Love, Lies and Too Many Guys by. Erica Lucke Dean | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️

Title: Love, Lies and Too Many Guys

Author: Erica Lucke Dean

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 313

Publication Date: 10/20/26

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Categories: Romance, Contemporary, 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 Lake Union Publishing for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A college student has more to lose than she can imagine in a funny and heartfelt romantic comedy by the author of Chasing Stardust.

Twenty-year-old Kennedy Beaman is a virgin, and she’s fine with that…most of the time. But her mother, who is full of regrets after a bad marriage, won’t stop pushing her to “experience life” while she can. So Kennedy and her best friend, Nicole, make a list of guys who get her heart racing. It’s all fun and games until the list goes missing.

When Kennedy’s “get laid” list goes viral, she’d rather own the campus-wide spectacle than be a victim. Nicole convinces her to turn her humiliation into a reality show–style competition—the last man standing will be her first after the spring formal. An online feminist magazine ups the ante by offering Kennedy a scholarship in exchange for her story.

But as she weathers one bad date after another, Kennedy finds herself drawn to Jordan Keller, a sullen, faux-hawked Mr. Wrong who didn’t even make the list. Can she figure out what she really wants in life before the final round? Otherwise, she may lose something she’ll miss more than her virginity—her heart.

Content Warning: attempted sexual assault

+~ The premise of this story was intriguing but I can see how some people will be turned off by some things in this book. Kennedy’s mom is really encouraging her to lose her virginity in college and date tons of guys so that she doesn’t end up like her mom, divorced and unhappy with not living up in her younger years. It’s a strange thing for a mom to promote but Kennedy’s best-friend Nicole comes up with a plan and make a list of guys she could potentially hook up with. When the list goes missing and viral, that’s when things get crazy.

~ I think the story of Kennedy and her virgin status is relatable for younger girls. But it’s crazy that in this story, this situation turns into a competition and there are guys lining up to be the one who takes it from her. Yikes. Even worse it turns into a competition that goes viral and a feminist blog will award Kennedy a scholarship prize when she picks the guy who will deflower her. And it’s Nicole her best-friend who actually turns this situation into a competition. I liked her at first, but knowing how she thought of Jordan and what she said about him – the guy Kennedy kind of liked, was such a turn off. And Jordan (a guy Kennedy liked), was right about the dangers of this competition and there was a scene depicting that. Also her mom trying to push her to lose her virginity was strange to me, I mean I’m glad she was very open with her daughter but shouldn’t she be supporting her daughter for not having lost her virginity yet?

+~ I did like the romance between Kennedy and Jordan, it’s a dislike to like situation where he turns protective and things get heated between them. It leads to a steamy scene between them. I like how protective he was of her but there is a twist in that relationship also that was bad and was the cause of their conflict. Both of them were wrong, but they do work things out and that was cute.

+ I’m a child of the 80’s so I recognized the John Hughes movie references and I thought that was cute. I think some of the things that happened in those movies would not work favorably in today’s society. The 80’s were really a different time!

Final Thoughts:

I think her virginity and losing it to someone special is a very relatable thing girls and guys feel in college, but there were just some things about this story that didn’t sit well with me like her friend Nicole. Also, I didn’t like the fact that turning losing her virginity into a competition for a scholarship could have been a dangerous situation. I did love Kennedy and Jordan’s romance though. I love how she liked his different style and I like how protective he got of her even after he didn’t like her at first. This was an easy, quick read and I’m glad not all the guys who were in the competition were awful but it was a very interesting read.

Read if you like:

college romance
dislike to like

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Tarot Trials by. Katee Robert | ARC and ALC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: The Tarot Trials (The Tarot Trials, #1)

Author: Katee Robert

Format: eBook (NetGalley) and audiobook (netgalley)

Pages: 400

Listening Hours: approx. 14 hrs

Narrator: Lindsey Dorcus

Publication Date: 10/20/26

Publisher: Tor Books & Macmillan Audio

Categories: Fantasy, 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 Tor Books & Macmillan Audio for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The deck has always been stacked against her.

Kestrel has trained her whole life to compete in the Tarot Trials. Her mother won once, earning a place among the five ruling Cinque—then paid for it with her life, executed for alleged treason against the Minor Court.

