Barbarian Alien (Ice Planet Barbarians #2) by Ruby Dixon

 
Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon

My Rating: ★★★★

Liz’s life wasn’t the best, but it also wasn’t the worst. Then things took a swerve for the worse when she was abducted by aliens. Now Liz is trying her best to survive on an ice planet with the other women who were abducted and then dumped there. First up, she has to decide if she wants to accept the khui. Then she has to deal with the stubborn and mean looking alien who is weirdly obsessed with caring for her.

When I picked up the first book in the series, I was expecting a fun read and nothing more. I quickly discovered it’s absolutely hilarious but also sweet at times. I’m really rooting for all of these characters! This time around, we follow Liz and Raahosh through their rotating perspectives. It turns out that Liz’s khui has chosen her mate well because Raahosh is just as stubborn as she is. He’s stubborn, rough around the edges, and not exactly everyone’s friend. However, he’s also sweet, kind, and caring. He’s just modeling his wooing efforts after the totally wrong example: his father!

I absolutely loved following Liz around. She was a great character in the first book, so now we got to get to know her and see how she grows to love or hate this new planet that she gets to call home. Along the way, we also get to learn a lot about Raahosh as well as more about life on this planet that’s new to Liz. I had a great time reading about Liz and Raahosh’s adventures. I would’ve liked to see more of the other characters, but it made complete sense that we didn’t see them until way later. Honestly, I can’t complain about that. It was such a good read!

While it’s not as funny as the first book, there’s still plenty of laugh out loud moments all book long. This has truly turned into a surprise series for me. I started it for fun because, well, ice aliens! It’s turned out to be an excellent read so far and I look forward to checking out the third book in the new year.

Made to Measure: An Easy Guide to Drafting and Sewing a Custom Wardrobe by Elisalex Jewell

 
Made to Measure by Elisalex Jewell

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Quarto Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re interested in learning how to draft and sew custom clothes for yourself or others, this is an excellent place to start! Inside you will find everything from a supply list to a basic sewing guide. While I’ve been sewing on and off since my high school sewing class, I still read the supply list that had really pretty drawings of the supplies. I learned that the loop turner tool exists, which is going to make making drawstrings for pajamas so much easier! 

The sewing guide is excellent. It contains a lot of information but is presented in a way that is simple and easy to follow that is also not overwhelming in any way. I really like that there are troubleshooting tips that help with everything from the secret to sewing necklines to adjusting fit issues. I also really like that it has some sewing patterns at the back to help you get a feel for what was introduced throughout the book before diving into doing your own thing.

While it is easy to follow and understand, I do think it is not meant for beginners. However, I also think that drafting a pattern will be extremely difficult for beginners in general. It is an excellent book to have on hand once you get to the point of feeling ready to learn how to customize and draft patterns.

If I Were a Fungus by Gaia Stella

 
If I Were a Fungus by Gaia Stella

My Rating: ★★★

I received a copy from Lerner Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a cute book for kids. It’s super simple and cute. I think kids will love it. The art is cute and fun as well. It looks like a kid drew it and that’s part of what makes it so cute for kids. It looks like something they could’ve drawn for their parents to put together as a book. There are a lot more facts at the end of the book, which I wish were incorporated into the story. The fungi facts could’ve been built into the story with drawings to go with each fact that’s presented. Instead, the facts felt random and out of place at the end. Otherwise, it’s cute and I don’t think that kids will mind that the facts at the end aren’t built into the story.

Kawaii Café Bubble Tea: Classic, Fun, and Refreshing Boba Drinks to Make at Home by Stacey Kwong; Beyah del Mundo

 
Kawaii Café Bubble Tea: Classic, Fun, and Refreshing Boba Drinks to Make at Home by Stacey Kwong; Beyah del Mundo

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Quarto Publishing Group – Rock Point through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love boba, so of course I had to read this book! Inside, you will find 60 recipes that have their own adorable drawing to accompany them. It starts out with how to brew tea and make your own boba (aka tapioca balls) before jumping to some staples, like making sweeteners, syrups, and jellies from scratch. Honestly, this book has me ready to go out and buy what I need to make my own boba drinks from scratch tomorrow!

The recipes are easy to follow and like I said earlier, they have adorable drawings to go with them. Once you get far enough into the book, you will find recipes for a good variety of drinks. Whether you want to make milk tea, fun fruit teas, or any kind of specialty drink, this is your book! It’s a really cute and fun way to learn how to make these drinks at home. My favorite boba drink is milk tea boba, and I’m so excited to possibly make it in the near future after making some of the more simpler drinks (like regular milk tea and such).

How to Draw Super Cute Things With Bobbie Goods!: Learn to Draw & Color Absolutely Adorable Art! by Bobbie Goods

 
How to Draw Super Cute Things With Bobbie Goods! by Bobbie Goods
My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a simple drawing book with a hint of a coloring book, this is the book for you! Inside you will find an absolutely adorable drawing tips, instructions, and some pages that work as a coloring book. The drawings are simple and Bobbie encourages readers to embrace imperfections. I like that there are examples of perfectly straight lines compared to shaky lines to show readers that if you have a shaky hand, it just adds extra character to your work. That’s perfect for kids or anyone who wants to reach an idea of perfection. Work with what you’ve got and it can become your style as well as bringing some character to your work and I really liked that they made sure to include that. All in all, it’s fun and cute and I can see this being perfect for kids, families, and anyone who wants a cute drawing book.

A Stitch in Time (A Stitch in Time #1) by Kelley Armstrong

 

A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong

My Rating: ★★★

Bronwyn has a long history with Thorne Manor. She’s spent decades believing her closest friend and love of her life is a figment of her imagination because she was traveling to him through a stitch in time. Between the boy she loved, the ghost that scared her, and the tragic death of her uncle all being connected to Thorne Manor, she hasn’t been there in decades. Now that Bronwyn has inherited the property, she’s finding herself returning for the first time since she fled from a scary ghost. It turns out that William and the stitch in time are very real because she’s just woken up in his room. Now she gets a third chance at love with an old flame while discovering why the only ghosts she sees are all connected to William.

I really wanted to love this book, but it seemed like it was somehow doing too much and not enough at the same time. It doesn’t help that Bronwyn was kind of irritating to follow. It also didn’t get interesting until a smidge after the halfway point, which is odd because a time slip alone should’ve been quite interesting. However, it does have an interesting plot and some excellent characters. I also really liked the romance and thought it was cute and sweet.

While I didn’t care for Bronwyn, there were some characters I really liked. William is a sweet character, and I wish we were able to read the story from his perspective as well. It also would’ve helped a lot with developing the mystery. Freya was very sweet, caring, and funny. I loved her presence and how she became such a fast friend and confidant to Bronwyn. August was a delight and I wish we got to see him more than we did. I think August my be my favorite character, actually.

The mystery itself was very interesting, but not much happened with it for some time. It was more of a paranormal occurrence than mystery until later. I wish that more happened with the mystery in the past than in the present. Every time it progressed, it felt very sudden and didn’t always line up with the past.. I do think it was a cool concept and really like how it ultimately played out, though. That was probably the best part of the book and I was really hanging on every letter when things started really rolling on the mystery front.

I also think that the romance was very soft and sweet. Bronwyn and William have that genuine high school sweethearts kind of romance that feels very real in so many ways. They have excellent chemistry and I like how they always tried to really communicate and see where the other was coming from and how they felt. It’s not a romance that’s on fire and oozing with their romantic chemistry. It’s very soft and cute and makes you naturally want to root for them.

While I liked the story, I didn’t care for Bronwyn and the first half of the book moved way too slow for me. I think the mystery was the best part about the book, but that things didn’t always line up because of the time travel and lack of little clues that should’ve popped up here and there during the first half. I also think the romance was very soft, sweet, and cute and found the supporting characters very likable. I also think the story wraps up pretty well while leaving things open enough to let readers see how Bronwyn and William’s future unfolds. It feels like a stand alone book to me, and I’d be much more interested in the next book in the series if each book covered a different couple experiencing a stitch in time.

The Hills of Estrella Roja by Ashley Robin Franklin

 

The Hills of Estrella Roja by Ashley Robin Franklin

My Rating: ★★★★★

Kat loves all things paranormal. In fact, she loves it so much that she hosts a podcast about all things paranormal with her best friend. When Kat gets a chance to investigate a paranormal sighting, she’s not about to blow her chance of experiencing a story first hand. It’s why she’s skipping out on spring break with her best friend and heading to Estrella Roja. It’s there that she meets Mari, who is in town for the first time since she was a kid, and it’s not to investigate the devil lights. Mari’s abuela has passed away, and her family is stand-offish and outright judgmental. It doesn’t help that there seems to be a family secret no one wants to let her in on, but why is it somehow connected to what Kat is uncovering?

I absolutely loved reading this! We follow Kat and Mari through their rotating perspectives as they both travel to Estrella Roja for very different reasons. Kat is following up on an anonymous tip, and Mari is back in town with her mom and sister after her abuela died. It’s interesting to see how their experiences in town differ while being similar. They’re both viewed as outsiders, and Mari is dealing with the silent anger about a big family secret. It’s also fun to see how they both team up and explore where the devil lights even though Mari doesn’t believe in anything supernatural.

One of the things I love about this story is how layered Mari’s family dynamics are. It’s clear there’s something going on that she and her little sister have been left out of. It’s also very clear that some of her family resents them for moving away even though the choice was never theirs. It was so interesting to see how secrets and family resentment are viewed by Mari and her sister. We see the body language of their family, the little meetings, barely minced words here and there. There’s a lot of visual storytelling through the artwork and I love that.

It’s also fun to see Kat go out on a limb and take off to a small town on her own. Even she notices it’s like she’s in a movie where she’s warned not to go to Estrella Roja. Then she’s constantly told she should leave town. Nothing good comes from that in a horror movie, but this isn’t a horror movie and Kat is on a mission. I also loved seeing how her best friend is kept in the story while off on her own spring break trip.

The paranormal plot is excellent and not what I was expecting at all, but I mean that in a good way. There’s some interesting twists and turns along with little hints here and there. The closer we get to the big reveal, we see how everything is so intertwined with Mari’s family. I also love that both Mari and Kat have such realistic responses to having their first paranormal sighting together. It’s absolutely hilarious while being realistic. Neither of them know what to do! All in all, this was an excellent read and I look forward to checking out more work from this author.

A Worthy Opponent (Wicked Villains #3) by Katee Robert

 
A Worthy Opponent by Katee Robert

My Rating: ★★★★

Tink thought she had a good thing going with Hades, which is why she’s blindsided when he doesn’t renew her contract. Once word gets out that she no longer has Hades protection, Peter is going to come looking for her. Fast. Tink has no plans, no friends, and no time. All she has is her clothing business and whatever she’s stuffed into her suitcase. Then Hook makes an offer: marriage and protection along with Peter’s head on a plate. Maybe the enemy of her enemy is her friend after all.

I started this series just to read this book, so I was excited to get started! This time around, we follow Tink and Hook through their rotating perspectives. I love that Tink is confident and strong while also being plus size and one half of a romance novel. I really like that Katee writes different body types in their books and never forgets the plus size characters. I’ve never seen Tink portrayed as a plus size character either, so it was really refreshing the first time we met her in this series. This was also an interesting take on Hook, and I mean that in a positive way!

The romance itself was truly on fire. Tink and Hook have really good chemistry and make sense as a couple. There was a tenderness between them that I haven’t seen in any of the other books I’ve read from Katee, and it came so naturally to these two characters while still making sense to the story itself. I like how they interacted with each other and other key players to their story as well. I think that it’ll make their appearances in future books rather interesting because these two have a good dynamic with everyone.

I think this will likely be my favorite book from this series because there was a natural chemistry between them and the other characters they were involved with. The characters and the story were fleshed out more than the previous books, which I liked a lot. However, we didn’t see much of the villain of the story before the book ended. There was a lot of build up to when we’d finally see Peter only for his plot to end in a few blinks. I do think he was well developed and truly a terrible person, though. It just seemed like things ended way too fast after all that build up.

Tea Leaves by Jacob Budenz

 

Tea Leaves by Jacob Budenz

My Rating: ★★★

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

Here we have a collection of short stories that give us a glimpse into each character’s lives. While they’re impacted by fantasy elements, that’s not the driving point of these stories. They range in length and depth, so there’s something for everyone. Some people may not like all of the short stories, but the great thing about a collection like this is that you don’t have to debate on whether or not you want to commit to a full length book if you’re on the fence about the story. They’re short and sometimes not so sweet, but you don’t have to get invested if you don’t want to because they wrap up quickly.

What I like about this collection is that we get to hop around completely different lives. Funnily enough, my favorite story ended up being the very first one I read, which is the one I would probably read as a full-length book. However, I did enjoy reading through the entire collection and getting a peek into several totally different lives with varying degrees of fantasy elements.

Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol

Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from First Second Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Jane’s parents pass away in a horrible accident, she quickly learns that she’s completely alone. Plus, her cousin is kicking her out of her own house! That’s when Jane decides that she might be able to get her lifelong crush to marry her if he’s dazzled by her hefty dowry. Things seem to be according to plan when a mermaid abducts her almost-fiancé! Now Jane is throwing caution to the wind by following Peter deep into the sea.

I was extremely excited when I saw that Vera Brogol had a new book coming out! I have loved every single thing I’ve read from them. This time around, we follow a freshly orphaned Jane. She is extremely relatable because she’s never felt good enough for anything. It doesn’t help that even her own parents agreed she was fat and ugly! We also follow her life-long crush, Peter. Now Peter has never fit in with his family because he’s far more interested in finery than continuing the family fishing business. The two have very different experiences in life, but we also see that Peter is genuinely nice even if he is superficial.

It was so much fun following Jane and Peter’s stories as they find themselves somewhere deep underwater. I like that we get to see what Jane and Peter have in common despite having very different experiences and views on life. I love that Jane is considered fat an ugly and learns to love herself and not just accept what society thinks she should be allowed. I wish that this was a story around when I was growing up constantly being told how fat and ugly I was. It’s harder to believe in yourself when you never see yourself reflected positively in your books and tv shows. I love that we’re seeing more and more characters somewhere in the same breath as Jane being depicted in books and media. Jane is such a positive character and I love how we see her slowly learn to love and believe in herself as the story continues.

There are a few other excellent characters in the book. We get to know the mermaids, a selkie that Jane befriends, and meet other characters whether or not they’re positive or negative ones. It was so interesting to see how some of the characters come together in unexpected ways. It was also neat to see that we learn so much about a character we briefly meet through the other characters in the book. I truly loved everything about this story down to the beautiful artwork.

Ice Planet Barbarians (Ice Planet Barbarians #1) by Ruby Dixon

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

My Rating: ★★★★

Georgie’s life was going well until she woke up inside of a UFO with little green men irritated that she was screaming in response to their presence. The next thing she knew, she was groggy as hell and huddling with the other women who were abducted. Things couldn’t get any worse, or so she thought, when those little green men had the nerve to dump their human cargo on an ice planet! Armed in ill-fitting borrowed clothes and a weapon she doesn’t know how to use, Georgie is off to see if she can find help. It’s too bad help has arrived in the form of a giant blue man with horns who seems to be infatuated with her…

I started this book because it sounded fun. I can now confirm that it’s absolutely hilarious once you get past the opening, which is pretty gnarly. There aren’t any content warnings in the book, but a rape occurs shortly after the book starts. The book itself is pretty dark until Georgie and company get dumped on an ice planet. From that point forward, the book turns out to be pretty good. At first, we see Georgie struggling with being abducted by aliens and getting dumped on a planet that is very clearly not Earth. Then we discover how funny she and Vektal are as she figures out this planet and how to save herself and the other people she was dumped with.

One of the reasons I think this book works so well is because it’s very humorous. Romance isn’t the main plot, and we actually learn a lot about this ice planet as well as Vektal’s people through Georgie. It’ll be interesting to see where the story goes since it appears that each person who survives along with Georgie will get their own books. I can see the series becoming more of a true romance as time goes on, but for now, it’s really funny and interesting. I had a great time reading it once Georgie and Vektal started traveling together.

Saving Sunshine by Saadia Faruqi, Shazleen Khan

 
Saving Sunshine by Saadia Faruqi, Shazleen Khan
My Rating: ★★★★★

Zara and Zeeshan are twins who never get along. All they do is fight and poke fun at each other. Things come to a head when they go on a trip to Florida. What is supposed to be a trip to celebrate their mom and the ceremony she’s being awarded at quickly goes south when their bickering finally becomes too much. The punishment? No phones! Now they’re forced to be in each other’s company without a buffer. Everything changes when they find a sick turtle, Sunshine, which gets them to slowly put aside their differences.

This is such an amazing book following twins, Zara and Zeeshan, who are similar yet very different. Because of this, all they do is butt heads left and right! However, they don’t realize they’re much more alike than they could ever see. They’re both very passionate about their interests and very caring people, so it was great to see them slowly bond throughout the book. Saadia captures their sibling dynamic extremely well. It was very realistic!

The book also captures the struggles of the siblings as well as their family very well, but also light enough for the young readers this is aimed at. We see how they face prejudice and racism as well as how even Zara’s friends treated her differently when she started wearing a hijab. The book keeps it light enough for young readers, but older readers can easily pick up how much depth there is to the prejudice and racism they face.

All in all, this is a wonderful book. I loved seeing how passionate Zara was about animals and Zeeshan is about space, so it was wonderful seeing them bond with each other about their differences and similarities. It also deals with prejudice and racism in a way that’s easy for young readers to digest and also feel seen and noticed if they have already experienced it themselves. The artwork is beautiful and helps give even more depth to the story. I highly recommend this book!

Unfamiliar, Vol. 2 by Haley Newsome

 
Unfamiliar, Vol. 2 by Haley Newsome

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Andrews McMeel Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

While Planchette and her friends are on a mission to help a ghost bride complete her unfinished business and move on, they make some interesting discoveries. The curse on Sun has finally been broken, but now Babs can’t eat a single thing because food goes bad the second she touches it. Now they have a new curse to get to the bottom of, but the nature of this curse is highly suspicious. Meanwhile, a longtime mystery is about to come to a head and it’s somehow connected with Planchette and friends in the most unexpected way. Poor Planchette and her friends just wanted to help a ghost bride move on and help Sun get rid of her curse, but it seems that things are multiplying in the strangest ways!

I absolutely loved the first volume of this series, so I was extremely excited to start volume two and see where the story takes us next. This time around, we follow Planchette and her friends as they work to help a ghost bride finally finish the unsettled business that left her haunting the living world. However, that’s not their only adventure because there’s new developments on the curse front and they have to figure out how to deal with the Faerie King. Not only that, there’s also finally a break in a long-standing murder mystery and they’re all about to get sucked in. We really pick up exactly where we left off in volume one, so we hit the ground running. Hard!

Like the first volume, this was an absolute delight to read. I love how rich and layered each of the characters are. I also love how the darker storylines are balanced well with lighter storylines so that the overall tone isn’t too dark or sad. This time around, we spend more time with Sun and Babs, learning more about Sun’s home life and how difficult her family is. I really feel for Sun and how even her own mother treats her! I also love how the ghost bride’s plot is resolved while still furthering the plot.

All in all, this is such a fun and quick read. The artwork is stunning and really aids in how the story is told. I was a bit surprised by the big twist and I love how the artwork really aided in driving that twist home. I’m excited to see how the story continues from here, so I’ll be back again when the third volume eventually drops.

What Monstrous Gods by Rosamund Hodge

 
What Monstrous Gods by Rosamund Hodge

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Balzer + Bray through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lia has spent much of her life being trained to kill the heretic sorcerer who has forced the royal family into a time-freezing slumber. When she completes her task, she expects the royal family to awaken the gods and end the Red Death. What she doesn’t expect is to be forced to make a pact with a god and marry the prince or be killed by the queen. Lia certainly doesn’t expect her entire life to be turned upside down at every turn. The only person she can trust is the ghost of Ruven, the man she murdered, who she has accidentally bound to herself.

I’m a huge fan of fairytale retellings, so I was all over this the second I saw it. This time around, we’ve got a compelling Sleeping Beauty retelling. We follow Lia, a woman chosen by the gods who was born into a world that mostly doesn’t believe in them. However, Lia was raised in a convent and knows all about how and why so many people became heretics: Ruven. I thought it was an interesting twist that sleeping beauty is the royal court rather than a single person, and that the innocent people forced into a 500 year slumber are not so innocent after all.

This was truly a fascinating take on Sleeping Beauty. I really enjoyed the characters, especially Ruven. I wish we got to learn more about Ruven and his life, but it is what it is and I’m happy with what we got. Lia is a great character, but she was constantly going back and forth about her decisions and not seeing what was very obviously sitting in her face. I had to keep reminding myself that she’s an extremely sheltered character who grew up in a convent, and that she is not prepared for anything she’s facing. In fact, I’m surprised she held up as well as she did given how much she faced, with the main thing being everything she’s believed turning straight on its head.

That said, I do wish we got to see more of the royal family and see exactly what they’re made of. We barely touch the surface with them and it would’ve been nice if they were a little more fleshed out. I also wish we learned more about the gods and their world, but I’m also happy with what we did learn because they are still meant to be mysterious to everyone, including readers. I do think that the entire mythology behind the gods was really interesting, though.

All in all, this is an excellent read. I love how different this story is compared to the source material to the point that I actually forgot it’s a fairytale retelling at some point. I’m excited to check out the author’s other books because the characters and the world they live in are extremely interesting.

Learn My Lesson (Wicked Villains #2) by Katee Robert

 
Learn My Lesson by Katee Robert

My Rating: ★★

With Hades and Meg’s relationship cracking, Meg is suspicious when she’s ordered to seduce a handsome waiter while he watches. It turns out that she’s right to be suspicious because it’s all part of a plan that Hades never shared with her. As the queen of the underworld, Meg feels the cracks deepening. When she learns that Hades made a deal with the starry eyed Hercules and plans to personally train him, Meg worries that she’s about to be replaced. What she never expected was for a throuple to slowly form…

It turns out I was wrong and that Hook’s book is actually the third book, but that’s okay! Meg, Hades, and Hercules are sure to have an interesting dynamic, right? Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Meg and Hercules have a lot of chemistry, but Hades has chemistry with absolutely no one. It was truly wild to see, but I did learn that he’s actually the father of the Hades we got to know in the Neon Gods series. At least things finally make sense on that front because I was trying to figure how Hades goes from Meg to single and ready to mingle just in time for Persephone to enter the picture later.

Meg and Hercules are interesting characters in this series, but they kept getting stunted by Hades. I don’t know how it happened, but Hades was absolutely boring all book long. He was so much better when he was popping up in the previous book. Unfortunately, following his perspective was yawn worthy because he was so boring and very much a one note character. It was either work or sex with him, but his work was not that serious. It was rather confusing because he seemed to be flying by the seat of his pants and not thinking that hard for someone with his finger in every pie.

It was great to see some other supporting characters turn up, though. We got to see a lot more of Tink, which I was excited about. We also got to meet more characters who will get their own books later on. It was interesting to learn a little more about how the club worked behind the scenes from Meg and Tink. It also was working to set up the story for the next book, so we got to hear a little about Peter Pan and Wendy as well as what their characters are like in this series.

Unfortunately, this book was an overall miss for me. Meg, Hercules, and Hades spend much of their time together and it was mostly sex with very little substance. I liked the idea of Hades trying to work on his relationship with Meg, but he was trying to solve things with more sex rather than listening to what their actual problems were so they could work on that. Meg was the only one who experienced character growth while Hades and Hercules were mostly the same. Perhaps I was expecting too much, but again, I am spoiled by the Neon Gods series and this series does take place in the same universe.

Desperate Measures (Wicked Villains #1) by Katee Robert

 
Desperate Measures by Katee Robert

My Rating: ★★★

When Jafar finally makes a power move, it’s Jasmine who is left spinning in the middle. She doesn’t have an ounce of power and is simply a symbol of who owns her father’s territory. All Jasmine has ever wanted is her freedom, and she gambled that away when she accepted Jafar’s offer… and lost. Now she’s trapped in a new situation while looking for a way out. The only problem? Every day she spends with Jafar is another day she falls deeper and deeper in love with him. Now she’s left deciding what is more important: her freedom or her heart.

I have been loving Katee’s writing, so when I saw she has a book following Captain Hook, I knew I had to start the series it came from. Since this is a spin-off series of sorts, I knew I needed to start the series in order. That had me reading about Jasmine and Jafar’s unlikely romance. The twist in the coupling caught my eye, so I was excited to start this! Unfortunately for me, this one is mostly a miss for me.

It was exciting to follow Jasmine and Jafar in this world that is very different from the different versions I’ve seen of the source material. Jasmine is an independent and strong character who knows what she wants while never being allowed to control anything in her life. She’s been extremely sheltered by her father, who has never allowed her to leave home. The only thing about this is that the details about her life seemed pretty conflicting to me. On one hand, her dad has controlled everything part of life and she’s never had access to anything he didn’t allow. On the other hand, she was somehow sneaking romance novels and adult toys past her dad and his men who were all keeping a close eye on her. It just didn’t make sense to me how so much of this even worked without her ever getting caught.

Then we have Jafar. He’s calm, collected, and extremely dangerous. I feel like we were being told a lot about how dangerous he was without really actually seeing that side of him. I do think he made for an interesting character, but there was just a lack of character building with him for me. Even now, I couldn’t tell you much about his character in this world other than he’s smart, calculated about his appearance, and very much in love with Jasmine. Most of what we learn about him is how he views and feels about Jasmine while we never learned much about his past and what makes him tick outside of love.

However, there’s an excellent cast of characters all turning up as background characters. I’m most excited about learning more about Meg and Tink, who will clearly have their own books in the future. It was also interesting to see Hades outside of the Dark Olympus series. I haven’t read the short story that ties Hades and Persephone into this series. Though, it appears that this book happens before Hades and Persephone meet, so it was interesting to see how different Hades was while he was on his own! We also got a glimpse at Captain Hook, who is the character that had me reading this book. 

That said, maybe I expected too much plot for a romance book, but what can I say? I’m very spoiled by the Dark Olympus series! It’s not a bad book by any means. It’s pretty well written and will be just what a lot of people are looking for. The romance itself is pretty good, but I kept being taken straight out of the book by Jasmine and Jafar’s kinks. Calling someone “daddy” and such is not my thing at all, so there’s really only one spicy scene that was fire. If you read the book, you’ll know which one it is when you get there since mentioning which characters it’s between would be a spoiler!

All in all, this isn’t a bad book. The romance scenes kept taking me out of the story because the whole “daddy” kink is not my thing. Jasmine’s dynamic with her father and his control over her was not adding up to me, and Jafar wasn’t as developed as I would’ve liked him to be. However, it’s well written and there’s a scene that continues to support the need for a future full-length lesbian novel in one of Katee’s series. It’s entirely possible that there’s already one and I just don’t know about it yet! In the end, this book made me more excited about the Captain Hook novel all while not being pulled into this one.

The Unofficial Disney Parks Restaurants Cookbook by Ashley Craft

 
The Unofficial Disney Parks Restaurants Cookbook by Ashley Craft

My Rating: ★★★★★

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

In this excellent book, we are taken on a delicious journey through a number of Disney’s restaurants. All readers are in for a treat whether or not they’ve ever made it to a Disney park, or if they’re hoping for their favorite Disney park dish to appear. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to any of the Disney parks, but I look forward to reading these books because they bring some of that Disney magic to the table. Literally.

This book brings a little information about various locations in the parks and their inspiration. There’s also a section covering some cooking essentials and their substitutes. I don’t know about you, but I won’t be getting a bacon press, but the spatula they suggest is an excellent substitute! Of course, we can’t forget the food and drinks. The recipes are divided by type: breakfast, lunch, appetizers and snacks, main dishes, desserts, and drinks. You can also find which Disney park and restaurant each recipe hails from before you get to the recipe.

Like in Ashley’s previous books, the recipes are simple and easy to follow. The pictures that accompany many of the recipes also look absolutely delicious. I’m excited to make some of these recipes soon as I’m bored of what I’ve been eating and am excited to switch things up again.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human (Mead Mishaps #3) by Kimberly Lemming

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human by Kimberly Lemming
My Rating: ★★★★★

Five years after her family thought she died, Cherry is preparing her grand escape from her current situation. Not only is Cherry very much alive, but she’s also trapped in a secluded area with a sleeping dragon and frogs that she can’t communicate with. It’s driving her nuts. Not that she hasn’t tried to escape before. It’s just that every one of her escape plans have been foiled! Things are about to change when another dragon shows up to make the old sleeping dragon get up before he wastes away. Cherry doesn’t know who this Dante person is, but what she does know is that he’s the ticket to her escape. It’s a shame she doesn’t realize that drugging a dragon and accidentally marrying him is about to take her on a bizarre adventure when she just wants to go home. At least she’s finally escaped, though. Right?

I love this series, so when I saw the latest book was out, I knew I had to read it ASAP. This time around, we follow the Cherry. It turns out she’s alive and well, as long as you don’t count the part where she’s been trapped with a sleeping dragon for the last five years. We also follow Dante, who stumbles upon Cherry while he’s out traveling to see how much has changed now that demons are free. He’s also looking for his soulmate, so he’s more than happy that he’s found them at his first stop. It’s a shame she’s drugged him and now he’s holding a conversation with a talking banana.

Like the previous books, this book had me laughing all the way through. I loved getting to learn all about Cherry and seeing her adventures from the moment she started thinking about all her foiled escape plans. She is absolutely hilarious. So many of the lines that had me crying from laughter came from her. It was also exciting to see that she was alive and well and I couldn’t wait to see her reunited with Cinnamon! I’m really excited to continue to see her continue to pop up in future books now that she’s back from the dead.

I enjoyed seeing some old favorites, especially my favorite character that I won’t name so that it’ll be a surprise when they turn up! It was also exciting to get to learn more about Dante. I knew he would be the next character we’d see find their soulmate, but I wasn’t expecting it to be as fire as it was. He and Cherry were sizzling! Their adventures and hilarious shenanigans kept bringing them closer while having me laughing out loud along the way. It was also really neat to learn more about dragons in this world as well as other mythological beings as Cherry discovered they were real.

All in all, this was a hilariously wonderful read and I’m looking forward to seeing how it will continue from here.

Moufflet by Kelly Jaggers

 
Moufflet by Kelly Jaggers

My Rating: ★★★★

If you’re looking to up your baking game, this book with 100+ muffin recipes may be up your alley! Inside, you’ll find a variety of muffin recipes ranging from the sweet and tasty muffins we all know and love to savory delights. In fact, you can even find tasty muffins that count as a meal and interesting sounding spicy muffins. There’s quite the variety of recipes, so you’re sure to find a recipe that’s going to change up your baking game!

While many of the recipes sound delicious, the book is lacking in pictures. I think that’s okay for me because reading the recipes is enough to make me decide which ones I want to try, but I know many people prefer to have pictures accompany most of the recipes in any cookbook. There’s also some recipes that will be hard to substitute ingredients for a similar flavor. If you’re allergic to oats like I am, you may want to skip the section that has several delicious sounding recipes where oats are a major flavor component. I wasn’t always allergic to oats and I have yet to find something that successfully substitutes that flavor.

That said, many of the recipes sound absolutely delicious. I’m particularly excited about the savory and muffins that can count as a meal. Plus, many of the muffin spreads sound truly wonderful and I can’t wait to try them.

Sweet Drawing by Olga Ortiz

 
Sweet Drawing by Olga Ortiz

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a good starting place for learning to draw, this may be the book for you! Inside, you will find 100+ simple and absolutely adorable things to draw. Whether you’re new to drawing or looking to enhance your drawings and doodles, this is an excellent book. It’s also simple enough for younger artists to work with!

One of the things I like about this book is that it’s very encouraging whether you’re not the best at drawing or have some skills under your belt. The pressure one puts on oneself is real, and this book lifts some of that pressure! I also love the materials and techniques section. I never thought about doing sketches with colored pencils before, so I’m going to have to try that!

The sketching tips and tutorials are absolutely wonderful. I remember drawing classes in college and how drawing tips, tricks, and new techniques were often a secret like a good hand of cards being held very close to one’s chest during a poker game. You won’t find that attitude here, and the tutorials are very well laid out and easy to understand. It’s why I think it’ll be great for older elementary school kids who are into drawing. It’s simple enough that it won’t overwhelm them, but there are excellent tips that can help kids learn new techniques and continue to form their artistic styles. It’s also excellent for adults because who doesn’t like to learn new things about drawing, no matter the age? Sometimes we just want to learn something new and this is a great book for that.

Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Normal Fairy-Tale Life by Emma Steinkellner

 
Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Normal Fairy-Tale Life by Emma Steinkellner

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Random House Children's, Labyrinth Road through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Growing up in Gumbling is not the fairytale it may appear to be to outsiders. However, Nell Starkeeper and her friends love their home and can’t imagine ever leaving. Everything is about to change now that some strangers claiming to be directly related to the last king of Gumbling have arrived. They want to put everyone out of business, evict many people who call Gumbling home, and turn it into a big fancy resort and theme park. Nell and her friends must put their heads together and find a way to save Gumbling or watch everything they’ve ever known be destroyed by two money hungry strangers.

I’m a big fan of Emma Steinkellner work, so I was extremely excited when I learned they had a new book coming out. We follow Nell, a 12-year-old artist, right as she’s about to start her seventh grade apprenticeship. What began as excitement turns to absolute disappointment when she’s matched with Mrs. Birdneck down in the dungeons working on the town archives instead of her idol, Wiz Bravo, a well-known artist. At least she has her best friend, Myra… until they reach their first big friendship hurdle!

This book is absolutely wonderful. I love that it teaches its target readers anything from figuring out friendship woes to dealing with people and classes they don’t like or don’t care about. Nell is bored by the archives and dislikes Mrs. Birdneck as much as Mrs. Birdneck dislikes her, but learns to accept her fate. She even learns how to connect with both Mrs. Birdneck and the archives she thought she hated! I really like that we also learned some of Mrs. Birdneck’s backstory, which really puts things into perspective for Nell and readers.

Speaking of friendships, Nell’s group of friends are such cool characters. Myra and Gil are her core friends, but she experiences her first big friendship hiccup with Myra when they find themselves at odds with each other. I love that we’re shown the two of them dealing with their problems in a healthy manner as well as seeing how friendships don’t always require one to be connected at the hip. We also see Nell make friends with characters she previously disliked or was jealous of, and we learn there’s more to meet the eye, which is another important lesson for readers.

Gumbling is such a vibrant world and the artwork really brings it to life. The story is presented as Mell’s journal that combines her art with her journal entries. It’s such a fun way to bring the story to life, but it’s also fast paced enough to keep its target audience (middle graders) entertained. I think this is an absolutely wonderful story and I look forward to seeing what Steinkellner publishes next.

Kawaii Drawing by Becky Castaneda

 
Kawaii Drawing by Becky Castaneda

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you like to draw and love kawaii art, then this may be the book for you! Inside, you will find 100+ drawing tutorials covering a range of super cute types of drawings. Whether you’re looking to up your game on drawing cats and mermaids or some new tips on making your drawings a little more complex, this is the right book to go with.

One of the things I like about this book is that there are some excellent tips on figuring out what materials you want to buy if you’re new to drawing. I’m a big fan of checking out video reviews on different types of markers I want to check out, and the author has some great tips on saving yourself some money. Between checking out reviews and making sure you’re looking at the right types of materials for the medium you plan on starting with or expanding on, there are some excellent tips here!

As for the drawing tutorials, they are really cute and fun. I really like their tips on simple ways of adding movement to your drawings. Plus, their tips on creating the illusion of depth are wonderful! I took a few drawing classes in college and I really like how they present depth in a simple and non-overwhelming way. They weren’t joking about how depth can be a struggle for artists at any experience level, so I like how they simplified it and encouraged readers to experiment with it. It can be a little stressful when figuring it out, but when you look at it as an experiment to see how you want to make it happen and how you like to create depth, it takes a lot of the stress off one’s shoulders!

All in all, this is an excellent and fun drawing book that I think will be great for people of all ages, but maybe not kids younger than third grade level because of some of the more complex tutorials.

¡¡Manu!! by Kelly Fernandez

¡¡Manu!! by Kelly Fernandez

My Rating: ★★★★★

Manu has grown up at a magical school for girls that is run by nuns and is excited to see all her classmates return every school year. She’s most excited to see her best friend, Josefina, return. However, Manu has always gotten into a lot of trouble. According to rumors, she’s a demon! When Manu’s latest prank goes over extremely badly, Josefina accidentally curses her to lose her magic! Now Manu is serious about tempting fate by performing a dangerous spell so she’ll stop having to use a smelly potion to keep her magic flowing. Unfortunately, it turns out that dangerous magic is dangerous for a reason, and Manu is struggling with the consequences!

This graphic novel following Manu and Josefina is absolutely adorable. While Manu is always causing trouble because she’d rather have fun than follow the rules, Josefina is always quick to forgive her best friend. However, Manu is about to go on a steep learning curve when her best friend accidentally curses her! I absolutely loved this story from start to finish and enjoyed how the author worked to bring parts of their culture and the stories they grew up with into the story and artwork.

One of the things I loved about this book is that we see the power of friendship as its own form of magic. No matter what they go through, Manu and Josefina are best friends and are willing to fight to save each other. We also see how Manu has always been treated differently by her peers as well as by the Sisters, so I really felt for her when she finally learns about her past. I also love that one of the lessons for young readers is to not judge a book by its cover, so to speak, and to come to your own conclusions rather than letting other people’s opinions become your opinion.

All in all, this is an absolutely wonderful book with beautiful artwork that really enhances the storytelling. I’m looking forward to seeing what the author comes out with in the future!

Every Gift a Curse (All Our Hidden Gifts #3) by Caroline O'Donoghue

Every Gift a Curse by Caroline O'Donoghue

My Rating: ★★★★

Now that Maeve and her friends sealed the well to protect it and the magic it holds from the Children of Brigid, they’re dealing with the aftermath. Two people died in the process and it looks extremely suspicious that Maeve just happened to inherit the school and the land it sits on. Maeve is feeling more lonely than ever, especially now that even her parents are afraid of her. As Maeve and her friends wait for the Housekeeper to appear again, they watch the cracks in their relationships get bigger just when they need each other the most.

While I’m sad that the series is now over, I am happy to see it come to an end while it’s still on top. That said, I tried to read it as slowly as possible because I wasn’t ready to end. The only problem is that it was so good that I also didn’t want to put the book down, so reading it slowly was truly a struggle.

One of the things I love so much about this book is that it’s ultimately a story about friendship. We watch Maeve and her friends go through so many different experiences and see them grappling with new traumas. Through it all, they always have each other even when they are fighting, experiencing jealousy, and sometimes not even speaking. We watch them fracture and come back together stronger than before. Then you throw some paranormal elements in and a cult, and you’ve got an excellent book with every single thing these characters go through sitting straight under a magnifying glass.

Without spoiling anything, there were things I saw coming and a few wild twists. I particularly love how Maeve and her friends come back together all the way throughout the end. I was expecting the ending, but I was also expecting a little more before the final chapter ended. However, I’m very satisfied with the ending. If anything, it’s probably the best way things could’ve gone! Though, I do have a few questions, but they’re all things left for us to come to our own conclusions on and I really like that.

I was also really excited to see how the Housekeeper began and how everything made sense going all the way back to the first book. There are a few things that weren’t quite wrapped up that are leftover from the second book, but I think I’m okay with those few things and how they impacted one or two of the characters seem to have been forgotten between the ending of one book and the beginning of another. I think I can forgive those few loose ends because, overall, the entire series is excellent and there’s very few things that stick out as odd. I’m excited to see what O'Donoghue comes up with in the future because this entire series is truly top tier.

The Baker and the Bard: A Cozy Fantasy Adventure by Fern Haught

 
The Baker and the Bard: A Cozy Fantasy Adventure by Fern Haught

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Juniper and Hadley have been living their best lives in Larkspur. Juniper is a baking apprentice who dreams of running their own bakery one day and is extremely close friends with Hadley, their local bard. Hadley hopes to stumble onto an adventure one day because they dream of being one of the best bards there is, and they think they need a little adventure to make that happen! What the duo don’t know is that they’re about to embark on their very first adventure together, and it all begins when someone makes a peculiar order at the bakery.

This book is absolutely cute and heartwarming from the very first page. Between the stunning artwork and the lovely and easy going story, there really isn’t anything to not love! We follow Juniper and Hadley shortly before their very first adventure. Along the way, we see them learn more about each other and themselves as well as surrounding towns and even the fey. There is some solid LGBTQ+ representation here beginning with Juniper and Hadley themselves, so if you hope to imagine yourself fitting in the story, it’ll be easy to fit yourself in as you read.

While one of the plots is left open, it doesn’t stick out as anything strange. I’m going to choose to believe that adventure and new friendships added to Hadley’s skill as a bard because for all I know, it did add to their bard life. That said, I love how soft and sweet this entire story is. It’s the first publication from Fern Haught and I’m now looking forward to their future publications. I think their future books will be excellent because this one gave a complete, soft, and sweet story filled with adventure and magic. Reading this was like a hug in the form in a book and I think we all need a little more of that!

The Ultimate Cooking for One Cookbook: 175 Super Easy Recipes Made Just for You by Joanie Zisk

 
The Ultimate Cooking for One Cookbook: 175 Super Easy Recipes Made Just for You by Joanie Zisk
My Rating: ★★★★

I read a different cooking for one book not long ago and decided to check out the other books out there. In this book, you will find 175 simple recipes that are perfect for when you’re only cooking for one person. It’s extremely easy to adjust most of the recipes for allergies. However, if you’re allergic to oats like I am, you’ll have to skip the overnight oats recipes all together.

The book is organized by the type of dish one will be cooking, such as breakfast, side dishes, chicken or seafood, vegetarian, or dessert. There are quite a few delicious sounding recipes under each section. However, the book is lacking in photos of the dishes, so if you’re someone who wants to see pictures before each dish, keep that in mind when considering picking up this book.

Overall, the dishes look and sound delicious. One of the things I like about this book is that there’s an occasional tip offered at the end of each recipe that can help you improve your cooking technique, avoid waste, etc. There are also tips on how to avoid food waste in the opening in the book, and the author encourages making the weekends the days one tries to use up any leftover veggies and such from the week. I’m looking forward to making some of the dishes found in the book as well as checking out more cooking for one books in the future.

Cruel Seduction (Dark Olympus #5) by Katee Robert

 
Cruel Seduction by Katee Robert
My Rating: ★★★

Aphrodite is devoted to keeping Olympus safe no matter what the cost. When a new Hephaestus comes into the picture at the cost of her cousin’s life, she willingly throws her long-time relationship with Adonis out the window. Marrying for love was never on the horizon, but marrying the enemy by choice turns out to be harder than Aphrodite imagined it would be. As she clashes with her new husband, it turns out he’s not as bad as she thought. In fact… she might be developing feelings. Is she destined for a broken heart, or is this unusual arrangement destined to be?

I was extremely excited to finally start this book. A messy marriage between Aphrodite and Hephaestus after the events of the last book? Sign me up! Unfortunately, I didn’t think it was messy at all. If anything, it was a pretty good fictional interpretation of four people accidentally stumbling into a poly relationship with one other. Sure, it could’ve been intentional as well as happening in better circumstances, but it turned out to be a healthy relationship between the four from the start. Plus, the political plots were what I expected after the last book. Either I have high expectations for mess and don’t realize it or it wasn’t messy at all.

Either way, it was a pretty good book. We follow Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Adonis, and Pandora through their rotating perspectives. I actually favored Adonis and Pandora’s chapters over Hephaestus and Aphrodite, but their chapters weren’t bad. It just really bugged me that they constantly referred to each other as “husband” and “wife” majority of the time rather than using names or leaving a name out all together. It was getting real old after a while and I wished they would at least give each other nicknames or something instead of being like, “Over there, husband.” Otherwise, I favored Adonis and Pandora because they’re the softer and more level headed characters. Aphrodite and Hephaestus are pretty stubborn and bold characters who are pretty much in your face all the time, which is always fun to read, but it just made it easy to have a preference with the four perspectives.

That said, this turned out to not be among my favorite books. I just think that the books following more than two characters on the regular just aren’t that strong enough compared to the others. I do like that there was a lot of improvement since the throuple and that each of the four characters have a really distinct voice. The poly relationship is one of my favorite aspects of the book and I hope to see more poly relationships appear in Katee’s books. I just kept getting taken out of the story every Aphrodite and Hephaestus called the other husband or wife. I also was expecting the book to be pretty messy and didn’t think it was at all. Otherwise, it’s a pretty good book and I’m really interested in seeing where the series goes from here.

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

My Rating: ★

I received a copy from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine - Del Rey through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It’s been 30 years since the fun and creative kid’s show, Mister Magic, ended. Not a single episode has survived, and no one knows who ran the show, but everyone remembers the final cast known as the Circle of Friends. Now that the cast is reuniting for a special podcast, long-time fans are excited. Everyone but the Circle of Friends, a group of jaded adults who have been living with the horrors that their time on the show has left them with. Who exactly was Mister Magic, and why are they terrified of saying his name?

We follow Val, a woman with no memory about her life before she started living with her dad on Gloria’s property. She’s extremely sheltered and has spent her life living by her dad’s obscure rules meant to keep her safe. The only problem is that Val is convinced that he’s really keeping the world safe from her, but she can’t remember why. It’s just a feeling she has. After her dad dies, it turns out that her dad hid a lot from her and she’s now furious because they could’ve been living an entirely different life.

Of course, this meant that Val tries to avoid a Mister Magic reunion while also trying to get as much information about her past as she can. We get to meet the rest of the surviving cast members, only we never truly get to know any of them. Their roles in life are the same as their basic purpose on the show. Every time we get a glimpse of who they are beneath the surface, Val jumps back because they are suspicious in some way. However, she knows they were all close friends and that she can trust them. It’s just a feeling.

Honestly, I wasn’t feeling this book. There’s a lack of depth and character growth for the characters, which hinders the story as we get deeper into the story. It was also presented as a mystery, horror, and thriller novel. The mystery was there for sure, but I personally wouldn’t call this a horror or thriller. If anything, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop only for it to never happen. Sure, there were some light horror elements, but not enough to make the story fall under horror for me. Plus, there was a weird almost romance that was just beyond out of place and lacked chemistry of any kind. It was strange and felt predatory, though I’m still on the fence about whether or not this relationship was meant to be taken that way.

It also seemed like there was a huge piece of missing information all book long. I kept feeling like I was missing something while knowing that whatever that may be wasn’t actually shared at any point in time. When I got to the author’s note at the end of the book, I finally knew what that piece of missing information was. It turns out that this was a fictional representation of the author’s childhood religious trauma and lifelong healing journey. The book makes so much more sense once one knows this, which is why I wish there was an introduction that talked about this.

I wish I liked this book more; I really do. However, it was just confusing at times, lacked character depth, and even what little character growth that occurred was framed very strangely. I’m still not entirely sure what this book was trying to be, but it’s ultimately a fantasy mystery that was very disjointed at times. If you plan on reading this book, I highly recommend reading the author’s note at the end before starting so that you don’t also feel like a big chunk of information that’s integral to the story accidentally got left out as you read.

Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa

 
Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa
My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a huge fan of fairytale retellings, and last year, I learned that there are retellings of various classic novels. So here we are with an LGBT remix of Pride & Prejudice. I’m a fan of the original book, so of course I was all over this retelling the second I saw it. We follow Oliver Bennet, a transgender man living in London. It’s 1812, and he’s forced to pretend to be a woman among the majority of his family as well as the world during family outings in society. Oliver savors every second he is able to live as his true self rather than being forced into corsets and dresses and go by a name that was never his.

One of the things that I love about this book is that there is so much depth to the characters. While I’m a fan of the original story, I always preferred its movie adaptations because I always felt that the book was lacking in a few ways. However, this retelling gave me what I always felt was missing and then so much more. Oliver and Darcy are the two characters that we know the best throughout the story. I truly felt for Oliver at every turn, especially as we watched him struggle with the prejudices against him and anyone in the LGBT+ community. One of the most heartbreaking things was to watch him deal with the fact that he may lose some of the family members he cared so much about once they learned he is a trans man.

Generally, Darcy is a very closed off character, so it was nice to see him given so much depth. I could really see how and why Oliver falls in love with him. I could also see and understand why Darcy appears to be extremely closed off and stand offish to most people. It was extremely  exciting to read Gabe’s take on Darcy as well as his budding friendship and romance with Oliver.

While it would’ve been nice to see more time devoted to getting to know more supporting characters, I am satisfied with the other supporting characters. Jane is extremely supportive of Oliver and every bit the kind and caring character she’s always been. There are a few other characters who accept Oliver from the second he trusts them to see and know his true self, but I don’t want to say who they are because that’d be a smidge spoilery. That said, I absolutely loved Gabe’s take on these characters even though we didn’t get to see much of some of them beyond the surface.

The overall story is absolutely excellent. I breezed through the book because I didn’t want to put it down. A few of the characters are not harmless like they are in the original book, and it was interesting to see what happened with them as their plots came to an end. I will say that one of those characters does impact one of Oliver’s friendships, so it was kind of strange to see that loose end left completely in the air even through the epilogue. I think that’s the only complaint I really have because it’s a pretty major loose end that crops up right at the end of the book and then is left in the air as if that friendship was suddenly long forgotten. Otherwise, this is a truly excellent book and I look forward to checking out the author’s other work.

The Devil Is a Marquess (Rescued from Ruin #4) by Elisa Braden

The Devil Is a Marquess by Elisa Braden

My Rating: ★★★★★

Charlotte Lancaster has gone through five humiliating seasons trying to please her father by landing a husband with a title. The problem? She hasn’t had a single suiter and feels like an outsider as the extremely tall and accident prone American heiress. Just when she thinks she’ll finally be in control of her life, her father appears with news. She is to marry the extremely broke and disgraced Benedict Chatham, who has accepted the terms of their marriage agreement. Chatham is to remain sober as well as devoted for a year, and he will receive her huge dowry. Produce an heir, and that sum will be doubled. Will the seemingly mismatched couple make it through their first year of marriage unscathed, or is love in the cards for the pair?

I think this might be my favorite book in the series because I don’t know if anything will top this! Charlotte and Chatham’s chemistry is fire, but I like that it’s a slow burn for the couple. They go from a disgruntled arrangement to reluctant friends before their romantic chemistry bursts out of the fireplace. One of the things I like about them is that they start off as odds with each other before slowly becoming friends who are married. It’s interesting to see them strike up a deal and learn that there is so much more than meets the eye. The romance slowly sneaks up on the both of them, but it makes complete sense and is truly sizzling.

Like always, we follow the main couple the book focuses on. In this case, it’s Charlotte and Chatham. I knew that Charlotte would be getting her own book the second we met her in the previous novel. I absolutely loved her from the start. She’s such a great character. I love how we learn about how intelligent she is and how she’s braved each season knowing that no one is interested in her. It’s easy to identify with her low self-esteem due to how others treat her over her appearance and other things that are purely on the surface. I’m glad that she finds her happily ever after with someone who not only finds her absolutely beautiful, but also loves and respects everything about her as a person. It’s a far cry from what she’s used to and she deserves that kind of love!

Now, we’ve seen Chatham before and I was wondering when we’d eventually see him settling down in one of the books. It was really interesting to learn his backstory and see him grow as a character. We’ve known him as a scandalous and untrustworthy man, but then we learn that the person he’s been for years was born from Chatham’s need to protect himself. No one can hurt you if they can never get close enough, right? That’s him in a nutshell, but his background turned out to be quite interesting.

Plus, there’s a great cast of supporting characters. We meet some new people, and it’s very clear that some of them will get their own books in due time. I enjoyed getting to know many of them, so I look forward to seeing them again in future books. It’s also fun to continue to see characters from the previous books pop up. It’s one of the things I like about this series. We never say goodbye to the characters and we get to see how they flourish after a book is focused on them. All in all, this was an excellent read and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.

Hide: The Graphic Novel by Kiersten White, Veronica Fish, Andy Fish, Scott Peterson

 
Hide: The Graphic Novel by Kiersten White, Veronica Fish, Andy Fish, Scott Peterson

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Ten Speed Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Most people would jump at the chance to win $50,0000. In fact, some people would do anything in their power, even if it led to someone else’s demise. When 14 people are offered the chance to win big money, they’re each in it for different reasons. People, like Mack, are looking at the money as a chance at a new or better life. Others are hoping it’ll launch their brand into the limelight. Then there are the people running the competition who are willing to kill to get what they want. However they are involved in the competition, they’re each about to be tied to an old and abandoned theme park for the rest of their lives.

I read the written novel last year, so I was extremely excited when I saw that a graphic novel adaptation was on the way. I could see how the book would translate very well as a graphic novel, so of course I had to check it out. I’m excited to confirm that it does work very well as a graphic novel! This time around, we watch the 14 contestants along with those running the competition come to life through the colorful artwork. Plus, the art style truly brings the story to life with its vivid colors and beautiful drawing style.

Like before, we follow an interesting cast of characters leading up to the competition until its end. We get to know some characters more than others, but we follow Mack the most. There was less suspense this time around, and the Seeker is no longer visually scary. However, I think it still worked out great for its graphic novel format.

Overall, this feels more like a young adult version of the story because there wasn’t much of a scare factor and it lacked suspense. Despite that, I really loved the story. If anything, I actually like that you can choose how scared you want to feel and then choose which version of the story you want to check out based on that.