Summary: Rainey Cobb has spent most of her life traveling with her family band, led by her rock star parents. She didn't expect that in the summer of 1995, she would meet a girl named Juliet who changes how she sees herself and the world. Now questions lie before her - who does she want to be? Will she stay in the family band or try to create a life for herself?


Rainey Cobb reminds me a lot of myself at 15. Trying to find herself, writing songs as self-expression, creating lists to cope... She was such a sweet and relatable character.

I absolutely loved watching her journey to navigate parental expectations, work through family mental health problems, explore her sexual identity, and try to accept who she is.

It was such a quick and "breezy" read, and the audiobook was spectacular. I typically have trouble focusing on audiobooks, but not this one!

Thank you to the author for the free copy to review. Rainey will always be in my heart!

Summary:
After Loulie al-Nazari lost her family and tribe, she began to collect and sell magical relics as the Midnight Merchant alongside her jinn bodyguard. The sultan of Madinne is after an ancient lamp that holds the power to destroy the jinn, the magical species that their people view as a threat to their land.

Loulie is forced into a dangerous journey to find the lamp with the sultan's son, a jinn hunter, and Loulie's bodyguard. Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, this book will take readers onto a beautiful journey of magic and friendship.

Review:
3.5/5
The amazing premise and cover really drew me into this book! The world building was gorgeous, detailed, and so immersive. All the characters had their own development, strengths, and weaknesses- I especially loved Qadir. Get ready for lots of adventuring, magic, and quests!

Some parts felt a little slow and hard to stay connected to as they traveled... the plot kind of meandered and sometimes I had to push myself to keep reading, although it definitely picked up at the end. But I also was in a reading slump while getting through this book so that might have just been me.

Overall, I think you should DEFINITELY read this book if you enjoy fantasy, found families, and the worlds of One Thousand and One Nights or Aladdin! I think most fantasy lovers will really enjoy this one and all the classic tales that were weaved into it ☺️

This was a fantastic book for understanding and empathizing with the needs of traumatized children. While the focus is adoption, these strategies and perspectives apply to any child who has been through trauma and attachment losses. I believe anyone working with children in tough places should read this book!

Wooo, CoHo did it again!

This one was a bit different from her others as it was more of a thriller, which I really liked.

Summary: Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling author who tries to keep to herself, as press releases and fan interactions are not her thing. When she receives an offer to finish the series of a best-selling suspense author Verity Crawford, she sees no other option but to accept. When she gets to the author's home and grows closer to Verity's grieving husband, she finds Verity's haunting autobiography which makes her question everything.

This book was so hard to put down and a super fast read. I loved the story-within-a-story device and the spooky moments in Verity's home. There were quite a lot of steamy scenes, but that is to be expected from CoHo's books.

The book built up suspense and tension SO well, and it absolutely delivered. I was stunned by the end and love how it still left us with questions of who really was the villain.

I really enjoyed this book and came away with super tangible take aways for developing better habits. Clear used the science and research of behavior change to outline ways to build better habits through small changes. I've already been able to implement some ideas into my own routines!

I really enjoyed this read. Kate Bowler is very knowledgeable about the history/issues related to the prosperity gospel, which allowed her to bring her own research and experience into this memoir about her journey through cancer.

It was powerful to learn from someone who has experienced significant hardship about what is vs. what is not helpful. I felt sad hearing about how the church can be hurtful with it's platitudes and spiritual bypassing when responding to someone's grief. But I think a lot of people could learn from this book about how to prevent church-related trauma when someone is going through loss or something challenging.

This second-chance love story had me hooked from the beginning. It hit all the right places.

Summary: Eva Mercy, famous author of fantasy novels, is doing an amazing job raising her sweet 12-year-old daughter Audre while battling an invisible disability. Shane Hall, a secretive and newly sober novelist, is trying to clean up his life and make amends. When Eva and Shane collide at a literary event, they are flooded with memories of spending an intense, madly-in-love week together in high school. While they reconnect, just as passionately as before, they are forced to face the fact that their lives and writing has still been intertwined ever since.

I fell in love with Eva and Shane, two complex and real characters dealing with challenges like mental illness, buried traumas, and invisible disabilities. The writing made me laugh out loud and tear up. And little Audre with her old, therapist soul stole the stage for me.

I had so much empathy for these characters trying to fight deeply integrated beliefs, heal past wounds, stand up for their art in a white-centric field, and dare to love again. They will stay in my heart ♥️

This book was SO good. Fun fact, I played Little Red Riding Hood two different times when I was in plays as a kid!!

The Lunar Chronicles series is so creative with how it retells classic fairy tales in a futuristic setting. I love when characters you love (Cinder and Scarlet) start to come to together... Those moments are EVERYTHING!!

Summary: Jane has spent most of her life with vision problems. But on her 29th birthday, a mysterious woman informs Jane that she has a gift - she can see love. Now she has only a year to identify the six types of love before she faces the consequence of not being able to experience love herself.

Review: I really loved Sarah Jio's book Morning Glory and I'm still excited to try her other ones, but this one fell a bit short for me.

Things I liked: