Format: eARC

Recent Reads | The Velvet Knife and Dark Matter

Posted September 24, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’ve been a huge fan of the TRULY DEVIOUS series since the very beginning, reading every single one the minute they release. The ultimate auto-buy series for me. THE VELVET KNIFE is the sixth (and final???) book in this series and follows Stevie has she heads to NYC during the holiday break from school, along with Nate as he tries to hole up and finish his book. Naturally, a mysterious death occurs and Stevie works to find out what happened to one of their temporary neighbors. I absolutely hate that this book felt like a finale! I wanted to read these books for the next 20 years. I don’t want to spoil what made it feel like the end but it honestly feels kind of clear that it is. David has been on thin ice through most of the series and as usual, I don’t love what transpired between them in this book (and how everything ended). Luckily it wasn’t the MAIN focus but still took up too much page space. It was very frustrating to read. The mystery itself was pretty good and involved a cult, which I tend to enjoy. I enjoyed that, like the other books, there’s a historical mystery to solve along with something happening in present day. I think the mystery in the past was pretty easy to solve, which was fine, because the one in current times was a bit more complex. I’m always down for the “NYC during the holiday season” setting but […]

Recent Reads | Book Club Boyfriend and Romantic Hero

Posted September 4, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’ve been a fan of Jenny Holiday for a while so I was excited to see this premise for her upcoming book. I love books about books, plus this had some Hollywood/movie elements as well. Blair is an ex-child star turned movie producer trying to make a name for herself and Jack is the butthead author who publicly declined her offer to turn his book into a movie. (Jack is a character from INTO THE WOODS, which was fun!) The two strike up an unlikely texting friendship after this and she invites him to work on his next novel from her poolhouse. This was the kind of book that I was rarely in the mood to pick up and read, but I really enjoyed it while I was reading it. If I had a free afternoon I could’ve just read it until I finished. I took a little break in the middle to focus on a new release I was excited about, which didn’t help either. I think the pacing was my biggest issue – Jack was kind of a dickhead through most of the book and didn’t really turn that around right away. I don’t think he ever truly apologized for some of his behavior and the things he said in the media either. It took me a long time to buy into him not being a jerk. I did like the eventual chemistry between the characters. Because the pacing and character work was a little off, it also […]

Recent Reads | Lies Between Us and The Someday Garden

Posted August 13, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I always read Jessica Goodman‘s books when they come out because they’re typically easy and addicting reads, but overall pretty middle-of-the-road. I don’t know why but she’s an auto-read author for me, despite never giving her books more than 4 stars. This story follows three sisters in the wake of a mysterious death/possible murder of one of the local boys. The youngest, Frankie, decides she’s going to solve the crime, while the others (Lucy and Millie) are hiding secrets of their own. These girls are best friends with the three boys that live next door and that dynamic is heavily featured in the story. I thought some of it was unnecessarily cheesy (the girls last name is Silver and the boys last name is Gold…) but it felt somewhat realistic, with some of them dating each other or having crushes, etc. I liked the small beach town vibes of this one, which made it a good quick summer mystery. Goodman writes in a very accessible way without feeling “young” for a YA book. I know I’m not the audience anymore but I do find them pretty good for adult readers. Nothing groundbreaking happens in this one but I thought the resolution to the mystery was actually interesting and pretty unique. No spoilers obviously but I feel like it was generally something I hadn’t read before. I’m so surprised how Ashley Poston’s have turned into “hit or miss” for me. She’s been one of my favorite authors for years now, back […]

Recent Reads | Our Perfect Storm and The Season of Sinking

Posted July 9, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

Carley Fortune quickly became an auto-buy author for me and I’ve loved all of her books so far. Four books, each rated between 4-5 stars. The premise of this one specifically got me excited because I am a huge fan of the childhood best friends-to-lovers trope. When Frankie’s fiance unexpectedly leaves her the night before their wedding, he encourages her to go on the honeymoon still to take a break and recharge. Her best friend George ends up going with her and planning a week to get over her ex and move on. They quickly realize that maybe they’re something a little more than friends… I loved the descriptions of Tofino (a place I’d never heard of) and learning about Frankie and George’s history intermixed. Both characters had really interesting lives and fully fleshed out family backgrounds that added a lot to the story. Their progression from friends-to-more felt very natural; I loved being in Frankie’s head as she realized her feelings. So much natural chemistry! There is definitely a black moment/third act breakup but I think it was generally logical for the story. It explained some questions that lingered from earlier in the book as well. If I could think of a criticism, the book was a little long. I definitely think this could have been cut to a started 385-ish page romance. Carley Fortune continues to be a favorite of mine; I love seeing different tropical or lake town areas around Canada that I would have otherwise never […]

Recent Reads | Stranger Things Have Happened and Tell Me What You Did

Posted May 21, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I loved Kasie West’s YA books back in the day and the new trend of YA romance authors writing adult romance has been amazing. (I seriously need to read Steph Perkins one.) I haven’t read as many YA books at all lately and even missed some of West’s recent releases. I was planning on reading her adult debut before this one but for whatever reason this spoke to me when I was browsing my Kindle for something to read. The story follows Sutton, an LA restauranteur returning to her hometown to help her mom recover from an accident. She reconnects with her newly engaged high school friend Tara, and finds herself involved in a bet. Tara’s fiance Michael doesn’t want to go to couples therapy before their wedding and insists that two strangers could go and the therapist would never realize they weren’t an actual couple. Enter Sutton and Elijah, Michael’s brother. They begin a four-week session with a local therapist to see who wins – does Michael need to go to therapy with Tara or will she win the bet? Sparks fly between Elijah and Sutton while she also navigates complex family dynamics and co-managing her restaurant from afar. Candidly I didn’t love the characters in this one. It took me a while to like Elijah and root for them as a couple. Sutton had some annoying tendencies and her relationship with her mom was tough to read. Her friendship with Tara was underdeveloped, especially as they alluded to […]

Recent Reads | In Case I Go Missing and This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone

Posted May 14, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

Young adult mysteries are harder to win me over these days, but there was something about the premise here that got stuck in my head. I don’t like to request books on Netgalley by unfamiliar authors in genres I’m unsure of. I’m so glad I did because this book really impressed me! Fenny and her friend Sam were best friends with Sarah. When she suddenly went missing after acting weird for a while, and the two begin to unravel that Sarah was working on a new case baked into the history of the town. I liked that it was a mystery within a mystery and that the missing girl’s friends had to follow in her footsteps/investigation in order to also figure out what happened to her. I loved watching them come to realizations in the same way Sarah likely did by talking to people around town and learning what Sarah was up to, while also figuring out how her investigation made her a target. Candidly the actual characters were fine and not memorable, but they really didn’t need to be. This was exactly what I hoped it would be when I read the premise. The mystery was layered and not predictable. I liked seeing how the two mysteries (past and present) intertwined. I would definitely read more books by this author because as of now, Maureen Johnson is my only remaining YA mystery author. I’d recommend this if the premise interests you, since it delivered for me! I’ve really enjoyed this […]

Recent Reads | The Ending Writes Itself and Once and Again

Posted May 4, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I was really excited about this one when I saw it was announced – I love when a debut can catch my eye, and hopefully have a lot of interesting books in the future. This was written by V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke so technically it’s also my first book by Schwab? The book follows a group of authors as they’re brought to a private island under the impression a famous mystery author, Arthur Fletch, has invited them there for a salon-type weekend. Instead, Fletch is dead and the publisher is desperate for a ghostwriter. I won’t spoil what happens because the synopsis doesn’t include some of the obvious occurrences, but we’ll just say the ending is a killer. I enjoyed this but I could see others finding it a bit bland. It reminds me a little of THE GOLDEN SPOON, which I loved but I know was polarizing. If you liked that, give it a try. It’s not quite a cozy mystery like THE GOLDEN SPOON feels, but it’s just a quieter kind of mystery maybe? The premise was good and the setting was really cool, like all locked room castle-on-an-island mysteries are. I’ve noticed a lot of books coming out lately with authors going to some retreat and seemingly having a similar premise. I enjoyed the format/POVs and ending, but was somewhat let down overall. I think maybe something twistier and darker would have resonated even more. I’d read more from this author duo for sure. I’ve really […]

Recent Reads | In Your Dreams and The Storm

Posted March 19, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

Unsurprisingly, five stars. I may have blinders on when it comes to the writing or characters but there’s something about this Rome, Kentucky series that just works for me every single time. It’s sweet without being too much. This was such a perfect way to wrap up the series, with multiple scenes of former main characters/ siblings/ significant others getting together and finishing with the couple I’ve been waiting for. Madison and James got the perfect story for them and it was worth the wait. We’ve all seen the tension brewing between them – my sister and I were eagerly awaiting their inevitable book! Madison has always been the wild child, the one who moved out of Rome to follow her dreams at culinary school in NYC. She hasn’t told anyone she’s struggling, except Emily in the last book, so she keeps plugging along through graduation. James has been pining over Madison for years so when she accidentally calls him and spills her guts, he has the perfect solution: a farm-to-table restaurant on his farm. He needs the financial boost and she needs a job, especially back at home. Win-win. I loved watching these two spend time together and the feelings develop for Madison, since James has already been in that place. I loved the conversations they had; Jame was such a perfect balance for her. I grew to love him more than I already did from previous books. Aside from the main romance/couple, as I mentioned, we get all […]

Recent Reads | The Fair Weather Friend and Out of the Loop

Posted February 16, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I really enjoyed the twists and overall mystery of THE BUSINESS TRIP and was excited to read more by Jessie Garcia. Her second book also featured a newsroom/weather woman so I was thinking she may turn into a TJ Newman (flight attendant or airplane setting) for me, carving out a specific niche within mysteries. When popular weather girl Faith is found strangled in her car during her dinner break, her superfans, colleagues, and old friends are left reeling in different ways. There were multiple POVs like her previous book and many of the plot lines and characterization were similar. The big twist was good in theory but it was very implausible in practice. I thought the writing was cringey in places and fairly juvenile – the character conversations and inner thoughts were just written in a weird way for me. I definitely enjoyed the ride, as I did with the first book, but it was unsatisfying in many ways – especially the very end. There were certain characters or POVs that got completely lost by the end and we got no closure on. I’m not saying that I had fallen in love with them and wanted to know more about them, but there were a number of loose ends that would have been more satisfying to know about. People weren’t built up enough – especially Faith – for me to care about what happened to her. I’m a sucker for time loop books or what I usually refer to as […]

Blog Tour Review: The Lust Crusade

Posted January 14, 2026 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I’ve been a big fan of Segura’s companion series so far. The concept of a romantic adventure story is just too fun to pass up, and all of them have worked really well for me! This one was slightly different in setup with the same bones: an archaeologist falls in love while looking for something historically groundbreaking. In this installment, Theo was presumed dead a year ago when his boat was found capsized in Greece. His best friend’s sister, Dani, is one of the many people left devastated; she’s had feelings for him her entire life and now she can never act on them. She decides to book a trip to Greece to finally get out of the country when suddenly she sees a man who looks like Theo. She learns he’s alive and has been kidnapped, forced to look for the Eye of the Minotaur for an evil man (we’re all familiar with at this point in the series. When Dani gets captured too, she’s able to use her research skills as a librarian to help Theo find the Eye. There were a lot of great tropes in here, like brother’s best friend, fake dating engagement, only one bed… you name it. I love a “second chance romance” as well. Both of the characters had feelings for each other but never acted on them and it was a very believable setup from a romance perspective (maybe not an overall plot perspective… these adventures are always over the top but […]