Drive Me Crazy by. Lizzy Dent | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Drive Me Crazy

Author: Lizzy Dent

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 1/6/26

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Categories: Contemporary, Romance, Sports 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 G.P. Putnam’s Sons for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!


Sparks fly when an up-and-coming team principle and her new hot-shot driver—and former childhood crush—are forced to work together to save their careers and team in this deliciously winning Formula 1 romance.

Can they navigate the twists and turns of love without crashing and burning?

As one of the first female team principles in Formula 1, Chloe Coleman is determined to prove herself and transform her failing team from underdogs to champions. Nothing can ruin her strategy—except maybe the surprising new addition of a cocky, top-tier driver who’s lost his edge. And he just so happens to be her estranged childhood crush who still sends her heart racing.

Matt Warner needs a comeback. A former champion, he hasn’t won a race since the disastrous crash that landed his best friend and teammate in the hospital. If there’s a silver lining to this scandalous demotion, it’s his fierce and familiar new boss, Chloe. But as the competition heats up, so does an unexpected spark that turns dangerously and passionately hot. With the world watching and pressures of the season mounting, will their chemistry lead them to victory, or spin them out of control?

Content Warning: sexism

+ F1 racing romance? I was definitely intrigued and I am not a race car watching girlie, so I was looking forward to learn something about F1 racing and I did! So I enjoyed that.

+ Chloe and Matt grew up together as kids, and Chloe had the biggest crush on him but Matt went on to do big things in the racing world, leaving her brokenhearted. Now, the race team Chloe is working for as the first female principal, has acquired Matt to race for them. Matt has been struggling with some things like anxiety and PTSD, after being in a race car crash that hurt his teammate. And being forced to work together, brings all the old feelings back for Chloe and new feelings for Matt.

+ The romance between Chloe and Matt has to be hidden from the team, since they work together – she’s the principal for the team, and he’s the race car driver, so they had to hide what was growing between them from the press. There some spice between them too. I like how this romance fit into the world of suspense that racing brings – I think it heightened the relationship between Chloe and Matt because so much was at stake with their team.

+ I really liked how even though there is a romance going on, Chloe and Matt, are trying to better themselves in their personal lives. Chloe is principal for the first time and a lot is riding on her. Matt has to deal with his PTSD and anxiety which affects his driving a lot. So I liked seeing both of them grow, I was rooting for them.

~ I loved Chloe, she’s a nice person, but I kind of was surprised how naive she was about the press, and how they can spin things to create their own narrative. I’m surprised because she was raised in this world and as principal who seems to have to deal with the press a lot, I would expect her to be a bit more savvy even if she was new to her role. She grew up in this world.

~ I wanted a little more about Chloe and Matt’s childhood since that’s where she fell for him.

Final Thoughts:

I thought this was a cute romance, with a little spice thrown in, and I learned about F1 racing! I loved the tense situations that came with the racing world in this story from the high stakes about making it to the podium, and careers on the line. Overall, I enjoyed this one.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Sins of Silas by. Kylie Snow | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Title: Sins of Silas (The Otacian Chronicles, #2)

Author: Kylie Snow

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 784

Publication Date: 9/18/25

Categories: Romantasy, Dark Romance, Series, LGBT+


A SECRET MAGE. A VENEGEFUL PRINCE.
WILL FORBIDDEN LOVE UNITE THE REALM – OR BURN IT DOWN…
*please check trigger warnings before diving in

Five years ago, Silas La’Rune lost his mother, his home and his love, Lena Daelyra. Grief turned into rage, and rage to purpose. Now known as the Slayer of Witches, Silas wages a brutal campaign against Magekind. But during a raid on a Mage village, he finds Lena alive, hiding a secret darker than she is a Mage herself. Torn between fury and forbidden desire, Silas can’t help but show mercy when faced with the eyes of his lost love.

Amid a Kingdom on the brink of war, with no one else to turn to, the pair form a fragile alliance to to topple the tyrant King of Otacia – Silas’ own father, Ulric La-Rune. Yet another shadow looms, a rising necromancer is
beginning to terrorise the land they once called home.

Forced to hide their past, every stolen glance reignites a fire they cannot tame. As rebellion ignites and old loyalties fray, Silas can’t decide what will destroy him her lies or his sins…

Content Warning: death, violence, torture, rape, cheating

I really don’t like the original book covers for this series but so far the story is addicting. It’s filled with tropes and so many ridiculous situations happening all at once, it’s entertaining and comical at times, it’s hard to put down. It’s SO messy.

