How to End a Love Story is billed a romance shaped by grief and healing. It delivers a shallow, joyless hash instead. I’ve read it–you probably shouldn’t. This is a romance that begins with a funeral that is just about the worst meet cute terrible I’ve ever read. Then, thirteen years later, our leads, (I…
I just love Church Girl by Naima Simone! Aaliyah has run away on her wedding day and persuades her cousin to help escape from her domineering family. When she arrives in Chicago she applies for a nanny job and meets Von, who needs someone to look after his seven year old daughter Gia. He rejects…
I liked a good deal of Lighting in Her Hands, which gives us a peek into a dysfunctional family of witches who are struggling with a broken coven. The complicated heroine, her struggles, and the worldbuilding are all great, and the angst factor is high. But the romance has spates of only being so-so, and…
A Legend in the Baking is the second book in Jamie Wesley’s cupcake bakery themed series, Sugar Blitz. The bakery is run rather unconventionally by three football player teammates who also have a passion for baking. But each player/baker has his own personal challenges when it comes to relationships, showing that just because you’re famous…
Mimi Matthews does it again with The Muse of Maiden Lane, recovering from the slight slump that was The Lily of Ludgate Hill, the third Belles of London novel. Overall, it’s been one of my favorite series from her, and this volume adds to the fun. This is a cozy romance about two people who…
This is my favorite Ana Huang book so far! It’s got a famous footballer (soccer player) who falls for his new trainer – who’s very definitely off limits! This sexy contemp has forbidden love, playful banter and plenty of steam and, while it’s a little long, I found it very entertaining. Asher is one of…
Author Ann Liang tackles the conflict between the Yue and Wu nations in A Song To Drown Rivers, a retelling of the legend of Xi Shi, who is one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China. Like most legends, there are multiple iterations of the tale, with this book mostly sticking to the basic story…
Vilest Things is a mixed bag of a book. Chloe Gong is one of the most talented fantasy authors I’ve ever encountered, but wheel-spinning is the name of the game for the next chapter in the Flesh and False Gods universe. The complex heroine, Calla, is, as always, interesting to follow, but the worldbuilding, while…
Narrated by Zachary Johnson Nazri Noor’s fast-paced and imaginative fantasy/urban fantasy romances are a lot of fun and I’ve enjoyed a number of his books over the past couple of years. His latest release, Grave Misfortune, is in the unique position of (I think) being the only standalone he’s published, so if you want to…
I really enjoyed this first title in Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes young adult fantasy series. While it offers many of the tropes familiar to a fantasy, it puts a unique spin on them and creates something more compelling than so many others in this genre. Five hundred years ago, the Empire was…
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