Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston

To say that EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR is a book about rape severely undermines what this book is about. Hermione is a cheerleader in Ontario, Canada. The book starts out with her at a cheerleading camp, completely in her element, as she navigates her friendships and her stormy relationship with her boyfriend, Leo. Then at a party, everything goes wrong-- someone drugs and rapes her.

I loved the way the author handled this subject and was honestly surprised that this was published in the 2000s because it feels so progressive. The way that Hermione processes her rape and starts to heal from it, her support network, her therapy, and the chilling realization that her rapist might be someone she knows-- might even be the boyfriend who is now avoiding her-- were all handled with extreme care. I also liked how Johnston portrayed the fishbowl dynamic of high school, and how Hermione's rape put her in the spotlight of the student body in the absolute worst way. The author was never too specific about details and didn't linger over things, but she still managed to convey how people victim-blame and slut-shame and gossip and speculate, to the point where it begins to feel very dehumanizing in a way that adds to the already-extant trauma, and I think that's an important message.

My favorite thing about this book was probably Hermione's relationships with her friends, especially her best friend, Polly. At the end of the book, it's revealed that she is a lesbian, and again, considering that this was published in the 2000s, it felt super progressive. There weren't any icky jokes, Hermione just full-heartedly embraces her friend's coming out without asking any invasive questions; it was so respectful and loving, and ended up serving as a wonderful callback to the many times that Polly supported Hermione through her traumas. The support that these girls had for each other was so real, and it's rare to see such healthy and non-toxic friendships portrayed so convincingly and compellingly in YA (sadly).

It's weird to call a book that focuses on SA joyful, but EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR is; it's a story of a girl who seizes her life back when someone tries to take it, and who, in the end, gets vindication through love, empowerment, and vengeance. I fucking loved that for her. This is the sort of book that needs to be in libraries, because I could totally seeing this being THE BOOK for a teen feeling wounded and alone.

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng

GORGEOUS GRUESOME FACES is like a cross between Suspiria, Jennifer's Body and The Grudge. Sapphic K-pop horror with a paranormal twist, this story took a little while to get rolling, but once it started, it was all a downhill speedrun of twisted romance, morally grey baddies, and lots and lots of body horror.

Sunny used to be part of a successful K-pop trio but then she was struck by what seems like massive bad luck: she stole another girl's boyfriend, watched one of her bandmates, Mina, commit suicide in front of her eyes, and had a falling out with the remaining girl, Candie, who she has an extreme love-hate relationship with and can't stop obsessing over all these years later. When she sees that Candie is trying to revitalize her career by training as an idol at a sort of idol bootcamp, Sunny signs up too, desperate for closure-- and a return.

I just loved this book so much. The female rage, the viciousness of teen girls, the sapphic dark romance (soooo well done), the horror elements-- this felt like it had the pacing of an excellent movie. And as a certified horror wuss, I felt like it struck the perfect balance between making me super uncomfortable but unable to look away. That ending montage was just *chef's kiss*.

In addition to all of the good stuff, there's also a lot of really great commentary in here about how the entertainment industry chews up young women and then spits them out, and how fucking brutal it is to be a teen girl working in an industry filled with adults who want to adultify you and make you grow up too fast while also turning a blind eye to you when you desperately need an adult's help.

Absolutely obsessed and cannot wait for the sequel.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Companion to the Count by Melissa Kendall

I got this during Dragonblade publishing's big sale. COMPANION TO THE COUNT was so satisfying: it's got the rake-with-the-heart-of-gold trope and some of the most relatable anxiety rep I've encountered in a while. Saffron and her younger sister, Angelica, are in dire straits since their brother's disappearance and possible death: their estate and money have gone to a distant relative who doesn't have much interest in their keep, so all of their hopes are being poured onto Angelica, the beauty, who has to make a marriage that will be their salvation.

One day, at a party, Saffron has a run-in with Leo, catching him in what appears to be in flagrante delicto. At first, she thinks he's a disreputable cad, but he's got his share of tragedies too: a sister who painted under a male pseudonym. Someone appears to be trying to steal all of his sister's work and he's doing his best to flush out the potential thief, by hosting an auction with the "last" of her work.

I enjoyed this so much. Kendall's work reminds me of Amanda Grange's: a strong but realistically flawed heroine, a dashing and slightly brooding hero, and action blended with angst and romance. There's a much gentler, tamer similarity to Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane series, too. I wouldn't call this a mystery, exactly, but it's got mystery as part of the story, and I'm excited to read the sequel.

3.5 to 4 out of 5 stars

The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

THE LESBIANA'S GUIDE TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL was so cute and made me feel literally all the emotions. After Yami is outed at her old school by her ex-best friend (and crush) and starts getting bullied, she and her brother decide to start anew at Catholic school. The only problem is, unlike her old school, it's mostly white, and she feels like she doesn't get to be her whole authentic self living in the closet.

One thing I loved about this book was all the nuance. Exploring one's cultural identity when one feels isolated from it. The conflict when faith turns to sanctimony. Loving your parents but being afraid that they won't love you for who you are. The adultification of children of color, and the very real fear of what happens when you get kicked out of your home. Mean girls. Redemption stories. The discussion of how "coming out" is a privilege and isn't always safe. Depression and suicide. Rejection and acceptance. And love, in so many forms.

Sonora Reyes totally outdid themselves with this book, okay? I felt like I was reading a real Latina girl's diary. I laughed, I cried, and felt real anger on behalf of this girl, who I got to know over the course of the 300-or-so pages of this book. I loved Cesar, and her mother. I loved Bo, and the gay joy of her existence. I loved Bo's parents. I loved how Latinx culture was inserted into the book and colored the heroine's world. I loved this book.

I see complaints about how YA these days seems too afraid to tackle the tough stuff. If you've been complaining about that, too, you need to read this book. In a sea of YA where the young characters feel like a mouthpiece for their adult authors, Yami feels like an authentic teenage voice.

4.5 to 5 out of 5 stars

Home Is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose

Jeneva Rose is one of my autobuy authors when it comes to mysteries. Her books are like potato chips; they're super easy to consume, and by the time you get to the bottom of the bag, you still kind of want more. HOME IS WHERE THE BODIES ARE might actually be my new favorite of hers, even more so than YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME HERE. She absolutely nails the bickering sibling vibe, and the pacing had me paging until the end, with a twist that was *chef's kiss.*

This book is about three adult children: Beth, Nicole, and Michael. Beth is a single mother, Nicole is a heroin addict, and Michael is the success story of the family. When their mother dies of a terminal illness, they're forced to put their differences aside as they come together to mourn their mother's death. While dividing up her assets and cleaning up the house, they come across a box of old family video tapes and decide to watch one from the summer of 1999. But what should be a bittersweet exercise in fond reminiscence ends up becoming dark, fast, when they see evidence of what appears to be the cover-up of a murder on one of the tapes.

I saw some reviews complaining about the pacing and I do think that the focus of the story is on the interpersonal relationships as much as it the whodunnitry. We get to know Beth, Nichole, and Michael as people, and how they view each other and their very troubled relationship with their parents, and it's meant to set the stage for the suspicion and paranoia that will come next, and how being products of their various upbringings will affect how they respond to fear and pressure. Every time I read one of the different POVs, I found my loyalties shifting, which just shows the power of a compelling narrator; sometimes they can trick you into thinking that they're reliable when they're not.

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

His Darkest Craving by Tiffany Roberts

Tiffany Roberts needs to make me stop falling in love with weird monsters. They're seriously putting human men to shame.

Also, I am shocked at the number of reviews criticizing this book-- which is about a horned forest lord by the way-- for not being The Domestic Abuse Survivor's Handbook of Good Decision Making. Was it stupid that Sophie fled into the woods from her abuser, in a place that has poor cell phone reception, without giving an exact address? Probably. Do we all panic and make poor decisions sometimes, especially if we're characters in a book with a plot that's gotta move?

I mean...

HIS DARKEST CRAVING is a cottagecore monster romance with a darker edge that keeps it from being too light. It has a similar vibe to I'M IN LOVE WITH MOTHMAN by Paige Lavoie and GIVEN TO THE GHOUL by Desiree M. Niccoli. I do think I liked their spider centaur romance more because it had a better balance of character development and world-building to plot, but this was still a fun read.

3 out of 5 stars

The Cinnamon Bun Book Store by Laurie Gilmore

I preordered this all the way back when it was still called THE BLUEBELL BOOKSTORE. I can see why the title changed; I'm sure after the success of the first book, the publisher thought the food/seasonal theme would make the series feel more cohesive. But unlike the previous book, this one is set during summer. Given some of the reviews and the ratings, it seems like some people bought this expecting more autumnal goodness and were angry that it was a beach read (which seems silly, but people, you know?).

Personally, I thought THE CINNAMON BUN BOOKSTORE was a better book than THE PUMPKIN SPICE CAFE. Both Hazel and Noah have more depth as characters and the sex scenes had actual chemistry. Even the mystery element was fun, although like TPSC, this is a mystery only in the most rudimentary sense of the word. Someone is hiding secret messages inside books that are prompting the introverted Hazel to step outside of her shell and go on "risky" adventures. It's a mystery the way P.S. I Love You is a mystery, in that it's basically not.

Mostly, this is a book about people who aren't sure if they're worthy of love discovering that they are, after breaking free from the societal cage of expectations that they've been placed in. Hazel learns that she's not boring, and that growing up means stepping out of the neat circle of your everyday life sometimes. And Noah learns that success takes many different forms and may not look like the sort of success your parents envisioned for you, and that growing up for him means stability.

Also, we love a reverse age-gap where she's the older one. Although they sure made turning thirty sound like it turns you into the Crypt Keeper.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Witch Soul by Morgan Dante

One of the more unusual set-ups for a sequel I've encountered, WITCH SOUL takes place almost one hundred years in the future after A FLAME IN THE NIGHT. It's about Millie, a witch, who has been arrested for vigilante distributioning of free magical medicine-- because obviously anyone who's handing out cures willy nilly in a capitalist society must be suspect. *rolls eyes*

She's freed from jail by her two exes, but not wanting to implicate them, she runs away-- and ends up in the same town that is occupied by the vampire thruple from the previous book: Claire, Leon, and Matthias. She and Matthias hit it off at a bar, but are chased by a rogue vampire, and end up trapped in a cave, where they have a deep conversation that echoes the one that Leon had with Matthias in book one while he was still human.

I did not like WITCH SOUL nearly as much as I liked book one. I think part of that is because it tried to do too many things in too short amount of space. Book one is about two sex workers soothing their PTSD in a post-war society who end up getting revenge on the people who hurt them the most. Book two is about identity, sort of, and possibly also a metaphor for queer awakening and overcoming internalized homophobia. The idea of a witch soul was fascinating-- as a witch, Millie carries a sort of fallen angel/demon inside of her with its own separate gender identity, but because her mother was such a bigot, she never wanted to fully embrace that witchy side of herself.

This is something that I wish had been more fully explored because I think it was a really interesting take on what it meant to be a witch. I think the book also suffered a little because the historical setting was what I really loved about book one, and how it added to the gothic atmosphere. This book didn't feel very gothic at all, more speculative sci-fi-fantasy. Which was still interesting, but was so different from what book one was setting out to achieve to do that it didn't really feel like it fully meshed as a sequel.

2.5 out of 5 stars

A Flame in the Night by Morgan Dante

I bought this book because of the Astarion-looking motherfucker on the cover, and because the idea of a queer historical vampire romance with gothic vibes was exactly what I wanted. A FLAME IN THE NIGHT ended up being so much more than what I was expecting though. Morgan Dante's ornate style takes some getting used to, but I loved this story of a husband and wife with an open marriage (both of them various degrees of pan) who end up encountering a vampire.

The discourse on queerness and working in the sex work industries in the 1920s were fascinating, as was the idea of what looking "out of date" might mean in that era, but I think my favorite part was when Leon goes to Matthias's house for the first time and they have this incredibly interesting and thoughtful discussion about what it means to be human (or not). I loved it even more than the spicy scenes.

If you like the idea of erotica that handles sex work sensitively, languishes in its queerness like a warm scented bath, and features an MMF relationship where the men can't really be bothered with adhering to traditional gender norms and the woman has more freedom than her husband within their relationship, you will love this book. What a pleasant surprise.

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch by Codie Crowley

I think this book might have changed my brain chemistry. HERE LIES A VENGEFUL BITCH is about resident bad girl, Annabel Lane, who wakes up and can't remember what she did last night. All she knows is that her ex-boyfriend might have been involved and she left her house looking like a break-in. But then she keeps coughing up dirty water filled with pine needles and people seem surprised to see her. And she starts to wonder if maybe the reason she can't remember anything might be because someone tried to kill her-- or if she's even alive now.

This was such a good book. I loved the "unlikable" heroine and how she was portrayed. I loved how deftly the author showed how creepy men can be, and how dangerous the world is to an overconfident teenager who wants to be brave and loved for who she is in a world that hates women who break the mold. (Although, I mean, I hated it, too.) I loved the tempestuous portrayal of female friendships. And I loved the fast-talking fifties love interest who wore Buddy Holly glasses and quoted retro science fiction.

HERE LIES A VENGEFUL BITCH is kind of like a cross between Donnie Darko, The Frighteners, and Beetlejuice. If you like gothic-coded paranormals in the vein of Lovely Bones and other books from the "dead girl" era of late aughts YA, you'll love this.

I absolutely cannot wait to read whatever else this author writes.

5 out of 5 stars

Knot My Type by Evie Mitchell

I adored this book. A sexologist and a carpenter: it sounds like the beginning to one of those old skool bar jokes, but instead it's a delightful romcom that focuses heavily on accessibility in BDSM. The heroine, Frankie, uses a wheelchair and hosts a podcast where she talks about what sex might look like for people of different levels of ablebodiedness. She meets the hero, Jay, through a connection who knows that he's a good rigger in addition to being a carpenter.

When she comes to one of the shibari classes he teaches, they hit it off instantly, and even though he doesn't "do" relationships, they decide to keep hooking up as casual friends. Because even though Jay is sending up all kinds of emotional red flags, this is a romance novel, dammit. As long as those flags are made of the finest and most luxuriant fabrics, we ignore their waving and settle in for that HEA.

KNOT MY TYPE is such a sweet, sexy, inclusive book and I enjoyed every moment of it. 

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

Northranger by Rey Terciero

NORTHRANGER is a contemporary graphic novel western retelling of Jane Austen's NORTHANGER ABBEY, except with a gay Latino teen as the protagonist. Cade is part of a blended family: he lives with his mother, abuela, stepfather, and stepsister in a relatively poor neighborhood. To get extra cash, he and his stepfather are going to work for one of his old military friends, a man called the General.

At the ranch, Cade meets the General's kids: Henri(etta) and Henry. He falls for Henry pretty instantly, because he's cut, charming, and has all of his same interests. But one of the ranch hands says that Henry can't be trusted, implying that he's a murderer with blood on his hands, just like his father. I liked the queer take on the classic brooding gothic love interest and thought it was really well done, and all of the horror movie references were fantastic. I especially liked the dialogues about how horror movies are often queer coded (one of his faves is Jennifer's Body), and how they can represent strong cathartic feelings that can make you feel better when you're feeling isolated, anxious, or alone.

For a YA title, this is pretty brutal. The author included a list of trigger warnings in the beginning, which I found very helpful-- especially for the animal deaths one (it's a mouse, and it is implied and not shown, thank you). NORTHRANGER also features racial and homophobic slurs, mostly to show how rural Texas has an ugly side to its beauty, which taints the experience of living there for marginalized folks. But it's a beautiful story, and I think it does a good job paying homage to the original Jane Austen tale. 

3.5 to 4 out of 5 stars

Bought for Revenge, Bedded for Pleasure by Emma Darcy

Another surprisingly sweet blackmail romance. Jack Maguire has good reason to despise his two stepsisters, Sally and Jane. Their mother, Lady Ellen, has turned his father's head and convinced him to banish him from the house. Turned away from the very gates, his last image of his childhood home is his stepsister, Sally, riding a thoroughbred. Even though she's only fourteen, he's very attracted to her, and as he walks away, he vows revenge.

This could have been gross, but Jack doesn't get his revenge for like ten years. When they meet again, she's twenty-four and their father is dead. As it turns out, his father's business practices were super sus, and Jack has been quietly buying him out of debt for years, to the point where his father's vast billions are all his, and his trophy wife stepmother and her two daughters "only" have four million to their name, thanks to some changes to the will.

In exchange for her precious horses and the ability to remain in the house, Sally agrees to become her stepbrother's mistress. What makes this kind of a refreshing take on the trope is that she's actually into the blackmail. She finds her brother attractive, she wants what he's offering, and the fact that he's patient and not cruel about taking what he wants makes her feel not-awful about giving into him.

A lot of romance readers complain, "Just take the money, girl!" when it comes to heroines dragging their feet with their billionaire partners, so all of those readers should read this book. Sally's only concern is that Jack might think she's trying to trap him into marriage, and please her mother. There also isn't a third-act breakup or big misunderstanding. Jane, Sally's sister, confronts Jack about his intentions and there's a showdown with the awful mother, but apart from that this book is... sweet?

I just read another blackmail romance where the hero was surprisingly nice, but this hero was even nicer. And I, like the heroine, was actually super into it. I also liked how the author took care to make the age-gap way less creepy than it could have been. I appreciated that.

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Brazilian's Blackmail Bargain by Abby Green

When Maggie was young, her abusive stepfather mined her attraction to the rich tycoon, Caleb Cameron, by forcing her to seduce him so he could ruin him. I'm not 100% clear how this was going to work, but Caleb figured out the plan and brutally humiliated Maggie before sending her back home, broken-hearted, to her cruel stepfather.

Years later, stepfather dies, and Maggie thinks she's home-free. Except, oh whoops, Caleb is still angry about the whole seduction thing: he's bought up all her stepfather's properties and the house she shares with her mother. As one last stake in the humiliation coffin, he'll let her mother live in the house, but only if she sleeps with him.

For a blackmail romance, this is actually pretty gentle and not-too-dubconny, which will be nice for people who want a book with the themes of dark romance but not the brutality. I actually liked Caleb, who was just cruel enough to be hot, but not cruel enough to be irredeemable. This is also one of the few big misunderstanding romances that actually worked, and I could see where both the hero and the heroine were coming from, which was quite refreshing.

I wish there had been more blackmail and that the heroine had been allowed to pocket her riches, rather than leaving with her head held high as she returned to her third-act breakup noble poverty. But I'm awarding bonus points for not having the heroine be a virgin and some genuinely spicy dialogue.

I would read more from Abby Green!

3.5 out of 5 stars

Public Wife, Private Mistress by Sarah Morgan

Ugh, this was so frustrating because parts of it were really good and I thought the ending was quite satisfying, but this has one of the most annoying TELL HIM THE TRUTH big misunderstandings that I've encountered in a while. Stasia is the British wife of the Italian millionaire, Rico-- until he caught her in bed with a naked man while they were on vacation with his younger sister and banished her, pending their divorce.

Now said sister is in the hospital with amnesia because of a horse-induced head injury, and when she finally wakes up, she thinks the two of them are still newlyweds on their honeymoon. Furious, Rico informs Stasia that they must now pretend like they are still married, so as to not upset his amnesiac sister (who didn't even like Stasia at first??? but now, apparently, she does??), although of course, he still expects the hate-sex because he is a man with #needs.

Deus-ex-head injury aside, the cause of the big misunderstanding is so FRUSTRATING because it could have been resolved with a single sentence and even though it was great that Rico apologized, he only did so after treating the heroine like shit for 90% of the book and calling her a slut. We also never see the sister grovel, and she needed to-- even more than the hero. Because holy shit, that was basically SA.

Anyway, while the sex scenes were spicy and I thought the writing was good, this had way too many tropes that were not for me and I did not personally like the way they were combined.

2 to 2.5 out of 5 stars

Powerful Italian, Penniless Housekeeper by India Grey

India Grey might be one of my new favorite Harlequin authors. POWERFUL ITALIAN, PENNILESS HOUSEKEEPER might have a silly title but it's a beautiful story about feeling uncertain in your thirties and rediscovering your passions when life leaves you cold.

Sarah is the awkward, plain daughter in her blended family. Her half-sister, Angelia, is pretty and popular, and her wedding is making Sarah, as a single mom, feel like a miserable failure. These feelings are amplified when Angelica and her cruel friends decide to humiliate Sarah for sport at their bridal shower, forcing her to do a scavenger hunt, like finding an eligible bachelor and ordering a "screaming orgasm" from the bar, and basically just being total assholes.

That's how she meets Lorenzo, eligible bachelor and film director extraordinaire, who is less than impressed with the way that Sarah is being treated. They have an instant connection, but Sarah, because of her insecurities, sees him as a chivalrous Italian man just exerting his charm. She doesn't expect to see him again, so obviously she does.

The core conflict here is that we learn, early on, that Sarah is the daughter of the deceased author who wrote Lorenzo's favorite book; he hopes to make a film of it by getting the rights, but the owner of said rights (his daughter) rejects everyone on principle. By the time he realizes who she is, he's already half-fallen for her, and this makes his seduction of her sharp with guilt: is he only doing this to create the magnum opus he's always dreamed of? Or is Sarah the woman he's been searching for all his life?

The writing is exquisite and Sarah was such a well-done character. Loved a non-virgin single mother heroine in her thirties, and also loved that the hero had infertility that WASN'T miraculously cured in the epilogue (I was worried). This author has a knack for introducing tough subjects in this book and handling them sensitively, but I've been burned too many times. Apparently, I needn't have worried.

Cannot wait to read even more from this author.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Cheer for Me by Savvy Rose

Sapphic stalker romance, anyone? CHEER FOR ME is a psychologically dark romance riddled with 90s nostalgia, set in a small bedroom community. Mary, one of our heroines, is a disturbed young woman who moves to a new state to make a fresh start-- or so we think. Ava, our other heroine, is a cheer coach married to a teacher. Both of them are cheating on each other and their marriage is a shambles, but they're putting on a good show for their public image.

I'll be honest, student x teacher is not usually something I gravitate to, but I liked that this was set in college instead of high school. I also liked how feral Mary is, as the younger person in the relationship. Because she's the driving force, and Ava is-- to some extent-- trying to escape it, it makes the story feel less predatory than a lot of student x teacher romances do. I also like how it's always fully clear that this is not a romanticized relationship: they both have issues, and I liked that.

If you like dark romance and have been craving the F/F version, you'll really enjoy this. Apparently there's another book in the series coming out soon called ONE DARK CANDLE.

3 out of 5 stars

Lore Olympus: Volume One by Rachel Smythe

Absolutely worth the hype. Hades and Persephone is one of my favorite Greek gods pairings, and this is such a cute, soft version of it. Love the portrayal of Persephone as a sheltered girly-girl and Hades as a grumpy reluctant playboy. As far as how "accurate" this is, I'd say it's on par with Disney's Hercules, but that's okay, because we're not here for accuracy, are we? We're here for the vibes, and Hades' 5+ dogs. (Can I say I LOVE Hades as a Dog Daddy?)

I bought this impulsively while I was at the store and I think I might have to "impulsively" order the rest of the series as well.

5 out of 5 stars

A Vengeful Deception by Lee Wilkinson

Christmas romance but make it revenge.

Snowed in trope but make it revenge.

Idiots in love trope but make it revenge.

I think you get the idea.

A VENGEFUL DECEPTION is the story of Anna and Gideon. Anna has secretary training but her goal is to work in a library or own a bookshop. Gideon is the man she meets by almost running him over after coming back from the liquidation sale of her small business.

After offering him a drive home, her car breaks down (ofc) and the power is out, and wouldn't you know it? He doesn't have a cell phone. So they do what anyone would do, they have stir-fry and indulge in some heavy-drinking while he asks her some rather disturbing questions about her personal life that kind of suggest that he knows more about her than he's actually letting on.

At first, this book takes a pretty progressive stance on the virgin heroine trope, and I liked how the heroine pointed out that part of being a modern woman is being able to say "no" to sex without judgement too. It lost points at the end, when the heroine later tells the hero-- and us-- that if a man can "seduce" a woman, she probably wanted it. Uhhh. But this is a Harlequin and not a feminist treatise, and a lot of the books in the Presents line are kind of rapey, especially if they're older. That's part of their appeal to their fans.

Were these two characters both total knuckleheads? Yes. Was the hero an unlikable cad? Yes. Did I want to medevac the heroine out of his lair of seduction? Yes. Was I incredibly entertained with this Die Hard excuse of a Christmas novel where the only holiday trappings were brandy and a tree? Absolutely I was. 

I wouldn't recommend this book to like 99% of people, but I found it very amusing.

2.5 out of 5 stars

The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore

I honestly don't get the hype with this one. I was expecting a spicy cozy mystery with romcom vibes, but it didn't really deliver on the mystery or the romance end. I could see this making a really cute holiday movie, like Hot Frosty, but on paper it fell flat, at least for me. I'm a little worried because I bought the whole series because of the hype, but one of my TikTok friends was saying that CINNAMON BUN BOOKSTORE blows this one out of the water, so I'll be trying that one before I give up, because I really want to love these books.

I think I want to live in that cover, though. 

2 out of 5 stars

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo

THE GHOST BRIDE is one of my favorite books of all time, so when I found out that Yangsze Choo was writing yet another fantasy novel bordering on magical realism that was steeped in Asian folklore, I was super excited. And THE FOX WIFE did not disappoint: set in both Japan and China, it deftly weaves together two storylines: Bao, a man who was supposed to die, except that one of his kindly servants said a prayer for him that changed his life, and Snow/Yuki, a fox woman who is posing as a servant while looking for a man.

This had everything-- drama, romance, revenge, and magic. For a while, I was wondering how the two stories would converge, and I was very pleased with how they did. The pacing in this book is definitely a lot slower than it was in GHOST BRIDE, which felt more like what you might expect from a romantasy. This book, on the other hand, felt literary and almost plodding: it took a while to get where it was going to go, and you really got the sense that you were going on a lengthy journey alongside these characters, for better or for worse.

If you are okay with a slow-burn plot and prefer your fantasy novels to be primarily character driven, with strong female characters and not too much romance, you'll enjoy this book. I hope they make a movie of it: it would make a great animated movie or limited series.

Can't wait to see what this author writes next.

4 out of 5 stars

The Last Raven by Helen Glynn Jones

I'm actually shocked that the average rating is so low because I feel like this book has a lot in common with romance-heavy new adult fantasy books, and this reminds me a lot of books written by Tracy Wolff and Kate Golden. This is a futuristic AU dystopian set in our world, where vampires have taken over and started using humans as livestock. If the humans are lucky, they're free-range courtesans used for blood in the palaces, but if they're not, they're relegated to "safe zones" where they're forced to provide blood for safety.

***MILD SPOILERS TO FOLLOW***

Our heroine slash narrator is Emelia, the human-born daughter to two royal vampires. Because of her, ahem, condition, she's seen as inferior by a lot of other people in court and she's been kept in relative isolation. But now that she's an adult they're trying to roll her out slowly, and in a controlled way, so she can take on her duties as heir when she comes of age... even though both of her parents will outlive her (which is weird, but okay, why not lol).

Enter Kyle, the love interest: sexy bodyguard vampire who is charged with guarding her body but who also wants to do way more to it than that. He's more than what he seems, but so is Emelia, and when whispers of a rebellion begin circulating, the matter of her safety becomes a particularly thorny issue because the call is coming from inside the house and now she doesn't know who-- or what-- to trust. Everything she knows might be a lie.

The writing style was very breezy and I really liked the beginning, although because of the cover I was thinking this was going to be a high fantasy, so I was surprised that it was more paranormal dystopian. The jumpscare I experienced when I saw "Mercedes" mentioned. I feel like this is a book that is probably geared more to teens, because it gave strong Vampire Academy vibes, and I think all the kissing would have really appealed to my inner romantic back then. There's only one or two sex scenes and they aren't particularly detailed, so I think this would be fine for older teen readers. I also liked how the author tried to address some questions readers might have, such as why Emelia's parents didn't just TURN her.

I do feel like the ending was confusing, especially with regard to perhaps future plot twists and love interests, and that seems to be what people took issue with. Maybe it would help to think of this less as a romance than a romantic fantasy but then I reminded myself that individual books in the series don't have to have an HEA, as long as the last book does. There's something so nostalgically 2012-feeling about this book, that it fits right at home amongst the other YA releases in the dystopian boom canon, and if you love books like that and don't mind a little bit of comforting predictability, you'll love this.

I am definitely interested in reading more books from this author!

3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars

A Waltz with the Bone King: A Short Macabre Romance by Amanda Cessor

A WALTZ WITH THE BONE KING is a beautiful novella featuring the death and the maiden trope. Lorelai, a sickly and beautiful woman with morbid interests, meets the King of the Dead while walking in the woods. He has fallen in love with her and wants to court her, but every meeting with him carries a risk of death. Little does she know, she's been living on borrowed time already, and like Jareth, he has reordered time and turned the world upside-down for her already...

The Victorian goth-punk vibes of this reminded me a lot of Corpse Bride and Adalyn Grace's BELLADONNA, especially with the message that all of us are living on borrowed time at every moment and that while death is the true end to every story, it is nothing to be feared. The ending of this book made me cry because it made me think of my dad, who was ill with a terminal illness for almost six months. He was so at peace at the end, after going through so much discomfort and pain, and so much of what Lorelai had to say about her thoughts on death and living reminded me of him.

If you like cozy whimsigoth stories, you'll love this book. Especially if you love respectful skeleton daddies and the death and the maiden trope. I can't wait to read more from this author. I really like her writing style.

Thanks to the author/publisher for providing me with a review copy!

4 out of 5 stars

I'm in Love with Mothman by Paige Lavoie

To be honest, after reading this book, I might be in love with Mothman, too.

I've been following Paige Lavoie on social media for a while and her videos promoting her Mothman books are amazing, but I was a tiny bit hesitant to read them because I wasn't sure if I was into monster romance or not. But she kept sharing these tantalizing quotes where he called her his "flame," and some primal scenes, and finally, I couldn't take it anymore, I was like, SOLD.

Heather is a burned-out influencer with a chronic illness (Hashimoto's). After trying a new skincare line gives her a bad breakout and leads to a PR snafu, she has a little bit of a mental breakdown and decides to go dark, abandoning her online persona to go live in a cabin in the middle of the woods. As one does.

She quickly finds out that she might not be the only thing in those woods. A brother-sister duo is quick to inform her about the local lore involving a certain moth creature that has been rumored to terrorize locals. The brother, Chris, even has scars. But when Heather finally encounters her cryptid neighbor, he's not what she expected at all.

This was great. It had romcom vibes but with a darker edge that kept it grounded. I loved the casual representation of Heather's chronic illness and bisexuality. I also liked Moth's shapeshifting abilities and how his imperiousness was juxtaposed against his hilarious social faux-pas (drinking syrup out of the bottle at a pancake house, trying to eat the tablecloth in her kitchen, etc.). The cottagecore vibes were everything and I will absolutely be reading the sequel. I had SO much fun with Moth and Heather.

4 out of 5 stars

Whatever Whispers by Genna Black

This was honestly such a delight-- so many of my favorite tropes: sadist with a heart of gold, nanny x single dad, student x professor, anxiety rep, secret societies, and a slapdash of dark academia. Quinn Ivor attends Cypress U, in no small part because of her father's influence. But he's cold and harsh, and since Quinn is oblivious to the steps he's taken to protect her, she hates him. When he dies, she obviously feels conflicted, but she needs to stay in school for her trust.

