The Wolf and the Crown of Blood by. Elizabeth May | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Title: The Wolf and the Crown of Blood (The Broken Accords, #1)

Author: Elizabeth May

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 560

Publication Date: 1/27/26

Publisher: Aria

Categories: Dark Fantasy, Dark Romance, Romantasy

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

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

A thrilling and incredibly sexy new dark romantasy series from Sunday Times bestselling author Elizabeth May.

A princess and a war-weary god met in the ashes of a broken city, forging a pact in blood and sacrifice.

Now, centuries of fragile peace are on the brink of collapse…

Bryony Devaliant was born to die — again and again. In Vartena, royal blood is the currency of peace, with every monarch sacrificed and resurrected to appease the gods. But when rebellion stirs, the god-king sends his deadliest weapon to restore order: an immortal assassin known only as the Wolf.

Evander has perfected the art of killing over centuries — until his latest target becomes the one person he cannot destroy. When forbidden desire burns between the assassin and the sacrificial princess, their connection threatens the fragile boundary between gods and mortals. And when that boundary shatters, empires crumble. Because when gods fall in love with mortals, mortals are always the ones to break.

Content Warning: violence, knife-play, death, torture, gore, trauma

+ I went into this one without really reading the synopsis and once I started reading, I was hooked. Now the prologue had me worried that I was going to read another romantasy, with all the same tropes – and sure that is clearly all there – but the love story in this one gripped me and didn’t let go.

+ The world building is interesting – mortals and Eternals have been at war for ages, until a mortal, a Devaliant and, Alexios (an Eternal), make a pact to end all the killing. The accords require a Devaliant to give a blood tithing to Alexios to keep the Shroud (veil between god and human realms) intact. So Devaliant heirs bleed on the altar and try not to go mad, but now something else is at play – the humans have a black market selling immortal flesh and consuming them to gain a little bit of power. And the Eternals are mad as hell and trying to figure out who is in charge of this operation. But this world is violent and I liked that it was. The Eternals are ruthless!

+ There is a bunch of characters in this story but it’s told mostly in Evander (Wolf) and Bryony’s (Devaliant) POV. There sometimes a break in that and we get Alexios POV but very rarely. I loved Bryony! She’s a sacrifice, she bleeds when the tithing is due and she’s been used, hurt, killed, repaired again, since the age of five. Her parents are gone, so she and her older sister, Theodora, have their uncle as their guardian but he’s doing a bad job of running things. The people love Bryony, so much so, that Alexios gets mad when they start to worship her and not him, and the tithings from the people get less and less. Bryony’s story is one of survival and I loved seeing her grow! I love seeing her strength and bravery. Evander has had his own trauma – his family and friends have been gutted by the mortals and in that grief and rage has turned into a killing machine. He is morally black, but when he meets Bryony, things change, even though he doesn’t want to admit it.

+ I loved the secondary characters and hope all of the eternals we met in this book get their own book! I love Theodora and really loved her bond with Bryony. And Amara, love her too! All the Eternals have a story that needs to be told. I kind of hate Alexios but I see why he’s so deranged, will be nice to see how he opens up.

+ The romance…it’s dark and it’s spicy! It’s the kind of enemies to lovers romance I’ve been craving. It’s very villain gets the girl, and touch her and die…like no, he is ready to burn the world down for her. But because they both have such trauma, and his hate for her family is deep – I really wanted to see how she was going to get beyond his hate and grief. I love that she stood her ground on some things with him. And I like that the romance didn’t happen right away, yes he’s contracted to kill her, but he reaches a deal with her that allows her to grow and train enough to take down who hurt her, and then he would step in and end her. Also, the spice? Yikes! It starts slow, and he doesn’t force her but once they give in, it’s a blazing inferno. There is some knife play, even some M/M kissing, a lot of times it’s rough play, but I felt like this couple’s bedroom play complimented them as a couple. It’s totally who they are and wouldn’t expect anything else!

+~ There is a whole trigger list for this book because there is a lot of trauma going on in this story. This is a dark story, with dark themes. There is a lot of death and killing on both sides, there is so much violence, but I think that’s why I like Bryony’s journey so much. She was put on an altar to bleed, she had no choices, no bodily autonomy, and knew this would be for her whole life…and yet she fought and got her power back. It’s why I loved the book so much, outside of the romance…it’s Bryony’s personal journey that is relatable.

~ I think the only thing that made me wonder what type of world the mortals were in is the language. It’s a bit modern, sometimes too modern, when they say things like “catch feelings”. But for the most part, I thought the modern speech was okay, though I know there will be some who won’t like it. They ride in carriages but I think Bryony mentions a train also so I feel like it’s giving a sort of industrial age kind of world.

Final Thoughts:

I couldn’t put this one down, I loved it and I cannot wait for book two – I’m hoping it’s Theodora’s story!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

The Falconer by. Elizabeth May ⭐️⭐️⭐️ – apparently I read this back in 2013?! Wow…

Silk & Iron by. Alexis Calder | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Silk & Iron (#1)

Author: Alexis Calder

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 385

Publication Date: 1/20/26

Publisher: Alexis Calder

Categories: Romantasy, Fantasy, Romance, Indie Author

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 Alexis Calder for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The emperor. The prince. The enforcer.
I want them all dead. Until I fall for one of them.

After losing all my family to the rebellion, I lost hope. When my ex-boyfriend begs me to pose as the prince’s betrothed, I know it’s an opportunity the rebellion won’t ever get again.

I’m sent with the goal of finding out how to kill an immortal emperor, but I don’t want to wait on someone else to get my revenge. I want the emperor, the prince, and the enforcer all dead.

But the palace is full of secrets. And I’m not the only one playing a game of life and death; lies and betrayals. The closer I get to my goal, the closer I get to one of the men I vowed to kill.

And I’m not sure I can bring myself to harm him. But there’s nothing stopping him from killing me as soon as he finds out who I really am.

I’m playing with fire and I want this whole empire to burn.

But nothing is as it seems.

Just when I think I have nothing left to lose, I find out how much I have to live for.

And when faced with losing the only hope I have left, I must decide how far I’m willing to go to watch this empire burn.

Silk & Iron is a slow burn, spicy enemies-to-lovers romantasy full of court intrigue, betrayal, and deception. Mind the cliff.

Content Warning: violence, death, mentions of sexual assault, torture

+~ Sabina is undercover as a princess and is supposed to be marrying Caiden, the Prince of Pendralia, but what she is really there to do is kill his dad, the emperor because they killed her family. There is court intrigue, but not as much as I was expecting. There are a lot of scenes of Sabina getting close to her ladies-in-waiting, which was fun. But I just wanted more danger.

+~ The world building is the usual for a romantasy: warring kingdoms, princess used for an alliance, secret identity of the princess, a rebellion trying to kill the emperor, magic that keeps him alive. But only certain people have magic in this world. I wanted more from the world building. As for the characters, I just felt like none of them stood out, I wanted more depth. Also, there is magic but we learn a little more about it near the end.

+~ There is a slow burn, forbidden romance between Sabina and Brevan, her guard/enforcer and who is Caiden’s right hand man. And when I say slow, it is slow, and I didn’t even feel the chemistry between them. There are two spicy scenes but because I didn’t even feel their connection, I wasn’t really invested in them.

+ The ending has a wild twist and probably was the most interesting part of the book because it was unexpected.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I thought this was an okay read. I wanted more depth to the characters, more chemistry in the romance and more world building. But if you are someone who doesn’t like heavy world-building in romantasy and wants something easy to read through, definitely try this one. The ending was very unexpected so I might read the next book.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Author Website

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Kingdom of Blood and Salt by. Alexis Calder | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Night Terror by. Vincent Ralph | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: Night Terror (Bleak Haven, #2)

Author: Vincent Ralph

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 240

Publication Date: 1/20/26

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, 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 Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Who the hell holds up a bookstore? That’s what Noah asks when his favorite spot is suddenly targeted by masked attackers.

But these people don’t want a ransom. They are searching for Bleak Haven’s very own urban legend – The Burning Book.

When something with a thirst for flesh creeps from its pages, Noah must team up with the other hostages and try to escape the mall without turning their town into a bloodbath.

Content Warning: death, violence

I thought this book had much more action than book one, Dead Fake. I enjoyed that it was fast paced and had a zombie coming after a bunch of kids in a mall!

I still think I’m not the right audience for this series because I’m older and yes, it reminds me of R.L. Stine Goosebumps, but again, I have just grown out of it.

But I think teens would enjoy this series.

Final Thoughts:

I think teens and younger young adults who like YA Suspense/Horror would really enjoy this.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Dead Fake by. Vincent Ralph ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dead Fake by. Vincent Ralph | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating:

Title: Dead Fake (Bleak Haven, #1)

Author: Vincent Ralph

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 256

Publication Date: 1/20/26

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, 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 Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Would you Swipe to Die?

When the new craze takes over Bleak Haven High, Ava Wilson refuses to join in. As the niece of an infamous murderer, it’s the last thing she needs.

The mysterious website allows people to view their own ‘death’ – an AI generated version of their final slasher-movie-moments. But, when some of her classmates’ deepfakes are replicated in real life, Ava can either catch the killer…or be the next victim.

Content Warning: death, murder

There’s been a trend at school called Swipe or Die, where there are AI produced videos of how someone will die. It’s been called a deep fake when someone finally does actually die, someone close to Ava. Ava is the niece of a murderer so she’s had an interesting life and family – and this cuts close to home.

I think teens and younger young adults will like this one. It has teenage friendship drama. There is mystery, suspense, horror, and a surprising twist.

For me it was an okay read but I kind of lost interest in the middle, only because I think I’m not the target audience. I think I would have enjoyed this when I was a teen though! I was always reading R.L. Stine in my younger years.

Final Thoughts:

I think teens and younger young adults who like YA Suspense/Horror would really enjoy this. I will be reading book two since I was gifted an arc so I look forward to reading that one.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Night Ship by. Alex Woodroe | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating:

Title: The Night Ship

Author: Alex Woodroe

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 224

Publication Date: 1/20/26

Publisher: Flame Tree Press

Categories: Horror, Thriller, Apocalyptic

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

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

An apocalyptic world turned into a pitch-black sea of nothingness, but smuggler Rosi and her crew of survivors aren’t alone. Something hungry lurks below…

Driving a logging truck through the Romanian mountains, smuggler Rosi and her crew come across a radio signal that hints at impending doom. As the world goes completely dark, their truck becomes a vessel sailing across a sea of nothingness.

But they’re not transmissions trickle in through the radio from similar isolated islands across the country, from amateur radio hobbyists and police cars and customs facilities.

Attempting to rescue survivors and find a way out, the group save more lives, but soon discover that something hungry lurks below, and it’s sending up agents – and transmissions – of its own.

Content Warning: death

I was asked to read and review this book and I took a chance on it even though it’s out of my comfort zone. I do read dystopia but not so much ones like this one.

It’s the end of the world, Rosi is with a few people and they are in a truck getting transmission radio signals and hearing people all over talk about being alone, that this is the end and they just want people to know they are out there.

How is the world ending? I’m not sure – something with vines? I was confused most of the time. They were running from something, but even they didn’t know what it was. I felt like this world-building was very vague. But I did feel the tension from beginning to the end of the story.

It’s also a short story, way under 300 pages, but I just felt like there wasn’t much there for me to feel invested in the characters or what was happening since I was confused. I did get that this took place in Eastern Europe, and I got a hit of some politics in the story, but again, not enough that I knew anything concrete.

Final Thoughts:

I think this was a well-written story but not something the kinds of stories I usually read, so I felt it was an okay read for me. But if you like apocalyptic stories, where you don’t get the answers right away – you might like this one.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

King of Ravens by. Clare Sager | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: King of Ravens (Upon a Broken Throne, #1)

Author: Clare Sager

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 480

Publication Date: 1/27/26

Publisher: Forever

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Series, Hades/Persephone Retelling

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!

He’ll do anything to keep her. She’d do anything to escape.

Rhiannon is dying—of what, she doesn’t know. Kept protected by her family in their remote seaside cottage, she spends her days searching for a cure. Her world is torn apart, however, when a fae King of the Dead invades her home.

Cold and cruel, Drystan offers her a choice: descend to the underworld as his bride or watch her family die. Trapped in a twisted bargain, Rhiannon is thrust into a world of withered gods, scheming courtiers, and ancient magic, but she refuses to be a pawn in a game she never agreed to play. She attempts over and over to run away, until Drystan offers her a new bargain: escape his deadly labyrinth, and he will set her free. Fail, and become his bride.

But in a court where every promise has teeth, Annon must make an impossible choice: return to the home she’s always loved or claim her place in a world where she might finally belong.

Content Warning: violence

I always enjoy a Hades/Persephone retelling and I definitely saw elements of it in King of Ravens. This is book one in a series that I assume will be exploring the Underworld. Annon/Rhiannon, is a chronically ill woman in her early thirties who is given to Drystan, an Unseelie Fae and King of Death, as his bride. He doesn’t know that she is ill, but that doesn’t matter because Rhiannon is determined to find her way back home.

Rhiannon is human, which doesn’t go well with the Unseelie, but she holds her own at Drystan’s court. She even makes a friend with her maid, Min. I feel like the beginning of this story where Rhiannon is acclimating to Drystan’s world moved slowly. But I appreciated the chronic-illness representation. I wanted more court politics.

Drystan offers Rhiannon her an option: find a way out of his labyrinth and she gets to go home to the surface. If she loses, she belongs with Drystan in the Underworld forever. She has two weeks to do this and there is danger in the labyrinth but also she befriends a creature called The Collector. Speaking of Labyrinth – there were times in the book that it reminded me of the movie!

The romance is a slow burn with tension growing between them. And when it really takes off, the spice is spicy. I did like it when Drystan and Rhiannon spent more time together as they build an emotional connection.

There are a few twists at the end, one I suspected, the other I felt came out of nowhere but it did feel a bit rushed. We barely get to know anything outside of Drystan’s land, so the ending was kind of a surprise.

Final Thoughts:

I wasn’t feeling this story in the first half of the book because I felt like it moved too slow and wasn’t giving me enough information. Rhiannon gets taken to the Underworld and isn’t really given instruction from Drystan on what to do or what he expects of her, so thank goodness for Min. We don’t get to know Drystan much either. But I think everything picks up in the middle, with the labyrinth, and the romance and spice. I do feel like I just wanted more from the story though, hopefully book two will have more depth.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Oxford Blood by. Rachael Davis-Featherstone | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating:

Title: Oxford Blood

Author:Rachael Davis Feathersone

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 1/13/26

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Dark Academia

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

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

Love, Lies, Legacy…High-achieving state-school pupil Eva has one dream – reading English at Oxford. If she gets in, not only will she receive a world-class education at an elite university, but she will be fulfilling the dreams of her mother and gain some independence from her father, the overprotective Inspector Dawkins.

At the same school, Eva’s best-friend George is also hoping to go to Oxford. The attraction between him and Eva is undeniable, but they’ve agreed to put any romance on hold until their places at Oxford are secured. Eva cannot be distracted from her goal – although when they are both invited for interview week, their future together feels oh-so close.

Until George shows up dead.

The police rule his death an accident, but the behaviour of some of the other interview candidates has Eva suspecting foul play. When a shocking secret about George is revealed, Eva finds suspicion falling on her. What was meant to be one of the most important weeks of her life is fast turning into a nightmare.

All eyes are now on Eva, including the anonymous posters behind OxSlay, a gossipy social media forum exclusively for Oxford students. But amongst the conspiracy theories, lurk hidden clues. Could they help Eva clear her name – and catch the killer?

Content Warning: bullying, death, grief, murder

Set at Oxford this story has a murder mystery, secrets about bloodlines and a very determined FMC in Eva. Eva has a chance to get into Oxford but she needs to go through the daunting process of interviewing. There are a few kids who are there with her, along with her boyfriend, George, but the spots are coveted and very limited.

As the story goes on we learn more about secret societies, classism, racism, colorism, and sexism that takes place at this prestigious learning institution. Also, someone is killing people, and trying to frame Eva for it. But with her infamous detective father, and her new found friends, the clock is ticking to found out who is committing these murders.

I don’t think I was the right audience for this book even though I did enjoy the murder mystery. I do think young adults and teens would like this one though. But everything happens really fast, and I didn’t see how Eva could just jump right in trying to investigate these murders, one of them being someone close to her, plus try to focus on her interview without processing anything. I think things just happened way too fast that it didn’t feel believable. Also, because it’s happening so fast, she’s so stubborn in thinking she knows all the answers, even defying her dad’s advice. I wanted her to stop and breathe a little!

Final Thoughts:

I liked the setting of Oxford and learning so much about students trying to get into a place like that. There was great discussion about racism, and colorism, which is important for any reader. Also the murder mystery did move along quickly. This one was a quick read, and teens and young adults will probably enjoy it more than I did (the older adult).

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Graceless Heart by. Isabel Ibañez | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: Graceless Heart

Author: Isabel Ibañez

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 488

Publication Date: 1/13/26

Publisher: Saturday Books

Categories: Historical Fantasy, 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 Saturday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

LOVE IS THE MOST DANGEROUS MAGIC.

As a sculptress, Ravenna Maffei has always shaped beauty from stone but she has a terrible secret. Desperate to save her brother, she enters a competition hosted by Florence’s most feared immortal family, revealing a dark power in a city where magic is forbidden.

