Tag: Romantasy

Serena’s Review: “The Winged Game”

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Book: “The Winged Game” by Sophie Kim

Publishing Info: Del Rey, June 2026

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

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

Book Description: Carriwitchet, the violent, rugby-esque game played atop winged beasts, was once Taissa Cho’s whole life, and she was once the United Kingdom’s most promising player. Until her nemesis, rival player Kion Locke, destroyed her career in a single moment. Expelled from the sport in disgrace, Taissa has spent the last two years dreaming of nothing but revenge and relishing watching Kion’s team plummet to the bottom of the league.

So when Taissa is offered the chance to redeem herself and her career, she can’t refuse—even if the offer is coming from the very man who ruined everything in the first place. It’s close to a dream come true . . . except for that pesky clause in her contract that demands she and Kion enter a fake relationship in order to garner some much-needed positive PR for the team. This could not be a worse match. Taissa and Kion only have two things in their love of the game, and their undying hatred for each other.

Yet as a mysterious illness befalls the winged creatures of the entire league—putting both the beasts’ lives and the very sport itself at stake—the athletes find themselves partnering up in other ways, determined to crack the case of the eerie sickness. As their investigation takes them on a whirlwind adventure, Kion and Taissa are prepared for anything . . .

Anything, that is, but their fake-for-the-cameras relationship to maybe, just maybe, become something real after all.

Review: I know that sports romances have been having a bit of a moment recently, but as a romance reader who almost always avoids contemporary romance, I’ve missed most, if not all, of the big hits. That being the case, I was excited to see that Sophie Kim was coming out with her own fantasy twist on the subgenre!

Ultimately, this wasn’t my favorite read ever, but I think much of that comes down to my own preferences and the fact that I think this will sit much more comfortably alongside the “sports” romances than the “fantasy” romances. Kim’s writing is still quite approachable and fun, and I largely enjoy her style, which reads quickly but isn’t dumbed down in any way. The banter and dialogue were by far the best parts of the book and had me chuckling out loud at times. I also think that the enemies-to-lovers aspects, most exemplified in said banter, were done quite well. Due to the lower stakes of the book (they aren’t mortal enemies or anything), this sort of progression from “enemies/rivals” to eventual lovers makes more sense. And the snappy, quirky banter also fits better than it does in some of the enemy-to-lovers romantasies we see, where the love interests are quipping away in the middle of a life-or-death situation.

Oddly, the book had both too much sport and not enough, I think. For readers who really enjoy sports romances, there isn’t as much of that here as I think they’d expect. Aside from a few scenes, we don’t see a lot of it. But, again, I’m not a reader of that subgenre, so maybe that’s the convention there too, and I just assumed more actual sports-playing happened on the page.

On the other side, the sports scenes we did get didn’t really work for me, mostly because I was way too caught up on exactly how this whole sport/league worked. Call me a fantasy snob, but I do need something to hold my wild fantasy concepts together. Other than this being a sort of Quidditch spinoff where the players ride mythical beasts rather than brooms, I’d be hard-pressed to explain the rules. I also thought the general setup was rather odd. The riders form a deep connection with their steeds, and each team only plays on one sort of creature. So if you start with one team/steed, that’s what you’re stuck with forever. Even though there were only a few sports scenes, these persistent questions about rules and practicalities did distract me from the book itself.

I also didn’t love the romance. The MMC was your typical grumpy hero and really didn’t have anything new to offer to the standard version of this character you’ve probably read a million times before. The fake dating also felt rather silly at times. Again, this is probably more of a me issue, as fake dating isn’t my favorite trope. There were moments that I thought worked, but then others that had me rolling my eyes a bit. A certain marketing photo shoot comes to mind.

Overall, this was just ok. I got through it quickly and did genuinely find it funny at times. However, the sports aspect didn’t work for me, as I felt it was too underdeveloped for me to become invested. And while I enjoyed the “enemies to lovers” aspect, the fake dating trope didn’t work as well. Fans of Kim and sports romances, however, are much more likely to enjoy this and should definitely give it a shot!

Rating 7: For a sports romance where the players ride mystical beasts, I found the actual “sports” of it all rather underwhelming.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Winged Game” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2026 Most Anticipated Romantasy & Fantasy Romance Releases

Serena’s Review: “Death’s Daughter”

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Book: “Death’s Daughter” by S. A. Barnes

Publishing Info: Bramble, May 2026

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

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

Book Description: Jocasta’s carved out a normal life at Beecher University—well, as normal as possible with a name like Jocasta and being the only child of Death.

She has good friends and a messy situationship with her former TA. But her friends, her crush, and her classmates don’t know the truth about who—what—she is. They would be horrified to discover Jo must feed to survive—and she feeds on them. But she refuses to take lives, feasting instead on their disappointments, failures, and rejections. It’s not a perfect system, but it works.

Until a sexy stranger—and descendant of Lust—shows up on campus because Death just named Jo as his successor, making her a powerful ally and a massive target.

Jo’s safe little bubble is about to burst, but she will do anything to protect the people she loves. Even if it means becoming what she hates…

Review: I’ve read and enjoyed a few of this author’s horror/sci-fi books, so I was excited to see that she was branching out into the fantasy genre! I’ll admit, I was a bit concerned about the whole “descendant of Lust” thing, though, as that sounded like just the sort of tack into cheese that romantasy too often takes.

Unfortunately, this one didn’t work nearly as well for me as the horror/sci-fi works have in the past. I will say that this author is still incredibly “readable.” The prose is approachable, and the pacing and plotting remain steady throughout the book. With her other works, the horror aspects pulled me through some of the more lackluster moments for characterization and plotting, but sadly here I didn’t have that same hook to pull me through. That said, readers who enjoy contemporary romance and, perhaps, urban fantasy may have a different experience here than I did.

Sadly, while the “popcorn film” nature of the writing did get me through the book, I really struggled with almost every aspect of it. For one thing, the world-building itself was incredibly lackluster. The reader is thrown into this world, given some brief nods to a Greek-mythology inspiration, and then left to just go with it. For her part, Jo is also very uninformed about this world, and while it can work to use a main character’s own ignorance as an entry point to the world, here it just felt a bit tedious. Jo must be a blank slate so that, through her, the reader can learn more. But that also leaves her… a blank slate.

I was also very underwhelmed with the main hook of the story, that Jo is Death’s daughter. Everything about this sounds like it should be interesting. But in reality, it’s all presented in such a humdrum manner that I found myself quickly losing interest in Jo’s abilities or urges.

I was also displeased to discover a love triangle at the heart of the story. There is a brief nod to this in the book description, but I guess I read that much more as a “previous love interest” that would be quickly set aside for the new one who is introduced. Instead, this felt very much of a certain time in urban fantasy writing, where every long-running series starts out with a love triangle (see Mercy Thompson) that slowly resolves over the first few books. It’s not a style I’d like to see come back, and the author’s attempts here felt very familiar, with the ultimate endgame of the situation reading fairly obvious to anyone familiar with urban fantasy tropes.

Overall, I was left fairly ambivalent about this read. At best, I can say that it was a quick read. But while I enjoyed that “popcorn” nature in her sci-fi/horror books, here it felt like the fantasy world and the characters all lacked the depth to truly make them stand out. And the romance was an incredibly tired return to a format that peaked ten years ago. Perhaps readers who are keen for a nostalgic urban fantasy read will enjoy this. But sadly, it wasn’t for me.

Rating 6: While it was a quick read, it wasn’t one that I particularly enjoyed. The world-building was lackluster, and the love triangle was familiar and tired.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Death’s Daughter” can be found on these Goodreads lists: All the New Romantasy Books Arriving in May 2026 and Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2026.

Serena’s Review: “A Curse of Beasts and Magic”

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Book: “A Curse of Beasts and Magic” by Jeaniene Frost

Publishing Info: Bramble, May 2026

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

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

Book Description: Raine Stone was the sole survivor of a horrific creature while camping. Her account of the attack was attributed to shock, but Raine knows all too well that her story is true because now she carries that same Beast inside her!

She’s been restraining its violent urges by letting it ‘feed’ on the pain and chaos she’s exposed to as an ER nurse, and by playing vigilante against would-be muggers at night. But when Raine uses the Beast’s energy to heal a frail elderly gentleman from a seemingly random attack, she opens herself to a new world of danger—literally.

Remington “Remy” Byrne knows that the wall between a realm of deadly mythic creatures and our own world is very thin; he’s the Warden who guards the gateways between them. He also rules the supernatural creatures living in secret among us. Raine’s Beast makes her an intruder on Remy’s territory, but the elderly gentleman she saved is Remy’s grandfather, and her Beast contains power that could tip the scales in a sinister plot against Remy’s rule—if Raine allies with him.

