Midnight on the Celestial by. Julia Alexandra | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Midnight on the Celestial

Spice Rating:

Author: Julia Alexandra

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 3/3/26

Publisher: St Martin’s Press

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror, Paranormal

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

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Roe Damarcus has never been afraid of the dead. Her power to summon spirits has awed the guests of her esteemed family’s galas for as long as she can remember. Her future is certain, and her gift will be another shining jewel in the Damarcus legacy.

But when she fails her realm’s trial to keep her magic and is deemed too dangerous for society, she faces a harrowing choice: give up her gift or serve a punishment sentence aboard the Celestial, a luxurious magical cruise ship where staff members compete for guest votes to earn a coveted retrial.

As a concierge, Roe juggles the demands of affluent guests, cruel bosses, and the suspicion that an infuriatingly handsome silks performer, Ivander, is determined to keep her from a retrial.

But the true dangers surface after her shift ends when the Celestial transforms into halls of nightmares that kill staff members after dark. Faced with the reality of serving aboard, Roe begins to question the ship, trials, and the system that put her there. But the moment Roe sinks into the ship’s dark history, she’s wrongly framed for a guest’s murder. Vowing to conjure her own second chance, Roe will use whatever power she has to uncover the secrets of the ship, her family, and their entwined bloody past… before she becomes the Celestial’s next victim.

Content Warning: torture, death, gore

+ I didn’t know what to expect with this book but it was like horror and magic on the Titanic, which I thought was a very fascinating combination. It was more gory than I expected. I enjoyed the horror elements because it made things unpredictable on the ship.

+ I thought the magic system was very interesting. Some people are born with magic and they are called Morphics, but they have to show control of their magic. If they have no control and don’t pass their trial they can choose to have their magic extracted fully or they can serve time on the Celestial, which is an interesting cruise ship where non-Morphic tourists get to experience magic in a “safe” way. The Morphics serving time on the Celestial get a chance for a retrial, as long as they are on good behavior and people on the ship vote for them.

+ Rosaline/Roe’s magic is resurrection, which is very rare and dangerous. She ends up on the ship by choice, but finds out it’s hard work and they get tortured each night by the bosses who extract a tiny bit of magic from Morphics on the ship to keep it powered. Roe meets Ivander, who is supposed to show her the ropes on the ship, but they kind of have a little enemies to lovers relationship going on – barely enemies…more like dislike to like. It’s a slow and sweet romance though. Roe also meets all of Ivander’s friends, good kids, who all have a different story of why they ended up on the ship.

~ The pacing was a bit off. I was engaged for the first half, especially when learning about the ship and then the second half, I struggled to stay invested. Roe and her friends work on the ship and we get to see a lot of that happen, then they undergo this torture every night from the Bosses on the ship, it’s a bit repetitive. I wanted to know more about why the horror happens on the ship and why it’s contained to certain parts. Also wanted the story to lean more into the horror.

~ The ending feels rushed but it is a standalone, so I think that’s why things were wrapped up quickly.

Final Thoughts:

I thought the magic ship idea was really creative. I also found the magic interesting and I like the horror elements. I was invested in the first half of the story but I kind of struggled in the second half. The world-building on the ship was much stronger than when the story shifts to being on land, so the ending feels a bit rushed but overall, a good debut.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

She Drinks the Light by. Yasmin Angoe | ALC and ARC Review | Audiobook and Ebook

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: She Drinks the Light

Author: Yasmin Angoe

Narrator(s): Ashley J. Hobbs

Format: audiobook (NetGalley)

Pages: 336 Listening Time: Approximately 7 hours 50 min

Publication Date: 3/3/26

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends Audio Publisher: Macmillan Young Listeners

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fantasy, Paranormal, LGBT+

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

Thank you to Feiwel & Friends and Macmillan Young Listeners for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

For fans of Sinners and Immortal Dark, a teen girl must uncover her family’s deadly secrets in order to save her best friend and her island in this heart-pounding YA debut.

Addae has spent her whole life on the Golden Isle, a private island off the coast of South Carolina that has been in her family for centuries. Island residents don’t really fraternize with mainlanders, and for good reason. Golden Isle was founded by the Kinfolk, descendants—including Addae and her Nana Ama, the island matriarch—of escaped enslaved Black people.

But the Isle and the Kinfolk have secrets that must be protected from the outside world. Secrets of spirituality, mythology that are deeply rooted in their West African culture, beliefs, and traditions. The Kin are bound to protect the Golden Isle and, in turn, it protects them.

When Addae’s best friend Naria goes missing and one of the Kin turns up drained of blood, Addae’s way of life is threatened. It looks like the work of the Adze, West African supernatural beings that drink human blood in order to survive—also known as vampires.

Believing Naira is alive, Addae travels to the mainland. But as Addae gets closer to finding Naria, she uncovers deep secrets about Nana Ama’s past, and about her own… secrets that could change how she feels about the Golden Isle and her lineage.

Torn between two worlds, Addae will have to decide how far she is willing to go—and who she is willing to cross—to save her best friend, and even herself.

Content Warning: violence, death, slavery history, cursing

** I listened to this as an ALC but I also had the ebook arc, and I’m glad I had the ebook because the audiobook had issues and I don’t know if it’s on my end, but many chapters would cut out or skip. Parts of the audio would go silent and come back again. I did mostly listen to it though because I love how the narrator brought the story to life. But for me, this ALC copy wasn’t the best and it was helpful that I had the ebook. **

+ Addae lives on Golden Isle, off the coast of South Carolina and her family’s West African roots are preserved on this island. Her grandmother, her only guardian used to be a slave so she has come a long way to owning her own island. So there is a lot of anger, resentment and a need to protect themselves and the island from mainlanders. But when Addae’s best-friend Naira goes missing, she has to find help on the mainland where she discovers her cousin was involved with a boy, Luke, who’s family was all about collecting artifacts and maybe wanted something from Golden Isle. I think there is a lot of growth for Addae. She didn’t like that Naira wanted to leave the island because she didn’t see any reason to want to be anywhere else, or that she was dating a white boy. But her search for Naira opens her eyes to a lot of things. Also, her relationship with her grandmother is one of respect, but there is a lot of secrets between them that gets revealed in the end.

+ I don’t know much about West African culture, but I did hear some familiar mythological names like Anansi (I used to read my kids the story about Anansi the spider) and Nyame. I kind of got excited that those names were familiar to me and it made me more interested in the story to see what more I could learn about them. Also I didn’t expect the paranormal elements in the story, the vampires and zombies.

~ The first half off the book is slower than the second half. We meet Addae, and see her life on the island with her grandmother and other families. But Naira goes missing, and she goes missing for awhile. It seems people are quick to say she is gone except Addae. So Addae is basically trying to find Naira on her own until she runs into Luke’s sister, Hailey. Still, there doesn’t seem much urgency in finding Naira and except for some stories of strange sighting or going-ons, there are no leads. I found that part slow. But things pick up in the second half because it’s like the story turns in another direction.

~ The ending feels rushed because so many things are revealed and happening at once. I do wish more hints about vampires were dropped earlier in the book.

Final Thoughts:

I love the West African history and heritage that was represented in this story and it also doesn’t shy away from slavery that was part of South Carolina’s past. I do think pacing was an issue, first half went a little too slow but it switches up and picks up but then the ending feels rushed. I really liked the family and vampire elements of the story. I thought Addae had a lot of character growth throughout the book. Definitely check this one out if you are into vampire stories.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: We’re a Bad Idea, Right?

Author: K.L. Walther

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 3/3/26

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!

The business of love gets messy when two best friends decide to fake a romantic relationship in this uproarious and swoony novel by the bestselling author of The Summer of Broken Rules.

Audrey Barbour has had enough of following the rules. Eighteen years of being the perfect daughter—exceptional grades, enviable college acceptances, tame dating history—and still, her parents don’t trust her enough to let her study her passion, glassblowing, on a prestigious fellowship.

So when her best friend Henry proposes an outrageous fake-dating scheme to win back his ex-girlfriend, it feels like the first step to shaking up her perfect life. And the second? That comes when Audrey’s parents go out of town, sparking a high-risk, high-reward solution to pay for her fellowship—renting out her family’s Connecticut mansion online. With the help of her new fake-boyfriend, it shouldn’t be hard to pull off… right?

But when her best intentions start to unravel, Audrey will have to reckon with who she is, what she wants, and what it really means to play life by her rules—all with her heart on the line.

Content Warning: alcohol use

+ This is a wild ride of a young adult romance! Audrey is a glass blower and sells her creation on her own Etsy shop. Henry is her best-friend and he helps her run her shop, but he’s also dating her good friend, Ellie…until recently. Henry wants to get Ellie back so he proposes they fake date to make Ellie jealous, and then maybe Audrey’s crush, Griff, will also look at her in a different way.

+ The fake dating is fun because they are best friends and have their own way of interacting with one another using movie lines or calling each other by character names. It’s very silly, very cute, and I loved Audrey and Henry together. When they do feel something more, which comes really easily and without any real drama – all it takes is a few talks between them when they do have a challenge before they get their happy ever after. I liked how the topic of a long distance relationship was Henry’s hang-up about continuing a relationship, but there was Audrey’s parents in a long-distance marriage that worked!

+ Outside of the fake-dating though is the crazy things happening in Audrey’s life. Her parents are on a trip, and she accidentally pays ten thousand dollars for tuition to a school her parents haven’t agreed to. So…the rest of the story is her trying to come up with a way to make the 10K back before her parents get back home. The plan involves all her friends, but what Audrey learns about herself is that she really is good under-pressure and can actually run a business! It’s kind of crazy but it works, and I thought it made this story pretty fun to read.

+ I found all the characters to be good people, which was kind of nice! Audrey is a chill girl, and nothing seems to get her totally down. And her group of friends, even her parents, seem like really relaxed people – I cannot relate! haha…but it’s nice. I like that everyone was trying to help her out in some way.

~ If you don’t like pop culture references then you won’t enjoy this book because there is mention of Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and even Gracie Abrams. 😅. Even the title takes from Olivia’s song Bad Idea, Right?

~ There is a moment where Audrey and Henry take their relationship to the next level but it’s closed door, with barely any details except him pulling out a condom. I found it pretty realistic but I did kind of want more of a hint that they were headed that way in their relationship.

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed this one! I thought it was fun and funny. The characters were all likable and I kind of wish my parents were as chill as Audrey’s. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

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

The Cure by. Pedro Urvi | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: The Cure

Author: Pedro Urvi

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 400

Publication Date: 2/24/26

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing, Inc.

Categories: Young Adult, Dystopia, Sci-Fi, Post Apocalyptic

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

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing, Inc. for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

From internationally bestselling author Pedro Urvi comes a gripping new adventure that follows one young woman’s perilous journey to defy a divine curse and unearth a lost cure that could save humanity.

Ava’s people are cursed.

Long after an ancient and mysterious Apocalypse reduced what remained of humanity to a primitive tribe living in the shadows of sphinx and pyramid, a horrific transformation eventually overtakes each member of the community, turning them into vicious and terrifying monsters.

Every year, the capricious god Siaais selects three champions from the tribe to undertake a perilous quest for the Cure, the key to the salvation of Ava’s people. And every year, those champions fail, never to return.

But this year, something extraordinary happens. Instead of three warriors, Siaais chooses only one—Amos—along with a scholar and a healer: Ava’s cousin Amelia, and Ava herself. So begins an adventure in which past, present, and future collide. As Ava and her companions race against time to reach the Cure, they face dangers and mysteries beyond their imagining in a world where nothing at all is as it seems.

Content Warning: violence, death

I was asked to read and review this arc – though it’s out of my comfort zone, I liked the book cover and the synopsis, so I thought, why not? I usually read dystopian romance, and though this didn’t have a romance as a focal point, it was still an interesting read.

The first half of the story did go slowly for me. Ava, Amelia and Amos are the chosen ones from their tribe to find a cure for the disease that is making people transform into zombielike creatures. On their journey through ruins they meet new people from other tribes with the same goal. So it is a race to find this cure for everyone.

From what we gather as Ava and crew meet other tribes, each tribe has different levels of knowledge. It felt like Ava’s tribe was the most primitive, whereas Emma was someone who knew a lot of tech, and Logan had magic. So it made me curious about what else was in this world.

