Tag: Romance

Serena’s Review: “The Thief and the Traitor Bride”

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Book: “The Thief and the Traitor Bride” by V. L. Bovalino

Publishing Info: Forever, September 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Nore Gordon is a woman of many talents: she can speak a variety of languages, disguise herself in plain sight, and has made a name for herself as a successful wine merchant. But unbeknownst to those closest to her, it is all a front for Nore’s true role as the favoured spy of the Lindle crown.

Tasked with infiltrating enemy lands in search of a powerful relic, Nore is forced to engage the services of a great thief. Unfortunately, the only person for the job is her estranged husband Caspian. Both Nore and Caspian bear the scars of the disastrous end of their marriage, but if they are to survive their deadly new assignment, they must pose as a happily married couple to avoid detection.

As danger closes in, Nore finds herself tangled in a web of lies and deceit-and though Caspian is at the centre of it all, she may not hate him as much as she once did. But Caspian has betrayed her before, and trust can be far more deadly than deception.

Previously Reviewed: “The Second Death of Locke”

Review: This is a tough review to write, because some of my experience of this book is affected by my absolute adoration for the first in this series. I was blown away by “The Second Death of Locke,” and to spoil my own review, the best parts of this book also just happened to feature the main couple from that book. That being the case, while starting to think about what to say about this book, I found it all coming out rather…ranty. Which isn’t fair! Because this is by no means a bad book; in fact, in many ways, it is an incredibly well-written fantasy romance that doesn’t shirk on the challenges of representing a character who is by no means reliable and who has been actively manipulated her entire life. But…it also wasn’t “Locke,” and I guess that’s what I wanted.

So let’s start with the good things, because really, there are many. Even my later criticisms should be taken with a grain of salt, because comparison is the killer of objective reviews. For the good, this author continues to prove that one doesn’t need to dumb down one’s writing when working within the romantasy or fantasy romance genres. This seems like it should go without saying, and yet. The prose was tight, lyrical, and suitably adult for the heavy topics the story was covering.

I will say, however, that the magic system, while very interesting, is still very confusing. I’m not always a big fan of glossaries or additional information included at the end, but a more laid-out explanation that could be referenced would have been helpful here, especially since the author introduced even more to an already complicated system. And, while I appreciated the map in the beginning of the book, it was notably leaving out some very important locations that are pretty central to the story, so I wish that had been expanded upon as well.

Beyond that, I appreciated the careful work the author put into her main character. Nore’s arc is not an easy one to write. She’s a woman who has been manipulated her entire life and is very much gaslit about her role in the world and her relationship with her mentor. This is fairly obvious to the reader right from the start. So it can be frustrating to watch Nore behave in some fairly unlikable ways due to this brainwashing. However, the book wouldn’t have the emotional climax it does or hit nearly as hard had Nore somehow been more aware of her circumstances. Indeed, her naivety is essential to demonstrate the challenges that those in abusive, manipulative relationships like this face, as well as those who hope to extract them from them. The author does a great job of carefully building up Nore’s history through a series of flashbacks that neatly illustrate how she’s come to where she is. From there, the book moves through her slow awakening to the reality around her.

But, like I said, this doesn’t make her a particularly fun character to read about. For a character who is meant to be a master spy, I wish we had seen more competence from her in the few moments that she is given to operate independently (though this restriction is also part of the manipulation, so I’m not sure how well it would work). So it’s easy enough to set aside some of the frustrations with her naivety in this area.

However, the romance was incredibly frustrating. I enjoy second-chance romances, but they are hard to write. And here we had a good example of where it can go wrong. The story plays out skipping between the present, where Nore and Caspien have been forced to work together after years apart following some terrible betrayal in the past that has left them both hating one another. This hatred seems to go both ways, though we see more from Nore, of course, as we’re reading the story from her perspective. Interspersed with this are flashbacks to their past in which they fall in love and eventually marry. So, we don’t get to the actual betrayal until nearly the 50% marker in the book. This leaves a lot of time to really build up this betrayal as fairly massive. And when we get to it…man, it really fell with a thump. Both characters, but mostly Nore, react so instantaneously and so poorly that I was immediately frustrated and annoyed. For characters who have been in love for years and happily married for a good chunk of that, the switch to immediate hatred with no room for explanations just read as ridiculous at best, and unlikable at worst. Nore, in particular, comes across as incredibly hypocritical in this scenario.

Now, once the romance starts building back up in the present timeline, I did enjoy these two together. Nore was at her best in the scenes with Caspien. And while he wasn’t my favorite love interest ever, I was fully on board with Caspien pretty much from the start. Between this book and the first (where the emotional stakes at least were much more known by both characters, even if they didn’t admit them to each other), I think it’s fair to say that this author has an incredible way with writing romances between two characters who are in love already to some extent. This is a pretty rare talent, as there’s often a reason that romance authors just end the book once the characters have acknowledged their feelings, usually at the very end of the story. However, I don’t think the enemies-to-lovers bit worked as well here, unfortunately.

We do get to see more of Locke and Kier and man, I was so happy when they showed up. Unfortunately, Locke’s presence did expose more of my frustrations with Nore, as even the small bits we get from Locke were so much more compelling than much of Nore had been for much of the story. Kier was also wonderful, and the little snippets of their love story were so sweet.

On a final note, I think the pacing of this one was also a bit off. The first book was also on the slower side, but this one really dragged in the middle. Part of this was the frustration in having to wait so long for the reveal of what went wrong in the past (and then the disappointment when it came). But there were also a lot of slower travel scenes and bits that felt drawn out past their usefulness. I think a decent amount of paring down in this middle section would have made the entire book a tighter, more enjoyable read.

That said, this was still incredibly well written, and, while frustrating at times, I appreciated the unique arc that Nore traveled. The romance was at its best in the second half of the story, and I was happy to get to spend more time with Locke and Kier. While this didn’t quite live up to the high that was the first book, I still enjoyed it and am excited to see what comes next!

Rating 8: While this didn’t quite live up to the high that was “The Second Death of Locke,” this was still an incredibly well-written fantasy romance with a lovely second-chance romance at its heart (though you do have to wait a bit for it!)

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Thief and the Traitor Bride” can be found on this Goodreads list: Gothic Fantasy (not sure I would put it here, but oh well!)

Serena’s Review: “The Art of Charming a Changeling”

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Book: “The Art of Charming a Changeling” by Sylvie Cathrall

Publishing Info: Orbit, August 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: On her first day working in the prince’s galleries, art conservator Florrie Hyverfell discovers that the most famous portrait in the collection is not only a fake-it’s also inhabited by Vern, a fairy trapped in the forged painting.

Tracking down the stolen original is the only way for Florrie to save her job and for Vern to escape his canvas. Yet as they journey to a famed fairy museum to find the missing artwork, Florrie finds herself taking more than an art historical interest in the changeling painting’s charming inhabitant.

Review: I know Cathrall’s first duology was a bit hit or miss for some fantasy readers, with people sometimes falling off the slower pacing and verbose style of writing. But I really enjoyed it, especially the epistolary format and the creative world-building that expanded in truly wild directions by the time the entire thing came to a close. That being the case, I was excited to pick up another book by this author, especially as this one seemed to have the trappings of a Regency romance novel as well!

It didn’t quite hit the same highs as the other duology, but I’ll go more into that later. But what it did do right, it did very well. From the start, I remembered why I enjoyed this author’s prose. She has a flowing, whimsical style that somehow elevates these sorts of “day in the life” cozy fantasy novels into a place where I am less likely to get bored. This is obviously a subjective point, but I often struggle with cozy fantasy novels that don’t have much plot balancing things out. And like those, this is very light on the plot. There are pages and pages where not much really happens, but because the author’s style of writing is so lovely, I was more than happy to just sit back and go at this more languid pace.

However, some readers may struggle here if they don’t connect with the writing as well. This is definitely one of those books where the author uses twenty words when one is only needed, and the plot is truly secondary to pretty much everything else going on on the page.

I also really enjoyed the main character, the love interest, and the cast of side characters we met along the way. The main character especially was incredibly sympathetic and compelling, nicely balancing a desire to do the right thing with her own struggles with her role in this kerfuffle and her larger artistic ambitions. The love interest was also lovely, though his niceness also left him feeling a bit one-dimensional at times. As the story went on, more depth was given here, but I did at times wish for a bit more spark beyond the simple golden retriever energy he was giving off. The side characters were also very good, for the most part. There was a cousin, Chary, whom I actively disliked through most of the story, and I’m not sure if that was intentional on the author’s part.

As I mentioned above, while the style of writing carried this book for me, I do think there were a few things missing here that were in the first duology. For one thing, the format in the first book, with characters exchanging letters back and forth, better played into this wordy style of writing. It added a little “oomph” to the proceedings, for lack of a better word. Here, there were times where even I began to struggle with the glacial speed of the plot and the detailed descriptions of almost everything.

Further, I also think that the world-building and general mystery of the first duology also better held up this pacing/style-of-writing issue. There, even if the plot itself wasn’t moving quickly, the reader was constantly learning new things about this world and being fed new little tidbits to piece together the mystery at the heart of that story. This book follows a much more traditional questing plot and is set in a fairly familiar fantasy world, so the slower moments didn’t have these extra bits to fall back on when things began to drag.

That said, I still very much enjoyed my experience with this book. Even with my quibbles, I enjoyed this cozy fantasy much more than I typically do with other books in this subgenre. However, much of this came down to my appreciation of this style of writing, and that might be hit or miss for some readers. If you enjoyed her first duology, though, I think there’s still a good chance you’ll like this book too!

Rating 8: A bit on the slower side, but I still enjoyed my time with this one!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Art of Charming a Changeling” isn’t on any Goodreads lists currently, but it should be on Cozy Fantasy Romance reads.

Book Club Review: “As I Dream of You”

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We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club! This season’s theme is books with specific colored covers where we all drew a color and matched it with a book.

Book: “As I Dream of You” by Jennifer Lee & LeUyen Pham (Ill.)

Publishing Info: First Second, May 2026

Where Did We Get This Book: Kate owns it

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Prompt Color: Blue

Book Description: Franny and Sam are each other’s entire world. So what do you do when your world ends? Frozen’s Jennifer Lee and Lunar New Year Love Story’s LeUyen Pham deliver a tour de force young adult romance with a supernatural twist.

Falling in love is supposed to hurt. That’s what Franny and Sam, two cynical teenagers raised on tales of heartbreak and loss, have come to understand. Yet when they fall for each other, they find the reality of love is something else it’s electrifying, all-encompassing, and easy. Theirs is a love that can conquer anything…perhaps even death.

But Franny and Sam’s quest to stay together—no matter the cost—soon blurs the line between reality and fantasy, and their shared dream threatens to turn into a nightmare.

