Tag: romance

Review: Tropesick by Lauren Okie

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

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Review: The Trident and the Pearl by Sarah K. L. Wilson

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

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.

Trigger warnings: death, violence, blood

Preorder a Copy – Out 24th February

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Let’s Talk: Short and Sweet Novellas

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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.

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Psychopomp and Circumstance by Eden Royce

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.

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Fate’s Bane by C.L. Clark

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.

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A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo

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.

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The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi

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.

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Cinder House by Freya Marske

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.

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Volatile Memory by Seth Haddon

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.

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Review: A Rose of Blood and Binding by Claire Legrand

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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

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Review: The Last Soul Among Wolves by Melissa Caruso

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

Months after surviving a deadly New Years Eve party, Kembral Thorn is tired. All she wants is to be home with her newborn daughter and to have time to romance her former rival turned girlfriend, Rika Nonesuch. But as a member of the Hounds she is called to weigh in on an important will reading by a friend in dire need. At a decrepit mansion on an island accessed only by low tide a wealthy matriarch has died, leaving behind an unlikely inheritance. Brought to the island to witness, Kembral comes face to face with an unlikely group—her friends from childhood, most of whom she has not seen since, and all of whom are the potential inheritors. When the will is read, a violent inheritance is revealed concerning three relics, a ledger, and a coveted wish gained by crossing off all the people in the ledger until there is a lone victor. With no choice but to solve the case before her friends are all killed, Kembral finds herself back in the action and at her side, her girlfriend and rival, Rika Nonesuch. But uncovering the mysterious lantern of souls and the wolf who guards it will require Kembral to return into the dangerous echoes only a few months after naming the Crux year. Her blood will be a beacon to all beings across the echoes, but getting ahead of the machinations of an immortal foe will require scheming and quite a bit of danger of their own, if they are to survive.

Melissa Caruso’s, The Echo Archives returns with The Last Soul Among Wolves, commencing a mystery involving cursed relics, rival sapphic agents, and empyric beings, across multiple layers of reality. After the absolute triumph that was The Last Hour Between Worlds I wondered how this sequel would fare against such an exemplary series debut. A locked room murder mystery across a repeated hour of New Years Eve is hard to beat. Yet Caruso holds true to her characters, introducing a new layer to an already compact narrative and another impossible mystery to solve. A new locked room mystery of sorts is at play in The Last Soul Among Wolves, with a sequestered manor and a race to track down a wolf and a lantern of souls before time runs out and everyone is killed. Characters Kembral Thorne and Rika Nonesuch find their balance in this second installment, seasoned to the lower echoes and the conspiracies present at all levels of reality. But true to Caruso’s style, this mystery is anything but typical and as new elements are revealed they are forced to compromise and take unconventional steps forward. For anyone loving a well plotted mystery cloaked in numerous realities ever increasing in weirdness, The Echo Archives has this formula locked down. The romance is romancing, the mystery is uncanny, and all of it aligns a perfect finale like dominos ready to fall.

The Last Soul Among Wolves is just: two former rivals now girlfriends finding themselves the victim of yet another locked room murder mystery. Where solving said mystery is contingent on them returning to the alternate layers of reality only two months since they almost died. The Echo Archives would not be nearly as strong as it is without its solid character work. From our main perspective Kembral Thorne—Hound and mother, to her enigmatic rival: Rika Nonesuch, our potential murder victims, and a babysitting Elder dragon, Caruso has it all in hand. Alongside these individual character arcs, what makes this sequel so great is the unveiling of just how much the first novel laid the foundation for the second. Taking fruition in the depths of reality with an empyrean—the most powerful of all Echo beings— intent on control at any cost, The Last Soul Among Wolves reveals its holdings lie prior to the events of this novel. Caruso’s twists always land with the finesse of a blink step and unsettling as the very fabric of reality shifts and resettles. Digging deeper into the empyreans, the echoes, and the heartwarming relationship between Kembral and Rika, this sequel reinforces this unique fantasy world and all its idiosyncrasies. Even with new characters to discover the heart and soul of the Echo Archives remain our disparate but remarkably compatible duo finding romance between the danger. Often with no regard for the danger itself.

The intersection of mystery and fantasy is being well supplied this year and Melissa Caruso is the one leading the charge with her Echo Archives trilogy. The Last Soul Among Wolves is second in a line of extraordinary fantasy mysteries featuring unconventional characters at the helm and bonkers plotting (in the best kind of way). A little bit of Knives Out, an abundance of murder and contrasting realities, and you’ll find there is nothing quite like this mystery series. Though connected to the first novel, The Last Soul Among Wolves is an entirely new pitch than its predecessor. For one, we’re no longer stuck at a New Years Eve party for an entire book, but instead a will reading hosted in a mansion with cursed heirlooms and a collection of mismatched personalities stuck inside the manor until the case is solved. After an entire book orienting us to the Echoes and the dangers present at the lower levels of reality, it’s refreshing to get more insight into the runnings of this world and the inter Guild politics. A big part of this sequel is reconciliation for Kembral and her friends from childhood, and Rika and Kembral pursuing a romantic relationship while staying true to their Guild alliances. It’s a tough line to straddle and Caruso makes sure to tie it to some of her larger revelations. With The Last Soul Among Wolves the main word that comes to mind is “exceptional.” It’s the kind of book to venture into boldly and enjoy recklessly like all the best adventures are.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy.

Trigger warnings: death, murder, blood, grief

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Let’s Talk: Romances For Autumn

Robin3 Comments

Oh a brief chill in the air? A hot drink in one hand? A crunchy leaf on the ground to give you a boost of serotonin? It must be autumn! We need not argue over which season is the best (the fall). Instead, I’m here to discuss the romances of autumn. The autumnances if you will. I am LOVING how many books this season feel like the essence of autumn. Either by way of a books atmosphere, the tropes, or the characters. The fall romances are screaming autumn this year and I couldn’t be more happy about it. In preparation for sharing this list I read through a new romance every night for a week and a half. Lot’s of ghosts, magic, small towns, and of course, yearning to keep me happy. Typical for me, 90% of these are upcoming romances for the season so please consider preordering my recommendations or purchasing them when they hit shelves. Let the fall reading commence!

Disclosure: going forward 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.”

If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia

Fall goodness meets small town Vermont in If It Makes You Happy, a romance novel of 90’s nostalgia, timeless tropes, and Gilmore Girls fame. Down after her divorce, Michelle Cadell throws herself into the runnings of Bird & Breakfast, the B&B her mother ran in the (not so) quiet town of Copper Run, Vermont. Her reception from guests is less than savory, if the lack of signings in her guest book and the inedible scones she’s been serving for breakfast is any indication. A mutually beneficial deal: baked goods in exchange for babysitting puts Michelle in close quarters with her neighbor Cliff: single father and owner of the local bakery. The two become not just best friends, but true partners—that is if Michelle can see Copper Run as her forever home. Billed as perfect for Gilmore Girls fans and lovers of the autumnal slow burn, If It Makes You Happy is everything I’ve come to love about the small town romance, set in one of my favorite places on earth: Vermont. A fictitious town with a not so fictitious larger than life quality to it, I quickly fell into the happenings of Copper Run and its inhabitants. Julie Olivia paints the small town with that Hallmark-esque quality: city girl goes to a small town and falls in love with the next door neighbor while trying to succeed in running her mothers bed and breakfast. If It Makes You Happy grounds itself in familiar tropes to build a multi-faceted story of, yes, love, but also building a life where you’d least expect it. I really appreciate how much Michelle and Cliff feel like 30-somethings still figuring out life, struggling, failing, and eventually triumphing overall. This is a true friends to lovers as well, and Olivia provides this friendship unadulterated with romance because the romance is baked into their tremendous bond. Looking for love amid the falling leaves, small town coziness, and nosy neighbors? Look no further.