The story picks up at the halfway point and then ends in a flurry of a tiny bit of romance , unexpected deaths, action, violence, and a big twist I was definitely not expecting!

I’m not sure if this will be a series, since it’s not stated in the synopsis – but hopefully it is a series, because that ending was a cliffhanger.

Final Thoughts:

This story has a slow build in the beginning but it really caught my interest in the second half where so many things happen. It also ends in a really unexpected cliffhanger. I enjoyed the twist in the story! Definitely check this one out if you like Young Adult Dystopia/Sci-Fi books.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Fall of Iris Henley by. Jennifer Graham | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Fall of Iris Henley

Spice Rating:

Author: Jennifer Graham

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 336

Publication Date: 2/24/26

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller

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!

For fans of Megan Lally and Kara Thomas, a twisty thriller about a Texas teen accused of murder who’s desperate to clear her name.

All it takes to ruin someone’s life is the stroke of a key. Just ask Iris Henley. Her life is destroyed when someone posts an anonymous message on her high school’s subreddit thread: “Iris Henley is a killer. I’ve been too scared to come forward until now, but I saw her murder Rocky and Lynette last summer.”

Just like that, Iris loses everything. Her reputation. Her friends. Her hope of getting into college on scholarship. Even, possibly, her freedom, once the police start to investigate. After all, she’s the perfect suspect: Rocky was her boyfriend, and Lynette was her ex-best friend—and the girl he was cheating on her with. But Iris didn’t do it, and now it’s up to her to clear her name by finding out who did—before it’s too late.

Propulsive, sharp, and absolutely twisty from the New York Times bestselling author who brought readers the Veronica Mars duology, Jennifer Graham’s YA thriller is unputdownable.

Content Warning: alcohol use, drug use, violence

Iris Henley is trying to move on after her boyfriend Rocky was found killed, along with her ex-best friend, Lynette. But someone has started a rumor that is was Iris who killed them. Now Iris is trying to find out who is spreading the rumors and who can trust around her.

Iris is a cheerleader, part of the in crowd, but she has her flaws. She was part of the reason her ex-bestie lost her spot on the cheer team, putting Iris in the top spot. But when everyone starts to turn on her, she kind of gets a taste of what Lynette went through.

I really like how twisty this got, and I didn’t predict some of the reveals at the end. There is betrayal, and sometimes Iris feels like an unreliable narrator because the night of the killings were fuzzy due to her being out of it, but eventually the truth is revealed and I was nicely surprised!

Final Thoughts:

This was a quick, twisty mystery thriller where one girl has to find out the truth about who killed her boyfriend and ex-bestie, and also find out who she can really trust around her.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Goodbye and Everything After by. Mae Coyiuto | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Goodbye and Everything After

Spice Rating:

Author: Mae Coyiuto

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 2/17/26

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Magical Realism, Filipino Representation

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

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

A teen girl comes face to face with her dad’s spirit when she ignores a strict Filipino superstition in this contemporary young adult novel that tackles grief, family tension, and first love.

It’s been five years since Nika’s beloved father passed away, but her family has never fully grieved. They don’t speak of him much at all, except on the anniversary of his death.

Whenever they visit her father’s grave, Nika’s superstitious mother still insists on practicing pagpag, a Filipino belief that you can never go directly home after attending a funeral—or risk the spirit of the departed following you back home.

But when her mom’s new fiancé suddenly shows up at the cemetery for this year’s memorial for her dad, she furiously walks out, breaking the pagpag superstition. The next day, she finds herself face-to-face with the ghost of her dead father. . . and Nika’s the only one who can see him.

As she spends time reconnecting with her dad’s ghost, Nika learns about her parents’ past and how they started dating back in high school. And when she starts to fall for her neighbor Seph and accidentally re-creates memories of her parents’ love story with him, her dad’s spirit slowly becomes more solid and alive. Fearing that she’ll lose her dad again, Nika makes it her mission to find a way to make her dad stay permanently, no matter what the cost.

With a perfect blend of humor and heart, Mae Coyiuto artfully brings past to present in a way that explores grief head-on.

Content Warning: grief, cursing

Nika is a teenager and dealing with a lot of emotions. Her mom is engaged to be married to their dentist, and Nika feels like she is the only one grieving her dad’s death. She is a teenager, so she has some very strong feelings and thoughts about everything, and she curses.

What drew me to this story was the Filipino representation, more interestingly the Chinese-Filipino representation that I’m not to familiar with. I love seeing my people represented in books, so this was a great way for me to learn more about one of the many different cultures that thrive in the Philippines. Even though I’m not Chinese-Filipino I still recognized some of the foods they talked about, which I love. I related to the family expectations Nika is dealing with and family drama.

When her dad appears to her, I thought it was fitting, because it gave her a sense of closure at the end and helped the family come together to not only honor his memory, but deal with the grief each of them have been handling, almost alone, but not really alone.

There is even a little teenage romance, which I thought was cute.

Final Thoughts:

I loved the Filipino representation in this book with the cultural practices, the food, and the family dynamics. I thought this was a heart felt story that dealt with grief and moving on, which can be really strong feeling to manage when you are a teenager. But I thought this story did a great job of showing how closure, forgiveness, and moving on can be healing for everyone.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Lonely Hearts Day by. Kasie West | ALC Review | Audiobook

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating:

Title: Lonely Hearts Day

Author: Kasie West

Narrator(s): Renee Dorian

Format: audiobook (NetGalley)

Pages: 113 Listening Time: Approximately 2 hours 52 min

Publication Date: 2/10/26

Publisher: Tantor Media

Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Novella

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

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

It isn’t that Scarlett Landry doesn’t believe in love, her parents’ relationship is perfect, after all. It’s just that she doesn’t think she should be forced to celebrate it. Forced to listen to terrible poetry and watch Valentine’s Day roses being distributed to everyone around her at school. If there is a relationship status that deserves its own holiday, it’s single-hood.

Content Warning: divorce

+ This is a super cute Valentine’s Day romance. Scarlett throws a party for single people her Freshman year in high school, and she and her small group of friends have a blast. So they do it every year and the parties just get bigger.

+ The romance between Scarlett and her friend, Jack, is really cute. It follows them (quickly) through each year in high school on Valentine’s Day. They start off strong, but over the years grow apart when Jack dates someone else and Scarlett deals with her parents divorce. But in the end, their love is undeniable, they just had to wait for someone to make a move.

+ Narrator did a great job!

~ It is a teen romance so just expect party games like spin the bottle and 7 seconds in Heaven (but with a twist). Also there is teenage drama.

Final Thoughts:

This is a very cute, teen/young adult, childhood friends to lovers romance for Valentine’s day! It’s also a quick read because it’s a novella, and I thought the narrator did a great job.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Better Than Revenge by. Kasie West | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Maybe This Time | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Sun and the Starmaker by. Rachel Griffin | ALC Review | Audiobook

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: The Sun and the Starmaker

Author: Rachel Griffin

Narrator(s): Suzy Jackson

Format: audiobook (NetGalley)

Pages: 448 Listening Time: Approximately 11 hours 7 min

Publication Date: 2/17/26

Publisher: Recorded Books

Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Fairy Tale

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

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

There once was a village so far north that most considered it the top of the world… and in that village, the Sun fell in love with her Starmaker. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches comes a whimsical and sweeping romantic fantasy.

Nestled deep in the snowy mountains of the Lost Range, the small village of Reverie endures on a miracle. Beyond the reach of the Sun, Reverie is dependent upon the magic of the mysterious Starmaker: every morning, he trudges across a vast glacier and pulls in sunlight over the peaks, providing the village with the light it needs to survive.

Aurora Finch grew up on tales of the Starmaker’s magic, never imagining she’d one day meet him. But on the morning of her wedding, a fateful encounter in the frostbitten woods changes everything. The Starmaker senses a powerful magic within her and demands she come study under his guidance. With her newfound abilities tied to the survival of the village, Aurora is swept away to his ice-covered castle at the mountain’s peak.

The Starmaker is as cold and distant as the dark woods, leaving Aurora to explore his enchanted castle with only an immortal rabbit for company. Yet the more she discovers about the sorcerer, the stronger their ruinous attraction grows, pulling her closer to the secrets he refuses to share. A deadly frost approaches, and Aurora must uncover what the Starmaker is hiding before she is left in an endless winter that even the Sun cannot touch.