Kate’s Thoughts

While I’ve been a Greek Mythology fan for practically my entire life, I highly enjoy Greek Myth retellings/reimaginings (given how much I’ve praised “Lore Olympus” on this blog the past few years this is probably not shocking). I’m always looking out for new ones, but I hadn’t heard of “As I Dream of You” by Jennifer Lee and LeUyen Pham until it was picked for Book Club. I don’t know if it’s because the Orpheus and Euridyce myth has never been a top myth for me, or because I just wasn’t as in touch, but I was definitely down to read it when I realized what it was.

And while it’s not a direct retelling/reimagining, the themes are there, and I thought that it was a nice foundation for the broader story at hand. After all, the heart of Orpheus and Euridyce is grief and the inability to let go. We have Sam and Franny, two teenagers who have difficult home lives but find love, passion, and companionship in each other. But after a fatal car accident separates them, they realize that they can see each other again through lucid dreaming, and keep running to each other, unable to let go, even though it becomes more and more dangerous as they hop between their worlds. The original myth definitely has themes, but I did like how Lee finds ways to tweak it and take it to places I didn’t expect. It’s emotional and incredibly sad, and I really enjoyed the themes of grief and trauma and being unable to stop looking back at the what ifs and the loss.

And I loved the artwork by LeUyen Pham. The use of colors were haunting and fit the theme perfectly, and I liked how before the accident things were uniform but still had splashes of color, but then after it was far more subdued and solemn as Franny and Sam were desperate to reconnect by doing so was causing damage and decay. I have seen Pham’s artwork before, but I feel like this was her at her very best. This just captured all of the emotions perfectly.

I enjoyed “As I Dream of You”! If you like Greek Myth retellings, seek it out.

Kate’s Rating 8: A bittersweet and aesthetically lovely reimagining of Orpheus and Euridyce with themes of love and grief and the inability to let go.

Book Club Questions

  1. What did you think of the art style in this book? Did you feel like it matched the tone?
  2. The Orpheus and Euridyce myth is a huge theme in this book. Once it was set up did it play out in the way that you expected it to?
  3. Did the nurse character that Sam meets over and over work for you? Why or why not?
  4. What did you think of the astral projection and astral plane and how it changed as the story went on?
  5. Do you feel like the two brother characters that Franny and Sam meet played an important part of the story?
  6. Have you every done lucid dreaming or had any other strange dream experiences?

Reader’s Advisory

“As I Dream of You” is included on the Goodreads list “YA Graphic Novels of 2026”.

Next Book Club Pick: “The Unicorn Hunters” by Katherine Arden

Joint Review: “Devil Inside”

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Book: “Devil Inside” by Clay McLeod Chapman

Publishing Info: MIRA, August 2026

Where Did We Get This Book: We received ARCs from publicists/the publisher

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: A man who’s back from the dead meets a woman who’s from somewhere even worse in Clay McLeod Chapman’s new horrormance about love, possession, and just a little murder.

After a traumatic accident that almost cost Jordan his life, he’s finally starting to feel normal again. Well, maybe not normal. Everything tastes like ash, and when he looks at the people around him, their faces start to melt. At least he’s not dead, right? His friends are doing their best to get him back on his feet, maybe find someone to talk to, perhaps even find someone to take his mind off his last failed relationship.

Then he meets Lilith. The two share an instant connection but after a wild and passionate night together, she ghosts him. Jordan searches the city for Lilith, desperate to see her again. But when a woman claiming to be Lilith shows up, wearing a different face but knowing intimate details about Jordan, he worries he’s losing his grip on reality. As he grows closer to this mysterious woman, he discovers that happily ever afters sometimes come at a cost. How far will Lilith take him, and how much darkness will he embrace to find love?

Kate’s Review

I heard Clay McLeod Chapman talk about “Devil Inside” at ALA in 2025, and I was very intrigued by the idea of a Clay McLeod Chapman take on a horror romance. I knew it would be heavy on the horror, but was QUITE interested to see what he’d do with the lovey dovey stuff. I had a feeling it was going to be wild, and as I was reading I was like ‘oh, yeah, this is going to be INCREDIBLY polarizing I bet’. Because yeah, again, heavy on the horror. The romantic entanglements are dark, dubious, and bordering on problematic. But as someone who has read or seen horror with deeply problematic romantic elements and who has enjoyed them before, it wasn’t my first time at the rodeo, and overall it worked for me as a possession story, a horror story, and, yes, a love story.

I have unironically and fully shipped these two toxic assholes since I was in high school, your deeply fucked up romance doesn’t scare me, Chapman! (source)

“Devil Inside” follows a bike courier named Jordan who was in an accident that left him dead for two minutes, and has now left him aimless and anxious and seeing strange things. He meets a woman who calls herself Lilith and is immediately smitten, but Lilith is a demon who hops from body to body causing chaos, who finds herself drawn to and obsessed with Jordan. A romance is sparked, obsessions and possessions of multiple kinds foment. The demonic possession elements of this story are super unsettling and I loved getting into Lilith’s head as she hops from host to host, sampling them and feeding on them and encouraging darkness to come out even after she has gone. In true Chapman form it can go hog wild and be disturbing and in your face, and while usually demonic possession tales can be a bit predictable, this one felt unique enough that I enjoyed the freshness of it all.

Now. The romance. So it has some actually incredibly tender moments between a demon and her object of obsession. There is one scene where Jordan takes Lilith on a bike ride that actually had me saying ‘awww’ as I read it, even though I had also seen Lilith viciously murder multiple innocent people and take away their bodily autonomy for her own devices. Overall, I liked their fucked up dynamic as an entertaining plot point in a horror novel about demons and not so good people. All that said, this will NOT be for everybody. There are definitely themes of dubious consent here, as Lilith is possessing a woman’s body and Jordan is having sex with Lilith while in said body, which is SKETCHY AT BEST. I will say that Chapman does address this, and does find a way to make it less like an “Obsession” Nicki/Bear situation (that was a specific comparison I saw in a review after the fact) and more ‘consensual’, but it’s still debatable. I totally understand how people would be uncomfortable with it and I don’t undercut that. For me it never read as aspirational, and this is, after all, a horror story. But it’s probably good that there is a content warning at the start of the book, because, like I said, this won’t be for everyone and people should know what they are getting into.

“Devil Inside” is a fresh an interesting new book from one of my favorite horror authors! I recommend people look into it a bit before reading, but if you know what you’re getting into as a horror reader it will probably be a fun and nasty read.

Serena’s Review

I largely agree with everything Kate has already so well stated! I hadn’t read anything by this author before, but I knew that Kate was a big fan, so I was excited to give this one a shot, seeing as it was blending elements from some of my favorite genres. And I’ll say, as a first look, I can definitely see the appeal! While horror will never be my go-to, there are some authors who are simply so compelling that I’ll find myself picking up books that I never would have otherwise. McLeod Chapman spins a tale so cleverly that you find yourself caught up in it almost despite yourself (much like certain characters in the book, perhaps). The strength of the writing really did carry me through some of the horror elements that weren’t naturally to my taste.

That said, I didn’t enjoy the romance itself. I think as a horror story that revolves around obsession, possession, and the darkness within, it works very well. But I agree with what Kate said: the romance itself will be polarizing, and this one wasn’t personally for me.

However, I also think that there is a very interesting conversation to be had about how we evaluate romance novels and darker elements. I don’t have any strict evidence to back this up, but it sometimes seems that readers will give a pass to dark romance novels but then turn around and point the problematic finger at books that contain the same elements in different subgenres. Dark romance routinely features non-consensual aspects, many of which are the same as, if not much, MUCH, worse than anything we get in this book. On one hand, the fact that a book is labeled a “dark romance” is essentially a trigger warning for this kind of thing. But on the other, shouldn’t we apply a similar standard to a “horror romance?” It’s right there in the name!

So while this book’s love story wasn’t my thing, I’d put that right next to the reason that many “dark romance” novels aren’t my thing. And I’m not sure it’s fair to judge this book’s problematic love story through a different lens than that which we use for a sister genre like “dark romance.”

Overall, I enjoyed this one as a horror novel more than I did as a romance novel, and I’m glad I got to finally check out a book by an author I know Kate’s raved about repeatedly on this blog!

Kate’s Rating 7: A unique and creepy possession story with an entertaining (albeit bordering on problematic) romance storyline, “Devil Inside” was a fun read. But it won’t be for everyone.

Serena’s Rating 7: I could enjoy it for what it was, even if it wasn’t my preferred sort of love story. The horror aspects worked particularly well which I think made up for my disconnect with the love story.

Reader’s Advisory

“Devil Inside” is included on the Goodreads list “All the New Horror Books Arriving in August 2026”.

Serena’s Review: “Want Me, Take Me, Haunt Me, Make Me” by Isabel Crowley

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Want Me, Take Me, Haunt Me, Make Me” by Isabel Crowley

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Casablanca, August 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Hazel Lewis has a serious problem. The guy who hired her to conduct a seance before he died turned out to be a serial killer with a demonic contract, and the seance itself was a trap. Hazel escaped with her life, but not as she knew it: the bite of a demon is spreading through her body, letting the supernatural bleed into the world around her, and the now-dead serial killer is waiting to take over her body if she dies. 

Hoping to contain the damage, Hazel moves to a small house in a remote location. She figures she’ll stay on her own until she gets a handle on her new dark reality, but she soon finds out that she’s not alone. There’s the reporter demanding answers, the friendly neighbor with chemistry she doesn’t need and problems he can’t talk about…and the mysterious face she sees beyond her window, watching her every night with glowing red eyes.

Making her hunger.

Hazel knew a little bit about the world beyond the physical. Now she’s learning how much she doesn’t know, including who she can trust…and who she can become if she trusts herself enough to give in to the shadows stalking her dreams.

Review: This book started off on a high note, but unfortunately dropped off a bit as I continued reading. From the start, however, I appreciated the simple fact that this book was written in third-person perspective. This is definitely a preference thing, for sure, but more and more books that I pick up like this are written in first person and are often worse for it. I honestly think first-person perspective is harder to write, and I wish it wasn’t the default for romantasy authors nowadays, as I think a huge percentage of these books would be improved with the one neat trick that is third person! Here, the writing immediately felt more elevated simply for being written in this style.

Further, the book starts off with a strong first quarter to third of the story that is highly focused on action and horror. Hazel, as a medium, was an interesting character from the start, and the plot throws a lot at the reader right away. I was fully on board during this section and had high hopes for the rest of the book. Some of the horror elements were surprising in how far they went, and this is one of those cases where I appreciated the commitment to the darkness.

But then the romance started, and it all went wrong so quickly. Mostly because the romance itself happened so quickly. There were strong instalove/instalust vibes almost immediately, with almost no buildup of tension, emotional attachment, or much of anything. The spicy scenes themselves weren’t bad, but I do feel like once the spice started up, the balance between horror, romance, and action fell out of sync. It was at this point that the reading experience started to feel like a struggle.

What’s more, while I liked Hazel initially, as the story went on and more characters were introduced, I found it hard to maintain much interest in any of them or their personal stories. While the writing was strong enough, there was a distinct lack of “voice” to the entire affair, which left me feeling removed from much of the action as the story continued.

Overall, this was just an ok book. I do think that the writing was fairly good for the most part, and I appreciated that the author committed to some of the darker moments of the horror, especially in the beginning. I’d definitely be interested in reading another book from this author, as this could be a case where she grows into a greater talent. But the instalove and tepid characterization did make this one a struggle, especially in the back half. However, if you’re looking for another paranormal romance and you don’t mind instalove, this might be for you!

Rating 7: I appreciate the commitment to the horror elements, but the instalove really took me out of it in the end.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Want Me, Take Me, Haunt Me, Make Me” can be found on this Goodreads list: Upcoming Horror (2026, 2027, 2028).

Kate’s Review: “Love Bites: Volume 1”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Love Bites: Volume One” by Alicia Wallace (creator) and Ele (adaptor)

Publishing Info: WEBTOON Unscrolled, August 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC at ALAAC26

Where You Can Get This Book: Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: As a teenage vampire, Kieran has always been warned to stay away from werewolves, but everything changes when he falls for Mason—the Alpha’s son.

What started off as disdain, lines drawn in the sand between two opposing sides, quickly turns to fascination after the two share one fateful kiss.

Kieran and Mason know they can’t be together, their communities would never approve. And with every hidden kiss and rendezvous, keeping their secret takes on a whole new set of problems.

Avoiding the eyes of both society and Kieran’s extremist family grows more and more challenging, and as silver blades sharpen, the two must choose to stand up for a love worth fighting for.

Review: Thank you to WEBTOON Unscrolled for giving me an ARC at ALAAC26!

Whenever ALA Annual is coming up I start perusing authors and signings a couple of months in advance, always on the look out for horror and thriller names that I know, as well as titles that could fit within those categories. That was how I discovered “Love Bites: Volume 1”, a graphic series based on the Alicia Wallace book “Bite Me”, adapted by ELE, as the title intrigued me and lo and behold it was a paranormal MLM YA romance about a vampire and a werewolf! I figured that maybe I’m not in the age demo, and maybe I have thoughts about vampire romance, but at the same time it looked kind of cute and I know that I do like a fun and not high stakes read every once in awhile. So I grabbed it!

And I have no regrets because it’s pretty cute (source)

As a paranormal romance story, this has elements that I like in a romance. I enjoy enemies to lovers tropes, and while it’s not a top trope for me I do find the occasional forbidden lovers story to be enjoyable because usually it means LONGING. In “Love Bites” we get both, as teenage vampire Kieran and teenage werewolf Mason find themselves drawn to each other even though the relationships between werewolves and vampires are tenuous at best and deadly at worst. There is tension from the jump as Kieran decides he doesn’t like Mason even without knowing his background, but then it gets even more complicated because Kieran’s mother was killed by werewolves when he was a child, so his trauma, grief, and anger are all twisting his judgement a bit. This is really Kieran’s story so far as he grapples with his emotions, as well as his anxiety at home with a stoic father and angry older brother, but the seeds and laid for the romance to start building with angry banter, sexual tension, and an impulsive kiss. I like both Kieran and Mason, though I will say that the other characters thus far, like Kieran’s best friend/Mason’s maybe girlfriend Cella, are kind of static and two dimensional as of now. There is obviously room to grow, but it’s too bad that thus far the girl who seems to be cool and full of potential may be a road block for Kieran and Mason. There are also some pacing issues that feel stilted, as Kieran being antagonistic from the jump without even knowing Mason is a vampire felt pretty fast and maybe not super well earned. But for the target audience who just wants a fun read, I’m sure it will be easy to overlook (I mean, I had fun!).

I also enjoyed the vampire and werewolf lore and world building that we get in this story. It may have been easy to just rely on well known beats and tropes, but instead we have two distinct groups that have their own rules, mythology, and characteristics. We haven’t seen much of the werewolves yet, but we have a fair amount of info about the vampires thanks to Kieran’s perspective, from the pact that the vampires and werewolves made to keep the peace, to the different kinds of vampirism you can take depending on your decisions and innate skills, and the way that family lines work. I imagine we will learn more about Mason’s family as the story goes on, as right now we just know that he’s the son of an alpha and is dealing with some issues with his wolfiness. I enjoyed the mythos quite a bit, which made up for some of the flat characterizations seen outside of the main characters.

I will definitely be going forward with the “Love Bites” graphic novels as they come out! It’s cute and fluffy and sometimes ya just gotta lean into the fluff.

Rating 7: A promising start to a supernatural enemies to lovers romance series, “Love Bites: Volume 1” has some potential to be a fun story arc for a vampire and a werewolf who are drawn to each other despite being on opposite sides of a conflict.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Love Bites: Volume 1” is included on the Goodreads list “Best Comics and Graphic Novels of 2026”.

Kate’s Review: “Lore Olympus: Volume Ten”

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Book: “Lore Olympus: Volume Ten” by Rachel Smythe

Publishing Info: Inklore, June 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: “The Mortal Realm—it’s dying.”

After years of yearning, the big day has finally arrived: Hades and Persephone are getting married! It’s the ceremony of the century, and practically all the gods are invited to celebrate the happy couple. The wedding, full of love and joy, provides a much-needed respite for the pantheon . . . but the newlyweds have no time for a honeymoon.

The king and queen of the Underworld begin unprecedented dives into the dream world to find the god that Kronos took hostage—and, hopefully, to get answers on defeating the furious titan once and for all. During their explorations, they begin to suspect that Persephone’s powers over spring may have been altered. Their theory is proven correct with deadly consequences: When Persephone returns to the Mortal Realm, she ushers in not the regular change of seasons, but a never-ending winter.

And while the gods worry about the total annihilation of the Mortal Realm, Apollo uses the chaos as cover for an attempt to kill Zeus. He claims his dying father’s throne and decrees that the only way to save the Mortal Realm is if Persephone—and her power—belong to him. The others reject his outrageous demand, proposing instead that whoever can fix the failing seasons will be named interim ruler of Olympus. Hope now rests with the struggling goddess to find a way to stop the treacherous Apollo and save humankind—or else be separated from Hades forever.

Review: It’s been a couple of years since I started my “Lore Olympus” journey, and I can’t believe that we are nearing the end of the series, ten volumes in. It’s been a wild and fulfilling ride and has given me all of the feelings as I’ve read it, and we are now at “Lore Olympus: Volume Ten”, with only one more to go after it. I feel like we have so much to address, but I’m still soaking it all in. And “Volume Ten” continues the streak of magnificence.

First and foremost, for the Persephone/Hades fangirl who has lived within me since I was a kid, THEY ARE FINALLY GETTING MARRIED!!! This volume kicks off with their decision and their wedding, and it’s everything I had hoped it would be. Smythe made it romantic, gentle, and captured the excitement as well as the haste given that they are marrying because they love each other AND to combine their partnership to help run the Underworld, which is still dealing with a vengeful Kronos who has kidnapped a mystery deity and is holding them hostage deep in the depths, so much so that they have to use Morpheus to help try and dream dive to track them down. We also have some new crazy developments regarding Zeus’s philandering ways, and how Persephone gets roped into helping him with the consequences of some of them (and we also get to meet Dionysus; if you know, you know). There are some bumps in the road here and there, but it’s never drawn out for melodrama’s sake and it feels real and reasonable. It’s also interesting to see them work as a team in trying to parse out where to find Kronos and this mysterious entity.

I will admit that it took a bit longer than I expected for us to get to the second half of the original myth, with Persephone’s absence setting off an eternal winter and therein explaining the turning of the seasons, and I was curious to see how, exactly, Smythe planned to do it. But I enjoyed the way that it all starts to unfold in this volume (still, really close to the end? There’s just one volume left, right?) and how it relates to Persephone’s new role and the active choices she has made for herself up until this point. One of the biggest gripes I’ve seen about “Lore Olympus” (or any kind of Persephone/Hades retelling that isn’t steeped in trauma) is the romance and relationship between Persephone and Hades being romanticized while demonizing Demeter when she is merely a ‘grieving mother’ whose daughter was kidnapped to be a bride against her will in the original story, and that centering the romance element is wrong or damaging and removes agency. Which I’ve never agreed with (I actually helped write a literary analysis with my friend David critiquing a thesis about this very thing), and in “Lore Olympus” specifically I have felt that Smythe has done a really good job of making Persephone’s agency a priority. The way that the original myth gets reimagined here with Persephone realizing her Spring bringing powers have been taken from her due to her own (positive, mind you!) actions as opposed to it merely being a grieving Demeter continues to bolster that, and it sets up higher stakes and a last gambit by Apollo, whose coup is now fully underway with an assassination attempt on Zeus, and who still wants to possess Persephone because he feels entitled to her. As we are setting up the final arc to take down Apollo (and Ouranos, who is encouraging all of this). Does it seem a little crammed in? Yeah, maybe a little, especially since there was such a long arc previously in regards to Kronos, but at the same time I’d argue that Apollo has to be the final big bad in this, even if Ouranos has been shoehorned in a bit. Everything has been put in place, the players are all there, and this penultimate volume has set it up properly.

Now it’s time for the Hera report, as Hera is my favorite in this series and I can tell you that she, too, is going through it. She is still hearing Kronos in her head, and she finally has to come to terms with her lingering trauma in regards to the part she had to play with him and how she has a trauma bond with him to a degree because of it. I really love what this comic has done with Hera, and now we are finally, FINALLY, seeing her open up a little bit and start to try and unpack all of that baggage when Kronos keeps nipping at her heels and when Zeus is down for the count and other people she loves are in danger. Hera’s journey has been just as gratifying as those of Persephone and Hades, and I’m just as invested in her outcome as I am in theirs.

We are nearing the end of “Lore Olympus” and Volume Ten has gone into the last storylines strong. Can’t wait to see how it all plays out.

Rating 9: We are nearing the end of the series and we get a great mix of romance, emotional unpacking, and a set up for a final showdown for power, with Persephone and Hades in the middle of it all.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Lore Olympus: Volume Ten” is included on the Goodreads list “Best Comics and Graphic Novels of 2026”.

Serena’s Review: “Storm Breaker”

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Book: “Storm Breaker” by Nisha J. Tuli

Publishing Info: Entangled: Mayhem Books, May 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: For nineteen-year-old Poet Graves, New Manhattan has always promised safety―if she obeys. Raised within the ruling Houses and betrothed to a powerful heir, she enters Amery Academy knowing her future has already been decided.

But Amery is nothing like she imagined. Its trials are brutal, its loyalties conditional, and its rules designed to expose weakness. As Poet struggles to survive, she must hide the truth that could get her executed: the storms don’t fear her―they answer back.

When a dangerous outsider from beyond the city walls enters the academy, Poet is drawn to him despite everything she’s been taught to believe. He threatens the life she’s been promised. And choosing him could cost her not just her future, but her freedom.

Review: It’s fun that dystopian novels are having a bit of a resurgence, it seems. Kate, of course, is doing her timely Hunger Games read-through, and there have been several new romance/romantasy dystopian books coming out that I’ve enjoyed reading. Not least of which was Seek the Traitor’s Son by the OG Veronica Roth, which I read and loved recently! That being the case, I was excited to check out another such novel when the publisher approached me about reviewing this book.

So, while this book didn’t blow me away, I will say that it is a dystopian novel that will please those who deeply love dystopian novels. That is, if you’re familiar with the tropes and storylines that come with this sort of book and that’s your jam, well, this one has that all in spades. On the other hand, this isn’t the most original story that’s ever existed, so if you’re looking for a fresh take on the dystopian romance story, this probably isn’t it.

To start with what I liked, I feel like this book was very fast-paced, very readable, and very approachable to readers who aren’t necessarily super familiar with genre conventions. The world-building isn’t super complex, but it’s easy to understand what’s going on here and who the major players are. This, of course, leaves a lot of room in the story for characterization and the romance plotline to take over as the main features. Thus, how well this book works for you will largely come down to how you feel about Poet and the MMC.

For me, however, I thought Poet was a weaker example of a female main character. In many ways, she read as very familiar and very YA, using the worse interpretation of that term. Many YA heroines are excellent, but there is also an unfortunate habit of writing them to be inconsistent, inscrutable, and rather unlikable. And we saw that all here. Poet makes decision after decision that not only makes no sense for her as a character but also makes no sense for pretty much anyone ever. It could be argued that this is part of her growth, but if so, I found it to be an unsatisfying arc. Look, adults continue to learn and grow too. But Poet was learning some pretty basic lessons that had me viewing her as a sixteen-year-old teen (on the young side, even) rather than an adult woman.

The romance was also just OK. It was a hard sell when I was struggling so much already to enjoy Poet, and unfortunately, the MMC didn’t do enough to compensate. I didn’t hate him by any means (which should probably be chalked up to a huge win given how I feel about other MMC characters in romantasies), but he was also just kind of there much of the time.

I know this author is fairly beloved for her YA books, and maybe I’d feel better about her writing if I had started there. Unfortunately, I went into this one with the promise of reading an adult dystopian romance, and with that came different expectations, especially with regards to characterization. Ultimately, it’s hard to read an adult spicy romance novel when the main character feels like she’s 16.

Rating 7: Fans of this author will likely love this. But it read as too YA for what I was expecting going in, especially with regards to the portrayal of the FMC.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Storm Breaker” can be found on these Goodreads lists: YA Dystopian Books With Female Lead and Apocalypses and Dystopias.

Serena’s Review: “Seek the Traitor’s Son”

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Book: “Seek the Traitor’s Son” by Veronica Roth

Publishing Info: Tor Books, May 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Elegy Ahn did not ask for destiny to find her.

She is happy with her life as a soldier, defending her small country from the Talusar, a powerful nation who worships a deadly Fever. A fever that blesses half of its victims with mysterious gifts.

But then she’s summoned to hear a prophecy–her, and the most ruthless of Talusar generals, Rava Vidar. Brought face to face, they learn that one of them will lead their people to victory over the other…but they don’t know which. And at the center of both of their fates: a man. A man that, Elegy is told, she will fall in love with.

In just one day, Elegy’s old life–her job, her purpose, and her future–is over. She and Rava are destined to collide, with the fate of their nations hanging in the balance. And when they do, only one will be left standing.

Elegy intends to make sure it’s her.

Review: A book box I’m subscribed to announced that this would be their featured book one month. I, of course, was super excited. I was dismayed to see how many people were skipping it in the comments, however! What’s worse, many of them were referencing being burned by the “Divergent” trilogy all those years ago. And look, I get it. I, too, have been burned by authors and have had a hard time going back. But Veronica Roth has been so solid and so good in the adult fantasy genre over the last years that it’s truly saddening to see how many fantasy readers out there are completely sleeping on her latest books based on a trilogy that came out over a decade ago. So, all of this to say, if you’re one of those reluctant Roth readers, this is your sign to give her another shot because this book was absolutely fantastic!

There is so much to love about this book that it’s hard to figure out where to start. But let’s start with the world-building and genre-blending. It’s truly impressive to really look at the complicated Venn diagram of different types of stories that make up this book. You have science fiction, futuristic dystopia, classic hero’s quest fantasy, romance, and so much more. And all of these elements are seemingly blended together in a way that is seamless and natural.

At its heart, the story revolves around an ongoing war between two factions of the world and their differing views on a deadly virus that has run rampant. For one, this virus is a religious experience and brings with it fantastical powers to those who survive (this is the fantasy side of the novel). The other sees the virus as nothing more than a killer and has done everything they can to protect themselves from exposure, including devoting much time to the progress of science (the science fiction side). So, of course, the story spends a decent amount of time on the conflicting views of these two sides and the very complicated cultures that have sprouted out from this one differing point of view. But what could have been simplistic and moralistic is instead presented carefully and realistically, with both sides being made up of stronger and weaker individuals, just as fallible to human foibles regardless of their own perspective.

However, beyond the exploration of this theme itself, the molding together of science fiction, fantasy, dystopia, and romance leaves the novel in a place where the reader is getting the best of so many worlds. We get the creativity of science fiction, the whimsy of fantasy, the horror of dystopia, and the swooniness of romance all in one book. So when the story isn’t rollicking through exciting action sequences, the romance and character work are right there waiting to pick up the reins. And that’s not even touching on the prophecy that drives the plot or the excellent character arcs that make up the majority of the prose.

The story is broken up between three characters, but there are two that primarily carry the story. Elegy’s story is that of a reluctant hero, someone called upon by a prophecy but who very much doesn’t want to change a life she loves. As the story continues, themes of grief, love, and the burdens of leadership are all central to her arc. Theren, the other main character, was just as compelling. I don’t want to get into much regarding his story as there are some big twists and turns throughout, but suffice it to say, his story explores themes that you typically don’t see touched upon in a character like this, and it was done so, so well. The third POV character, Hela, felt a bit secondary to the other two, but her story also introduces a plotline that feels like it will be the driving force of the story as a whole, so I’m excited to see more from her in the future.

And, of course, I absolutely loved the romance. Elegy and Theren have many obstacles to their relationship, and they’re the sort of obstacles that you don’t often see dealt with in romance novels. These aren’t fluffy “enemies” who instantly fall in lust and that’s that. No, they are both adults who have been through hard things that impact the way they each form connections with others. But for all of the more serious aspects of this relationship, it also had the lovely, swoonworthy moments that one looks for in a romance story.

This book did so many things all at once. What’s more, it did so many things all at once and was excellent at all of them. Looking back at my review, it’s already quite long, and I didn’t even get into any of the sibling or parent relationships that also make up a huge portion of the emotional stakes of the story. Or really how the prophecy works. Or the true interplay of the virus with these societies. Or…or…or. So, I’ll just leave it here: I loved it, I can’t wait for the next one, and genre fiction fans should definitely give it a read!

Rating 10: Truly masterful, Roth tackles deep themes of grief and destiny while also weaving together a lovely romance and packages it all into a futuristic dystopian world stricken by warfare.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Seek the Traitor’s Son” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Epic High Fantasy/Romance/Mythology in 2026 and Dystopias I Would Like To Make An Exception For.

Serena’s Review: “Across the Vanishing Sky”

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Book: “Across the Vanishing Sky” by Catherine Cowles

Publishing Info: Bloom Books, March 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Braedyn Winslow never expected to return to Starlight Grove—the town that took everything from her. Not after her best friend, the one who’d sacrificed so much for her, vanished without a trace. But with a young son to raise and a past that won’t stay buried, Brae is back…and determined to uncover the truth.

She just didn’t count on the brooding, reclusive mountain man living next door.

Dex Archer is the stuff of local legend—silent, rugged, and surrounded by whispers of his and his brothers’ violent father. But Brae sees through the scowl and his parentage to the man beneath: fiercely loyal, unexpectedly kind…and just dangerous enough to protect her when someone starts warning her off her search.

The closer she gets to the truth, the harder it is to stay away from Dex. And as things get more perilous, Brae realizes the only person she can rely on is the one man who swore never to trust again.

Only someone isn’t happy that Brae has been digging, and they’ll do anything to stop her. But Dex? He’ll do anything to save her, even slip back into the dark…

Review: I went into this not having read the previous series that it’s a spinoff of (I think?) or anything by this author at all. But since reading Devney Perry’s Shield of Sparrows last year, I went back and read some of her contemporary romance novels and really enjoyed them. Thus, with my interest in this genre restoked, I was happy to check this one out when the publisher sent an ARC my way.

First off, I can tell why this author is popular. Her writing is the kind that I would call supremely “readable.” Everything flows easily, and she quickly sets up the characters, stakes, and a steady pace that is maintained throughout. Even when there isn’t a ton of actual action on the page, the story still felt like it was constantly progressing, and I made my way through this entire book fairly quickly and easily. There were, perhaps, a few too many modern slang terms/modes of speaking that did throw me off a bit. But I know that this is purely a subjective dislike on my part, and as the book is a contemporary work, I guess I can’t complain, objectively, about using language like this—even if it does throw me out of a book to some extent.

Oddly, I ended up enjoying the mystery/thriller portions of this book more than the romance. As I was reading, I kept flipping pages mostly to find out what had happened to her best friend and to find out how the current thriller situation would resolve. That being the case, I was less invested in the romance itself. Partly, I think this has to do with the strength of the mystery, but I also think it speaks to some weakness in the romance itself. Neither of these characters is bad or anything, but it felt like their connection happened incredibly quickly, especially given the tense circumstances that would, rightly, direct most people’s attention elsewhere from romantic entanglements.

Overall, this was a fun read, but just an okay romance novel. I’m definitely curious to check out other books by this author to see if the love stories might work better in those. But if you enjoy this author and you want to check out a contemporary romance with a solid mystery/thriller subplot, then this one might be for you!

Rating 7: While I enjoyed the mystery aspects of this book, the romance developed too quickly for me to feel truly invested in it.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Across the Vanishing Sky” can be found on these Goodreads lists: 2026 Adult Romance Releases and 2026 – Contemporary Romance (1st in Series).