, Liana De la Rosa is serving up a forbidden friends to lovers romance this summer with Mutual Discord, out this August. As I am altogether familiar with Liana’s game I know this is going to be EPIC and it is the romance I will be getting to before the end of this year. Following an influencer whose virtual friendship with a mysterious “A” is revealed to be the partner of an old friend, Mutual Discord promises the mess, the romance, and the heat together in one novel. If there is one thing I trust implicitly, it’s historical romance writers breaking into the contemporary space. I know Liana is going to nail the tension, the yearning, and the conflict right on the head. She did after all completely sweep me away with her Luna Sisters trilogy (which comprised all three). I definitely want to extend support to my favorite writers who are taking different avenues as publishing shifts and Mutual Discord is up next for me.
Please note this review contains references to some of the events in thisnovel. No overt spoilers, but please read with caution.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
When Elegy Ahn, spare to the Sword of Cedre, is brought to neutral territory to consult with the great augurs, she does not expect to be handed a prophecy that could determine the fate of her nation. A soldier of Cedre, Elegy has spent her life holding back her country’s sworn enemy: the Talusar—an empire that embraces a fever that has brought nothing but death and strange abilities for those who are reborn. Set to receive this prophecy, Elegy is surprised to learn that the augurs are divided and the prophecy could instead belong to Rava Vidar, the Butcher of Calgara, and grand-niece to the emperor of Talusar—one who has also been brought to hear this foretelling. Elegy learns this outcome hinges on three: one who bears the Vidari name, someone who has tasted Cenobium salt, and a person she is doomed to love, one who will bring about her death. Sworn in as the Hope of Cedre, Elegy is now in need of protection and is granted a Knight. That man is Theren Forint and all he has ever known is his charge, to protect the Sword or die. To determine the outcome of the prophecy, one must control the three points of the pyramid, but when fate is placed into the hands of the prophecy bearers the only thing ensured is that there can be one victor. Elegy is determined to embrace her destiny and secure Cedre’s triumph, even if that victory spells her death.
I would say “Veronica Roth I didnt know your game” but that would be a lie because I expected nothing less than this. For anyone who has kept a close following on Veronica Roth’s career, Seek the Traitor’s Son marks both a return and a prophecy fulfilled. A return to her superb meld of science fiction fantasy set within a world that is most certainly our own—be it in the far distant future, and a dystopian fantasy epic that takes incredible risks to craft and accomplish something earth shattering. Seek the Traitor’s Son is the kind of novel that defies definition. It feels a bit Dune, a bit TheExpanse, but where it takes form is something original and utterly Veronica Roth. In Seek the Traitor’s Son a prophecy emerges in an earth ruled by fever, and two competing nations fight to control the fulcrum: the trio through which the outcome of the prophecy relies. A soldier bound to her lineage, an oath sworn knight forced to serve, and an inquisitive scout are tethered against the prophecy that could doom their world or reveal its triumph. This could not be more Veronica Roth: complete with a deeply tormented man and a romance that made me want to be sent to the seaside to recover my health. A planet transformed, fantasy and science fiction leanings, fatal fevers, and fated romance each find place in this dystopian marvel. Seek the Traitor’s Son is the kind of life altering dystopian-fantasy that quietly takes hold, building its roots to a fierce power that cannot be rivaled. To read this is to emerge reborn, a resurrection of its own.
Seek the Traitor’s Son is without a doubt Veronica Roth’s best work to date. She honed her craft in the crucible of Divergent, her characters and dynamics in the Curse Bearer verse, and now we get to bask in the overwhelming light that is this work of fiction. No matter where you are in your Veronica Roth journey, she’s always been there sharpening the blade and here is where you must fall. Seek the Traitor’s Son offers something unique to every fantasy lover, but as a reader who loves deep character work that utilizes plot as the vehicle for change and challenge, this book is a beacon. Seek the Traitor’s Son unites three perspectives: Elegy, the Hope of Cedre, Theren Forint, an exile forced into knighthood, and Hela, a transplanted Talusar scout. Roth instills a foreboding air, an understanding that these three will be shaped by the events of prophecy and reaction. This is first realized twofold as Elegy faces a prophecy that brings nothing but death, and Theren is transformed in the wake of betrayal and suffering. Seek the Traitor’s Son is not overburdened in any regard, finding balance in moments of stark feeling and levity. When Elegy and Theren are not building up angst city brick by brick, Hela is out there Fox Mulder-ing with a side of plant hallucination. Roth is sure to ground her novel in every facet of humanity. Be that bloody, humorous, or hopeful, Roth embraces it all.
Now I know I have a specific type of character when I see one and go: onto the collection you go. See here: man burdened by guilt and torment (Theren), and woman burdened by prophecy and a tremendous desire to bring about change (Elegy). What to say about Theren Forint other than wowwww you survived all that? Because this man is so tormented. His byline: The knight who forsook his oath to you just had the worst four years of his LIFE. Slash: If he’s your oath sworn knight then why is he in MY gladiator arena. But seriously, I am here for characters profoundly impacted by a single event which altered the course of their life, who come out the other side a shadow of their former self. They’re not doomed by the narrative, they’re haunting the narrative they were doomed by (and just maybe clawing it back). If Theren is the stoic character on a quest for redemption, then Elegy, our reluctant hero of prophecy, is that dose of heady spirit. She’s not about to let Cedre fall even after a self exile, and she needs little determination to mount a rescue of a man who forsook her four years ago. Despite their differing motivations, Theren and Elegy are evenly matched in their call to action, harmonic in how they embrace their destinies and hold to each other. It’s not a joint recklessness, it’s an inherent belief that they can rely on the other. And as that has already been tested there is nothing more magnetic than such mutual trust.
Romance between Elegy and Theren is inevitable. It is after all fated by the Augurs, by prophecy itself. But what does fate compare to the past Elegy and Theren surmount to choose each other again and again. Love is an essential cornerstone for Roth—the love that perseveres even after death, the love that limits because it is flawed, and the love that restores you even when you thought yourself broken. Like all things in this novel, the romance creeps in like a fever. Ironic since it was written down from the start, but Roth plants a seed of doubt: whether Elegy and Theren are going to be able to move past the events which first separated them. United in their respective grief, tragedy is almost a union of its own. The moments of grief and betrayal become these cornerstones for Roth to build to her larger character studies and core themes. It’s some of the most delicious character writing I’ve read and it sets up the romance to be that invigorating blend of angst and softness. Elegy and Theren are being tested by a prophecy that could destroy the world—a classic—but they still manage to have grace for each other. The tenderness through which one character cleans the others wounds and the other shows up ready to rescue them having committed horrific acts of bloodshed? PEAK. Elegy and Theren are my favorite niche blend of curiosity at first glance and knight x the shielded. I don’t need to know what it’s like to be infected with the fever when they exist.
On a craft level, it’s undeniable how every part of Seek the Traitor’s Son was carefully chosen and poured over. Narrative structure is where this novel tethers itself to a specific path to character interiority. It’s as simple as how information is conveyed and when. Roth offers glimpses into the past not to just inform our understanding of certain characters but to provide insight into the part of their story to which we already know the end. Like a stone skipped over water Veronica Roth momentarily strikes down on the past, offering glimpses into events we have never seen in the shadow of their end. These events hold a greater weight not only because we know how they have concluded, but the tragedy in witnessing them come to pass, in knowing and still bearing witness. These shifts backward strike like a knife, there’s a helplessness in their telling. It’s masterful how Roth wields narrative like a blade, a two sided assault from the plot and her use of past and present. Memory is power, not just for those that can view the past in retrospect. Memories are needed for our trio to reveal the three points of prophecy, a fulcrum constantly reshaping.
It’s fitting how the most iconic voice in the dystopian genre has returned with the best dystopia and book of the year….*whispers* or is it prophecy? When the world needed her most she vanished, wrote an amazing urban fantasy novella series set in Chicago that said be gay do crimes (amidst many other novels), and then wrote this masterpiece. Seek the Traitor’s Son has a gravity that pulls one down into fever, betrayal, and exile. Veronica Roth sharpens her blade and cunning in her science-fantasy epic across a fever ravaged earth that presents a stark look at autonomy and sacrifice. Characters Elegy, Theren, and Hela face the perilous nature of prophecy and the politics in untangling its meaning and the strange communications with forces beyond the known universe. We are never in better hands than we are with Veronica Roth, someone who deep down understands the power in embracing destiny, in choosing resistance even if it means walking down a path you never wanted. Experience the particular agony in not knowing if everything is predetermined for these characters. Seek the Traitor’s Son knows there is always time for angst, even at the end of the world (and pre destiny is certainly part of that). Seek the Traitor’s Son blends fantasy with science fiction and the resulting magnitude is certainly akin to a fever. There are few places I would not venture for Veronica Roth so loving this is just all the more vindicating. In Veronica Roth I have never wavered and in her—and in The Burning Empire duology— I will forever trust.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me an advance review copy.
Trigger warnings: death, war, torture, murder, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual assault
Author Parker Navarro’s debut novel was supposed to be a success. The advance: more than staggering, with early reviews slating it as the book of the year. All castles must crumble and Parker’s fell at the hands ofnotorious book critic, Selina Chan, who panned his book, dubbing it a “stupefying misfire”. Superseded by more negative reviews and online vitriol, his debut was in its own category of failure. Four years after the flop that was his first novel, Parker hopes to claw himself out of the pit when who should publish a review but the woman who buried him in the first place. Selina Chan would rather have not been tasked with reviewing Parker’s sophomore novel, but declining funds and readership at City Magazine necessitate she do her job by any and all avenues. So it’s just her luck that the author in question approaches her at an industry party and they get into a scathing argument—one that is filmed without their knowledge. Their feud gone viral, Selina and Parker navigate new scrutiny in a landscape that seems to benefit them: Parker with increased preorders of his upcoming novel and Selina with magazine viewership. Neither wants to back down, not with their entire futures on the line. Yet as Parker and Selina clash, they soon realize no one understands you quite like an enemy, and that animosity is masking the mirror they hold to one another. Moving forward means stepping back from who they are to everyone else, but letting go is harder when you have to admit you were wrong.
Bad Words is the romance novel of all time. A startling look at why we create, critique, and the tenuous publishing landscape, all through the perspectives of a feuding author and book critic. It’s a book that knows the power on the page, the page itself a series of deliberate choices and writing a tremendously public act. All of that is a testament to author Ríoghnach Robinson who unfolds her public feud between novelist Parker and critic Selina, one that prompts a path towards change and unforeseen connection. With their impassioned back and forth—each convinced they are right—a romance first appears out of the question, if not for a kernel of familiarity uncovered after every heated argument. Like the love they share for an obscure novel from their teen years or a favorite, slightly pretentious drink they both order. Bad Words had me waiting on bated breath for Selina and Parker’s next exchange, to fight or to give in to the intense connection at the heart of all of their interactions. But like any true enemies to lovers, these two have to wade through the issues that led up to their quarrel. Bad Words finds its place in the literary landscape, challenging our views on criticism in the book space and interrogating the essential question: why do we create and how do we connect? Bad Words is as bracing as opening ourselves up to criticism can be, where to be known is to be seen for the totality of who we are.
When I first settled in to read Bad Words, there was a moment when I knew I was in the presence of greatness—that I was reading the kind of book that is both rare as it is vital. Ríoghnach Robinson’s debut is an eye opening work of fiction that presents the kind of questions and conversations this industry has long been grappling with, inside and out. Robinson sharpens up a commentary on the necessity of criticism within the book space, authenticity at the heart of writing, and the myriad of ways we reach out to connect with others, with writing as the spark. Not complete without a romance, Bad Words feels both a homage to the rom-coms of the early 2000’s and a subtle nod to our lord and savior Jane Austen. Robinson writes for the readers who want a modern romance with all the heart, complexity, and intense character work comprised in an Austen novel. That and a contemporary enemies to lovers story (which I have long thought impossible but revoke in the wake of this novel). Bad Words has the feel of a true enemies to lovers tale, but make it literary, with real stakes to uphold the enemies of it all. For who is not your enemy if not the woman responsible for ruining the success of your debut novel? This story is all Ríoghnach Robinson, who grounds it ever deeper with attention paid to authorial intent, mental health, familial relationships, and online spaces, all while rounding out a seemingly impossible romantic arc between writer and critic.
The star of the show in this romance is of course our writers, Selina and Parker: two not so different people yearning to connect with writing and each other. Criticism is the tinder that sparks the flame in Bad Words prompting a feud and a deeper look at authorial intent, journalistic integrity, and literary criticism entirely. There is an intimacy that comes with knowing someone’s writing down to their core and to be bold enough to tell them exactly how it comes across. Which is exactly what Selina asks of Parker as she enters into public conversation around his sophomore novel, High and Dry. Selina and Parker’s improbable romance emerges amidst in person fighting matches, cross conversations on social media, and a self insert short story about the critic you currently hate (yikes I know). The intimate tether between love and hatred is actually a thin line, which they fight every time they interact in public while falling ever deeper in private. Both Selina and Parker are hiding through their writing. Parker writing for everyone else and not himself, and Selina using writing as a tool to construct a fortress around herself. Love for these two characters is tied up in the criticism: in letting each other acknowledge their flaws. An essential component to living and loving with authenticity.
Part of what makes the romance between Selina and Parker so addictive is how opposed they are. Robinson spends the length of Bad Words slowly breaking down these barriers and drawing them closer together as they realize: you are me and I am you. Despite the separation in their roles in publishing, writer and critic respectively, both feel the tremendous weight of expectations and the public facing nature that comes alongside pursuing their careers. Intersecting online publications, snippets from social media, and Parker and Selina’s own writing, Robinson begins to contextualize the fraught modern publishing landscape. One that is all too quick to latch on to a feud and stretch it for miles, and take controversy and spin it for personal gain. Everything from publishers, journalists, former friends, and industry names, all want a bite out of the Parker x Selina feud. There is truly so much to dissect even on this front, but the added familial relationships bring more to Parker and Selina’s interiority. For Parker his failures weigh against his desire to support his family. All the while Selina protects her castle, defending a life that went against her parents wishes. Bad Words could not be any better with this rich subject matter, but it rounds out a third act with a discussion over depiction versus endorsement in fiction—this topic a catalyst for conflict and eventually reconciliation between these literary enemies.
Ríoghnach Robinson’s romance between an author and his least favorite critic manages to deliver the romance of the year and it’s not even out until fall. Bad Words is pure brilliance in book form, an emotionally rich love story that’s challenging, perceptive, and best of all clever. Framed within the publishing industry and the modern literary landscape, Robinson crafts an insightful romance concerned with all things writing to get to the heart of why we create. Parker and Selina are the epicenter of this, bearing the weight of the industry on their careers and identities. Separated by the boundaries of criticism and a viral feud, their romance is almost too far-fetched which is why it feels earned by the time these obstacles are circumvented. Parker was never more right than he was in falling for the woman who read him down to the marrow and challenged him to write authentically. I support women’s wrongs (in fact there are none here), but Selina Chan I would wage battles on your behalf (and win). Bad Words perfectly lands its quest for connection, something we cannot gain without first being honest about who we are. Thus we come back to critique, which shapes literature and is an essential part of the literary ecosystem. As a lover of themes and interrogating topics at length, Bad Words left me pensive, reflecting far beyond the end of its pages. Bad Words is a book for book people. Whether familiar with the industry or not, prepare to be lost in its marvelous depths and come back yearning for more from Ríoghnach Robinson and a literary nemesis to call your own.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy.
