User Profile

4.5 stars

*This is a #TBRChallenge review, there will be spoilers, I don't spoil everything but enough, because I treat these reviews as a bookclub discussion.

“Who is he?” I asked Zhou Dan as we moved to where he’d left the carriage. “No one you should associate with,” he replied abruptly. I took one final glance back over my shoulder at Gao. He stood still and tall in the middle of the street, watching me. It wasn’t long before his tall figure faded into the darkness.

This month's TBRChallenge theme was “Previously, in romance” and I knew immediately this was my chance to return to The Pingkang Li Mysteries series. Remember when I lost my mind reading The Lotus Palace in 2022 for a TBRChallenge theme? I've been itching for the chance to read the rich girl and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks next in the series romance. I'm also a very, very behind book blogger and only remembered the third Wednesday of the month was today around 9pm last night, so while I knew I couldn't finish The Hidden Moon, I knew I could the novella prequel to it, The Liar's Dice.

I shouldn’t have wanted for anything, yet I wanted. I stared down at my hands and how soft and empty they were. I didn’t even know what I wanted.

If you haven't read the previous two books in the series, Wei-wei is the rich sheltered sister of Huang (book 1) and Gao is the street kid who kind of works with/for Huang but also stabbed him once. When I found out these two were going to be paired up, I lost my mind, lol. This prequel would work to jump into the series here, as you get to know Wei-wei and Gao, previously secondary characters we got glimpses of. This novella delivered a mini murder mystery and a tantalizing look at the beginning of their romance.

“Your brother pays me whenever he needs things done, Lady Bai. We are not friends.”

Wei-wei is twenty-five and realizes she's a sheltered rich girl and is starting to itch against some of her restraints, while also realizing that she doesn't want to move out of her parent's home. She's created a niche where she helped her older brother Huang and now her younger brother study for the Imperial exams. This takes place in the Tang Dynasty China, so there was a wealth of new historical elements that will have you wanting to go down rabbit holes on. She has purpose but is starting to realize it feels for other people and not herself but she also has some freedom, she can get one of their servants, Zhou Dan, to keep secrets for her and her parents kind of let her do her thing.

“You want me to stay away,” I said. “I want you to stay away.”

Wei-wei doesn't want to marry and lose what she has at her home but her favorite tale, The Butterfly Lovers about Zhu and Liang, has her wondering if she could also dress like a male and experience life outside her home walls. She tests these limits one night by getting Zhou Dan to take her to Mingyu's (book 2) tea house and while she enjoys the conversation she gets to overhear, if not yet participate in, she also gets lost when trying to find Zhou Dan. In the alleyways she meets Gao and comes upon a murder victim. From here, we get a murder mystery that twists and weaves, involving Huang and gives Wei-wei opportunity to be in Gao's presence.

I reached out to him, just my hand against his chest for no reason other than that I wanted to. Just so he’d know, and so I’d know, but this time it was Gao who moved away.

This was all told from Wei-wei's pov but we get enough from her observations of Gao to know his feelings and how hard he's trying to repress them. Y'all, from the first time they meet and he puts his hand on the small of her back (screeching!) I was losing it for this couple. It's obvious Gao likes her, finds her actions and thoughts interesting and frustrating when they put her in danger and some of that she's the sun warming him and Wei-wei finds him intriguing in that he's supposed to be dangerous but why do I feel safe with him and why does he bring out a side of myself that I try to quiet. In case you didn't know, I'm goo for this kind of dynamic. They have a kiss but Wei-wei is too thrown by it to really react and Gao's insecurity has him thinking Wei-wei is probably doing a version of slumming.

When I was around him, I could be fearless too.

The murder mystery has Wei-wei land in danger and Huang and Gao have to come in to rescue. We do get a wrap-up to the who and why of the mystery, which was honestly pretty strong for a novella, but the romance is left drifted off for it to continue in the next book. Wei-wei and Gao both had a quiet intensity to them but also a sweet playfulness that I'm dying to read in their full story. If anyone wants to buddy read The Hidden Moon in March, let me know! This was a perfect appetizer novella and great if you wanted to jump into the series here (but don't, the first two books are so good!)

A simple message, one without words that held all the promise in the world. It had been folded into the shape of a butterfly (Gao knows Wei-wei's favorite tale is the Butterfly Lovers!!! He's sending her a message he hasn't forgotten about her, at the end of this.)

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

Somehow, he knew that she wasn't a choice.

If you read The Au Pair Affair, you'll remember Sig and Chloe and their, ….are they? In Dream Girl Drama we get a look at how they first met and why the tension felt so turned up between them. Sig's on his way to dinner with his father, who he didn't meet until he was eighteen because his mom says the guy abandoned them, when his truck breaks down. He makes it to a country club that doesn't want to admit non-members when a blonde comes out of nowhere and claims Sig's with her. From there it's stolen champagne, a kiss on the green, and love at first sight. Until Sig finally makes it to dinner and finds out that his father's newest wife-to-be has a daughter and it's Chloe.

Leave...them to chance? Can't do it.

Look, I can't say I found it wildly taboo that a twenty-nine year old man who didn't grow up with his father and only communicates with him a handful of times in a decade is in love with a twenty-five year old future step-sister that he only met the night before. They're strangers who are adults and will never live in the same house developing a familial relationship. So, fair to say that part of the angsty start-crossed aspect was lost to me. I'm also not one for insta-love, so when Sig is thinking/feeling in love immediately, I wasn't exactly getting the tingles with him. However, I do think that Bailey shows and gives us those falling in love emotions as the story progresses, it just might not be everyone's cup of tea of why/how Sig is in love with her. Chloe grew-up 1%er rich, so she has no concept of taking care of herself, she's also a harp prodigy and used to gliding by on her talents. At twenty-five, and I think a push from meeting Sig, she decides that she wants to spread her wings and move out of her home and to Boston. This puts a bit of a wedge between her and her mother, thus putting a wedge between Sig and his dad, but they're not really in the story, just some occasionally coming in from the sides. Sig's love language is taking care of and he does it all for Chloe, helping pay rent, buying groceries, basically what you learn to do for yourself when you first move out. Chloe's pretty oblivious to it all until the beginning of the second half, so if you can't handle immature, flighty female main characters that take a while to grow, you'd probably struggle with this one.

They were a messy pair. Everything about what they were doing was messy but stopping seemed impossible.

This had that trademark Bailey heat, mostly on the back of the repression the two have to observe towards each other. They don't want their reputations ruined, Sig is a professional hockey player who's team is about to make captain and offer a lucrative contract and Chloe is trying for first chair in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I get we're in the TMZ era of being in people's business but since I didn't fully feel the step-sibling taboo-ness, I felt like it was somewhat overplayed (NHL is no stranger to drama, Martin Brodeur's past mess, anyone?) It was a lot of we're not staying away from each other but we can't physically act on our feelings, while Sig hires a private investigator to dig up dirt on his dad so Chloe's mom won't want to marry him. If this is your type of back and forth, you'd be in heaven.

Had she ever heard him this raw and honest before? Is this what he'd been holding back?

If you showed up for a sports romance or worried there would be too much for you, hockey features maybe 2% in this, we don't even find out Sig's a winger until 60% and see Chloe at like one game. The scene where they snap and give into their lust was hotly great but there was some, to me anyway, immature actions and feelings that took this a little over-the-top fluffy fun. The whole baseball versus hockey players rivalry game came off pretty goofy to me. When it seems like things are going to be impossible for our couple, a surprise reveal has them getting their happily ever after, which we see in a five years later epilogue, that also teased the next book couple. I didn't completely feel the angst keeping these two apart but I felt their lust and sometimes that's enough.

1.5 stars

"The show must go on."

NO00000.

This was a locked boat mystery where a carnival full of contortionist, fire breathers, palm and tarot readers, and Houdini (???) perform every night on the trip from England to America. The beginning was flashy and mystical with the carnival and it's people, the mysterious ringmaster who gets involved in a love triangle with our couple, kept me intrigued but when a murder occurs each night of the show and the whole point of this series, with the romance, is that our couple are forensic detective apprentices and there was barely any detecting going on and no one seemed overly concerned about the murders, enough to stop the shows, it all began to feel deeply unserious and I had a hard time investing in the story and characters.

Ok, I did start this continuous same couple series at book 3, so I missed some foundational emotion between this young couple but, meh, to feeling much between them.

The carnival delivered some flashy described cool scenes but the plot was structurally messy af and the characterization was wonky; a lot of elements didn't track.

I'm exhausted trying to figure this book out and so thankful I buddy read it with thevintagechronicles over on Fable because I had someone to whine, complain, and get my frustrations out with, would have lost my mind otherwise, lol.

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

“I need you to become my thief.”

In a magical realism late 1800s France, The Kiss of the Nightingale was a story of what you're willing to give up for the life you think you want. Told in first person, present tense, Cleo is a nineteen year old who is trying to keep her father's tailoring business going while caring for her sick younger sister. In this world, Talents mean everything. Centuries ago, gems infused with magic that greatly enhanced a person's gifted talent, were mined and then distributed among the population. A few decades ago, the mines dried up and Talents became impossible to get, unless you inherited them from your family. This has created increasingly lopsided economic statuses, especially when Elite Talents are horded by the aristocracy. Cleo's father was supposed to pass on his Tailoring Talent but after his emotional spiral downward after Cleo's mother's death, his body was found drowned in the river, with the Talent gem missing from his ring. Knowing that Cleo doesn't have a Talent, customers abandon her father's once flourishing business, leaving Cleo and her sister to poverty.

In our relationship, I'm the dangerous one.

Desperate to find a way to pay for a doctor for her sister has Cleo attempting to rob an aristocrat, but she's found, kidnapped and brought to Lady Sibille, better known as Dahlia and the Queen of the underworld that deals with stolen Talents. Cleo is seduced by Dahlia, physically and emotionally, and ends up agreeing to become a thief and steal Vicomte Nuriel Lenoir's Mathematical Talent in exchange for Dahlia gifting Cleo with a singing Talent and becoming Lady Adley. Unfortunately for Cleo, she feels drawn to the arrogant Nuriel and starts to develop feelings for him, leading her to feel guilty for her subterfuge and how she's going to betray him.