Content Warning: death, grief

+ The narrator did a great job voicing all the characters in this story.

+ This is a beautifully told story that starts off with a fairytale. It definitely gave me Frozen + Beauty and the Beast vibes. Aurora loved the story of the Starmaker as a child, a Sun goddess who fell in love with a human, who then becomes the Starmaker. And when Aurora becomes the next Starmaker Rising, her whole world changes! I loved all the magical elements of the story. This story is set in a very cold climate and it felt like it from start to finish.

+ Aurora has a deep love for her family and she does a lot of things for them. I liked that about her. Her character goes through a few things and find that she wants to shine on her own, without being a bride until it was her choice to marry. She trains to be the next Starmaker with the current Starmaker’s help. The Starmaker (Caspian) is not a happy man, he’s a grouch and wants to be left alone – he’s been alive too long, lived with loss and pain and now with Aurora becoming the next Starmaker, he knows his own time was coming to an end. So they clash a lot because Aurora is so stubborn.

+ The romance is emotional, heartbreaking and bittersweet. Aurora and the Starmaker clash a lot, but being forced to train and live together, makes something more grow between them. Friendship and then love. There is a big price to being a Starmaker – it causes pain, it causes death, and yet without a Starmaker, a whole village could die. So there is big responsibility in the role, but the price that has to be paid is painful – as Aurora finds out. This is categorized as young adult, but there is one spicy scene which isn’t very graphic, but it is there. So I don’t know if this is more New Adult? Not sure.

~ I enjoyed the story a lot but Aurora was so stubborn and always fighting Caspian for no real reason except being mad at him because he revealed she was the next Starmaker and it changed her life. Yet it wasn’t his fault, it was the sun who chose her! He keeps telling her if she fights her role as Starmaker she will die, but she keeps fighting it and him. She took out her anger on him every chance she got…which was frustrating. I wanted her to grow up. So I didn’t totally love her character – there is growth at the end when she is again forced to face her responsibilities, but she is very stubborn.

Final Thoughts:

This story is told like a fairytale with magic, lovable creatures, and themes of family. I didn’t quite love Aurora all the time throughout the story but I guess her stubbornness is what kept her love with Caspian going. I still enjoyed her story about falling in love with the Starmaker, it’s beautiful and heartbreaking. This is a beautifully told and narrated story about love, magic, fate, sacrifice, stubbornness and grief.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Bring Me Your Midnight by. Rachel Griffin | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Nature of Witches by. Rachel Griffin | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Heart’s Gambit by. J.D. Myall | ALC Review | Audiobook

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: (closed door)

Title: Heart’s Gambit (#1)

Author: J.D. Myall

Narrator(s): Khaya Fraites, Eric Lockley, Alaska Jackson

Format: audiobook (NetGalley)

Pages: 335 Listening Time: Approximately 12 hours

Publication Date: 2/3/26

Publisher: Macmillan Young Listeners

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Time Travel, 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!

A thrilling and romantic debut fantasy where competitors from two prominent, time-traveling Black families must fight in a deadly magical duel – and find themselves falling in love.

The Baldwins and the Davenports have been sworn enemies for centuries. Ever since Venus Davenport and Titus Baldwin, two enslaved kids, fell in love, tried to run away, and got caught by their mistress, Sabine, a powerful witch. Desperate for freedom, they struck a bargain, and she gifted their families the ability to exist outside of time, along with magic to survive and thrive.

Those gifts came at a price.

Once a generation, their families must put forth a competitor for a magical duel to the death to feed Sabine’s immortality. This time, Emma Baldwin – a wish spinner – and Malcolm Davenport – a maker of illusions – are chosen.

But when they meet to check out the competition, sparks fly. Soon, the two are exchanging letters, having secret meetings, and fighting off their cursed urges to hurt one another, all while trying not to fall in love. And if they are ever going to have a chance to be together, they only have one choice: to put an end to Sabine’s curse, once and for all.

