Savvy Sheldon has been stuck, stuck in high stress job with not so many benefits, a boyfriend who never appreciates her, and a kitchen that needs fixing. When her boyfriend tells her they need to break up because she just isn’t doing it for him anymore, that she is the problem... Savvy decides it’s time to get back on track, starting with trying to make herself happy again. Savvy plans to fix her kitchen, improve her relationship with her body, find a way to make. a work-life balance, and fix her love life. Cue Spencer, a very cute guy she accidentally thought was homeless but is actually a renovator. Savvy hires Spencer to help fix her kitchen but soon sparks start flying. As Savvy starts getting into yoga, tennis, healthy eating, and going on dates she starts to realize that maybe all these things aren’t about just improving... its about learning to love yourself and seeing yourself. This was a story about self-healing and about learning to find confidence in yourself. It was a great story about falling in love with yourself. Savvy’s friends were great and such a fun group of supportive gals. Savvy’s journey of self love was a great one to read, and Spencer was a sweet romantic interest for her! Overall, this was a really sweet story!

A witch and a witch hunter go head to head and just might accidentally end up in love. Clementine Waterhouse is a witch. She doesn’t tumble straight into love and believes in protecting and caring for her loved ones. She always weighs the pros and cons of her relationships.... and she’s never really felt the need to be in a serious lasting relationship. Gavin Rhys is a witch hunter, tasked with following his father’s legacy and hunting down witches he finds himself sent on a mission in the town of St. Claire. Gavin hasn’t ever really had a home, hasn’t ever really had a relationship and now he finds himself attracted to the one person who he’s suppose to be hunting. Clem decides to enter into a relationship with Gavin to distract him from his mission... but soon she finds that his charm and kindness are doing something to her she’s never expected. Soon Gavin and Clem find themselves in a relationship where neither can stay away from the other, but with Gavin’s father placing pressure on him to hunt down the witches and Gavin struggling to decide what side he will take and Clem having to figure out if this forbidden relationship can make it out alive... things are about to get messy. This was such a fun and romantic read! I adored getting to read from both Clem and Gavin’s POVs and the overall story was just great! It is the second book in the series but can be read as a standalone, I didn’t read the first book and had no problem getting through this book!

*Thanks Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca, Sourcebooks Casablanca for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Two cooking interns hosting a show together and fighting for the chance to land the dream job. Reese Camden is a southern lady just waiting for the chance to take her internship to the next level as a permanent position at her dream marketing job at Friends of Flavor, a popular cooking channel in Seattle. Her competition is the extremely charming culinary intern, Benny Beneventi. Benny and Reese are thrown for a loop when they are both do a photo shoot that goes viral and ends up with them becoming the new viral sensation for the company. Soon the feelings between the two begin to get mixed in with job competition, and the insecurities and problems that come with going viral. Reese and Benny may be opposites but something just keeps drawing them together. This was a cute story filled with puns and a super sweet romance. Reese’s insecurities and past issues were relatable and the problems she dealt with were very relevant to workplaces today. Benny was a very sweet and charming love interest who was constantly trying to be there for her. Overall, a very cute story!

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

If you do magic to hurt someone you will receive a scar of their name on your face as a consequence... and Matilda has a lot of names on her face, Matilda is vengeful and fully believes in using magic HER way despite the consequences. She is only interested in making herself happy, using magic to make people fall in love with her, to hurt people, to satisfy her whims.... but she’s about to get a wakeup call. When animals start showing up dead with her named carved on them and when she starts blacking out she begins to question who or what is doing this to her. When a mysterious and charming new boy bumps into her Matilda is falling in love fast... but he isn’t as sweet as he seems. Now Matilda will have to finally face the consequences of her actions and take responsibility for all the harm she has caused before it’s too late and she is destroyed. Matilda is an extremely unlikable protagonist, there I said it. What she does to people, forcing them to fall in love with her, forcing them to want her and to kiss her without their consent.. is disgusting. The entire sequence of events that befalls her is all her fault. She messed with people and didn’t think about how it would impact them or care about who she was hurting until it was too late.

This is a zombie apocalypse story...sort of. The story is about monsters, about perceptions, and about one guy stuck inside a rehabilitation center. This was an odd story for sure, sadly for me I just couldn’t get into the story as much as I would have liked. It’s a quick and short read.

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tordotcom for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A bank heist gone wrong, a con artist stuck inside with her ex and her new girlfriend, and a lot of money on the line. Nora o’Malley is the daughter of a con artist and has gone under a lot of different names. When her mother falls for the mark Nora is forced to escape before things get too bad and she pulls the ultimate con- escaping her mother and the man. Nora has been in hiding for five years living with her sister. She’s been trying her best at normal but when things go from bad to worse when her ex walks in on her and her girlfriend (that she did not tell him about) even though they are all friends, then the morning after they all have to meet and deposit fundraiser money...., and to top of this disaster is that right after they enter two guys start robbing the bank. Now Nora will have to dust off her skills and try and find a way to get both her friends and her out alive because these robbers are willing to kill and things are not looking good. The story unfolds in both the past and present, we get to see the different girls Nora has been made to be and how they have all changed her to be who she is today, and we also get the events of the bank robbery as the day goes on. It was such an interesting story that kept me hooked until the very end! I honestly can’t wait to see how the movie plays it out but the book is definitely a must read!

Dark Academia? Sapphic Romance? Ghosts, Murders, and more??? SIGN ME UP. The cover alone has my attention, but throw in everything else? This was a must read for me. The story follows Felicity Morrow, who has just returned to Dalloway School after taking some time off after her girlfriend died. Dalloway School has a past, a past filled with witchcraft, ritual sacrifices, and dead girls. Felicity Morrow moves back into her old house, Godwin House, an exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirits of the five Dalloway students who were rumored to be witches and had all mysteriously died one after another right on Godwin grounds. Upon moving in Felicity meets Ellis Haley living in her dead girlfriend’s old room. Ellis Haley is a famous author who is currently attending Dalloway school in order to get research for her second book. She is mysterious, gorgeous, and absolutely interested in Felicity for some reason. Felicity believes she is being haunted by her dead girlfriend and that it is all due to the incident that killed her. The more intwined she gets with Ellis the more Ellis pushes her to face this... and the more sinister and dark secrets start to reveal themselves. This was a lush book, the setting and atmosphere was absolutely perfect. I loved the dynamic between Ellis and Felicity and the twist was fun!

Spoiler

As much as I loved the twist of lovers to enemies, I absolutely wished they had gone through with it together consider.... Felicity’s truths. As Ellis’s book perfectly sums it up a female psychopath falls in love with a woman with equally dark secrets and Ellis and Felicity just work together well

. I highly recommend this if you are looking for a wonderfully atmospheric dark academia mystery romance thriller!!!

One insane heist, 5 unlikely people, and a story inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from western museums. Ocean’s Eleven meets The Farewell, this was a brilliant story discussing how the history, how the art world, has dealt with the colonization of art as well as discussing issues of diaspora, and the complexity of the Chinese American Identity. Will Chen is a Harvard senior majoring in art history and sometimes an artist.. but what he really yearns for is something more.. and when the opportunity to partake in a heist to reclaim stolen Chinese artwork from Western Museums presents itself... he’s never wanted anything more. The next issue is putting together the perfect crew for the heist.. which consist of Irene Chene, his sister who is a public policy major at duke and the ultimate con woman, Daniel Liang, a thief who is also a premed student and the son of an FBI agent, Lily Wu, the getaway driver, an engineer major who finds herself most at peace when behind the wheel, and Alex Huang, a hacker/MIT drop out turned Silicon Valley software engineer. Each member of this crew has their own motivations and questions that must answer when doing this heists and consequences they will have to ask themselves they are willing to face, but together they just might be able to pull of the ultimate heist, make history, and get away with fifty million dollars. This was an exciting and just all around beautiful story. It had thoughtful commentary on interesting issues, and discussed the issue of diaspora and identity in a way that many of us can relate. Being an Asian-American who grew up with parents who had moved to America to start anew, I could relate to many of the pressures, the guilt, the wants and needs that these characters had. This was honestly just such a great read, I enjoyed how thrilling and fun the heist plans were and the execution of the overall heists, and getting to know each of these characters. Definitely pick it up!!

*Thanks Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Tiny Reparations Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

In a world where teens are taken to become soldiers and people with powers known as Scion, descendants of ancient Orsiha Gods are hunted down and killed, one girl will have to fight to survive and find out what really happened to her mother. Fifteen year old Sloan has the ability to control fire, and has been trying to hide her powers before it’s too late. When the mandatory draft letter comes in, Sloane knows this is the only chance she’ll have to find out what really happened to her mother and who killed her. The only problem is that if her powers are revealed or if she slips up she’ll be in the hands of people who will not hesitate to torture and kill her. Sloane will soon rise through the ranks, making friends and enemies, being faced with difficult training and impossible situations where in the end she’ll have to ask herself if she has become the monster she has feared. This is a story about power, revenge, and freedom and is the first book in a duology. Filled with romance, betrayal, secrets, deaths, friendship and even a heist, it definitely keeps you invested in the storyline. There was a wide cast of characters and the story definitely gave me six of crows/ hunger game vibes with the whole - powered individuals, ragtag heist crew, teens being forced to fight to the death, a oppressive power controlling group of people who one girl will have to be forced to face and even try to kill, betrayals from loved ones that she never saw coming. I liked Sloane, and for a 15 year old she’s pretty great, she’s resilient, strong, and willing to fight for what she believes in. but with all 15 year olds there are bound to be judgement errors... say

Spoiler

making out with the guy who had you beat nearly to death only a few weeks after killing another guy you were in love with..., yeah..... not so great. and knowingly messing up a heist and getting said team members caught

Overall, its definitely a interesting read that will have you intrigued by the world and characters. I look forward to seeing how the author ends the series and what the characters will do next!

*Thank you to the Monstrous Girls Competition for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Monsters, time travel, hunters, and star crossed lovers. This is the first book in a trilogy. The story follows Joan, a sixteen year old girl who loves her job at the historic Holland House and is staying in London with her eccentric family. On the day she is suppose to go on a date with her co-worker/crush Nick things go terribly wrong and she discovers her family secret, or rather the fact that when her grandmother told her they were monsters, she meant it literally and Joan has just awakened her powers. Soon Joan is thrown into a situation where it turns out Nick her crush... is actually a monster hunter and has plans to kill all the monsters in London and has already murdered her whole family. The only person she can turn to to help is Aaron Oliver, a fellow monster from a family who hates Joan’s. After saving Aaron’s life they both time travel to the past to run from Nick. Joan is hell bent on saving her family and preventing the massacre. So let me first begin by saying I loved all the proponents of the story and I enjoyed the time travel/magical families aspect of the story, I loved Nick and Aaron and how they had such interesting stories and personalities... but my biggest issue? Joan. The entire 80% of the book Joan is just “ I am absolutely right and everyone else is wrong” when she literally just discovered two days ago the monster world and doesn’t think to, oh I don’t know, actually talk to the monster guy who has been living and been educated in the world? She’s 16 and she’s traumatized, i absolutely get that, but Joan come on, please for the love of god just take a moment and consider your situation. You literally time traveled back and are placed in a society you have no clue what the rules are and go around just doing as you please without taking into consideration how the culture works and the consequences that could hurt your entire mission and the people in it. Joan is extremely juvenile, and I felt for Aaron being stuck with her for the entire trip, Aaron constantly trying to be the voice of reason only to get steam rolled by Joan. Now onto the other not so great part, the love triangle and romance. This is labeled as an enemies to lovers, with Joan and Nick being considered star crossed lovers but 1) he literally murdered your entire family and promises to kill you and 2) Nick only made an appearance in the first part of the book and the last like 30% of the book. Aaron on the other-hand, I fully 100% am behind. Aaron was there for most of the book and he really was being helpful, protective, and just an overall better love interest. If I had to pick a favorite character it would be Aaron, I would love to read from his POV and find out more about him, he truly seemed so much more interesting. I felt for Nick after you learn the truth, and he also had a super interesting story... but Joan... and her “special power that only she has” really just didn’t do it for me in this book because she really doesn’t grow as a character and she doesn’t even acknowledge that she could be wrong until 80% into the book. So yes i loved the world of the book and I loved the side characters, and despite my somewhat harsh review, I definitely enjoyed the book and am looking forward to where the story goes next!

*Thank you to the Monstrous Girls Contest for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*