But fortune favors the bold.

Now it falls to Kestrel to take up her mother’s mantle as Champion of the Moon, enter the Trials, and face her fate. If she can master her new powers of shadow and illusion, navigate the poisonous game of alliances and lies, and corner the fellow Champion who dealt the killing blow to her mother years ago, she may uncover the truth she’s seeking without losing her head… or her heart. But in the Trials, betrayal is a question of when, not if. And winning the game isn’t about what she must do to win, but who she needs to survive.

Content Warning: death, violence

+ I think the narrator did pretty good with giving voice to the characters.

+~ The Tarot Trials is basically what the title indicates. People fight first to become a tarot card champion, and then they fight each other to the death. Five winners become Cinque, the ruling body of the city, voices of the Gods. During these trials there are alliances, betrayal, and mistrust. The first half of this story moved too slow for me. The second half is way much better with much more action.

~ I didn’t love the FMC, Kestrel. I understand she has had a tough life, she hates the wealthy, she wants to win the trials for her family but she complained from beginning to end and it got frustrating and tiring. She’s angry and bitter, though I did admire her fight but with all her talk of training and learning about the trials, she seemed so naive and inexperienced.

+~ Kestrel is bisexual but she is attracted to almost everyone she meets in the competition, which is fine but I just didn’t believe her. So I didn’t feel invested in her romantic connection with one of the competitors. There is one spicy scene but the romance didn’t do it for me.

Final Thoughts:

I think if you like deadly trials with a tarot theme, you might enjoy this one. I think this was okay – the first half was slow, the second half is better because there is more action. The trials have action, violence, alliances and betrayal. I do wish I cared more about the FMC, but I just didn’t connect to her.

Read if you like:

tarot
deadly trials
low spice

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Queen of Lombard Street by. Lisa Kleypas | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice: 🌶️

Title: Queen of Lombard Street

Author: Lisa Kleypas

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 448

Publication Date: 10/20/26

Publisher: Avon

Categories: Historical Romance, Women’s Fiction, Mystery

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

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

In Victorian England, no woman—not even a brilliant economist like Reina Martin—is allowed to open her own bank account. Men will take care of everything, women are told. But Reina knows better. As the illegitimate daughter of a Spanish immigrant mother, she’s haunted by the memory of living with unpaid grocer’s bills and no coal for the hearth.

So together with her mentor, the powerful banker William Farlow, Reina will build the first all-women’s bank, where women can manage their own financial security.

At home, Reina’s domestic staff of recently paroled prisoners are building new lives and becoming a found family. But soon Reina is shocked to discover that her enigmatic butler, John Pembroke, is an undercover police detective. He’s been assigned to investigate Farlow, who’s suspected of financial crime on a scale so massive, it could destabilize the British economy. Pembroke needs Reina’s expertise for a high-stakes nighttime heist to obtain incriminating evidence.

Now Reina faces the agonizing choice of betraying her mentor or turning her back on thousands of working-class families who stand to lose everything. Either way, her dream of the women’s bank may be over.

But courage and sacrifice aren’t limited to the battlefield—they also occur at the kitchen table, where women who believe in compassion and community are working to remake the future. And when the stakes are highest, Reina knows to trust her heart as well as her intellect.

Based on real-life trailblazers such as Mary Paley Marshall, Britain’s first female economist, and financial titan Hetty Green, Queen of Lombard Street brings to light the hidden history of extraordinary women whose achievements should be celebrated. How can we know who we are, if we don’t know who we were?

Content Warning: mentions of rape, death, grief

+ I love Lisa Kleypas and I thought this book cover looked different from her regency romances so I wanted to give it a try and I was not disappointed. It isn’t regency romance but something with a little more debt and a little more of women’s fiction. It gave me Downton Abbey vibes, which I loved. This story also focused on women empowerment and I learned a lot! I loved all the strong female characters in this book. We get to see what they go through, what they face, and how Reina is trying to change things, a little bit here and there at a time.

+ Reina was born a bastard but that didn’t stop this amazing woman from trying to become more than she was destined to be as a woman. She went to school, worked, and learned to invest. She made connections, built up her wealth and always wants to pay it forward. She’s brilliant and kind. I loved her story!