J.D. Myall’s Heart’s Gambit is an irresistible journey of dazzling magic, unforgettable first love, and daring to dream of something more.

Content Warning: violence, death, trauma, slavery, racism

Sworn enemies, a family curse, slavery, history, trauma, a deadly game, and forbidden love? I was intrigued by the synopsis. And let me say the narrators did such an amazing job – it was the reason why I was riveted to the story!

I don’t usually like stories where there is a lot of time jumping and travel but this story has a lot of it but I didn’t mind. I like the years Emma and Malcolm would travel to. We would get a sense of how Black people were treated in certain eras but it let us know that no year has been good to them and they have had to survive anyway they could through every era since they were brought as slaves to the USA. Emma’s family runs a circus and performs but Malcolm performs too, as a singer. These young ones are raised to hate each other’s family but a forbidden love grows between them.

I was rooting so hard for Emma and Malcolm because I love that they found love with all the hate going on. They try to work together in coming up with a plan to beat their common enemy Sabine at the deadly games they have to fight in. But they fall in love, like their ancestors, the reason why the curse on their families exist in the first place. Their love isn’t easy because with the curse comes bloodlust to kill one another. So throughout the story not only are they falling in love and trying to figure out a plan, but they are trying to hold back feelings of wanting to kill one another also!

There is a strong element of family in this book. At some points Emma and Malcolm were so conflicted about their love because their families were against it. But they had to make some strong and almost heart-breaking choices.

One issue I had with the story was all this talk about these deadly games they have to compete in, but these games/trials only start at 80% in the book. I wish it started earlier.

I do think things for the most part things get wrapped up especially when it comes to Emma and Malcolm’s forbidden love but the ending definitely let’s us know what is to come in book two.

Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed the story telling, and the narrators. The time travel was important in giving us insight and history about what Emma and Malcolm, their ancestors and people had to go through. I thought there was a lot of action and magic, but I did want the games to start earlier in the book. Overall though, I found this to be a really entertaining story that was emotional at times.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Stolen Midnights by. Katherine Quinn | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: Stolen Midnights (#1)

Author: Katherine Quinn

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 464

Publication Date: 2/3/26

Publisher: Delacorte Press

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

This magical new YA romantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of To Kill a Shadow will steal your heart. Set in Andalay, a world where the ruling Fates bestow gifts among the favored, a thief must join forces with the palace darling after he unwittingly steals a necklace with the power to change everything.

When Damien, a cold and hardened thief, is hired to steal a gift from the powerful Fates meant for Andalay’s sweetheart, Wren Hayes, he finds himself entangled in a web of secrets.

The gift? A locket containing his own phototroph.

Once the locket is opened, hidden truths unravel, ones that shed light on the ruthless ways of the upper-class society. Yearning for the three Fates and the magical gifts they bestow, the lords of Andalay will go to any length to keep their power—including murder.

Brought together by destiny, and fighting a temptation that neither understand, Wren and Damien navigate a seedy world where the truth can destroy not only their lives, but the city itself.

Content Warning: violence, death

Wren doesn’t have good standing in society or among her family, and when her birthday magic gift isn’t given to her, it makes her reputation even worse. Damien, is a thief, and he is the one who stole Wren’s magic gift, a locket – with his picture inside it. But the question is why? When another thief steals it from him he reluctantly joins forces with Wren to find this gift.

Wren and Damien are from different classes, she’s a pampered young lady from a rich family and Damien is from the streets. They clash in personalities, but I found their bickering pretty fun. There is an attraction growing between them but Damien runs from her each time he feels more for her, and she gets upset with him a lot about it. There is a tiny bit of spice, there are barely details in the act of it.

But with this quest to find the missing gift, Wren stumbles onto something more sinister that involves the Fates (the ones that gift the magic), and the high lords in society – including her own father. There are a few twists and turns at the end that was a surprise and it ends in a cliffhanger.

Final Thoughts:

I thought this was a fun, young adult fantasy with a surprise ending I didn’t expect. I love Wren and Damien’s back and forth banter – they are both pretty stubborn. But I love the rich girl/poor boy trope so I was invested in their romance. I also thought the mystery about the high lords and the operation they were hiding really added to the mystery. Overall, a pretty good start to the series.