Will they be friends or foes…or will the dangerous attraction between them turn into something else? And can our world be saved by their explosive alliance?

Review: To start with an aside, I do wish publishers would find a better way of differentiating their fantasy titles. Between the book cover and the book description, there were zero hints anywhere to be found that this was an urban fantasy. I enjoy urban fantasy, but for readers who picked this up off the shelf, looked at the ballgown on the cover, and then read the book description, which hints at a fairytale retelling, there’s very little to clue anyone in that this is not the high fantasy story it appears to be. Sure, if you look closely at the one castle, you can see a cityscape, but that’s asking a bit much of readers to dig out clues. This isn’t a deal breaker by any means, but I do think that this kind of thing can lead to a mismatch between the book and the reader, leaving some of the prime audience members unaware that this might be right up their alley! It’s as simple as not putting that central character in a ballgown! Put her in some badass leather jacket number and boom! Problem solved!

That being the case, once I mentally slotted this one into the “paranormal romance” category, there was a lot to like here! Most notably, I did enjoy the romance here. There was an appropriate build-up of tension, and any trust built between the two characters had to be earned. This made the eventual resolution between them that much sweeter. I also thought that the banter here was some of the better that I’ve read recently. While I wasn’t in love with the dialogue, the fact that it wasn’t actively cringey was still a massive win. Most importantly, their banter felt appropriately rooted in the two sorts of characters our main leads are.

The pacing, however, was a bit all over the place. The story starts off quickly, pulling you immediately into the action and introducing the characters and the stakes. However, once you get to the middle portion, things slowed down quite a bit. Some lull is to be expected, but there were moments here where it did veer into infodump territory, with a lot of world-building thrown at the reader all at once, without much else happening for a decent chunk of time. The end picked up again, but it did leave the overall pacing of the book as a whole feeling uneven.

However, and this is a massive however for me, I do feel like the ending was doing yet another bait-and-switch love interest move. I’m so, so tired of this trope, and I can’t say enough how frustrating it is to pick up a book and have to read the entire thing before this trope punches me in the face in the last chapter. It’s really getting to the point where I feel like I might have to stop reading romantasies for the foreseeable future. There’s not enough time in the day and too many books to read to devote hours of reading time to a book only to then run into a deal-breaker trope at the very end, making the entire thing feel pointless.

But this is very much my hang-up, and my suspicions about the next book won’t impact my rating of this one (though I will not be reading it until I’ve read other reviews and determined the direction things are going). Once I settled into the correct subgenre of fantasy, this was a fun, fast read with a compelling romance at its heart. If you’re looking for the high fantasy “Beauty and the Beast” retelling that it looks to be advertising, this isn’t that. On the other hand, paranormal romance and urban fantasy fans should be well pleased!

Rating 8: Uneven pacing in the middle did hurt things a bit, but I enjoyed the romance and Remy as a main character!

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Curse of Beasts and Magic” isn’t currently on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Beauty and the Beast.

Serena’s Review: “Worthy of Fate”

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Book: “Worthy of Fate” by A.N. Caudle

Publishing Info: Ace, May 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: The Gem

Marked by the Gods, Kya is forced to partake in a Trial for a chance to be deemed Worthy. If she succeeds, she’ll be gifted great powers. If she fails, she could lose her life or worse. But that’s only the start of her worries. Now, the same plague that took her home is spreading and threatening the fate of the realm. Can Kya survive the Trial of the Gods and gain the needed power to rid the world of the growing threat before it’s too late? Or will she be drawn to what awaits her in the shadows?

The Shadow

Ryker has waited a long time for her—his mate. Now he’s found her. He plans to claim what is rightfully his, but dark forces threaten to destroy his Nation should he embrace the bond he so desperately desires. Unable to escape the drive to be near her, he waits for his precious gem, lingering in her shadow.

Review: This was a really confusing read. It was trying so hard to be so many things that I felt off-balance for much of my time reading it as we jumped from storyline to storyline and between one trope and the next. For one thing, while there are a million and one fantasy books featuring some sort of trial with the Gods, that is the most distinctive feature highlighted in the marketing for this one. That being the case, I was incredibly surprised by how quickly this particular plot point seemed to wrap up. Even if it’s familiar, there have been some really good books featuring trials, and I was really expecting this portion of the book to make up the primary plot. I enjoyed what we had from it, but it just wasn’t enough and left me a bit floundering once I realized the book was moving on to the next thing.