+ The secondary characters in this story are fantastic – Reina hires a staff for her house from reformed criminals looking for a second chance. It’s a chaotic household until John comes along – but he’s undercover as the butler, trying to get information about a woman’s bank Reina is trying to open up with her friend/banker, William Farlow. Each of these staff member had their quirks, didn’t exactly like one another at first but in the end they are a family. It warmed my heart. Some of their stories made me emotional.

+ As for the romance, there are two. One with side character June (who is Reina’s best friend and cook), and Mad Dog (Maddock), their romance is so absolutely sweet – I loved them together so much! The main romance is between Reina and John, which is unconventional because he’s the staff but I couldn’t blame her falling for all the welsh phrases he kept piling on her. It was so poetic and romantic! I loved their romance and how Reina was all for bucking the rules of society. I want to say the romance is signature Lisa Kleypas – full of emotions and love, just less on the spice, but it still made my heart swoon.

+~ The only thing I think disappeared in the middle of the story was the case about William Farlow. Most of the story is focused on the staff members and them trying to learn the ropes. But the mystery does come back in the latter half of the story, when John’s cover is blown. Then we get into the mystery would have liked it to stay consistent throughout the story but I didn’t mind too much because I was invested in the other characters.

Final Thoughts:

Reina is a force to be reckoned with and I loved her story. This story is about women empowerment and how one woman refused to be what society wants her to be. It made me learn something about women and their access to banks more than a century ago and made me realize how far we’ve come. The found family trope is so strong in this story, it made me emotional. I was so invested in all of them. And the romances made me swoon, even with barely any spice. This just reminded me why Lisa Kleypas was and still is one of my favorite historical romance writer ever.

Read if you like:

found family
strong women
mystery

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

I’m pretty sure I’ve read all her books but these are the only 2 I’ve reviewed on my blog:

Devil in Disguise by. Lisa Kleypas | ARC Review – 4.5 stars

Book Review | Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels, #6) – 4 stars

The Taming by. Eve Hollenbeck | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️

Title: The Taming

Author: Eve Hollenbeck

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 376

Publication Date: 10/14/26

Publisher: Eve Hollenbeck

Categories: Dystopian, Sci-fi, 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 Eve Hollenbeck for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Survival is a strategy. Love is a risk.

Dessa Frost can find anyone with her psychic tracking gift, magic drawn from the planet itself. Using it openly will get her exiled, but she’ll do what it takes to find her missing brother. Even if it means leading a search party into the one place nobody is allowed to enter.

What she finds inside is worse than exile. Her planet has been chosen as the universe’s next battlefield. Before she can act, Dessa is conscripted into the Taming, where off-world nobility descend on fringe planets and fight to the death for rulership. To survive, she must choose the champion she’ll fight beside. One prospect is a stranger who promises her a reunion with her brother. The other is Tavish Arran, the man who broke her heart, now begging for a second chance with a secret that could save them both.

But before the Taming’s bloodshed even starts, her dear friend is murdered. Caught between the love she fears and the revenge she craves, Dessa has to decide who she trusts with her life…and who she’s willing to lose.

Content Warning: violence, death

+~ I thought the premise for this story was very intriguing. Dessa and her friends are searching for her family and get caught and thrown into the Taming. A deadly game that nobles from other planets play when they want to rule a planet. Dessa and her friends get put into teams and they have to survive and try to win but the Scion they are teamed up with is not all he seems. While reading this I just needed a little more world-building because any stories taking place in space is hard for me to envision.

+~ There is a second chance romance with Dessa and a young man she didn’t know was a Scion. Now that she knows, she feels betrayed but it’s hard to stay away from him because the attraction between them is so strong. I did like her romance with him but they have a past we hardly know about and I would have loved more interactions between them plus more memories.

+~ I finally got into the story near the halfway mark because the Taming starts and there is more action. It was giving a bit Hunger Games vibes. I just needed more details, world building, descriptions because hard for me to visualize things in this story. There are more reveals at the end of the story that I thought was interesting.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I think I would have enjoyed this story more if there was more world-building and descriptions of the setting and the people. I liked the idea of the Taming though, these deadly games that nobles partake in to rule a planet – it shows how colonization doesn’t just stop on Earth. Give humans a chance and they will want to colonize planets, which is kind of sad. If you like dystopian stories, you might want to give this one a chance.

