Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek

 Pages: 416

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Released: 29th of February 2024

Raised in a small village near the spirit-wood, Liska Radost knows that Magic is monstrous, and its practitioners, monsters.

After a deadly mistake, Liska delves into the dangerous spirit-wood, guarded by a demon to steal a mythical fern flower. Pluck it, and she can use its one wish to banish her own power.
Everyone who has sought the fern flower has fallen prey to the horrors of the Czantory, so when Liska is caught by the demon warden of the wood - The Leszy - a bargain seems better than death: one year of servitude in exchange for the fern flower and its wish.

Whisked away to his crumbling manor, Liska soon makes an unsettling discovery. She is not the first person to strike this bargain. And If Liska wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her taciturn host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts—figurative and literal—of his past.

Something wakes in the woods, killing off villagers one by one. Something that Frightens even The Leszy … something that cannot be defeated unless Liska embraces the monster she’s always feared becoming.

What I Have to Say

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a lot of the Winternight Trilogy, a series I love, but with a stronger romance. And the romance was delicious. I loved the way the author built up the relationship between the Leszy and Liska. It didn't feel rushed like a lot of books these days seem to do.

I really liked the world a lot. A world where there's a shapeshifting house spirit waiting for you when you get home who will treat you kindly if you give it a little bread and honey. Jaga was definitely one of my favourite characters, but I loved how everyone in this book was something different. No one was quite human.

And the ending was perfect. It's hard to end a book, especially a standalone, which I think this is. But this was just perfection. The last line especially. 

4 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Penguin for providing me with this gifted copy for review. 

Ryan and Avery by David Levithan (audiobook)

 

Pages: 322

Publisher: Electric Monkey 

Narrator: Jamie K. Brown 

Released: 12th of September 2023 

When a blue-haired boy (Ryan) meets a pink-haired boy (Avery) at a dance–a queer prom–both feel an inexplicable but powerful connection. Follow them through their first ten dates as they bridge their initial shyness and fall in love–through snowstorms, groundings, meeting parents (Avery’s) and not (Ryan’s), cast parties, heartbreak, and every day and date in between.

What I Have to Say 

This book was pure queer joy. It was sweet, it was romantic and it was filled with the joy of new relationships. I loved Avery and Ryan so much as characters, balancing their lives in high school with their relationship despite the roadblocks that Ryan's parents put in their way. 

It was really really good to see a trans boy in a queer romance book. Trans representation is still sorely lacking in LGBTQ+ fiction and it's really good that in the last year there've been a couple I've come across. It makes me hope that we're making progress. 

Honestly, this book was just so relaxing to read. The narration was wonderful, really fitting the characters well and it was just a great audiobook to curl up and listen to. 

5 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Electric Monkey for providing me with a gifted copy of this audiobook for review. 

My Big Fat Desi Wedding ed. Prerna Pickett

Pages: 282 

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books 

Released: 18th of January 2024 

Romance. Drama. And plenty of spice. You are invited to . . . MY BIG, FAT DESI WEDDING.

A prophecy of disaster.

A world where your soulmate's thoughts appear on your skin.

A boy forbidden from attending his brother's wedding.

A supernatural love that spans centuries.

And one particular auntie who loves to meddle.

So, send in your RSVP, put on your best outfit, and take a front row seat as enemies become friends, friends become lovers, sceptics are convinced by the power of romance, and guests fall head over heels - even if they're not the ones saying 'I do'.

Lose yourself in eight swoon-worthy and dreamy stories guaranteed to bring out the hopeless romantic in every reader. With a never-ending buffet of mouth-watering food, extravagant outfit changes and lots of drama!

What I Have to Say 

This was such a lovely read. It was a short story collection where I enjoyed pretty much every story. It was very relaxing and romantic and it was honestly just such a joy to read. I don't know why but desi teen romance is one of my favourite genres to relax to, with most of the stories in this book revolving around teenagers or people in early adulthood. 

Two of my particular favourite stories were Fate's Favourites, which played very much with the idea of soul mates and the idea that the thoughts of your soul mate would end up manifesting on your body and A Very Bloody Halyanam, which brought vampires into the mix. 