The two main characters weren’t bad by any means (even if the FMC had some supremely questionable decision-making towards the end), but they also didn’t offer up much that was new. Kya was stabby. Ryker was a shadow daddy. You get the gist just from those two short sentences.

I was also a bit disappointed to realize this was a fated mates romance. This one fell into the trap that so many romances do when it comes to this trope. That is, by calling them “fated mates,” the author neatly sidesteps any necessary work to show their relationship building up as they begin to know, understand, and care for the other. Instead, the heavy lifting is immediately swept aside by the simple fact that they are “fated,” with no other work done. In many ways, this robbed the story of any actual romance. The characters feel like an established couple almost from the start.

There was also something really odd going on with the writing in the last portion of this book, as far as the romance goes. Maybe it was just me, but it felt like I, the reader, was almost being drowned by a constant wave of pronouncements of love and devotion from these two characters. It got to the point that I was actually counting to see how many pages we could go before running into the next grand romantic proclamation. And boy, it wasn’t many! I enjoy devoted sentiments as much as the next person, but it almost felt like secondary embarrassment reading these two gush over each other nearly constantly.

All of this said, the book was a fast read, and I think readers who enjoy fated mates more than I do will absolutely love this one. Be warned that the supposed trials are a very minor portion of the story. But if you’re in it mostly for the romance, this does leave much more room to devote to these two, which definitely comes into play. So, while it wasn’t really for me, I do think there’s an audience for this book, especially on the more romance-heavy side of romantasy.

Rating 7: I wanted more from the trials and could have taken fewer declarations of love, all things considered.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Worthy of Fate” isn’t currently on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Books With Fated Mates.

Serena’s Review: “A Kiss of Crimson Ash”

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Book: “A Kiss of Crimson Ash” by Anuja Varghese

Publishing Info: Orbit, May 2026

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

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

Book Description: Nandapore is a city of secrets and spellcasters where seduction reigns and a power-hungry king is never satisfied, plotting to unleash a weapon that has only lived in myth… until now.

To stop him, an ancient goddess seeks out a newly crowned queen, a heartsick prince, a common thief, and a courtesan with magic in her blood. Together, they chart a course through brothels, temples, taverns, and palaces, setting a trap for the empire’s most powerful men.

Linked by desire, destiny, and a dangerous foe, they each must decide…

Review: This was a mixed bag of a read for me, partly because it felt like the book was mis-marketed as a romantasy when it was more fantasy-focused, truly. But then at the same time, the book felt the need to include repeated and often unnecessary (either for plot purposes or character development purposes) spicy scenes that felt like they were shoe-horned in simply to chase trends and/or reinforce that this book is an adult book instead of YA. For the former, I think all books are worse off for trying to capture what are only brief moments of popularity that will likely either date your book immediately or fall off so quickly as to be useless. And as for the latter…

That is, simply write your book with adult characters and trust your audience.

What I liked most was probably the mythology and the ties to Indian culture and history. I especially enjoyed the blending of elements that seemed to come from actual folklore alongside a pantheon of deities that were created specifically for this world. I think this sort of approach for fantasy folklore is often the most successful, where authors don’t feel too tied down to recreating exact myths or using deities from actual religions within their fantasy story. I think a bit more could have been done with them, ultimately, but the general approach was good.

The story itself was OK. I wasn’t blown away by anything that was happening (indeed, there were several moments where side characters would randomly show up with the exact thing needed for a given situation or conflict), but I also was interested enough throughout to keep going. The writing itself was fairly limited with regard to its imagery as well, which was unfortunate, as if there is one word that comes to mind when I picture India, it is “lush.” It would have been nice if the writing could have better risen to the inspiration it was calling upon.

The characters were likewise fine. I didn’t hate them, but they also all felt fairly flat. And it’s here where I really hold the spicy scenes against the book. My personal preference is for a limited number of spicy scenes, used in a way that moves the characters or relationship forward. But that’s just my own taste. However, books are also limited to a certain page count, and the inclusion of certain scenes means taking page time away from other aspects of the story. If a good handful of these spicy scenes had been taken out, and the story refocused on developing these characters more fully, not only would the book itself be better, but the spicy scenes that remained would have hit with more of an impact.

So, overall, this was just an OK read. I don’t feel like I wasted my time reading it, as I got through it quickly and it had flashes of fantasy elements that I did enjoy. However, the overuse of spice, the flat characters, and the limited word craft didn’t ever let me become fully invested. That said, if you’re looking for a more spice-focused Indian fantasy story, this still might be a good read for you!

Rating 7: It never quite reached the potential that you could see glimmering behind the unnecessary spice scenes.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Kiss of Crimson Ash ” isn’t currently on any Goodreads lists but it is on: Romantasy TBR 2026

Book Club Review: “When the Tides Held the Moon”

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

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. Re-visiting some of our past themes, we’re once again pulling random words from a hat and finding a book that matches the prompts. 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!

Book: “When the Tides Held the Moon” by Venessa Vida Kelley

Publishing Info: Erewhon Books, April 2025

Where Did We Get This Book: We own it

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

Prompt Word: Moon

Book Description: In Coney Island, true love rises to the surface. With lush illustrations and buoyant prose, Venessa Vida Kelley forges an unforgettable New York fairytale.

Benigno “Benny” Caldera knows an orphaned Boricua blacksmith in 1910s New York City can’t call himself an artist. But the ironwork tank he creates for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, astounds the eccentric sideshow proprietor who commissioned it. He invites Benny to join the show’s eclectic cast and share in their shocking secret: the tank will cage their newest exhibit, a live merman stolen from the salty banks of the East River.

More than a mythic marvel, Benny soon comes to know the merman Río as a kindred spirit, wise and more compassionate than any human he’s ever met. Despite their different worlds, what begins as a friendship of necessity deepens to love, leading Benny’s heart into uncharted waters where he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Río’s captivity—and his own.

Releasing Río could mean losing his found family, his new home, and his soulmate forever. Yet Benny’s courageous choice may just reveal a love strong enough to free them both.

Kate’s Thoughts

I’ve been to Coney Island a few times in my life, having strolled on the beach and walked through Luna Park. There’s something special about Coney, and there is something that just feels so profoundly ‘New York City’ about it. When our book club chose “When the Tides Held the Moon” by Venessa Vida Kelley I was already on board because of a queer romance between a blacksmith and a merman, but the 1910s Coney Island setting made it all the more tantalizing. It just feels like a New York story.

I loved so much about this book. The setting is the first thing, as there is such a romantic and fairy tale aspect to 1910s Coney Island, and a circus that is teeming with found family potential. The idea of a ‘freak show’ having people living on the edges of society and finding connection and companionship with one another is always a story that’s going to hit me in the feels, and Kelley adds in the fantasy element of merman Rió and has even more of a punch. I loved the way that Benny finds love and companionship not just with Rió, but also with a group of people who feel Othered in ways that, while not being fully the same, resonate for Benny, who is a fish out of water in his own way thanks to coming to New York from Puerto Rico and dealing with racism and xenophobia. The way that he connects with people who also feel on the outside for various reasons, be it race, sexuality, gender expression, and other things, was a genuinely heartwarming aspect of this book.

I also really loved the romance between Rió and Benny, with the slow build up of their love story really capturing the tenderness and beauty of their connection. It really reminded me of “The Shape of Water” (and I know that isn’t a unique comparison, but that’s because it’s APT). We see it through both of their eyes to some degree, as while Benny has most of the POV we do get some interspersed chapters of Rió’s thoughts and feelings as well. I liked how they challenged each other and lifted each other up, also connecting because of feeling so alone in the world. It’s the kind of aching romance that will just capture a reader and sweep them away, and it was one of the most effective romances I’ve connected to in recent memory (hilariously enough, another one like this was in “Trad Wife” and it also involved a human and an otherworldly being). Both Benny and Rió bring such passion and joy to the relationship as it unfolds and the circumstances become all the more heightened due to Rió’s captivity and issues that Benny is having with his own role in that. I was fully invested.

I loved “When the Tides Held the Moon”. It’s dreamy and romantic and touching and buoyant. I can’t recommend it enough.

Serena’s Thoughts

While I don’t have as many connections to New York City as Kate (I’ve been once for about 24 hours, much of which was spent bar hopping with my sister because it was pouring rain, the ferry to the Statue of Liberty was closed due to hurricane damage, and we were constantly waiting to meet up with an overly busy friend who was delayed), it’s still a city that has a clear “presence,” for lack of a better word. And this book followed one of my favorite storylines for fantasy fiction, where the author manages to merge the fantastical right alongside the very real, very human world that we know. So on one hand, yes, you have a love story featuring a merman. But you also have a love letter to a very specific time and place, New York City in 1910s. This was especially appealing to me as I also enjoy historical fiction, and this is a time period and location (somehow I don’t read many historical fiction pieces that take place in the U.S.) that I was less familiar with.