Read if you like:

dystopian
deadly game

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Deathbringer by. Sonia Tagliareni | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: Deathbringer (#1)

Author: Sonia Tagliareni

Pages: 432

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Categories: Dark Academia, Fantasy, Romance, Magic, Murder Mystery, Series

Born with the ability to speak with the dead, Viola hates her magic. It killed her sister, Olivia, and if she doesn’t learn why, it will kill her too. Her only hope lies within the perilous walls of Gorhail Institute of Magic, where Olivia spent her final days.

There, Viola clashes with Sylas, a poison mage whose magic stems from three magical snakes. Immortal, tormented, and reckless, Sylas is tethered to a life he never asked for and haunted by guilt for his father’s death. His hatred for death mages runs deep, and he’s determined to keep Viola at a distance. But when an attack forces him to heal her, their fates become intertwined by a magical bond that threatens to upend his loyalties—and his common sense.

As more students start turning up dead, Viola and Sylas are drawn into an uneasy alliance that pulls them deeper into Gorhail’s treacherous passageways, where secrets fester beneath the stone and the dead do not rest. And as enemy lines begin to blur and their undeniable attraction grows, Viola and Sylas uncover a chilling someone is hunting mages for their magical relics, and if they can’t uncover the killer in time, Viola will be next.

Content Warning: death, violence

+~ Viola hates her magic, but when her sister is killed and she is brought to Gorhail – she learns even more about her family, and her magic. There is a murder mystery going on because her sister is not the only one killed, and though mysteries move a little too slow for me, the dark academia aspects sucked me into the story. I also liked the magic and different houses ~ especially the asperi (snakes), I just wish we got to see use Viola use more of hers.

+~ Though Viola hates her magic and wants nothing to do with it, she does what she can to help with figuring out who is killing people at the academy. I definitely see growth in her but it would have been nice to see her learn how to use her magic. I did enjoy the found family in the story, especially Sylas’s family that kind become Viola’s friends. His sister Lyria and his adopted brother Beau are great.

+~ I liked the enemies to lovers romance at first, though it is a very slow burn. Their families have bad blood, but Viola is really innocent to it – she doesn’t know the past of their family like Sylas does. He holds a grudge against Viola because of it but then falls for her. But he lets doubts in his mind about her which really turned me off. Viola doesn’t do anything to earn his distrust and yet, his prejudice against her family line hurts her. So…although he confesses his love and apologizes, I was not moved by him. Also, I do think they needed more interactions to solidify their relationship, it did come off a little bit like insta-love.

+~ The story is a murder mystery which means it does move at a slow pace. There is a lot of info to process but I do think there needs to be a little more world building so we could learn more about the academy.

Final Thoughts:

This was going to be a 4 star read…but then Sylas left me wanting. His behavior annoyed me, but I did like the romance until he annoyed me. I did enjoy Viola, Lyria and Beau. The murder mystery means this was slow paced but I like the magic and dark academia. I think it needs a little more world building but this was a solid first book in a series.

Read if you like:

found family
forbidden romance, slow burn
dark academia
murder mystery

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Museum of Modern Love by. Mariko Turk | ALC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Museum of Modern Love

Author: Mariko Turk

Pages: 304

Format: audiobook

Listening Hours: 7 hrs 35 min (approx.)

Narrator (s): Morgan Dalla Betta

Publisher: Macmillan Young Listeners

Publication Date: 10/13/26

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Audiobook, Romance, Art

Disclaimer: **I received this book free on 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!

Tonight, inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art—somewhere between the hours of 8 PM and 5 AM—Auden Peck will fall in love with Miki Kawamura.

That’s Miki’s plan, anyway. And the plan is destiny.

See, Miki’s grandparents fell in love after accidentally being locked in the Met overnight in 1965. And now, after too many almost-confessions, hopeless romantic Miki will finally tell her best friend Auden that she loves him by retracing the path through the museum that her grandparents took that fateful night.

But destiny has other plans. For it’s not Auden who joins Miki on her midnight tour, but Lou McSweeney—the world’s most jaded cynic, and Miki’s ex. How can she possibly confess her feelings for Auden when she’s stuck sparring with this arrogant jerk? And is it possible that her original plan was not destiny’s true course after all?

Content Warning: divorce, strained family relationships

+ Miki has a plan to tell her best friend Auden that she has been in love with him for awhile now. Her plan is to follow the story of how her grandparents fell in love in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She thinks this is a foolproof plan and once she confesses, he will also love her back. But plans go awry when she is task to take her ex-fling, Lou, on a tour of the museum.

+ The narrator for this book had a very clear voice and I think she did a fantastic job bringing the story to life.

+ I loved how Miki is a lover of art! I learned a few things and even made me remember the one time I went to the Met years ago. It’s such a beautiful museum and all of it is conveyed in this story. Miki not only is a lover of art, but also talks about her grandma’s experiences as a Japanese-American during World War II and being put in a camp. I love how Miki tied art and life experiences together.

+~ So when Lou, Miki’s ex comes into the story, I kind of already knew where this was going. And everything happens in a whole night spent at the Museum – which I can imagine is very magical, but she does go from being in love with Auden and ready to confess to him to falling for Lou by morning. I’m not mad about it, and I did like her and Lou together, I thought their interactions were funny but we really got no feel for Auden at all.

Final Thoughts:

I thought this audiobook was such a fun listening experience and I would totally watch this if it ever became a movie. It’s got appreciate for art, and NYC, a girl who is a romantic, a second chance romance, and it even touches on deeper topics like Japanese-American history and even some complicated family relationships. Overall, I thought this was a cute story and it’s a quick read also.

Read if you like:

young adult romance
art
second chance romance

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Hunt the Dragons by. Miranda Lyn | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Hunt the Dragons (Hide the Witches, #2)

Author: Miranda Lyn

Pages: 608

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Publication Date: 9/21/26

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Series, Dragons, Demons, Witches

Some debts are paid in blood. Others in love.

Syneca Black should be dead. But with her last breath, the Phoenix witch makes a desperate bargain with a mysterious stranger for a price she still doesn’t understand. She wakes in the Underworld alive, bound, and hunted. To repay the bargain that spared her life, Syneca must find a missing dragon before her debt comes due. Only Silas stands between her and the demon princes who want the stolen fire in her veins.

The more she lets herself trust the man who carried her into the Underworld, the harder it gets to tell where her distrust of him ends and everything else begins.

She isn’t the only one running out of time. Lucette Varrow answers to the moon now, and whatever she becomes when it rises, she doesn’t remember it. The only thing that ever breaks through is a dragon she shouldn’t recognize, and can’t stop needing.

Two women descended into different kinds of darkness. Only one may find her way back.

Content Warning: violence, grief

+ I love how this world opens up! We go to the Underworld and learn about the demon princes who are also hunting for the Phoenix because it’s their power she has, and they want it back. There are three POVs in this story: Syneca, Silas and Lucy. Lucy is separated from everyone so her character development and arc is huge. In the end the storylines converge and we learn even more about Furies, and dragons. The cast of characters get bigger, and the world expands which is great.

+ The found family trope in this series is really amazing. I love Pip – she is the glue between them! I also love how we get new characters, Dez, Lore and Ramiel who are demons. I feel like that it a big appeal of this series – the lovable characters, characters you get invested in.

+ There are two romances happening in this book. One for Lucy with someone I wasn’t expecting. That romance storyline has spice. But Syneca and Silas – wow, it’s a slow burn, or I’d say slow yearn since there is no spice between them – just a tiny bit of steam but so, so much yearning especially from Silas! They have such an epic romance, which I’m happy and I can’t wait to see what happens in book three.

+ This book is what fantasy is all about. There is magic, romance, friendship, lore, teleporting (they jump into books – I LOVE it), different species living among one another (somewhat peacefully) and cute creatures like grimmies! It’s got adventure, intrigue, and action.

Final Thoughts:

I love this series and I’m just sad I went through books one and two so fast and now I have to wait for book three. That was totally my fault but it was all worth it. I cannot wait for book three and see what happens to all these characters that I love.

Read if you like:

found family
good world building
epic romance

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Hide the Witches by. Miranda Lyn | Book Review – 4 stars/2 🌶️

Cursed City by. Kate Golden | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: Cursed City (Harker Academy, #1)

Author: Kate Golden

Pages: 523

Format: ebook

Publication Date: 9/29/26

Categories: Urban Fantasy, Dark Academia, Romance, Series

Welcome back to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense, where the line between hunter and hunted has never been thinner.