Now a captive in the cutthroat city of Florence, Ravenna is forced into a dangerous task where failure meets certain death at the hands of Saturnino dei Luni, the immortal family’s mesmerizing but merciless heir. But as he draws her closer, Ravenna realizes the true threat lies beyond Florence’s walls.

The Pope’s war against magic is closing in, and Ravenna is no longer just a prisoner but a prize to be claimed. As trusting the wrong person becomes lethal, Ravenna must survive the treacherous line between a pope’s obsession and the seductive immortal who might be the end of her ― or surrender her power to a city on the brink of war.

Content Warning: misogyny, violence, death, religious trauma

Set in 15th century Italy, during the Renaissance, this story took me on a journey to the past but with magic involved. I loved the setting of Florence, during a time when the Medici ruled the city, while the Pope was ruling the country from Rome. I was immersed in the food, clothing, culture, architecture and really felt transported back in time. This is told in 3rd person but with multiple POVs.

Ravenna is a sculptress, but she has a secret magic. It’s her skill as a sculptress and her connection to Nightflame magic that she wins a contest, and is taken from her family, to retrieve Nightflame stones from 5 slabs of rock to help the immortal Luni family. One family member, Saturnino, their assassin, is keeping an eye on her, and she feelings things for her enemy that she shouldn’t she can’t help it.

With the Medici family and others involved against the Pope, there is a lot of political intrigue and Ravenna is caught between both and tries to play both sides. As for Ravenna, I loved her strong character, but she is human and embodies a lot of the qualities to Saturnino’s irritation. She’s compassionate, she where’s her heart on her sleeve, and makes some crazy decisions. There were times I wanted her to be sharper, more cold, but that’s not Ravenna. I will say sometimes she acted younger than I expected but I know this is adult fiction, so I was surprised at how she acted at times.

There is magic, story of witches, a wizard and even a vampire. Ravenna is raised in the Catholic church so she is torn apart with guilt about her magic. She knows the fight for power on either sides leaves many victims, but now she is caught in the middle as well. I liked how the story questioned what people would do to survive, and if what they did was forgivable to an extent. Each character

Ravenna is the fire to Saturnino’s ice. Saturnino has lived for a long time now, and Ravenna finally melts his cold heart. I thought their romance was filled with a lot of tension, but it’s clear Ravenna has no defenses against him. She’s too honest and he tries to take advantage of that until he realizes he doesn’t want to hurt her anymore. There’s some spice, but just enough. I was definitely rooting for their love.

I felt like the story was very strong in the beginning, I couldn’t put it down, but sometime near the middle, it started to slow down – I think because Ravenna kept getting twisted into another problem with no fix in sight and then the fix came in a rush at the end.

Final Thoughts:

Beautifully written, this story transported me back in time and I loved everything about the setting and time period. I loved the tension between Ravenna and Saturnino. The politics were intriguing, and even though Ravenna had a soft heart that got her into trouble a lot, it showed her human side – something that was missing in Saturnino but what he was clearly drawn to. Ravenna was a caught in such a web of secrets and betrayal it helped the story move quickly. I do think the ending felt a little rushed but overall I thought this was magical story and really enjoyed it!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

What the River Knows by. Isabel Ibañez | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

What The Library Hides by. Isabel Ibañez | Audiobook ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (I’m surprised I forgot to post a review for this one!)

The Book of Blood & Roses by. Annie Summerlee | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: The Book of Blood & Roses (The Castillo Chronicles, #1)

Author: Annie Summerlee

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 1/13/26

Publisher: Del Rey

Categories: Dark Academia, Vampires, LGBT+, Romance, Fantasy, New Adult

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

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

In book one of a seductive sapphic paranormal fantasy, a vampire hunter goes undercover at a mysterious university and falls in love with her roommate, an alluring vampire.

“Then her red eyes are on mine, gentle, deadly. She takes her time kissing my neck. I pull her closer and say: Bite me.”

In the mists of the Scottish Highlands is a university where vampire students study alongside humans.

Rebecca Charity is a vampire hunter undercover at the university, searching for the mysterious Book of Blood and Roses, a lost compendium of ways to kill vampires. If she finds it, she’ll be one step closer to avenging her parents, who were slain by those creatures of the night.

But when Rebecca arrives, she finds something unexpected: a coffin. Her new roommate is Aliz Astra, scion of one of the most powerful vampire families… and the most beautiful woman Rebecca has ever met.

The maddeningly gorgeous Aliz is everything that Rebecca has always hated, but also everything she ever wanted, and now Rebecca doesn’t know if she wants to kiss or kill her.

When Aliz rescues her from a vampire attack one moonlit night, she accidentally makes Rebecca her familiar. Now, they must work together to break the curse, but as they get closer to solving the mystery, Rebecca and Aliz get closer, too.

But can a vampire hunter ever fall in love with a vampire?

Content Warning: violence

A vampire hunter goes undercover at a university home to vampires. Her task? To find the book of Blood & Roses because it has all the answers on how to hurt vampires, or so she’s been told. Rebecca has to make friends, but she is on edge being surrounded by her enemies.

This story has a sapphic romance which is very enemies to lovers, especially on Rebecca/Cassie’s part because she is undercover and really hates vampires. So her falling for Aliz, who is a vampure and has a reputation around campus, and is her roommate that sleeps in a coffin, is really against Rebecca’s values! It’s a major conflict for her but the attraction between them is undeniable and soon they can’t get enough of one another and things get spicy too.

There are some twists and it was fun to see everything connect in the end.

Rebecca as a character was very strong in her hate of vampires and I needed her to chill out for a moment especially if she was going undercover. I thought her hate for them was going to make her blow her cover right away. It was nice to see her finally relent a little, the forced proximity to Aliz helped a lot with that though.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I thought this was an entertaining story about vampires with a sapphic enemies to lovers love story. If you like academic settings and a romance between and hunter and vampire, you might enjoy this one.

Book Links:

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We’ve Hit Turbulence by. Jessica L. Cozzi | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: We’ve Hit Turbulence

Author: Jessica L. Cozzi

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 304

Publication Date: 1/13/26

Publisher: Delacorte Romance

Categories: Young Adult, 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 Delacorte Romance for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

When a girl is stuck on a cross-country flight with her ex, things get bumpy—a swoony YA rom com perfect for fans of K.L. Walther!

As if flying couldn’t get any worse.

Olive Austin just wants to get on her flight to visit her long-distance boyfriend in peace—a spring break filled with white-sand beaches, cute date nights, and soaking up the sun in Hawaii. It’s exactly what the doctor ordered…especially since lately she can’t shake the feeling that her relationship is on the rocks.

Unfortunately, when she boards her cross-continental flight she discovers that her seatmate for her 13-hour journey is none other than Tyler Ferris, her ex…a.k.a the boy that her heart never really got over.

Even though Olive’s prepared to ignore him and survive the flight with her heart unscathed, Tyler has other plans, and before long, with nowhere else to go, the past begins to resurface. Now, Olive’s feeling more confused than ever about her heart, what went down that tore her and Tyler apart, and—most importantly—what she’s going to do once the turbulence passes and the flight finally lands.

Content Warning:

+ This was a cute second chance romance story that is set in Hawaii, which appealed to me because it’s my home. Olive is on her way to Honolulu, to surprise her boyfriend Jack who is attending the University of Hawaii, thing is…he’s been ghosting her. She can’t get ahold of him and she’s suspicious as to why. And then coincidentally enough the person sitting next to her on the plane, is her ex-boyfriend Tyler, so that made for an interesting plane ride.

+ Olive is raised by a single mom who is always dating and trying to find the one. This gives Olive a lot of insecurities about guys and dating in general. She doesn’t want someone who isn’t responsible or planning their future like she is – she is a planner and Tyler was her opposite, he lived life to the fullest and didn’t have a plan.

+~ A lot happens in Hawaii, and Olive isn’t even there for a week, but she gets to see some parts of Oahu and gets to spend time with Tyler. They also get to really talk about what went wrong with them. But I kind of wished she was there a whole week, because the time spent with Tyler was way too fast. Also, I loved Tyler’s bestie, Delia – she was straight-up with Olive, which is what she needed, someone to tell her she was not being a good friend. Speaking of Tyler, he’s a great guy, he loves her, would do anything for her, it’s crazy how she let him go but I also get it because of her fears.

~ I sympathized with Olive’s fears but also, I was kind of annoyed at how she she jumped into a supposedly stable relationship with Jack even though she really loves Tyler. Things happens fast in this story – like she is having problems with Jack and then maybe falling again for Tyler. But the title of the book is appropriate for this story because Olive and Tyler’s relationship is really turbulent.

Final Thoughts:

Second chance romance isn’t usually my favorite of the romance tropes but I really enjoyed this one. Olive and Tyler are young and are prone to make mistakes and they do that in this story but I love how things come full circle with them and they eventually make things work.