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Uncharmed by Lucy Jane Wood

More witchy goodness from the witchy author herself, Lucy Jane Wood, means fall is officially here. Taking readers back to an alternate London where magic thrives in spades and witches abound, Lucy Jane Wood’s, Uncharmed sees Andromeda “Annie” Wildwood, witch, bakery proprietor, best friend, and confidant’s perfectly curated life completely fall apart when her coven tasks her with training an unruly teen witch at a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Away from her routine Annie casts off the trappings of her old life—one spell in particular, to determine what is serving her, and what is ultimately serving others. Uncharmed certainly re-enlivens the magic Lucy Jane Wood first captured with her stellar debut, Rewitched, but with an entirely new, potent flavor. Its magic diluted in its strongest form upon the page and it is easy to get swept up in the spells, secret societies, and the utterly delicious confections and baked goods. While complete with a romance subplot to die for, Uncharmed focuses most of its attention on the character of Annie and her relentless people pleasing tendencies and overall perfectionism. Annie’s strive for perfection comes at the expense of her autonomy—literally, as she douses herself daily with a spell to help her meet the impossible expectations she, and others, have set for her. The spell keeps her placid, able to be what others need without her emotions and beliefs interfering. Yet, stuck in the woods with an orphaned witch is all it takes for that to come crashing down, for good this time. Lucy Jane Wood’s witchy novels find harmony with intimate character studies, cozy atmosphere, and romance perfectly mixed and baked to perfection. Uncharmed is proof that Wood is only getting better and better and this found family story with magical creatures and a cottage in the woods is heartwarming as it is magical!

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Give Me A Reason by Jayci Lee

Jayci Lee reimagines Jane Austen’s Persuasion for the modern day in when Anne, a famous K-drama star, reunites with Frederick Nam, a dedicated firefighter captain and the man she was persuaded to give up ten years ago. Frederick has every reason to hate Anne for breaking his heart a decade ago, and he has spent just as long forgetting her, but her return to his life brings forth all the feelings he buried. Ten years may have not changed their affection, but wounds are still fresh and a second chance will mean excising everything that led to their breakup and deciding if they have what it takes for a happily ever after. Jayci Lee’s reimagining of Persuasion hits all the notes for a perfect second chance romance and Austen retelling. We have family members being genuinely terrible (and some who are delightful), the meddlesome friends, longing, and characteristic melancholy of one Anne Lee. Give Me a Reason makes the Persuasion story entirely its own however, with wedding planning antics and firefighters instead of navy officers (because of course). Also in the connection between our two leads Anne and Frederick, which we learn wasn’t exactly perfect. Frederick based all of his hopes around Anne instead of his own life, and Anne still placed so much trust in her family—similar to the original novel. I love that we get Frederick’s perspective this time because I really do love seeing the torturous longing right from the source. Frederick is exactly what I want from a modernized Wentworth. He’s tortured with love for Anne, who he’s convinced has moved on, but who very much has not. Give Me a Reason is a perfect look at Austen’s greatest novel (sorry P&P), and yet another call for reimagined classics for the modern day—that keep the yearning.

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Love At First Sighting by Mallory Marlowe

The love child of the Ex Files and Men in Black, Love at First Sighting concerns a UFO sighting, a social media influencer, a government agent, and a conspiracy gone wrong and all of it is out of this world romantic. El Martin, aforementioned social media influencer, witnesses a UFO sighting that changes everything (if anyone would actually believe her). The only person who does is Carter Brody, agent for the Private Intelligence Sector tasked with keeping tabs on her. But Carter is drawn to El for more personal reasons: mainly the death of his father many years ago—who bore witness to the same object El saw careening through the sky only nights prior. With a UFO mystery afoot, Carter and El will become unlikely allies and unexpected partners and lovers, as they race to uncover the truth before it’s too late. If you like your romances served with an entire plate of chaos and absurdity (affectionate), then look no further than Mallory Marlowe’s latest, Love at First Sighting. I’m big on the unconventional duo’s and social media influencer x government agent has to be the icing on the unconventional cake. Love with a dash of the paranormal is always the right call especially for autumn and this one leans heavily into alien sightings and all the conspiracies you’ve read about. With a slower build, Love at First Sighting gives a lot to its two perspectives, El and Carter—how they are different, and what exactly makes them the best of partners even when they aren’t chasing down UFO’s and breaking and entering. Love within the quirks is something I have come to adore. Here it’s chewing gum, suspenders, and Carly Rae Jepsen songs, all of which are essential to the romance. This is a romance for those who don’t just think of extraterrestrial contact as a far off possibility, but know it’s here, and anyone craving more romance formed in the fire of the paranormal.

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Every Step She Takes by Alison Cochrun

Another year, another exemplary queer romance from author Alison Cochrun. Reupholsterer extraordinaire Sadie Wells is stuck—literally, running her grandmother’s antique furniture store after her passing while avoiding any adventure of her own. When her travel influencer sister is injured ahead of an important partnership, Sadie takes a leap and volunteers to take her place traveling the Camino de Santiago in Portugal. Except her dear sister neglected to mention it’s a tour for anyone who identifies as sapphic and Sadie is coming to the table fresh off a full blown sexual identity crisis. Additionally, the gorgeous woman she came out to on the plane is on the tour, and she’s made it clear she’s not one for anything more than a one time fling. If days and days of walking can change anything, that is. When I think of an author who not only provides unique queer love stories but leaves me constantly in my feels the person who immediately comes to mind: Alison Cochrun. Balancing a queer love story with self discovery, fraught familial relationships, and gorgeous scenery, Cochrun’s Every Step She Takes is a coming of age story with European adventure and lesbian romance all deliciously rolled together. There’s not enough words to describe how much I love this unabashedly queer book. From Sadie and her sister, Vi, to the people joining her on the Camino walk, and the tour host, an out and proud Trans woman. It’s what I needed to read right now and exactly the kind of affirmation that comes with reading this genre. Every Step She Takes is all about that: steps, the ones we take to get away, and the ones we take to reach for a new path. That change doesn’t always require a leap, but a step towards something better. Cochrun’s focus on queer adolescence as ever evolving and not contingent on time is a beautiful concept raised here. Witnessing it blossom in Sadie and even Mal, even more so.

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Once Upon a Time in Dollywood by Ashley Jordan

Playwright Eve Ambroise is running—far enough away to escape her mistakes and the failures that have broken her inside and out. To clean the slate, she breaks up with her fiance, Leo, and leaves behind her judgmental parents to travel to the Tennessee mountains under the guise of a writing retreat. In reality, she’s at the cabin formerly belonging to her grandmother, hoping to finish her next play and perhaps recover from the wounds of the past. Yet she finds unexpected company in her neighbor, Jamie, fresh off of a custody trial for his son and desperate for a break of his own. Jamie and Eve pursue a relationship on the weekends, between writing plays and raising children, but love may not outweigh their pasts or their present responsibilities. Once Upon a Time in Dollywood interrogates if two people can find healing through a romantic relationship, or if healing requires a more deliberate personal introspection and internal work on its own. As much a story of healing as it is a romance, Ashley Jordan’s debut novel is a multifaceted love story that encompasses the wonder, pain, and joy of our innate existence. Eve Ambroise is a troubled protagonist still grappling with grief of her teenage years—when her parents forced her to carry a baby to term and then put the child up for adoption. This keen sense of loss and a lack of closure follows her years on as she and her fiance try for kids and she experiences several miscarriages. Ashley Jordan focuses all of her attention on the personal growth of her two characters, Eve and Jamie, as they move out from feeling stagnant and stuck in trauma to breaking free of that cycle. Jordan’s message is clear: we don’t have to be wholly without trauma to enter into  romantic connection, but there is a tremendous bravery in taking pause to pursue recovery and better serve ourselves and those we care about.

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A Waltz on the Wild Side by Erica Ridley

In Erica Ridley’s The Wild Wynchester’s the absurdity is alive and kicking and A Waltz on the Wild Side might just take the crown in that respect. A chaotic family of orphans adopted by a wealthy baron spend their lives investigating crimes, fighting injustice, and aiding the working class in regency London—finding love amidst conspiracies, heists, and castle sieges. At long last we have the book for my favorite, arguably the most chaotic Wynchester: Jacob. If you’ve ever found yourself asking: what if there was an animal with you all the time that you could train to aid in your crimes, Jacob has not only asked this, he has succeeded. With his menagerie of animals and secret famous poet lifestyle, Jacob meets his match in a playwright who carries a tarantula spider on her person for protection, can redirect flying daggers, and also has a tamed badger. Erica Ridley continues to brilliantly contrast the struggles of the working class, immigrants, and Black, queer, and disabled people in this historical romance series, and A Waltz on the Wild Side is her best by far. Vivian Henry, our heroine, is a former enslaved woman running her cousin’s household in Cheapside, writing plays in her off time. When her cousin disappears under mysterious circumstances she turns to the family everyone reveres (except for her) to bring him home. The tension between Viv, Jacob, and the rest of the Wynchester family is sublime. Ridley focuses on how our experiences shape our morality and our views on justice, enclosed within Vivian and Jacob’s romance and her views of his family’s calling. Vivian seeing herself as a product, only worth as much as she is useful is a harsh, but very real extension of her experiences in enslavement. Ridley elevates Viv’s liberation and Jacob’s personal aspirations in this gobsmackingly wild, fierce and swoonworthy historical. Wynchester’s forever!

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Soul Searching by Lyla Sage

Collins Cartwright is running from ghosts of the strictly metaphorical kind. The real ones have gone quiet. When she left Sweetwater Peak, Wyoming, to pursue photography she never expected to return on a permanent basis, but after being fired from her photography job she’s back in town, crashing in the resident upholsterer’s spare room until she figures things out. Yet with her constant companions gone quiet—the various ghosts that inhabit the town and its backwaters, her only company is the suspiciously uninteresting individual she’s currently renting from: Brady Cooper. Her solution: show him some adventure and maybe send her ghost block into the afterlife where it belongs. Only Lyla Sage could put ghost sightings, small towns, and romancing the new to town upholsterer after accidentally macing him together in one whirlwind romance novel. But Soul Searching is so perfectly Lyla Sage, centering another forgotten gem of a town and its struggling inhabitants finding their footing and reaching for love without reservation. All with a side of occasional ghost sightings. Soul Searching’s main characters Collins and Brady are the definition of slow romance. At the beginning they don’t even like each other, but intrigue wins out in the end. Soon they’re confiding in their pasts and previously mentioned ghostly abilities all while taking in the hidden spots of Sweetwater Peak side by side. Get you a man that makes nonstop Lord of the Rings references, can reupholster furniture, and is constantly in awe of you. Oh and pays no mind that you are constantly talking to the ghosts that have been ignoring you. It’s a romance with a side of paranormal the Lyla Sage way. Hot, spooky, and thrilling!

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It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard

Sometimes love is inheriting a six million dollar west village brownstone with your former friend and love of your life who looks a little bit like David Corenswet (niche people understand). That’s exactly where Joss Richard’s debut, It’s Different This Time begins. Two former best friends, Adam and June, are reunited after six years apart when they learn they’ve inherited their former apartment building after the death of the owner, their former landlord. Sell or keep, they’ll have to spend a month together before they can sign away ownership but that means facing what drove them to separate sides of the country six years ago. Ensuing your classic dual timelines where the past is flung wide, Joss Richard builds a friends to lovers saga where an aspiring chef and theatre actress/part time bookseller agreed to be roommates, but ended up becoming the best of friends. Adam and June really are that classic romance novel couple. Unlikely friends they may be, the friendship between them is unmistakable as is the support they lend each other across the years. Richard knows how to plot out an electrifying slow burn and with an entire decade since their first meeting, June and Adam are ripe for that angst and tension I need from my romances. It’s Different This Time feels like a When Harry Met Sally style story, both narratively, and in the relationship between June and Adam. Where the fall feels like a separate character—as does the city of New York. I love a dash of miscommunication in my fiction (for good health) and boy do we get that here. Really I expected nothing less from these two, but Richard grounds it in their individual pasts so it never feels overwrought, only typical of two people scared of change and scared to reach for what they want. It’s Different This Time is an impressive, nuanced love story between two people at first scared to try and then brave to start all over again. That it’s enough that it is different this time to hold onto a second chance with both hands. 

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August Lane by Regina Black

Have you ever read a book that redefined romance for you? Because Regina Black’s, August Lane has done so for me. Luke Randall, a not so successful country music singer, has clung to relevancy on the back of a hit song he didn’t even write. Many years prior Luke met August Lane, daughter to a country music star, Jojo Lane. Luke and August burned fast and bright, while complicated family matters and issues in their Arkansas community pushed Luke to the outskirts where he had no choice but to leave it and August behind. Now Luke has been granted the opportunity to sing alongside Jojo Lane, but doing so will require his return to Arcadia and the person whose work he stole to make his name—August herself. When I say this book has enough angst to power a small town, I mean it. And that town is Arcadia, Arkansas. Second chance meets small town romance in Regina Black’s sophomore novel, a romance all about reconciliation and the messy, complicated side of resurrecting the past. August Lane has so much tied up in its central romance, drawing attention on Black musicians’ contributions to the country music genre, racism, grief, and the cycle of trauma—mainly women in motherhood and the impact on their children through neglect, abuse, and alcoholism. Regina Black continues to push boundaries within the romance genre with her flawed, imperfect characters who live loud and love not in spite of past wounds, but because of them. August Lane presents a melodic heart wrenching ballad between two people who find the strength to reunite and explore the chance of more—of writing their own love song together.

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To Heist and to Hold by Christina Britton

Sometimes you unexpectedly stumble upon a historical romance gem, and like the very gems our heroine seeks to recover at a scandalous gambling hell, I want to plan a heist around this entire book. New in an emerging series from Christina Britton, To Heist and to Hold has all the delightful accoutrement of the best historical romances. We have a widowed blacksmith attempting to seduce the owner of a gambling club, and we have that same stoic club owner choosing to succumb to her advances because of course you can better keep your eye on a widow you don’t trust by sleeping with her. Of course you can. But don’t let the utter hilarity fool you, To Heist and to Hold is a deeply emotional plunge into the physical and mental traumas of growing up on London’s streets, as well as the lives of widowed women socialized only to be useful and effectively cast out upon the deaths of their husbands. This book starts off with a smash as Heloise, our heroine, discharges a blade of her own invention (we love), and it really only gets better from there. Featuring a group of women—The Wimpole Street Widows, who use their position in society to solve cases, To Heist and to Hold brings an essential one: retrieve a missing ruby necklace from within a gambling hall. The plan: use the guise of a boxing event to do it—placing Heloise under the ire of Ethan Sinclaire, owner of Dionysus and the man she has been sent to seduce. What feels so refreshing about this novel isn’t just the quiet stoicism of our hero but the capable nature of our heroine, be that in a blacksmith forge, fencing, or methods of seduction. Ethan and Heloise soldier a lot of pain from their pasts, but love and an ill-timed heist force them out of the roles they’ve cloaked themselves in and into a brave, uncertain, certainly chaotic, future together.

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Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola

Second chance romance lovers are going to feast on Bolu Babalola’s latest romance, Sweet Heat. After quitting her podcasting job, The HeartBeat, late twenty-something Kiki Banjo finds herself adrift at a time when she desperately craves control. Her relationship has stalled, her parents are selling their beloved restaurant, and her ex boyfriend is soon to be in town for the first time since their devastating breakup. Kiki decides to pour herself into planning her best friend’s wedding festivities, but the Best Man is none other than Malakai Korede, the man who broke her heart all those years ago. The chemistry is sizzling and the heat is still high, but for the sake of the wedding Kiki and Malakai will try to keep it all under wraps—or risk falling back into love and heartbreak. Bolu Babalola’s foray into the second chance romance arena is not to be outdone. From the moment Kiki and Malakai meet on page the angst is fierce and the wounds of the past are arrayed starkly upon the narrative. Babalola certainly takes her time to establish the perspective of Kikiola (our love interest Malakai does not even appear until after the first quarter) and the singular attention to this perspective is what makes the character work and the romance so strong in the later sections. The first part of this romance is all about the angst baby, and laying the foundation for the reconciliation between Kiki and Malakai which was in one word: sublime. Many have called Bolu Babalola the next great romance writer and Sweet Heat is proof she is worthy of the crown. This book bases the crux of the romance upon knowledge, the act of understanding someone at their marrow and the ache that is left in their absence. Phenomenal doesn’t even begin to cover Sweet Heat. It is a romance triumph!

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Review: Playing for Keeps by Alexandria Bellefleur

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

Few people have more at stake than Poppy Peterson, publicist to NFL’s rising star quarterback, Cash Curran. Best friends since childhood, Cash lent a lifeline to Poppy after a setback, giving her a place to stay and handing her the reins in managing his publicity. Now Poppy has made it her sole pursuit to set him up for success, but she didn’t anticipate a Twitter fiasco—more specifically, she never thought Cash would be so stupid as to publicly hit on a popstar to his fifteen million Twitter followers. Lyric Adair is music royalty, past superstardom and in the realm of untouchable, but somehow she finds Cash’s attempts at flirting to be charming. The two initiate a romance, one that comes with a glaring NDA and a sit down with Lyric’s revered publicist, Rosaline Sinclair. Poppy has long admired Rosaline, but being on the receiving end of her attention is unsettling. Worse, Rosaline is convinced the romance will crash and burn. Cash and Lyric’s flourishing romance only forces Rosaline and Poppy into closer quarters where the tension is high and so is the heat. As Cash and Lyric get more serious, Rosaline and Poppy confront their flawed expectations as what they truly are: self preservation, and if they can set them aside to face the real music beating between them.

Only Alexandria Bellefleur could hand me a romance novel during these unprecedented times and leave me feeling hopeful despite it all. Bellefleur’s latest, Playing for Keeps, is a romance novel of epic pop culture references, twitter exchanges, meta curveballs, and of course an unconventional sapphic romance between two clashing publicists. As newbie publicist to an up and coming NFL star, Poppy Peterson attempts to have it all with celebrated publicist Rosaline Sinclair, while a powerful popstar and a football himbo engage in a poorly timed but nevertheless endearing romance. Playing for Keeps does not wait around to kick off this delightfully chaotic narrative, and in Bellefleur’s signature style it’s a witty and highly engaging romp through the trials of PR and modern fame. Bellefleur continues to play it close to home in the Pacific North West, a setting plentiful in queer romance and culture (complete with easter eggs to her former novels). The Alexandria Bellefleur Cinematic Universe—the ABCU as it were—is a dynasty entirely of its own and watching it flourish continues to be a joy for readers everywhere. Playing for Keeps marks a new shift for Bellefleur, unequivocally displaying her power in subverting the space between fiction and reality, with marvelous results.

Playing for Keeps can be enjoyed on the level of chronically online to the cannot tell-a-pop-culture-reference-to-save-their-life individual just here for a good time. Because beneath the premise of two publicists managing their clients in a reverse Set It Up situation—they wish they didn’t have to set it up, we have a deep look into familial boundaries, recovery from alcoholism, and the vulnerable act of putting yourself back together after a life setback. That and of course a complicated sapphic workplace (ish) romance. Bellefleur has always proven her ability to integrate the absurd with the real, showcasing this blend as essential for human existence. This time around her references are on another level with Twitter back and forths, magazine articles, and interviews relating to the popstar x quarterback romance and their two publicists (who are being shipped online). These online exchanges are humorous on the surface, but Bellefleur instills deeper references: like @ Evanbuckleystan98 leaving some deep cut commentary here and there. In Playing for Keeps the social media landscape is an essential component for its development, both on the level of plot and the romance. Bellefleur expertly ties this together with Poppy and Rosaline and the result is a distinctly layered contemporary romance with myriad pop culture moments to sink your teeth into.

It’s safe to say that so long as Alexandria Bellefleur is writing romance, things aren’t looking so bad. Romance as a space where characters can make mistakes and take charge of their lives is very much Bellefleur’s playing field. I loved her attention to boundaries and going no contact with family members who are no longer serving your mental health and life goals. Poppy’s struggles with being an afterthought, parental neglect, and being under scrutiny at all times was definitely the heart of this story. It’s a triumphant moment for her to realize she is not a failure and to surround herself only with people that believe in her competency. Though this romance is from a single point of view, Rosaline and the secondary romance still have a presence. The ins and outs of the PR management of Cash and Lyric’s romance is adjacent to everything going on between Poppy and Rosaline, but it still is a strong contender plot wise. Playing for Keeps does feel strictly oriented to this current moment in time, at least where the beginnings to this story come from and the various allusions to celebrities and general pop culture. Yet still it charmed me and it’s definitely a book I could venture back to again like most, if not all of Bellefleur’s extensive backlist..

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

Trigger warnings: alcoholism (character in sobriety, but discussed), parental neglect

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Review: The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

There is an island in the sea that subsists itself entirely on stories retold. Lifetime after lifetime the characters from these tales are reborn to play out the narrative in an endless cycle, else the isle shall fall. For some this means fame or fortune, but for others its life in an enchanted wood as the evil sorceress, or a knight doomed to first kill his great love before killing himself. When she first arrived on the shores of this great Isle, Simran knew she was destined to play out the tale of The Knight and the Witch as the powerful sorceress incarnate. In this tale, a knight and a witch are doomed to love and to die at the other’s hand. Simran will do anything to escape this fate, but a story is a powerful thing and not even a determined witch can outrun it forever. One fateful evening, Simran encounters Vina, a dutiful knight to the Eternal Queen and undeniably the knight set to win her heart and end her life. Escaping Vina’s clutches, Simran travels home where she immediately confronts a murderous assassin intent on ridding the island of the stories that fuel its survival—and her story is next. Stealing away her close friend from childhood, Hari, the assassin gives her a task: find out his name, and discover why he cannot die. Too insurmountable of a task to accomplish alone, Simran must ally with Vina, her knight and intended killer, to discover the true beginnings of the isle and if they can rid themselves of its deadly fate.

Ensnared by a story takes a literal sense in The Isle in the Silver Sea, in which an island endlessly rebirthed through stories is doomed to fall unless a reincarnated supply of characters follow a tale eternal—down to the very letter. Tasha Suri’s newest fantasy standalone brings queerness, sapphic lady knights, witches, and sprawling libraries into the center focus and goddamn if it didn’t leave me wanting to fall into a never ending cycle of story (wherein I fall for a hot butch knight). That and exploring old books in a library hidden away in an ancient forest. Romance and violence are a double edged blade in this novel, as a witch and knight face down a fate that can only lead to one thing: their death. But knowing your fate is to die does not mean you cannot yearn at unprecedented levels, and Tasha Suri takes that challenge at its utmost. A pale assassin stalks the stories that have let the island prosper, but it is a set of archivists serving as the very architects of history that feel the most sinister. Tasha Suri examines the preservation of history, from those determining the fate of certain narratives to the construction of a nation. In a fictitious Britain intrinsically tied to story, Suri swings her sword at myths, monarchy, and a vicious nationalism intent on controlling the narrative by any means necessary. Even riding a nation of its “otherness” and anything antithetical to its agenda.

The Isle in the Silver Sea poses an essential question: who decides what stories are told, how they are designed, and how they are disseminated—and what happens when there are those that threaten this goal. Britain stands as the bedrock for Suri’s inquiry where stories are a fuel, both in the literal sense to ensure the island’s survival, and for the rhetoric that is kindle for an ever burning flame of a nation. Archivists pour over a plethora of the island’s written information, preparing a narrative where nation is everything and the crown triumphs because incarnates do their duty. There is no room for heresy, or outsiders questioning the way forward, and they are dealt with in a quiet violence as they are cut from the narrative. Certainly what unites the lady knight books of this year is the examination of storytelling as a deliberate act of mythmaking, and how stories can serve as a stepping stone for higher powers forcing their sinister agendas. It’s not that stories aren’t beautiful— when they have the space to flourish unrestrained—but that those that are carved out for some higher purpose will in turn be wielded as a weapon. Epigraphs at the start of each chapter mark a process where archivists determine the acceptable tales for mass consumption, and those that are a threat to the narrative they’ve constructed. It’s deliberate, it’s violent, and it leaves no room for new stories to take hold. After all, what is a nation if not a collection of narratives molded together to suit its own image. 

Ruled by a queen everlasting, this island constructed by story sees otherness as the true threat. No stories emerge from the outside, and no outsider is able to take up a prominent role within the narrative. Simran Kaur Arora, a witch from elsewhere, is thus a contradiction. A blip in the cycle that should have ensured a blonde and blue eyed witch play out the tale of The Knight and the Witch. But otherness is strength, as we well know. Against her deadly fate, Simran meets Vina, a valiant knight raised in service to the queen everlasting. If you’ve read a Tasha Suri book before you’ll be prepared for the friction between reluctant allies who maybe also want to kiss a little. That’s Vina and Simran in a nutshell, yearning for what cannot be while avoiding their feelings. When one’s fate is tied to their lover, to kill or be killed, you’d think there’d be no room for yearning. Tasha Suri is here to show us just how wrong that is—in fact it makes the yearning that much stronger. Between trekking through a disappearing forest, cutting down trees while exasperatedly saying your lover’s name, being captured by a group of rogue witches, and trying to save the isle, these two imbue romance. Some of my favorite passages with Vina and Simran are where the romance is unexpected and relates back to a crucial part of memory: the act or desire to document. This is essential to all that the Isle in the Silver Sea is trying to impart and just makes these interactions all the more romantic.

Tasha Suri’s legend crafting prowess is a vital part of The Isle in the Silver Sea: a story all about stories themselves. I’m not sure anyone else could have constructed such a glorious tale of reincarnated lovers breaking free from the narratives designed to control them and an island built upon stories. Ink stains, tattoos, old libraries, forests, and legends broken apart and remade are the scattered pieces brought together and unified within this novel. At the heart of this are the stories themselves, and Suri makes it clear: diversity of perspective and experience are what truly keep the island alive. In all parts of my reading experience, I viewed The Isle in the Silver Sea as a love letter to those who not only painstakingly preserve history but make it widely available. Not just the archivists, but the librarians who toil endlessly to help make information accessible (and are very much under fire right now). The Isle in the Silver Sea is another essential reading for the times we are in. Where inaccurate information is widespread and individuals are handed a narrative to suit someone else. In this regard, to question is necessary, and to seek the truth is a key part of resisting. The Isle in the Silver Sea shows just how affirming a story can be when entrusted to the right hands, and how dangerous when in the wrong ones. That otherness does not mean you cannot build a community or a story of your own, if you can at first pick up the pen.

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

Trigger warnings: death, violence, murder, xenophobia, racism

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Review: Dawnbringer by Stephanie Fisher

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Please note this review contains spoilers for the former books in this series, Shardless & Acolyte, and contains references to some of the events in this sequel. Read with caution. 

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Talya Caro survived an entire year within Queen Azura’s time loop, honing her magic for the threat to come, of which she knows precious little. Now reunited with Skylen and his wounded and demanding brother Kato, the three have begun the long trek back to Ryme through the wilderness. As Taly, Skye, and Kato return it becomes imperative they maintain the narrative that Taly is human and not the last of the time mages once hunted to extinction. Still reeling from the Shade attacks, Ryme has refortified but now a plague is sweeping through the human populace threatening so much more than just the shardless. In spite of the unrest, Taly is finally back with Skye, her friend and great love, and her family, which would be enough if not for her magic placing a target on her back. For Skye the knowledge that Taly will always be hunted draws him down a dark path where he risks harnessing a bloodcraft power that could destroy him from the inside out, if he is not first caught and imprisoned. Something stalks the shadows biding its time, and with the Aion Gate close to alignment Taly knows time is the one thing she doesn’t have—before lines are drawn and she is forced to decide what side she’s truly on.

Just me and my emotional support thousand page fantasy novel I’ve waited five years to read against the world. Dawnbringer is the long awaited third installment in Stephanie Fisher’s Tempris Pentalogy, a fantasy series set within an island sundered by magic where time mages are hunted and citizens are left bereft of the magic needed to travel between realms. A hodgepodge of fae realms—modern and fantastical, time mages gone rogue, zombie-like threats, and mages of all kinds mark this rare romantic fantasy series. Encompassed in a steampunk-esque world with regency social strata, it’s safe to say Tempris is atypical of anything else within this genre. Five years since the book that started it all, Shardless, and the cliffhanger of its successor, and this third installment is unquestionably worth every wait. Simultaneously the most romantic and traumatizing thing ever, Dawnbringer raises the stakes with a deadly plot spanning worlds and our spunky hero Taly at the center, trapped between her old life and a predetermined fate. Stephanie Fisher reunites her lovers Skye and Taly on the brink, with dark bloodcraft magic taking hold and timelines colliding. With time magic in the mix, the tension and angst are dialed up to the max and nothing is more devastating than being left in its wake.

After five years and six rereads of the first two books in this series, who is to say I don’t have a soul bond with the entire Tempris series? From discovering it during the depths of the pandemic to now, every time I reread Tempris I’m reminded of how excellent it truly is. Stephanie Fisher has a firm hold on her world building, character arcs, and romance—a virtuoso painstakingly taking apart her narrative and layering in lore, timelines, and differing streams of magic. Dawnbringer takes everything from the first two books and elevates it in an overwhelming mix of romance and emotional devastation. And I expected nothing less from Stephanie Fisher. We have timelines colliding, interdimensional beasts, a big bad threat: Aneirin or “Bill” (a nickname only Taly could have come up with), and just general tomfoolery ensuing. In the time since the first two books were published we were left with many questions. Mainly: what is the great threat closing in on the island of Tempris. At long last we have an answer, and the threat is indeed cataclysmic. With Taly facing down her fate and attempting to have it all, Dawnbringer acts as a stepping stone for the next stage of this series where its titular character is the deciding force in a timeline set before her birth. The secret recipe in this novel is tension, tension, tension, and it can be felt in every facet of the narrative.

Dawnbringer proves that families that destroy together stay together—for the most part. Where the first two books dealt primarily with Taly coming into her identity as a time mage and reconciling a violent past that led to the death of her biological mother and her uncle, Dawnbringer is altogether different. Back in Ryme, Taly reunites with her adoptive parents, Ivain and Sarina, and her cousins, Aiden and Aimee, friend and general nuisance respectively. There are plenty of difficult conversations and the reorienting of previous dynamics now that Taly’s heritage has been made known, but we finally get to see this family unit be just that—a team. How else are you supposed to trick an entire population of fae into believing a time mage is not walking amongst them? Two characters stole most of my attention in this sequel: Aimee and Kato, the brash brother of Skylen. Kato has been an unequivocal favorite of mine even before this novel but I can now confidently say I am begging for a romance between him and Aimee. Something about arrogant men and the mean women who hold them in check is a dynamic I crave deeply. As Dawnbringer progresses, timelines layer and future versions of our characters flit in and out of the present. In an action packed final act, Fisher tests her found family in a violent stand against the Sanctifiers as the opening of the Aion Gate looms ever closer and Taly is caught between her past and the choice hinted at so long ago. It’s as painful as I anticipated and yet somehow that did not prepare me for the weight of it, nor the aftermath.

Five years separate the publication of Dawnbringer from the beginning foundations of the Tempris series, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from the seamless way Fisher integrates her three novels and dawns a new era. Everything in this novel is heightened: the fate of multiple worlds, the precarious balance of the central timeline, and of course our star crossed lovers, Taly and Skye. While her family faces down a plague and an organization dedicated to eradicating those that can manipulate time, a darker threat emerges intent on harnessing Taly’s magic. With a thousand pages (at least in the ebook), no amount of page time is wasted as Fisher dives into the inner workings of Tempris and begins to uplift her previously called upon events—like the reveal of what Taly was asked to say no to by Queen Azura all those months ago. The interjections from Cori, the lil homage to Orphan Black, and the cute moments with Calcifer brought on some necessary humor to outweigh the darker parts of this novel. Speaking of which, Skylen’s descent into bloodcraft magic tied as an extent of his love for Taly. That he would willingly twist himself from the inside out just to have a chance at protecting her was not just thoughtfully developed, it was romantic as hell. In Dawnbringer, the last of the time mages takes a stand and Stephanie Fisher proves she has the power to not only take this series to new heights but to new levels of pain inflicted upon her readers. This series continues to be far too underrated for my liking. I lament both the ending and the fact that I cannot commiserate with others on that incredible cliffhanger.

Trigger warnings: death, blood, murder, violence

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Let’s Talk: Sizzling Summer Romance

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Summer, summer, summer, summer (please read in the theme of Disney’s High School Musical 2 hit song “What Time Is It”). Hello and welcome to another installment of my quarterly romance recommendations. It’s insane how many romance novels have published since last quarter so to honor that this is a bit longer than usual. I’m still catching up to many April/May romances since I spent the month getting ready to move back home. Picture the last few weeks being me just reading romance there are that many. Summer is already heating up and the romances are just as hot (hallelujah). We’ve got small town messy sapphics, rival bands, Persuasion inspired historical romance, and plenty of unconventional love stories. Also please ignore that I put an October romance in here. Just preorder it (trust me). Happy reading!

Dream On, Ramona Riley by Ashley Herring Blake

Ever since her mom left their small New Hampshire town, Clover Lake, never to return, Ramona Riley’s dreams of doing costume design became an impossibility. Shortly after, she dropped out of college to assist her recently injured father in raising her younger sister Olive, and for decades that was all she could see. Now Olive is set to graduate and leave for college, and Ramona is still stuck in Clover Lake working at the local cafe. But when she hears that the next big romantic comedy is set to film in Clover Lake, Ramona begrudgingly sees this as an opportunity to forge a way to her dream career. Unfortunately the film’s lead star is her first kiss and once crush, Dylan Monroe, and she does not remember a single thing about Ramona. Luckily Ramona can spend the entire time avoiding her. Right? No one is doing small town romance like the sapphics and Ashley Herring Blake. Dream On, Ramona Riley recaptures the small town atmosphere of her first series, Bright Falls, and proves it’s not just a lucky strike, but an innate talent Blake can bring to any romance. As a lover of all things New England, rom-coms, and messy bisexuals, this had all the shapings of an unforgettable romance, and it delivered from beginning to end. Featuring another delightful extended romance cast—like April Evans the tattoo artist (up next for book two), and some of Ashley Herring Blake’s hottest sex scenes (trust me), Dream On, Ramona Riley really is queer romance perfection. The core of this story sees caretaking as a sacrificing act, but also a hopeful one—a poignant theme which threads through Ramona’s second chance career and eventual love story. Dream On, Ramona Riley is for anyone who’s ever thought the words “it’s too late,” because it never is. I am elated for more messy sapphic love stories from Ashley Herring Blake!

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Passion Project by London Sperry

Bennet Taylor has no passion. She’s experiencing a passion deficit as it were. But who else is in their twenties working as a temp while desperately trying to forget the grief of the love of their life who they are pretty sure was the one. Pushed into a first date she didn’t want Bennet flees, only to run into her intended date, Henry, hours later where she confesses the grievous sin that she is not ready. She even admits to her passionless state, and Henry agrees he’ll help her find it. Now they’re having adventures all over the city, and Bennet and Henry realize they’re not just good friends and passion aficionados, they’re each other’s next chance at the love they’ve been waiting for. Disaster over pasta carbonara begins this hopeful romance debut from London Sperry that leans heavily into works in progress finding love not in spite of their circumstances but because of all that they are. New York City is very much a main character as Bennet and Henry traverse the boroughs and the nooks and crannies in search of ever elusive “passion” while avoiding unexpected feelings. Now with a founding father name like Henry Adams you wouldn’t expect a man to be so effortlessly romantic and capable of such yearning, but Sperry has written the romantic love interest of the year with Henry. I mean the spectacles?? Come on! Bennet Taylor had such strength while in the presence of this man I commend her for all of it. The journey of Bennet and Henry out of grief, to friendship, and then love is overwhelmingly gentle. Passion Project has a truly beautiful message baked in—that we don’t really have to have it all together to be worthy of love and happiness. The focus on depression and grief is one we journey on alongside Bennet, and it is as important as the love story. Passion Project doesn’t take the stance that love begets an end to these things, but we love in spite and live to heal day by day. Find your passion with London Sperry. It’s as easy as reading this novel.

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Isabel and the Rogue by Liana De la Rosa

Isabel Luna Valdés has made being overlooked a strength. As the unremembered third  Luna sister she uses her talents to gather intel to aid Mexico in their fight against French occupation. Wallflower bookish Isabel has had no issue sneaking away from the various balls and society gatherings while her sisters entertain, that is until Captain Sirius Dawson starts to take notice of her disappearances. Sirius is a spy himself, for the British Home Office, and in taking concern over Isabel is in danger of losing it all for the chance to aid her. When Isabel unearths something that could transform the entire occupation she has the ability to finally provide something concrete, but what will she risk to help her country if the cost is her heart. Bookish women being loved for who they are is actually something that is so personal to me and that is essential to Liana De la Rosa’s, Isabel and The Rogue. Isabel Luna Valdés, the woman that you are! This follow up to the first Luna sisters novel sees a wallflower use her place in London society to uncover correspondence to aid her country, bringing a flawless addition to the rake and wallflower pairing. Liana De la Rosa has captured the spirit of each of the Luna sisters in their respective novels and Isabel’s feels like a comforting love letter to the spirited, bookish heroines finding inner strength and a place of their own. Sirius and Isabel are a well matched couple and their chemistry is fierce. I’m still thinking about the desk scene and probably will be for all time. The glimpses into London society from the perspective of three Mexican heiresses, the kernels of sisterhood, and the insights into Mexican history is what makes this one of the most unique historical romances out there right now.

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Some Kind of Famous by Ava Wilder

Ten years since her singing career crashed rather spectacularly and two years since leaving behind a failed romantic relationship, Merritt Valentine is still in Crested Peak, the small Colorado town where her twin sister has elected to set down roots. Now with a baby on the way, her sister gives her ample notice that she will need to find another place to live so they can make room. Luckily, Merritt has a property she purchased not long after her arrival in town, however it needs quite a bit of renovating before she will be able to move in on a permanent basis. But getting things up to code will require her to engage the services of one Nikolaos Petrakis, local contractor, jack of all trades, and the man whom Merritt is hopelessly infatuated. I don’t think I’ve fully been captivated by a romance novel as quickly as I did with Some Kind of Famous. Maybe it’s just the setting, and the company of such wonderful characters but I quickly fell in with this on the most extreme level and it’s safe to say the rest of the novel carried it through. What’s so endearing about Some Kind of Famous is the extent it is emphasized that our two main characters are works in progress—two people still figuring life out but scared to reach for love with two hands when things aren’t perfect. Fear of the past is a big theme for Ava Wilder, and it imbues an immense pressure on both Niko and Merritt as they pursue a romance. Some Kind of Famous is about finding ourselves after setbacks and not closing ourselves off to connection just because we’re scared of trying again. The ups and downs are vast, but this is an exquisite addition to the celebrity romance space. Prepare to fall as hopelessly in love with this one as I did.

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Eliza and the Duke by Harper St. George

Facing down a loveless marriage to a man flaunting his dalliances across Europe, American heiress Eliza Dove wishes for one night to experience the real side of London. Her ticket in is Simon Cavell, Montague Club’s manager and the celebrated boxer of Whitechapel known only as “The Duke,” after a chance meeting leaves her an opportunity to convince him of her plan. All Simon yearns for is securing a life for his niece currently held by the man whom he owes a great debt, but soon all he yearns for is her, Eliza, the impossible heiress. Between the dark streets of London, townhomes, and tension filled carriage rides, soon it is impossible to deny that the only thing Simon and Eliza want is a life side by side, but that is as impossible as the feelings running between them. There is no power on earth strong enough to tear me away from a good historical romance, and Harper St. George is one of the strongest talents in the genre right now. Her Doves of New York series first ensnared me with The Stranger I Wed, but this follow up has outsold everything that came before. Eliza and the Duke concerns two people who never thought they could be loved—Eliza the hopeless romantic, and Simon the strong and silent boxer who made a life through his fists, finding unconditional, lasting love. Eliza and Simon are two individuals you can’t not root for. With Persuasion levels of longing, their connection is not only palpable, but grounded against their pasts leaving space for a beautiful romance to develop and plenty of angst to savor. And what a layered romance this is. Like that carriage scene? *fans self to no avail*. Eliza and the Duke is certainly for the Jane Austen lovers amongst us and it’s a historical romance that left me more than a little unhinged (a glowing commendation if there ever was one).

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Never Over by Clare Gilmore

When songwriter Paige Lancaster meets with one of Nashville’s premier music publishers for a potential contract, she never expects them to leave her with a tremendous task of writing new songs. Paige takes this songwriting challenge to the extreme and enlists Liam Bishop, her ex, to aid her in the task—they’ll start dating again while she joins him on tour, and then when the romance is at its height, he’ll break her heart. Yet all this re-breakup plan does is force Liam and Paige to address the past, why they broke up, and if they have the courage to try it all over again—for real this time. Never Over is second chance romance goodness, written with aching emotion and lending voice to the weight of grief and how far we will go in pursuit of our dreams. Messy twenty-somethings still figuring out life is Clare Gilmore’s bread and butter, and her third novel is arguably the best of the best and the messiest of the twenty somethings. Dual timelines give rise to a second chance love story between determined songwriter Paige Lancaster, and Liam Bishop, once lauded baseball pitcher now concert manager on the tour circuit. Never Over is a love story centered around life on tour, bookstore meet cutes, baseball training, and a heartwarming love letter to Bristol, Tennessee. Clare Gilmore has completely shifted what constitutes an excellent execution of the second chance romance trope with Never Over and I am in complete awe of her talent. This feels like a book written for the overlooked younger children finding their voice and their place in adulthood after being lost in the background for so long. At the same time, the danger in letting yourself be defined by one thing and what happens when that dream abruptly ends. Like the most addictive sort of love song: Never Over is a romance to pour over, read, and repeat. Healing and cathartic all in one note.

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These Summer Storms by Sarah Maclean

Born into a family of obscene wealth and privilege, Alice Storm was never afforded her own path, and was subsequently exiled for choosing one of her own. Upon the death of her father, Franklin Storm, Alice is called back into the fold to mourn his passing and celebrate the legacy of a tech industry titan. Stuck on the family’s private island off the coast of Rhode Island, Alice and her siblings soon face the strings attached to their inheritance and the final game their father constructed from beyond the grave. The catch? They have to play or forfeit the millions they hoped to inherit. With one week to play the game the past is never closer to the present, and family grievances could be the deciding force in who wins the game and who is out before it can even begin. Sarah Maclean never saw a structurally sound building or complicated family dynamics she couldn’t mess with and I, as always, am here for her meddling. These Summer Storms is a far departure from Maclean’s typical historical romance ventures, but nevertheless a clever twist on the corporate family power struggle. Maclean brings together her flawed family—the straight and narrow eldest with a secret life, the arrogant successor convinced he will inherit the crown, the exiled artist, and the crystal & astrology obsessed youngest daughter, all vying for their inheritances. These Summer Storms is Succession on steroids, complete with all the spiteful feuds and particular personalities that clash and make these stories so entertaining while exposing unique experiences of grief and family. It all comes crashing down rather spectacularly (quite standard to Maclean) with reconciliation not so far off and even the fiercest of storms finding harmony.  

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Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan

Hendrix Barry has it all, a successful business, incredible friends, and a supportive family. Yet as her mom’s dementia worsens, Hendrix knows she’ll need to step up more than she already is, and balancing it all could cause the precarious house of cards that is her life to finally crumble. When she meets Maverick Bell, a charming self made billionaire, Hendrix knows she’s in trouble. Unfortunately as the ex of a current client, dating Maverick breaks every kind of girl code so Hendrix backs off. If only Maverick understood the memo, pursuing Hendrix with the determination of someone who knows what he wants, and is used to getting it. With their undeniable connection and chemistry to consider, giving in may mean finally reaching for the love she’s been denying herself, but of course that’s easier said than done. I’ve been eagerly anticipating the conclusion to Kennedy Ryan’s Skyland trilogy from the moment I finished, This Could Be Us. Hendrix Barry has this larger than life quality that leaps off the page and I knew her book would be divine from the previous books alone. Kennedy Ryan’s familial connections to caregiving deepens a story centered strongly around caring for aging parents. Ryan’s nuances around caring for a parent with dementia are carefully done, how one can feel like a failure for making mistakes and at the same time feel selfish for enjoying things outside of it. Hendrix handles it all with such grace and she deserves to be taken care of—which is where our love interest Maverick comes in. His attentiveness and understanding to Hendrix as she struggles and triumphs is one of the most romantic things. These two really were partners to each other in everything which is peak romance to me. Kennedy Ryan really is an incomparable talent and Can’t Get Enough is irrefutable proof.

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Anywhere With You by Ellie Palmer

Charley Beekman thought she could figure it all out, but after her divorce and her stalled legal career, things have undoubtedly changed. Surprisingly, that’s not her biggest problem. When her impulsive younger sister announces her imminent elopement to her ex boyfriend and friend from childhood, Charley only has one course of action: break off the wedding before they hurt each other again. Who should join her in the road to breaking up the wedding, but Ethan, her childhood best friend. Ethan (unsurprisingly) doesn’t really believe in breaking off the wedding, but a road trip to rekindle their friendship after a falling out is worth anything, even if it requires recognizing the feelings they have avoided years on. Anywhere With You is for the childhood friends to lovers fans wrapped up in a road trip gone wrong and a well intentioned but disastrous breakup plan. Former best friends Ethan and Charley have this intense, raw chemistry that sent me spiraling as they are forced into close proximity in the most bizarre ways (like a truck stop shower scene that is unusually heated). Alongside a road trip of reconciliation and feelings revealed, Palmer flits back to the past, uncovering the complicated ties between these two and where they are headed. Coupled with their pasts, Palmer shows why Ethan and Charley work together and the freedom afforded in them finally giving into their feelings. Ethan begging, tortured for Charley and Charley unlearning some of the cynicism stemming from her parents’ relationship, in that regard. Anywhere With You is the epitome of the friends to lovers trope. For every person still figuring out their plan, on a road with all the dips, turns, and returns that life affords. 

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Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay

Librarian Emily Allen has been stuck for too long on Martha’s Vineyard living under her mother’s thumb that she’s prepared to do something drastic—like moving all the way to Ireland to work for her favorite author from childhood. Siobhan Riordan’s acclaimed children’s fantasy series charmed the masses, but the tenth book has yet to be written due to her debilitating writer’s block. Emily’s job is to help her finish the manuscript while pitching in at the bookstore alongside Kieran the overly protective, grumpy bookstore manager—and Siobhan’s son. As Emily helps Siobhan complete the manuscript she learns Siobhan’s greatest secret, and it could ruin her resolve at her own next chapter. Shelve this under, made me sob uncontrollably (and in the would recommend category). There are few books out there that have the power to make me bawl and Love at First Book is one of them. Now on the surface this appears to be your standard romance novel, with a bit of hate to love around an American transplant living in Ireland and the grouchy bookstore manager who wants her gone (classic), but wow is this anything but. Love At First Book explores the transformative power of literature and how writing offers us the chance to reconcile the past while looking to the future. This book is about old and new beginnings as we follow a young librarian fleeing her narcissistic mother to a new life, a terminally ill writer trying to complete the final book in a series that was a love letter to her son, and a bookstore manager desperate to keep his life intact. Love at First Book showcases the power in the written word in bringing unlikely people together, to better themselves and find community. It’s romantic, tragic, and an aching portrayal of loss. If you’re in need of a good cry look no further. 

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Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria

Now that her divorce has been finalized, Ava Rodriguez is a free woman. Alone at a teaching conference she seizes the chance for a one night stand with the incredibly handsome Roman Vázquez, the self made businessman who owns the hotel, after he flirts with her at the hotel bar. Their scorching chemistry doesn’t just lie in the bedroom, and soon neither of them want to leave it at just one night. The catch: Roman will have to wait until Ava reaches out to make contact, and they won’t tell their friends. Months on and the fling is working perfectly, albeit with a few rule breaks, but when Ava discovers Roman is the best man to her friend’s fiance she’ll have to determine just how much she’s willing to break her rules for the chance at being his. Permanently. Along Came Amor is the long awaited third novel in Alexia Daria’s Primas of Power trilogy. This book is for the people pleasers in every regard and a cautionary tale for anyone precariously balancing every aspect of their life to appear perfect. Our heroine Ava is the victim of these people pleasing tendencies, always striving to be the perfect everything for anyone—lest they see the truth and cast her aside. Her liaison with Roman changes everything as she finds someone who loves and cares for her exactly as she is. Now Roman is the perfect love interest for a people pleaser because he was down bad for Ava from their very first meeting. Literally screaming, crying, throwing up for the chance that she reaches out to him after their one night stand. Roman and Ava are hilariously compatible and it’s very entertaining to watch them dance around each other for almost 500 pages. Along Came Amor is without a doubt the best read for the summer, featuring thirty and forty somethings attempting to have it all, next level sex scenes, and people pleasers leaving perfection behind in favor of authentic connection.

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No Ordinary Love by Myah Ariel

Acclaimed popstar Ella Simone built a career around music in small part due to the influence of her husband, Elliot Majors, a bigtime music producer. Now Ella is considering a shift in management after Elliot’s constant cheating leaves her with no choice but to end their marriage. Ella’s voice stands on its own, but to win out against the prenup she signed eight years ago and maintain control of her music, she’ll have to be on her best behavior. Enter stage right Miles Westbrook, a pro baseball player and Ella’s unfortunate downfall. After a wardrobe mishap and their palpable chemistry live on stage at an awards show, the rumor mill is indeed churning. Luckily, Ella and Miles’ PR teams have a plan to capitalize on the attention and it involves spending even more time with a man who has the potential to become a real problem for Ella’s already fragile heart. No Ordinary Love is an unforgettable romance novel drawn forward by an inner music that moved me from the very start. Myah Ariel knows the appeal of the celebrity romance and the slow burn and said you can have this entire book….as a treat. From multiple fronts, No Ordinary Love interrogates the entertainment industry, legacy, and personal beliefs and at the center of this is Ella Simone who embodies it all—control, ambition, and a deep love for her craft. Not just a character to admire deeply, Ella is one to root for as she casts off a toxic partner and works to build the life she wants for herself all while pushing the boulder uphill. Miles is the perfect harmony to Ella and his unconditional love and support was the grounding this story needed to become a true romance classic. Myah Ariel showcases the power in two driven and somewhat single minded individuals letting go just a little to find the music side by side. Where the bonus is falling in love.

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The Chemistry of Familiar Objects by Alexandra Vasti

On 57 Gresham Street the true showdown is occurring. For Emmeline Starling, the building is the perfect space to test her skills in chemistry, but on the ground floor Robert Vane, a children’s book printer is one explosion away from a complete meltdown. Years of towing the line and stewing in their personal hatred for each other all ends when a dangerous concoction of Emmeline’s is stolen. Together, Emmeline and Robert are entangled in a dark conspiracy to weaponize her compound and the only way to uncover it is to work side by side—if they can do so without first burying the hatchet directly in the other’s chest. What would you say if I told you a real love language was blowing stuff up in front of a man who disdains you? What then? The Chemistry of Familiar Objects features all of my favorite things: man who is so sick of a specific woman he could vomit (but really), woman who can’t stop blowing things up/lighting things on fire, and love stemming from schemes and conspiracy. Alexandra Vasti is an undeniable power within the historical romance space, whether that’s writing full length novels or bite size novella adventures, and this novella is her pièce de résistance. How else does one craft something so profoundly moving and romantic all in under two hundred pages without losing any real depth from the page count. Em and Robert were (regretfully) in cahoots until it transformed into in cahoots (affectionate) and the entire journey is so delicious I could scream. Vasti doesn’t lose up on any of that wonderful romantic tension she is known for, nor the jaw dropping sex scenes that will be seared into my brain for all eternity. The Chemistry of Familiar Objects is a masterclass in intimacy, vulnerability, and that kernel of hate to love that moves all of us one way or another. Also chemistry. Lots of chemistry!

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For the Record by Emma Lord

Once music rivals now complete strangers, Sam Blaze and Mackenzie Waters captivated their listeners with their chemistry on stage and their rumored romance. Several years since leaving their respective bands, Sam and Mack are independently striking out on their own, if only they can convince their labels that it’s a good idea. To secure the next stage of their singing careers, Sam and Mack agree to team up on a joint album in a comeback that will drag their past back to the present. Reviving the music and their undeniable chemistry could secure them a future in music if wounded hearts don’t first prevail and they can remain on the good side of the spotlight—no matter the cost. Effortlessly funny, charming, romantic, you name it, Emma Lord excels at it all and her second adult romance is no different. For the Record is a nostalgic rivals to lovers’ romance that made me yearn for the music while reminiscing on the days of bands long past. Emma Lord immediately swept me up in the drama of the bands Candy Shards and Thunder Hearts (think edgy punk rock group versus pop girl trio) and their notorious rivalry. One thing that always gets me with Emma Lord’s writing is the effortless way she brings readers into the lives of her characters and those orbiting our main duo. Even though we see little of them, the bond between Mackenzie and her former band members Hannah and Serena is quite the standout, as was Sam’s bond with his son and family. The romance still takes center stage here and god did Sam and Mackenzie bring on that unbearable romantic tension that made me want to bonk my head against the wall. Emma Lord knows how to write a romance and this one is a soft and hopeful love song you can’t resist being enamored by.

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