Trigger warnings: past suicidal ideation (discussed), racism
Yippee Ki-yay romance lovers. It’s the best time of year for romance with that winter chill keeping us all cozy inside (storms included). Cozying up with romance is the way to survive the winter and I wouldn’t have it be any different. This next crop of romance recommendations was absolutely meant to be shared around the holidays but with work getting busy my writing slowed down a ton. Fitting since now I can count this as my first quarter romance picks ahead of the Valentine’s Day holiday.! This was an excellent quarter of romance reads as I read everything from ghosts to sports romance. Tis the season as it were. Yet I stayed true to my roots with second chance romance and yearning—which I will never abandon. Lot’s of sophomore novels and debuts leading out the beginning of the year. Sink in and enjoy!
Disclosure: I will be linking my Bookshop affiliate link below my reviews. I earn a small commission if you purchase books through this link and it is one way to support my reviewing! My affiliate link will simply be labeled “Bookshop.”
Sunk in Love by Heather McBreen
Second chance romance while on vacation in Hawaii: hot. Being stuck on a cruise ship with your entire family: not. Two spouses veering towards divorce must pretend they’re still in love on a final family vacation—rather than let their family in on the truth and ruin their last trip together. Roslyn and Liam are a sworn pair. Together so long one could not think of one without the other. When a tragedy occurs, they face a reality where they aren’t or rather cannot be what each other needs. After months of avoidance and silence lead to a three month separation and encroaching divorce, they face telling Roslyn’s family. Both would rather push through the upcoming vacation than reveal the truth. But vacationing away from their lives is more difficult than they thought as Roslyn and Liam must question not is the love still there, but is it ever really over. Sunk in Love, Heather McBreen’s sophomore novel is an achingly heartfelt second chance romance set alongside a scenic Hawaiian cruise. I make it no secret that second chance romance is my favorite romance trope. The possibilities are limitless and the angst even more so. Sunk in Love is another one to add to a growing list of flawless second chance stories. Tracking a present and past narrative between Liam and Roslyn as love is discovered, lost, and regained, McBreen charts the ups and downs of a family vacation and a love story all in one. McBreen understands the inherent hotness of the British accent, someone making you lasagna from scratch (on a first date no less), and a man who reads romance novels (I know). This is a gorgeous gorgeous second chance love story for the cautious hopeless romantics, yearners, and lovers of stoic men. Sunk in Love is proof you can have it all.
Tired of waiting around for life to find her, twenty-seven year old journalist Stella Renee Johnson decides to seize it with two hands—literally. An invite to NYC’s hottest club and an unshakable determination, Stella quickly comes face to face with a handsome stranger and just as quickly flees their steamy assignation. At work the next day the last person she expects to see is the stranger from the party. That handsome stranger is Max Williams, the brother to their CEO—a CEO who is currently ramping up a partnership integrating AI into their writing. With the chemistry already sparked, Stella and Max can’t seem to pull themselves away from each other even as professional ties suggest they should. Even more, they may not want to. A romance for the late bloomers and the bisexuals. That’s what Zakiya N. Jamal brings to the scene with her perfectly modern love story, Sparks Fly. Sizzling chemistry initiates a romance between unlikely duo, Stella and Max as they navigate workplace and personal conflict alongside their blossoming relationship. This is a romance that starts out with the heat on high and dials it back as our leads face whether or not their chemistry can outlast the everyday. Like your boss forcing you to use Generative AI in your writing process putting your career on the line. Despite the various ups and downs, Stella and Max never make you doubt their incredible connection. It’s there, they just have to fight for it. Jamal builds up a flawless romance while interrogating artificial intelligence in the workplace, fraught friendships, and complicated familial dynamics. Sparks Fly is a whip smart contemporary romance that not only made me feel the sparks but the power in building your future step by step.
Luke Dawson and Harper Braedon have always been at odds. He’s the town’s hockey darling and she is decidedly not, making a name for herself in handcrafted jewelry and hating on the beloved sport. But the two are stuck working together in the local diner after school, sharing classes, and navigating the ins and outs of their small town. Ahead of an opportunity for a young entrepreneurs grant, their school’s hockey coach is fired for embezzlement and Dawson is partially responsible for starting a rumor that Harper spilled the beans. Now the grant is a no go, and Harper and Dawson are forced into the close proximity they have spent years avoiding—to build something better or be stuck forever on opposing sides. Venture into Hamilton Lakes in Emily Charlotte’s delightful young adult romance Heart Check, a small town coming of age story involving the misperceptions of the heart and all of the quirks in leaving animosity behind for uncertain ground. It has been awhile since I have been so utterly charmed by a story such as this one and lord was I charmed!! Heart Check reeled me in with the hate to love premise and left me feeling empowered and entirely heart-warmed by its end. This novel hits the perfect shot with hilarity (see Dawson having Troy Bolton level anxiety crashouts and Harper losing it over a crush because he signaled before turning (a green flag)) and deep emotion. Exactly what you’d expect of the turbulent high school years. Heart Check is absolutely a romance, but it’s also about two opposites breaking down social barriers to reach mutual understanding—challenging predisposed beliefs and building to something better. Readers won’t just find comfort in the small town wintery-scape of Hamilton Lakes or the romance Charlotte has crafted, but the strength embedded in this community.
The entire Vancouver Storm team and one feral alley cat: Jordan you need to be with Tate. Jordan Hathaway’s safe space is the Filthy Flamingo, the bar she manages in Vancouver and home away from home for the local hockey team. Behind the bar she can avoid her past failures and the fraught relationship with her father, the owner of the Vancouver Storms team. Breaking that peace is Tate Ward, Vancouver Storm’s coach stuck checking in on Jordan every now and again despite the fact that they cannot stand one another. When her father announces his plans to sell the team Jordan is thrust into the orbit of hockey, her second love and the thing her father chose over family time and time again. A defining choice: to take over the team or let it extinguish right as it is on the brink of making history—something Tate is not willing to let Jordan decide alone. The Wild Card is a hockey romance to end all hockey romances. Seamlessly a hard hitting look at the lives we lead for others and the power that comes from opening ourselves up to authentic connection, it’s a romance fueled by misunderstanding, coffee runs, clothing mishaps, and forgiveness. I’m always going to crave a true hate to love story where we get to crack open the interiority of our characters and pour over the details. Wild Card doesn’t rush headlong into the romance, instead opting to establish our two leads and the issues they have to surmount—earning every single one of its almost five hundred pages. Tate and Jordan are two feral cats at a standoff (which is why it’s even funnier they get roped into coparenting a stray cat together). The Wild Card expertly contrasts the bitterness and grief packaged into a chaotic five foot tall bartender, and a stoic controlled hockey coach trying to hold it all together. Sharp, steamy, and brimming with delicious tension, The Wild Card is not just the best Vancouver Storm novel, it belongs in the hockey romance hall of fame.
What’s next for your rock band is nothing compared to unresolved feelings for your bandmate. Keyboardist Jane and drummer Keeley have always had a perfect harmony on stage. Off it they are desperate to hide their feelings by a tried and true staple: avoidance. When a chance for collaboration forces both women into close proximity, decades of feeling and attraction come pouring out in the music and the space between them. A forever kind of connection may be in the cards, that is if they can navigate a much larger test through the media and their respective families. Jessica James returns to her acclaimed recently reunited punk pop group the Glitter Bats in For Our Next Song, a sapphic friends to lovers romance all about composing music and the importance in living our authentic truth. A reunited rock group on the brink of a major resurgence is merely the beginning of this romance and much like their comeback it’s only better from there. For Our Next Song is the rock filled sapphic romance we deserve, striking the perfect chord between angsty and romantic like all the best sort of love songs. This her second in the Glitter Bats series, Jessica James strives to connect the history of a band both past and present, a slow burn sapphic romance, breaking away from religious trauma, and the fragility of the media, all of which are executed to perfection. James doesn’t just make you feel for her main characters; she makes you fall in love with the landscape surrounding them—be they writers, fans, industry names, or fellow bandmates. It made me wish I could really kick back to the Glitter Bats and throw support behind these two women (or force them to confront feelings from within the band). Jane and Keeley need that push and the result is electric and heartfelt, a love story well worth cheering on from the crowd or behind the stage.
Writer Sage Collins already did the hard thing and bet on herself, quitting her day job after the success of her dystopian series debut. But the hard thing is actually writing its direct sequel, of which Sage has written practically nothing. On a flight to Comic Con Sage is tested further with an overly curious passenger, Theo, who could have been created in a lab just to irritate her. Theo is also a rising star, but instead of books he has made a name for himself in film. After their strange encounter is captured on camera at the airport, rumors spark of a romance between them and squashing them leaves Sage even more on edge—especially considering she and Theo do have a connection. Sparks are one thing but Sage can’t afford to give into her heart, not when she’s still trying to prove that she is worth it, to herself and to everyone else. Kate Dramis’ contemporary romance debut is a stunner, no other way of looking at it. Seamlessly welding the magic of the love story with an unflinching view on perfectionism, familial expectations, and a homage to Nancy Meyers’ The Holiday, The Odds of You is romance novel perfection (entirely the good kind). This novel was written with the perfectionists in mind, or anyone working through the often Sisyphean nature of personal standards. Dramis is here to affirm just how we still deserve epic and loud love stories—not in spite, but because of who we are. The Odds of You has a great kernel of conflict: can we even reach for the love we know is there if we can’t see ourselves as worth anything? The journey out of that is a poignant one. Grounded in expansive locales, sweeping romance, and a breadth of emotion that left me floored, you won’t find a book more representative of the beauty of the romance genre and the power in the modern love story than this one.
How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, but it’s trying to win back the man who left you after four years together, all with the help of your favorite indie singer. A breakup gone viral, a firing, and a list to fix it all begins this gorgeous contemporary romance debut from author Maria J. Morillo. Bringing readers to Caracas, Venezuela—the people, cityscapes and serene nature— all while exploring the downfall of living our lives solely for other people, The Ex-Perimento is a romance meant to be lived in. Just like our protagonist Marianto, stuck for so long living life for others, this novel forces the reader to experience the journey of finding oneself when we aren’t trying to be what others expect of us. The Ex-Perimento is a story for the people pleasers who twist themselves into whatever everyone else wants them to be, and the reality of untangling ourselves to uncover exactly who we are. Wrapped up in a quest for discovering how to win back an ex while falling for your wingman, The Ex-Perimento feels classic rom com with a deeper pulse of community and want. Morillo understands the atmosphere of the romance, where the city is almost its own character and the characters struggle against suffocating expectations, finding freedom in the attempt to live their lives differently and the romance which evolves parallel to that. Marianto casting off the desires of others to forge a new path of her own making is an altogether freeing journey, as is her romance with Simón who provides her the space to grow and decide what it is she wants. Tied with a sparkling romance that leans into the slow burn and strong Venezuelan roots, The Ex-Perimento is one debut to live vicariously in and savor endlessly.
What if we found out not only that we share the same ex but were stuck planning her wedding together. Ani Avakian has two problems: credit card debt from a failed wedding and unresolved feelings for the woman who broke her heart. When she gets the chance to plan the wedding of a lifetime for an indie movie star, Ani joins forces with Raffi Garabedian, notorious playboy and owner of the Armenian winery where the wedding is to be hosted. Her initial annoyance with Raffi is greatly surpassed by the revelation that the indie star’s wife to be is Kami, her ex girlfriend. Pulling off the career making wedding is now more important than ever, but it means putting faith in a man she does not like—someone whose heart was also broken by Kami. Taleen Voskuni unveils her third romance, Our Exes Wedding, rich in backstory, Armenian culture, and wedding planning antics. Two perspectives, Ani: the wedding planner and Raffi: the winery owner face past heartbreak as they attempt to pull off the wedding of the year all while fighting for their respective futures. Taleen Voskuni has a knack for intriguing protagonists and this novel is abundant with the character quirks while evolving a truly fabulous romance. Like the feminist book club Raffi stumbled into entirely by accident that helped him better himself, the whisper network, and the queer entanglements. Our Exes Wedding has the kind of setup that makes for not only an incredible romance but deep character study. Characters Raffi and Ani are simply delightful with a magnetic push and pull that kept my heart racing every time they interacted on page. Ani and Raffi love big and fall hard and with all the internal work their love story feels so earned by the time they get their clients to the altar. Our Exes Wedding is big on the details and unconventional in its setup but it all shapes up a wonderful Armenian romance with a queer twist!
Falling for your exes’ ex while rooming together and teaching a summer art course?? The kind of mess I live for. April Evan’s world is falling apart. Her tattoo business has failed and to make ends meet she’s subletting her house while she’s away for the summer teaching an art course at a nearby resort. But all of these woes are nothing compared to her fiance’s infidelity three years past, when she unceremoniously dumped April for a younger woman. When April arrives at Cloverfield, she’s surprised to learn she’ll be rooming with another member of staff for the duration of the summer—and who should that person be but Daphne Love, the woman her fiance left her for. But Daphne has no idea who April is. Her relationship with Elena is over and done, and the rocky relationship she faces with April in its wake only reveals a forbidden attraction and a chance for them to reach for all the things they’ve been yearning for. Ashley Herring Blake loves mess in her romances and I am just along for the ride. Her latest romance series, Clover Lake, is shaping up to be messy, queer goodness and this latest addition is the imperfect romance we all deserve. Two artists reaching for something bigger, connected by romantic entanglements of the past, serving a bit of “and they were roommates” on a summer art intensive is just the surface of this scintillating romance novel. Since book one I’ve been half starved for April’s story. Our resident tattoo artist lingering upon the past needed her moment and that moment is finally here. Get Over It, April Evans is in large part about the events that shape our lives, and the moment we set them down to rediscover our desires and who we are outside of them. April and Daphne are each on their own distinct journeys, but somehow Ashley Herring Blake is able to draw them together in an incandescent portrait of forgiveness, queer discovery, and an unforgettable New England summer.
Twenty-six and going nowhere, art history graduate Sam Pulaski has been living at home with her mother since the pandemic. Stuck in a relentless cycle of job hunt purgatory, cynicism, and shame, Sam has accepted her lot in life—at least until she can get accepted into a PhD program and open doors to a job relevant to her field of study. But change cares little for her future plans as her moms upcoming wedding threatens to throw her living situation up in flames. Through all this, Sam makes a connection with her new next door neighbor, Nick, a divorced father, Trekkie, and manager of the local Chilli’s. Their relationship is impossible, a future even more so, but it’s the very thing that has Sam finally reaching for an imperfect future despite her reservations. Kate Goldbeck’s return to the contemporary romance scene is nothing short of iconic. Daddy Issues is an earnest portrait of the mid twenties, perfectionism, and what happens when those who fear failure fail hard. It’s also the perfect novel for anyone feeling lost and aimless in the years following a life altering global pandemic. Mark me down as I’m in this picture and I don’t like it. Daddy Issues portrays this struggle to move forward with such nuance and no loss of humor from Goldbeck, suffusing a comedic core to her sophomore romance. Our heroine Sam is a romance protagonist for modern times, navigating a post pandemic world and the reality that the future she was raised to believe was hers is no longer possible. This loss is a huge part of the narrative, a chasm Sam attempts to cross to a future that feels so far out of reach. Though struggle-ridden and watching a trainwreck-esque, Daddy Issues is fiercely romantic, capital H hot, and endlessly heartfelt. Through all of it Goldbeck has two calls to action: it’s never too late to reach for what you want and moving forward is far better than remaining listless in place.
Seeing Other People by Emily Wibberley &Austin Siegemund-Broka
Morgan has a ghostly annoyance in the form of the man she went out with once and he is ruining her life. She would do anything to get rid of him, even venture to a mysterious support group for the haunted. Sawyer has a much different problem: he will do anything to keep his ghost around, even live in a half finished house that has slowly morphed into a haunted one. A chance encounter at the aforementioned support group leaves the two with a plan: Morgan will help Sawyer keep his ghost provided he helps her ditch hers. Excising their respective ghosts is one thing, but uprooting the past will require them admitting the real unfinished business: a chance to love again. Ghosts aren’t the only thing haunting this house in the latest from romance duo Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka. A story about the ghosts we bring with us into our relationships, both the literal and the baggage in tow, Seeing Other People is the kind of love story that both haunts and touches upon the uniquely human aspect of loving: the capacity to grieve. It’s a double edged sword here in this romance where the ghosts are not even haunting the narrative, they’ve got both hands on the wheel. Haunted by a ghost with an appreciation for Carly Rae Jepsen is a blessing not a curse (many would say), but for Morgan Lane her ghost is connected intricately to everything she’s been running from. Sawyer’s is the heartbreaking wave of letting go to move forward after taking the back seat in his own life story. Seeing Other People isn’t just concerned with the possibility of actual ghosts, but in the beautiful moments that spiral out from the connections we make with others—ever expanding in an overwhelming tapestry of compassion and second love.
What happens when you work in a public facing government role and your after hours spent moonlighting as a secret romance novelist comes to light? Lie your way into fake dating the prime minister’s personal bodyguard to turn off the heat (this will have the exact opposite effect actually). The Bodyguard Affair is another sensational romance from author Amy Lea that acts as a window into the complexities surrounding forgiveness, family caregiving, and the vulnerability in sharing yourself with the world through story. And that’s all while serving up a truly fabulous workplace fauxmance. Big on the emotions with that slice of Ontario living and tropetastic feel, this book is a love story entirely of its own caliber. Shelve it all the way up to: a book too good to be real. This is the kind of love story that belongs to both its characters—splitting perspectives between personal assistant/secret romance writer Andi Zeigler and bodyguard Nolan Crosby. Where Nolan is wrestling with his childhood parental abandonment as he cares for his aging mother diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Andi is stuck behind the wheel of her current career and life path as she chases her true passion: writing romance. Both have their own problems and the solution comes out of the most unconventional means—fake dating your colleague to help them out of a jam (said jam being rumors of an affair with your boss because you wrote a spicy workplace romance in your current field). Amy Lea knows how to bridge immense turmoil to the forefront of her narratives without losing the core of the romance novel. That is The Bodyguard Affair in a nutshell, intimately connected to the work involved in building a partnership out of everyday chaos and the exacting art of loving someone else. It’s wild, it’s messy, but the work of loving will always be worth it—one of the most deliberate acts we can ever undertake.
Ghostwriting was never Katie Caruso’s calling. It’s something she stumbled into after college, but it allowed her to pay the bills and so eight years swiftly rolled past. Writing for Meredith Bradford, a household name in the romance genre was once a huge opportunity but now it has become demanding—especially since Meredith keeps pushing up the timeline for each subsequent manuscript. So much so that her agent wants her to work with a writing partner to get the novel done in a matter of weeks. When her initial writing partner cancels at the last minute, who should be asked to fill the space but Tyler McNally, Katie’s childhood crush and the boy who turned his back on her eight years ago. A trope so classic even she is eyerolling (brother’s best friend), their relationship shattered in the aftermath of her brother’s overdose years after an injury that ended his baseball career. Reluctantly Katie and Tyler agree to work together, if only they agree to focus solely on the task at hand. Funnily enough, that isn’t even the biggest problem: Tyler has never even read or written a romance novel. Months out from deadline, Katie and Tyler attempt to construct a story around a series of tropes selected and spat out by Meredith’s cat (no really). But what is even more jarring is that those tropes are playing out in real time and they are making it impossible for them to ignore the past, insisting Tyler and Katie put down the pen and instead turn the next chapter.
Sometimes love means ghost writing a book for a bestselling romance writer with your former childhood friend while it feels like the tropes are screaming for you to be together—because actually they are. Lauren Okie’s sophomore novel Tropesick is a story for the trope obsessed, those who are anything but sick of their miraculous power in the romance genre. Nailing the grit, hurt, and wondrous feeling of reconnection and second chances, Tropesick is the self aware romance novel needed to navigate modern times and modern loves. Tracing the story down the line from one trope to the next, characters Katie and Tyler expose the past, so broken by it that their only way to reach for each other is through fiction, the tropes and the characters a stepping stone to reconciliation. Between arguing over the absurdity of tropes (which keep playing out in real life), discussing which bathroom cabinetry characters could construct by hand—and rail their love interests against, and using their respective characters to speak through the hurt, Okie’s humor and raw emotion is embodied in her two leads and every trope laden chapter. Tropesick is tropetastic, a novel you will want to live in and forever embody. Where the tension is in the backstory and the tropes are as large as life itself this is the romance novel for every romance reader. Of that I am sure.
Three cheers for slutty little glasses, characters who will do anything but communicate, and messy messy love stories. All of this is the Lauren Okie promise. Her sophomore novel Tropesick is definitively her greatest work to date—something that feels akin to cheating seeing as The Best Worst Thing was a life altering romance of the last year. Aligning a romance within a romance where the tropes are as lifelike as they can be, Tropesick is meta, nuanced fun wrapped up in one romance novel. This is an immaculately constructed romance that understands how tropes go hand in hand with narrative (and the way we can define our own lives through them, writing our own ending before it is lived). Through characters Katie and Tyler, Okie explores the classic second chance, the tropes themselves a roadmap on the journey towards these two not just reconciling but doing the proper work of letting go. Tropesick is the kind of love story deeply connected with the act of creating and the personal nature of writing about our own struggles. Modeling the three act structure of the manuscript our two main characters draft side by side, Tropesick develops its own story within the story even as the narrative pulls focus on the writers themselves. Using their characters to challenge the status quo of their relationship and force the past to present, Katie and Tyler may not even be aware of it, but it is not just the tropes forcing the issue but very much themselves.
Not even going to lie, this may be the romance novel to end all romance novels. I mean there are lines from Tropesick that have played on a loop in my head for days after reading (I’m looking at you line from the third act involving the word “humiliating”). I love how many feelings I oscillated through on my Tropesick reading journey: pain, elation, shock, hope, and happiness—oftentimes a mix of all five. This is truly an example of how much romance can tap into our humanity and nail differing tones and themes across a single novel. That’s partly why Lauren Okie deserves all the flowers, but even more so her innate pulse on the genre and how to play with its conventions using tropes as the foundation. Tropesick achieves a level of self awareness unrivaled in the modern love story, so on the nose it can be considered nothing short of genius. Including a green flag of a man (heavily tattooed, regretful, reads the books you assign him) Lauren Okie truly understands what romance readers want even if it is something they don’t expect. Beginning with a truly horrifying ordeal—an imminent deadline, Tropesick details a second chance, a love worth reaching for if its two leads can just lay waste to their ghosts and finally accept the hardest thing ever: the possibility of happiness. Count me in as not tired of tropes in romance novels, especially when they are as cleverly applied as this one.
Thank you to Michelle and Avon books for sending me an advance review copy.
Trigger warnings: Drug overdose, addiction, drug abuse, drug use, death of a family member, grief, emotional neglect, parental abandonment
On the day her world drowned, Queen Coralys made a bargain. Desperate to save her kingdom of isles from their watery fate—one to which her husband had already succumbed, Coralys made a plea with their gods who at the last moment saved the islands for a price. In trade for her world restored, the gods strip Coralys of her queendom and order her to marry the first man who returns to the shore. Hoping for a prince or a duke, Coralys is instead given a fisherman who appears on the dock horrifically wounded and burnt from days spent in the sun. Given no choice but to wed this stranger, Coralys has no idea the man to whom she is betrothed is actually the god of the sea, the very god who was supposed to protect her islands and to her belief shirked in his duty. Mistrusting his motives, Coralys decides to control her own fate and chase revenge: kill the god who allowed her world to drown and take his power for herself. When it is revealed exactly to whom she is wed, Coralys soon grows to understand the world of scheming gods, of which she is unfortunately a pawn. As her husband reveals hidden depths Coralys is caught within a deadly tide: to pursue revenge or follow a new path to become a weapon all of her own making.
Drown under the weight of the waves in Sarah K.L. Wilson’s turbulent debut The Trident and the Pearl, where few bargains are as desperate as the ones we make before our end. Recounting a marriage of convenience between a queen stripped of her station and a god struck low, Wilson’s romantic fantasy novel puts new meaning on revenge and the path towards fulfilling that desire. Mainly it is okay to stab your husband through the chest, encouraged even. The Trident and the Pearl does not hesitate to drive that spear in deeper with a slow burn romance between our wedded pair: Okeanos, god of the sea, and Coralys, mortal once-queen hell bent on revenge against her godly husband. A recipe for tension if there ever was one, The Trident and the Pearl pulled me deep into the undertow to entangle in the deadly machinations of gods and reflect on not just godhood but the weight of holding such a power. Wilson’s attention to romantic yearning elevates this novel even further, a romance caught between hatred, vengeance, and what we owe to those whom we lead. Atmospheric and rimmed in sea foam, Wilson’s series debut manages to strike the perfect course, an ebb and flow between romantic yearning and the stratagems of fickle fickle gods. Rough seas turn rougher with bargains, quests for revenge, and gods in the mix, making this sea positively treacherous.
Reading The Trident and the Pearl has reminded me how much I miss a classic tale of godly scheming. Those stories which involve gods not as beings of pure intellect and rationality, but idiots and sometimes…simply just a guy trying his best and failing horribly? My taste down to the exact detail. Where the machinations are overly ambitious and humans are mere players on a chess board, The Trident and the Pearl feels like a return to the myths of my childhood and it is certainly a long-awaited homecoming. This has all the ornamentation of a classic godly tale: a heroine desperate to save her people, a double sided bargain, and a marriage between god and mortal. Set in a land of interconnected islands, The Trident and the Pearl feels both expansive and close knit much like the ocean itself, a comforting balm and a dangerous swell. The romance follows a similar pattern. Unhinged yearning is one thing: but yearning for the wife who wants to kill you and the man directly responsible for your rumination is entirely another. Before I read this book I had no true idea of the intimacy in killing—both in the person driving the weapon in deep and the person looking on helplessly, pulling the weapon in deeper. All to say Coralys and Oke don’t exactly fit any romance dynamic I’ve ever read, instead opting for chaos and disorder, which only further aligns this myth-like quality Wilson constructs with her debut.
The Trident and the Pearl takes a meandering path to the center of the storm in an engrossing final act that left me half drowned and bedraggled in its wake. In such a character focused tale I can only be happy this one took its time to lay the footwork because it makes those final chapters all the more merciless. Coralys’s struggle with her quest for revenge and the aftermath of that choice makes the mid section of this novel more internal—pensive. The Trident and the Pearl is concerned with choices, the crossroads we reach and the paths we take forward. What happens when the goal we’ve been chasing is achieved, and how are we transformed in the aftermath? One thing I appreciated about the mythos we’re introduced to is how godhood is a constant battle to retain one’s immortality and control the power you do have. The relationships between gods are more volatile, the moves and counter moves a result of a desire to amass more. Coralys is a unique character in that regard, not unfamiliar with power and responsibility to the people she leads, but grounded by her humanity. Being responsible for the well being of others is a connection she shares with Oke but against their opposing ties that connection may not outlast a secondary crossroads. Sarah K.L. Wilson’s The Trident and the Pearl is as uncommon as the pearl that makes its name, a fantasy novel worth plumbing the depths to learn all of its innermost facets. At this point I’m lost in it. Count me as on board the second (minus any drowning to the depths).
Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for providing this advance review copy.
My favorite thing is whatever Tor dot com has got going on in autumn. Whenever I’m feeling stuck with what I’m reading, I can always count on Tor dot com to bring me back with their stellar offerings in short fiction. There are so many new authors to try in this range of fiction and honestly some of the best concepts first began as novellas—see Alix E. Harrow’s, The Six Deaths of the Saint. This season is giving us Veronica Roth’s sequel to When Among Crows, the next book in the Singing Hills Cycle (Nghi Vo my love), and some really amazing queer speculative journeys. As part of my elaborate plan to reach my yearly reading goal this month I’m reading an entire slew of novellas and telling you all the one’s that are worth your time. Short and sweet is the recipe for success here so look no further for the books to take you to new heights!
Disclosure: I will be linking my Bookshop affiliate link below my reviews. I earn a small commission if you purchase books through this link and it is one way to support my reviewing! My affiliate link will simply be labeled “Bookshop.”
To Clutch a Razor by Veronica Roth
Real found family-ism is letting them help rob your birth family. Months after surrendering his bone sword—the weapon all Knights of the Holy Order possess, tethered to their souls and sheathed into their spines, Dymitr is ready to bargain it back. The trade for his transformation into a Zmora by Baba Jaga, the feared witch isn’t willing to just hand it over for nothing. Her price: the death of his grandmother, one of the Knights legendary hunters. Not willing to kill a member of his family, Dymitr instead plans to steal her book of curses, hoping it will be enough to unite him with the other half of his soul. Veronica Roth’s Curse Bearer is a dark urban fantasy gem rooted in Slavik folklore and given new life in modern day Chicago. It’s the kind of bite sized adventure that fills the space of a larger novel, sating the appetite without the high page count. To Clutch a Razor returns readers to our precarious found family as they continue to clash with an order intent on their eradication. Dymitr is now counted among them, as he has cast off his status as Holy Knight, to become something he was taught to destroy. Alliances and bargains bring together different motivations in Dymitr, Niko, and Ala in this sequel as they travel to Poland for a funeral, for an assassination, and a heist—all in the home of Dymitr’s family, one of the most revered in the Holy Order. A former knight, a zmora who feeds on fear (and has an innate talent for illusions), and a strzygi who feeds on anger make for a great trio. To Clutch a Razor will put their bonds to the test in some of Roth’s best writing to date. Dymitr’s journey to atone for the past and the sins of his family is the still beating heart of this series. To Clutch a Razor is a valiant display of bravery in not just becoming the monster in order to stop being one, but facing the greatest monster of all: your family line.
In death, there is no greater honor than the pomp, the role of planning the funeral service for the newly departed. When she learns of her aunt Cleo’s passing—years after she was exiled from the family, Phee St. Margaret goes against her family’s wishes and volunteers to pomp the dead—to travel to the town her aunt made her home and plan the funeral. At the home of her aunt, the dead may not really be dead, and various objects clue the truth to her aunt’s estrangement with her family. Though the task may be daunting, Phee will pomp for her aunt and stand in place for a future she never expected at all. Psychopomp & Circumstance is a quieter novella, but brimming in the Southern Gothic tradition and the history surrounding the Reconstruction era South. Emotional and haunting, Eden Royce knows how to establish a firm tension in her narrative through family wounds, secrets, and the goings of an unknown town. With a pomp to accomplish, the heart of this tale is held in our heroine Phee, who grapples with the expectations of her family to marry well, against her desire to do more. Royce’s portrayals of the pomp and the importance of death rituals is not to be denied and perfectly wound up in Phee’s arc in reaching for a larger role and standing firm in her autonomy. Though the setting of Cleo’s house is unsettling, it is the anxiety of successfully pulling off this service that is felt so close to the surface. Phee’s emotions and the secrets buried within a house and family make this novella a positively unnerving read, yet unique and eye opening all the same.
Another sapphic fantasy story from C.L. Clark? The world rejoiced. Held captive for many years by an enemy clan, Agnir is raised alongside the children of their chieftain as his ward. Ever held at arms length, held hostage to continue the peace, Agnir falls hopelessly and recklessly in love with the chieftain’s daughter, Hadhnri. Together they harness a magic that could transform the clans of the fens, if they can at first endure a bitter separation. Fates Bane is a perfect novella for the fantasy obsessed, or anyone looking to get a slice of sapphic tragedy with half the page count. Anyone familiar with Clark’s writing knows they aren’t afraid to go for the jugular and that is decidedly the spirit of their latest novella. Fates Bane serves a sapphic childhood friends to enemies to lovers romance alongside clan wars, conflicting family bonds, dangerous forests, and leather soaked in magic. With a story like this, it’s evident how everything is carefully arranged, allowing every word its maximum effect—the story to become its own kind of legend. Fate’s Bane is heavily immersed in tales retold and reinterpreted, and just reading it becomes an integral part in the making of things. Blade sharp yet comforting in its forbidden love and familial bonds, Fate’s Bane exquisitely toes the line between competing loyalties and an inevitable clan confrontation left in the fallout. The result is an action packed third act and an ending that will shape you in disbelief. Relentless, inevitable, Fate’s Bane is the kind of story told at midnight between the weeping willow fronds with all the promises of devoted youth made sacred through love and hidden magic.
We’re back with the wandering Cleric Chih and their stalwart hoopoe companion, Almost Brilliant as they travel the land recording stories. This time the history of a village plagued by famine beckons. Known for its slow roasted pork, but even more for its three year famine of eighteen years past, the village of Baolin still bears the wounds of hunger, starvation, and mass death. Plagued by a famine demon with a hunger never slated, Chih is more curious of the secrets held by the wealthy and powerful of Baolin. Upon their arrival, Chih is taken and sequestered inside the manor of the local magistrate where they learn just now much secrets cost and the lingering proof of complacency and violence. If you know Nghi Vo, you know her novellas are some of the best in short fiction. A Mouthful of Dust is another incredible addition to her The Singing Hills Cycle, following an inquisitive cleric as they wander and record the stories of the land, and find themselves embroiled in danger, feuds, and murder plots more often than not. The fun of this series is the contrast between, where genre blurs but the commitment of our main character never wavers. A Mouthful of Dust contrasts accounts of the working class with those in power all centered around a life altering famine event in Baolin. In some, a famine demon bargains over pork, in others, the demon poisons the land and the people starve. It’s a fantasy story tinged with horror, but the claws dug deep into Baolin do not just belong to a malevolent demon ever hungering, but real human things. Hidden white cats, delicious pork, dark secrets, and cannibalism make up this next section of Singing Hills and all serve its continued calling for storytelling and enduring memory.
In The City of Lies, Tutu has grown up knowing only one thing: there is no water, there are no heroes, and there are no friends beyond its walls. At the age of thirteen, all citizens lose their tongues and the ability to speak—all to trade with the mysterious Ajungo empire and the meager water they provide. As his mother succumbs to dehydration, Tutu makes a deal with the city’s Obo: water for his mother in trade for his journeying into the desert in search of a water source. A journey that will transform not just himself, but the city he thought he knew. With his debut novella, Moses Ose Utomi proves you don’t have to write a full length story to have a narrative impact and pack a punch. A simple quest narrative is anything but with The Lies of the Ajungo, as a young boy travels into the desert and discovers the bones of the past children who searched for more and a strange group of women from a nearby city. From Tutu’s journey to the individuals he meets upon the way Utomi shows the act of narrative in defining a society, providing a common villain to hide the real violence taking place beneath the constructs of a city. The act of speaking, hearing, seeing, are all vital for truth telling in unique respects. The Lies of the Ajungo plays these senses in tandem revealing a system that deliberately ripped them away from a populace to hide the truth and benefit the powerful. Tutu’s journey is one that will stick with you as he navigates desert oasis, would be assassins, and the facades of friends and enemies. Concerning storytelling, history, and oppression, The Lies of the Ajungo dares us to see beyond the stories we’ve been told to what lies beneath—a writhing, shameless abuse built and carried out with startling intent.
House ghost, but literally. When her father was poisoned, sixteen year old Ella should have inherited everything, had she not promptly fallen down the stairs to her death. But Ella remained as a haunting, a ghost tethered to the house just corporeal enough to become her stepmother’s personal maid. As she ages, Ella learns she can leave the boundaries of the house, but only for short periods of time, and she is always returned to the house at midnight. One day she befriends a charm seller who offers her a chance to attend the three night celebration taking place at the palace. There she meets a prince, and her (after) life is transformed forever. Freya Marske takes the Cinderella bones and reconstructs them into a ghostly queer fairytale of house hauntings, mysterious correspondence, and of course, magic. It’s the story you always knew, but not quite. In Cinder House a house is its own living thing, tethered to the violence of several murders and reacting to any harm upon our resident ghost, Ella. The house is a ghost of its own, but it’s also Ella and it holds the sins of this family and its tumultuous past, making this novella positively gothic indeed. Yearning for the freedom ever denied her, Ella discovers an unconventional means at escape, finding community in those who also feel trapped. One such individual: a young man at the ballet who yearns to dance again, another a sorcerer and scholar from a bordering kingdom. Knowing Freya Marske this is not your standard Cinderella story, and that extends to the romance which is nothing short of queer brilliance. Enchantments, mirrored slippers, ghostly houses, and secret letters shape the surface of this narrative about autonomy and forging your own path. Cinder House is all around an unconventional fairy tale, highlighting how the real happily ever after is the family and love we make for ourselves—its own kind of home.
When she happens upon a dead body with a Hawk mask after following a beacon, scavenger Wylla knows it could be the thing that saves her, from the payout alone. What she doesn’t know is the mask is alive, retaining the memory of the wearer long after their death. That person is Sable, whose consciousness has been transferred over to the mask but she doesn’t remember anything before Wylla, just flashes of a life previously lived. With an advanced technology now in her grasp, Wylla must decide to stay in the shadows or take a stand against the group that resulted in Sable’s death and revenge of course is the sweeter option. Volatile Memory is exemplary science-fiction and the fact that it is a novella is just a bonus. Traversing deep into the boundaries of identity and body autonomy, Seth Haddon’s Volatile Memory feels both cathartic and startlingly relevant. Wylla, our main character, has clawed her way to her identity, shaping a body that belongs to her in a world that controls every aspect of your identity down to your genetic code. Accepting her trans identity goes against everything she has been told to be, and yet Wylla has done everything to live fully as herself. Haddon contrasts this through Sable, a woman whose physical body was violently ripped away from her to become housed within a mask. Yet she is so much more than a mere mask. Told entirely in second person, this novella floored me with the sheer love wrapped up in the recounting of events, and that is all from Sable. Volatile Memory is an exhilarating window into survival and existence, whether it can transcend the physical body to become something unforeseen, but no less powerful.
Please note this review contains spoilers for the former books in this series, A Crown of Ivy and Glass & A Song of Ash and Moonlight, and contains references to some of the events in this sequel. Read with caution.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
As the Middlemist weakens—the protective barrier between the new country and the old, so have olden creatures found their way into Edyn. The last line of defense is the Order of the Rose, a sect of female warriors tasked with protecting the Middlemist for generations. Mara Ashbourne has been bound to the Middlemist for twelve long years, ever separated from her family and built to be a weapon in the hands of its Warden—the famed leader of the Order who can call her Roses to battle through the bond they share, transforming them into a mix of warrior and beast. Though monsters run rampant through Edyn, it is the awakened gods who present a far greater threat. Hunted by a vindictive god named Kilraith intent on destroying them and harnessing a war on humanity, these awakened gods are the next stage of Kilraith’s assault. As demigod daughters to the goddess Kerezen, Mara and her sisters are the ones tasked with hunting them down before he can. When a sect of scholars arrive in Rosewarren to provide aid, Mara faces the rakish, fiercely intelligent Gareth Fontaine, librarian and close friend to her sister. Cloaked in a facade of confidence, Gareth’s experiences speak to a greater sorrow that mirrors her own, and he decides to help her in her task. Torn between protecting those she loves and her alliance to the Warden, while a deeper connection builds with Gareth, Mara toils to bridge two worlds before the Middlemist falls and with it herself, bound to its fate.
Regency style romance in a fantasy world with awakened gods, cursed artifacts, rival families, and a legendary group of female warriors tasked with protecting the barrier between realms are integral to Claire Legrand’s Middlemist Trilogy. A true romantic fantasy jewel, A Rose of Blood and Binding is this trilogy’s final battlecry as the middle Ashbourne sister Mara and the delightfully rakish librarian Gareth Fontaine get up to shenanigans while on the path to uncovering the cursed objects of a violent God. Legrand has an innate talent for the middling spaces—where romance meets fantasy, fantasy meets historical, and all three intertwine in a potent atmosphere in her Middlemist trilogy. The stakes are unquestionably elevated after the events concluding A Song of Ash and Moonlight, in which our crew destroyed the human embodiment of a god alongside Kilraith’s cursed object. But who better to pick up the unbearable weight of it all than a middle sister am I right? Bound to the Middlemist and taken far from home, Mara Ashbourne is our slightly broody, sometimes avian, and decidedly bisexual heroine tasked with saving the day and bringing this series to a close (no pressure though). As the Middlemist weakens and our characters stand united, Claire Legrand evinces that it is our bonds that far outweigh any evil, and in fact they may be the very thing that saves us end-all.
Something about the warrior scholar pairing is really working overtime this year and A Rose of Blood and Binding is no different in that regard. Maybe it’s the contrast between blood and violence of the warrior and the buttoned up bespectacled hero thrust into the action, doomed to come out the other side irrevocably changed. Either way I am into it. With crumbs for her future romance arcs scattered across the narratives of her past novels, imagine my surprise in the reveal that Mara Ashbourne would find romance with our resident librarian Gareth Fontaine. Up until this point, Mara was an enigma, a presence flitting in and out of the narrative, followed by an aura of immense sorrow. That and undeniable middle sister energy. I was elated for all things Mara in this finale and Legrand does not disappoint. A Rose of Blood and Binding sees the barriers of the Middlemist weaken and Mara in the center of it all, to confront the danger or succumb to the unbearable weight of her charge. Soldiering the burden meant for her younger sister twelve years past, Mara is for all the middle sisters out there, speaking to those who bear the weight so that others won’t have to do the same. Burdened by duty and unable to see a way out, this finale is as much about bringing an end to Kilraith’s assault as it is liberating Mara with a life of her own choosing.
Behind every fearsome woman with a sword (who can also turn into a bird) is a bespectacled scholar who will do anything to save her. But first, a reluctant alliance must emerge. To establish this dynamic between Gareth and Mara, Claire Legrand pulls a classic historical romance move: a ball where our two characters come face to face. The vibes are anything but light (I mean the Middlemist is breaking apart and everyone is stressed), the flirtatiousness is dialed up to the max, and Mara doesn’t really want anything to do with Gareth—who is nothing more than a prickling annoyance in her side. It was at this moment that I was entirely invested. Legrand has always been adept at her character dynamics, because beneath their facades there is always something more. Mara and Gareth seem to have absolutely nothing in common past a desire to solve their godly problem, but it soon becomes evident just how similar they really are. Beyond their fragile alliance to hunt down the cursed objects of Kilraith, Gareth and Mara are haunted by past traumas and lingering depression—Gareth after surviving the horrors of Mhorghast where his body was used against him, and Mara through her continued isolation and loss of autonomy at the hands of the Warden. Legrand juxtaposes this struggle with autonomy and the conflict of perseverance between Mara and Gareth both and it is as essential to their romance as it is to themselves.
Bewildering, stoic Mara faces down olden creatures, gods, and her corrupted mentor, finding solace with an opinionated scholar and notorious flirt while on the path to destroy an ancient god. In Claire Legrand’s, A Rose of Blood and Binding, her cast of characters confront an ever fracturing world as they attempt to bridge their places within society with their link to the gods—before Kilraith descends upon them and lays waste to all they hold dear. A Rose of Blood and Binding is certainly the darkest of the three novels, set in the time after freeing their companions from Mhorghast and destroying another of Kilraith’s anchors. Legrand contrasts these darker themes against a budding romance between Mara and Gareth, and continued moments of sisterhood from our core trio. But where this third novel particularly excels is in its representation of depression, centered around Mara and Gareth both. The struggle with mental health and depression is an irrefutable reality for both of these characters and is a large part of this final journey into the Middlemist where they must reach past their traumas to claim a life side by side. Mara and Gareth, while initially an unlikely pair, find comfort, commonality, and finally romance together. This green flag of a man who loves books and appreciates a good stew is perfectly paired against a brooding warrior used to soldiering everything alone. A romance filled with all the tension you’d expect from such a pair and the angst Legrand is known for. Dark, hopeful, and irrefutably romantic, A Rose of Blood and Binding is an unparalleled fantasy romance with a beating, yearning center. A true delight from start to finish, and a series to hold close for all time.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy.
Trigger warnings: discussions of self harm, suicidal ideation (both passive and active), depression, torture, blood, death, murder
Literaryrobin 