#BookReview: Sweet Nightmare (The Calder Academy #1) by @TracyWolff @entangledpub

Synopsis: The scariest school on earth
Is about to experience real fear…

Most schools are about being the best. This school? It’s about being the worst. Calder Academy is where the rogue paranormals go. The ones who break the rules or lose control. And when that happens for vamps, werewolves, witches, and dark fae? It gets pretty freaking scary.

I should know. Because I’m trapped here.

Look, every seventeen-year-old girl thinks their mom is a tyrant. But mine just happens to run Calder Academy, which paints a giant target on my back. The way I make it through these dark halls is by steering clear of the things—and kids—who go bump in the night.

Especially Jude Abernathy.

But when a freak storm hits our isolated island, I'm stuck without a backup plan. The power is gone. The lights are out. And our worst nightmares are suddenly real—and out for blood.
Now the only way to survive is to align myself with one evil to avoid the other.

And the only thing worse than the idea of getting close to Jude? Secretly loving every minute of it.

The Calder Academy series is best enjoyed in order.
Reading Order:
Book #1 Sweet Nightmare
Book #2 Sweet Chaos
Book #3 Sweet Vengeance

#BookReview: The Exception to the Rule (The Improbable Meet-Cute #1) by @ChristinaLauren @BistroBookBabes

Synopsis: On February 14, an accidental email to a stranger opens the door to an unexpected relationship in a captivating short story by the New York Times bestselling authors of The Unhoneymooners.

One typo, and a boy and girl connect by chance. Wishing each other a happy Valentine’s Day isn’t the end. In fact, it becomes a friendly annual tradition—with rules: no pics, no real names, nothing too personal. As years pass, the rules for their email “dates” are breaking, and they’re sharing more than they imagined—including the urge to ask…what if we actually met?

Christina Lauren’s The Exception to the Rule is part of The Improbable Meet-Cute, irresistibly romantic stories about finding love when and where you least expect it. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.

#BookReview: Stay With Me (Sugarland Creek, #2) by Brooke Montgomery @lexilikestoread

Synopsis: A best friend’s brother stand-alone from small-town romance author Brooke Montgomery about a girl who falls pregnant by the wrong man and the cowboy who takes her in…

I've crushed on my best friend's brother for years.

He's a six-foot-three, dark-haired cowboy who works on his family's ranch and sends butterflies to my stomach anytime he looks at me. But he's never made a move, so I need to get over it.

Except, when he reads a text message about me liking a mysterious guy, he snaps and demands answers. Little does he know, it's my code name for him.

When he finally confesses he likes me too, I find out I'm pregnant. With my ex-boyfriend's baby.

After spending three weeks together in secret, my world turns upside down when that little white stick reveals a positive sign from the one-night stand I had before him. 

Now everything's a mess and my life's spiraling out of control.

I can't expect him to date me anymore, so I insist we return to being friends. The last thing he needs is a girl who's carrying another man's baby and about to be a first-time mom.

But when my apartment gets broken into, and there's a suspected criminal on the loose, he insists I move in with him to keep me safe. 

Staying platonic proves to be harder with each passing day as he goes with me to my appointments, takes me baby shopping, and stocks the kitchen with all my weird cravings. He's so involved that everyone assumes he's the father. And I don’t correct them.

But the truth always comes out in a Southern small town.

Stay With Me is book 2 in the Sugarland Creek series. Each book in this Southern, small town series is a stand-alone and ends in a happily ever after.

#BookReview: The Familiar by @Lbardugo @Flatironbooks

Synopsis: From the New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House, Hell Bent, and creator of the Grishaverse series comes a highly anticipated historical fantasy set during the Spanish Golden Age 

In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family's social position. 

What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain's king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England's heretic queen—and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king's favor. 

Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition's wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.

This title will be released on April 9, 2024.

#BookReview: Play Dirty (Tempting SEALs: Triton #1) by Lora Leigh @lexilikestoread @LoraLeigh_1@torbooks

Synopsis: Fifty Shades of Grey meets hard-bodied ex-Navy SEALs in this red-hot, suspenseful friends-to-lovers, girl-next-door romance from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Lora Leigh.

She saved his life when they were kids and then he saved hers. When she became a young woman, Poppy knew she would never love anyone the way she loved Jack Lee Bridger.

But after a near tragedy, Jack left home to become a Navy SEAL and Poppy knew there wouldn't be another like him. Not for her.

She remembered the way it felt when he looked at her with those smoldering eyes.

The way he kissed her.

Touched her...

Now it's years later and danger is dogging her footsteps and Jack is back.

And Poppy knows that he will do anything--absolutely anything--to keep her safe. She trusts him to protect her body, but can she trust him with heart?

#BookReview: The Dead Guy Next Door (Riley Thorn, #1) by Lucy Score @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lucy Score thrills with a hilariously riveting romcom mystery featuring quirky clairvoyant sleuth Riley Thorn. Riley has a murder to solve and she doesn't need a too hot, goody two shoes detective sticking his nose into her investigation, especially when he writes her in at the top of his suspect list.

A nice, normal life. Is that too much to ask? For Riley Thorn it is.

Divorced. Broke. Living with a pack of elderly roommates. And those hallucinations she’s diligently ignoring? Her tarot card-dealing mom is convinced they’re clairvoyant visions.

Just when things can’t get worse, a so-hot-it-should-be-illegal private investigator shows up on her doorstep looking for a neighbor…who turns up murdered.

Nick Santiago doesn’t play well with others. Unless the “others” are of the female persuasion. Wink. He’s a rebel, a black sheep, a man who prefers a buffet of options to being stuck with the same entrée every night, if you catch his drift.

When the pretty, possibly psychic Riley lands at the top of the list of suspects, Nick volunteers to find out whodunit. Only because he likes solving mysteries not because he wants to flex his heroic muscles for the damsel in distress.

All they have to do is figure out who pulled the trigger, keep the by-the-book detective with a grudge at bay, and deal with a stranger claiming he was sent to help Riley hone her psychic gifts. All before the killer discovers she’s a loose end that requires snipping.

#BookReview: Heartless (Chestnut Springs #2) by @AuthorElsie @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: Working as a nanny for the world's grumpiest single dad should be simple…except she can't keep her eyes off him. And he can't keep his hands off her. Cade Eaton is thirteen years older than Willa Grant, and he barely looks her way, even though she's living in his house for the summer. That is, until she gets him into the hot tub one night for a game of truth or dare. Then, all bets are off―and so are their clothes. Cade is gruff, a little rough around the edges, but broad-shouldered ranchers with calloused hands and filthy mouths are this city girl's kryptonite. So who is she to resist? But it's in their quietest moments together that he softens. It's in the unexpected way he takes care of Willa that she realizes his hardened exterior is just a façade. And it's when she watches him go all sweet with his little boy that she starts to fall for him, whatever the consequences. Someone once convinced Cade that his best wasn't good enough. But Willa has never felt more cherished than she does in his arms. Her contract says this arrangement is only for two months. But her heart says this is forever.

#BookReview: Unbound by Christy Healy @christykhealy @BlackstoneAudio

Synopsis: For fans of Hannah Whitten and Rebecca Ross, Unbound is a gender-bent reimagining of the classic tale of a monstrous beast and the beauty determined to tame it, set against the lush backdrop of Irish mythology and folklore. Rozlyn Ó Conchúir is used to waiting--waiting for the king, her father, to relent and allow her to leave the solitude of her tower; waiting for the dreaded and mysterious Beast of Connacht to at last be defeated; waiting for the arrival of the man destined to win her heart and break the terrible curse placed on her and her land. So when she meets Jamie--a charming and compelling suitor--she allows herself to hope that her days of solitude and patience are over at long last. But as she finds her trust betrayed--and newer, more sinister threats arising--Rozlyn learns that some curses are better left unbroken ...

#BookReview: Reckless (Chestnut Springs #4) by Elsie Silver @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: He's scorching-hot trouble wrapped up in a drool-worthy package. And he's looking at her like she might be his next meal. Theo Silva. Rowdy bull rider. Notorious ladies' man. Winter Hamilton knows exactly what it means when he eyes her like that. But she's almost free of her toxic marriage and has sworn off men entirely. So all she sees when she looks back at Theo is temptation served up with a heaping side of heartbreak. The man is hard to trust―but, it turns out, even harder to resist. Make that impossible. Because Theo is persistent. And no matter how hard Winter tries to freeze him out, he melts her icy exterior and pulls apart all her defenses. Over a drink in a small-town bar, she finds herself blurting out her deepest, darkest secrets. Then, she spends the singular hottest night of her life with the man she never thought she'd say yes to. He worships her body. He makes her blush. She comes alive beneath his hands. Then she tells him to forget it ever happened. She wants simple, and with him it all feels complicated. It was supposed to be a one-time thing. A secret. But that little plus sign is going to make this secret impossible to keep.

#BookReview: Bridesmaid for Hire (Bridesmaid for Hire, #1) by @AuthorMegQuinn @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: Sometimes the wedding of the century calls for desperate measures.

And sometimes those desperate measures are to pretend the person you hate most is actually your boyfriend.

After years of working her tail off at her event-planning business, Maggie Mitchell is ready for a vacation. With nothing on her mind but R & R, she’s enjoying the warm weather of Bora Bora when in saunters Brody McFadden, her brother’s best friend and also her sworn enemy. Thanks to years of tension between the two—kicked off by a make-out session at her brother’s wedding that ended horribly—Maggie has sworn to stay away from the man. That is, until she finds out he’s in Bora Bora for his boss’s daughter’s wedding, hoping to use the trip to win a real future at the company.

Maggie promised herself she wouldn’t even think of work on the island, but as word spreads about the “wedding of the century” taking place in the midst of her vacation, she realizes offering her services as a bridesmaid and planner could bring her business to the next level. The only catch? She needs to pose as Brody’s girlfriend to get the job…while letting him stay in her peaceful bungalow.

Tensions rise, irritation flairs, and despite years’ worth of bickering behind closed doors, Maggie can’t quite squash the sparks building between her and her new fake boyfriend, especially when she learns the real reason their first kiss was cut short. But as the wedding day draws closer and everything starts to go wrong, it just might be Brody who sends Maggie’s business crashing down—and her heart along with it.

#BookReview: A Not So Meet Cute (Cane Brothers, #1) by @AuthorMegQuinn @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: "How did you two meet?" It's the quintessential question asked to every couple, and the answer is usually some bubbly, lovey-dovey tale of being struck in the bum by Cupid's arrow. But Lottie Gardner's meet-cute was a little different. She was trolling a wealthy neighborhood in Beverly Hills, searching for someone to take her as his bride―you know, to make the arch nemesis who just fired her jealous. And billionaire Huxley Cane was conveniently stomping around the block like some sort of gorgeous ogre, mumbling about a business deal gone wrong. That's when they bump into each other. No sparks. No fireworks. Not even the first seed of blossoming love. But the next thing Lottie knows, she's scarfing down chips and guac, listening to Huxley lay out his problems, and then he tells He lied to a crucial client, and he needs a huge favor. A fake fiancée. He's talking living in his mansion together, going on intimate double-dates, and pretending they're head-over-heels in love…and engaged. It's ridiculous, but people do ridiculous things when they're desperate. And Lottie and Huxley both reek of desperation. So, she strikes up the deal. Except her one mistake might be accidentally falling for the incomparable, insufferable Huxley Cane.

#BookReview: A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon (Glimmer Falls #1) by @MsSarahHawley @BerkleyRomance

Synopsis: 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.

#BookReview: Love Redesigned (Lakefront Billionaires #1) by Lauren Asher @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: Julian
If I ever caught on fire, Dahlia Muñoz would fan the flames with a smile.
So, when she returns to Lake Wisteria, I fully intend to avoid the interior designer.
At least until my meddling mother exploits my savior complex.
The faster I help Dahlia find her creative spark, the sooner she will leave town.
But while I was busy getting rid of Dahlia, I overlooked one potential issue.
What happens if I want her to stay?

Dahlia
People say the devil has many faces, but I know only one.
Julian Lopez—my childhood rival and family frenemy.
I vow to steer clear of him while recovering from my broken engagement, but then the billionaire makes an irresistible offer.
Renovate a historic house together and triple our profits.
Our temporary truce becomes compromised as we face years’ worth of denied attraction and mixed emotions.
Giving into our desire is inevitable…but falling in love?
That isn’t part of the plan.

Love Redesigned is a steamy, small town romance about two family friends-turned-childhood rivals. It is the first book in the standalone Lakefront Billionaires series and has a happy ending.

#BookReview: In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf @mira_booksUK

Synopsis: Where the Crawdads Sing meets Practical Magic in this engrossing and atmospheric debut that follows young Weatherly Wilder as she uses her unique gift to solve her cousin’s mysterious murder and prove her own innocence, set in the beautiful wilds of Appalachia and imbued with magic realism.

In a small town in rural Georgia, Appalachian roots and traditions still run deep. Folks paint their houses blue to keep the spirits way. Black ferns grow, it’s said, where death will follow. And Weatherly Wilder’s grandmother is a local Granny Witch, relied on for help delivering babies, making herbal remedies, tending to the sick—and sometimes serving up a fatal dose of revenge when she deems it worthy. Hyper-religious, she rules Weatherly with an iron fist; because Weatherly has a rare and covetable gift: she’s a Death Talker. Weatherly, when called upon, can talk the death out of the dying; only once, never twice. But in her short twenty years on this Earth this gift has taken a toll, rooting her to the small town that only wants her around when they need her and resents her backwater ways when they don’t—and how could she ever leave, if it meant someone could die while she was gone?

Weatherly’s best friend and cousin, Adaire, also has a gift: she’s a Scryer; she can see the future reflected back in a dark surface, usually her scrying pan. Right before she’s hit and in a bicycle accident, Adaire saw something unnerving in the pan, that much Weatherly knows, and she is certain this is why the mayor killed her cousin—she doesn’t believe for a moment that it was an accident. But when the mayor’s son lays dying and Weatherly, for the first time, is unable to talk the death of him, the whole town suspects she was out for revenge, that she wouldn’t save him. Weatherly, with the help of Adaire’s spirit, sets out to prove her own innocence and find Adaire’s killer, no matter what it takes.

#BookReview: The Never King by Nikki St. Crowe @BistroBookBabes @LexiLikesToRead

Synopsis: The stories were all wrong — Hook was never the villain.

For two centuries, all of the Darling women have disappeared on their 18th birthday. Sometimes they’re gone for only a day, some a week or a month. But they always return broken.

Now, on the afternoon of my 18th birthday, my mother is running around the house making sure all the windows are barred and the doors locked.

But it’s pointless.

Because when night falls, he comes for me. And this time, the Never King and the Lost Boys aren’t willing to let me go.

The Never King is a dark retelling of Peter and Wendy. If you like your enemies to lovers romance with hot, ruthless, morally gray love interests, you’ll enjoy The Never King and the Lost Boys. You can expect hate kissing, fighting, bickering, and ‘touch her and I’ll unalive you’ vibes.

#BookReview: Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1) by Travis Baldree

Synopsis: After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.

#BookReview: When Among Crows by Veronica Roth @torbooks

Synopsis: Step into a city where monsters feast on human emotions, knights split their souls to make their weapons, and witches always take more than they give.

Pain is Dymitr’s calling. To slay the monsters he’s been raised to kill, he had to split his soul in half to make a sword from his own spine. Every time he draws it, he gets blood on his hands. 

Pain is Ala’s inheritance. When her mother died, a family curse to witness horrors committed by the Holy Order was passed onto her. The curse will claim her life, as it did her mother’s, unless she can find a cure. 

One fateful night in Chicago, Dymitr comes to Ala with a bargain: her help in finding the legendary witch Baba Jaga in exchange for an enchanted flower that just might cure her. Desperate, and unaware of what Dymitr really is, Ala agrees. 

But they only have one day before the flower dies . . . and Ala's hopes of breaking the curse along with it.

#BookReview: Night Shift by Annie Crown @BistroBookBabes

Synopsis: The bookworm and the basketball player are about to meet their match.

Kendall Holiday spends her Friday nights exactly where she wants to be: with her head buried in a spicy romance novel while she works the graveyard shift at her university's library. She knows she could join her friends for a weekend of drunken debauchery and college parties, but she likes her alone time, so she tells herself she isn't hiding when she gets lost in the pages of fictional love stories.

But that all changes when Vincent Knight, captain of the basketball team, turns up with an injured wrist, a sour mood, and a pressing need for poetry recommendations for a class he hates. Vincent is tall, smart-mouthed, and challenges Kendall like no one has before. Suddenly, she's falling headfirst into her very own romance novel—but it takes a lot more truth than tropes to get to a happy ever after in real life.

NIGHT SHIFT is a 75k-word sweet and spicy single-POV college romance perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Hannah Grace, and Elena Armas.

#BookReview: To Be Claimed by Willow Winters @VerveRomance @BistroBookBabes

Synopsis: Their authoritative presence is felt before anything else. My heart skips a beat and my blood runs cold. They’re here.

The voluminous cloaks cover their bodies entirely and their faces are mostly concealed by their hoods. Standing with their broad shoulders squared and hands tucked behind their backs, they emanate sheer masculinity and dominance.

His baritone voice whispers, and his breath burns hot against the shell of my ear. His tone is gentle, but there’s no doubt in my mind that his words are a command.

Gather and present yourself. This is the offering ...


To Be Claimed is a dark paranormal romance collection with high heat and suspense to keep you on edge. This collection features Wounded Kiss, Gentle Scars & Primal Lust

#BookReview: To Be Claimed by Willow Winters @ververomance @BistroBookBabes

Synopsis: Their authoritative presence is felt before anything else. My heart skips a beat and my blood runs cold. They’re here.

The voluminous cloaks cover their bodies entirely and their faces are mostly concealed by their hoods. Standing with their broad shoulders squared and hands tucked behind their backs, they emanate sheer masculinity and dominance.

His baritone voice whispers, and his breath burns hot against the shell of my ear. His tone is gentle, but there’s no doubt in my mind that his words are a command.

Gather and present yourself. This is the offering ...


To Be Claimed is a dark paranormal romance collection with high heat and suspense to keep you on edge. This collection features Wounded Kiss, Gentle Scars & Primal Lust