Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC and the author and the publisher for the complimentary hardcopy. All opinions provided are my own.Jen Comfort’s books take you on a ride in the best way. My experience with What is Love? felt a bit like what the hero Teddy feels in heroine Maxine’s presence: dazzled, awed, entertained, ed… This contemporary has-- 🐍two super hot nerds battling it out in trivia. They’re both very smart, curious, & determined but have totally different styles when it comes to studying & making decisions. 🐍 fantastic steam. Whew! 🐍so many funny moments, seriously, & some of them are in your face, can’t miss it, & others are more subtle. The way I must have been smiling reading this book! 🐍 no third-act break up! 🐍 an uptight & the chaotic one dynamic that’s a bit true, a bit of a mask, & throughout the book these leads see what’s deeper in themselves & in the other. 🐍 queer rep! 🐍 the hero falls first! 🐍 really great portrayal of ADHD & how that affects learning & experiences in education. I love how it becomes part of their trivia journey & their relationship. 🐍 romantic moments that had me swooning & laughing at the end. If you like your romance to feel free, wild, fresh, & very romantic in a bold kind of way, check out Jen Comfort’s books! I’m *such* a fan & have the feeling I will love everything she writes. 5⭐️. Out 04/01. Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
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Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. What an emotional adventure The Lady He Lost by Faye Delacour is & I loved every minute. This historical features a woman scorned only—the woman scorned was only very reluctantly done so & the hero has regretted it basically every moment since & he misses their friendship & being with her… Jane Bishop & Lieutenant Eli Williams used to be besties. One drunken night he is caught in a mildly (my interpretation) compromising position with Jane’s mean cousin & he proposes to said cousin as a result. Jane’s broken-hearted & even more upset when he leaves to return to sea & is presumed dead after a shipwreck. Now, several years later, Eli returns *surprise!!*. His former fiancé is now engaged to someone else & Jane is pissed at him. This book abounds with humor & emotional delicacy & enough steam even during a coded convo between the leads that I had an “oh my” feeling going on. My fave books are those where we have well -rounded relationships with secondary characters too, where they’re fleshed out & real, & TLHL has that for sure. I love Jane’s BFF & her uncle Bertie & could even see a bit of redemption in the cousin by the end. Then, the ending! I loved it. The gesture of support Eli makes is wonderful. Just *claps*. I didn’t even mention that Jane is entrepreneurial & is running her own ladies-only gambling hell with her bestie. Check this one out! You won’t be disappointed. 5⭐️. Out 04/02.Please see the CWs listed by a trusted reviewer.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. I was totally taken off guard with how much I loved The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. But the book opens with intrigue & maintains a delicate & yet assertive sense of tension & suspense. Bennett weaves a powerful web of mystery & danger & in the background is more of that with the threat of leviathans attacking as apprentice investigator & his mentor Ana try to solve a case. The interplay between Din & Ana is fantastic. She is a brilliant, vaguely frightening, quirky force of nature & he’s the anchor & the facilitator & the man keeping a secret or two as he tries to unravel the ones surrounding them. The mystery is compelling, as is the worldbuilding—the safety & danger of Empire—the preciousness that can be enjoyed even when the leviathan stands at one’s back. The characters & the story mesmerize with complexity. I highly recommend this book for fans of thoughtful mystery. 5⭐️. Out 02/06.Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. From the first lines of The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers my attention was arrested, gripped in the hands of an evocative, sometimes unsettling fantasy that’s also beautifully written. Violet Everly has grown up in the shadow of her mother’s abandonment, left in a home that feels all too much like a prison under the watchful guard of her two uncles. She eventually learns that there is an Everly curse & either she or her mother are the next targets. In this world, friends can become betrayers, betrayers can become friends, morally gray characters can do favors for unidentified reasons, stars can walk among humans, & family secrets can both keep people safe & at risk. My favorite thing about this book is just the writing style, which is striking & thoughtfully wielded for maximum impact. The book balances emotion & action, keeping me invested & engaging me on all levels. Be advised this book contains kidnapping & murder with some particularly disturbing elements. On the whole it’s a compelling fantasy with some romantic elements—though it’s not a romance—& I’m really looking forward to the author’s next release! I get all the heart eyes for great fantasy books. 5⭐️. Out 01/30.[ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of a forest of trees & a waterfall in the background.]Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.For me there is a special kind of fantasy that isn’t cozy per se—there’s too much danger, violence, & disappearances etc for that—but that feels cozy because it’s so quirky & whimsical. The Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett has Fae—sometimes cruel, sometimes helpful, depending on a bunch of factors including their mercurial personalities. It also has suspense, humans who are often trying to live their lives without bringing the wrath of the Fae upon them, & an amazing protagonist named Emily Wilde who is brilliant, amazingly resourceful & quick on her feet, brave, not terribly skilled in engaging in social interactions but very aware of this (as well as aware of lots of other undercurrents many wouldn’t notice), & an all around fierce explorer of Fae & their culture. Accompanying her is Wendell, a Fae ruler who was deposed & happens to be someone she kissed in book 1 (!). Like in book 1, the interplay between charming Wendell & practical Emily in book 2, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands, is amazing. Both of them are occasionally snarky toward the other but in a way that makes it clear they actually find the mannerism endearing; both of them clearly find spending time together wonderful even though they are very different in some ways (& similar in others). Even more amazing for me is Emily Wilde’s writing style as relays her adventures in the diary we get to read. I could read them every day, & the sense of intimacy they create—particularly when we get Wendell’s POV—amps up the immediacy of the contentment, the adventure, & sometimes the sense of peril. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is another fabulous adventure that captured my heart & imagination & I’m so excited to read more in this series & more by this author in general! 5⭐️. Out 01/16.[ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of a river view.]Thanks to the author for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.I could make a real list of all the things I loved about this novella. I shall, in fact. --a spectacles-wearing, ears-blushing, anxious-on-the-inside barrister hero who takes a big risk at the end of the book. --a smiling, jovial governess who’s never had a real home & on the eve of new employment finds herself wanting to keep kissing a stranger. --an “it’s you” moment --an adorable & steamy epilogue where both are living their best lives, together. This book truly delivers on the physical & emotional. Gavin is the sensitive, not overly confident working hero of dreams. Emilia’s resilience & determination & heart are moving & a reminder of how tenuous working women’s jobs were historically, even if the woman had a job with its own unique status, like governess. Langston describes the liminality & temporary nature of Emilia’s job & life in such a gripping way. Some Winter’s Evening is a beautiful story—give me more uncertain heroes, more stories of heroines who are independent & who can find their own way (but have a connection with someone who wants to make sure they’re warm for the rest of their lives). In the background is Aldworth Park, Cora & Nate’s home, & their family, (how I have not read that book yet?), a huge case that tests Gavin’s ethics, & a consideration of slippery positions are for working women, how quickly status, ability to make funds, and home can be taken away. 5⭐️. Out 11/01.Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC and the publisher for the complimentary hardcopies. All opinions provided are my own. After refamiliarizing myself with Rachel Gillig’s Shepherd King world I dove right in & got lost again in this story filled with secrets, power, & attempts to outmaneuver villains. Book 1, One Dark Window, is such a great entrance to the series & book 2 Two Twisted Crowns picks back up where it left off, with our heroine Elspeth’s body having been taking over by the Nightmare who’s lived inside her for the last many years. A former king who was violently taken out, The Nightmare is one of the people responsible for the current nasty state of affairs in the kingdom of Blunder & someone who wants to find the missing magical cards that have caused so much trouble. This book is very much about quests & so many of the characters have one, some journey or goal in mind. In the background is The Mist, which can drive people mad, & the horrible Rowan king & oldest Prince, who care only about their power. This duology features complex characters—good people who have done not so nice things for various reasons & good people who might be able to snatch some happiness from the many forces against them. To that end, Two Twisted Crowns offers something unexpected, a blossoming romance between the younger prince Elm & Ione, formerly engaged to his brother & currently emotionally trapped by the Maiden card. The romance is sweet & steamy & I was so happy to watch another couple fall in love in this series . It’s always hard for me to review a series after the first book but the bottom line is this is such a great series & you should definitely check it out if you enjoy some falling in love with your fantasy. 5⭐️. Out 10/17.CWs: lots of violence in this book. Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs for more detail.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. Despite the fact that it took me so long to read (#moodreaderlife ), The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon is so good, so intense, so very perched on the knife’s edge. As so many others have said the enemies to lovers designation really applies in this fantasy, & not in a cutesy way. Talasyn & Alaric have been on opposing sides in a long war with many casualties, including people close to them both. They meet at a couple of different moments before their arranged betrothal (!) & the magical weapons fly between them. But despite their animosity & the fact that their past is so bloody & complicated—& that he in particular is part of an Empire bent on taking &/or destroying anything it wants in its quest—the leads actually have a lot in common, not to mention a mutual attraction. These complicated feelings are not miraculously solved by their betrothal & book 2 will hopefully do a lot of emotional work that picks up where this one leaves off. Not only is this book compelling on the action-front, the emotions & the deeper backstories & feelings that run through Talasyn & Alaric are strikingly crafted. Each of them is complex, not one-note, & I can’t wait to see what happens in book 2. 5⭐️. Out now!Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. On a whim I read The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong early & I did not regret it for a second. It was perfect for my mood: a ghostly, post-WWI setting, a murder mystery, an unconventional heroine who flies in the face of societal expectations. (She lives with an older man she isn’t related to! She was once in love with her female best friend! She was an ambulance driver in the war! She has had lovers, as in multiple!) Said heroine Ruby Vaughn is asked to deliver some books. On the journey she reconnects with her former best friend—whom she was once in love with & who broke her heart—& encounters a local witch—hopefully a future love interest!—rumors of a curse, & murder. With bisexual rep, a really great mystery, & a thrilling sense of atmosphere, this was really fun to read. I can’t wait to read the next book & I am hoping hoping HOPING there’s a future slow burn romance! 5⭐️. Out 12/05. Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.My heart . Before starting 10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall I saw a few things that kind of set my expectations accordingly: (1) similar-ish in style to Boyfriend Material, (2) really good, (3) & Alexis Hall shared that this is grumpy & the sunshine if the sunshine is reckoning with trauma (or something like that. My apologies if I’ve twisted that in any way!). That’s all so true. This book is charming, it’s so funny, & I got Office vibes from the office scenes in the book & While You Were Sleeping vibes from any scenes featuring prickly boss Jonathan Forest’s family. So it’s very endearing, in short. As is protagonist Samwise “Sam” who kind of stumbles, kinda dives into a fake amnesia situation with his horrible boss Jonathan Forest in an effort to save his branch from being fired. But after he’s made to live with Jonathan for a while—he has to, given his presumed injuries—he realizes that Jonathan is grumpy but that’s not all of him & also grumpy is kind of attractive on him. I adored this book, these characters, this family. Watching Sam & Jonathan engage with others & seeing their very obvious discomfort & yearning & their wrestling with their insecurities is sad & heartwarming. The deception reconciliation feels a bit skimpy to me—but overall I just wanted these two leads to be together & for them to get back to the family unit they had made. Ahhhhh! Also I wanted two epilogues instead of one because my heart wanted more . Such a great book; I loved it; I hope the two of them are living the happiest of lives with their ugly cat in Croydon. 5⭐️. Out 10/17.CW: previous death of family members, including parents.
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