First of all, thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review. (This review can also be found on my blog https://bookswhitme.wordpress.com/?p=3738)

Content Warnings: plot/characters that heavily revolve around PTSD and anxiety due to traumatic child abuse and manipulation, kidnapping, and war experiences; sexual situations, blackmail, invasions of privacy

Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this book to be released??? DO YOU KNOW?! Well let me tell you, I’ve been waiting since September. That was when I had the pleasure of reading the first book in the Modern Love series, The Right Swipe. I absolutely adored that book and when I heard that we were getting a follow-up that focused on the silent partner in Rhiannon’s company, I knew we were in for a good time. Thankfully, Alisha did not disappoint.

Katrina is a pretty mysterious character. She’s a reclusive investor who took the money her late husband left her and used it to build herself quite the investment empire. No one really knows who she is and that’s on purpose. Katrina used to live her life in the spotlight as a model at the insistence of her controlling father. Since leaving both that career and her father behind, she’s moved into the shadows, valuing her privacy and close friendships more than anything. So imagine her horror when that privacy is ripped away from her at one of the few places she feels safe.

After a therapy session in the back of her favorite cafe, Katrina sticks around to have a coffee and get some recreational reading in. Enter a mysterious stranger who asks to share her table due to the crowded nature of the coffee shop. Harmless right? That’s what Katrina thinks, especially since she’s trying to open herself to new things and working on getting through her PTSD, anxiety disorder and panic attacks. Unfortunately though, what was actually a simple interaction between strangers becomes the next viral sensation when a woman at the table next to her takes a picture of Katrina and the stranger and posts it on Twitter for the world to see. Suddenly the privacy that Katrina has worked so hard for is being threatened and her world seems to be spiraling. To top it all off, she’s wrestling with the less than professional feelings that she’s developed for her bodyguard Jas, who has been protecting her since she was married years ago. She’s certain he doesn’t return her affections, but suddenly she must rely on Jas once again to protect her and help her through all of this. Unknown to Katrina, Jas has his own things happening as well. As a war veteran whose military career ended in tragedy, Jas is not used to sharing his feelings. He certainly can’t share the feelings he has for his boss Katrina. No it’s best he just pushes those aside because it’s never going to happen right? His first instinct is to protect Katrina, but what happens when his professional and personal past both begin to come back to haunt him all while he’s trying protect the one person he can’t get close to?

Does that wet your whistle enough? I hope so, because that’s all you’re going to get from me! If you want to know what happens, you’ll have to pick up the book yourself. What I will tell you is that this book was so good. I experienced all the feelings okay. The slow burn/unrequited love in this book was so delicious like. GIVE ME MORE!!!

First of all, I love a bodyguard romance, especially when it’s not super creepy or misogynistic. Jas is all things sweet and protective and just a huge teddy bear that I want nothing more than to love and cuddle on. I really appreciated the fact that the focus wasn’t just on how invested he was in Katrina, but we also get to see his struggles and investment in his family and mental health as well. Jas may be a simple man, but he has a complex history and I loved getting a chance to explore that.

Katrina was such a sweetheart. Her optimism and trust in people is unmatched and uncanny. Honestly, I couldn’t believe she had such a golden heart, especially considering everything she’d been through. Throughout the entire book, she’s making breakthroughs and they aren’t isn’t, but they’re definitely real. Even up until the last moment, she’s still learning about herself and how her behaviors are connected to her past. Honestly, she and Jas are perfect for each other. They can’t fix one another’s problems, but they can work through them together.

One of the biggest things that I enjoyed about this book besides the characters, was how Alisha handled the topics of PTSD and anxiety. I can’t speak from personal experience, but I think it was handled very well. Neither of these things is one size fits all and both Katrina and Jas experience them in very real and very different ways. While they both stem from their personal experiences, they don’t manifest the same and they certainly don’t approach them the same. Katrina is in therapy, while Jas has a hard time expressing himself or even putting into words what he’s experiencing. They both grow and develop and there’s no magic fix in the end, just progress.

I just honestly hope ya’ll pick up this book and give it a try when it gets released on April 21st. I mean don’t you want to feel all the feelings???? Of course you do.

I absolutely loved this book. It was fun, it was fluffy, it was heartwarming, it was educational and it was just an all around great read. Really it was a breath of fresh air. Each middle-grade story brings something fresh and new to my understanding of Eid, two very important Muslim holidays. One Eid signifies the end of Ramadan and the other is the 10th day of the month of Hajj. Want to know how I know this? The editors S.K. Ali and Aisha Saeed included an editor’s introduction in the beginning of the book that explains the significance of Eid and helps us to know what to expect in the 15 stories that follow the introduction. All fifteen stories express a different type of joy and understanding of the holiday and its significance an honestly it was just beautiful to read.

Each story focused on a different family, a different person, and a different situation. There are different Muslim identities and experiences expressed in each short story which just adds to the beauty and diversity between these pages. Overall this really felt like a lighthearted read and I sped right on through it. None of the stories are very long, but so much is communicated within the few pages that they each have. I don’t want to spoil any of the stories, but I’ll give you a little info on my favorite stories:

A little brother is excited to continue his family’s dessert tradition and upset that his sister wants to change things, but he learns that maybe change only brings new tradition

A boy saves all of Ramadan to buy himself a new bike, but he meets a new community member who teaches him the value of generosity

The sole Muslim girl in a small community has always loved being the leading authority on Islam in her school, but learns that having support and backup of a new friend may be even better

Wearing hijab in public is this young girl’s dream, but her parents are worried that it may be too much for her to handle. She determined to take on this new profession of her faith, but could her parents be right?

These four stories may have been my favorite, but I loved each and every one of them. Please please PLEASE go pick up this middle-grade short story anthology when it’s released on May 5th. You won’t regret it.

This was actually an ebook given to me by the author who found my blog last year right after I first got started. Obviously I’m a little late with reading it, but I did finally get to it! Thanks D.N. Bryn for the opportunity! Our Bloody Pearl follows a siren by the name of Perle who has been trapped on a pirate’s boat and kept prisoner. Another pirate, Dejean, attack’s the boat and finds Perle. Perle doesn’t know it, but Dejean has no intentions on hurting them (Perle’s pronouns are they/them). Instead, he frees them and they form a bond that is atypical of sirens and humans. Sirens kill humans and eat them, humans hunt sirens for killing them. It’s a vicious cycle, but it’s all they know. As Perle and Dejean begin to get to know each other it becomes clear that they have a lot to learn about one another. All the while, Kian, the vicious pirate who captured Perle, is hell bent on getting them back. Overall this was a very intriguing read. I loved the fact that the sirens didn’t subscribe to the gender binary. They all identify with they/them pronouns because they are who they need to be. Perle even goes on to say that they don't understand why humans have to label everything. There’s also a f/f couple featured and some great siren/pirate lore here. If this sounds like it’s up your alley, you should definitely check it out.

Content Warnings: Murder, violence, domestic and child abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, sexual situations, alcoholism, suicide

4.5, this was such a wild ride. I’m SO glad I decided to do the audiobook. I originally chose that method because of how long the book was. I figured this would be the perfect book to listen to while I worked from home during quarantine. Spoiler alert: I was right.

Every time I turned it on, I didn’t want to turn it off. The narrator did a great job of distinguishing between characters and brought just the right amount of creepiness to the audio. Sound effects, whispers, multiple character voices. Oh yes that narrator definitely did THAT.

Plot wise, I don’t want to give a lot away, but I’ll give ya’ll the basics. Christopher Reese and his mom Kate escape from her shitty and abusive boyfriend, Jerry, in the middle of the night. They drive halfway across the country to start a new life and all Christopher wants is for his mother to be happy. He knows they don’t have a lot of money and he knows she wants to give him everything. All he wants is to be able to read, stop feeling so stupid, and make his mom’s life a bit easier. A new school and a fresh start should help with all that right? NOPE. Things get exponentially worse when Christopher disappears after school and is missing for 6 days. His mother is at her wits end, the sheriff has no idea where and how the hell this little boy disappeared and then suddenly…a young Christian girl named Mary Katherine finds him when she….well the important part is that she finds him. Christopher has no idea where he disappeared, why, or what happened while he was gone. What he does know is suddenly he can read, he’s smarter than the other kids in his class, he can see between people’s words and he can’t get rid of his constant headaches. He also knows that something bad is going to happen and he may be the only person who can stop it.

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUN

Okay, so that’s all I’m giving you and trust me that’s all you need for now. There are so many twists and turns in this book it was crazy. I’ve seen some people say that it was too long, but in my opinion the length didn’t bother me. I was never bored while listening and once things really get moving, everything starts to snowball. All of the events are connected whether you realize it or not, just like all of the characters. I loved the relationship between Christopher and Kate, as well as Christopher and his friends. They all really love each other and that comes through in the events of the book. They definitely stick together and with what they’re facing, they certainly need it. I could especially feel the desperation when we switched to Kate’s POV. I felt so bad for her because you could tell she wanted nothing more than to help and understand her son. A lot of elements in this book not only tugged at my creepiness meter, but also at my heartstrings. I’ll admit this may not have been the book for everyone, but it was definitely the book for me.

Some things did frustrate me, like the way the adults acted at certain times. For instance, It’s clear that Christopher has dyslexia. I’m not entirely sure what the timeframe for this book was (I may have missed that tidbit), but I’m fairly certain that people knew and understood what learning disabilities were. Why was this never explained to Christopher or pointed out by the adults? And once Christopher came back from the woods drastically changed, WHY DID NO ONE NOTICE AND SAY HOLD THE HELL UP WHAT IS GOING HERE? There were a lot of coincidences and strange occurrences that couldn’t be explained and no one seemed to want to call attention to them. Also, I know I said the length didn’t bother me, and it didn’t, but I’ll admit that sometimes things did get presented in a roundabout way.

Overall I had a great experience reading this book and I think that the audiobook was a great decision on my part. If you like extremely weird and creepy reads, check this out. Just be sure to pay attention to my content warnings above because things do get disturbing and graphic.