She’s a Grinder by Tember Sapphire

I liked SHE'S A GRINDER even more than I did the first book in the series. The writing of the story was significantly more polished (helped by the fact that it was longer, I think, and the author had more time to develop the relationship and the characters). Also, I adored Catherine, who was a workaholic introvert after my own heart.

This is a reverse grumpy sunshine pairing with fake dating. Tijjani is a Nigerian-Canadian hockey player who needs some help with his career. Catherine needs a fake boyfriend to keep her West Indian family off of her back. It seems like a match made in heaven, except that their relationship is kind of forbidden, and when they catch feelings for each other, things could be bad if their sex life got out...

This is very spicy and I liked the power exchange elements, especially after reading Ali Hazelwood's deep-end. The representation of Nigerian and Saint Lucian cultures was also really cool, especially with the language interspersed (Tijjani calls her "princess" in Nigerian) and so many food descriptions that you will leave this book salivating. I'll definitely be checking out more from this author.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Blind Obsession by Lee Wilkinson

I bought BLIND OBSESSION because one of my trusted reviewer friends really liked it. I couldn't get around to reading it for a while but I finally did-- and guess what? I liked it, too! BLIND OBSESSION is one of those dark romance adjacent Harlequins that really do it for me, because they're a perfect blend of tension, dark feelings, and passion.

Autumn and Saul used to be childhood friends-- sort of. Except he was seven or eight years younger, so when she met him as a teenager, he was already a full-grown adult that she had a crush on. When she was eighteen, however, their relationship went awry after a big argument, which resulted in him having a car accident after he drove off in a rage. The accident left him blind-- and vengeful. And obsessive.

Hence the title.

For SOME REASON, Autumn thinks a great way of getting closure would be working for him under a different name and lying about the way she looks. But Saul is not the man she remembers and his expressions suggest that he knows more than he is letting on. But how could he possibly suspect? And what would that mean for her?

Okay, so this is ridiculous. And possibly offensive because (SPOILER EVEN THOUGH IT'S OBVIOUS), he's pretending to be blind just to fuck with her (although he was, in fact, actually blind). It was ridiculous and I love it. This is the sort of ridiculousness I eat up with a silver spoon. And as soon as I found out he planned to blackmail her into sex, I was just like, yum, yum, yum. FEED ME.

Autumn is also a hilarious heroine. She's surprisingly spiteful, in a way that I don't often see in Harlequin Presents outside of a Charlotte Lamb novella. I loved her so much, especially when she was being "unlikable." It was incredibly entertaining and really, they're both so twisted and manipulative and utterly entrenched in their own stubborn, illogical-logic, that they're actually perfect for each other. Although EW, apparently he fell in love with her when he was fifteen and tried to hide it by getting with another woman. That's such a red flag, but in an HP novel, I choose to be colorblind: all flags are green. (But girl, ew.)

The writing is also very poetic in parts too. I read another book by this author and only liked it but I put it in a Little Free Library when I was done. This one is a keeper. I will have to find and read more by this author because I just love her dark heroes. They fit her stories so well.

4.5 out of 5 stars

A Vision of Moonlight & Other Stories by Tamara Jerée

At the time of my writing this review, A VISION OF MOONLIGHT only has one rating on Amazon, which is honestly shocking to me, because this queer collection of dark fantasy and sapphic horror is evocative of authors like Tanith Lee and Poppy Z. Brite. I'm not going to go through every story in the collection but my two favorites were the high fantasy stories set in Vel. I would read a full-length novel about that elemental-based magic system and the toll it takes on the body. I also loved the emotions in these work, and how even though death and destruction of the body played such a focal role in all of these stories, the primary message seemed to be that life persists.

I recently read and enjoyed this author's sapphic werewolf romance, A WOLF STEPS IN BLOOD, and I really liked it, but I honestly think that I may have liked this more. Anthologies can be tricky because sometimes the way that the stories are curated isn't so great, or the quality vacillates wildly, but this was an incredibly cohesive collection with surreal, terrifying, and poignant stories.

This author needs to be read by more people, because my god.

4 out of 5 stars

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

I spite-purchased the special edition paperback of this book because, as per usual, people were being especially heinous to Ms. Ali Hazelwood, and even though I'm sure she spends most of her days laughing her way to the bank in between reading all of the smut she could possibly want to read (I mean, I would imagine), I was unimpressed enough with the way people were talking about the anxious and emotionally traumatized heroine and the kink rep to snap a copy of this book up like lobster claws at a cruise ship buffet.

