Rose in Chains by. Julie Soto | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Rose in Chains (The Evermore Trilogy, #1)

Author: Julie Soto

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 464

Publication Date: 7/8/25

Publisher: Forever

Categories: Romantasy, Enemies to Lovers, Romance, Fantasy, Dark Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Forever for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The war is over, the dark forces have won, and the hero who was supposed to save them is dead.

Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, Briony Rosewood knows that the world as she knows it is changed forever. The dark forces of Bomard have won and her people, the Eversuns, face imminent servitude, imprisonment or death. Her brother, fated to be heir twice over and unite the warring kingdoms, is dead.

Stripped of her Mind Magic and her freedom, Briony and the other survivors are quickly auctioned off to the highest bidders in an auction – and as the heir-apparent’s sister, she fetches the highest price.

After a fierce bidding war, she’s sold to none other than Toven a high ranking Bomardsun – and her long-time and ill-fated infatuation. Scion of a family known for their cruel control of Heart Magic, the Hearsts are ruthlessly ambitious, and Briony knows they will use her however they can to further their own interests.

Yet despite the horrors of her new world and the role she must learn to play within it, all is not lost. Help – and hope – may yet arise in the most unlikely of places…

Content Warning: mentions of rape, sexual assault, people being sold, sex slaves, being drugged, death, violence, bullying, misogyny, forced magical tubal ligation

+ I don’t know what I expected from Julie Soto’s debut into dark romance fantasy but I should have expected it to be addicting. This is the second book I’ve read this year from this author, her YA debut and now romantasy so she is working over time! She’s my new must-read author. I had some issues with this one but I also found I couldn’t put it down.

+ Briony is caught in a war. The Eversuns have been defeated despite the prophecy of them winning it all, and now Mallow and the Bomardi’s are the new rulers. The Eversun women are subjugated to rape, sexual assault, violations of their ovaries, sold at auction, drugged, made to perform sexual acts in front of others – this is a dark story and I wasn’t expecting that.

+ I can’t say there is “romance” in this story even if it is a romantasy. Briony and her new “owner” and ex-classmate, Toven, is powerful, rich and acts like a jerk in front of his friends. But while she’s in his house, she’s learning he isn’t all that he seems but maybe more will happen in book two. It’s a very slow burn, but there is lots of tension between them, and for sure some secret pining. There is still some spice in this one, but again, no romance – yet. I was expecting a little more romance because of this author’s contemporary romance books but like I said this one is a slow burn and dark so at times I was hating Toven a lot. I know it’s an act but still, he is playing his part really well.

+ World building was interesting and I liked the magic system. There is heart magic (mostly used by Bomards) and mind magic, which is used by Eversuns and then those who can use both. Mallow is a very evil villain and then there is also a dragon that doesn’t get mentioned much until the end so I can’t wait to see what happens there. Also, I enjoyed the political intrigue and can’t wait to see what happens next.

~ I wasn’t expecting the story to be this dark, so I was thrown off by that! There are a lot of things that happen to the women in this book and at times I wanted Briony to burn harder for revenge. I understand Briony is a softer character and naive at times but obviously she is smart and powerful, so I hope that side of her comes out in book two.

~ This story is told with flashbacks and for me it made the story feel choppy but I did like seeing how Briony and Toven’s relationship began. But because of the flashbacks, all the character names felt challenging to learn – there are a lot of hateful, disgusting male characters who felt like the same person with nothing to tell them apart except for their names. Also when Briony is at Hearst Hall as a captive, not much happens because there is no one in this house except for her, sometimes Toven and his mom. She’s reading and meditating a lot which is building her knowledge and powers but it does slow the story down a little.

Final Thoughts:

I didn’t feel like this flowed as good as her contemporary books mostly because of the flashbacks but I couldn’t stop thinking of this story after I read it. It actually made me want to devour another romantasy, so it definitely has that quality I love about the genre – it’s addicting. I need to know what happens in book two. I think for a first book in a trilogy this was pretty good despite the issues I had. The tension is strong between Briony and Toven, the secrets are slowly unraveling by the end, Mallow and the Bomardi men are evil, the romance hasn’t even taken off yet and there is a dragon who we dont’ know much about. I can’t wait to see what book two brings!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Forget Me Not by. Julie Soto | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not Another Love Song by. Julie Soto | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Thrashers by. Julie Soto | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tricks of Fortune by. Lina Chern | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating:

Title: Tricks of Fortune (Katie True, #2)

Author: Lina Chern

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 7/1/25

Publisher: Bantam

Categories: Cozy Mystery, Tarot, Sequel

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Bantam for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Tarot card reader extraordinaire Katie True flexes her investigative muscles when her family becomes the prime suspect in a local murder in this exciting mystery from the author of Play the Fool

“A delicious blend of suspense and madcap humor” – Library Journal, starred review of Play the Fool

Katie True has finally gotten her crap together. It’s a miracle after the wild events of the last year, but she has her own tarot reading room now. The small space might be her sister’s unused real estate office, but it’s a start. Moreover, adulthood isn’t as exciting as Katie imagined, and it’s not long before she begins to miss the action of using her tarot cards for investigating murder, rather than answering trivial questions.

But when a murder of a veteran police officer shakes the small town, Katie is compelled to use her newfound investigative skills. Luckily, her partner-in-solving-crime, Detective Jamie Roth, is assigned to the case. Katie may be a useful resource in the investigation, as her family is quite close with the deceased after he saved baby Katie from the scene of a car crash.

It may take more than a tarot reading to solve this one, as Katie must dig deeper into her own past and rekindle a former friendship to help her this time around. Lina Chern brings another charming whodunit, following the same delightful characters, with a new thrilling murder to solve.

Content Warning:

+ I read book one of this series, Play the Fool and really enjoyed it. So I picked up the sequel and tarot reading, Katie True is back and now she’s navigating life being known as the girl from the accident and trying to help solve a murder of the cop from that accident.

+ In the first book Katie was kind of lost in life and an under achiever and I liked seeing her growth. Now Katie is more settled in this sequel and she’s dating Jaime, who’s a detective. This one is definitely more cozy than the first book.

~ If you love cozy mysteries, you will enjoy this book but for me, I missed the action, twists and turns that I loved in book one.

~ This one moved to slow for me and it left me uninvested in the story.

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed book one more than this one because Katie’s character had room to grow. I feel like this one moved too slowly for me and I didn’t connect to the characters. If you like cozy mysteries, definitely give this series a try.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Play the Fool by. Lina Chern | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Weekly Wrap Up | 6/29/25

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+. Went to lunch with the whole family to celebrate my nephew turning 20!

+ Started to do some back to school shopping for my kids since they go back in August – summer is going by so fast for them.

Blog Posts:

Tenderly, I Am Devoured by. Lyndall Clipstone | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2025 | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 6/24/25
New Book Releases This Week | 6/24/25
WWW Wednesday | 6/25/25
You Between the Lines by. Katie Naymon | Audiobook Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
These Summer Storms by. Sarah MacLean | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Let’s Talk Bookish: Mid-Year Check-In | 6/27/25
Predatory Natures by. Amy Goldsmith | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
The Knight and the Moth by. Rachel Gillig | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Books I Finished

Currently Reading:

Wrath of the Dragons by. Olivia Rose Darling

Soul of Shadow by. Emma Noyes

Roots of Darkness by. Demi Winters

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

K-pop Demon Hunters (Netflix) – why was the ending tragic?! Ugh. Loved the music!
We Were Liars (Amazon Prime) – trying to see if I remember anything of the story, since I have an arc of the sequel to read this year.
The Buccaneers (Apple TV+) – of course they only show one episode a week when I’m so used to binging shows. But I do love that I have something to look forward to and I enjoy this show!

Videos I Posted to Youtube:

My May monthly reading wrap up video which is SUPER late I know. There was just too much happening in May and June to put together a video, but I did it before June came to an end. 😅

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube

The Knight and the Moth by. Rachel Gillig | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice: 🌶️

Title: The Knight and the Moth (The Stonewater Kingdom, #1)

Author: Rachel Gillig

Format: hardcover (own)

Pages: 400

Publication Date: 5/20/25

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Gothic

Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.

Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil’s visions. But when Sybil’s fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral’s cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she’d rather avoid Rodrick’s dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.

Content Warning: violence, drowning

+ The Knight and the Moth is set in a time of knights, cathedrals, omens, kings and really embodies an eerie gothic vibes from start to finish. I love the mystical nature of the diviners and creatures like sprites. Whenever I put the book down, I couldn’t stop thinking of it and wanted to pick it up again. The whole of the story is very creative, imaginative, and refreshing. I do feel like at times the story was like a fever dream.

+ Sybil or Six, is a diviner. She wears a shroud over her eyes and is drowned in order to give a divination. As the story progresses she uncovers secrets and truths about how she came to be a diviner. It’s quite a journey that Sybil goes through in this story and her story isn’t over yet.

+ When Sybil meets the King and his knights, they eventually form a found family between her, her gargoyle Bartholomew, Rory, Maude and Benji (the young king). I did also like her found family with the other diviners that was present in the beginning of the story, only going by numbers as names like One, Two, Three, etc. This found family is what journeys with Sybil through many quests and obstacles, and I love how close they get.

+ There is a romance between Sybil and Rory and it’s enemies to lovers but I feel like it was more dislike to like. Rory’s a rogue knight, he’s trying his best but he doesn’t make the best knight and Sybil, well he gets under her skin and she can’t stand that. The moment their mutual feelings turn to like though, it becomes a sweet romance between them. I like how Sybil is almost as strong as Rory, she is not a fragile maiden. They are perfect for one another.

+ I really enjoyed how mysterious and mystical this story unfolded. And I found the ending emotional with Bartholomew’s story telling and the twist that occurs at the end. Speaking of Bartholomew, the gargoyle is so funny! I love him. I love how he brought humor to this otherwise dark tale. I also enjoyed the themes about gods, false gods, and power.

~ I think the only minor issue I had with the story is when they are battling the living Omens. Some of them were really good and filled with action like the Oarsman. But the one with the chime happened so fast and was anticlimactic.

Final Thoughts:

This is definitely a gothic fantasy with romance, and not a romantasy. If you are going into this thinking it is a romantasy then you will be disappointed. I loved how imaginative and refreshing this story felt. I didn’t read this book in one day, it took me about four days and I’m kind of glad I read it slowly. I was more immersed in the world and characters and the setting while I read it slow. I enjoyed this one a lot, especially that silly gargoyle Bartholomew! Also, I got the hardcover of this book with the sprayed edges and can I just mention how gorgeous this book is? I can’t wait to see what happens in the sequel!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Predatory Natures by. Amy Goldsmith | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Predatory Natures

Author: Amy Goldsmith

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 432

Publication Date: 7/8/25

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Categories: Young Adult, Thriller, Contemporary Fantasy, Horror

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Delacorte Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A teen girl’s dream job aboard a luxury train derails when she discovers the strange cargo being transported—a mysterious and beautiful greenhouse—but its flowering façade may hide deadly thorns beneath, in this atmospheric and lush novel from the author of Those We Drown.

Lara Williams is desperate to get away. When she gets a job working aboard the luxury train The Banebury for her gap year, she this is her chance to reinvent herself, after the incident that wrecked her relationships and her college prospects several months ago.

At first, the train is everything Lara expected—a five-star escape from her past, demanding customers and all. Even after she learns that her ex-friend, Rhys, who she definitely did not have feelings for before their relationship imploded, is one of her new coworkers, she’s determined to make things work.

But on the first night of their journey, the trip takes a strange turn when two mysterious carriages, filled with an array of beautiful and rare plants, are attached to the end of the train in the middle of the night. With them come a pair of siblings. Gwen and Gwydion are wealthy, Welsh, and alluring as they are odd–not to mention, incredibly protective of their botanical cargo.

The siblings claim the plants they’re transporting are for research, yet Lara can’t shake the feeling that there’s something…otherworldly about them. Something that calls to her, night after night, whispering in her dreams.

Soon, Lara will you can’t outrun your troubles. You have to grab them by their roots. And if she can’t dig up the secrets of the Banebury, they might just consume her whole…

Content Warning: plant horror, death, possessive relationship

+ I really like the setting of this luxury train on it’s way through Europe and Lara is working on the train meeting knew people and one person from her past, Rhys, is on the train also. They used to be close friends in high school until some things changed.

+ The setting of the train already lends a mystery to the story but then as more people leave and join the journey and Lara finds something in one of the cars – plants, she’s wondering what is going on. I liked the sense of suspicion around the people on the train and the different personalities Lara encounters. I found the plants fascinating and the Welsh mythology tied to it very interesting. As people start getting hurt and dying on the train, Lara and Rhys try to figure out what’s going on before it’s too late.

+ Lara has a history and there are flashbacks to it throughout the story because she’s on the train with Rhys who is a link to her past. Her story was a parallel to the mythology about the plants so I did like that. In those flashbacks, she’s dating a boy who changes her, molds her into what he wants her to be, is very possessive of her and we see how far Lara has come in her self journey.

~ The beginning was a bit slow because it’s setting the scene and we’re meeting all the workers and passengers on the train, but also because of the flashbacks. I didn’t mind it too much, but it did feel like the story moved slowly because of it. The flashback events do ramp up though and it coincides with what is happening on the train so I did like that.

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed the luxury train setting and the mysterious siblings and the plants! I also did like how Lara’s personal situation and growth was a parallel with the Welsh mythology about the goddess of flowers. I think for a young adult thriller, this was enjoyable and if you like trains and some Little Shop of Horrors vibe, you’ll enjoy this one.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Let’s Talk Bookish: Mid-Year Check-In | 6/27/25

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly bookish meme originally created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @ Book Nook Bits, where every Friday, bloggers write discussion posts based on a weekly prompt and Dini @ dinipandareads has cohosted since the beginning of 2025.

This week’s topic is:

June 27: Mid-Year Check-In

Prompts: Now that we’re halfway through the year, let’s check in! How has your reading year been so far? What reading/blogging achievements are you most proud of? Looking forward, is there anything you want to change up for the rest of the year?

**********

How has your reading year been so far?

I feel like I’ve read some really entertaining books this year so far. But I also feel like I’ve been reading way too much this year compared to last year.

What reading/blogging achievements are you most proud of?

I think I’m just proud that I’m keeping up with my netgalley arc list and on top of posting on my blog.

Looking forward, is there anything you want to change up for the rest of the year?

No, there isn’t anything I’m going to try and change for the rest of the year. I am finding making my monthly wrap up youtube videos kind of hard to keep up with. But maybe because I went on vacation this month and I’m trying to get back into the groove of things. I wish I was still on vacation!

June Topics:

~~June 2: Pride Month Book Recs!~~

Prompts: Happy Pride Month! To celebrate, we’d love to hear about your favourite LGBTQIA+ books, why you love them, and what books you’d recommend for a summer Pride reading list. Are there any new releases you’re looking forward to reading this Pride Month?

June 13: Traveling for Literature

Prompts: Many books are inspired by real-life settings. Have you ever visited places inspired by books you’ve read? What places are on your bucketlist? If you could visit any fictional setting come to life, where would you go?

June 20: All About Audiobooks (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)

Prompts: Do you like to read audiobooks? Where do you typically get audiobooks? Do you have any favorite narrators, or platforms for listening to them? Do you find it easy to access audiobooks, or can it be more challenging compared to ebooks and physical books?

June 27: Mid-Year Check-In

These Summer Storms by. Sarah MacLean | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️🌶️

Title: These Summer Storms

Author: Sarah MacLean

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 400

Publication Date: 7/8/25

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Categories: Adult, Contemporary, Women’s Fiction, Romance, Family Drama, LGBT+

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Ballantine Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean’s first foray into contemporary fiction, with a sharp, sexy novel about a wealthy New England family’s long-overdue reckoning with hidden desires, destructive secrets…and one week that threatens to tear them apart

Alice isn’t like the other Storm siblings. While the rest stayed to battle for their parents’ approval, attention, and untold billions, she left, building her own life beyond the family’s name and influence. Nothing could induce her to come back, except the shocking death of her larger-than-life father. Now back on the family’s private island off the Rhode Island coast, she plans to keep her head down, pay the last of her respects, and leave the minute the funeral is over.

Unfortunately, her father had other plans. The eccentric, manipulative patriarch left his widow and their grown children a final challenge–an inheritance game designed to humiliate, devastate, and unravel the Storm family in ways both petty and life-altering. The rules of the game are clear: stay on the island for one week, complete the tasks, receive the inheritance.

One week on Storm Island is an impossible task for Alice. Every corner of the sprawling old house is bursting dysfunctional chaos: Her older sister’s secret love affair. Her brother’s incessant mansplaining. Her sister-in-law’s unapologetic greed. Her younger sister’s obsession with “vibes”. Her mother’s penchant for stirring up competition between her children. And all under the stern, watchful gaze of Jack Dean, her father’s enigmatic, unfairly good-looking, second-in-command. It will be a miracle if Alice manages to escape the week unscathed.

A story about the transformative power of grief, love, and family, this luscious novel is at once deliciously clever and surprisingly tender, exploring past secrets, present truths, and futures forged in the wake of wild summer storms.

Content Warning: manipulative parents

+ I’ve only read Sarah MacLean historical romances so I was excited to read a contemporary story from her! This one is filled with rich family drama. Franklin Storm is the richest tech baron (think Steve Jobs or the other tech barons out there) but for all his ambition, and wealth, his family is not perfect and he was part of making it that way. Now that he is gone they have one week to play out his last game for them, with his fixer/enforcer, Jack, there to make sure they comply or not inherit anything. It was interesting to see how money motivated or influence the people in the Storm family and some on the outside of it.

+ This is mostly a family drama, with the romance not being a focus, but it definitely adds to it all. The main person we follow in this book is Alice. Alice is the daughter who walked away from the Storm family wealth but she was exiled for it. We get POVs from all the siblings but I thought Alice was compelling because she was brave and didn’t want to play her father’s games. I like how we get to know each sibling and how they saw their dad, and what their dad and mom took away from them. The sibling relationships are great – tense at first but the more they remember and spend time together, I thought it was fun to see them interact.

+ The romance takes place in a span of one week, so it’s a bit insta-lust, but I enjoyed it because they had tension and a good spicy scene. Jack is stern, a Storm employee, and Alice is carefree but also smart.

~ I kind of wish we got more closure with their mom, Elisabeth Storm, but also I think she stayed true to her character. She is who she is, I just wish (personally) she apologized to her kids but that’s just me.

Final Thoughts:

I have always loved Sarah MacLean books and I’m happy to say I’m glad she is writing contemporary romance because she doesn’t miss a beat! The characters are interesting, the family drama was messy, the romance has good tension and heat and it took me two days to read this book – I didn’t want to put it down.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Knockout by. Sarah MacLean | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Heartbreaker by. Sarah MacLean | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bombshell by. Sarah MacLean | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Daring and the Duke | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book Review: Brazen and the Beast ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I’ve read pretty much all her backlist (pre-when I started Goodreads lol)

You Between the Lines by. Katie Naymon | Audiobook Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: You Between the Lines

Author: Katie Naymon

Narrator: Sarah Beth Goer

Format: audiobook (borrowed)

Pages: 384 / Audio Reading Time (approx.): 10 hours

Publication Date: 2/17/25

Categories: Romance, Contemporary, Poets, Rivals to Lovers

A former sorority girl starts a prestigious poetry MFA program only to discover that one of her fellow grad students is her high school crush-turned-nemesis—who can’t stop writing about her.

No one’s more surprised than Leigh when a prestigious MFA program in North Carolina accepts her. A former sorority girl, Leigh’s the first to admit she knows more about the lyrics of Taylor Swift than T.S. Eliot, and she’s never been able to shake the “all-style-no-substance” feedback her high school crush made in their poetry workshop. Bad enough that her tattooed, New Yorker tote bag-carrying classmates have read all the right authors and been published in the country’s leading literary journals, Leigh’s insecurities become all too real when Will, that same high school crush-turned-nemesis, shows up at orientation as a first-year in the program, too. And now, he’s William, exactly the kind of writer Leigh hates, complete with his pretentious sweater vests and tattered Moleskine.

Leigh’s determined to prove herself—and William—wrong by landing the program’s highly-coveted fellowship. But Will’s dead-set on it, too, and in a small cohort, they can’t keep apart for long. When Will submits an intimate poem (that’s maybe, probably, definitely about Leigh) to workshop, they’re both forced to realize there’s more to the other than what’s on the page. And what’s between the lines may be even more interesting.

Content Warning: body image issues, anxiety, parents going through a divorce, mental health

+ Leigh is dealing with her parents’ divorce, and is in a MFA program because she wants to write poetry instead of go back to a corporate job. On top of that she’s dealing with body issues, anxiety and she’s judgmental towards other poets, especially towards male, white poets! She had a lot going on and so much to work through. There is a lot of mental health and therapy discussed in this story and I appreciate how she’s very real and imperfect.

+ Leigh has always crushed on Will so when they are in the MFA program together they finally get to spend more time with one another. Will is very closed off and not great at expressing his feelings. He and Leigh have a lot of challenges trying to express how they feel about one another. There is mistrust, there is fear of being intimate (emotionally), it was a lot of back and forth. They eventually work things out but it took a lot to get there.

+ I thought the secondary characters in the MFA program helped open Leigh’s world up. There were some fun characters, like Leigh’s best friend who kept things real with her.

~ Leigh is very judgmental to the point it was a bit irritating. We get it, she hates white male poets, a LOT. And wants to write poems about pop culture, mostly Taylor Swift. The group could have judged her but they didn’t, so I thought it sucked how she kept hating on poets who study classic poetry. Will calls her out on it eventually but yes, she’s imperfect which is very relatable and at least she was going to therapy.

~ Leigh writes poetry about pop culture, a lot about Taylor Swift so it you aren’t into books mentioning her name all the time, you might want to skip this.

~ Miscommunication is a big conflict in this story. She holds animosity against Will because of the way he critiqued Leigh’s work in high school – one critique! And he doesn’t even remember doing it when she confronts him at the end about it.

Final Thoughts:

I found the audiobook pretty easy to listen to and I was really into this story about people in an MFA program for poetry – I thought that was a unique story. What I didn’t love was Leigh who is imperfect (which is relatable, and I do like that about her) but so judgmental about other poets, it really turned me off to her. And to hold that grudge against Will over one critique – she was kind of exhausting as a character. They eventually work through relationship issues but it was a lot of back and forth.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

WWW Wednesday | 6/25/25

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

It’s been a chill week and I’m finally making headway into The Knight and the Moth! I probably would have been done with it if it was an ebook but with hardcovers I actually have to find daylight hours to sit and read it. But it’s summer and when I sit and read, my daughter likes to start talking to me 😅🥰. So many July releases are coming out soon and I think I have 6 July arcs to finish still! I had 19 arcs for July to finish. It was a little too much on top of the books I was borrowing from Libby and books I was buying. 🫠

What are you currently reading?

The Knight and the Moth by. Rachel Gillig – I’m at chapter 9! It’s good so far!

Wrath of Dragons by. Olivia Rose Darling (Fear the Flames, #2) – this is an arc and I’m 14% in. Haven’t made a dent in this one.

The Homemade God by. Rachel Joyce – 20% in – kind of not feeling this one but I’m pushing through

Tricks of Fortune by. Lina Chern – 17% in

Of Flame and Fury by. Mikayla Bridge – 25% – Phoenix racers – pretty cool!

Soul of Shadow by. Emma Noyes – 4%

What have you just finished reading?

Summer in the City by. Alex Aster – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

You Between the Lines by. Katie Naymon– ⭐️⭐️⭐️

House of Hearts by. Skyla Arndt – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Warrior Princess Assassin – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What are you going to read next?

This list hasn’t changed since I went on vacation! I will be getting to these soon!

A Theory of Dreaming by. Ava Reid

Heir of Storms by. Lauryn Hamilton Murray

The Bewitching by. Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Roots of Darkness by. Demi Winters

What are YOU reading right now?

New Book Releases This Week | 6/24/25

Happy book birthday to these new releases this week!

Embrace the Serpent by. Sunya Mara

In this sweeping romantic fantasy, a dangerous deal binds a young jeweler’s apprentice to the mysterious Serpent King in a marriage of convenience, thrusting her into a deadly game between the cunning, fearsome ruler and his rebellious huntsman. Perfect for fans of The Wrath & the Dawn and Once Upon a Broken Heart!

The Serpent King has come to find his bride, and with his arrival festivities sweep through the city. Inside and outside the Rose Palace await women from across the six kingdoms determined to become his new bride-to-be—all except for eighteen-year-old Saphira.

After escaping life as a palace ward under the cruel djinn Lady Incarnadine, Saphira now works as the apprentice to the unscrupulous jewelsmith Galen. Out of fear of being discovered, she hides her rare gift for harnessing the magic in gemstones and lets Galen take credit for her craft.

But when Galen makes a boast that ruffles the court, Lady Incarnadine punishes him with an impossible task—one that threatens to drag Saphira back into Incarnadine’s grasp. Desperate to avoid this fate, Saphira strikes a dangerous deal with Rane, the enigmatic huntsman sent by the Serpent King to find the best jewelsmith in the empire.

Rane promises that if Saphira crafts a mysterious piece for his master, the Serpent King will grant her a new identity and freedom. But when their plans go awry and the only way out is to marry the Serpent King, Saphira becomes entangled in the dangerous affairs of kingdoms and empires—caught between the cunning, handsome Rane and her cold, serpentine husband.

One Dark Kiss by. Rebecca Zanetti

Rebecca Zanetti explores the forbidden and the taboo in this modern dark romance twist on Snow White—the second in a captivating new series set in a seductive world of money, power, billionaires, and the dangerous desires that drive them.

Mirror, Mirror . . . Innocence or Sin. The reflection holds a darker truth.

ALEXEI
I’ve spent the last seven years in the hell of a maximum-security prison, every moment consumed by the need for revenge—revenge against the bastards who framed me, and revenge against the family who stole everything I owned. Now that I’m finally free, nothing will stand in my way. Not even her—my hot as sin new lawyer. Maybe she’s another weapon sent by my enemies to break me, or maybe she’s the key to my freedom. Either way, once she’s mine, I’m never letting her go.

ROSALIE
When I took this case, I thought I had it under control. But Alexei is no typical convicted killer—he’s a dangerously seductive force of nature. Perhaps it’s the lingering power from his days as heir to a global social media empire. Innocent or not, he’s dangerous in the worst and best ways.

I secure Alexei’s release as we prepare for a new trial, but he wastes no time turning against his traitorous relatives and plotting his return to power. Amidst the chaos, our explosive chemistry ignites, putting us—and everyone I care about—in the crosshairs of ruthless enemies. If we can’t stop them, Alexei plans to burn the whole world down. And if anything, he’s a man of his word . . .

Are you getting any new books this week?

Happy Reading!