Last Call at the Nightingale is an atmospheric Jazz age mystery featuring our seamstress-by-day main character, Vivian. Nighttime is when she truly comes alive, in true spirit of the age, drinking and dancing the night away at an underground dance hall called the Nightingale. One night, expecting a carefree, reckless night, Vivian instead finds a body behind the hall and her life is turned upside down.

The Nightingale is a fun Prohibition-era read with a "whodunit" mystery. I love the entire atmosphere created around this time period in New York, and it made for a fun read. Vivian was a great character to go alongside with while solving the mystery, and the supporting characters were really unique and added to the story really well. The audio is fantastically narrated by Sara Young and I highly recommend it if you're into audiobooks!

Thanks to Minotaur Books for the ARC!

Hello, perfect summer read! Storylines from two half-sisters are wound together as they inherit their late father's beach house. But there are a few problems: they haven't talked to each other in years, they don't like each other, and the beach house is falling apart.

I loved how Kat and Blake's storylines were distinct, but balanced each other well and met in all the right places to create a wonderful sisterhood narrative. Plus, we get TWO love stories! Can't complain about that!! I definitely liked one character more than another (and found one pretty obnoxious for most of the book), but loved her character growth in the end. Our male MCs are perfectly swoon-worthy supporting characters, adding lightness and fun in contrast with many of the characters' difficult backstories. I couldn't put this book down and I promise you are going to want this in your beach bag this summer!

Thanks to Berkeley for the copy of this ARC!

Meant to Be Mine was a romance with a little bit of magic thrown in. Edie Meyers knows the exact day she's going to meet the man of her dreams thanks to her Grandmother, Gloria, who prophesies the date that family members will meet their matches. And it's proven to be true for the whole family so far.

Without giving any spoilers (so no use of names), I was very enticed to keep reading to see what guy Edie would end up with. I kept thinking it was going to be one guy the whole time and so many things made me second guess myself and I needed to keep reading! I loved the growth in the book's main relationship - there was something to learn for both of them. The ending did feel a little rushed to me and I wasn't sure I was here for it, but did end up actually liking that part a lot. This story also has a wonderful family element to it, and I loved the relationship the Edie had with her twin, her "triplet" friend, and her Grandmother. This was a fun read!

Thanks to Atria for the copy of this ARC!

A spectactular feminist story of Kaikeyi, the only princess of Kekaya, as a retelling of the traditional Ramayana story. She pushes back against the social narrative that her only worth is in her marriage and becomes a force, using magic she has to pull at the bonds she creates with others to influence them. While I was not familiar with the traditional Ramayana story, I was able to follow along as Kaikeyi went from voiceless girl to wife, mother, warrior, diplomat, and queen. Kaikeyi is an admirable female lead, and I greatly enjoyed her journey. This was a fantastic debut by Patel and I am very intrigued to see what she writes next!

Thank you to Redhook for the gifted ARC!

DNF @ 25%. Unfortunately, this book just isn't pulling me in. I think I was expecting more drama with the broken engagement and ruined vacation in paradise, but the story was very slow-moving. I think many people will like this one, but it just wasn't for me!

Thank you St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC!

Acts of Violet follows an entirely unique storyline about magician Violet Volk, who disappeared mid-vanishing act and is still missing a decade later. We get mystery and magical realism throughout the book, which was brought to life through the magnificently executed full cast audio recording. The podcast episodes were especially well done and reminded me of the episodes in A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and how they highlighted a lot of important elements within the story. While the audiobook was very well done, the ending of this book was a bit of a miss for me. I think I would've liked a little more of an explanation - like maybe an epilogue from Violet's point of view? Acts of Violet is a very unique and engaging read, and I would definitely recommend the audio on this one!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC!