The Summer of Second Chances by. K.L. Walther | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: The Summer of Second Chances

Author: K.L. Walther

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 400

Publication Date: 5/5/26

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Coming of Age

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

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

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Summer of Broken Rules comes another incredible summer romance about holding onto memories, making new ones, learning to let go, and unexpectedly falling in love.

Olivia Lupo feels stuck. All her friends have gone on to their first year of college while she’s still at home with her family. There’s a good reason though, her beloved grandmother, Annie, has dementia, and Olivia can’t bear the thought of being so far from home when Annie needs her the most.

So when her stepmother asks the family to spend three weeks of the summer on Martha’s Vineyard, Olivia plans to say no…until she discovers an old box Annie filled with photos and memories from her own time there. Olivia decides to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps and spend some time on the island that Annie describes as magical.

When she arrives, she meets Connor, a boy from her past who really wants to be a part of her present… and future. Olivia’s never thought about forever with someone until meeting Connor…and it scares her. How can she make plans when all she wants to do is keep close to her grandmother before she’s gone forever? As she recreates the memories Annie made a lifetime ago, she has to decide if she’s finally willing to give someone her heart, just when she needs it the most.

Content Warning: complicated families, grief, dementia

This is my third book from this author and I thought this was a really sweet young adult romance. Olivia Lupo is going through some things – she doesn’t know what to do now that high school is over, she’s on a gap year, spending time with her grandmother Annie who has dementia, and going on vacation with her family to her step-mom’s home.

Vacation in Martha’s Vineyard helps Olivia meet a lot of people, especially in her step-family’s side. There are some fun characters in this story, but there are a lot of them. So sometimes I didn’t know who was who – there are step family and neighbors but the whole community is quaint and wholesome. There are a lot of family themes in these book because Olivia feels out of place, but she also wants to belong. So she has some conflicting feelings about her step-mom. As for her grandma with dementia, she’s afraid to lose her because she’s already lost her mom, and grandpa. This fear of losing people makes her push people away. Also while at Martha’s Vineyard she does some digging into Annie’s past and finds out a few things.

The romance is really sweet because Connor is a good guy and a golden retriever energy kind of guy. He is a manny to the kids for this vacation, and he is so into Olivia. They met long ago at camp but she doesn’t remember him until he jogs her memory a little bit. But their summer vacation forces them to spend some time together and their romance was just right. She has to work with her commitment issues but I like that she’s given time to think about things.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I thought this was a cute romance that has summer vacation vibes, a mystery, and family themes. I think if you like this author’s other books, you will enjoy this one.

Read if you like:

summer beach read
sweet romance
coming of age YA stories

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From this Author:

We’re A Bad Idea, Right? by. K.L. Walther | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Summer of Broken Rules by. K.L. Walther | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Change of Plans by. Sarah Dessen | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Change of Plans

Author: Sarah Dessen

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 5/5/26

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Coming of Age

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

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Finley has always felt most comfortable in someone else’s shadow. Fortunately, she’s got Colin, her magnetic boyfriend, who sweeps her along for activities, friendships, and future plans. Then she goes on a last-minute trip with her distant mom to a family vacation house that Finley didn’t know existed and is now about to be sold.

Her mom was estranged from her own parents and siblings since leaving home for college, and it’s a novelty for Finley to see her aunts and cousins, and to meet the handful of teens who work at the Egg, her aunt’s diner, and make up a found family of their own—including undeniably handsome guitarist Ben.

Then her relationship with Colin goes into freefall, and Finley’s roadmap for life after high school is gone. She has no choice but to live, for the first time, without plans. The longer Finley stays, the closer she gets to the truth about why her mother stayed away—and why she’s brought Finley here now.

And the closer she grows to new friends at the Egg, the more she starts to fall for charmingly awkward, soulful Ben and to realize how much of herself she’s been missing. By the end of the summer, nothing will be the same—for this community or for Finley herself.

Content Warning: complicated family dynamics

I haven’t read a Sarah Dessen book in so long, and though I feel she still has it when crafting coming of age, young adult books, it took me a little while to get into this one. Is it because I’ve outgrown her books? I don’t think that’s the case, because I read a few young adult books during the year, so I can’t say I’ve outgrown the genre. I think there are so many characters in this story, that it was hard to get invested right away.

Finley’s life is pretty set – she and her boyfriend, Colin will attend the same University and things will be the same. Until things are not and plans change. Her parents are divorced and she was mostly raised by her father, and then he got remarried and had more kids, but Finley’s relationship with her bio mom, is almost non-existent and cold. When their summer plans change and her mom brings her back to where she grew up, Finley starts to see another side of her mom.

I feel like there was too much going on in this story – especially with her mom and her own drama with her sisters. It felt a bit all over the place. I did like seeing Finley making new friends, and getting to know her aunts. There is romance too with a guy in town named Ben, but it never feels like the main event. It truly is a coming of age story as we see Finley learn to accept change and that’s a really good lesson from this story.

Final Thoughts:

It took me awhile to get invested in the story, but things do pick up in the second half and I start to root for Finley and all the changes in her life. I do think there is too much going on and too many characters but overall, I thought the romance was cute and it was nice to see Finley get to know her mom and her side of the family.

Read if you like:

family drama
cute romance
coming of age YA stories

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From this Author:

Just Listen by. Sarah Dessen | Book Review (re-read) ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

**I’ve read all her books, just way before I had a blog or recorded them on Goodreads**

Us Dark Few by. Alexis Patton | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: Us Dark Few (Us Dark Few, #1)

Author: Alexis Patton

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 321

Publication Date: 5/5/26 (first published: 6/28/23)

Publisher: Bloom Books

Categories: Dystopian, Dark Romance, Series

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

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

Khalani is a Prisoner
Takeshi is a Guard
Both are slaves to the Underground

Khalani Kanes has never stood on the surface of the earth. In the underground city of Apollo, faith and dreams are as absent as the sun. She longed to visit Genesis, the infamous Domed City and the final place where humanity lives aboveground. But when Khalani is given a life sentence and thrown into prison for a theft she didn’t commit, those wishes shatter into oblivion.

In Braderhelm Prison, murderers are neighbors, ruthless and cold-blooded guards live to punish, and every second is a battle to survive. She thought the danger lay in befriending criminals and avoiding Takeshi Steele, the nefarious Captain who runs her cell block. But darker traps and secrets await her within the shadows of imprisonment. Khalani’s blood will coat the walls in flaming silk before her enemies let her escape to the surface, a feat no one has successfully achieved. If the reclusive and callous Takeshi Steele won’t kill Khalani, then the merciless prisoners and her fractured mind will.

Enter Braderhelm Prison, where only the Wicked remain.

Content Warning: violence, death, sexual assault

World Building: Apollo is a world built underground because of what happened to the Earth years ago. It’s where the poor people live and prisoners like Khalani. Whereas Genesis is a domed city on the surface where there is sunshine and the wealthy afford to live. Khalani is in prison so most of the story takes place there, I think we’ll learn more about the surface throughout the series. Another area that is mentioned is Hermes but we don’t get to know much about that place yet.

Characters: Khalani is an interesting character – she’s lost her parents, now she’s in prison but she doesn’t lose her sweetness in a sense, which made me wish she would toughen up faster so she doesn’t get hurt. She does learn to be harder, and a fighter, but she still doesn’t lose her humanity even with everything she experiences and sees in prison. Takeshi is her prison guard and a captain who is ruthless but he trains Khalani when she dares to ask him. There are some other characters, who make up Khalani’s new found family but would love to get to know them better.

Romance: It’s an enemies to lovers, prisoner/guard romance, and is filled with a lot of dramatic angst at the end. It feels a little young adult at times I think because Khalani comes off sweet and naive, but upper YA since there is a steamy scene but no real spice. But it goes from enemies to lovers to not sure until book two.

Story: Most of the story takes place in the prison where Khalani is adjusting to prison life, but she learns a little bit more about Apollo and Genesis, and even gets to go to Genesis and be around the Governor who seems friendly to Khalani but we aren’t sure why because he comes off evil also. But there is a twist at the end that I wasn’t expecting and sets up for book two.

Vibes: prison break, prison romance, a little bit of poetry (reminded me a tiny bit of Shatter Me)

Final Thoughts:

I think a lot of this story was predictable but it was a quick read. I liked the world building and learning about Apollo, Genesis and I hope we get to learn more about Hermes. The romance is enemies to lovers and for the most part I enjoyed it though it reminded me of some other dystopian romances. I did like the twist in the end and will probably continue the series.

Read if you like:

prison romance – prisoner/guard
prison break
dystopian

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Storm Breaker by. Nisha J. Tuli | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: Storm Breaker (Storm Breaker, #1)

Author: Nisha J. Tuli

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 416

Publication Date: 5/5/26

Publisher: Entangled: Mayhem Books

Categories: Upper Young Adult, Dystopian, Academy, Romance, Series

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

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

For nineteen-year-old Poet Graves, New Manhattan has always promised safety―if she obeys. Raised within the ruling Houses and betrothed to a powerful heir, she enters Amery Academy knowing her future has already been decided.

But Amery is nothing like she imagined. Its trials are brutal, its loyalties conditional, and its rules designed to expose weakness. As Poet struggles to survive, she must hide the truth that could get her executed: the storms don’t fear her―they answer back.

When a dangerous outsider from beyond the city walls enters the academy, Poet is drawn to him despite everything she’s been taught to believe. He threatens the life she’s been promised. And choosing him could cost her not just her future, but her freedom.

A gripping dystopian romance filled with forbidden power, ruthless challenges, and a heroine who refuses to burn quietly―perfect for fans of Divergent and The Hunger Games.

Content Warning: violence, death, cheating, domestic abuse, child abuse (physical)

+ I love Nisha J. Tuli’s romantasy books so when I saw she was coming you with a YA Dystopian story I was so grateful I got offered a copy of the arc! If you liked Divergent and Hunger Games, Storm Breaker will bring you back to when YA Dystopia was big. I would say this is more like Divergent than Hunger Games though.

+~ I really enjoyed the world-building in this story. It is set in New Manhattan, after the Warming Age led people to create a Society that brought order in their chaotic community. Society in New Manhattan is ruled by four prominent houses so there is some jockeying for power between these houses, especially between Faima and Aria (at least for now in book one). There is a Storm Keeper who can harness energy from the sky into generators. And a secret that Poet Graves is guarding. Some parts about academy life wasn’t new at all – there is drama, hook-ups, figuring out which house to pledge and doing trials. Poet is already engaged to someone and has a future of a Society wife after the academy but she wants more than that.

+~ Poet Graves, is our FMC, who on the outside has the perfect life being the Scion of Faima’s daughter but behind the walls of their home, there is domestic violence, there is abuse. It’s a scary situation for Poet and she makes decisions throughout this book because of the pressures from her father. So Poet is taking steps to be brave while she is at the academy but the consequences is losing her family and friends. I think Rook, who is a Solitude (someone from the Wastes) was the character I connected to most in the whole story. I do think some of the secondary characters needed a little more depth.

+ My favorite part was the romance between Poet and Rook, it starts off as enemies to lovers (because she only has her prejudices about Solitude and the Wastes) but it grows because they bond over the storms. There is a lot of steam in this one, and the one spicy scene isn’t super detailed. I love Rook because he’s the only one who stands up to Poet’s obnoxious fiancé, Knox. But Rook is a Solitude from the Waste so I think there is just so much more to learn about him, which I’m looking forward to in book two.

~ I don’t know if I went in with very high expectations but I feel like the first half was a bit slower because of the world-building. We get to know Poet, but some things fall apart way too easily in her world, like her relationship with her best friend, Trinity. Why did that break so easy when they seemed as close as sisters? I wanted to see more interactions between them but Trinity pretty much disappears until the end of the story. Or her other friends who was part of the group chat, they just kind of disappeared from her life too. So I would have liked to see more connections to people for Poet. Even her knew friendship with Domino doesn’t feel like much. Things just get way more interesting when she spends more time with Rook and that happens in the second half.

Final Thoughts:

I think this is a solid first book to a new series, where we get to learn about New Manhattan, the storms, the people that make up the Society and the political intrigue happening between the Houses. We also get to see Poet go through her first year in the academy and fight off the clutches of her father’s expectations. I loved the ending where things get a little crazy, but that ending definitely builds up what will take place in book two where this world opens up more, I’m sure. I enjoyed the world-building and romance a lot and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Read if you like:

dystopian stories like Divergent
upper YA romance
an FMC trying to forge her own path
cliffhanger ending

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Artefacts of Ouranos Series:

Trial of the Sun Queen by. Nisha J. Tuli | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rule of the Aurora King by. Nisha J. Tuli | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fate of the Sun King by. Nisha J. Tuli | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Nightfire Quartet Series:

Dance of Stars and Ashes by. Nisha J. Tuli | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Heart of Night and Fire by. Nisha J. Tuli | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Storm of Ink and Blood by. Nisha J. Tuli | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Queen of Shadows and Ruin by. Nisha J. Tuli | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Verdant Cage by. Jess Lourey | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: The Verdant Cage

Author: Jess Lourey

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 416

Publication Date: 4/7/26

Publisher: Entangled: Mayhem Books

Categories: Young Adult Dystopian, Romance, Thriller, Mystery, Series

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

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

The Wall was built to keep them safe. Or so they thought.

For as long as seventeen-year-old apothecary Rose Allgood can remember, the towering stone Wall surrounding Noah’s Valley has protected her people. No one leaves. No one fights. And no one questions why.

But their paradise has been hiding its thorns. When Rose’s mother becomes the Valley’s first murder victim and her twin brother is swiftly condemned, she alone is searching for the real killer. Determined to find the truth, she follows a trail of hidden messages, forbidden knowledge, and whispers of a past no one dares to remember.

The deeper she digs, the more certain Rose becomes that her mother’s death was no accident. That the Wall isn’t just keeping something out.

It’s keeping something in.

Fans of The Hunger Games, The Grace Year, and The Maze Runner will devour The Verdant Cage―a chilling dystopian thriller about what it takes to rebel when you discover your entire world is a lie.

Content Warning: violence, death, physical abuse

World Building: In this story there is a placed called Noah’s Valley surrounded by a wall – there are lots of rules, people have their duties, marriages are arranged, once a month – someone is harvested. The Guardian is their leader and he is not a good person and has some ulterior motive that is a mystery throughout the book until the end which is a very big plot twist.

Characters: Rose is our FMC – she’s about to marry the guardian’s son, Gryphon, who she was in love when she was younger but now they are not friends. Rose is a do-gooder, goody-two shoes, someone who abides by the rules because she was conditioned to by her family – to keep themselves safe. She’s a healer. But when she loses her family one by one she knows she has to start breaking rules to make a difference. I did like her growth because at first she is very naive. She becomes brave and fights for the people of their town. Gryphon had lots of animosity towards Rose, but he’s also being abused by his father. He’s also part of a small rebellion group and he does train Rose but I also didn’t trust him until the very end. There are other characters, new friendships for Rose, and some villainous characters in town that made things interesting.

Romance: Rose is arranged to marry Gryphon and they have a past, but are not friends at all in the present. Though I like an ex-friends to lovers romance, the romance in this story kind of came abruptly and felt kind of forced at times, because of the way Gryphon acts towards Rose. Would have loved for them to communicate a bit more. It wasn’t my favorite part of the story.

Story: There is a lot of mystery in this story – what happens to the people who get harvested? Where do they go beyond the wall? And why are people getting sick and dying from an unknown virus? A lot of things are revealed in the end with a very big plot twist that I didn’t see coming.

Vibes: while reading it – it gave me M. Night Shyamalan vibes – The Village! If you know, you know. It’s sort of creepy because you don’t know what’s behind the wall, and the town is strict.

Final Thoughts:

I thought this was a pretty good dystopian thriller especially with the ending! It was really interesting to see Rose and her friends live in this walled town, filled with mysterious illnesses and rumors of animals out there killing people when maybe the real killers are in the town with them. I feel like the ending sets up for a book two so if there is one, I’ll definitely be reading it.

Read if you like:

dystopian thriller
mystery
arranged marriage

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

A Merry Life by. Sarah Branson | Audiobook

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: A Merry Life (Pirates of New Earth, #1)

Author: Sarah Branson

Narrator(s): Helen Laser

Format: audiobook (audible)

Pages: 328 Listening Time: approximately 8 hours 13 min

Publication Date: 4/9/22

Publisher: Sarah Branson

Categories: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Dystopian, Series

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

Thank you to Sarah Branson for giving me a chance to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Kat Wallace is on a mission. After escaping tortuous enslavement, she sets her sights on ending the human trafficking that has flourished in 24th century Earth.

Adopted by the leader of the pirate nation of Bosch, Kat Wallace is determined to prove herself as a member of the Bosch Pirate Force and use her skills to avenge her enslavement and free other thralls.

But unexpected love and a test of loyalty threaten to rob her of what she wants a home.

Content Warning: mention of -grooming, sexual assault, rape, abuse; slavery, violence, death

I was asked to read and review this book and was gifted the audiobook on Audible. The narrator’s voice was great and really drew me into the story! I don’t usually read sci-fi/fantasy, and I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this one but I was interested in the FMC, Kat Wallace, right away. Just from the beginning chapters alone you know she’s a survivor and she’s going to have one amazing story – and I was right. The world building about this futuristic Earth is very fascinating.

Kat is a thrall, a slave, and she’s trying to escape when Teddy, the leader of the pirate nation of Bosch, saves her and takes her home. She basically becomes his adopted daughter and what a relationship they have from start to the emotional finish.

I was really invested in Kat’s life from being new in Bosch, getting to know Teddy’s family, becoming strong and knowledgable with the goal of taking down the man who owned her and assaulted her. With Teddy’s guidance, his family (her new family), new friends and even a new love life – Kat becomes an amazing woman. Though she doesn’t quite carry out her revenge, I think that’s why this is a series and hopefully I can get around to reading the other books to see what happens next.

Now there were some time jumps that felt kind of quick in the story. Like one day she’s a trainee and next she’s on a mission and it’s almost a year later and these time jumps were jarring. The romance in her life happens fast too – despite her having trauma in her past. Also…maybe this gets brought up more in the next books but Teddy’s operation of selling glitter (a drug), is concerning and Kat brings it up – it’s not okay and she wants to change that but later on seems to accept it as is – but I hope in the next books, she ends this glitter trade. Another thing I would have loved was more pirating in the story.

Final Thoughts:

If you like sci-fi, fantasy and dystopian stories, I think this would appeal to you. I loved the narrator and though it feels like the book just follows Kat’s very interesting life, it glosses over some things that I wish we had more time with like the romance, and the pirating. The world building is great and I didn’t expect the emotional ending. I’m hoping in the next books in the series, Kat gets her revenge though!

Read if you like:

sci-fi/dystopian
space pirates
strong FMC

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

I Could Give You the Moon by. Ann Liang | ALC Review | Audiobook

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️ (closed door)

Title: I Could Give You the Moon

Author: Ann Liang

Narrator(s): Natalie Naudus

Format: audiobook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352 Listening Time: Approximately hours

Publication Date: 4/14/26

Publisher: Harlequin Audio

Categories: Young Adult, Magical Realism, Romance, Suspense

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

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

New York Times bestselling author Ann Liang returns to the world of her acclaimed debut, If You Could See the Sun, as a picture-perfect influencer teams up with the bad boy after they share a vision of future.

Everyone loves Chanel Cao—except Ares Yin.

While Chanel has spent her entire life curating a picture-perfect social media personality—from her body to her hair to her camera-ready smile—Ares has spent his trying to hide in the shadows. But Ares’s brother is missing, and Chanel’s parents have secretly separated, and their only hope is each other.

Ares is willing to do whatever it takes to find his brother, and Chanel will do anything to keep her parents’ secret. When the two meet and share a vision of the future—where Ares’s brother appears, as Chanel’s house burns to the ground—they are determined to use each other. Ares believes Chanel is the key to finding his brother, but Chanel is convinced if she gets Ares to fall in love with her, she’ll save her family house—and her parents’ crumbling marriage.

But Ares isn’t interested in the fake personality that Chanel has used her entire life to get affection and adoration. If she’s going to save h

Content Warning: parent cheating, toxic family

+ I requested this one right away after reading If You Could See The Sun, and my goal is to read all the books from this author. I listened to this as an audiobook and so far I’ve listened to this author narrator three books in the span of two weeks and I love her voice! She does such a great job.

+ Chanel is from If You Could See The Sun, she is Alice’s friend – the one who is an influencer, very rich but her dad is caught cheating. She is materialistic, narcissistic, but a good person. Ares is the new boy who doesn’t give her the time of day and they both have a vision, with both of them in it. So Chanel is trying to change the vision because it involves her world burning down – literally. But Ares is so different from all the guys she’s ever known – he has a sense of danger around him, he always has some type of injury because he likes to fight and box. Ares is the best and he is really patient with Chanel’s life style. I loved learning about him.

+ Chanel doesn’t believe in love because of her parents’ marriage and Ares doesn’t come from a great family dynamic either so though they are opposites – they find some things in common, and they closer and closer as they learn more about one another. They both become a safe place for one another which I thought was so sweet. I enjoyed their romance!

+~ Henry does make a cameo in this book more so than Alice does. And though the magical realism worked for me in If You Could See the Sun – it doesn’t quite work for me here in I Could Give You the Moon. There is a vision and Chanel wants to prevent this vision from coming true – but half the time her goal is to become prom queen and have Ares ask her to prom. She thinks if Ares falls in love with her, then he won’t do what she say in the vision. I mean it’s kind of a plan because she’s so confident guys always fall for her but I didn’t believe she could pull it off. I am glad they connect over their toxic families and fall for one another without really meaning to.

Final Thoughts:

I loved the narrator – she did a great job as always. For the most part I enjoyed this story, especially the opposites attract romance, but I did like If You Could See the Sun just a little more because of the rivals to lovers romance. But I think if you like the first book, you will enjoy this one too.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

If You Could See the Sun by. Ann Liang | Audiobook ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by. Ann Liang | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This Time it’s Real by. Ann Liang | Audiobook Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Song to Drown Rivers by. Ann Liang | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Thorn Queen by. Sasha Peyton Smith | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: The Thorn Queen (The Rose Bargain, #2)

Author: Sasha Peyton Smith

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 4/14/26

Publisher: HarperCollins

Categories: Young Adult, Romantasy, Series

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

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

Wed to one brother.
In love with the other.

Bridgerton, The Selection, and The Cruel Prince collide in this Victorian-inspired romantasy; the sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller The Rose Bargain.

Having won the hand of the faerie King Bram, Ivy is now Queen of England.

But with his ascension to the throne, Bram unleashed the fae into the human world. After hundreds of years of being kept from their favorite playthings, the Others are looking to make up for lost time—and they do, with wicked revelry that sweeps through the country.

To survive, Ivy acts the sweet, devoted wife. Behind the smile, she plots to banish her husband, save her sister Lydia, and reunite with the love of her life, Emmett.

Yet Emmet and Lydia are trapped in the Otherworld, where fae games are deadlier than ever—and a queen must play most viciously of all. Or see herself dethroned.

Forbidden romance, deceptive bargains, and lethal court intrigue intertwine in this mesmerizing, fae romantasy sequel that will captivate fans of Once Upon a Broken Heart and Belladonna.

Content Warning: violence, death, cheating

+ I enjoyed the first book in this series, The Rose Bargain, and I was definitely intrigue by the plot twist at the end. So The Thorn Queen takes place right after book one and I admit, I had to find my footing in the series because I had forgotten some things that happened in book one. It took my until 20% into the book to really find my place in it but once I did, I was hooked on the story – mostly because the messiness of it all.

+~ Ivy is now Bram’s wife, though she wishes she was Emmett’s. But Emmett and her sister Lydia are now in the Otherworld, while she is running England with Bram. So the first few chapters of this book made me feel like nothing was happening except Bram always reveling and being a creep to Ivy. And Ivy is pining for Emmett and missing her sister badly. Things get interesting when she finds a way to the Otherworld. But things are messy there – Lydia is Queen, and Emmett is now her best friend which hurts Ivy. I was bothered by it also because it made it seem like Lydia and Emmett might have something going on. But I was wrong, it’s just very messy and dramatic between Ivy, Lydia, Emmett and Bram!

+~ Because the relationships are messy, there is a lot to fix. Lydia thinks she loves Bram, even when he is cruel and I was just hoping she could find her way out of it. But the main love story is between Ivy and Emmett, which is quite messy. I mean, Ivy is married to his brother! I thought it was a bit too messy but I did love how they worked things out and Emmett’s confession of love is swoon worthy. Poor Emmett, the things he went through and choices he had to make while they were apart – I don’t blame him. I also don’t blame Ivy for her jealousy but the main thing is they have a happy ending, and they do.

~ The girls from the Bridal competition in book one do make some appearances in this book but not as much.

~ I think Lydia needed more time to shine in this book especially because she’s the Queen of the Otherworld and we barely know about this place and the magic. Though the magic is used at the end of this book. I know that they like to party a lot, revel, as they say because it’s the land of Faerie, but I just wanted more. Some parts of the story feels like fever dream. Also, I like how the sister relationship between Ivy and Lydia is explored because it felt realistic but I wanted more of them being together to see more of a bond.

Final Thoughts:

I wasn’t feeling this one at first but once I realized this one is all about the relationship drama between Lydia, Bram, Ivy and Emmett, I kind of enjoyed it even though it is messy. I liked the political intrigue, but would have loved to learn more about the magic in the Otherworld. But I mostly loved how Emmett and Ivy worked through their relationship and get their happy ending.

Read if you like:

messy relationships and drama
Faerie
yearning

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

The Rose Bargain by. Sasha Peyton Smith | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Your Soulmail is Attached by. Joan F. Smith | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: closed door

Title: Your Soulmail is Attached

Author: Joan F. Smith

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 339

Publication Date: 4/14/26

Publisher: MIRA

Categories: Women’s Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Speculative Fiction

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

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

What if everyone in the world found out who their soulmates are at the same time?

Olivia Adler’s life is a behind-the-scenes job she loves in a bustling newsroom, an engagement to golden-boy Wells, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to create the documentary she’s always wanted to make.

Then one sleepless night, everything unravels.
One message on Wells’s phone shatters her engagement.
A second message—an anonymous global email quickly dubbed Soulmail—shakes the world.

Delivered to every individual’s inbox, Soulmail reveals the name and birthdate of your soulmate. Suddenly, love as we know it is rewritten overnight…and Olivia accidentally becomes the face of it all when she reports on the story live and goes viral.

With millions watching her every move, Olivia resolutely refuses to open her Soulmail. She’s not ready for fate to make her choices—especially not now. But when she crosses paths with her childhood best friend—the boy she loved and lost—everything she thought she knew about destiny, timing, and love comes into question.

Is true love written in the stars…or something we choose for ourselves?

Content Warning: cheating

World Building: Set in present day and an email was sent out to everyone telling them who their soulmate is. Olivia is someone who works for a news station but usually behind the scenes until the night the emails went public and they needed an emergency news anchor. This news has caused chaos in the streets, people are happy, sad, angry, breaking up, getting together and Olivia who is just going through a break up herself, decides not to look at her email. Throughout the story, Olivia does some investigative reports to find out, are these soulmails real? Are their predictions real?

Character: Olivia is someone who’s had to work through life to get where she is, and this opportunity propels her into fame she didn’t know she wanted. She’s also dealing with the break-up with her fiance and trying to deal with the fall-out of that. I like Olivia but there were so many moments where I thought she could have come clean to people about her break-up, but because of her new status at her job, she’s afraid to cause any drama. I did love her relationship with her best-friend Natalie. And someone from her past comes back into her life, Caleb, her childhood ex-best friend – they had a falling in high school when he leaves for college. It was nice to see them rekindle their friendship and see it maybe grow into something so much more.

Romance: The romance is a second chance romance with her ex-childhood friend but I didn’t feel like it was the main focus of this story. I thought the question about soul mates and if you want to know who your soulmate was, made Olivia and Caleb question a lot of things about their feelings. But I liked how things unfolded for them.

Story: Would you like to know who your soulmate is – if you could? What I like about the soulmate discussion in this story is that not everyone had a romantic soulmate. I love that it could very important people in your life like your mom, best friend, or even a future child. So even though we follow Olivia’s romance story, there are tons of people out there who Olivia come in contact with that have non-romantic soulmates. A lot of the story is also about her career path, and though the beginning started off strong, I thought there was some spots in the story that was slow. But I think it finishes off strong.

Vibes: Definitely more speculative fiction than romance.

Final Thoughts:

I was really intrigued with the concept of this story and I thought the author did a great job showing scenarios of what could happen if an event like this actually took place. And the story brings up so many questions like would you open the email to know who your soulmate is? I did wish there was more romance because I’m a romance reader, but that’s not what this story is about. There were some parts I did find slow but overall, I still enjoyed seeing Olivia and people around her navigate this historic event.

Read if you like:

second chance romance
speculative fiction

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Japanese Gothic by. Kylie Lee Baker | ALC and ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Japanese Gothic

Author: Kylie Lee Baker

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Narrator(s): Natalie Naudus

Publication Date: 4/14/26

Publisher: Harlequin Audio

Categories: Horror, Gothic, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

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

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

October, 2026: Lee Turner doesn’t remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge—his father’s new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn’t always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls.

October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father’s face, but Sen would do anything to please him, even turn her sword on her own mother. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window.

One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie.

Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it.

Content Warning: abuse, torture, gore, murder, self harm, drug use

World Building: This story follows two characters: Lee in 2026 and Sen in 1877, both live in Japan in the same house. Lee’s account of his life almost feels like a fever dream, almost like it’s hard to believe his story and what is happening. He moves in with his dad and his girlfriend in Japan, in a old house. Whereas Sen’s life is very interesting, her dad is a samurai and she does everything to prove to him that she can be a Samurai too. I thought the Samurai culture portrayed in this story was very fascinating. The stories merge together, which I thought was interesting.

Characters: Lee is strange, and he really believes he has murdered his college roommate back in the US, but he can’t remember how, or why he killed him. He has missing memories, but he also takes a lot of Benadryl to sedate himself. What’s evident as the story goes on is Lee is grieving his mom, missing his mom, wanting to know where she disappeared to. He has memories of his mom, and the day she went missing, but it’s all very confusing. Sen on the other hand is so strong. She wants her dad’s approval so bad though and he abuses her, it’s part of her training but I hated him. I don’t care if it was part of the Samurai training, he was a hard man and all she wanted was his love.

Story: I feel like the beginning of this story was slow, and I only started to really get into it at the 35% mark. I get it’s slow because it’s setting the scene and building the story, but Lee felt like an unreliable narrator and I couldn’t quite piece together his grief for his mom, and the murder he thinks he committed and then what role Sen has in his life. But there is a big twist at the end of this story that explained everything but kind of made me even more confused. Although I was confused, with some of things going on in this book I do have to give credit to this author for always pushing the boundaries of her writing – this story is quite unique and the ending, unexpected.

Narrator(s): The narrator did a wonderful job in drawing me into the story and did a fantastic job doing all the character voices.

Vibes: There is horror, it’s bloody. I thought we were following the life of a young man gone mad and having a taste for killing but Sen’s story is what drew me in. So though there is horror, lots of mystery, a bit of a fever dream on Lee’s part and even a little bit of mythology.

Final Thoughts:

I love how this author always pushes herself to write in different genres. She’s a must read author for me. Bat Eater was one of my favorite horror books to read in 2025 but she also wrote a young adult at the end of 2025 which featured traveling through time. So I feel like Japanese Gothic is kind of a really cool and clever mix of both horror and time travel but also mixed in with mythology. I did get confused because it’s so hard to believe Lee since his memories are missing or he’s sedated – but I loved Sen’s story though it was hard to see her go through samurai training at her father’s hand. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was great, but it did start off a bit slow. Overall, I think if you like horror and unreliable narrators, you will enjoy this one.