The writing was also lovely. I’m a sucker for lyrical, whimsical storytelling and this one had it in spades. The style of writing only accentuated the primary themes of the story, those of love, found family, and what makes up a home. There were many lovely passages that had me stopping to re-read and truly appreciate the author’s skill.

The story is definitely on the slower side, which I think worked well, especially with the emphasis on the atmospheric nature of the storytelling and the slow burn romance that developed between our main characters. But for readers who are looking for a faster pace, this probably isn’t that. I’d also want to note that while “monster romance” is a big subgenre in romantasy currently, this doesn’t really fall into the same category. The love story here was much more intimate in the emotional sense and all the more beautiful for it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! I had had it on my TBR for a while now, but hadn’t gotten around to prioritizing it. So yet another win for bookclub!

Kate’s Rating 9: A lovely and deeply romantic story about love, belonging, found family, and connection with a dreamy backdrop of 1910s Coney Island. I loved this book.

Serena’s Rating 9: Atmospheric and lyrical, this is a perfect blending of fantasy, historical fiction, and romance! Sure to be a hit with a variety of readers!

Book Club Questions

  1. What did you think of the time and place setting of this novel? Did you learn anything new about Puerto Rico or New York during this time period?
  2. Benny and Rió come from two different worlds but are drawn to each other. Why do you think that they had such a connection?
  3. Were you invested in the love story between Benny and Rió as the story went on? What other relationships in the book were interesting to you?
  4. Throughout the book we have mostly the POV of Benny, but we sometimes get more dreamy narrations of Rió’s perspectives. Did you like these snippets?
  5. What were your thoughts on the other side characters? Did any stand out to you?
  6. What circus stories from literature or pop culture could be compared to this book? Do you have any favorite circus stories?

Reader’s Advisory

“When the Tides Held the Moon” is included on the Goodreads lists “Best Queer Romantasy Books”, and “Gay Pirates and Sea Creatures”.

Next Book Club Pick: “The Wizard of Earthsea” by Ursula K. Le Guin

Serena’s Review: “Storm Breaker”

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

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: “West of Wicked”

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Book: “West of Wicked” by Nikki St. Crowe

Publishing Info: Bramble, April 2026

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

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

Book Description: Dorothy Gale doesn’t know where she came from. She has only the vaguest memory of her life before landing in the dull, gray world of the vast Kansas prairie.

Then a cyclone rips through the night and carries her, her dog, and the farmhouse somewhere a lot farther than Dorothy imagined. She’s in a strange land that’s apparently cursed, shrouded in shadow. And to get home, Dorothy needs to seek out a wizard, following a treacherous path and watch out for a never-ending list of forest beasts, witches, a cursed mercenary, and perhaps most dangerous of all, the wizard himself.

Nikki St. Crowe vividly reimagines the world of the Wizard of Oz, where the villain gets the girl…and the girl gets the power.

Review: I had heard of this author before because I looked into a “Peter Pan” retelling that she wrote at one point. That one seemed like it was a “reverse harem” romance, so I gave it a pass. But this one sounded like the more straightforward “enemies to lovers” trope, and, combined with my nostalgic love of “Wizard of Oz,” I thought this might be a good entry point to this author.

And, while I didn’t outright love it, I can also see the appeal of this author for sure. Right from the start, she has a very compelling style of storytelling. The pacing is quick, but I never felt like the author was skimping on the characterization or world-building. I had a decent understanding of just who Dorothy was and what was important to her fairly early in the story. As her arc continues, there were added layers given to her motivations and changes in perspective, so I appreciated that growth was there.

I also enjoyed the twists and turns taken with the world of Oz and the original characters. Frankly, this carried much of the book for me, as I was always eager to meet new characters or see new locations and explore the unique take the author was bringing to these classic elements. That said, if you feel at all “precious” about these originals, this book might not be for you. The author plays fast and loose with any original characteristics; I found this fun, but it could also be jarring if you were hoping to find characters that were more in line with their original versions.

Probably not surprising anyone, I mostly had gripes with the romance and the spice. On the spice side, the story starts out with a completely unnecessary erotic scene between the main character and a throwaway character. Now, I know that some readers enjoy spice for spice’s sake. But for me, these kinds of unnecessary spice scenes so early in a book make me feel as if the author thinks that readers are just hornballs who will put down a book if they don’t get a sex scene in the first 25 pages. This scene literally had zero impact on the story and could have been removed with no one the wiser. I wish it had been.

The romance itself was more interesting and developed at a slower pace (this made the initial jump right into a sex scene with the soon-to-be ex all the more weird!). There were also some big twists that came toward the end that I enjoyed. However, as always it seems, the book definitely sets up a secondary romance in the end as well. This is purely a subjective thing, and readers who enjoy love triangles and bait-and-switch romances may enjoy this aspect more.

As it stands, I think I’ll wait and spoil myself on how the entire trilogy ends before committing to reading more of the series, largely due to my feelings regarding the romance. I enjoyed the overall writing and Dorothy as a character, but the romance is a big question mark, and I’ve been burned too many times in the past to blindly keep going.

Rating 7: I liked this interpretation of “The Wizard of Oz” and its classic characters, but the spice and romance raised some big question marks for me personally. Other romance readers who enjoy certain tropes, however, may enjoy it more!

Readers Advisory:

“West of Wicked” can be found on this Goodreads list: April 2026 Most Anticipated Romance Releases.

Serena’s Review: “An Arcane Study of Stars”

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Book: “An Arcane Study of Stars” by Sydney J. Shields

Publishing Info: Orbit, April 2026

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

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

Book Description: When Claudia Jolicoeur is rejected from Cygnus University, a devilish stranger named Dorian appears in her nightmares and offers her a bargain: he will get her into Cygnus if she learns how to free him from a prison of stars. He takes a bite of her soul to seal the deal, and Claudia wakes to a letter from the High Sage of Cygnus stating she will take the place of Odette Dufort, a Rhetoric student who passed away.

Her arrival raises suspicions, rumors that she had a hand in Odette’s death spread like wildfire, and Cassius MacLeod, the High Sage’s apprentice and Claudia’s fellow Rhetoric student, seems hellbent on humiliating her. Determined to clear her name, she searches for any evidence that could prove her innocence. When someone—or something—starts slipping her pieces of Odette’s diary, Claudia uncovers a horrifying truth: over the last century, celestial witches at Cygnus have been murdered. Odette was one of them, and Claudia could be next. For her own protection, Claudia needs to free Dorian—and fast.

By night, she studies the stars, slowly unraveling the mystery of Dorian’s prison. By day, she and Cassius wage rhetorical war as debate partners in class. What begins as a fierce rivalry devolves into something deeper, darker, and dangerously sensual. As Claudia inches closer to the truth, she must decide: would trusting Cassius be the last mistake she ever makes?

Review: Well, here we go again. Every once in a while I seem to hit a reading slump where I pick up one book after another and keep bouncing off of them. I should have perhaps been a bit more wary of this one, as I didn’t love the author’s first book, “The Honey Witch.” But I keep looking for a book to scratch that dark academia itch, so here we are.

Let’s start with some positives, though. The book starts off with an incredibly strong opening chapter, setting the stage of a trapped god who is awoken by a woman’s scream. And as the story continued, I kept wanting to get back to this energy! Not only did the writing of this opening chapter feel superior to much of what was on offer in the rest of the book (I’m not sure if this was due to a tone change, veering away from the more serious “high fantasy” tone used in this prologue or what), but the world-building and history explored in this subplot were by far the most interesting parts of the book. It was only here that the story came near to anything resembling the “dark” portion of “dark academia,” and it was also the only portion of the book that felt like it had any true stakes involved.

That said, even here, I felt like most of the twists and turns were projected so far in advance that the impact was completely lost when these reveals actually landed. We get to the end, and there’s supposed to be this major twist, and I just found myself raising my eyebrows at it all. Wasn’t this obvious from practically the start? Beyond that, there were some late-game twists in the romance that I really hated. I’m not going on another rant about this; I can’t. But I’m so sick of these romance twists.

But unfortunately, the romance and the characters were the biggest letdown. We had another example of “enemies to lovers” turning into “instalove” almost immediately. There wasn’t enough time to build up any sort of real antagonism between these two. And, likewise, there wasn’t enough time for me to buy into the extreme levels of devotion being proclaimed on the page shortly after this shift in their relationship occurs.

Beyond that, the romance took a distinct turn into the BDSM realm that I wasn’t expecting at all. I usually look for the label “dark romance” when making my selections, as I know that BDSM love stories aren’t for me. But, again, this one didn’t give any hints that this was the sort of spice content that would be on offer. I don’t think it was particularly extreme by any means, but again, this is a romance topic that is never going to work for me, and I wish I could more easily discover it going in so that it wouldn’t hit as a surprise halfway through a book I’m now committed to reading/reviewing.

Overall, this book might work better for dark romance readers. I think many of the tropes that the romance plotlines follow will work much better for these readers. I also know that I was an outlier in my opinions of “The Honey Witch,” so there are definitely fans of this author who will enjoy this. Indeed, based on the strength of the captured god subplot, even I could find the appeal in parts of what this author has to offer. Unfortunately, the romance was really not for me.

Rating 7: While I liked some aspects of the fantasy world and there is potential in the overall world-building, I didn’t enjoy the love story at all.

Reader’s Advisory:

“An Arcane Study of Stars” can be found on these Goodreads lists: 2026 Fantasy Romance/Romantasy books to look forward to and 2026 Fantasy (All sub genres w. romance).

Serena’s Review: “We Become Darkness”

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Book: “We Become Darkness” by Grace Morrow

Publishing Info: Alcove Press, April 2026

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

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

Book Description: Thalia, Princess of Agripa, has spent the last four years hunting her ex-lover, Cassius—the man who shattered her heart and betrayed her kingdom by becoming a Vampyr. Vampyrs and humans have had a tenuous past since Thalia’s father and sister were murdered thirteen years ago. But with Agripa’s ore supply—the lifeblood of human cities—running out, Thalia’s mother strikes a desperate and dangerous deal: Thalia will marry a Vampyr prince in exchange for their ore.

Thalia is blindsided by the arrangement—and horrified to find Cassius, now serving as the prince’s Hand, is the man tasked with bringing her to the Vampyr kingdom safely. To save her people, she agrees to the marriage: but plans to dismantle the Vampyr kingdom from within by killing the prince.

The Vampyr court is rife with danger and secrets, and Cassius is always watching. When a monstrous new threat emerges, Thalia realizes the safety and security of their world is far more fragile than she ever believed.

Caught between duty and desire, Thalia must grapple with her feelings for Cassius and decide if she will fulfill her duty to the human crown or embrace the darkness within herself to protect both realms.

Review: This one had a lot of potential, but unfortunately, the romance fell into a few early pitfalls that are always struggle points for me. But to talk about the positives first, I think the world-building here was one of the strongest parts of this book. The author had clearly put a lot of thought into this world and the various components that make it up, from the political landscape to the geographic layout that influences the relations between the humans and the Vampyrs.

Speaking of Vampyrs, I also think that the version we have here is fairly interesting. Much of it was familiar, but with just enough twists and turns to make this version feel unique from the standard fare. There were some interesting factors making up their own politics as well as elements of their culture, like the value placed on the forest that surrounds their mountain.

However, the book really fell apart with the characters. At first, I went in with high hopes. Thalia felt like your rather standard stabby, feisty heroine, but her inner voice and backstory gave her enough weight to feel slightly different than all of the other characters like this we have seen. However, as the book went on, this tragic backstory was repeated so many times that it began to lose any emotional weight. And further, Thalia’s decision-making began to become so ridiculous that no amount of tragic history could justify it.

And, of course, the romance. This went off the cliff almost immediately. I was initially intrigued by the “second chance” romance that was being set up, since, if done well, that can be one of my favorite tropes. However, things took a downturn almost at once. Practically from the very first scene in which he appears, it’s glaringly obvious to the reader what happened the night he became a Vampyr. And then, a few short scenes later, he even offers to clarify to Thalia what really happened. Is she curious to hear what he says? Has she ever wondered before why a man she loved and knew deeply would suddenly make such a traitorous decision? NOPE! Instead, she just stomps her foot like a petulant child, and thus the “angst” continues. It was so, so stupid. I couldn’t take her seriously as an adult woman after this fact. Honestly, it was one of the worst “miscommunication” tropes that I’ve seen in a long while, and it really tanked the entire experience for me.

I didn’t enjoy this one. That said, I think the author has potential, and readers who are less turned off by the miscommunication trope might find themselves enjoying it more. So, on a personal basis, I would rate this a “6,” but objectively, it’s probably closer to a “7” if you’re interested in these sorts of romance tropes.

Rating 7: The miscommunication trope reared its ugly head and damaged my ability to appreciate this one, but the bones of an interesting fantasy world were definitely there!

Reader’s Advisory:

“We Become Darkness” can be found on this Goodreads list: April 2026 Most Anticipated Romance Releases