I really liked exploring the mix of cultures and the differences and similarities between the different marriage ceremonies. 

In all, it was a good, fun, relaxing read. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hodder Children's Books for providing me a gifted copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

More Than a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban

Pages: 384

Publisher: Penguin

Released: 9th of January 2024 

Love is more than just a game for two.

It’s 1857, and anxious debutante Beth has just one season to snag a wealthy husband, or she and her mother will be out on the street.

Gwen, on the other hand, is on her fourth season and counting, with absolutely no intention of finding a husband, possibly ever. She has plenty of security as the only daughter of a rakish earl, from whom she’s inherited her penchant for drinking too much and dancing ‘til dawn.

Beth and Gwen are enchanted with each other on sight. And it doesn’t take long for Gwen to hatch her latest scheme: rather than join the husband hunt, they should set up Gwen’s father and Beth’s newly-widowed mother.

They had a fling years ago, after all…

A swoon-worthy debut queer Victorian romance in which two debutantes distract themselves from having to seek husbands by setting up their widowed parents, and instead find their perfect match in each other—the lesbian Bridgerton you never knew you needed!

What I Have to Say 

This book was really good but there was a section in the middle that was really depressing. Obviously life was hard for gay people at this time, but reading the realities of it, really hurt. I'm afraid that it spoilt my enjoyment of the book a bit. 

Until that point though, I really enjoyed seeing the romance play out. I really liked the two characters, but especially Gwen and her whole family. I loved how they were just skirting with scandal the whole time because of how much they really didn't fit into society. 

On the whole, apart from being a tad depressing, it was a really refreshing take on the regency period and I'd love to see more from this author. 

 3.5 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Penguin for providing me with this gifted copy for review. 

Mermaids Never Drown ed. Zoriad Córdova and Natalie C. Parker

Pages: 320

Publisher: Titan Books 

Released: 26th of September 2023 

14 Young Adult short stories from bestselling and award-winning authors make a splash in Mermaids Never Drown - the second collection in the Untold Legends series edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker - exploring mermaids like we've never seen them before!

A Vietnamese mermaid caught between two worlds. A siren who falls for Poseidon's son. A boy secretly pining for the merboy who saved him years ago. A storm that brings humans and mermaids together. Generations of family secrets and pain.

Find all these stories and more in this gripping new collection that will reel you in from the very first page! Welcome to an ocean of hurt, fear, confusion, rage, hope, humor, discovery, and love in its many forms.

Edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, Mermaids Never Drown features beloved authors like Darcie Little Badger, Kalynn Bayron, Preeti Chhibber, Rebecca Coffindaffer, Julie C. Dao, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Adriana Herrera, June Hur, Katherine Locke, Kerri Maniscalco, Julie Murphy, Gretchen Schreiber, and Julian Winters.

What I Have to Say 

This was a really strong short story anthology. It had many different types of stories and many different styles of writing, all featuring mermaids, sirens or the cultural equivalent! I had a great time reading it and really enjoyed some of the stories. There weren't any stories I absolutely hated in this one, which is always a good sign! 

 Some of my particular favourites were The First and Last Kiss by Julie Murphy, The Merrow by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker and Jinju's Pearls by June Hur, but there were many other good ones that really stood out for me! 

I liked sirens a lot, so it made me really happy to see Sirens feature so much in this book. I was glad that they really went into the dark sides of myths as well as having some lighter stories. 

If there's a mermaid obsessed reader in your life, this would be the perfect book for them! 

4 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Titan Books for providing me with this gifted copy for review. 

A Demon's Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sarah Hawley

Pages: 432

Publisher: Gollancz 

Released:  30th of November 2023 

Calladia Cunnington curses the day she met Astaroth the demon, but when he shows up memoryless, why does she find him so helpless . . . and sort of hot?

Calladia Cunnington knows she’s rough around the edges, despite being the heir to one of small-town Glimmer Falls’ founding witch families. While her gym obsession is a great outlet for her anxieties and anger, her hot temper still gets the best of her and manifests in bar brawls. When Calladia saves someone from a demon attack one night, though, she’s happy to put her magic and rage to good use . . . until she realizes the man she saved is none other than Astaroth, the ruthless demon who orchestrated a soul bargain on her best friend.

Astaroth is a legendary soul bargainer and one of the nine members of the demon high council—except he can’t remember any of this. Suffering from amnesia after being banished to the mortal plane, Astaroth doesn’t know why a demon named Moloch is after him, nor why the muscular, angry, hot-in-a-terrifying-way witch who saved him hates him so much.

Unable to leave anyone in such a vulnerable state—even the most despicable demon—Calladia grudgingly decides to help him. (Besides, punching an amnesiac would be in poor taste.) The two set out on an uneasy road trip to find the witch who might be able to restore Astaroth’s memory so they can learn how to defeat Moloch. Calladia vows that once Astaroth is cured, she’ll kick his ass, but the more time she spends with the snarky yet utterly charming demon, the more she realizes she likes this new, improved Astaroth . . . and maybe she doesn’t want him to recover his memories, after all.

What I Have to Say 

I wasn't sure how this one would be after seeing Astaroth's character in A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon, but it worked better than I thought. The only problem I found was that Astaroth had a complete personality change in order to fall in love. 

It made sense in the plot and he still had some of the same sass and snobbery that the original Astaroth had. And I don't think the plot would have ever worked with the original Astaroth. But I found myself wondering at several points whether amnesia really would have so much of an effect. 

I liked both characters though and the enemies-to-lovers style of their relationship was satisfying., I love this world and I was really glad to spend more time in it. 

Looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book! 

4 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Gollancz for providing me with this gifted copy for review. 

This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin

Pages: 354 

Publisher: Penguin 

Released: 14th of September 2023 

When 'messy witch' Morgan Greenwood drunkenly offers to fake date her dream woman Rory Sandler during the New England Witches' festival, she's sure she was hexed at birth. And things go from bad to complicated when Rory accepts.

But although they're 'pretending' to be a couple, their undeniable chemistry soon starts to feel like the real deal -until Morgan realizes she may have broken one of the most sacred Witch Council Laws, and accidentally given Rory a love potion. If this is true, she'll have to prove how incompatible she and Rory are to break the potion - and her heart in the process.

Morgan is no stranger to a disaster, so ruining their relationship should be easy.

Is Rory destined to be Morgan's latest screw-up?

Or could the magic between them be real?

What I Have to Say 

This book was really cute and I loved the couple in it and the setting and everything really, except that I found that I couldn't enjoy a good half of it as much as I wanted because it used my least favourite trope, when lovers don't talk to each other and so they spend most of the book struggling with a problem that could be fixed in five minutes. It was also a little predictable 

Morgan should have told Rory about the love potion immediately. Honestly, I think the fact that she didn't is almost as bad as giving someone a love potion to begin with! Rory deserved to know that her feelings were being messed with. And although the consent issues in this book were definitely handled well, I just hated Morgan the whole time for not telling her. 

I loved the magic in this book. It was interesting to see the rituals and spells woven into the life of everyday witches, using potion-infused bath products and drinks that are spelled to create different effects was so interesting. Honestly this was the sort of book that I would like to live in if I could. 

Overall, the issues around not telling Rory was really the only problem I had with this book. The plot, the humour, the characters, the settings all added up to be really entertaining. I would recommend it as a good witchy read. 

4 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Penguin for providing me with this gifted copy for review. 

I Loved You In Another Life by David Arnold

Pages: 339 

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 10th of October 2023 

A sweeping romantic novel from NYT bestselling author David Arnold about the power of soulmates and love

Evan Taft has plans. Take a gap year in Alaska, make sure his brother and single mother are taken care of, and continue therapy to process his father's departure. But after his mum's unexpected cancer diagnosis, and as Evan's plans begin to fade, he hears something - a song no one else can hear, the voice of a mysterious singer ...

Shosh Bell has dreams. A high school theatre legend, she's headed to performing arts college in LA, a star on the rise. But when a drunk driver takes her sister's life, that star fades to black. All that remains is a void - and a soft voice singing in her ear ...

Over it all, transcending time and space, a celestial bird brings strangers from an escaped murderer in 19th century Paris, to a Norwegian cosmonaut in low-earth orbit, something is happening that began long ago, and will long outlast Evan and Shosh.

 I LOVED YOU IN ANOTHER LIFE explores the history of love, and how some souls are meant for each other - yesterday, today, forever.

What I Have to Say 

I enjoyed reading this, but it didn't take my breath away. I liked the characters, the story was sweet with all the flashbacks to their past lives, but I don't know, I expected more. 

The thing that I think I liked most about this was how much it normalised therapy. Evan has a therapist in the book and quite a few chapters were set in his appointments talking about various things that were happening. It felt refreshing in the way that it wasn't such a big thing, it was just an ordinary part of his life. As it should be! 

I also liked how some of the flashbacks to the past lives showed gay relationships. Although I feel that more could have been done with the different types of people shown in these bits, it was good to see a nod to the LGBTQ+ community. 

I definitely liked this book, but ultimately I don't think it will be one that stays with me. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for Providing me with this gifted copy for review. 

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Pages: 425

Publisher: St Martin's Griffin 

Released: 14th of May 2019 

A big-hearted romantic comedy in which the First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends...

First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.

The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.

As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?

What I Have to Say 

I can't believe I waited this long to read this, it was so cute. I loved the characters and the romance so much. I kept up with most of the American politics in the way it was relative to the story, though I can't say I didn't get a bit confused by it at times. 

As this was an American writing about a British prince, the Britishness was sometimes overexaggerated. I didn't find it too bad for most of it as Henry is a stuffy old prince and more likely to speak in an overly posh manner. But the one bit that did make me cringe was when he used the word "innit" which is very much not a word that someone as posh as Henry would ever used. We definitely need to educate Americans on that word because I hear it too much in American fiction. 

I loved Alex's family, especially June and Nora who were very much my kind of characters. And the friend group widening to include Henry's friend and sister was very endearing. There was such a strong sense of friendship and family in this book. 

Read for fake friendship, dashing royalty and a lot of gayness. 

5 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with this gifted copy for review. 

If I Have to Be Haunted by Miranda Sun

Pages: 369

Publisher: Magpie 

Released: 14th of September 2023 

Your first love will always haunt you…

The most haunting, heartwarming debut of 2023. Perfect for fans of strong female leads and supernatural stakes in Buffy, with all the sweetness and romance of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

Cara’s just trying to stay on top of all her classes, excel at her extracurriculars, and prepare for college – which means not speaking to the dead, an ability she inherited from her grandmother. Ghosts are trouble, and Cara doesn’t need to add their problems to her own.

But then she stumbles upon the body of Zach – the super popular but very newly dead high school golden boy – in the woods, and guess what? He wants her to resurrect him.

Cue trouble.

Miranda Sun’s debut touches on the power and conflicts in a mother-daughter love, first romance – and finding your place in the world while honouring your culture. Full of heart, humour and thrills, If I Have to be Haunted will put a spell on you.

What I Have to Say 

This one let me down a bit. I was hoping for more sassy banter and back and forth, which is the best thing about any enemies to lovers, but most of it just seemed to be them telling the other how much they hated one another. Then there was the romance, which employed my favourite trope of them refusing to say that they like the other or see that the other clearly likes them when it's so obvious. I just wanted to bash their heads together to make them see sense. 

I really liked the ghosts though. The ghost lore with the silver around so you could tell they were ghosts was really interesting and I liked seeing what they could and couldn't interact with. Like the fact that they could touch Cara but Cara couldn't touch them back. It was an interesting take on ghost lore that I've seen elsewhere. 

I also liked the adventure. I liked seeing the different places they went to, especially the extinction meadow which is now one of the top places in a book that I'd like to visit. 

All in all, this could have been better. It was mostly the romance and the lack of banter I didn't like, though that was because it was employing a trope I don't like. So if you like the trope, you might have a better time of it than me. 

3 stars 

My thanks go to Magpie and Netgalley for providing me with this gifted copy for review. 

 

A Lady's Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin

Pages: 400 

Publisher: Harper Collins 

Released: 31st of August 2023 

When shy Miss Eliza Balfour married the austere Earl of Somerset, twenty years her senior, it was the match of the season--no matter that he was not the husband Eliza would have chosen.

But ten years later, Eliza is widowed. And at eight and twenty years, she is suddenly left titled, rich, and, for the first time in her life, utterly in control of her own future. Instead of living out her mourning quietly, Eliza heads to Bath with her cousin Margaret. After years of living according to everyone else’s rules, Eliza has resolved, at last, to do as she wants.

But when the ripples of the dowager Lady Somerset’s behavior reach the new Lord Somerset—whom Eliza knew, once, as a younger woman—Eliza is forced to confront the fact that freedom does not come without consequences, though it also brings unexpected opportunities . . .

What I Have to Say 

I love these books so much. The characters are just so sassy and real. Margaret was a treasure and I loved Melville's wit so much. Also this book stands alone from A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting and while I was sad none of the characters in that book appeared, it does mean that readers can pick up Scandal without having read Fortune Hunting! 

There was something so refreshing about seeing a widow as a character in this book. While I don't read much Regency so I don't know what's the norm, most of the regency books I've read are young girls looking for a husband, so it was refreshing to see a widow with her own money and no need to rely on a man looking her way to save her family. Though of course we knew that romance was coming, it was nice to see someone living in this time who didn't necessarily need it. 

I also really felt for Eliza. This was her second chance at love after having married for her family. It was her chance to actually have a love match and be with someone who didn't disparage her all the time. I was really invested in her journey. 

If you haven't picked up one of these books yet, you definitely should. Even if you don't read regency or romance, these are just so refreshing to read! 

5 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Harper Collins for providing me with this copy for review. 

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto

Pages: 

Publisher: Harper Collins 

Released: 1st of July 2023 

Ama Torres is a great wedding planner. Ama Torres does not believe in happily-ever-afters… When Ama lands the job of her dreams, a headline-grabbing wedding for a glamorous Instagram star and her fiancee, it’s her biggest job yet. But the florist is none other than Elliot Bloom – Ama’s ex, the man whose heart she broke two years ago. The man she hasn’t spoken to since. Can they get through the wedding without killing – or kissing – each other?

What I Have to Say 

I'm not big into romance but this concept seemed cute so I gave it a go and it was really nice and relaxing to read. I liked the characters a lot and it was a bit different from any romance I've read before so it was good to read. 

The fact that they were exes was what interested me. It was good in some ways but bad in others. It was good because it meant that a lot of conflict had happened in the past, so I could relax and not worry too much because the characters weren't together. But because of knowing something big had happened in the past and also because of Elliots grumpy attitude, I didn't warm to him very quickly and I wasn't that invested in them getting together. 

There was also no honeymoon period. All the time they were together in the flashbacks, I was aware that something was about to happen and ruin it all and that also gave me trouble with investing. Obviously it's romance so I knew it would end happily, but that didn't give me any satisfaction. 

Overall though it was a good romance. It did stuff different and most importantly it was something I could relax into and just read. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Harper Collins for this gifted copy for review. 

My Week With Him by Joya Goffney

Pages: 400 

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 11th of July 2023 

Nikki's always had a difficult relationship with her mum. So when she finds herself homeless at the start of spring break, she decides to rage-quit Texas and give California a shot, to pursue her dream music career.

Until her best friend and long-time crush, Malachai, discovers her plan, and convinces her to spend spring break with him, so he can show her all the reasons she should stay in Texas.

But when Nikki's little sister goes missing their plans are interrupted, and Nikki is forced to face her feelings about both her mum and Mal. Can Nikki find the love she's always been missing? And will it be enough to convince her to stay in Texas?

TW: Abuse 

What I Have to Say 

While I didn't enjoy this as much as Confessions of an Alleged Good Girl, it definitely had the cute romance plot with series issues behind it that I found good about the first book. The masterful way that Goffney weaves the seriousness of the abuse scenes in between the sweet romance just has me in awe. 

I love how wholesome Goffney's male love interests are. Although I thought for a while that the plot would be Nikki choosing between love and her career, I was glad to see that as we got further into the book, Malachai got more supportive of her. It's really nice to see these cute boys who know how to treat the women in their lives. 

I really liked the ending of this book too. It was really uplifting. Can't wait for the next Joya Goffney book! 

4 stars 

My thanks goes to Hot Key Books and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Thing About Lemons by Tasha Harrison

Pages: 320 

Publisher: UCLan Publishing

Released: 1st of June 2023 

Ori Reynolds has just made the biggest mistake of her life. One that’s resulted in:

1) losing all but one of her friends,

2) feeling like the World’s Most Terrible Person,

and

3) having all her fun summer plans cancelled.

And, as if things couldn’t get any worse, she now has no choice but to go on a road trip with her estranged grandad Claude to his home in the French countryside.

Talk about life giving you lemons!

However, while Ori scoffs at her mum’s suggestion to “make lemonade”, her sour situation is about to turn significantly sweeter than she could ever have imagined…

What I Have to Say 

I tried to read this book with an open heart, because people make mistakes and it can be hard to move on from. Love is complicated and falling in love with the wrong person can be really difficult. But even though she didn't intend to kiss him, Ori was scheming to "get to know Jackson better" behind her friend's back. The fact that this led to cheating, was really not surprising. (This is all on page one, by the way.) 

So after not warming to Ori at all, she spent most of the book wallowing in her teenage drama. I read a lot of YA, so I don't use the term "teenage drama" lightly. This was just too much angst and self-pity for me. And then she very quickly moves on to the next boy she decides to have a crush on, after deciding really quickly that Jackson is not for her. I just felt if he was so easy to move on from, why did she kiss him in the first place?! 

So yeah, to say this book wasn't for me was a massive understatement. I just did not get on with it at all and would advise other people to stay away unless you can get really into teen drama. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and UCLan Publishing for providing me with this copy for review. 

Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee

Pages: 272 

Publisher: Macmillan 

Released: 16th of May 2023 

Fake-dates, mooncakes and rich people problems. But love wasn't meant to be on the menu ...

Meet Dylan Tang: he juggles school and delivery runs for his aunt’s struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn. Winning a mooncake competition could bring the publicity they need to stay afloat.

Enter Theo Somers: a charming, wealthy customer who convinces Dylan to be his fake date to a family wedding full of crazy rich drama. Their romance is supposed to be just for show . . . but soon Dylan’s falling for Theo. For real.

With the mooncake contest looming, Dylan can’t risk being distracted by rich-people problems. Can he save his family’s business and follow his heart—or will he fail to do both?

What I Have to Say 

 The two best things about this book were the dog (Clover the corgi, named after the author's own dog) and the mooncakes. Though there could always be more dog moments, both lived up to expectation. The food descriptions in this book in general were wonderful and a lot of snacking happened while I was reading it, but the talk of different methods to make mooncakes was my favourite because I've never thought about what it entails. I've never had a snow skin mooncake or one with chocolate in, but now I want to try them! 

The characters were very lifelike and I loved how much the book showed the feeling of family. Dylan's family was wonderful and I could really feel the love, but I could also feel a lot of love between Theo and his cousins. It gave the book such a loving vibe. 

The only problem I had was that all Theo seemed to do was help Dylan out. It seemed that Dylan was always the one needing rescuing and Theo was always the rescuer. I would have liked a bit more balance as it got old fast. 

Read for a warm loving family dynamic, rich people drama, a cute dog and lots and lots of mooncakes! 

4 stars 

My thanks goes to Macmillan and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

Dowry of Blood by S.T Gibson

 Pages: 292 

Publisher: Orbit 

Released: 31st of January 2021 

This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. . .

Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.

Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband's dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death.

What I Have to Say 

This book was beautifully written, the language used was evocative and well thought out, but I felt the plot was a little too uneventful for my liking. The ending was wonderfully action based but everything else was just them travelling around and meeting one another. 

I loved the polyamory. The synopsis calls them rival lovers but all four main characters of this book are in love with each other. The relationship between Constanta, Magdalena and Alexi is perfect and beautiful and honestly relationship goals for anyone whether polyamorous or monogamous. They just could have done without Dracula in the mix. 

I really don't have more to say about this book. If you like beautiful writing and polyamory and don't mind a more sedate book, then it's perfect for you. 

3 stars 

My thanks go to Orbit and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

The First Move by Jenny Ireland

Pages: 368 

Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK 

Released: 13th of April 2023 

Juliet believes girls like her - girls with arthritis - don't get their own love stories. She exists at the edges of her friends' social lives, skipping parties to play online chess under a pseudonym with strangers around the world. There, she isn't just 'the girl with crutches'.

Ronan is the new kid: good looking, smart, a bad boy plagued by guilt over what happened to his brother Ciaran. Chesslife is his escape; there, he's not just 'the boy with the brother'.

Juliet thinks Ronan thinks someone like Ronan could never be interested in someone like her - and she wouldn't want him to be anyway because he always acts like he's cooler than everyone else. Whereas, Ronan thinks life is already too complicated for dating and just wants to keep his head down at school.

Little do they know they've already discovered each other online, and have more in common than they think . . .

What I Have to Say 

This book was so easy to sink into and get lost in. The voices of the characters were so strong and they were so relatable. 

I enjoyed the disability rep, it was well done. I do feel like all the disability rep is taking the same vein at the moment. That the character feels like a burden and hates their disability and though this is a really valid way to feel, I'm seriously ready for a character who's accepted themself and is more positive, so that we can see how much more they are than their disability. The books about Neurodiversity went through this phase too and I don't mean that there isn't any place for books about coming to term with disability, but there should be more to the genre. 

I liked the general message of this book. That everyone has something going on in their lives and that asking for help isn't a bad thing. Nothing excuses the ableism that takes place in this book, but it was good to remember that sometimes people have reason for this. 

In all, I really just loved this book especially the online messaging. Great to see some disability rep. 

4 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Penguin for providing me with this copy for review. 

This Is How You Fall In Love by Anika Hussain

Pages: 352 

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 2nd of February 2023 

Zara and Adnan are just friends. Always have been, always will be. Even if they have to pretend to be girlfriend and boyfriend...

Zara loves love in all forms: 90s romcoms and romance novels and grand sweeping gestures. And she's desperate to have her own great love story. Crucially, a real one. So when her best friend Adnan begs her to pretend to date him to cover up his new top-secret relationship, Zara is hesitant. This isn't the kind of thing she had in mind. But there's something in it for Zara too: making her parents, who love Adnan, happy might just stop them arguing for a while. She may not be getting her own love story, but she could save theirs.

So Zara agrees and the act begins: after all, how different can pretending to be in a relationship with your best friend be to just hanging around with them like usual? Turns out, a lot. With fake dating comes fake hand-holding and fake kissing and real feelings... And when a new boy turns up in Zara's life, things get more confusing than ever.

The course of true love never did run smooth, but Zara's love story is messier than most...

What I Have to Say 

This book was a love letter to love. Romantic love, platonic love, friendship and family, it leaves no kind of love out. The ending really touched me a lot with how positive it was a about friendships and familial love. 

It amused me a lot that she met the new boy playing Pokemon Go. As a Pokemon Go player myself I really appreciated the references, but I'm not sure if it would be too technical for people who don't play. It really endeared me towards Yahya though. I really liked him a lot. 

I do feel though that it was maybe a bit predictable because of which characters were fleshed out and which weren't. Although I was fearful that she would get together with the wrong boy at the end, I kind of felt like I knew how it would end. 

I really, really enjoyed it though and I hope you do too. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for providing this copy for review. 

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

Pages: 400

Publisher: Gollancz 

Released: 7th of March 2023 

Mariel Spark knows not to trust a demon, especially one that wants her soul, but what’s a witch to do when he won’t leave her side—and she kind of doesn’t want him to?

Mariel Spark is prophesied to be the most powerful witch seen in centuries of the famed Spark family, but to the displeasure of her mother, she prefers baking to brewing potions and gardening to casting hexes. When a spell to summon flour goes very wrong, Mariel finds herself staring down a demon—one she inadvertently summoned for a soul bargain.

Ozroth the Ruthless is a legend among demons. Powerful and merciless, he drives hard bargains to collect mortal souls. But his reputation has suffered ever since a bargain went awry—if he can strike a bargain with Mariel, he will earn back his deadly reputation. Ozroth can’t leave Mariel’s side until they complete a bargain, which she refuses to do (turns out some humans are attached to their souls).

But the witch is funny. And curvy. And disgustingly yet endearingly cheerful. Becoming awkward roommates quickly escalates when Mariel, terrified to confess the inadvertent summoning to her mother, blurts out that she’s dating Ozroth. As Ozroth and Mariel struggle with their opposing goals and maintaining a fake relationship, real attraction blooms between them. But Ozroth has a limited amount of time to strike the deal, and if Mariel gives up her soul, she’ll lose all her emotions—including love—which will only spell disaster for them both.

What I Have to Say 

This was a funny, easy read. It was full of wit and charm. While it was a bit too horny for me, I appreciated that most romance fans like a bit more sex in their books than me. There were parts that were predictable, but all in all I had a good time reading the book. 

I really liked the characters. They were both relatable and had a good amount of humour in them. It felt like they were nice well rounded characters who had decent backstories. Though the backing characters were a little more like caricature, they were also fun to read about. 

I loved Mariel's plant magic so much. I loved that she was so good at it even though she couldn't see it and how Ozroth saw it instantly. I also like how the demon realm was made out to be this society that was so much better than ours despite the whole soulless demon thing. 

I don't know if I will read on or not. I might do out of curiosity, though I do think this would have worked well as a standalone. 

 

4 stars

My thanks go to Netgalley and Gollancz for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Thorns Remain by JJA Harwood

Pages: 416 

Publisher: Magpie 

Released: 16th of February 2023

From the Sunday Times bestselling historical fantasy author of THE SHADOW IN THE GLASS comes a tour-de-force of faerie bargains, perfect for fans of THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LA RUE, MEXICAN GOTHIC, and TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY

A dance with the fae will change everything

1919. In a highland village forgotten by the world, harvest season is over and the young who remain after war and flu have ravaged the village will soon head south to make something of themselves.

Moira Jean and her friends head to the forest for a last night of laughter before parting ways. Moira Jean is being left behind. She had plans to leave once – but her lover died in France and with him, her future. The friends light a fire, sing and dance. But with every twirl about the flames, strange new dancers thread between them, music streaming from the trees.

The fae are here.

Suddenly Moira Jean finds herself all alone, her friends spirited away. The iron medal of her lost love, pinned to her dress, protected her from magic.

For the Fae feel forgotten too. Lead by the darkly handsome Lord of the Fae, they are out to make themselves known once more. Moira Jean must enter into a bargain with the Lord to save her friends – and fast, for the longer one spends with the Fae, the less like themselves they are upon return. If Moira Jean cannot save her friends before Beltine, they will be lost forever…

Completely bewitching, threaded with Highland charm and sparkling with dark romance, this is a fairytale that will carry you away.

TW: obsession, toxic relationship, sickness, death, injury, brief suicide mentions, grief 

What I Have to Say 

This is how to do fae romance right. It was obsession, it was tricks, it was every twisted thing I want from a fey who's become interested in a human. It was good because it wasn't love. It wasn't treated as love. I didn't like the ending, but up until that it was everything I wanted it to be. 

I loved the relationships that Moira Jean had with different ones of the fey. The brownie was my favourite. I also loved how the changeling flirted with her and made the book so much gayer. I like how Moira Jean's bisexuality was acknowledged in a way that fitted in with the times though I do wish there had been more of it. 

Moira Jean's grief made her character and I don't think she would have been the same without it. It was a good way of getting more romance into the book because there were flashbacks. I don't think it would have been the same book without it. 

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I hope there'll be more in the genre like this. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Magpie for providing me with this copy for review.