Tag Archive | 4 Stars

Review: The Spirit Girls by Dawn Merriman

The Spirit Girls Book Cover The Spirit Girls
Rylan Flynn #1
Dawn Merriman
Paranormal, Mystery
Second Sky
May 9, 2023
E-ARC
208
NetGalley
April 22 - 30, 2023

“Where are you taking me?” Rylan follows the figure through the trees. The girl’s dark ponytail swings as she turns back, then walks on without answering. Deep in the woods, she disappears… and Rylan finds her body, mouth wide in a silent, final plea for help.

Rylan Flynn has always been able to see what others don’t—the restless spirits haunting Ashby, Indiana. She’s learned to live with her “gift” but sometimes she longs to escape.

The woods have always been a peaceful place for Rylan. But on a visit to her aunt’s cabin, she catches sight of a spirit in the trees. The ghost of a young woman approaches, leading Rylan to her body.

With a flood of horror, Rylan realizes that the girl, Celeste Monroe, has been murdered. An outgoing newcomer to town, Celeste had no enemies. Who on earth would want to see her dead?

When a coin carved with strange symbols is discovered in Celeste’s throat, it’s clear that a twisted, cold-blooded killer is at work.

Rylan’s abilities could be the only way to prevent further deaths. But Ashby’s handsome head detective, Ford Pierce, has made it very clear that he doesn’t want her help.

And any unexplained knowledge of the case could make Rylan the perfect suspect.

When another body is discovered and blood at the scene points to Rylan’s family, she is more determined than ever to uncover the truth. She must race against time to untangle a web of dark secrets… but can she find answers before the murderer claims another victim?

Review

The Spirit Girls is a fun paranormal mystery novel that is very quick, easy, and enjoyable to read.

Rylan sees ghosts. She talks to them, she helps them cross over, and she has a YouTube channel (and a BFF for a camerawoman) to share her tales of ghostly encounters while also picking up clients and helping their ghosts cross over.

Rylan is a great character. She’s both easy to understand, and also complex. What I love about Rylan is that she has secrets and baggage, namely that her mother was murdered in the house and still haunts her bedroom where she was killed. (This is revealed in chapter 2, so not really a spoiler.) Rylan is also a hoarder. It’s hard to tell exactly how extreme her hoarding is, but… it’s pretty bad. I’m super curious to see how this progresses as the series goes on. I don’t think I’ve ever met a book where the protagonist has a hoarding disorder, so this was a unique and welcome addition to Rylan’s character.

In this book, Rylan becomes involved in the ritualistic murder of a teenage girl, when the ghost of said girl guides Rylan to her body and then disappears. As the bodies begin to stack up, and the murder investigation hits closer to home than she’d like, Rylan feels as though she has no choice but to solve the crime herself. 

I loved the mystery in this book. I had suspicions about who the killer was, but I didn’t really know until the big reveal. I loved the characters. I loved the pacing. But I have one major gripe, that I really hope will be resolved before publication—after the first chapter or two, the author quits using contractions, leaving the dialogue feeling very stilted and unnatural. If we were talking about one character who doesn’t use contractions, that would be a character quirk. But no. This is every character from about chapter 3 til the end. It drove me batty. It wasn’t enough for me to quit the book, but it did pull me out of the story. 

With that said, will I continue with this series? Absolutely! There are the beginnings of a potential romance and I’m really curious to see how that progresses and what it could mean for Rylan’s hoarding issues. And I’d love for her mother to cross over and find peace at some point. 

If you can overlook the lack of contractions, this is a paranormal mystery you don’t want to miss! 

Huge thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Whats New With Me

I think spring is finally here in Minnesota. After a brief few days in April of 70* weather, we had yet another snow storm. It was a very snowy winter, and I am forever grateful to have been recruited to a (mostly) work from home day job!

It’s finally back up to the 70’s and as I write this, I am sitting on my back patio with the sun shining and the birds chirping. I don’t think there are any sounds better than this!

Yesterday I hauled compost from the country yard waste site and topped off my raised garden bed, and today I planted some squash seeds (Kuri and Sunrise varieties) that I saved from some squash I bought from the farmers market last year. I’m hoping I get a nice yield, as I’m giving up half my raised garden bed for this trial! (The last time I grew squash, pumpkin, and melon, it was in the ground in another part of my yard that we have grassed over.) The other half of my raised bed will be home to some peas, beans, peppers, and 1-2 tomato plants (last year I had maybe 5 tomato plants and soooo many went to waste because I couldn’t consume them that quickly!) I’m very excited to start growing veggies again.

In the writing world, I’m (very) slowly re-reading Something I’m Good At and taking notes so I don’t make any continuity errors in the yet-to-be-titled stand alone sequel. After essentially 4 years of zero inspiration/motivation to flex my creative muscles with writing, I think I’m ready. I have a lofty goal to finish this book before the end of 2023, but let’s be honest, that’s unlikely. Once I finish my notes from book 1, maybe I’ll set myself some shorter goals, such as: Complete Outline by ___. Write X chapters by ___. You get the drift.

Also in the writing world, I have about 18,000 words written in my “monster” book that I started a few years ago and have been revisiting from time to time. It’s also a YA romance. I’ve hit a wall though, so that’s on the back burner while I work on the SIGA sequel.

In life, like I said before, I’m loving my WFH job. My manager/supervisor are great. The work is typically not too challenging, so my stress level is way down from my previous job. And getting to sit outside on my patio and work in the spring/summer is so good for the soul. I’m also pretty good at my job, so that’s always nice, right?

I’m also very excited because in June I’ll be attending the Taylor Swift Eras Tour in Minneapolis. I have my Folklore/Evermore outfit ready to go! (I’m low key keeping my eye out for cheap tix for the second show. Don’t tell my husband! 🤫) I also won tickets from the radio to see Ed Sheeran in Minneapolis in August, so I’m pretty stoked to take my 16 year old to their first ever concert… and all it’ll cost me is parking!

Aside from that, my time these days is spent keeping my house standing, driving my youngest to lessons, trying to eat healthy and get back in the exercise habit (I’m trying running again… Ahhh!), and working my publishing side gig for Melange Books (and its imprints, Satin Romance and Fire & Ice Young Adult Books). I love the work that I do for them—cover design, web updates, and formatting—and honestly, if it paid the bills I would quit my day job in a heartbeat!

So… that’s what’s new! Leave a comment below if you have anything exciting happening in your life!

Review: Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot

Size 12 and Ready to Rock Book Cover Size 12 and Ready to Rock
Heather Wells #4
Meg Cabot
Mystery
William Morrow Paperbacks
July 10, 2012
Audiobook
361
Public Library
April 15 - 20, 2023

After dallying with sexy vampires and ingeniously reinterpreting the Dracula legend (Insatiable, Overbite), #1 New York Times bestseller Meg Cabot is ready to rock ’n’ roll once more with Heather Wells. 

The un-petite assistant New York City college dorm director and sometime sleuth is back in Size 12 and Ready to Rock—a delectable comedy mystery that proves once more that the much beloved author of The Princess Diaries rules in the realm of grown-up women’s fiction as well. Heather’s got her hands full when a pop star and her reality TV camera crew invade the dorm—bringing with them a summer camp-full of adoring teen admirers—only to have an inconvenient homicide spoil the fun.  

There’s romance, treachery, merry mayhem and music—just the ticket for readers who like to rock out on the hip contemporary singleton fiction of Sophie Kinsella, Jennifer Weiner, and Jane Green.

Heather Wells is back with yet another death in the college residence hall she works in. This time, it’s her new boss, the interim residence hall director. To add to the chaos, Tania Trace, the woman who stole her ex-fiance, has moved her teen Rock Camp to Heather’s empty-for-the-summer residence hall!

This is the best Heather Wells book in the series. (So far. I read book 5 AGES ago, and I could not tell you what happened. I will be re-reading so I can assess if it’s better than this one.)

What I loved most in this book was that Tania Trace becomes a real person. In the previous books we’ve heard about Tania, but we’ve never actually met her. Everything we knew was Heather’s opinions of her, and I think we can all agree that Heather has major bias toward the other woman! Now that we actually meet this fiance-stealing-villian… she’s not a bad person. I actually really liked Tania and I was very happy that Meg Cabot gave her a chance to try and clear her name.

As for the murder, Heather wants no part of this investigation. She does, however, have an obligation to keep the Tania Trace Rock Campers safe during their stay in her residence hall. And somehow, because that’s just Heather’s luck, she gets caught up in it all. 

This is a solid addition to the Heather Wells series and if you’ve made it through book 3, I promise you won’t want to miss book 4!

Review: Throwback by Maurene Goo

Throwback Book Cover Throwback
Maurene Goo
Contemporary YA
Zando Young Readers
April 11, 2023
E-ARC
368
NetGalley
April 2 - 17, 2023

Back to the Future meets The Joy Luck Club in this YA contemporary romance about a Korean American girl sent back to the ’90s to (reluctantly) help her teenage mom win Homecoming Queen.

Being a first-generation Asian American immigrant is hard. You know what’s harder? Being the daughter of one. Samantha Kang has never gotten along with her mother, Priscilla—and has never understood her bougie-nightmare, John Hughes high school expectations. After a huge fight between them, Sam is desperate to move forward—but instead, finds herself thrown back. Way back.

To her shock, Sam finds herself back in high school . . . in the ’90s . . . with a 17-year-old Priscilla. Now this Gen Z girl must try to fit into an analog world. She’s got the fashion down, but everything else is baffling. What is “microfiche”? What’s with the casual racism and misogyny? And why does it feel like Priscilla is someone she could actually be . . . friends with?

Sam's blast to the past has her finding the right romance in the wrong time while questioning everything she thought she knew about her mom . . . and herself. Will Sam figure out what she needs to do to fix things for her mom so that she can go back to a time she understands? Brimming with heart and humor, Maurene Goo’s time-travel romance asks big questions about what exactly one inherits and loses in the immigrant experience.

Review

I went into this book hoping for all the 90s nostalgia. The book takes place in 1995, and I certainly got the 90s vibes. It was so much fun flashing back to the time of my childhood. (In 1995 I was a whole ten years old.)

Sam and her mother, Pricilla, do NOT get along. Pricilla was the first generation Korean-American living with a single mother barely making ends meet, trying to live the stereotypical American dream, while Sam is a Gen Z social justice/climate warrior who grew up very privileged. After a huge fight with her mom, Sam is thrown back in time to 1995. Sam is convinced she needs to help her mom win homecoming queen, then all will be well in the future.

The “magic” in this book is light, existing only as the plot device to throw Sam together with her mother, as a teenager. This really is a story of a mother/daughter relationship, with a romance side plot thrown in for good measure.

As someone who was once a teenage girl herself, as well as being a mother to a teenager now, I really felt that I could see the POV of both Sam and Pricilla. I definitely identified a little more with Pricilla, probably because we’re both millennials. Sam actually annoyed me quite a bit by taking every little thing she sees as not politically correct personally.

I loved the romance that was thrown in. I’m not going to say anything more on that front, except that I really enjoyed it.

The ending to this book was perfect. I can’t say how it ends, but I really liked it. Everything fell together exactly as it should.

Review: Big Boned by Meg Cabot

Big Boned Book Cover Big Boned
Heather Wells #3
Meg Cabot
Mystery
William Morrow Paperbacks
November 20, 2007
Audiobook
280
Public Library
April 7 - 12, 2023

Life is reasonably rosy for plus-size ex-pop star turned Assistant Dormitory Director and sometime sleuth Heather Wells. Her freeloading ex-con dad is finally moving out. She still yearns for her hot landlord, Cooper Cartwright, but her relationship with "rebound beau," vigorous vegan math professor Tad Tocco, is more than satisfactory. Best of all, nobody has died lately in "Death Dorm," the aptly nicknamed student residence that Heather assistant-directs. Of course every silver lining ultimately has some black cloud attached. And when the latest murdered corpse to clutter up her jurisdiction turns out to be her exceedingly unlovable boss, Heather finds herself on the shortlist of prime suspects—along with the rabble-rousing boyfriend of her high-strung student assistant and an indecently handsome young campus minister who's been accused of taking liberties with certain girls' choir members.

With fame beckoning her back into show business (as the star of a new kids' show!) it's a really bad time to get wrapped up in another homicide. Plus Tad's been working himself up to ask her a Big Question, which Heather's not sure she has an answer for . . .

Review

Meg Cabot is hit or miss for me. Some of her stuff is fun, but also leaves me so full of disbelief, I can’t even. The Heather Wells series, however, is a hit for me.

Heather was once a teen pop star, a la Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson, but after being dropped by her label for wanting to take her music in a less bubblegum direction, her boyfriend (a fellow pop superstar and son of her now former label head) dumps her, her mother runs off with her manager (and Heather’s fortune) leaving Heather alone and penniless, and now she finds herself working for New York College as an assistant residence hall director. (It’s her plan to get free tuition for a college education.)

The problem is, her residence hall is known as Death Dorm due to the number of, well, deaths that have occurred there during her time as assistant residence hall director.

In book 3, we’re greeted with yet another death. This time it’s the interim residence hall director. Heather comes into work as normal, only to find him at his desk with a bullet through his head. Great. Just what Heather needs. Another death in Death Dorm. 

After being scolded multiple times in the previous books in this series for trying to solve a murder instead of leaving it to the police, Heather is determined to stay out of it. She has too much to deal with anyway, between her new boyfriend (who happens to be her remedial math processor) and the student workers who are protesting for benefits and better wages on campus. Nope, she’s leaving this one to the police! Until she accidentally gets involved. 

This is a fun series (yes, even with all the death.) It does get annoying how much Heather fixates on her weight (she’s totally fine with being a bigger girl) but it’s kind of thrown in our faces all the time. She has an unhealthy relationship with food IMO. I mean, with the titles of the books in this series though, it’s not a big surprise. I just think that Gen X will not appreciate this series. As a Millennial, I can look past the annoying and (potentially) problematic things and enjoy it for what it is. 

So, if you’re looking for a light-hearted, funny, murder mystery with plenty of romantic elements, this could be the series for you.

Now, don’t mind me, I’ll just be over here anxiously awaiting book 4 to come through on my library holds!

Review: The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Inheritance Games Book Cover The Inheritance Games
The Inheritance Games #1
Jennifer Lynn Barnes
YA Mystery
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
September 1, 2020
Audiobook
384
March 30 - April 4, 2023

Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why—or even who Tobias Hawthorne is.

To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch—and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.
 
 

Review

If you’ve seen the movie Knives Out, The Inheritance Games is a little like that. This book released about a year after the movie, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she was inspired by the film. It’s absolutely not a carbon copy knock off though. In fact, I liked the book better than the movie.

Teenager Avery inherits like, a bajillion dollars, from a random old man she’s never met named Tobias Hawthorne. Not only did he give her his money, house, and most of his worldly possessions, he all but disinherited his own children and grandchildren!

The stipulation of her inheritance? She must live in the estate she’s inherited for one full year. The catch? None of Hawthorne’s family, who live there, are to be evicted…unless given good cause. 

Let the games begin.

Going from living in her car to being thrown into a world of excess and luxury, Avery must navigate her new surroundings (they say Hawthorne added a new room or wing to the house every year!) and watch her back, all while trying to figure out why she was left this fortune, and could it have anything to do with her dead mother?

Living in the house with her are Hawthorne’s four grandsons, each one displaying varying degrees of hostility toward her. Listening to the audiobook, I’m not going to lie, they were fairly interchangeable to me. I’m hoping that changes with books 2 and 3. This did make me wish I’d been reading the ebook or print book, but alas… I’m a slow reader and am committed to reading my NetGalley e-ARCs, I can’t spend that “eyeball reading” time on other books!

Overall, despite my getting the grandsons confused, I really enjoyed this book. I did wonder how this would end, knowing there are 2 more books to come. I hate books that end abruptly with no satisfying conclusion. This one ended beautifully. There was enough information revealed to satisfy me (for now) while also making new revelations/opening new questions to make me come back for book 2. I absolutely recommend this book to fans of YA books.

REVIEW: Mr. & Mrs. Witch by Gwenda Bond

Mr. & Mrs. Witch Book Cover Mr. & Mrs. Witch
Gwenda Bond
Paranormal Romance
St. Martin's Griffin
March 7, 2023
352
NetGalley
February 18 - March 10, 2023

In Mr. & Mrs. Witch, the next novel from bestselling author Gwenda Bond, a couple discovers at the altar the surprising secret identities they’ve kept from each other.

Savannah Wilde is a witch, a very powerful one—an identity that only her fellow witches know. Following a whirlwind romance that surprised herself and her family, Savvy is all set to marry the love of her life. But she isn’t the only one with a secret that needs to be kept, even from her soon-to-be husband.

Griffin Carter is a top agent for a clandestine organization that, well, used to primarily hunt witches, but now mainly tries to shut down supernatural threats their own way. He can’t wait to lay his eyes on the woman he’s about to spend the rest of his life with.

As Savvy walks down the aisle to Griffin, the wedding quickly goes from blessed day to shit show when their true identities are revealed. To say there’s bad blood between their factions is putting it mildly. Savvy and Griffin are tasked to take the other out, but when they discover a secret that could take down both of their agencies, they realize the only way to survive is to team up. With assassins hot on their trail, will Savvy and Griffin make it out alive to try again at ‘I do’?

To be honest, I struggled with this book in the beginning. The third person present tense was, throughout the entire reading, at times jarring. I’m usually fine with first person present, but third person present was just…. a lot.

As you can see, I still gave this book 4 stars, because the story was lovely. The title is what drew me to requesting an ARC of this book from NetGalley, assuming it was an intentional play on the Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. And it totally was.

Savvy is a witch and a member of C.R.O.N.E., an organization that uses their powers to help the ordinary, non-magical populace from the supernatural. Meanwhile, Griffon is a member of H.U.N.T.E.R, an organization of mortals who use technology to combat those same supernatural threats. Throughout time, C.R.O.N.E. and H.U.N.T.E.R. have been enemies, but the last 300 or so years have been spent in a tentative truce, each side waiting for the other to do something to bring on full war once more.

So, needless to say, when Savvy and Griffin fall in love, they keep their secret identities to themselves. Members of secret organizations aren’t known for blabbing about what they do. 

And then the wedding day comes. And who should attend but the very leaders of each organization, sending what should be a blissful day into utter chaos. 

The book is told alternating between Savvy and Griffon’s POVs, as well as both present day and the timeline leading from the day they meet up ’til the doomed nuptials. 

This was a fun book. I really loved reading both Savvy and Griff’s POVs of their love story from the beginning, as well as the aftermath of the wedding-interrupted. I really didn’t know where the story was going, but I loved where we ended up. I can’t imagine any other ending for this tale.

My only question for the author is… will we get to read a follow up with certain other side characters? 

REVIEW: Fiber Fueled by Will Bulsiewicz, MD, MSCI

Fiber Fueled: The Plant-Based Gut Health Program for Losing Weight, Restoring Your Health, and Optimizing Your Microbiome Book Cover Fiber Fueled: The Plant-Based Gut Health Program for Losing Weight, Restoring Your Health, and Optimizing Your Microbiome
Review: Fiber Fueled by Will Bulsiewicz, MD, MSCI
Non-Fiction, Health & Nutrition
Avery Publishing Group
May 12, 2020
Audiobook
400
Public Library
January 22 - 24, 2023

The instant New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher's Weekly bestseller

A bold new plant-based plan that challenges popular keto and paleo diets, from an award-winning gastroenterologist.

The benefits of restrictive diets like paleo and keto have been touted for more than a decade, but as renowned gastroenterologist Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, or "Dr. B," illuminates in this groundbreaking book, the explosion of studies on the microbiome makes it abundantly clear that elimination diets are in fact hazardous to our health. What studies clearly now show--and what Dr. B preaches with his patients--is that gut health is the key to boosting our metabolism, balancing our hormones, and taming the inflammation that causes a host of diseases. And the scientifically proven way to fuel our guts is with dietary fiber from an abundant variety of colorful plants.

Forget about the fiber your grandmother used to take--the cutting-edge science on fiber is incredibly exciting. As Dr. B explains, fiber energizes our gut microbes to create powerhouse postbiotics called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that are essential to our health. SCFAs are scientifically proven to promote weight loss, repair leaky gut, strengthen the microbiome, optimize the immune system, reduce food sensitivities, lower cholesterol, reverse type 2 diabetes, improve brain function, and even prevent cancer. Restrictive fad diets starve the gut of the critical fiber we need, weaken the microbes, and make our system vulnerable.

As a former junk-food junkie, Dr. B knows firsthand the power of fiber to dramatically transform our health. The good news is that our guts can be trained. Fiber-rich, real foods--with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seeds, nuts, and legumes--start working quickly and maintain your long-term health, promote weight loss, and allow you to thrive and feel great from the inside out.

With a 28-day jumpstart program with menus and more than 65 recipes, along with essential advice on food sensitivities, Fiber Fueled offers the blueprint to start turbocharging your gut for lifelong health today.

My Review

Some years ago I watched a news segment or something about a fecal transplant. Sounds gross, right? Well, for whatever reason this woman had this transplant done and after having lived her entire life at a healthy weight, and making no other lifestyle changes apart from the transplant, suddenly she put on weight. And more weight. And she didn’t know why and she was frustrated. Which led doctors to wonder, could the bacteria in her donor’s fecal matter have changed their patient in more ways than expected? Ever since then, fecal transplants and the microbiome have been in the back of my mind. 

Now, if you’ve followed me or my blog at all in the last few years, you’ll know that I’ve been really interested in health, nutrition, and fitness, which led me to this book: Fiber Fueled: The Plant-Based Gut Health Program for Losing Weight, Restoring Your Health, and Optimizing Your Microbiome. 

That’s a big title packed with promises, so does it deliver? I can’t say. But what I do know is, the basis of his claim just makes sense. While the author, Dr. Bulsiewicz, appears to be a firm advocate for veganism, he isn’t preachy about it. He uses his own anecdotal evidence from his own life in this book, how he went from a college grad student living on energy drinks and fast food, to being a young doctor working long hours and drinking endless coffee and enjoying steak dinners whenever and wherever possible, to finally meeting the woman he would eventually marry and seeing her living a plant based lifestyle and being healthier and having more energy, to starting to emulate her and feeling so much better. 

The main take away from what he preaches is this: eat plants, lots of them, and often. (Which is a throw back to a book I read last summer, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan.) What Dr. Bulsiewicz adds to the argument that Pollan makes, is that the wider the variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains you eat, the healthier and more diverse your gut microbiome will be. 

My own anecdotal evidence for eating healthier foods and cutting out (most) of the processed junk we all favor, is this: In 2019 I started taking my health seriously. I cut back on the breakfast cereal, take out food, processed foods from the freezer and cans, and started living mostly on chicken breasts, eggs, brown rice, fruits and veggies. (I already only drink water, so I didn’t have the easy fix of cutting out soda or juice!) and I felt so much better! I didn’t eat a wide variety though.

This book has recipes in the back. I did not try those recipes because I do not have a good relationship with food, in that I’m an extremely picky eater and afraid to try new things. That said, I have come a long way in the last 15 years, and every day is a new chance. For me though, I’m better off finding a recipe on the internet and using my best judgment about how nutritious it is.

Whew! That was a lot of word vomit. In conclusion: This is a great, easy to read book about the importance of having a healthy gut biome. If my library has more books on the topic, I will absolutely check them out in the hopes of gleaning more information. 

OH! Fun fact I just remembered: Apparently you can sprinkle mustard on cooked broccoli to activate an important enzyme that fights cancer causing cells or something. Google it. Or just read this book!

REVIEW: Sweeter Than Chocolate by Lizzie Shane

Sweeter Than Chocolate Book Cover Sweeter Than Chocolate
Lizzie Shane
Contemporary Romance
Hallmark
January 17, 2023
Audiobook
328
NetGalley Audiobook
January 15-30, 2023

Soon to be a Hallmark Channel original movie!!! Do the “Cupid chocolates” from Lucy’s shop really help people meet their One True Love? Dean, a TV reporter, has his doubts…

Lucy’s chocolate shop, How Sweet It Is, has been in her family for generations…along with the secret recipe for Cupid chocolates. Rumor has it that if you eat one on February 14, you’ll meet your soulmate. Lucy herself isn’t sure if it’s magic or just romantic optimism, but a family legend is at stake. Besides, with her grandmother to support and a rival bakery opening up across the street, it certainly doesn’t hurt to believe. Dean, an ambitious and skeptical TV reporter, doesn’t like the idea of a business taking advantage of romantic desperation. He doesn’t count on Lucy joining him as he tracks down and interviews couples supposedly brought together by the chocolates. Together, they find that the truth can be complicated…especially when it comes to their own hearts.

I am WOEFULLY behind on reviews, so get ready for the onslaught. Starting…. NOW! (I’ll also probably post a January recap soon… even though we’re already 10 days into February. Where does the time go??? ☠️)

My Review

Finally! FINALLY I was approved for an audiobook by NetGalley! You guys, I can DEVOUR like, 10 audiobooks in the time it takes me to read an ebook or print book. Come on NetGalley, give this girl more Audiobooks!

Okay. Enough of that. Onto the book!

Sweeter Than Chocolate is a Hallmark book, and TBH, that scared me. I thought, “Oh boy, this is going to be so unbelievably cheesy, what if I can’t read more than a page without rolling my eyes?”

Well, fellow readers, I’m happy to announce that I was so off base! This book was absolutely adorable and not at all overly cheesy. 

Lucy is a woman with a good head on her shoulders. Her family has a legend about the Cupid Chocolates they make in their chocolate shop: if you eat a Cupid Chocolate you will find your true love. And the magic is strongest on Valentine’s Day. Lucy isn’t quite sure if she buys into the magic of the Cupid Chocolates, but she’s open to the possibilities of her chocolates bringing true love to her patrons.

Meanwhile, Dean is a TV news journalist sent to film a puff piece about Lucy’s Cupid Chocolates when they go viral on social media, but what he’d really love to do is create an expose about the fraud Lucy is perpetuating. Chocolates that make you fall in love? What a joke! Unfortunately for Dean, to salvage his career, he has to stick to the puff piece to show his softer side.

After a rocky start, Lucy and Dean soon become allies. But when everything starts to fall apart for Lucy, she starts to believe that the curse also associated with the magic love chocolates, is at work. 

This was an adorable slow burn romance. Learning about both Lucy and Dean was so interesting. Dean especially had interesting character growth. But watching Lucy learn to let go and accept the success of the chocolates was heartwarming. 

I definitely recommend this adorable contemporary romance to anyone… and not just around Valentine’s Day!

REVIEW: Not The Witch You Wed by April Asher

Review: Not The Witch You Wed by April Asher Book Cover Review: Not The Witch You Wed by April Asher
Supernatural Singles #1
April Asher
Paranormal Romance, RomCom
St. Martin's Griffin
February 2, 2022
Audiobook
341 Pages / 12 hours, 15 minutes
Public Library
December 29, 2022 - January 12, 2023

A fake relationship between a magic-less witch and a wolf shifter turns to more in the start of a bewitching new paranormal rom-com series. Magic-less witch Violet Maxwell wants nothing to do with alpha wolf shifter Lincoln Thorne―the man who broke her fragile, teenage heart. But when the two of them are forced by arcane Supernatural Laws to find mates, Violet and Lincoln agree to fake-date their way to a fake-mating in order to conjure themselves some time. The joke’s on them. When old feelings make a reappearance―along with Violet’s magic―they both realize there’s nothing fake about their feelings. But there are old secrets and looming threats that could snatch away their happily ever after, again. One thing’s for sure: magic doesn’t make dating and love any easier. In Not the Witch You Wed, April Asher brings all the hilarity and sweet, sexy moments you love in a romantic-comedy―plus a fun dose of magic―to this spell-binding new series about being sexy, single, and supernatural in New York City.

My Review

Not The Witch You Wed is the first book in the Supernatural Singles series.

This light paranormal romance is the story of Violet, the eldest triplet in a magical triad… except, Violet doesn’t have any magic. Or does she? When she runs into her old flame, Lincoln, the man who broke her heart years ago when they were in high school, suddenly Violet’s nonexistent magic makes an appearance. And as if that isn’t stressful enough, Violet is informed that, as the eldest of the magical triad, she must find a mate and commit to a witch bond. SOON.

Meanwhile, Lincoln, the alpha of his werewolf pack, is trying to break down the alpha system within the shifter society he hates. But in the meantime, he’s getting closer and closer to his own due date to take a mate.

Lincoln doesn’t want a mate, and neither does Violet, but what they both need is to buy time. What better way than to pretend they’re courting one another?

Can Violet forgive Lincoln for breaking her heart all those years ago? Will Lincoln ever be able to tell her what really happened back then? And can they each succeed in doing so without falling in love with one another?

This was a slow start for me. I read book 2, Not Your Ex’s Hexes first and that one grabbed me from the get go. This one, because it has a little more world building (that I promise helps make book 2 make more sense!), took a little more time to get going. But once it was going, I did enjoy it quite a bit. It’s a cute, light, sexy, romance that doesn’t take itself seriously and sometimes that’s just what we need in our lives, amiright?

REVIEW: Not Your Ex’s Hexes by April Asher

Not Your Ex's Hexes Book Cover Not Your Ex's Hexes
Supernatural Singles #2
April Asher
Paranormal Romance, RomCom
St. Martin's Griffin
February 7, 2023
Ebook ARC
352
NetGalley
November 14, 2022 - December 27, 2022

In April Asher’s next Supernatural Singles novel, Not Your Ex's Hexes, a one-night-stand between a willful witch and a broody half-demon conjures an adventure that wouldn’t be complete without several magical mishaps. For her entire life, Rose Maxwell trained to become the next Prima on the Supernatural Council. Now that she’s stepped down, it’s time for this witch to focus on herself. And not think about her impulsive one-night stand with Damian Adams, a half-Demon Veterinarian who she can’t get out of her head. Neither of them is looking for a relationship. But when Rose is sentenced to community service at Damian’s animal sanctuary it becomes impossible for them to ignore their sparking attraction. A friends-with-benefits, no feelings, no strings arrangement works perfectly for them both. After a sequence of dead-end jobs, it’s not until Rose tangos with two snarly demons that she thinks she’s finally found her path. However, this puts Damian back on the periphery of a world he thought he left behind. He doesn’t approve of Rose becoming a Hunter, but if there's one thing he's learned about the stubborn witch, it was telling her not to do something was one sure-fire way to make sure she did. Working—and sleeping—together awakens feelings Damian never knew he had...and shouldn't have. Because thanks to his ex's hex, if he falls in love, he'll not only lose his heart—but his humanity.

My Review

What a cute story! The book is far sexier than the cover implies.

Rose is a witch who has just stepped down from being next in line to be Prima (head witch) not to mention just got out of a REALLY bad relationship. She’s not looking for anything permanent in her life, just some sexy fun.

Enter veterinarian Damian, a demon with a hex from his witchy ex who, like Rose, has no intention of starting anything serious.

What starts as friends with benefits soon turns into more. But can Rose and Damian defeat Damian’s hex?

Very cute book. Filled with all kinds of witchy puns and catch phrases (“Hex me!” and referring to your girls as “Bwitches” among other things.) I’ve already checked the audiobook of book 1 from the library to read Rose’s sister Violet’s story.

Special thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for a complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!