To rescue someone close to her, Viv Abbot must team up with Reid’s violent, unpredictable older brother, Deacon. Her uneasy truce with him offers Viv something Reid never could: the chance to embrace her darkness.

Viv’s mission takes her to the center of Astera’s seedy underbelly with none other than the White Stag as her guide. But when a bounty on Viv’s head puts those she cares about in danger, Viv will be forced to go to lengths she never dreamed in order to protect them.

With enemies closing in from all sides and a ticking clock on her life, Viv must save the Half City from destruction while surviving a betrayal that strikes at the heart of everything she’s fighting for. Because in a world where monsters wear familiar faces and temptation cuts deeper than any blade, making it through her second semester at Harker will take more than skill—it will take everything Viv has left to give. Who can she really trust in a city that thrives on lies?

Content Warning: violence, death

+ I was going to re-read book one but had no time so I just jumped into book two hoping I’d remember things. And thankfully I did remember! Viv is looking for Reid, and she’s enlisted his annoying brother Deacon, to help her. But Viv has a curse on her back and she needs to learn how to get rid of it before she hurts someone she loves and loses her mind. So the story is about finding Reid and finding an answer to Viv’s curse. We learn about the Elders, and who the High Thane is – I liked the twist and turns in the story!

+ I love the found family in this story! Viv doesn’t have a great relationship with her own blood family but the friends she’s made at Harker become her found family and I love them together – they are the support and friendship she needs!

+ I love Deacon, even though he’s such an a-hole sometimes. But I so loved how his relationship with Viv grows. I didn’t even care about Reid while she was with Deacon. It is a love triangle but nothing happens between her and Deacon, he has a spicy fantasy, but outside of that there is barely any steam or spice in this one, just some unspoken yearning on both their ends. I was hoping for a kiss but didn’t even get that. I hope that means book three is going to have more of them and a romance going between them.

+~ There were times I thought Viv was just so naive. Deacon’s old…he’s been around since Genghis Kahn and yet she doesn’t believe his knowledge on some things. Which of course is true to her age but it was frustrating too at times.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down because Deacon and Viv are amazing together. I loved their banter but also love how their relationship evolves. Not sure what’s going to happen in book three but I’m rooting for them! I also love the found family and twist and turns in this story. I look forward to reading the next book!

Read if you like:

love triangle
found family

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Half City by. Kate Golden | Book Review – 4 stars/1 🌶️

The House of Gardenias by. Isabel Cañas | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The House of Gardenias

Author: Isabel Cañas

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 228

Publication Date: 9/29/26

Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers

Categories: Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Young Adult, Gothic, Horror

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

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

Sixteen-year-old Minerva has spent her whole life in the slums of the capital city of an unnamed country that resembles colonial Mexico. Though she lives in the shadow of constant government turmoil, her empty belly and her father’s brutality don’t leave time for politics—especially since her older brothers ran away. Minerva can’t take another beating or miss another meal, so she steals flees to a wealthy loyalist neighborhood to win a job as a lady’s maid to an elderly widow.

Minerva and Encarnación del Valle—the proud and acerbic widow—form an unlikely duo. They are both survivors in their own ways, stubborn and used to being underestimated. For a time, Minerva is happy. She has food and safety in a house lit and warmed by magical chispa. Why should she care who runs the country or how her employer afford the magic?

But when the viceroy sweeps back into power on a wave of horrific bloodshed that sweeps away any hope Minerva had of seeing her brothers again, Encarnación retreats to the del Valle’s mountainside estate, the Casa de la Gardenias. Minerva finds herself surrounded by dozens of more experienced servants and the cruel, scheming younger del Valles, but the living are the least of anyone’s worries at the Casa de las Gardenias, and soon Minerva discovers that this ancient estate is home to forces far older and more bloodthirsty than the fascist del Valles or the liberal guerrillas amassing in the surrounding wilderness.

