Cry Out Loud by Tara O'Connor

Cry Out Loud by Tara O'Connor

My Rating: ★★★★

Nell is a super independent and stubborn teenager who just got suspended from school. Now she’s angry about being forced to spend the rest of the term with relatives she’s never even met, especially when she’ll be completely cut off from her friends. Her distant relatives are just as crappy as her mom, and she’s about to discover why: she’s this generation’s blood sacrifice for an ancient ritual that’s been performed for generations! At least there’s one person on her side, but can Nell really trust her?

This was such a good read! We follow Nell as she’s being sent to stay with some distant relatives after being suspended from school. Her mom has always acted like her existence was an inconvenience, so it’s easy to see why Nell is rebellious and struggling. Once she’s at her aunt’s place, things get a little spoopy when what appears to be a ghost keeps appearing to her. It seemed like things were going to lean toward the paranormal side with the ghost that was actually a banshee, but don’t let that fool you! This is very much the monster lives inside your own house type of story that I thought it’d be.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much town lore, and we get briefed on banshees at one point, but that’s about it. Banshees aren’t that scary when it turns out that poor Nell’s family has been plotting to kill her since the moment she was born, but because there’s next to no town lore and we never learn how Nell’s family got involved with the ritual or how far back it goes, it doesn’t hit as hard as it could’ve. However, I do think that part of the target audience likely won’t notice this while reading.

That said, I really enjoyed reading this. The artwork was beautiful and helped tell the story, Nell was an excellent and multi-layered character to follow, and the love story was cute. I just wish that we got more lore about the town and Nell’s family involvement in the ritual. I’m left with so many questions, including whether or not her parent’s marriage was an arrangement and if her dad knew she was this generation’s sacrifice. Otherwise, it was a good read and I felt bad for Nell the whole way through. I think a lot of readers are going to identify with a lot of what Nell is going through outside of the magical realism part of the story.

Behind Five Willows by June Hur

Behind Five Willows by June Hur

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Feiwel & Friends through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Set in late 1700s Korea, Shin Haewon and her sisters spend as much time as they can at their local secret book lending shop, Five Willows. Not only does Five Willows secretly loan out books censored under Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty’s rule, Haewon is also an illegal book transcriber for them under the name Magpie. Everything changes when Haewon’s older sister, Jade, falls in love with a wealthy man who is accompanied by his uptight friend who looks down on Haewon and her family. The more time she spends with this irritating man, the more she realizes they may have misjudged each other on a colossal level because they have a lot more in common… including their secret identities with Five Willows!

I absolutely loved every second I spent reading this. We follow Shin Haewon and Lord Yu Seojun through their rotating perspectives in this excellent Pride and Prejudice retelling. Every time I picked up this book, I had a really hard time putting it down because it was just so good! I loved the characters and the story itself so much that I can’t wait to purchase the book when it comes out toward the end of May.

If you’re not familiar with the era and you want to pick this up, I encourage you to do at least a little research to familiarize yourself with what was going on politically at the time. While it’s not a must, and the author does give context in the opening and author’s note, I think it really can’t hurt before you get started!

All in all, this is an excellent book. If you’re a fan of June Hur, like Pride and Prejudice, enjoy a slow burn romance, strong sibling bonds, and/or top tier writing, you cannot go wrong with this. I enjoyed the previous novel I read from June Hur and got excited when I saw she had something new coming soon. I think this is going to make it into my top 5 books of 2026 even though we’re still early into the year.

The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy (Dearly Beloathed #1) by Brigitte Knightley

The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley

My Rating: ★★★

When Osric Mordaunt finds out he’s in need of some very specialized healing, he receives even worse news: Aurienne Fairhrim is his only hope. There’s little chance that she’d agree… unless he makes a very hefty donation toward the Platt’s Pox inoculation fund! One large anonymous donation later and the two are in business, but it requires Aurienne to turn away from science and jump into the Old Ways. Will these natural enemies find a way to work together before they tear each other’s heads off?

I really liked the plot, but it was trying way too hard to be super witty at every single turn. If I didn’t like the characters and the plot itself so much, I might’ve closed the book and never turned back. Thankfully, I kept on reading because I ended up really enjoying it. However, I think I would’ve liked it more if it wasn’t trying so hard on the cheeky front.

Overall, it was a really fun and entertaining book. Aurienne and Osric are entertaining to follow, and some of their antics were absolutely hilarious. Honestly, I think the book had me when Aurienne got attacked by a sentient piece of paper. I also enjoyed meeting the variety of characters who come and go, though I hope to get to know some more of the characters a little better in the second book.

All in all, it’s a fun book to read. If you’re looking for an ultra slow burn romance, then this might be something for you because the slow burn starts very late in the game. At one point, I almost forgot they were supposed to eventually fall in love, so keep that in mind if you pick it up.

This Deadly Touch by Aimee Donnellan

This Deadly Touch by Aimee Donnellan

My Rating: ★★★

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

Tia grew up in a convent thanks to the rare condition she was born with that kills people with necrosis magic if she has skin to skin contact with them. The convent is all she’s ever known, but a letter from someone intent on curing her was just too good to pass up. One easy escape from the convent later, Tia and her potential savior, Asha, embark on an adventure in hopes to cure her of the condition that’s actually an ancient curse placed on multiple bloodlines.

This is such a cute feel good romance following Tia and Asha through their rotating perspectives. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but this book might’ve been a little too fluffy because the stakes were almost always non-existent. Every time they came up against something or someone that could put them through the wringer, it was immediately solved or turned out to not have been an issue.

That said, I really did enjoy this book for the most part. I really enjoyed following Tia and Asha as they slowly fall in love and introduce Tia to the world she’s never been allowed to see before. It’s a light read, but if you’re not used to books that are at this level of fluffy, it’s possible that it’s not the right book for you. For me, it felt like we weren’t going anywhere for a while just because everything went too smoothly and some of the plot points were random at times. Plus, the ending left me feeling like a portion of the story was missing.

However, I liked the book and liked the characters. It was just too fluffy for me, especially when I didn’t expect it to be anywhere near as light and fluffy as it turned out to be. The romance plot was amazing once it got rolling, but I wish the rest of the story was a little more focused and that the curse itself had a bigger plot point.

Hotel Limbo (Hotel Limbo Book 1) by Ben Harel

Hotel Limbo (Hotel Limbo Book 1) by Ben Harel

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Top Shelf Productions in exchange for an honest review.

When Bellboy, aka BB, wakes up in the middle of nowhere, he has no idea where he is or how he got there. All he knows is that a huge cat is giving him a ride and the people he just met are all wearing masks. When BB arrives at Hotel Limbo, he’s surprised to learn that not only is he dead, but he’s also the newest employee at the hotel. Armed with a vague job description, BB quickly sets out to help the dead folks staying at the hotel even if nothing makes sense… including his job!

We follow BB as he begins his new job in purgatory because he has the bad luck of dying and being saddled with a job. The story is told through the beautiful artwork of 28 artists, all named in the opening of the book and in the order of the chapters they illustrated. I wasn’t sure what to expect with 28 artists, but I can confirm that it was an amazing idea because it really added an extra touch of mystery to the story!

I really enjoyed meeting all of the characters and slowly piecing together that something much bigger is going on. I also like how each chapter focuses on a different character, and I think that having a new art style for each chapter was genius. It really helped tell the story and truly bring it to life. I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here as well as seeing if the artists will be returning to bring the second book to life.

The Healer and the Warlord (Ballan Desert #0.5) by S.C. Grayson

The Healer and the Warlord by S.C. Grayson

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op in exchange for an honest review.

As the extremely sheltered daughter of the Lord of Clan Padra, Alyx has been itching to escape her father and all of her restrictions. Her life is turned upside down when she’s abducted by Kelvar, the warlord of Clan Katal, and discovers she has more freedom than she ever did with her parents. What’s even stranger is that she’s feeling drawn to her captor, but is there a romance brewing or is she really as soft and naive as her family has always said?

In this surprisingly action packed novella, we follow Alyx and Kelvar through their rotating perspectives as they begin their journey as captive and captor. I really liked both characters and enjoyed following them both. I also really liked that the pair seemed to be on equal footing after a bit vs Alyx truly being a captive for long.

I was shocked at how much world building was able to fit into the story without it feeling overwhelming or out of place given this is a novella. Plus, we’ve got everything from an overbearing family, rough upbringings, friendship (and lack thereof), and romance packed neatly in this book that’s less than 130 pages and it doesn’t feel rushed or otherwise squished in. It made me excited to check out the rest of the series, though this book can be read as a stand alone!

All in all, I really enjoyed reading this. I’m hoping I like the next group of protagonists since I don’t think we’ll be following Alyx or Kelvar after this, but I have faith in the story since I had a lot of fun reading this. I wouldn’t say this was super steamy as that was saved for nearly the end, but I do like that it was a bit of a slow burn that’s built on trust and communication.

The Brightness Between Us (The Darkness Outside Us #2) by Eliot Schrefer

The Brightness Between Us by Eliot Schrefer

My Rating: ★★★

It’s been 17-years since Ambrose and Kodiak crash landed on Minerva. Life as the only humans on Minerva hasn’t been without its hiccups, but they’ve happily raised a family together. However, their family is about to go through a number of new hurdles, including ones they never could’ve predicted. In the distant past, the original Ambrose and Kodiak wake up and learn they’ve been manipulated and lied to. Will these two find their way to each other, and will they manage to get their own unedited messages to their clones?

While I loved the first book, I did think it could’ve worked as a standalone with an open ending. I still think that, but I did really enjoy reading this! I love that we got rotating narrators this time around as well, so we follow Owl and Yarrow in the present, and Ambrose and Kodiak in the past. I especially love that we finally got to see things from Kodiak’s perspective! I enjoyed getting to know the new characters as well as finally meeting the original Ambrose and Kodiak and learning about what happened to them.

That said, I’m glad we didn’t get many Yarrow chapters because I found them to be a chore to read at times. I’m just disappointed by the lack of depth despite seeing and experiencing part of his story through his own eyes. I wish that Yarrow’s story took an entirely different path, especially because there were other ways to create drama on Minerva whether or not it was impacted by long dead people back on Earth. It just felt like an abandoned mental health plot once we started to see the whole picture.

All in all, I enjoyed the book, but I can’t see the story going further than this. I really liked getting multiple POVs this time around, and I liked that we bounce between the past and present. I’m looking forward to checking out the author’s other works since, overall, I really enjoyed this series.