Overall, my feelings about DEEP END are pretty positive. BRIDE is still my favorite Hazelwood book but this one is right up there, mostly because of Lukas, who is literally the perfect dreamy Book Boyfriend. I also loved Scarlett and all of her insecurities, and how she was still learning to process through all of her emotions and allow herself to cry. As someone who feels the same way, that was huge for me, and seeing that sort of representation on page meant a lot.

The kink was also beautifully done. I wouldn't call it a handbook for a real life BDSM relationship because all romances are fantasies, and everyone is different, but it was very, very clear that the author had done her research and taken care to portray what she considered a healthy, happy, normalized relationship with kink and I honestly don't think enough people are approaching the book with that kind of framework. When readers think of kink, it's often within the context of a dark romance, like FIFTY SHADES OF GREY or an even darker book, which is totally fine (I love that, personally), but seeing it in contemporary romances is great, too. That said, I wouldn't really call this book a romcom. It was heavy on the rom but pretty light on the "com." If anything, it's kind of like a more progressive version of one of those new adult romances that were so popular in the early 2010s, where the heroine was college-aged and going through it.

My biggest qualm with the book was actually with Pen. ***SPOILER, TURN AWAY NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT A SPOILER***

I do not think she should have been forgiven for what she did. Given how emotional abuse was such a trigger for Scarlett, this was an especially cruel thing for an alleged best friend to do. And I'm usually an advocate for supporting unlikable heroines, but the way that this played out was super weird. Like it wasn't actually that big of a deal. The douchey guy who kept trying to hit on Scarlett got more of a telling-off than Pen did, and I'm not sure what kind of message that sends. It's important to set boundaries with romantic partners in a power-exchange relationship to ensure that they don't really hurt us-- but why did Scarlett not have to set those same boundaries with Pen, who went out of her way to hurt her? Multiple times? And she was so manipulative, I really did think the set-up was going to be that she had some kind of personality disorder and that was why some of the other girls were so cold to her; because they recognized the behavior patterns. The endgame with Pen literally shocked me and not in a good way. 

Despite that, and the epilogue that kind of felt tacked-on, I did really enjoy this book. Hazelwood is getting better with each book she writes, in my opinion, and I love that you can see her progression with each book. BRIDE is still my favorite but now I'm even more excited for its sequel-- and for whatever this author writes that comes after or before that, too.

My pre-review of the book:

WHY AREN'T MORE PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THIS???? I'M SO EXCITED

My prediction: He's a big angry shark of a man and she's a teeny tiny little minnow of a girl

She thinks he hates her but he's been obsessed with her for YEARS

Hijinks ensue

 (I guess I was kinda right?? LOL)

3.5 out of 5 stars

She's a Keeper by Tember Sapphire

SHE'S A KEEPER really is a keeper because it made me like several tropes I normally avoid at all cost (e.g. second chance, third act breakup, miscommunication). It also starts out in a really unusual way: with the hero breaking up the heroine's wedding... to another man.

From there, we go back in time and see them, first as children, and then as teens navigating their first love, and all their other firsts, together. We already know that they're going to break up but not how or why, so the saccharine sweetness of their puppy love is tinged by the bitter knowledge that it isn't going to last.

I loved that this was set in Saint Lucia and the author implemented Saint Lucian Creole (with translations!). The fact that the hero and heroine were both in sports was also fun, because it made them feel more like they were on a level playing field (hee!) and also infused it with some girl power, Bend It Like Beckham vibes.

This is a novella and I do think that affected the pacing a little. The beginning really starts off with a bang, but then it felt a little draggy in the middle. I get that the author was setting up the relationship between them, and showing why they worked, and why Lionel was the perfect boyfriend, but the flashbacks didn't always work for me. Props to Ms. Sapphire for having a twist that actually made me gasp out loud, though.

I'm launching immediately into SHE'S A GRINDER, and I can already see how much the author has polished her writing style and improved her craft from here. But still, this was fun. 

3 out of 5 stars

Lucetta by Linda Jones

I was a little hesitant to read LUCETTA because the blurb and summary made this book sound as if it were going to be exploitative plantation porn in the vein of MANDINGO, but it actually ended up surprising me in a lot of ways. Set on the fictitious Isle of Monde in the Caribbean, the heroine of this book is Lucetta, a biracial woman who is 1/4 Black. Her father is a plantation owner and his mother was his cherished mistress, and Lucetta was educated and given free rein over her father's property, even as both her parents fretted over her future and the limitations offered to her, despite her relative privilege.

After her parents die in an accident, Lucetta finds out that her father left her his name in his will. However, she cannot own the property, and must wait to see if her estranged half-brother will come to claim her beloved Melrose, or if another man might sweep it-- and her-- into his grasping fist. As Lucetta falls in love with the island's governor, the book takes a rather nuanced and delicate look at island politics, the inherent cruelty of slavery, the power of rebellion, and the inevitable sway of the elements-- hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, malaria!

LUCETTA is also very spicy for the time, featuring oral sex scenes and rather graphic penetrative sex scenes. I liked that a lot of these scenes were focused on the heroine's pleasure. The summary made it sound like she was going to be raped by her evil neighbor, but he only attempts to assault her and is punched in the face by the hero for his efforts. The hero does assault the heroine later on in the book, but he appears to be suffering from either dementia or a brain tumor, and it's clear in the narrative text that his behavior is neither acceptable nor normal. The book also holds back on slurs. The N-word is used at one point, but only quoted from an off-page villain. I believe it only happens once, and everyone reacts with distaste and disgust when they hear what the villain said, which was refreshing.

I would not call this book PC by any means and in some ways it does feel dated, but it's honestly not too offensive for one of these old pulps and I actually really enjoyed the fact that the author didn't reduce the Black characters to props or throwaway plot devices. Everyone had agency, including the heroine, and the microcosm of this Caribbean island in the middle of intense social and political change was quite well done. I'm surprised at some of the negative reviews for this book, but if you go into LUCETTA expecting one of those super rapey bodice-rippers of the 70s, this is definitely not that.

4 out of 5 stars

A Wolf Steps in Blood by Tamara Jerée

There is something so old-fashioned about this book that makes me think of the 90s grunge horror novels I used to love, by authors like Annette Curtis Klause and Kathe Koja and Tanith Lee. A WOLF STEPS IN BLOOD is a queer werewolf romance between a wolf and the blood witch who loves her. I loved the mythology, and the way that Black identity was interwoven into the story, as well as the way that sex was portrayed as this beautiful, primeval thing. Shiloh Sloane did the same thing with THEN, EARTH SWALLOWED OCEAN, and I think readers who loved the feral violence of that book will love this.

This book was more character-driven than it was focused on plot, which is not my personal preference, but works here because the characters are both interesting and complex and it's fun to see them falling in love. I was kind of hoping for more of the lore, or a twist involving the witch's blessing that made the wolves shape-changers in the first place, and also maybe reasons about why some of the wolves choose to live as wolves rather than humans. The ending was also a little abrupt and left me wanting more. I hope this author explores more of this world they built. They're very talented. 

3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars

Gothictown by Emily Carpenter

Emily Carpenter is an auto-buy author for me. At this point, I've read almost all of her books, but my favorites are EVERY SINGLE SECRET and THE WEIGHT OF LIES. Probably because they both have a distinctly gothic flavor and gothic is literally my favorite subgenre of mystery/thriller fiction. When I found out she was writing a new book called GOTHICTOWN, I was so excited. And I didn't find out through an announcement like a normal person, mind. I was going through her Goodreads bio like a total stalker, asking myself, "What's Emily up to, these days?" 

I have been tracking this book before it even had a cover.

When my begging and pleading for an ARC was rewarded, I started reading this book IMMEDIATELY. And I loved it so much because it was a laundry list of all my favorite tropes: folk horror, is the house haunted or are we actually going mad?, sinister founding families, dark legacies, hot bad guys, cursed towns, and murrrrdurrrr. I also really liked the heroine, Billie. The author struck a nice balance between showing her as a mom but also as a messy whole-ass person who sometimes messes up because she's only human. 

Also the ending? *chef's kiss* satisfying (pun intended)

I would recommend this to readers who really enjoyed the two other Emily Carpenter books I've read, as well as Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier, Roanoke Girls and The Familiar Dark by Amy Engle, and Watch the Girls by Jennifer Wolfe. The creepy small town vibes were IMMACULATE and so was the flawed FMC. If this book is indicative of the direction of Carpenter's future projects, I want on this ride.

One reading note: the prologue does kind of give you a heavy hint about what's really going on, so if you're one of those readers who prefers NO SPOILERS of ANY KIND because you prefer to guess yourself, skip the prologue and read it as an epilogue instead. You'll be more surprised.

Thanks to the publisher/author for sending me a copy!

5 out of 5 stars