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2.7 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

At what moment did I stop being a wife?

When We Had Forever was a literary romance soap opera of a ride. I've been baptized in the waters of Harlequin Presents, so it's not really a brag when I say, within ten pages, I knew what was going on. Whether you immediately catch the clues like I did, or aren't aware until around seventy percent when the Big Secret is revealed, I think both avenues would offer different kinds of enjoyment. The story is told all from Mina's point-of-view and instead of divided into chapters, we get Before and After timeline switches. I know some struggle with flashbacks but the structure of the story being told this way really supports the plot and the ride of emotions you the reader are supposed to go on.

Whatever happened between them that day, it was the spark that lit the fire of my husband changing. Which is why I hate Grayson and always will.

The story opens up with After, Mina struggling emotionally six months after the death of her husband Michael. They were married for over a decade but in first person pov, we really get an in depth feel for Mina's emotions and it's clear right away that everything wasn't rosy in her marriage, especially when it's revealed that she had divorce papers printed out. The jump to Before gives us Mina and Michael meeting, we get a look at young Mina wanting to escape her hometown and travel but having to deal with a mother who is severely traumatized over the death of Mina's brother and a bestfriend of Mina's who also died overseas. Mina and Michael have an instant chemistry but it's clear that Michael is holding something back from her and also doesn't want to persuade her from making the jump to travel to Greece at the end of the month. As the story moves back and forth from After and Before we see how the two fell in love and how Mina is trying to work through how their marriage ended up in the emotional place it did before Michael died.

“You were right before. You can never start over. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start new.”

This had some of that overly descriptive literary writing feel and the vast majority of the story is more sedately paced as we spend it in Mina's head and swimming through her emotions. The second half, especially the latter part almost felt rushed as Mina learns Michael had an identical twin brother, Grayson, and he contacts her after Michael's death. When they meet face-to-face it all starts to move pretty quickly as secrets are revealed and Mina has whole new emotions to work through. While the writing was literary, the plot was soap opera flair and I can't help but feel Mina worked through and forgave a bit too much and a bit too quickly. I felt Mina, personally, got a happily ever after and more of a happily for now romantically but that HFN could easily read more HEA for people who buy into immediate no questions asked soulmates. If you're looking to wade around in some emotional angst, this would be a compelling debut to pick up.

2.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

The Three Fates, at Manhurst Castle for one night only. Join them to commune with the dead.

After reading The Curse of Penryth Hall, I was chomping at the bit to see American heiress Ruby Vaughn and Cornish Pellar Ruan Kivell's story continue. I would suggest reading the first in the series as it would greatly improve your knowledge of character relationships and foundations. We left off with the murder solved in Cornwall and Ruby going back to live with Mr. Owens and things left uncertain with Ruan. The first introduced us to some magical elements, Ruan's Pellar status (a sort of witch) where he has healing powers and can hear Ruby's thoughts. It was hinted at that Ruby has her own status, Morvoren, but she's left not knowing what that really means. This starts off a couple weeks after the first in 1922 London. This time her friend, mentor, father figure, Mr. Owens, has maneuvered her to going with him to Scotland.

“Murderer!” he shouted again, waggling a bony finger at Mr. Owen.

The new setting of Scotland delivers much the same from the first, magical elements, séance and possibly ghostly activities, and, once again, a murder. Besides, Ruby, Mr. Owens, and Ruan who later shows up, it's a whole new cast of red-herrings. One of my favorite aspects of this was the atmosphere, it's spooky and descriptive. However, that new cast of characters, it got a bit overwhelming. In an effort to always keep the reader guessing, characters are delved into enough to tease just enough focus for finger pointing but the more sedate pace this had, made it tough to stay focused and remember all the reveals and connections.

There is nowhere on earth you can hide from the dead…

We get a good deal more on Mr. Owens' background here, his family life and how messy and fraught it was and is, it's mostly his drama that has created the mystery plot thread, along with a past shrouded gentleman's club. Ruby has her own background mess come up with a character from her past showing up but it was more about Ruby trying to solve the murder to keep an Inspector from blaming her and to save Mr. Owens. I was a little disappointed in how this seemed to be less Ruby figuring out clues and more-so overhearing what she needed to, to lead her to the guilty. I just think things could have moved at a quicker place in the later middle half as too many familial, friendship, and past relationship ties piled on. I also thought it was a bit ridiculous how Ruby questioned Mr. Owens' and Ruan's intentions, people she's very close with and knows way better, especially Mr. Owens, instead of solidly looking at who they were pointing at. Benefit of doubt and all but it felt more like dragging out the red-herring aspects.

“You terrify me. I do not know what lives between us. I have seen more things in this world than I care to admit but I cannot explain what this is.”

Ruby and Ruan shippers will like the pretty strong romantic element here, their obvious strong connection gets explored more and important discussions are had. Ruby still has her fear of her feelings and will probably make readers upset towards the end but a month later epilogue gives hope for these two and another adventure on the horizon (Howard Carter's discovery has just happened and Mr. Owens has gotten a call). Family drama, murder mystery, supernatural elements coming out to play, and romance, all lead to an atmospheric ride in Scotland this time.

2.7 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

She'd gotten really good at leaving over the years.

Seventh in the Sunrise Cove series, each book is set in the small-town but can be easily read as standalones, Better Than Friends was a story about childhood friends who came close to being highschool sweethearts but an accident and emotional angst kept them apart for fourteen years. Olive came to live with her Gram in Sunrise Cove when she was fourteen, escaping not present parents who lived off-the-grid and were too much of free spirits for responsibility. She instantly bonded with Katie, a girl (a character who seems to present on the Autism spectrum) who was an outcast. Katie's twin brother Noah, popular good-looking guy who had an easier social time, became their protector, and Olive's crush.

“Have you ever wondered what it'd be like between us now, as adults?”

Olive's been away from Sunrise Cove for over a decade after leaving right after highschool graduation, but keeping in contact with Katie and sporadically visiting. She's started her own PR company in London but when Katie's husband Joe ends up in a coma after being injured on the job, she answers Katie's request for her to come back and help her get through it. Noah, who was also injured in the same accident as Joe, they both work for the Investigative Services Branch for the National Park Service, is off-duty while he heals and helping out at his sister's too. They've been careful to avoid each other over the years and readers feel the tension right away when they come face-to-face.

He'd not trusted himself to push for a real conversation and reveal feelings he'd long ago buried.

As we get to know the characters, it's both explicitly said, Olive somehow ended up running Noah over Senior year and damaging his leg enough that his baseball career was over before it even begun, and alluded to that there are other issues keeping these two apart. The story provides flashback scenes throughout the book that give us a look at these two in highschool and the events that have lead them to where they are today, which I thought helped give good context. As we get to know them, it's obvious that they both really like each other but Noah keeps saying he doesn't want to be tied down, which is given some foundation because of how he always he had to be perfect and take care of Katie because of pressure from his parents and how navigating society norms aren't as easy for Katie. Olive's stems from the background with her parents, not trusting love and hearing what Noah is saying and something that is alluded to happening between her and Noah five years ago. Once we got into the latter second half, I don't know, the two characters kept acting and saying things in ways that I started to get confused about what was really keeping them apart and it started to feel like the author, not the characters, was telling me they just couldn't be together, if that makes any sense.

She didn't like regrets, but the truth was, she had plenty.

The synopsis talked about some mystery, Olive hasn't been able to get in contact with her parents for a while, they missed their check-in call, and she starts to get really worried. It starts off a vague worry that finally comes into play but the utter and total non-climatic way it eventually got dealt with, well, it didn't need to be in the synopsis making me think there was some action mystery here. The storyline does work to deliver a storm and one bed scenario, so I guess.

Secretly, she loved the fact that there was a side of him that was for her only, not shared with any of the outside world.

This had a good set of characters that were nicely rounded out, three dimensional secondary characters but it kind of caused the romance to suffer a little, I think. The element keeping our two apart, felt pretty weak and it ended up making the ending feel dragged out for me. Still, Shalvis' writing is always smooth and if you're looking for a more sedate story that will occasionally ping with chemistry, take a visit to Sunrise Cove.

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

What did it mean to feel content?

I'll Be Gone for Christmas was a story told in two alternating povs about can you be someone different in a different place. With some The Holiday movie feel, Bee and Clover switch homes for December. Bee lives in San Francisco and is feeling major burnout, she works with her high powered, feels like favored twin sister and has cost them two accounts over the last few months. She's a writer who can't seem to find any inspiration anymore for the copy edits she's supposed to write. Clover has had a rough year in her Ohio small-town, her mother died and she broke things off with her bestfriend since childhood, now, ex-fiance. Bee wants to slow things down and thinks a farm in small town America will do it and Clover wants to test some boundaries after feeling completely shut-down by her mother before she died.

This was more a women's fiction, finding yourself story to me than romance. While both women meet their eventual love interest as soon as they get to their destinations, that aspect kind of disappears as they do some soul searching about who they are and who they want to be. Bee is instantly attracted to Clover's ex-fiance, Knox, who works and lives on the farm but he seems to still be trying to get over Clover and Clover can't help but be attracted to Bee's twin sister Beth, but her mother's comment when Clover tried to come out to her, still rings loudly in her head. I liked how Clover's journey showed how representation matters, the environment and social circle she finds in San Francisco opens her eyes to possibilities and what is “normal”, helping her feel comfortable with her authentic self. There's a thread of Clover reuniting with an old friend and if you hadn't read the back synopsis, you'd be forgiven thinking that is going to be her love interest. It really wasn't until around 70% that Clover and Beth get romance genre going, leaving it to feel rushed and me not feeling a strong connection between them.

Bee and Knox have some cute moments (a chopping wood scene!) but their romance also doesn't really start going until around 60% and even then there was still the hangover of Know still not completely moved on from Clover. I wouldn't go into this for the romance (closed door and some kisses), more of a finding yourself with some holiday vibes and start of relationships.

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

A written British Museum Enlightenment Room, Cabinet of Curiosities would make a great addition to any home library or a fun coffee table book for guests. Numerous little short stories, under such categories as American History, Coincidences, Fantastic Beasts, Bizarre Events, More Than Human, Origin Stories, etc., gave delight and some gasps. Remember when Tennessee was Franklin, a nuke was dropped on a South Carolina playhouse, and a Napoleon officer's idea eventually lead to Braille? You'll learn about all that and more.

