#BookReview: The Life Sentence by Jackie Kabler

Synopsis: Convicted
Jailed
All for a crime that never even happened … My name is Amber Ryan.
I’m in prison, but I’m innocent.
And I’ve been jailed not just for a crime I didn’t commit, but for a crime that never even happened.
Now, my friend is going to try to prove it.
But to do that, she has to go back.
Back to the dark.

This book releases May 9, 2024

#BookReview: The Fallback by Eleanor Goymer

Synopsis: A back-up plan between friends
But what do you do when you’ve fallen for your fallback?! There is no rulebook for secretly falling in love with your best friend. So when Mitch offers Rosie a bargain that secretly gets her what she’s been pining for… Rosie would be a fool to say no, right? They either find their soulmates by Christmas, or be each other’s fallback. Either way Rosie she finds someone that will finally get her over Mitch, or she can be with him. What she didn’t bargain for was Mitch falling for someone else…

#BookReview: The Pumpkin Spice Café (Dream Harbor #1) by Laurie Gilmore

Synopsis: When Jeanie's aunt gifts her the beloved Pumpkin Spice Café in the small town of Dream Harbor, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start away from her very dull desk job.

Logan is a local farmer who avoids Dream Harbor's gossip at all costs. But Jeanie's arrival disrupts Logan's routine and he wants nothing to do with the irritatingly upbeat new girl, except that he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her.

Will Jeanie's happy-go-lucky attitude win over the grumpy-but-gorgeous Logan, or has this city girl found the one person in town who won't fall for her charm, or her pumpkin spice lattes…

The Pumpkin Spice Café is a cozy romantic mystery for fans of Gilmore Girls, with a grumpy x sunshine dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!

Tropes:

- grumpy x sunshine

- small town

- found family

#BookReview: Once Upon an Algorithm by Clara O’Connor

Synopsis: A brand new spicy STEM romance for fans of Ali Hazelwood and Sally Thorne!
Leonie’s personal dating algorithm:

1. Over 6 ft Tall
2. Funny and carefree
3. Well-travelled

But when a dating app leads Leonie to one night in Paris with brooding stranger Jack – the total opposite of what she’s looking for – she realises her list is missing out the most important thing: chemistry. And the chemistry between Leonie and Jack is off the charts!

Could the algorithm be on to something? When Leonie starts her new job at a tech start up the last person she expects to see is Jack. But there he is, sitting in the boss’s office, the man behind the code and the best night of sex of her life…

#BookReview: The Pumpkin Spice Café (Dream Harbor, #1) by Laurie Gilmore

Synopsis: When Jeanie's aunt gifts her the beloved Pumpkin Spice Café in the small town of Dream Harbor, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start away from her very dull desk job.

Logan is a local farmer who avoids Dream Harbor's gossip at all costs. But Jeanie's arrival disrupts Logan's routine and he wants nothing to do with the irritatingly upbeat new girl, except that he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her.

Will Jeanie's happy-go-lucky attitude win over the grumpy-but-gorgeous Logan, or has this city girl found the one person in town who won't fall for her charm, or her pumpkin spice lattes…

The Pumpkin Spice Café is a cozy romantic mystery for fans of Gilmore Girls, with a grumpy x sunshine dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!

Tropes:

- grumpy x sunshine

- small town

- found family

#BookReview: The Pumpkin Spice Café (Dream Harbor, #1) by Laurie Gilmore

Synopsis: When Jeanie's aunt gifts her the beloved Pumpkin Spice Café in the small town of Dream Harbor, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start away from her very dull desk job.

Logan is a local farmer who avoids Dream Harbor's gossip at all costs. But Jeanie's arrival disrupts Logan's routine and he wants nothing to do with the irritatingly upbeat new girl, except that he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her.

Will Jeanie's happy-go-lucky attitude win over the grumpy-but-gorgeous Logan, or has this city girl found the one person in town who won't fall for her charm, or her pumpkin spice lattes…

The Pumpkin Spice Café is a cozy romantic mystery for fans of Gilmore Girls, with a grumpy x sunshine dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!

Tropes:

- grumpy x sunshine

- small town

- found family

#BookReview: A Curse of Blood and Wolves (Wolf Brothers #1) by Melissa McTernan

Synopsis: A dark and steamy fairytale re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood. Perfect for romantasy readers and lovers of smuttok Is it possible to be drawn to someone you’ve never met? When Ruby feels the eyes of a stranger in the woods, she knows she should be scared, that she should run away, but she can’t. Instead, she feels a thrill, feels drawn to this stranger who follows her in the woods. Yearns for his eyes on her every night as she walks home, hoping to hear the crunch of leaves under his feet that signals he’s there. Will he ever reveal himself? After all, fate doesn’t make mistakes . . .

#BookReview: The Kingdom is a Golden Cage Lilly Inkwood

Synopsis: Once upon a time there was a princess, locked in a tower, forced to bend to her father’s will… But Celine is no ordinary princess, and she has no intention of being a damsel in distress. Celine has a lover, Hugo, whose cunning plan to rescue her is tied up in his own ambition to reclaim the lands and title that are his birthright. If only they can break the spell that binds him to the body of a cat, they will free the kingdom from the grasp of a cruel witch and live happily ever after… For the plan to succeed, they must rely on Hugo’s cousin, Philippe, to whom Celine must bind herself in marriage until Hugo can be reinstated. It’s a risk to trust him, but it soon becomes clear that this is the least of their problems, because this is a land of shapeshifters, magic, and illusion, where nothing is as it seems, even the truth. This is Puss in Boots with the intrigue and backstabbing of Game of Thrones . A fairytale, but not as you know it…

This title will be released August 17, 2023

#BookReview: Ten Years by @pernillehughes @0neMoreChapter_

Synopsis: They’re perfect for each other
They just don’t know it yet

Becca and Charlie have known each other for years – ever since they met at university.

And for every one of those years, they've bickered, argued, offended, mocked and generally rubbed each other up the wrong way.

Until now. Until Ally’s bucket list. The death of their loved one should mean Becca and Charlie can go their separate ways and not look back. But completing the list is something neither Charlie nor Becca can walk away from.
And sometimes, those who bring out the worst in you, also bring out the very best…

Over the course of ten years, Becca and Charlie’s paths collide as they deal with grief, love and life after Ally.

This title will be released on August 15, 2023.

#BookReview: Daughers of Paris by @elisabethhobbes

Synopsis: Paris 1930s

Colette – daughter of a wealthy Parisian. No-one expects her to amount to anything other than socialite wife. But there’s more to Colette than meets the eye…

Fleur – daughter of a maid in Colette’s household. Her life will not be one of service! She wants an education, to travel and become something more…
The two young girls see in each other what no-one else can: intelligence, strength and courage. They form a forbidden friendship. They become secret sisters.

But as the Nazis occupy their beloved Paris, the bond between them is severely tested. One fights with the resistance, the other protects her family at all costs. Soon they find themselves embroiled in espionage, murder and treason, risking everything to save those they love, their people and their country.

Will their friendship survive the ultimate betrayal?

#BookReview: Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson

Synopsis: It’s just a bunch of hocus pocus…

Essie Winterscale lives in a huge and ever-changing house in the village of Good Winter, in deepest, darkest Essex. She lives with various witches of various ages, one of whom is still a bit salty about having been burned at the stake in 1635, one who keeps accidentally casting fertility spells, and one who knits things that create the future.

All Essie ever wanted was to have a normal life but in the end she found herself drawn back to Beldam House because she just can’t stop her witchiness (although the ability to instantly chill wine is pretty awesome, even she has to admit).

Into this coven of chaos stumbles gorgeous, clueless Josh, their new landlord – and he’s just discovered his tenants haven’t paid rent since the 1700s! As Josh is drawn further into the lives of the inhabitants of Beldam House, Essie is determined to keep him at broomstick’s length. That is, until a family secret, lying hidden for centuries, puts Josh firmly under her spell… 

This title will be released on January 17, 2023.

#BookReview: Beneath the Burning Wave (The Mu Chronicles, #1) by Jennifer Hayashi Danns

Synopsis: I was incapable of imagining what I had never seen… 

Kaori and Kairi are the first twins to survive infancy on the ancient island of Mu, where gender is as fluid as the crashing waves. One was born of fire, the other of water.

But there’s a reason why none have survived before. A prophecy that has haunted the elders since time began. A rivalry destined to sink the entire island beneath a twin catastrophe of volcano and tsunami.

As hatred spills from the forbidden twins like the deadly poison of sacrificed sea snakes, they must decide what matters to them most…

The fight for the island – for tradition and duty.
Or the fight for freedom – for love and light.

The Mu Chronicles is a visionary YA fantasy trilogy exploring the origin of gender and desire in an epic queer fusion of Japanese folklore and Egyptian mythology.