Content Warning: violence, death

+ I feel like fall season is in full swing when I have a Isabel Cañas book to read. She just does historical fiction, paranormal, horror books so well! The setting is lush and has all the gothic, spooky vibes you would want. In this story it even has political unrest and intrigue with the Viceroy (leader of country) fighting the rebels. Minerva is starving and desperate but she finds a job with Encarnación del Valle, who is related to the Viceroy.

+ Minerva’s growth in this story is wonderful. She goes from a starving girl, who’s family has broken up – brothers joining the rebellion and a dad who abuses her to someone who is helping the rebellion take the Viceroy and his family down. She gets help by a spirit or ghost in the house, who is there to eventually take her chispa (which is like a person’s soul or life force). At first he comes off sinister and scary but their relationship changes when Minerva doesn’t show fear!

+ This one is a slow burn of a story but it escalates so nicely that I was racing to the end! I thought Encarnación taking in Minerva as a servant but teaching her things high society ladies know – like games and strategy was very interesting. She was Minerva’s employer but Minerva saw her as almost family, since she had none. There are a few complicated relationships in this story which kept things interesting.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I enjoy the gothic and paranormal vibes of this one. The relationships are complicated and there is even political intrigue in this one. I loved Minerva’s growth from scared girl to someone who was tired of being stepped on and I even adored her strange relationship with Ygnacio. This was a quick read and perfect for spooky season!

Read if you like:

young adult paranormal, horror
gothic vibes

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

The Possession of Alba Díaz by. Isabel Cañas | Book Review – 4 stars

Vampires of El Norte by. Isabel Cañas | Book Review – 4 stars

Hide the Witches by. Miranda Lyn | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Hide the Witches (#1)

Author: Miranda Lyn

Pages: 558

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Publication Date: 4/20/26

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Series, Enemies to Lovers

Some bonds are forged in blood. Others burn everything to ash.

In Grimora, secrets burn faster than witches, and Syneca Black is both. Forbidden fire magic courses through her veins, hidden behind a lifetime of lies because Hunters don’t spare phoenix blood.

When her best friend vanishes and resurfaces on execution scrolls, accused of crimes that she couldn’t have possibly committed, Syn risks everything and volunteers for a hunt that could see both of them killed. It’s the only way to protect the woman who is like a sister to her. But taking that oath means binding herself to Wickett, the legendary Hunter whose sharp eyes and lethal grace have ended countless witches’ lives.

Every moment beside him threatens to shatter her carefully built lies. Every stolen glance fans flames she can’t afford to kindle. He’s sworn to his cause. She’s everything he’s trained to destroy. But in a city where Sprites carry desperate messages and ancient Furies keep secrets, the most dangerous discovery isn’t the growing fire between them. It’s realizing that both hunter and hunted are dancing to someone else’s deadly design.

When the blood debts come due, Syneca must save the woman who stood with her in shadows or trust the man whose touch feels like salvation.

Will the world burn or will she?

Content Warning: violence, death, grief, abuse

+ Syneca Black is the Phoenix that the Magistrate and everyone else is hunting down because there is a prophecy that her power would burn down the world. Thing is, she’s been hiding her identity well but then one of her roommates and best friend, Vitoria, gets accused of being the Phoenix. Vitoria goes missing and the Magistrate puts together a group to hunt her down. Syn and her other friend Calder join the group so they can find her and help her, but also the Magistrate’s son who is a notorious hunter, Wickett is part of the group. I enjoyed the world building and the different species like sprites, shifters, witches, dragons, etc…

+ I love the found family in this story, especially the one between Syneca and Calder, but more people are added to the group. Syneca has a familiar that’s a grumpy griffin, and there is an Oracle, and Furies. It’s such an interesting cast of characters.

+ The romance is a slow burn and enemies to lovers between Syneca and Wickett, but I can’t say he was easy to get to know. He’s a hunter, he kills easily, and he marked Syneca as a person he will kill after their mission. So when the attraction grows between them, it does give us a spicy scene but also a twist in the story.

+~ I enjoyed this one and read it kind of slow, but it is almost 600 pages, so it was a bit long. But I was invested in the characters and the search for Vitoria. The twist in the story is very interesting and that cliffhanger ending has me downloading book two asap.

Final Thoughts:

I really enjoy the world building, characters, the slow burn romance and the twist and turns at the end of this book! I’ve already downloaded book two so stay tuned for that review.

Read if you like: