Juliet and Juliet by Mel V. Vargas

Juliet and Juliet by Mel V. Vargas

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Random House Graphic through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Juliet Montague crashed a Capulet party, she never expected to meet a really sweet and amazing woman… Juliet Capulet! Now the two are running around in secret with the help of their closest friends. When friendships and family relationships are on the line, Juliet and Juliet have to be extremely careful with where they go and who they trust. It’s too bad a Capulet is about to kickstart the drama!

As a Shakespeare girly, I had to pick this up ASAP! I really enjoyed reading this LGBTQ+ retelling of Romeo and Juliet. I also loved that this is a modern take that combines modern clothing with period clothing, which the artwork really brought to life. The cast of characters are wonderful and mostly supportive, and that’s always nice to see. Juliet and Juliet are my favorite characters, but I did really like several of the supporting characters. Plus, almost everyone seemed mostly reasonable and supportive, and that was really nice to see.

That said, I don’t think this book captured the essence of the source material. There was significantly less drama on top of there not being much conflict between the families. Plus, no one remembered why their families were beefing even though they had access to technology and years of tabloid rumors and whatnot. At the end of the day, I think this could’ve easily been its own story because it wasn’t really much of a retelling. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy every second I spent reading it, but as a retelling, it’s loosely inspired by the source material.

Cozy Cottage Cross-Stitch: 25 Charming Patterns to Make You Feel Perfectly at Home by Elle Noonan

 
Cozy Cottage Cross-Stitch: 25 Charming Patterns to Make You Feel Perfectly at Home by Elle Noonan

My Rating: ★★★★★

If you’re a cross stitcher who loves cottage core, then this may be the book for you! Inside, you will find 25 wonderful patterns ranging in size and skill levels. While skill levels aren’t listed on the patterns, it’s pretty easy to spot whether or not you’ll be ready for it if you’re a beginner. There’s also some information on tools, materials, and some stitching basics to help new stitchers understand the stitches and how to read a pattern. Plus, there’s little bonus tips included with the patterns!

All in all, I really love this pattern book. I’ve also been a fan of Elle’s/stitchsprout’s patterns for a while and have been a member of their patreon on and off, so I knew this would be up my alley. I’m so excited to cross stitch some of these patterns. They are just too perfect!

Thunderstruck by Lissa Layland

Thunderstruck by Lissa Layland

My Rating: ★★★

I received a copy from Avon through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Althea Leos, aka Thea, is extremely family oriented, and choosing to work on her thesis in Norway is something she struggles with. It doesn’t help that her prestigious thesis advisor immediately dumped her onto one of his colleagues. So what’s Thea going to do? Knock her thesis out of the park, join a local activist group, and develop feelings for the leader of the group! Only Thea isn’t sure what she really wants, and what was supposed to be a drunken apology turns into her stumbling into Asgard itself. Now she just has to pass a couple tests and prove that she won’t breathe a word about the gods being real, which is hard to do when she’s got a thing for both Thor and Loki!

I really liked this book, but I wasn’t sold on the romance plot at all. There was zero romantic chemistry unless things were starting to get a little spicy. Thea kept thinking about how she was trying to get her libido under control while it was off having a nice vacation. I do like that Thea, Thor, and Loki developed pretty good friendships. I just wasn’t seeing the romantic energy.

That said, I enjoyed reading the rest of the book. There’s a wonderful cast of characters, strong family bonds, and excellent worldbuilding. I really liked how the author made our climate change impact the Norse gods, which was a really interesting take on things that I hadn’t seen before. I just wish the story leaned more into this and less into the romance plot. I don’t know if this is the first book in a series, but it seemed like a series opener that could be left as a stand alone. If the story does continue, I will definitely check it out.

My Sister Took My Fiance and Now I'm Being Courted by a Beastly Prince, Vol. 2 Kiduki Hoshikawa (artist), Yū Sakurai (author)

My Sister Took My Fiance and Now I'm Being Courted by a Beastly Prince, Vol. 2 Kiduki Hoshikawa (artist), Yū Sakurai (author)

My Rating: ★★★★

After accidentally catching Prince Leonhart’s eye, Cordelia’s life is quickly changing now that she finally has someone on her side. Unfortunately for her, her family doesn’t see eye to eye, and she’s about to clash with not only her sister, but also her parents. Meanwhile, Leonhart’s own family troubles are coming to a head as his brother plots against him and tries to drag Cordelia into it!

I really enjoyed the first volume, which had a surprisingly amount of depth. However, this volume is closer to what I was expecting the first time around. So much happened and there were several times that we skipped straight over the believability factor with Cordelia’s responses. I guess this is the start of her healing journey, but in a crazy way since she’s being kept on her toes elsewhere.

That said, I still really enjoyed the volume. It was fast paced, the story was mostly good, and we started to see some justice of sorts in action. I do think we should’ve seen Cordelia’s family begin to face the music at a different time than we see Leonhart’s own brother’s shenanigans rear its ugly head at full force. Everything happening at the same time rather than focusing on one or the other took away from both plots in the end, but that’s just my opinion.

All in all, I did enjoy the book, I just wish it explored the way things impacted Cordelia and Leonhart differently than it did. I also wish that the plot points with the two families came to a head at different times. Otherwise, it was a fast paced read that had me absolutely glued. It’ll be interesting to see how things go from here, especially with the way things ended with Cordelia’s family.

Goodbye, Horrible Fiancé, Hello, Fun Magic School Life! Vol. 2 by Mashimesa Emoto, Nitou Akane (Illustrator)

Goodbye, Horrible Fiancé, Hello, Fun Magic School Life! Vol. 2 by Mashimesa Emoto, Nitou Akane (Illustrator)

My Rating: ★★★★

Free of her ex-fiancé, Misha is free to make her dreams come true, so that’s exactly what she’s doing. Now she’s happily studying and making friends at magic school with her familiar by her side. In fact, she’s even joined the organizing committee and is scrambling to figure out what type of menu she wants to propose! Misha is also becoming incredibly close to Vil, but right as she realizes that she’s developed feelings for him, she hears some damning rumors about him that could change everything. Is she doomed to always have her heart broken, or is Vil being framed?!

This was another cute and enjoyable read following Misha at magic school. There’s a little bit of mystery in the same breath as the first volume, which was interesting to see pan out. However, I think the friendships and other connections are the strong points of these books. I just can’t wait to see all of Misha’s relationships continue to develop. Plus, I enjoyed getting to know more about the characters, especially Ehr. I also like that we get an extra from Noah’s point of view at the end, which gives us some additional insight.

My only complaint is that Misha is extremely naive, and remembering her past life doesn’t give her much experience on that front. I was actually taken straight out of the story a few times because of it. Otherwise, this continues to be a fun vibe read. Gem continues to be my favorite character, and I’m interested in seeing what we learn about them when the next volume eventually drops.

My Sister Took My Fiance and Now I'm Being Courted by a Beastly Prince, Vol. 1 by Kiduki Hoshikawa (artist), Yū Sakurai (author)

 

My Sister Took My Fiance and Now I'm Being Courted by a Beastly Prince, Vol. 1 by Kiduki Hoshikawa (artist), Yū Sakurai (author)

My Rating: ★★★★

As the eldest daughter of a count, Cordelia grew up with a very strict education befitting her family’s status. Unfortunately, she also grew up in the shadow of her extremely spoiled younger sister, Priscilla. The sisters couldn’t be any more different, and their parents are too busy doting on Priscilla to notice that their entire family’s reputation is in the trash. Priscilla has always taken anything her older sister likes, but even Cordelia was stunned when she discovered that included each of her fiances! Four broken engagements later, Cordelia is resigned to life as a spinster. What she didn’t expect was to accidentally catch the eye of Prince Leonhard!

I picked this up looking for a semi-light read and got sucked in right away. We follow Cordelia as her latest fiance is about to leave her for her younger sister. At this point, she’s accepted life as it’s always been for her. She’s carrying a lot of hurt, trauma, anger, and resentment thanks to the way her parents and sister have treated her for a long time. Cordelia’s healing journey hasn’t begun yet, and I think a lot of people will be able to relate to her feelings and responses to both positive and negative attention.

Despite the heavy layers to the story, the author balances it out with their world building, a touch of humor, and positive characters and plots. It may not have been the light read I was expecting, but I really enjoyed it. There’s an excellent cast of characters, and Prince Leonhardt crashes into the picture with a positive force. He’s also got the heart of a lion. Literally! Their interactions also bring in some hilarious moments that had me cracking up.

All in all, I’m looking forward to picking up the next volume. I really liked the characters, the world-building was excellent, it has a lot more depth than I was expecting. Plus, the artwork was beautiful and really helped bring the story to life.

The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy (Dearly Beloathed #2) by Brigitte Knightley

The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley

My Rating: ★★★★

When Osric finds out he’s in need of some specialized healing, he manages to bribe Aurienne to let him be her experiment. What the unlikely duo never expected was for this experimental healing to actually start to work, or that they would fall for each other along the way. While Osric and Aurienne avoid sorting out their feelings, they also begin to look for who is behind the pox outbreak. Something weird is going on and lives are at risk, especially if Aurienne and Osric get caught!

While I enjoyed the first book, it wasn’t exactly my favorite. However, I liked it enough that I was really looking forward to reading this when it dropped. I’m excited to say that I ended up loving it! We follow Aurienne and Osric through their rotating perspectives as they fall in love and prepare for a war they just discovered is coming. The romance itself was a pretty slow burn at first. I was pleasantly surprised when it eventually began picking up speed and busted a move from that point forward. I think my favorite part about this romance is the emotional connection between Aurienne and Osric. This is my favorite type of romance, but it also made a lot of sense for the characters.

I also really liked the world building and getting to know some of the other characters more. Plus, the humor cracked me up this time around, which I really enjoyed since some of the humor in the previous book felt forced. That said, I did reach the end of the book and felt like the story was a little incomplete. I don’t think it’s actually incomplete, but that we spent so much time leading up to the start of the war only for the story to wrap up seemingly early into that plot point. 

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this enough that I will likely reread it in the near future. The romance and humor went hard this time around, but the emotional connection was really top tier. I do wish we saw more of the supporting characters, and I don’t think we needed all three epilogues, but I ended up really loving the story.