Silas and Lena are now teamed up as allies, trying to find more allies in neighboring kingdoms so that they can find this mysterious Necromancer and also put an end to the reign of Silas’ father who is an awful king. But in between all the searching for allies, and trying to figure out this mystery about the Gods and prophecies – there is SO much relationship drama.

I was like this most of the time. 🫢 Because I’d be reading something and then something crazy would happen or some random information would drop. I would even start laughing because of all the whiplash in this story! It’s one after the other and it’s entertaining as heck.

Silas and Lena are Soul-Ties (fated mates) and clearly are trying to stay away from another and be with other people but we know and almost every character in the book knows – they want one another. Silas is married so he’s trying to keep up a front and and then there is Lena who is itching to get with Roland, until Torrin comes along too and she wants him as well. This woman….wants them all! And the spice? It’s got all the smut for the smut lovers out there. Threesome anyone? Like love triangle what? Why stop at a triangle huh? 🤣. My eyes were like this 😳.

Honestly, I just wanted Silas and Lena to talk things out. And they eventually do and it’s a loaded talk, more trauma, more secrets we didn’t even know, torture that Silas endured. But why is there now more than one rape scene in this series? Is the darkness really necessary when we have enough relationship drama going on? It just seems so out of place in both books and just feels like it’s thrown in for shock value.

There are other relationships going on like with Merrick and his lady problems.

The one thing I do enjoy about this series is the found family. I love the side characters like Merrick, Torrin, Elowen, Viola, and Dani.

I also like how the world opened up and humans and mages meet the warlocks. But again the story takes on a wild turn near the end, like a cell phone shows up – so now there are going to be portals huh? I don’t know if I can take anymore of it but the ending was crazy and ends in a cliffhanger.

Final Thoughts:

The writing is not really for me but it’s easy to consume and the story is entertaining and messy. The world building is still not the best. Do I like Lena hooking up with everyone in front of Silas, nope because aren’t they Soul-Ties? Or are we going for Why Choose? Because that could work if Silas was down with it. 😅 I’m reading this series for the drama! It’s messy as hell and I need to see what happens in book three with Silas but I hope it ends at three books because I don’t think I can take anymore. 😆

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

The Lies of Lena by. Kylie Snow (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Weekly Wrap Up | 1/4/26

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ We kind of had a few days of rest before New Year’s Eve. Hawaii loves to celebrate NYE with a lot of illegal fireworks, some legal too but mostly illegal. But last NYE there was a deadly accident, 3 people died, and like 10 or so people had burn injuries – it was horrendous. This year, there were stricter laws, so instead of people popping fireworks every night from November on….mostly everyone waited until NYE night (from 6pm-midnight) this time around. My dog struggles with it so I’m glad this year he only had to really struggle for one night instead of a whole 2 months of firework bombs going off.

+ My daughter’s birthday was yesterday so on Friday we took her to the Kroc Center Pool, they have a mini lazy river, and a kids play structure. She went there for swim lessons but because we aren’t members we always left the pool after lessons. So this was a nice way for her to have fun at the pool finally! It wasn’t crowded and we went a day before her birthday because the weather app was saying it was going to be cloudy during her birthday. And I hate to be in the pool with no sun – I can’t stand the cold. 😅

+ Today we are going to the Cheesecake Factory with my parents, my sister’s family and my family to celebrate my daughter and my nephew’s January birthdays! It’s supposed to rain hard today but I hope it doesn’t hit us until after we have lunch.

Blog Posts:

Books I Finished

  • A Language of Dragons by. S. F. Williamson
  • Heart’s Gambit by. J.D. Myall (audiobook)
  • The Night Ship by. Alex Woodroe
  • The Wicked and the Damned by. Rebecca Robinson
  • Shadows and Secrets by. Arcadia Rayne
  • Here Lie All the Boys Who Broke My Heart by. Emma Summerman

Currently Reading:

A War of Wyverns by. S.F. Williamson

Stolen Midnights by. Katherine Quinn

Love and Other Brain Experiments by. Hannah Brohm

The Cure by. Pedro Urvi

Fallen Stars by. Imani Erriu

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Football
  • Stranger Things Season 5 Finale (Netflix) – What a series, what a show, people will either hate or love the ending but I found it bittersweet! What I love about the show is how it reminded me of my childhood in the 80’s – what a time to be alive SIGH…I miss it!

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

Monthly Wrap Up | December 2025

I almost didn’t survive the week of Christmas, friends…I felt knocked out by Christmas day. Like literally could not keep my eyes awake after my family Christmas lunch! December was BUSY as usual, and I thought I was more prepared this year until the week of Christmas hit and I needed caffeine, I needed sleep, I needed energy…why does it always become such a rush of activities? 😅

I did manage to read books, I actually read to escape all the things I had to do lol.

I read 24 books and posted 18 book reviews in November.

Books I Read – 24 books

  1. Smoke and Scar by. Gretchen Powell Fox
  2. Hollow by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti
  3. A Dance with Waves and Flames by. M.B. Reese
  4. A Vow of Shadow & Blood by. Charlene Antrobus
  5. Song of the Stars by. Kaiti Mills
  6. The Swan’s Daughter by. Roshani Chokshi (audiobook – alc)
  7. Oxford Blood by. Rachel Davis-Featherstone (arc)
  8. We’re a Bad Idea, Right? K.L. Walther (arc)
  9. Seven Deadly Thorns by. Amber Hamilton
  10. The Book of Blood and Roses by. Annie Summerlee
  11. Wings of Ash & Flame by. Jocelyn Bleu
  12. Not in My Book by. Katie Holt
  13. Daggermouth by. H.M. Wolfe
  14. My Blade, Your Book by. K.M. Moronova
  15. King of Ravens by. Clare Sager (arc)
  16. Heart’s Gambit by. J.D. Myall (audiobook – alc)
  17. The Night Ship by. Alex Woodroe (arc)
  18. Good Spirits by. B.K. Borison
  19. The Sins of Silas by. Kylie Snow
  20. The Lies of Lena by. Kylie Snow (audiobook – alc)
  21. Heavenly Bodies by. Imani Erriu (arc – republish)
  22. Graceless Heart by. Isabel Ibañez (arc)
  23. The Fall of Iris Henley by. Jennifer Graham (arc)
  24. Bound to the Broken Crown by. Astoria Hope (arc)

Reviews I Posted On My Blog: 17 Books

5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

4 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫:

3 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️:

2.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️💫

2 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️

Book Tags:

The End of the Year Book Tag – 2025 Edition

Christmas Songs Book Tag | 2025

Blog Tours:

Other:

How was your month?

The Lies of Lena by. Kylie Snow | ALC Review | Audiobook

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: The Lies of Lena (The Otacian Chronicles, #1)

Author: Kylie Snow

Narrator(s): Kieran Regan; Natalie Van Sistine

Format: audiobook (NetGalley)

Pages: 462 Listening Time: Approximately 12 hours 34 min

Publication Date: 1/6/26

Publisher: Gollancz

Categories: Romantasy, 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 Gollancz for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!


A SECRET MAGE. A VENGEFUL PRINCE.
WILL FORBIDDEN LOVE UNITE THE REALM – OR BURN IT DOWN…
*please check trigger warnings before diving in

In Tovagoth, Mages like Lena Daelyra live in hunted, outlawed, and reviled. Even after fleeing to Otacia, Lena hides her magic, cloaked in silence. But when she meets Quinn Callon, a quick-witted swordsman from the Inner Ring, her walls begin to crack. He trains Lena to fight, never suspecting the truth she hides. But as their connection deepens, so does the danger… and Lena knows love is a risk she can’t afford.

Silas La’Rune, Crown Prince of Otacia, has been caged within the Kingdom castle since the kidnapping and murder of his sister, the Princess. Until one day beyond the castle walls reveals a Kingdom rotting beneath its guiled surface – and a girl who shouldn’t exist.

When tragedy tears Lena from Quinn, as destiny would have it, Lena and Silas’ paths collide. For the future of Magekind depends on them, and love could just about be the deadliest weapon…

Content Warning: violence, torture, sexual assault, rape, grief

I remember seeing this book all over the booktoks and book socials this past year and I even downloaded but I don’t know why I never read it. I can’t say I love the original cover, but I do like this new one for the audiobook. I decided to try it out the story this way to see if I could actually get into the book.

This story was a little all over the place. It’s got a lot of the usual romantasy tropes like secret identity and forbidden love. A teenage girl who is secretly a Mage, meets a handsome boy on the streets who has his own secret and from there they train together and a sweet romance grows. Sweet….but spicy. Yes, there as spicy scenes between teens in this story which was very surprising to me because it is graphic. Didn’t love that but I really did believe in their teenage love story and was rooting for them since both characters seemed like good people.

The world-building I thought was pretty light, a kingdom called Otacia is ruled by a king who has oppressed mages. In this world they use copper, silver, gold for currency, they wear tunics and then out of the blue a character will mention they have pizza as food? Sometimes modern clothing is mentioned. Even modern speech was used in this world so I had a lot of questions about the world-building. There is also a time-jump in part two of the story where it jumps ahead 5 years. I’m glad for the jump because the sixteen year olds having spicy scenes early on was kind of jarring. They also mention vampires, and the undead, so this world seems to have everything.

As for the characters? Lena is naive and acted like an impulsive, love-struck teenager, making wrong decisions. At least with the 5 year jump, I feel like there is a lot of growth there. Gone are the sweet teens. Lena’s stronger, has grown without Silas, knows her magic better and now is thrust into a position to lead. Silas, went from a sheltered prince to a cold, violent, damaged one. There are other characters, like Torrin, who just disappears, which I though was kind of strange.

As for the romance, like I said it’s a sweet love in the beginning. But with the time jump, and Silas and Lena having moved on with their lives, their reunion is not a happy one. Now they both have other options, trauma from the past, and I know it’s going to be very dramatic when these two ever get back together. It was just strange to me that they are fated but Lena is looking at every attractive guy – like what?

But despite all these issues the narrators did such an amazing job at bringing this story to life. All the stars I’m giving is mostly for them. I feel like if I read this book as an ebook or hardcover I would have DNF’ed because of the naivety of the characters, and the light world-building, but their voices made this story kind of addicting which surprised me!

Note the triggers for this book because there are some ugly scenes it in. It’s violent, there is grief, there is rape. But I will say even though it was awful, I felt like the author never stayed in the darkness for long and moved past certain events quickly. There was a feeling that things just moved quickly in the story, without dwelling in certain feelings, thoughts or emotions for the character. The story lacked depth.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, this audiobook was great. I really don’t think I would have been able to continue this book if I read it in another form, but this audiobook really brought the story to life. There are a lot of issues with the story but I will say because the audiobook was addicting, that this is the kind of story you sit back with your popcorn next to you and just read for the messiness of it all. It’s filled with drama, and eye-rolling moments to the point it made me cackle. I’m not here for the writing quality or the plot really – I think I’m here for the drama, so yes I will be reading book two soon.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

A Language of Dragons by. S.F. Williamson | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice:

Title: A Language of Dragons (#1)

Author: S.F. Williamson

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 432

Publication Date: 1/2/25

Categories: Academia, Historical Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult


Welcome to Bletchley Park… with dragons.

London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.

With her parents arrested and her sister missing, all the safety Viv has worked for is collapsing around her. So when a lifeline is offered in the form of a mysterious ‘job’, she grabs it. Arriving at Bletchley Park, Viv discovers that she has been recruited as a codebreaker helping the war effort – if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die.

At first Viv believes that her challenge, of discovering the secrets of a hidden dragon language, is doable. But the more she learns, the more she realises that the bubble she’s grown up in isn’t as safe as she thought, and eventually Viv must decide: What war is she really fighting?

An epic, sweeping fantasy with an incredible Dark Academia setting, a clandestine, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance, and an unputdownable story, filled with twists and turns, betrayals and secret identities, A Language of Dragons is the unmissable debut of 2025, from an extraordinary new voice.

Content Warning: violence, war, classism

This story is set in 1923, alternate London, and there is a civil war brewing between humans, rebels and dragons. The world-building is great. I love how the dragons are evolved, have their own language and is now at peace with the humans because of an agreement, but their past seems tumultuous. Another part of this world is the class system that humans have been broken up into – with first, second and third class citizens.

Vivien’s parents have been arrested as rebels against the Prime Minister of the British government, and all Viv wants to do is save them and her little sister, but she does something that alerts the government to her. They take her and promises if she helps them with protecting Britain, her family will be saved. Viv’s talent is she is a polyglot, she knows several languages – most of them, dragon languages. She is tasked to be a codebreaker and figure out the messages that dragons are passing to one another. Viv is in a team with other young people though, one of them being her ex-best friend, who Viv stabbed in the back, the other being her best-friend and cousin, Marquis.

I found the group of kids with Viv to be very interesting, but many of them are suspicious of each other. There is even romance blooming between Viv and another character, which I thought added to the tension of the story and made Viv really examine her choices about protecting Britain or defecting to the rebel side to protect dragons. The choices are hard.

I did find some of the academics to be a bit too slow for me in the beginning (something I had to be in the mood for and I was sort of but not really into), but I loved the second half of the book with all the betrayal, politics, and action!

Final Thoughts:

I thought this was a really interesting story especially with the world building and it being historical fantasy. There are humans and dragons at war with one another, post World War I. I loved the romance, the politics, the betrayal and the forms that bond between Viv and her new colleagues. Looking forward to seeing what happens in book two!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Let’s Talk Bookish:  Top Reads in Five Words/Sentences | 1/2/26

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:

January 2: Top Reads in Five Words/Sentences

Prompts: What were your top 5 (or top 10) reads in 2025? If you had five words or sentences (your choice!) to describe each book and convince other readers to pick it up, how would you describe your 2025 favourites?

**********

What were your top 5 (or top 10) reads in 2025? If you had five words or sentences (your choice!) to describe each book and convince other readers to pick it up, how would you describe your 2025 favourites?

This is so hard to pick! In no particularly order, these were some of my favorite books of 2025!

  1. Oathbound by. Tracy Deonn – Bree’s turning point!
  2. Atmosphere by. Taylor Jenkins Reid – Made me cry.
  3. Coffin Moon by. Keith Rosson – Horror but make it heartfelt.
  4. The Night Prince by. Lauren Palphreyman – I only gave it 4 stars? But I could not get Blake out of my mind. I re-read this one a couple of times!
  5. Nightshade by. Autumn Woods – addicting.
  6. We Who Will Die by. Stacia Stark – vampires and gladiators – yes!
  7. Tusk Love by. Thea Guanzon – adventurous and fun
  8. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by. Kylie Lee Baker – covid and a serial killer
  9. Sunrise on the Reaping by. Suzanne Collins – Haymitch’s story 😭
  10. Daggermouth by. H.M. Wolfe – blew my mind

January 2026 Topics:

January 2: Top Reads in Five Words/Sentences

Prompts: What were your top 5 (or top 10) reads in 2025? If you had five words or sentences (your choice!) to describe each book and convince other readers to pick it up, how would you describe your 2025 favourites?

January 9: Bookish Trends of 2025

Prompts: Looking back on the past year, what bookish trends have you noticed? Are certain tropes, types of blogging, or other book-related content becoming more popular? If you did this post last year (Bookish Trends of 2024), do you notice any trend changes from that post? What changes do you foresee in 2026? What bookish trend would you most want to see become popular, or come back?

January 16: Book Blogging Slumps (Danielle @ Poetry Books YA)

Prompts: People frequently talk about reading slumps, but what about blogging slumps? What gives you motivation for blogging? What makes you lose motivation? Have you ever gone through one before? How did you break out of it? What advice would you give to a book blogger who’s in one? 

January 23: Underrated Books (Leyre @ Read You Leyre)

Prompts: What makes a book “underrated”? Did you read any books in 2025 that you think are underrated? Did you read any books with underrated tropes (or micro tropes) or genres? What are some of your favourite “underrated” reads from 2025 and of all time? 

January 30: Freebie!

Prompts: You made it to the end of the month—congrats!  For the fifth Friday of the month, pick your own topic. You can check out our blogs for inspiration (Aria and Dini) or write about something else you’re interested in!

Looking Back on 2025: Books on the Backlist

I don’t think I did too well with reading books from the backlist this year. But I have a few on my bookshelf that I really, really, really want to knock off my list so I hope I can do in 2026. Anyway let’s see what books I read from the backlist.

Books on the Backlist

Out of 200+ books I read in 2025, 33 books were on the backlist.

The Swan’s Daughter by. Roshani Chokshi | ALC Review | Audiobook

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating:

Title: The Swan’s Daughter

Author: Roshani Chokshi

Narrator(s): Ell Potter

Format: audiobook (NetGalley)

Pages: 400 Listening Time: Approximately 10 hours

Publication Date: 1/6/26

Publisher: Macmillan Young Listeners

Categories: Cozy Fantasy, Romance, Fairy Tale, Young 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 Macmillan Young Listeners for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!


In this lush and romantic novel from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi, a prince is only as good as his beating heart and a maiden is only as good as her honest word. But when love and the truth become impossibly tangled, the two must figure out how to survive together, or fall completely apart.

To find love is a curse …

Prince Arris knows that marriage means murder. Thanks to a poorly worded wish to a sea witch, all one needs to rule the Isle of Malys is the heart and hand of the kingdom’s heir. Historically, this has been construed quite literally.

Thus, Arris expects that the day after his marriage and murder he will wake up as a sentient tree alongside the rest of his predecessors. His only chance at a long life is finding true and lasting love. When Arris’s parents announce a tournament of brides to compete for his hand and heart, a slew of eligible, lovely and (possibly murderous) bachelorettes make their way to Rathe Castle. Amidst glittering balls in ozorald caves, strolls through menageries of daydream trees and pearl crocodiles, tea time on glass boats and kisses that leave his head spinning, Arris cannot tell who is here out of love for him…or lust for power.

Until he meets Demelza.

As a veritas swan, Demelza’s song wrings out the truth. Forced into hiding, Demelza strikes a deal. Arris will provide her with safekeeping in exchange for her truth-telling song to sort through his potential brides.

While Arris is used to dodging death threats and Demelza is accustomed to fighting for her voice to be heard, to survive the tournament of brides requires a different kind of bravery. And perhaps the bravest thing one can do is not merely protect one’s life, but find the courage to chase a life worth living.

Content Warning:

+ The narrator really brought this magical story to life. I loved how she did all the voices, she infused so much life in these characters! I would say the beautiful prose made this magical story feel very lush!

+ I don’t usually vibe with cozy fantasies because they move too slow but this one was very enjoyable because it reads like a fairytale! The story of Demelza who is basically the runt of the litter, the swan born without wings, she can’t sing at all and she is not the most beautiful, so she leaves her family and ends up in a bridal competition for Prince Arris’ hand in marriage.

+ The characters were all very interesting and their interactions were funny! I found myself laughing out loud a few times. There are many relationships I found very fun in this story, especially Arris and his sister Yvelle. Demelza also makes friends with a lot of the girls in the competition. Also Demelza has a complicated relationship with her own parents. Her dad being a powerful sorcerer who wants more power. I like how all these different relationships were explored in the story.

+ This felt more like a friends to lovers romance because Aris finds out that Demelza is just there to escape her parents but she has the power to make people tell the truth, so he enlists her help to report on the contestants so he knows who is the best candidate as his bride. But the more they spend time together, the more the feelings grow. And I say friends because Aris is kissing all these girls left and right and sometimes he’s feeling a girl, but eventually in the end, it’s Demelza the girl he is so comfortable with that wins his heart.

Final Thoughts:

I love the narrator and her story-telling. I love the prose and how the story was magical, cozy, heart warming and funny. I enjoyed this enchanting fairytale!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Book Review: The Gilded Wolves ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

ARC Review | The Silvered Serpents (The Gilded Wolves, #2) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Three Kisses, One Midnight by. Roshani Chokshi, Evelyn Skye, Sandhya Menon | ARC Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Goodreads Year in Books | 2025

It’s another Goodreads Year in Books and I love how they email out these graphics so I don’t have to do the work of making my own! So let’s take a look at how my year on Goodreads went.

This graphic says I read 191 but I know it’s over 200. And the last graphic says it’s 232 which is more accurate! Not sure why it’s different numbers. Except maybe because I’ve been reading January 2026 releases. So maybe the 191 is actual 2025 books and backlist books.

I guess they can’t fit all my 5 star reads. I feel like some books are missing from this graphic like Oathbound by. Tracy Deonn. I’m sure I gave it 4.5 which is a 5 star on Goodreads since they don’t have a half-point rating.

I didn’t realize I lowered my reading challege to 100 – I usually keep it at 125! But this year was so draining on my mental health because of everything going on in our country that reading was my way to stay sane. And at the looks of it, I needed 232 books to keep me sane, which is crazy. Usually I hit a limit at 170 books, where I just can’t read anymore.

Also, I think because I’m an arc reader on NetGalley it’s a given I’m going to hit my reading goals. It’s hard not too – I don’t think my reading challenge really matters anymore. The challenge I’m more concerned with is actually finishing the arcs I have requested. So I’m not looking at how many books I read a year now, I’m just looking to finishing what I requested.

Anyway, how was your #goodreadsyearinbooks ?