Enter Jack Hollis: her professor, although when she meets him, she doesn't know that yet. He's raising his niece like his own daughter because his sister is a drug addict, and he's been trying to balance teaching with being a full-time dad. Given Quinn's nanny experience and financial woes, she seems like the perfect candidate for the job. But her father's legacy has dark ties that go well beneath the skin...

I liked this book a lot. Quinn and Jack had explosive chemistry, and even though this is pretty light for a dark romance, Jack was just dangerous enough to deliver on the "touch her and die" energy that I crave. I wish the secret society had been fleshed out a little more, and that maybe the stakes were a little higher, but it feels like the author left a lot of that intentionally vague so she could explore the mystery behind the school even more in the sequel, which I will absolutely be reading.

I'm gonna have to get my hands on all of this author's other books, because damn.

4 out of 5 stars

Chapter and Curse by Elizabeth Penney

 

CHAPTER AND CURSE was literally everything I look for in a cozy mystery: it's got a likable heroine, a swoon-worthy hero, a little black cat, cozy English village setting, secret bookshop inheritance, and, of course, lots of sinister murders. If this took me a while to get through, it was mostly because I didn't want it to end. 

Wish fulfillment fantasy at its finest, a mother and daughter trio move from Vermont to Cambridge to live with a distant aunt in her bookshop. But she's having thorny issues of debt and inheritance and then somebody frames her for murder! OH NO! Luckily, her aunt has tons of friends, and there's the son of a hot duke to help them look into things. But as it turns out, some of auntie's friends aren't so friendly, and they have secrets that go back DECADES.

Reading this made me want to move back to the UK. Lord, I miss those tiny little villages. 

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

Bloodmoon Ritual by Kate Rivenhall

 

I thought this sequel to THE ECLIPSE RITUAL was going to take place in the same compound so color me surprised when BLOODMOON actually took place with a different sect of the cult, with a different leader. Temperance, our heroine, is the twin sister of one of this rival sect's enforcer's, Rhyder, and he's been obsessed with her since they were both children. But during a raid, she was rescued from the cult and rehomed with a foster family. Now she lives in the city, where she has a boyfriend and a job. So when the cult comes through looking for hos to bring back for fun and she sees her brother, all hell breaks loose... because boy, does he remember her.

I loved Ronan and Bee so much that I knew any following act would have a difficult time matching my expectations, but I did really enjoy this book. Temperance is a quieter, bookish heroine, but she still has these unexpected moments of bravery that made me appreciate her a lot as a character. Rhyder had to win me-- and the FMC-- over, after he BURNED HER LIBRARY (excuse me), but his devotion to her and willingness to put himself on the block for her every time, made it hard to stay *too* mad at him for long.

Also, we love a virgin hero. It was great to see a dark romance where the hero was a virgin and the heroine had actually had multiple partners, and besties, HE DOES NOT SLUT SHAME HER FOR IT.*

*he just gouges out her ex-boyfriend's eyes :')

I was a little confused about the world-building because this sequel made the series seem almost dystopian(?) whereas when I was reading THE ECLIPSE RITUAL I just figured it took place in our present day, but on an isolated compound, like the ones the FLDS had in Utah. The Bloodmoon Ritual itself also kind of confused me, because I wasn't sure what the point of it was, and considering that it was the title of this book, I felt like it could have been foreshadowed more and maybe played more of a significant element between the development of the couple and the furthering of their relationship.

But overall, this was such a treat to read. I think I might have scandalized the old lady who was reading over my shoulder on the cruise ship when I was just chilling with my incest smut in the cafe. WHOOPS.

Thanks to the author/publisher for providing me with a copy!

3.5 out of 5 stars

The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft

 

I picked this up from a lending library because I really liked the cover and it had a mixed media mystery format that kind of reminded me of Marisha Pessl's NIGHT FILM, which is one of my favorite books of all time.

THE EXTINCTION OF IRENA REY is a pretty bizarre book. This literary phenom of an author (compared to authors like Borges, Ishiguro, and Murakami) is in the middle of the Polish wilderness, surrounded by a summit of her translators who at first self-identify and identify each other by the languages they work on. Our narrator is Spanish, but there's also Swedish, Serbian, English, etc.

Irena Rey is about to release a new book, which is why they're all there, but instead she's acting super weird. Her husband is nowhere in sight, now she's claiming that there isn't a book, she's feeding them weird mushrooms and shit, and ceremonially dispenses these weird and creepy goodie bags that none of them can figure out.

And then she goes missing.

I liked the premise of this book a lot but it didn't feel like it knew what it wanted to be. So it ended up being one of those really strange and bizarre books where I couldn't tell if it got lost in its own mythos or if I genuinely was too stupid to figure out what was going on. I often feel this way after reading some of Mona Awad's work, so if you're a fan of that author, you may well enjoy this. I almost DNFed but I wanted to pull through just in case the ending was worth the pay-off (it was not, imo).

2.5 out of 5 stars

Given to the Ghoul by Desirée M. Niccoli

 

GIVEN TO THE GHOUL was a free download during the Monster SYKD event and I was excited for this one because even though I don't read a ton of monster romance, I was familiar with this author's work and knew I really enjoyed her writing style.

GIVEN TO THE GHOUL is a very short novella about a woman living in a desert town that kind of has a sort of death cult lottery system: to appease the ghouls that live in the desert, they occasionally sacrifice one of their own. This year, because she rejected his advances, the sheriff has decided to rig the system and make sure that Mina's name is the one that is called. Not before he offers her a Judge Claude Frollo "choose me or the fire" moment first, though.

Mina is dumped in the dessert with a single bottle of sunscreen and a canteen of water. The days are hot and the nights are freezing, and when she meets the ghoul she's exhausted-- but he isn't what she's expecting: he brings her a sandwich and promises he isn't going to eat her. Well... not in that way, anyway. Hehehe.

I really liked this story, for what it was. Like other reviewers, I wish it was longer. I think she could have gotten a whole book out of this premise and raised it to R. Lee Smith survivalist horror heights. Not that I'm telling the author how to write-- I just wanted more, because their society was so twisted, and it was such a "maybe humans are the real monsters" moment that I was curious about how they functioned. The pacing is super fast burn but I thought the relationship between Garyth and Mina was cute. Get you a man who gets you the skulls of your book-burning enemies for your garden.

Read this book and then get yourself FOLLOW ME TO THE YEW TREE as a little treat afterwards.

3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars

Such A Good Guy: A Brother's Best Friend Dark Romance by Kate Raven

 

SUCH A GOOD GUY was a surprisingly humorous read: it's about a sociopath who's obsessed with the younger sister of his so-called best friend. He's also a pop star with a bubbly golden retriever personality that the heroine describes as a "psychotic surfer" and who self-describes as having a "reptilian" personality with a "brain full of a forest of knives." So yeah, he's a fun, rabid little golden retriever man.

Luna, the object of his affections, is an introvert who owns a crystal shop. She bemoans the lack of good men out there, and sees Luke, Mr. Psychopop, as one of the last morally decent guys out there. We know better of course, but part of the fun is waiting for her to realize that he's been busy hoarding her hair and teeth and impregnating her in her sleep, when he's not murdering people in Plant Daddy t-shirts.

I don't know how Kate comes up with these stories but I hope she never stops. Luke is up there now with Viscount St. Erth and Je Sweet as one of my favorite psychos.

Thanks to the author/publisher for providing me with a copy!

3.5 to 4 out of 5 stars 

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

 

If you're a dark romance author or content creator and you have a video go the tiniest bit viral on Instagram or TikTok, you will have no shortage of comments telling you to go to therapy. Ironically, I'm in therapy, and both therapists I've had have been fully supportive of my writing career, which kind of makes me suspect that these helpful armchair diagnosticians might not have my interests at heart (ikr?!).

When I first heard about this book, I was a little skeptical because it felt like it could be another gimmicky pseudo self-help book like EAT, PRAY, LOVE (which I struggled with-- especially in the PRAY and LOVE portions). But to my surprise, MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE hooked me right in from the get-go: it's about an LA therapist talking about some of her more difficult and emotionally draining clients, but also about what led her to get into therapy in the first place... and what eventually made her seek out a therapist of her own.

This book made me laugh and it also made me cry multiple times. I just lost my dad to cancer, and we sometimes had a difficult relationship, so a lot of passages in this book really hit hard. But it also provided a lot of consolation, too, knowing that a lot of other people are in the exact same boat, and that life goes on... until it doesn't. MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE is like reading a book from a comforting friend who doesn't pull back any punches when it comes to the hard truths. And it turns out, I really needed that.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk

 

There's something very old-fashioned about THIRST. It has the vibes of one of those older vampire novels from the 90s and before that go heavy on the old skool goth vibes (mausoleums, family tragedies, creepy statues, Europe), but it feels fresh even as it feels familiar because of the unique Argentinian setting: this book is set entirely in Buenos Aires.

There are two parts in this book. Part I is about the vampire herself and the shenanigans she gets up to, making people into her helpless thralls who are only too happy to give up their blood (eventually), her doomed attempt at making companions, and the solitude that comes from having a thirst that spells out doom for anyone mortal.

Part II is about the human, a single mom newly separated with a mother who has MS (I think?). She's trying to navigate her newly single status even as she attempts to come to terms with her mother's looming death. The way that the two stories intertwine is unsurprising, but what makes this read interesting is the listlessness of the narrative, and the dimensionality given to both protagonists.

If you read a lot of vampire books, I don't think you'll be surprised by anything in THIRST. It's sapphic and Argentinian so even though it's an old story, the portrayal of the characters and the setting are what make it novel and different. It's a pretty depressing read so if you've recently had a loved one pass of a degenerative disease, this book could be triggering because it dives into full detail about the psychological effects of seeing that and as someone who just lost her father to brain cancer, that was really hard for me.

Overall, though, this book was great and I really enjoyed it.

3.5 out of 5 stars

The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates

 

Darcy Coates is one of my autobuy authors but some of her books can be a little hit or miss. That said, I think THE HAUNTING OF ASHBURN HOUSE might actually be her best one yet. It has everything I love about books by authors like T. Kingfisher-- scrappy heroine who feels a little neurodivergent coded, animal sidekicks that don't die, emphasis on female relationships-- with some genuinely scary moments of horror that actually gave me nightmares.

Adrienne is surprised when she inherits Ashburn from her distant aunt Edith. She only has one memory of ever going there as a child, and it involved her and her mother fleeing in a car and the scent of blood. When she gets to the house, something is immediately off. Only the downstairs is wired for electricity, there are strange notes and instructions carved into every surface, and paintings of the family that seem to shift and turn to watch her as she goes down the hall.

The townsfolk remember her grandmother as a cold and distant woman who occasionally demonstrated moments of goodness, but that seems at odds with the portrait the house paints of her: a twisted and increasingly unstable woman who might have done terrible things whose marks remain in the very walls. Adrienne must find out what kind of woman her aunt really was-- her life may depend on it.

I thought Adrienne was a fantastic and resourceful heroine and I adored her cat, Wolfgang. I also thought that in addition to the focal horror element, this book is primarily focused on relationships between women (Adrienne meets a group of would-be friends that end up playing a significant role in the story) and connections between family matriarchs (in this case, her aunt Edith). It felt empowering and surprisingly touching, and even though I generally prefer my gothic horror with a generous side of romance, there's nothing I would have changed about this book. I read it in about three hours.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh

 

BLESSINGS is a fascinating coming-of-age story about Obiefuna, a queer Nigerian man who navigates his sexuality amidst the changing landscape of the country, starting from its post-militarization and ending with the criminalization of homosexual marriage in Nigeria.

If you love boarding school settings, I think you'll really enjoy this book. Obiefuna's school is draconian, and filled with hypocrisy (similar to the books I've read about the British school system, older boys take advantage of younger boys, sometimes sexually, and some of the teachers and admins are predatory). In boarding school, he meets his first love, a boy named Sparrow, who makes him feel things that he's never felt about anyone, which makes him feel valid and whole.

The story about his mother, Uzoamaka, was less interesting and also very sad. She ends up sort of being the catalyst that ultimately ends up leading to the conversation that Obiefuna never had with his father, but this also makes her kind of feel like a literary sacrifice. But many parents sacrifice for their children, so this narrative device didn't bother me as much here as it might have in another story. Especially when all of the characters were so poignant, and they all felt very realistically flawed and troubled.

Picked this up on a whim and was, once again, not at all disappointed. An excellent work of African lit.

3.5 out of 5 stars

The Dead Don't Need Reminding: In Search of Fugitives, Mississippi, and Black TV Nerd Shit by Julian Randall

 

THE DEAD DON'T NEED REMINDING is a collection of essays by a queer biracial man (Latinx and Black) about everything from growing up in the South under the looming legacy of slavery to how he associates with various mediums of pop-culture. I grabbed this randomly in the cruise ship library and enjoyed it a lot. In some ways, this kind of reminded me of Brian Broome's PUNCH ME UP TO THE GODS, although I didn't like this collection quite as much.

That said, Randall's poetry background really comes through in how he can spin a phrase, and I actually really loved his essays on Bojack Horseman and Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse. Seeing how much he related to Miles, and the portrayal of his Afro-Latinx roots, was truly heartwarming. And as someone who suffers depression, I really liked how Bojack made him feel seen (because it did for me, too).

I had never heard of this book before but I'm so glad I picked it up on a whim because I ended up liking it quite a bit.

3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars

If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury by Geraldine DeRuiter

 

IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT is a fantastic collection of essays about food and the author's own life, on a myriad of topics such as the problematic ways women are portrayed eating (or not eating) in media, the "eat... but not so much that you get fat" sentiment that is predominant in so many cultures revolving around food (but of course, this only really applies to women), the sexism of male chefs and male celebrities in the food industry, and of course, what it means to be a woman online.

I don't think there is anything particularly new or ground-breaking in this book but I still loved it. DeRuiter is charming, funny, and likable, and I honestly feel like her essay condemning women with food intolerances as being high maintenance healed something in me (indeed, this was why I chose to make one of my own romance heroines have a food allergy, which was validated by the hero). It SUCKS being treated like a pain for something you can't help, but honestly, even if it was just a preference, it feels weird shaming people for having a preference.

After finishing IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT, I kind of want to be DeRuiter's friend. Especially after her scintillatingly hilarious essay in what has to be the Italian frat boy equivalent of Ralph Fiennes's The Menu dining experience at the Michelin-starred molecular gastronomy dining experience: Bros'. I would suffer through an entire over-priced five course meal if she were there with me, making me laugh my ass off through the whole event.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter

 

RIPE is probably one of the most bizarre books I've read in a while. When I put it down, I actually had to think about how I felt about it-- did I like it? The writing style is very clean and spare, but the story itself is a downer: a depressed woman experiencing existential angst is working a tech job that she hates, and her CEO is asking her to do increasingly immoral things to keep her job.

Based on the back blurb, I was a little confused about what this book was actually about. I thought this would explore the relationship between the heroine and her boss more, but he was more of a secondary character. The blurb also makes it sound like they have a sexual relationship because it's so vague, but she's involved with a chef whose name we never learn, but who is in an "open" relationship.

Overall, this was a decent read. I wouldn't read it again but I would read more by this author.

3 out of 5 stars

A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon

 

DNF @ 42%

Absolutely gorgeous cover and very creative and potentially humorous premise, but this wasn't what I was expecting at all. I thought it would be a comedic book about an older magical girl having an existential crisis and it was sort of that, but it wasn't very funny. It reminded me a lot of I WANT TO DIE BUT I WANT TO EAT TTEOKBOKKI in the sense that the focal element is more about Asian women struggling to manage their depression and how it makes them feel selfish and unpleasant at people in a culture that not only values togetherness and putting other people first, but also doesn't really talk about mental illness publicly out of shame and stigma.

I found it to be really boring and a little too weird for me personally, and even halfway through this novella, it still didn't feel like it had all its shit together. It might be funny to others and maybe it just wasn't my personal sense of humor, so if you enjoyed Baek Se-hee and also enjoy anime, you might be the target audience for this book.

2 out of 5 stars

Prohibited by Madeline Thorne

 

I feel like the fact that people are so hard on FMCs has caused a lot of authors to be afraid to take risks with their female characters. Male protagonists can get away with virtually anything but if an FMC even squints at someone the wrong way, suddenly she's unlikable or a bitch. That's why it was so refreshing to read about Evie. There's an idea that strong women aren't allowed to be vulnerable or feel weak, but I am constantly reiterating that sometimes survival can be enough: and that's what Evie is. Caught between two powerful and abusive men, she is doing everything that she can do to survive, given her father's own brand of oppression and her traumatic experiences in the war.

When her lover, Walter Stanley, uses her as a set-up to assassinate someone in his way, she ends up out of the frying pan and into the fire because that someone has two angry half-brothers and a cousin who decide to kidnap Evie and use her to get back at Walter. Those people are the Lockwoods: Alex, Ryan, and Lindsay. And just in case that weren't drama enough, Ryan was her lover when she was young, back when he was the gardener for her childhood estate. Now he hates her, but he still kind of wants her, too. Uh-oh.

PROHIBITED has the vibes of one of those old skool bodice rippers I love, specifically Christine Monson or Natasha Peters: both of them had spirited heroines who went through hell and back, and never stopped surviving. I'm not usually a fan of Why Choose but I liked this book because I liked how distinct every male character felt, and because they all had relationships with each other, it felt like a natural progression for their circle to open to involve Evie. (And by the way, there's no incest: Alex and Ryan are stepbrothers, and Lindsay is Ryan's cousin, who has no blood relation to Alex. So you know, in case you were worried.)

I would have liked more suffering to happen to the two bad guys, especially considering what they did. It kind of felt like they got off easy. Like another review said, I also felt like there were too many Roberts POVs. The one with Walters and Saoirse was chilling and really well done in a way that added to the suspense and stakes (I actually said "holy shit" out loud), but some of them dragged the pacing a bit. BUT overall this was just really well done, dark without feeling like it was trying to shock. Everything felt like it unrolled exactly as it needed to for the sake of the characters and their development arcs and I can't say that about every dark romance I read. This is the second book I've read by Thorne and after this book, I kind of feel like I might have to read every single book they write.

Thanks to the author/publisher for providing me with a copy!

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim

 

WITHOUT YOU, THERE IS NO US has been sitting on my Kindle for a while but it took me a while to finish because it is so heavy. I read every nonfiction book about N. Korea that I can get my hands on because I find it so fascinating but most of the books I've read are memoirs from defectors. I've read a couple memoirs from people who traveled there for one reason or another, but usually it was to get a story or travel somewhere really unusual. Suki Kim is different from those: she is a journalist who traveled there incognito with a bunch of Christian missionaries to learn more about N. Korea through one of its universities, teaching English to some of their elite youth.

I thought this memoir was interesting because Kim is South Korean and so she did at times feel an almost cultural kinship with the N. Korean students she was teaching because of their shared history. But at the same time, the way they have been isolated from the rest of the world and raised to believe in the complete superiority of their nation with a fairytale fervor that feels almost religious made it hard for her to relate to them because she literally came from a different world.

I think this memoir shows her frustration at teaching without really being able to teach, and wanting to shed light and inform without getting anyone into trouble. Her whole situation felt very precarious and dangerous and it felt like she constantly had to walk on eggshells. Not just with the N. Koreans either, but with the very missionaries she arrived there with, with whom she does not share her faith.

Anyway, I liked this book a lot, although with books like these when there's no real sense of closure at the end, it makes me realize how life doesn't come to a neat full stop like fiction and how unsatisfying that can be (which is maybe why we shape fictional narratives the way we do). Highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in learning about N. Korea from a gentle, sympathetic, but grounded Western perspective.

3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars

Twelve Rolls of Tit Torture by Matt Nicholson

 

I found this while randomly looking for extreme BDSM books and the premise sounded wild enough that I had to read it. Abbey is a college student taking a photography class and for some reason, she thinks it would be a great idea to submit a bunch of photos where she's clawing and biting her own boobs. She takes the rolls to a professional photographer who specializes in this sort of kink and he offers to take even better photos that will guarantee her an A in class.

Ostensibly it's consensual but the line sure thins out between the dub and the non side of con. The writing is not the best although the story was compelling enough that I had to see what nonsense these two were going to get up to after he kidnaps her and takes her to the desert. The author lost me when he leaves lubes up her whole body with sunscreen, except for her vajazzle and her tittays, and leaves her to get sunburned all day under the hot sun. That's how you get melanoma, friend. What are you doing? What ARE you doing?

Absolutely insane BUT I do appreciate the author's note at the end that's like, "Hey, maybe don't do this specifically, and if you do want to try kink, maybe don't start with this. There are books that actually instruct you on that sort of thing."

2.5 out of 5 stars

Their Heart A Hive by Fox N. Locke

 

THEIR HEART A HIVE was a purely impulsive read because I saw that Cat Hellisen had given it a high rating and I really respect their writing (and their taste). And they weren't wrong! This is a vastly underrated queer fantasy with Celtic and cottagecore undertones that at times almost feels like a sweeping gothic with a fantasy backdrop.

One of the critiques of fantasy is that they often include homophobia as part of the default world-building but in this book queerness is completely accepted. The hero, Lowen, is gay. When he kills a magical bee that belongs to the local lord, he is summoned to the lord's domain where he finds out that the "lord" is actually genderqueer and is also sometimes "the lady" or even "themself" or "lord and lady."

The Lord and Lady of Honeymoore has a mysterious relationship to bees and their household staff, one of whom, Brem, Lowen ends up in a sexual relationship with. The plot is very slow and this is mostly just a book of vibes. I liked the vibes but the drop-off in pacing did make this a little harder to finish in the second act, although the ending was fantastic and left me a little misty-eyed.

Highly recommend this to people who wanted something like ACOTAR, but gay, or something that has an almost Miyazaki feel to it. I'm honestly shocked more people haven't read this.

3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

 

I was a little hesitant to read this book because I am a HUGE WUSS when it comes to horror and I don't care who knows. Body horror and spatterpunk are really hard for me to read and the cover makes it look like this book is going to be really gory. But it's not. It's kind of like if you crossed MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER with YELLOWFACE: you have the literary female serial killer pulp juxtaposed against some very powerful discussions of Asian racism.

Most of the horror doesn't happen until the last 40%. The first 60% is an intense character portrait about Ji-won, whose mother has just started dating a white man named George. George is That Creep(TM) who has a fetish for Asian women-- and even worse, he ogles and objectifies Ji-won's younger sister. She needs him gone, stat. But he has the prettiest big blue eyes... and she thinks they look tasty.

The imagery of literally eating the white male gaze is quite powerful and I think this book does a great job of showing the anger that a lot of Asian women (rightfully) have when they exist in a culture that fetishizes and objectifies them, denying them the right to exist as autonomous, flawed human beings, as well as the expression of their identity on their own terms.

I had a few issues with the ending and there were one or two things that felt a little over the top, but on the whole this feels like a smart and campy horror movie and I was actually pretty into it.

3.5 to 4 out of 5 stars

Homecoming by Madeline Thorne

 

Between Kate Rivenhall and now Madeline Thorne, I have been suckered into enjoying incest erotica by authors with names that sound like they ought to be cavorting around on a sprawling British estate tending to prize-winning orchids or breeding horses. Instead, they're out here converting the unwary into shipping blood siblings in extremely toxic but hot relationships. WHAT A SCAM. (I'm in.)

I was interested in this book because the author kept teasing the most tantalizing quotes on her Instagram. When she offered me an ARC, I was so excited. And oh my gosh, it did not disappoint. After reading Meg Smittherman's THRUM, I was really wanting another semi-gothic smut in space book, and this book really delivered. I feel like it also had DUNE space-punk vibes (only as window dressing, though, this is not hard scifi), with a generous dash of FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC family gothic incest drama.

And if you're looking at this book, you're probably very much in it for the family gothic incest drama. And maybe also the tentacle non-con. Man, when you see tentacle non-con in the list of TWs, you know you're in for a rollicking good time.

Soren was hot and Abra was such a strong character. Stabbing a dude in the dick with a nail file? COLD-BLOODED. I also really admired how resourceful she was, and how she gave as good as she got when it came to Soren and his forcefulness. She really reminded me of some of the classic bodice-ripper heroines, like Catherine from STORMFIRE and Ginny from SWEET SAVAGE LOVE. It ends on a cliffhanger with a promise of more, so there isn't an HEA at the end, but there is a ton of smut and forbidden desire and passion, so woo.

The only thing I couldn't fully get on board with was the "nectar" business. But it wasn't cream, so hey, if that's what they call come in this scifi universe, I'm willing to allow it for the sake of good smut.

Thanks to the author for providing me with a copy

4.5 out of 5 stars

Breathless by Cat Wynn

 

BREATHLESS was an impulse read since it was on Kindle Unlimited and I liked it quite a bit. There's a lot of humor in this book, and the reclusive heroine-- a burned out ex-fashion model who is incredibly neurotic-- was crazy in a very sympathetic and relatable way, and I liked her zany obsession with aquariums, which is how she meets the hero in the first place: through a forum for people who are obsessed with fish and aquariums. In the forum she meets a guy named Mack, who she has a crush on, but when he sends her a selfie after she pressures him for a pic, she notices a strange reflection in the picture...

I liked the first half a little more than I did the second half, but this was a very fun and amusing ride. Villains were a little cardboard cut-out-y but I got the impression that this was a loving parody of things like The Shape of Water and Splash, with a hefty dash of monster-fucking thrown in to keep things extra spicy.

Very cute.

3 out of 5 stars

Thrum by Meg Smitherman

 

THRUM is a lot of things and it does all of them pretty well. It felt like it could have been an episode of the show Love Death + Robots. Part gothic space opera, part alien romance, part survival story, THRUM is about a woman who wakes up in the middle of her spaceship from stasis and finds out that all of her fellow shipmates are dead and that someone-- or something-- has sabotaged her ship from the outside. When she puts out a distress call, someone answers, but that someone may be even more dangerous than being alone in space.

I don't want to say too much else because wherever you think this is going, it's probably not what you think. I am 99% sure that this was probably inspired by Bluebeard though (and that's not a spoiler, because again, not what you think), and maybe also a little bit of Crimson Peak with its hot and possibly villainous love interest. This is more creepy than scary which is perfect for a wuss like me, so if you want something with chilling vibes and a wild ending, this.

5 out of 5 stars

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

 

ON WRITING is one of my favorite writing memoirs/guides and for the moment, it's aged pretty well over the years (except for his adulation for J.K. Rowling and his seeming disdain for romance novels). I love how despite his incredible success, Mr. King seems very humble and approachable and even a little bemused that his books are as popular as they are, and it was fun getting a glimpse into the 1950s childhood that clearly inspired IT, his clear passion for writing at a very young age, and how long and arduous his path to success was (I had no idea that three of his "Bachman" books had actually been written prior to Carrie).

I think King does fall into the trap of making excuses for his favorites but condemning those exact same qualities in the things he doesn't like. His love and fond remembrance for trash films and Z movies, and the entertainment they bring because of their camp, when paired with compelling stories and charismatic and attractive leads gets him so close to understanding why romance novels are so popular-- and yet he can't seem to get over his disdain of them, mocking the adverb-heavy bodice-ripper writing style, and romance phrases like "arrogant cheekbones." Sometimes when you pick up a book, you don't want it to be literary, you want it to be fun.

Anyway, apart from that one niggling issue, I did enjoy ON WRITING a lot. I've had the same copy since I was about fourteen years old and for the longest time, this was my writing bible. It is still treasured and holds pride of place with some of my other favorites, but I no longer believe his word is law.

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead

 

I wonder what it's like to wake up in the morning and be Ashley Winstead, knowing that you can write the most beautiful, fucked-up shit and have it be so damn good. It must be amazing. Because I powered through THE LAST HOUSEWIFE in under 24 hours, going through a big rollercoaster of emotions until I reached the finish line.

HOLY SHIT.

Shay is a damaged woman who married a rich man and settled into a comfortable life of luxury, but she's haunted by things that happened to her when she was in college. Then one day she hears a podcast episode from her childhood friend, Jamie. He's looking into what happened to her friends and begs for her to reach out to him again.

What results is a sort of investigative drama, told in mixed media format, about a dangerously charismatic man, an evil cult, depraved sex, and a society that truly despises women just for existing. It's emotionally devastating and I can see why people were so ambivalent about it given some of the triggers, but I personally think it was masterfully handled and the ending was so satisfying.

5 stars

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

 

THE WOMAN IN ME basically sailed up the best-seller charts when it came out and I'm not surprised. Her conservatorship was big news, and so was her eventual release for it. After all the drama about her family and relationships-- some baldly revealed, some hinted at-- a lot of people were curious about what the Queen of Pop's life was really like. And as it turns out... pretty fucking awful.

I don't want to spoil this memoir for anyone who hasn't read it yet (I'm suuuuuuper late to the party), but it's not a particularly happy one. Her relationship with Justin Timberlake was awful (when she had an at-home abortion at his suggestion that left her feeling like she might die, his solution was to LIE ON THE FLOOR and play his guitar instead of taking her to the hospital). Her relationship with K-Fed was awful (surprise! he comes across as a super manipulative user of a person who used her kids against her to get what he wanted). And her family and the way they allegedly abused her conservatorship to give themselves big salaries and use all of her money at their leisure, while sending her to mental institutions when she fought back? WOW.  

I'm glad she seems to be having a happier life now, but man, this was a brutal read. It was nice to hear that Paris Hilton was actually a genuinely good friend to her, and that she found a man who cared about her beyond what she could bring to the table fiscally. But overall, the message in this book seems to be that fame can be a gilded prison where no one can hear you screaming behind the bars.

4 out of 5 stars

Across State Lines by Lauren Biel

 

This book is one of the most depraved dark romances I've ever read, and I would advise you to read the TWs very carefully. There are some scenes in here that could definitely trigger someone who went in unprepared. That said, it also has a really unique premise and ends up being a really fascinating psychological portrait into two deeply traumatized individuals, while also providing some brilliant dialogue on consent, and I ended up liking it a LOT more than I thought I would!

The two main characters are Aurora, a college dropout working as a truck stop prostitute, and Tobin/Kane/Jax, a trucker with a dark past who has some side deals with some shady people. When he sees Aurora, he wants her... but he's not what he seems. This is basically a Why Choose but all the men are actually the same person, because the leading man has DID (dissociative identity disorder).

Dissociative identity disorder is one of the most interesting and controversial psychological disorders, even amongst professionals. My Forensic Psychology professor didn't believe there was sufficient evidence for it to be real (I remember her arguing with a student about it during one of her lectures), but my Abnormal Psychology professor found it credible, at least following an episode of extreme trauma. It's also been called multiple personality disorder or split personality (and people often confuse it with schizophrenia), but now it's categorized under the dissociative disorder umbrella.

I thought Lauren Biel did a really great job with the research she clearly did for this book. I also like how even though this book had some pretty gnarly scenes of sadistic sex and degradation (he penetrates her with the business end of a knife and has her suck on a public toilet handle, for example), Aurora had agency. It was limited agency and she did what she did because she felt like she didn't have a choice, but it was different enough that she didn't categorize it with the trauma she had from another incident in her life. I thought the choice to make both Aurora and Kane's trauma happen off-page was very sensitive, and I also felt like it made sense why the characters did the things that they did. This relationship is by no means aspirational or desirable, but it worked for them. I'll admit, I wasn't sure how she could possibly write an HEA for these two, but she found a way.