Along with some learned knowledge tidbits, there were also some not so sure I should 100% believe all this, historical anecdotes that you're just going to have to take words for it, like a plumber who encountered ancient Romans. It was all in good fun though and I really enjoyed some of those, it will have you shining on trivia nights, stories, like how Wes Craven might have gotten the idea for Freddy Kruger and Locusta, who might have been one of the earliest hit-women.

If you're like me, these quick short stories won't be enough and I loved how the back of the book had a Sources section that had me furthering my reading on some topics and going down rabbit holes. Fun and interesting with some more well known and more obscure tidbits.

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

Jack had always been there, and yet, our timing had always been wrong.

Taking place in 1952 England, Christmas with the Queen was the story of Olive, a single mother aspiring to work her way up to reporter in the BBC and Jack, an American who after WWII, left the Navy and stayed in London. The story starts off with a point-of-view from a young Queen Elizabeth II as she gets ready to spend her first Christmas in charge at Sandringham. There's a handful of povs from the Queen throughout the story and while I can see the attraction of having a real historical figure help ground a historical fiction story in time, it felt a little off to me to read a first person narrative from such a known figure to current generations.

The two main povs are from Olive and Jack, switching off and on. Readers learn early on that Olive is lying about losing her husband in the war, she was never married but the times call for the lie. She lives at home with her parents helping her care for her daughter Lucy. Jack comes onto the pages happy with getting an opportunity to work in the royal kitchens at Sandringham, an opportunity his wife pushed him to take. Tragedy strikes early though and Jack finds himself a widow and reluctantly still taking the royal chef job. With a little luck and ambition, Olive gets the opportunity to cover the Christmas celebrations at Sandringham for the BBC and there she begins a yearly friendship with the queen and runs into Jack. We then get some flashback povs and learn these two knew each other seven years ago and that Olive is shaken up when she sees him again.

If you're looking for a story with holiday feels, this has that as most of the story takes place in the month December, jumping to the month, spanning five years as Olive and Jack find themselves separated by circumstance, Olive trying to get promoted at the BBC, Jack busy as a chef and working towards his goal of opening his own restaurant, until they come together by luck each year at Sandringham and a royal Christmas tour.

Around 35% a secret Olive is hiding (it's pretty obvious what it is) gets revealed to readers and I can see quite a few getting frustrated and irritated with Olive's inability and weakness at telling the person who needs to know. The authors tried to make it understandable why she delays so much, but, especially towards the end, she really had no excuse, and the relationship she tries to get going with a secondary character really did nothing for the story, for me anyway. This was more historical fiction with slice of life, the romance between Olive and Jack doesn't really get going until the last 20% and then we get a, very understandable, third act breakup with Jack having to get over his anger at Olive.

A softer, there is some grief emotion with Jack learning to live with widowhood and Olive dealing with sexism in society and work, historical fiction that December hops for five years while Olive and Jack's lives bring them apart and together, with appearances by Queen Elizabeth II and some Easter egg characters from the authors' other books.

2.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

Kira North hated Christmas.

Kira's twin sister has married and left to live overseas, as someone that has always depended on her sister's more level-headed personality, Kira feels extremely adrift. After watching a bunch of homesteading videos, Kira gets it in her mind that what she needs to do is buy a farm and with a trust fund just sitting there, well, a Christmas Tree Farm is purchased. This is third in the Dream Harbour series but each book works as a standalone, the tying thread is the small-town and friend group that flutters in and out of whoever the main characters' book is at the time. I read a paperback copy of this and there was a map of the town, which was fun to see and imagine all the characters going to and fro shops and businesses. Kira gets paired up with Bennett, series readers will remember him as the brother to a past lead, he's in town for vacation and to get his dating life in order, no more fix-it women. So, we have a determined to make it her on her own for the first time in her life and a will explode if he doesn't help, couple.

When she lifted her eyes to his, he was still looking at her like he had plenty of ideas on how to keep her warm.

If you couldn't tell by the title, this works super well as a seasonal read, snowball fights, Christmas festivals, stroopwaffles!, you're probably going to want to lean into those feelings as the actual plot was a bit slow going. Kira and Bennett meet and have instant attraction right away but Kira's a grumpy gus who does not want to give into her attraction as she sees that as her going back to her old ways. Bennett has a bit of that as well, he was burned bad by an old girlfriend, he actually moved from the East to West coast for her only to be told, he was too boring for her and then to be used a periodic desperate grab when she got lonely. He's working to shore up his defense for women who only use him. He never builds up too tough of a wall against Kira but he does get his feelings hurt after they have some bedroom scenes (some spice heat to these scenes) and Kira still tells him she doesn't want him, for some later in the book angst. Kira, exhaustively, ping pongs hot for Ben and doesn't want to lean on anyone.

Lumberjack fantasies that Kira didn't even know she had rushed into her head.

This was pretty low angst but at over three hundred pages (to me, this easily should have been two-twenty-ish) there wasn't a lot to keep this going, the relationship issues were draaaaaaaaaaaaged out. There was also a little bit of mystery thread, the farm Kira bought is rumored to have treasure or a body!?, buried on the property, it's what first gets Bennett out there continuously, friends/townspeople pressure him to go search for the body so the new gal doesn't find it and get scared away. I don't know, this mystery thread gets brought up and then, just about, completely ignored for the majority of the book, only to be kind of brought in with some found letters and then secrets revealed in the epilogue.

He wanted to confess that all he wanted for Christmas was her.

The page count was way too long on this for me, making the story feel dragged out, Kira ping ponged too much, and the mystery thread wasn't invested in enough. It was fun to visit the town again, see past couples, and experience some festive vibes.

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

Seduction is all I've ever known. I am made for it. I have destroyed lives with it. I never wanted to.

The Legend of Meneka is a reimagining of Hindu mythology where much is told about Sage Vishwamitra, Kaushika in this tale, but not his famous love Meneka, giving the author room to breath new life into the story. I went into this having heard of celestial dancers and the name apsara but definitely not a solid base of Hindu mythology. I think this helped in making it a brand new, fresh interesting story and hurt with me having to take it slower as there was a good amount of new terminology and ideology for me to take in. There was a glossary of terms in the beginning that was helpful to refer back to but I think the first half pace may have felt slower to me because of my lack of knowledge.

This place, this mission---never have I been so vulnerable, so powerless.

We come into the story as aspara Meneka is seducing her mark, a queen that has been slowly moving away from worshiping Lord Indra. He's the deva (diety) of Amaravati (heaven) and needs worshipers to fuel his strength. When someone threatens that resource of power in the mortal world, he sends one of his immortal asparas to seduce and negate. Meneka is an immortal but very young, early twenties, and is emotionally tired of having to seduce, she wants to stay in Amaravati, to be near Indra, who she is devoted to but also Rambha, an aspara who was able to gain some freedom, doesn't have to go to the mortal realm to seduce, and that Meneka thinks she is in love with. Meneka makes the mistake of asking Indra for her freedom, he punishes her by sending her on a mission to seduce a sage gaining major power, Kaushika, and which three other asparas have failed. Thinking she'll get her freedom to stay in Amaravati and be with Rambha, Meneka portals to the mortal world to seduce Kaushika.

“That's what you have been taught,” Kaushika says. “But what do you think? For yourself?”

Once in the mortal world, Meneka discovers all is not what it seems and while trying to prove herself worthy to stay and study with Kaushika, in order to seduce him, she begins to question if everything she was taught in Amaravati is really true. This was a lot about self-discovery with religious questioning, what it means to be devout and to the whos, whats, and whys in the Hinduism world. This is all told from Meneka's point-of-view and why it feels more like a self-discovery story but there's also the friction with Kaushika. Friction because he's going against her lord, which will in turn destroy her home city, with her friends who are family, but also she finds that she is feeling seduced when she is the one supposed to be doing the seducing. The first half doesn't have Meneka and Kaushika really circling each other a lot in a romance way, he's off doing sage things and she's trying to tap into her own magic. When they start spending time together more, it was more lust between the two, with some emotion that could be said coming from Meneka for how Kaushika is trying to get her to realize her own power but while Meneka does get Kaushika to question and teach him some things, I'm not sure their romance felt moved beyond those lust feelings.

We are two opposites bound to each other in this game of mark and seducer, each of us taking either role, unknowing, unaware.

The ending gives us some reveals, with some surprising character desires/motivations, Kaushika's background and why he's on his mission to bring about Indra's doom, and brings in a climatic scene with the ultimate clashing between the mortals and immortals. As this is a duology, there wasn't a concrete ending but the story did deliver on how Meneka and Kaushika could have become intertwined, filling in the original legend. There was just a lot of Meneka self-discovery journey to wade through that I thought hurt the pace a lot, and the romance didn't quite shine through as much as I would have liked. If you're new to Hindu terms, mythology, just be ready to take this slower but you'll get a fresh story for your efforts, if albeit a bit slower going.

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

For the first time in years, Sirena allowed herself to make a request from the universe. “I wish I had a second chance,” she said.

Sirena has had the worst October ever, she's lost one of her jobs and did horribly at an interview for a chef position she's been trying to get back into ever since she left her job to take care of her grandmother. When a special tea grants her wish for a second chance, Sirena finds herself living October all over again and this time, she's determined to change all those mishaps into successes. Deja Brew is third in a series, but I haven't read the first two and didn't have much of a problem jumping in here. It's set in Freya Grove, a magical realism world where every kind of supernatural is present. Sirena's a witch, specifically a kitchen witch, and has lost her ability to cook. She's currently living alone in her family home, her two sisters seem to have moved on in life while Sirena's stuck. This second chance at October has Sirena making changes, taking the opportunity to have fun and find her spark again.

These feelings he had for Sirena weren’t a simple crush, it was something more. Something exciting.

While Freya Grove is Sirena's hometown, Gus moved there a few years ago and while they've danced around in each other's orbit, they've never really got to know one another. On the night of Halloween, Sirena had a moment with Gus and when she gets her second chance, she remembers him. Gus moved to Freya Grove to slow down and recuperate, he was tired of being the “Good-time Gus” magician on his family's reality tv show and when he gets his heart broken on tv, his marriage of convenience started to feel real to him only to have his wife serve him divorce papers, he needs to reevaluate. He works at the historical society now and can't believe how much it suits him. While he's a little apprehensive when Sirena comes to him to teach her how to have a good time, he doesn't want to just be about fun anymore, but he can't escape the feeling of deja vu and finds himself wanting to be around her. They strike a deal that he'll help Sirena have fun and she'll help him decipher a cook/spell book the historical society was just donated.

“There are some things you don’t leave up to fate,” he said.

If you're looking for something that felt very low angst with Fall festive vibes, this would definitely be it. I really loved the beginning of this, with learning about Sirena and her world, then the anticipation of her and Gus getting to know one another in a Fall setting. While they do get some open bedroom scenes, this was still more along the lines of sedate, almost too low angst for me. I really liked the first half of this but the second half seemed to drag on too long, there just wasn't enough happening for me, Sirena drags her feet way too much and for way too long on finally acknowledging and accepting that her and Gus belong together. After I thought both sides accepted being together we got a, nope not yet, and the story dragged from October into November and December. I think readers of the series might enjoy where the story meander to more, as past characters feature more in these later chapters but I couldn't help just tapping my watch and wanting Sirena and Gus to wrap it up.

“My soul has found yours across lifetimes and oceans. We tempted fate, and we’ve played with fire. We are destined for each other.”

Wanting them to wrap it up doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them together, I liked how they both felt stuck in life and were trying to find who they wanted to be and find their place in the world but there just wasn't enough tension to keep me locked in, this should have been a shorter story. I enjoyed the fun the two got to have together, game playing, but I missed some delicious tension at the end. However, if you're looking for something more lowkey with Fall additives, pumpkin spice, apple cider, candy corn coffee(!?!), set in a magical world, and a sweet couple that clearly belong together, this would be a great seasonal pickup.

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

She felt the stranger’s gaze tracking her as she traipsed through the woods.

On Ruby's walk home from her bartending job, she's felt a stranger's eyes. She's scared but also turned on. When the man steps out of the shadows finally, he's got glowing silver eyes and growls. Ruby's the “freak” goth girl in her small town and keeps to herself, so she feels it's on brand for her to not completely fear this stranger. It's when a wolf attacks her one night, another comes out of the woods to save her but ends up injured and she has to drag him home to take care of him, only to wake up in the morning to a naked man in the wolf's spot that Ruby starts to think maybe fear isn't a bad thing.

He’d spent the last five years wrangling that side of himself, denying that side of himself, trying his damnedest to act human, to be human. But lately, his control was slipping. Ever since she’d started walking through his woods. Her scent drove him wild.

I'm going to give it to you straight, by one percent a “cock is twitching” and depth is pretty much nonexistent, worldbuilidng or character wise. Ruby and Rafe's connection is based on finding each other physically attractive, she wears short skirts and red lipstick, he's growly and muscly and they turn out to be fated mates, relationship development done. Rafe hangs around to protect Ruby and her sister Lena that she lives with ever since Lena lost her job because of a sickness, that doctors can't figure out, which causes her to trance out. Rafe walks Ruby to her job sometimes, there's some side characters that are identified as witches, nymphs, and we get to meet Rafe's werewolf brothers, Theo and Knox. Lena's barely in the picture but she seems a big part of what is going to be a continuous thread throughout the series, she could be a seer, someone who can see the future.

Lena cocked her head, as if hearing something no one else could. “They’re coming.”

There's not much for setting, we're in the bar, the house, and woods at times and for lightly brushed in backgrounds, Ruby lost her parent's young and lived with her aunt, there's also her continuous thinking about how the town (which we never really see) thinks she's a kinky freak. Rafe gets more with flashback scenes to how he once fell in love with a human and how that blew things up in his pack life, fighting with his father and then the fallout that lead to him leaving the pack and living on his own. He's constantly thinking about how he's a danger for Ruby, not good enough for her, but not being about to stay away because of that pesky smell of her being his mate.

She was looking at him like he was a monster. Like the monster he was. He hadn’t wanted anyone to look at him like that again. Especially not her.

These two were a lot of dirty talk wanting each other, with some foreplay sex for the vast majority of the story, kind of confusingly, because of the vibe of what the story seemed to want to be, they don't actually complete the bedroom deed until at around 90% of the story. With the lack of story, this should have just leaned into the sexy times and let these two rip, but it almost had them acting more like late teen to early twenties in thought and action (Ruby's 25 and Rafe is 200ish yrs old).

She was in love with a werewolf. She was in love with Rafe.

After numerous going in circles of Rafe not good enough for Ruby, Ruby wanting to have sex with him, and talking about the danger Ruby could be in, we get some wolves attacking Ruby again. This prompts Rafe to take the plunge with Ruby because he realizes he does love her and can't let her go. After Rafe takes care of the attacking wolves, they spend a month having sex in the woods and then we get an epilogue that showcases Rafe's brother Theo and his “friend” Phoebe, who look to continue the wolves searching for the seer story thread. I really don't know what else to say other than if you're looking for a light character and setting Litte Red Riding Hood inspired story, Rafe says he's a furniture maker, so put on some Pony by Ginuwine and feel free to zone out read.

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

It isn’t easy being the first— the first Black woman to win gold, to run a hockey school, to be a professional hockey scout, to start a hockey non-profit that values Black women above all else. “Firsts” need the support and care of our communities. But by creating safe spaces where others can be vulnerable and honest, we give ourselves that same gift—and that’s a beautiful thing to behold.

With a title that I expected to deliver more of a scholarly tone, footnotes and the like (there is a Works Cited), Blackness Is a Gift I Can Give Her: On Race, Community, and Black Women in Hockey instead was a conversational piece about the author's fandom, experience, work, insight, and hope for inclusivity in the world of hockey. The beginning lays out how they came to be a fan of the sport and then how isolating it could be at times being a Black and queer person in that fandom. This had the author creating Black Girl Hockey Club, sending them down a road of creating space, connections, and opportunity for others to not feel so isolated.

Be a bridge to something better, and take care of the bridges in your own communities.

A lot of this highlighted the people working to make a difference, such as Kim Davis, Dr. Szto, Shireen Ahmed, Sarah Nurse, Erica Ayala, Blake Bolden, and Jashvina Shah, along with organizations, BGHC, Carnegie Initiative, Get Uncomfortable Campaign, and Hockey is for Everyone. Important names to get out there, as the book discusses, resources, information, and knowledge give people a way to reach out and connect. Relaying this information shows the work being done and how many kids and families want to give hockey a try but have no idea where to start. There's a lot of talk about community, whether in person or online but always addressing the importance of building it and relaying how the author has done it, helping with suggesting how to do it.

I am leery of anyone who would rather be blissfully ignorant than painfully aware.

The heart of the book was the relaying and sharing of experiences of players, parents, kids, and people that have a love of the game that the author interviewed, Joel Ward's thoughts and feelings about his mom will connect and hit hard with many. There's discussion of how colourism and ignoring intersectionality work to undermine efforts for inclusivity and an ending chapter that speaks on how insidious white feminism is to efforts for equality and equity for all.

Black hockey players are few and far between at all levels of hockey, which means that equitable communities must be built with intentionality. Parents of Black children will seek these spaces out, but first they must exist.

The evolution of women's hockey is also discussed and how behind the NHL is compared to the NBA on reaching out. The burst of popularity of the WNBA in the last year shows that once afforded attention, money, effort, and time, women's sports can more than hold their own. The spending power companies let sexism and racism leave on the table never ceases to amaze me. I thought the first half of this was laid out perfectly but the latter second half before it wrapped up had moments of not held together as tightly, causing it to feel a little sluggish. Anyone can get something out of reading this, if you're Black, a sense of community, if you're white, a shake up to see outside of yourself, and if you're a hockey fan, you'll feel the excitement and love of the game and see all the ways the experience for all needs to and can improve.

2.7 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

“Things are not always as they seem, Piers. Remember that. A very little poison can do a world of good. It’s all about how you apply it.”

The Bane Witch was the story of a woman growing into her powers and learning to use them for the greater good. When Piers was little, she remembers her mother's fear when there was some incident with a man who died. Taken to doctors over and over until they diagnosis her with the eating disorder Pica, she feels compelled to eat poisonous plants, specifically pokeweed, Piers is then drugged to the point of not feeling anything to try and control the pica. When her stepfather, who she never liked, dies and then her mother commits suicide, she's all alone, except for a vague memory of a great-aunt who came to visit them once, before her mother chased her away. Determined to make a life on her own, she becomes an interior designer and marries a man named Henry. In little, almost unnoticeable ways, Henry begins to control her, then comes the violence. Off medication now, Piers' senses are showing her that Henry will not only kill her but other women in the future. Thinking the only solution is to fake her own death, she does just that and takes off to find the mysterious great-aunt.

She smiles in the soft light. “We don’t fear men in this house,” she tells me. “Men fear us.”

This story, pretty non-stop, discusses and shows violence against women and girls. Told, mostly from Piers' pov, there's her thinking about and recounting the violence Henry has committed against her (physical and sexual), her fighting against an attempted rape, thoughts and scenes from a serial killer, and stories recounted to her from the venery (a coven of familial witches) about why they killed their marks. So while this story is about a group of women who have magical powers to use their “allure” to draw abusive men to them and then use their poison eating magic abilities to kill them, the author sure leaned into recounting, describing, and go over and over what evil acts these men commit. This is probably a mileage will vary, and while I understand fictionally serving the story, the tone and way these awful acts kept getting descriptively written out, over and over, started to give me the feeling of desensitized true crime and faintly, horror movie torture porn creeping in. It was a lot for this genre of story and I wish we could have focused more on the victims or venery members.

The hunt is beginning, and my prey is out there, hunting me in return.

Some of this was Gone Girl-ish with Piers faking her suicide and we get a pov from one of the detectives that is working her, initially, missing persons case. It was brilliant how Piers planned everything out and getting to see the detective work through the clues. The other half is Piers learning about being a bane witch. Her great-aunt Myrtle works to train her after the venery of thirteen females, all related to Piers, mostly want to kill her off because they don't trust she won't get them exposed somehow, but with the matriarch behind her, Piers gets six weeks to prove she can successfully become one of them. Her magic has picked a serial killer that has been operating in the area and there's some thriller mystery as the two circle each other. There's a little romance thread with the sheriff and Piers, and while we get some emotional background on the sheriff, he's not completely a flushed out character. They spend some time together, have two quick kissing to door slammed bedroom scenes, and then it's “I love you” time that I didn't really feel.

“[...] You either live as a bane witch, or you die as one. There is no in-between.”

This had a tendency to meander and rehash enough that I do think the pace suffered at times, Piers could get ad nauseam back and forth over her bane witch powers, accepting and using them. The ending gave us final clashes and Piers coming into her own, along with a death that was brushed away pretty quick taking away it's emotional impact. The repeated bringing up and descriptive violence against women and girls wasn't a good feeling experience for me though, it's always tougher for me in fiction to strike that right chord, and it caused me to miss some celebrating in what the bane witches were doing. However, this did have a solid ending of where Piers was going to go in life and I liked that ending for her.

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

I feel like I know what a percentage of the reviews are going to be like for this, “This could have been an email”. BUT, hear me out, if you're going to buy this book, buy it right now. This is for all my Gothic atmosphere reader friends, read this during the months of late August through December first. Is it 384 pages of set-up that could have been condensed into a pre-series novella? Probably. BUT, it is dripping in such delicious Fall/spooky season atmosphere, that I reveled (ok, a little after the midway point before the ending ramped up, I maybe felt it drag some) in the story. Moning was atmosphere-ing and crafting for that rent that was due and I was completely transported. I know it's not how publishing works but I would have loved this published September first and then the second immediately available October first, because, hold my hand, this ends on a big cliffhanger.

From the ashes of my mother's fiery grave, a wild thing had arisen.

With any Gothic atmospheric story worth it's salt, there's a spooky house, and our lead character, the story is mostly told all from her point-of-view, has just inherited one, with conditions. Readers meet Zo as she's begging for a job, after having lost another due to having to call in sick to take care of her mother. Her mother has cancer and since it's only been Zo and her mother all her life all the care falls to Zo, they've been on the run since Zo was fifteen with her mother claiming Zo's father is after them. We get a little clue that Zo may have some magic to her, insight into feeling something is very wrong, the house she was renting burned down, with her mother in it. Before she can even really process that, she's notified of the inheritance and abandoning Indiana to try and start over in Divinity, Louisiana. There, the townspeople all seem to act odd around her and she learns that in order to inherit the House at Watch Hill and the 140 million (!!!!) estate, she'll need to live in the house, alone, for three years.

Home to three centuries of secrets, blood, and lies, the mansion on the hill was a dark, slumbering beast.

There's more will restrictions and hoops for her to jump through and she starts to clue in that some very weird things are going on. It's a lot of searching/wandering around the house and secondary characters acting shady, the attorney that almost seems fatherly towards Zo but won't spill his secrets, the mechanic Devlin who acts protective and attracted towards her but seems to be holding back, an owl that seems to understand her when she talks, and her bestfriend from highschool who is suddenly saying she needs to tell something very important that Zo's own mother kept from her. You're going to need patience and want to sink into the atmosphere if you're going to enjoy this. For my romance friends, there's some will they/won't they tension between Zo and Devlin and when Zo first arrives in town, she hits the sheets with someone she meets in a bar (the man introduced himself as Kellan, then we learn later, last name MacKeltar, yes I screeched), so possible love triangle on horizon, but she's pretty strong with Devlin in this.

And I was a witch.

As I mentioned the latter second half definitely ramps up with action and answers, there's another mysterious pov (Alisdair) that pops up every once and a while in the book and we get, a small, idea about who they turn out to be. It's pretty obvious throughout that Zo has some sort of magical abilities, with ominous outside characters swirling around her and her trying to figure out if they are friend or foe. You're going to get the set-up for the lore of the world, Highblood and Royal families, dark and light witches, warm and cold vampires, shifters, and the mysterious grey witches to ground you in the new series world, along with really getting to know Zo. What you'll also get though, is not much story movement, it's vast majority set-up until the end, and a big cliffhanger. However, this was dripping in delicious Gothic atmosphere that would be absolutely prefect for the spooky season.

3.7 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

“And as far as second dates go, getting engaged is unique.”

Ever since her father died three years ago, Lexi has felt like her life has been on hold and she's been trying to catch her breath. A high-school track star who got a full ride to college, she had to drop out a while to help her grieving mother. Working two jobs and selling her dad's business has finally got her caught up on the bills, leaving her just enough to pay tuition on the three classes she needs to graduate at twenty-five years old. Life is starting to settle until she runs into some old high-school friends and doesn't want them to know Alexandria The Great is waitressing. Lexie suddenly finds herself “dating” the cute and flirty customer who turns out to be Will, Seattle's most eligible bachelor and the man who just might be able to get her to risk her heart.

No strings. Just a break from regularly scheduled programming.

This turned out to be a super cute and sweet “fake engagement” but not dating romance. I'm an angst monster but I appreciated how, even though Lexi's mother and herself to a certain extent, were still dealing with grief, it's more towards them finally being able to breathe through the loss. The majority of this was getting to watch Lexi and Will sweetly fall in love and it was so enjoyable. Will grew up rich, with his grandfather's business but he's sick of his mother pushing society women on him, he finds Lexi's realness refreshing and I thought their chemistry was evident in how they played off of each other. The first half of this had me grinning and getting that warm feeling in my heart as Will tries not to push Lexi too hard, she wants to keep things casual as she thinks her life is too busy for her to take time for herself, thinks she's not good enough for Will, and after seeing how her father's death wrecked her mother, is afraid to let herself love. Will, for his part is instantly charmed by Lexi and is trying to keep the outside forces, his family, gossip papers, at bay so that he can get to know Lexi. They were pretty much together from the beginning with Lexi's reluctance having her drag her feet a bit.

Will’s gaze was locked on Lexi. “Lexi.” Despite the chaos swirling in her head and her gut, she took a moment to drink him in. She hadn’t imagined those gorgeous, intense eyes or the wide set of his shoulders. He looked like GQ personified in his dark suit, lightly pin-striped tie. His hair was a little mussed from the wind and she had vivid images of mussing it another way.

I loved the first half of this but the second started to pop in too many tangents, this was at it's best when Lexi and Will were together. Will had some family business drama (the merger with the bad reputation son felt useless after it fizzled out so much) and family relationship drama that helped flush out his character but I still don't know if I felt he was a completely filled out. He was the sweet and perfect prince for Lexi, which usually feels cardboard cutout but he worked for me in this story. Lexi got a bit too stretching out for page count sake mulish in the second half and I could feel the story pace losing me a little. I wish we could have seen these two be more physical in the bedroom, the scenes are fade-to-black-ish, as I think it would have heat things up but this was steady in it's sweet vibe.

Maybe that’s what was missing from his life: something real.

The later second half gives us a quick third act breakup with Lexi deciding that telling the truth is the only way she'll be able to move on and give the romance a real chance and has her and her mother finally talking things out. Will also has a moment with his family (his mom and dad did a little too unbelievable 180 for me) and creates a romantic moment to fight for Lexi. The secondary characters were all great in this, Lexi's mom, friends, and sisters, I wouldn't be surprised if this was turned into a series. A little too filled with tangents second half but a Cinderella-ish story that was sweet and had me loving how the romance simply felt good to read about. Lexi and Will had chemistry, they genuinely liked and enjoyed each other, gave us fun scenes, Fall seasonal vibes, squee feelings, and delivered a happily ever after epilogue.

2.7 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

Devil wants me in his belly like a wiggle worm.

Evil in Me started off on a fast chaotic note, Adam is trying to fight the voice in his head telling him to kill. He's powerless as he watches himself burn down a synagogue and stab the Rabbi and his wife to death. Readers are let in that it's a ring that has clamped itself onto Adam's finger and is feeding him these urges. As Adam hacks off his fingers trying to get the ring off, it just keeps spider crawling back onto another one until Adam takes his own life. The story then jumps from 1951 Brooklyn to 1985 Enterprise, Alabama and twenty-three year old Ruby.

“I am Lord Sheelbeth...your savior, your master.” The flames flared as she spoke.

One of my favorite parts of this story was how the author took the time to develop the supernatural background. Taking from religious mythology and giving it some spin, Brom gives us the ring's story. It's from a time when gods ruled and Lord Sheelbeth was in her heyday, until the Baalei Shem cut the ring off Sheelbeth's finger, cut out her eye, tied her to the ring, and imprisoned her in a hell. While Sheelbeth can weave urging magic into songs sang by the souls she has taken throughout her life, that are manifested as worms in her belly, she can't force anyone to act on these urges. This is done by Beel, a shedim (one of god's unfinished souls), who Sheelbeth had previously imprisoned and can possess the body of the ring wearer, controlling their body. I wasn't well versed in these religious stories, so don't fear if you aren't either, I had no problem understanding everything. We get povs from Sheelbeth, Beel, and later another demon, Vutto, controlled by Sheelbeth, to expand their characters and even though they come from a hell, don't be surprised if you start to feel for them.

With the beginning giving us the introduction to the ring, it sets-up a great foreboding feeling as we get to know Ruby. She's on her last week of community service, stopped taking her medication for bi-polar, and just trying to white-knuckle it and not lose it over how everyone aggravates her. Listen, she had some legitimate reasons to. When she heads over to Mr. Rosenfeld's home, the same last name of the previously murdered Rabbi, you know things aren't going to go well for her. Sure enough, the ring ends up on her finger and then we're on a ride to save her life. Josh was the Rabbi's brother and manages to give Ruby a heads-up on what's happening, even manages to douse the ring in red powder (angel's blood) to cloak Sheelbeth's power, while they try to find a way to get it off Ruby's finger. While the ring is cloaked, Ruby is still possessed by Beel, but he's been looking for a way to get from under Sheelbeth's control and helps as much as he can with finding a way to break the ring's grasp.

I got . . . bored.

Help is to be found in Atlanta where Josh knows a Dr. who specializes in ancient Hebrew mythology and theology. There, they learn that if Ruby sings a song from the heart, with the help of many souls, they can compel the ring off. Which is perfect, because Ruby used to be in a punk band and her ex-bandmate just happens to be in Atlanta. The second half gives us ghosts, demons, murder, redemption, and a serial killer. I wasn't really a fan of the Richard serial killer addition, his pov and addition felt clunky added on and honestly the story would have been better without it, wanted kick him out of the band. Along with Richard, Ruby's almost step-father had a story arch that made me think there can be too many musicians in a band, Ruby was the lead singer and could carry this story without those two.

The ending was a wild ride and had some of that chaotic punk music feel but like Ruby's band The Night Mares, this story needed a drummer to anchor it, Ruby had enough characterization for lead singer and Sheelbeth and Beel easily could have anchored but they got pushed and rushed aside too much by those characters I wanted cut-out; the story threads were riffing all over the place without a solid connecting feel. This was a supernatural story that had horror, punk music and satanic panic '80s highlighting, and heart from some unlikely places, fun but off the tracks at times. (The author also did a really cool collaboration with a punk band, The Maxines, to produce some of the original songs created in this, make sure to check those out!)