But Cleo, it's not worth it if it keeps you from home.

The beginning was interesting with the magical realism world set-up and obvious in it's message of resource hoarding, social status hierarchies, and what you should want out of life. However, the middle really sagged for me as Cleo did a lot of rinse and repeat of feeling guilty and battling enjoying her riches full new life with missing her sister. Since we're only in Cleo's head, the stagnate wishy-washy gave no escape and slowed the momentum of the story for me. The scenes with Cleo and Nuriel had some banter that you could feel and believe in their budding relationship but not quite enough depth to really delve into their romance. With the inclusion of magic, it felt obvious that Cleo's feelings were probably being manipulated by Dahlia in some way, so even though there seemed to be flashes of conveyed realness, I didn't quite feel the tormented pull Cleo was supposed to be in. Dahlia seemed like a very interesting secondary character that I would have loved to have seen more of, but again, all in Cleo's head, we only get those flashes.

Light and darkness. Safety and danger. Integrity and deceit. But under it all is desire. And the realization that, deep inside, I'm torn.

The ending worked to draw me back in when Cleo finally has to make a decision regarding who's side she's going to be on and what she wants out of life and we get some action. The world-building was adequate, I could have used a little more in regards to the magical Talents but it was magical realism intriguing enough. The secondary characters were plentiful and each brought something to the table; I can see Cleo's sister possibly getting her own romance. The romance, between Cleo and Dahlia and Cleo and Nuriel was there but lacked romance genre depth for me. Where this excelled the most for me was in it's underlining message of how resource hoarding hurts not only individuals but holds back societies as a whole and how talents can come from anyone and all corners of the world. This had a, mostly, wrapped up ending, but some characters were left in the wind and while some relationships were getting started, there is definitely room to add to character journeys. At points intriguing, meandering, left me wanting more depth, and thought-provoking.

3.5 stars

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

From that first meeting, she’d found herself equally appalled and intrigued by him.

Readers of the Las Leonas series have been waiting for this book ever since Aurora and Apollo first sizzled on page. You could start the series here, you'd miss out on a little bit of groundwork laid between our two leads but there was enough here to understand and feel the connection between the friends and their relationships in this one. The prologue gets us going right away when the key Apollo put into Aurora's pocket months ago, finally has her showing up at his door. They have heat between them and they act on it but they're both also emotionally going through it for their own reasons, Apollo's revenge against his father has been meted out, only for him to die and now Apollo finds himself the Duke of Annan, while Aurora's family has cut off her payments from her trust fund. They physically let out some steam but too in their own heads to finally deal with their emotions.

The long and short of it was that the fastidious, forbidding, scrupulous Aurora Montalban was spending her nights committing crimes under everyone’s nose.

After the prologue we jump a few months where Apollo is back in England and learns that Doctora Aurora is working at the Le Bureau (brothel) and uses it as an excuse to go back to Paris to check up on her. Through their friends (main characters from the previous two books in series) they meet back up and we get Apollo and Aurora striking a deal that Apollo will donate a building for Aurora to have a women's clinic in, so she's not in danger running around Paris trying to meet-up with patients, and teach her some self-defense moves (capoeiragem). For Aurora's end, she'll give her advice and expertise on how to run a clinic and she wants sexual lessons from Apollo, mainly help her learn what she likes. These are the reasons for keeping the two in each other's orbit, what is trying to pull them apart is the lingering part of Apollo's revenge, he wants the aristocracy to accept him and gain some feeling of respect through that for his mother who has died, this is pushed a lot by his tia who is trying to set him up with respectable heiresses. There's also an in the wings aristocrat villain that works to discredit Apollo. Aurora's issues are from when she was taken advantage of when she was a teen by an older man, she felt ignored and unloved in her family, and is eventually forced into a decision that has her going against her family and distances her even more emotionally from them. It's what caused her parents to send her to a finishing school, which series readers know is where the Las Leonas meet and form.

Why must you always be so angry?

These two pretty much like each other right off the bat, sure there's some friction from two hard-headed people, but the physical and emotional attraction is baked in. Apollo chases her a good amount, Aurora has a lot on her plate with being a doctor and trying to get around men to best serve her women patients. This is very much a historical romance of the time and I can see future generations centering and pointing to it. There was a lot of passages and lines that I highlighted, ex.: This was a woman of means, and yet in her letter to the clinic she’d indicated her inability to pay for her visit because she could not spend any money that could not be explained to her husband. The plot and romance are there but what grabbed me the most was the we've had these battles before and we found ways to win vibe and underlining message.

The prickly, censorious doctor who behind closed doors became his Fiera.

I really enjoyed how Luz Alana and Manuela, together with Aurora make up the Las Leonas who the series is about, made many appearances in this. Their friendship is written so beautifully and I enjoyed seeing them together. I did think the ending did get somewhat drawn out, because of the past decision Aurora made and the reason she didn't feel love from her family, she feels she'll only be a hindrance to Apollo's need to fit in with the aristocracy. The whole book felt like a showing by Apollo all the things he was willing and did do because he loved Aurora, even if there was some, feeling like, forced spouting of I need a respectable debutante. I guess I didn't completely still buy into what was keeping them apart around the 70% mark.

“I’m the Duke of Annan, and I’m using my power, my position and my money to give you what you deserve. What about it?”

These two were spicy together and I believed in their emotional connection, but what I really fell for was the historical-ness of this. You'll get setting and atmosphere, 1889 Paris with bonus lavender fields and French Riviera and historical shout-outs, Sarah Loguen Fraser (considering the day I'm writing this review, let me give my own shout-out, Rebecca Lee Crumpler). It was a great series send-off and I definitely spotted some characters that could be spin-off material. If you're looking to get into a new historical romance series, this has been my recent favorite.

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

You'll find her in the Highlands, among the heather and the stone, You'll find her in the Highlands, where her heart has found it's home.

A love letter, history and geography lesson, and tale telling, Lochs and Legends was a fun trip through parts of Scotland travel guide.

Our travel guide, Andy the Highlander (may recognize him as a supporting actor from the Outlander tv show), obviously loves his homeland and it comes through each tale and description of the land. Starting off in Fife, we get tales of a haunted palace, witch trials, and a 500 year old Inn that travelers could visit. The guide then journeys through Edinburgh, Perthshire, Gateway to Highlands, Stirlingshire (The Kelpies and Falkirk Wheel may be known to many), Cairngorn, Inverness, Outer Hebrides, Isle of Skye, Western Highlands, Argyll, Clydeside, and Glasgow, among others.

Each stop highlights Scottish heritage sights tourists might want to see, on the well trodden path and off-beaten. From nature walks, sharks, castles, book shops, and pubs, there's plenty here to entice you to make the trip. Andy's knowledge and gift for gab, with help written from Lily Hurd, made this an entertaining read, whether it was relaying of historical events, people, and places, or more whimsical with fairy and ghost folklore and stories. As an American, the sheer amount of historical places fascinated. The ending also gave us a Scottish Culture section where recipes and music could be found and a Resources section to give starting places if planning a trip. Definitely recommend if wanting to learn about Scotland, for going on a trip or just personal enjoyment.

Let me tell you that I love you and I think about you all the time Caledonia you're calling me and now I'm going home. If I should become a stranger you know that it would make me more than sad Caledonia's been everything I've ever had.

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

“What if I told you that my country is on another planet and it takes three years of Earth time to get there?”

Order of Swans starts us in a prologue from Jobi's point-of-view, he's an alien from the planet Bellis who's currently on Earth. As the third most powerful being from the Order of Sight, he can see parts of the future and he knows that Kaley, a half-light, a baby born of a Bellisian and Earthling, is going to end up being vastly important to his world, if not knowing exactly why. As he manipulates circumstances that has Kaley's Bellisian mom sent back to their planet and growing up with her father and grandparents on their farm with himself guiding her and teaching her things he foresees she'll have to know, he plans for her future. After the prologue, we're jumped twenty-six years into the future and Jobi has once again manipulated things so that Kaley, unknowingly, is traveling with him back to Bellis.

Those fairy tales had been written decades ago. But here, on these isolated islands, they were happening now.

The majority of this was told from Kaley's pov, and she's one of those female main characters that takes everything in stride, a little too well. She thinks she's just in a different country and does not know that she was knocked out for the three years it took to travel from Earth to Bellis. However, she has some kind of chip in her arm that at different points, helps her instantly understand languages and heal her when activated by others and, oh yeah, there's a dragon and events and people that curiously seem to follow the fairy tales and folklore stories she has spent studying for her PhD, the reason she agreed to go to Jobi's home “island”, to learn new stories to study. Kaley's had an unnatural ability to bond with animals all her life, so every few pages, she's making some kind of new animal friend, too. This had a curious mix of fantasy and scifi that didn't quite gel right for me. Kaley gets to Bellis early on and then the story became a road adventure pretty quickly as she and her two companions, Sojee, a tree of a man sent as body guard, and Tanek, who communes with swans and who Kaley has the physical hots for while emotionally dipping into growly with each other to lovers (no bedroom scenes here, only a kiss), are sent to bring back the King's son, so he can be married.

“Flush toilets but no computers,” she said to herself. “Crossbows but no guns. Spaceships but no cars.” She didn’t think she would live long enough to understand the planet.

The road adventure had Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, and other fairy tales popping up for our little crew to encounter. Around halfway, Kaley learns that she's not on a wild island adventure but in fact on a different planet, she, in character, handles it with little fuss other than some brief anger over being lied to. The world building was a little weak but we do know that the kingdom does seem to be a little in disarray and there are hierarchies of Orders: Sight, Swans, Royals, Kings, and Peacekeepers. This is the first in a Duology, so while the setting and characters are introduced, not a whole lot is explained, except that Jobi knows Kaley is important to their world. Tenak's son, Mekos, at one point gets kidnapped and the latter second half has them working to rescue him, which brings in a couple new characters and more reveals that leave you nothing but more questions.

“This isn’t how fairy tales are supposed to end.”

The ending delivers a kiss between Kaley and Tanek, they were together the majority of the time but there still, to me, wasn't a strong build up to their romantic relationship and while we get declarations of love, I didn't feel the depth. We're also left with a cliffhanger, remember, duology, and the future of our couple is in question, along with Kaley's foreseen purpose by Jobi and, honestly, what is actually happening on this fantasy scifi planet. While this had some interesting mashups of concepts and ideas, this kind of read more like a roughly filled in outline and I wanted more of a filled in and shored up story.

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

“A truce,” she said. “And then we can each go on our own separate way again. Just like before.”

She Doesn't Have a Clue was a locked room cozy mystery that not only gave our female lead character a chance to solve a murder, but also a second chance at love. Kate's surprised at the weekend wedding invite, it's her ex-fiancé getting married, even though he's still her editor. She's even more surprised when she has to make a flying leap to catch the ferry to get to the secluded island the wedding is being held and lands in the arms of Jake. A hot Australian surfer her mother initially set her up with but became fast friends with as she authored two books of photos and stories about his Wandering Australian life. Drunk one night, she finally gets the nerve to make her move but he turns her down. This leads to her breaking their professional relationship, starting her own set of fictional mystery books, which go on to be a huge success and not talking to Jake for two years. When they both show up to the wedding, they're forced to share a room and solve a murder, because the real murderer is working hard to frame Kate and is using the storyline from her books to do it.

“Is that what you think?” Jake asked. “That you’re not enough of a thrill for me?”

Told all from Kate's point-of-view, her character brought a left-of-center, goofy, and clumsy but earnest vibe. She occasionally lapses into Loretta povs, the main character from her fictional books, which I found kind of amusing different but also wasn't the biggest fan as it went on because it took me out of the story I was reading too many times. Even though it's a small wedding, family and friend/work acquaintances from the Indie publishing house, there were still a good number of secondary characters to keep track of. The main gist is that Kate's ex is marrying into an extremely rich family dynasty, who's matriarch, Rebecca, is pretty much hated by all. There's cousins, uncles, brothers, and sisters who all are vying for a piece of the family wealth that Rebecca controls. It's when Rebecca makes an announcement that she's donating the family wealth that things get heated and motives for nefarious maneuverings start to paint herrings red when an attempted murder and actual murder kick off the mystery storyline around the halfway point.

“We’re just going to hang about on an island with a murderer who’s trying to frame us?”

Why aren't the police called? Well, it's a secluded island and there is a storm that has knocked the power out and cell phones don't work, you know how it goes. Kate feels she has to solve the case because she thinks she has the skills through Loretta and someone seems to be setting her up. Jake wants to help her, because it's obvious that he has feelings for her. So while, they're running around pretty much trying to pin it on everyone, they're also trying to fight their physical attraction. They were together enough that I'd say this had a good romance storyline and we do get some flushing of Jake's character out with background on his family dynamics and personality issues from that but mostly, their issue is that obvious could be solved so easily communication conversation that they just can't ever seem to get around to having. There wasn't an incredible amount of emotional depth between them but they had some cute byplay and an open door scene.

Jake paused on the stairs, gripping the railing hard before pivoting and surging up to the step just below her. The height difference put them at eye level, which meant she was staring directly into the storm of his gaze when he spoke.

The murder mystery will probably keep you guessing for most the book but I'm not sure if that was fully because it was good or strung out and scattered with Kate running around too much and accusing too many. The rich family characters were a few too many and I found myself not caring a whole lot about them, so when the mystery centered around them, I wasn't as drawn in as I would have liked. However, if you're looking for some cute and cozy, there's murder but it still felt low stakes, and some cute with Kate and Jake finally finding their way to each other, this would be an easy read pick up.

3.5 stars

*This is a #TBRChallenge review, there will be spoilers, I don't spoil everything but enough, because I treat these reviews as a bookclub discussion.

“Do you want me to put my hat back on?” He was joking, but she didn’t care. “Yes.” He chuckled a bit, then grabbed his cowboy hat off the hook near his bedroom door. He slipped it on his head, then climbed in the bed.

Starting the year off with a late #TBRChallenge, how sooo unlike me. January's theme was New Year, Who Dis?, which I took to mean a new to me author. I've had this author on my tbr for a couple years now and when I was going through my books on my Kindle, well, the cover caught my eye you could say.

This is an amnesia story, which on paper, I'm burnt out on but there was an interesting angle that drew me in as I got into the story (and no, it wasn't All due to the cowboy hat, lol). We start off with our female main character at an event where we learn Evie is a chef who won some reality tv competitions and is now co-hosting her own show, she's essentially made it. We get some clues that she's a bit tired, over worked, and is actually playing the game to save enough money to open her own restaurant. Things come to a crashing halt when someone she beat out on a competition show, ends up pushing her down a flight a stairs. Evie survives but has amnesia, she can't remember anything about herself.

With some secondary character bestfriends and inner circle, Evie's emergency contact is called, a Jesse Pleasant, a rancher from Southern California. Readers have a little knowledge that Evie grew-up on this ranch with the Pleasant brothers when her grandmother had to take her when her parents died when she was a kid. Jesse is the oldest, Sam the youngest, and the one who keeps appearing in her spotty dreams, Zach. With povs from mainly Evie and Zach, but also some of the secondary characters, we get a well rounded look at how Evie had a crush on Zach and they fooled around as teenagers only to have a crushing break-up ten years ago and the two haven't talked since.

With Evie's celebrity but memory loss, everyone thinks it's best to kind of hide Evie until she can recover, there's also some side worrying about how she ended up at the bottom of the stairs. Evie ends up leaving New York and going to stay at the Pleasant's ranch in SoCal. The interesting angle I talked about is how Evie and Zach are still essentially in a fight but Evie has no clue about it, so this leads to a different take on how they're going to work it out. Zach is pretty honest up front and tells her about it, he gives an apology and with Evie's memory loss, she's able to hear it, if not fully internalize it, because she's missing the blocking wall of pain and anger. Their forced proximity at the ranch has them spending time together with Evie physically attracted to Zach and having the lingering residue of emotionally having once been attached to him, some of her dreams work as mini flashbacks to moments they had growing up.

Zach's family is very cautious about him and Evie being together but Zach see's this as his second chance and Evie is growing to like him, so they get together, with the looming, is Evie going to get her memory back and then be mad all over again. It takes until around the 80% mark for her to eventually remember all but by then, she and Zach have bonded again, so most of the work has been done, with a brief moment of Evie having to work through that past anger but equipped with Zach's apology. Zach does apologize again, when it's more meaningful for Evie and readers get more of how they were early twenties and Evie's grandmother was in Zach's ear about not holding her back career wise. It's all easy and understandable why they disconnected but also why it's now easy for them to fall into this second chance.

I liked how the amnesia angle worked to deliver a different spin on a second chance forgiveness, I liked all the secondary characters who delivered (Miss Leona novella or supplement or something, give me more about this woman's life!) and have me anticipating their own books, I loved the cowboy hats, I did want more of the ranch but I have a feeling older brother Jesse may deliver that for me, I wanted a little more time spent together and developing Evie and Zach's new romance, I loved all the doggies running around, and I greatly enjoyed the friends and family relationship dynamics.

1.5 stars

I buddy read this over on a Horror Discord, if you like stories that will exhaust you about pushing a forgiveness narrative (to the point of insanity) with some ghosts, this would be your bag. Oh, and cousin banging.

Jemma lives in Chicago and grew up with adoptive parents, when she catches her boyfriend cheating and the other woman is pregnant, she has a breakdown that leads to her losing her teaching job. When she answers a call to be a tutor for a family down in New Orleans, well, she thinks a tutor, it's never really said, just the amount a week is crazy good, so she doesn't ask a lot of questions and heads on down. There she lives with the Duchon family, who she eventually learns is her family and they're cursed and she thinks she's cursed too, it takes her a ridiculous amount of time to test if she's cursed.

As the story goes on, it's clear that colorism has lead to the Duchon's being cursed, a curse put on them by Jemma's mother but that's not all there is to the story, ghost are also around and with Jemma's ability to see them, the Duchon's think she's the key to breaking the curse. The Duchon's are aholes who deserve nothing from Jemma but Jemma thinks the curse that kills a Duchon on her birthday could effect her too, so she keeps staying to try and help break the curse. The curse keeps the Duchons on their property so cousins end up together (they initially thought they were brother and sister and were happy to learn, nope, only cousins) and Jemma feels sorry for them, even though they constantly think they're better than her because they're lighter skinned.

The story constantly pushed a forgiveness narrative, Jemma and her mother have to forgive the family for what they did and then the curse will be broken and other various ways it's weaved in. Character motivations were hard to believe in and made it hard for me to get into this story. The latter part when the ghosts came in was more interesting and I did like how some of the plot lead to Jemma building to loving herself. However, things were just never developed enough for me or didn't make much sense Jemma has spent her whole life wanting to know her biological family, when she meets them they're aholes and honestly she should have bounced first chance but then it's revealed her mother is alive but they end up hardly talking and when there's a chance for her to leave with her mother, she ends up staying and it felt very off that this key person that Jemma has always wanted to know and the story used to build up to a big reveal, just ends up flittering off never to be heard from again.

Felt directionless, character motivations didn't always make sense, and the push of forgiveness NO MATTER WHAT, made this an unsatisfying read for me.

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

This man smiles constantly. I hate him.

Window Shopping was a quick steamy holiday read about second chances. Stella is just out of jail after serving four years for armed robbery, the story is a little more complicating and forgiving than black and white, when she's looking at a department window display and gets a dual chance of a lifetime. Intrigued by her and her opinion on the window, Aiden, the general manager and majority shareholder of the store, encourages her to apply for newly vacant job opening to design the windows. This kicks off a “We can't, but boy do we want to!” relationship as second chances and taking chances fill the season.

I think because...this is a man who pays attention. This is a man who doesn't miss anything.

This was fairly typical Tessa Bailey, steamy and hot, but with some very careful, “he's her boss” maneuvering. Aiden was pretty much all in for Stella but she was cautious with not wanting to be seen as “given” anything because of her relationship with Aiden. They both had some family issues to work through on the side, Aiden feeling abandoned by his father when younger, leading him to always want to be pleasant and not cause waves, and Stella feeling guilty for how she acted out to her parents and feeling “lucky” compared to her friend Nicole, who liked to get her into trouble and guilt trip her. These issues created some keeping the two from ultimately coming together but not from their hands always being on each other.

For now, I'm going to let myself have Aiden and this moment.

Aiden was a sweet goofy guy who was the calm that our tightly held together Stella needed and Stella helped Aiden be more solid with who he was. Around seventy percent, Stella joins Aiden with allowing herself to be all in and all that's left is her dealing with issues relating to her friend Nicole, which got brushed through very quickly, and an epilogue showing their HEA. This was great for lighter, quick and steamy holiday fare reading.

4.3 stars

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

Tonight was obviously an ill-advised hook up for her. And I’m so screwed because it was the best thing that has ever happened to me.

As soon as Anna and Drew see each other in class, they're hot for each other. Anna carries self-esteem issues from being overweight in highschool and social anxiety, so when she learns the tall good-looking guy that is sending tingles up her spine is the college's star quarterback, she wants nothing to do with that fish bowl. Drew doesn't know or understand fully all of Anna's issues and why she's being so stubborn about acting on their obvious chemistry but he senses deep down that she's The One, so while he'll go slower to earn her trust, he's all in.

If only he was someone else. Something else. A regular guy. A nobody like me. But he’s not and never will be. When I think of the public scrutiny he, and by default anyone he’s with, endures, I want to hide away, run for the hills.

The Hook Up was a New Adult story about a sparking chemistry couple in different college cliques that hotly delivered (did it ever!) on it's title, at least in the beginning. I said that Anna was stubborn about acting on their chemistry, don't worry, the stubbornness doesn't last long on the physical front. These two were hot little potatoes and bless Callihan and her open-door scenes in a contemporary romance (not surprising the original pub date on this). However, since I was enjoying those scenes so much, I grumpily felt like it was a little bit of a bait-and-switch when the second half lost some of that fervor in favor of a dragged out Anna and her issues with mini little tangents. I understand that the tangents were there to entice for the secondary characters that will star in later books in the series but too many distracted from the spicy main course.

“Why won’t you let me kiss you, Anna?”

I flew through the first half filled with hot, snappy, chemistry between Anna and Drew and liked how, told through alternating povs of both characters, we could see how much Drew liked Anna but was letting her lead and go at her pace, when emotionally it was hurting him because he wanted to share how much he liked her but was scared she'd run. These two had connections, Drew's parents died when he was in high-school, Anna's father left when she was young and has a mom that chases love with the wrong men, they've felt alone. Emotionally and personality wise they connected, and I felt it through their dialogue, it's the outside world that messes with them and Anna's fear of being scrutinized, which with Drew's popularity, is going to be a given occurrence. The second half has them fighting with misunderstanding where the other is coming from. That and how they're both coming into their own, Anna questioning what she wants to do with her life after she graduates and Drew realizing that he's done with the partying, helped to make this have a great New Adult feel. Their romance also had some of those sweet and angsty new adult giddy romance feelings.

“I’ve missed you.”

The first half I was ready to give this five stars but the second half changed the pace on me so much, a decent amount of it dragging, that it couldn't stay there for me. Drew proclaims his feelings, Anna's “rules” wall crumbles, and we a get a third act break-up that simply gets resolved when Drew gets hurt during a game (people who don't like sportsball, never fear, mentions of football to more so introduce teammates for future books and only a brief look at his practice and even briefer scene of one of his games). The injury works to help them resolve their romantic relationship and then the last twenty percent was about Drew's mental health regarding his injury, it almost felt like a completely different book from how it started. We do get a two years later epilogue to check in on their HEA. A hot, new adult love first half that shouldn't be missed with a slower paced working it out second half, so maybe the best of both worlds for some readers.

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

He’d cried out for a woman and fate had seen fit to deliver to his shore London’s most infamous courtesan.

A Tempest of Desire is fifth in the Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James series but you'd have no problem jumping in here. This was a more quiet book, it's character driven with the vast majority focused on these two alone and wanting to reach for each other. There were a couple flashback scenes in the beginning to show their, we have the tingles, first meeting one another, it's what can some times come off as insta-lust but Heath is a capital W-riter, so it's instant attraction; emotions and thoughts are there enough to be shown, explored, and felt.

But then she’d never had to deal with anyone who bothered her as much as Langdon did, in ways she didn’t quite understand.

If you've read this series and the one it's a spin-off from, you'll know Langdon is the son of the Devil Earl, and he feels the responsibility of carrying some of that weight, he doesn't want to in anyway ruin his family's carefully built reputation. So, when he's in a railway accident and gets diagnosed with Railway Spine (A+ historical additive) that causes him to not understand numbers anymore, he sequesters himself to his family's private island. Men and their Drama King ways. While he's on the island, Marlowe, who he knows as one of his peer's courtesan, washes up on his shore unconscious. Turns out Marlowe is an aeronaut and her balloon crashed when she encountered a storm while flying. Langdon's number issue and Marlowe's glimpse at PTSD from her crash are, there, but this is really just about the feelings between the two.

He thought he knew her. All of London thought they knew her but all they truly knew was what the ink in the gossip columns revealed and it was shaped by those who resented her.

Over half of this book is the two on the island eyeing each other up and wanting one another. The bond over sharing their traumas and we get a good look at how and why Marlowe ended up a courtesan at the young age at nineteen, she's now twenty-two, help give layers to the characters. I liked the in-depth look at her and how it realized her character, we don't quite get as much from Langdon but he's fine for the role he's in.

He spun her so her back was to him and he draped her hair over one shoulder before he began loosening the lacings on the gown.

After some open-door bedroom antics, the second half moves us back to society and London. They have some separation as Marlowe is hurt that Langdon asks her to be his mistress when she wants more of a commitment from him, knowing that 1879 London society is not very forgiving regarding their current statuses. We get some mooning from both, Langdon trying to stay in her life by sending her gifts, as he works through the “remember this is why the story can't just wrap up in 100 pages” given impediment that he worries about ruining his family's reputation.

He wouldn’t take what she wasn’t willingly offering.

The ending, is of course, predictable but, you know what, I'm a sucker for when someone gathers the troops (Landgon's family and friends) and throws everything they have and puts it on the line for the one they love. The only thing I kind of missed (sort of get it with the epilogue) was more meaningful scenes with Marlowe and her mother, working out how her father's actions hurt them both. If you're looking for more of a quiet, focus on the characters, and wade through the emotions, then this would be one to pick-up.

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

When she was thirteen, she scuba dived to search for mermaids. Now, she was twenty-four and about to go diving for mermaids again.

Angie's back in her small hometown in Alaska for the summer, working at her father's docks to earn money and get hours in for her graduate degree and towards a PhD to become a marine biologist. Back home though, she discovers that her village that sustains itself on fishing, is slowly starving as their fish have been mysteriously disappearing over the months. When mermaids are discovered to not only be real but the reason the fish are disappearing, Angie finds herself caught in the middle of family and friends on one side and falling in love with a mer-prince on the other.

This is war.

Oceansong had a slowly building beginning that introduced us to Angie and her small-town Alaska world. Angie lost her mother a few years ago, her mother had cancer but was thought to be lost to the sea when she disappeared. She's close with her Bàba, sister Mia, and her niece Rosie, but she has never gotten along with her brother-in-law Nick. When she learns about how in danger the town is of starving and how the problem is spreading up and down the Alaskan coast, she's just as scared as everyone else. However, when mermaids are found to be real, which everyone accepted extremely easily, she's the only one calling for calm and understanding. Her brother-in-law Nick wants to start killing the mermaids immediately and the rest of the townspeople are on board. At first, I liked how the author showed how desperation, survival, and protecting one's own could push people to extremes, along with bringing out the worst of people when they get a whiff of power, like sexism and racism. As the story went on though, there just wasn't a feeling of meshing the danger, falling in love, and somewhat of a realistic response to the extremes happening in Angie's world.

And Kaden was the murderous mer's prince.

When Angie and Kaden first meet, they both try to kill each other but both would rather talk first to try and understand before committing such a final act. Angie's twenty-four, with Kaden around the same age but this still had a little bit of young adult to it. They meet only a handful of times and not for very long, their love felt rooted in he's good-looking and insta-love. This was all told from Angie's point-of-view, I can't say I ever could really understand or feel where Kaden's feelings were coming from. While they have their occasional meet-ups, there's a very serious war going on between their worlds. We're talking slaughtering, the humans catching and torturing the mermaids and the mermaids drowning and snapping necks of the humans. It's a very serious, dangerous situation, where we're supposed to believe that the remoteness of this village doesn't allow for cell service for them to get the word out and the Coast Guard is helping bigger cities. Angie's seeing all this murdering and still thinks about how in a month she'll leave to go back to college so where could a relationship with Kaden go and upset when her father fires her because she won't get her hours in for school. The situation and Angie's responses just didn't work together for me.

There was a war. Kaden was a merman. She lived on land; he lived in the sea.

Angie spends most of the book saying she needs to do something and find a way to get the humans to stop killing mermaids to try and work out a truce, but she doesn't really do anything but talk. There was some interesting elements with the mermaids breath of life that can give humans the power to breath under water and understand their language for twenty-four hours and their underwater world but some cool elements didn't help the mismatched feelings of absolute murder happening on the pages and detached reality feeling from Angie. The ending gave us a final showdown and family drama with Angie's brother-in-law really leaning into his villain era (which we're talking domestic violence and then Angie's sister seems to be mourning him and bestowing honor by naming her baby after him???). A one year later epilogue gives a happily for now ending but obvious room for a continuing story. This had the romantic emotions of a YA couple that tried to make itself sound grown-up by leaning hard into one dimensional villains that thirsted to murder (and did!) with added alluding to rape. I could go along with keeping the existence of mermaids contained but the reality of such murderous carnage happening and Angie worried about hours to get into her PhD program, did not gel for me, ultimately making the story feel off and hard to connect with.