Oh Cat *shaking my head* One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost picks up nearly five years after that heartbreaking ending in book one. Cat is fully immersed in her covert work for the FBI, hunting down vampires and killing them for the government. She has carved out a rather lonely life for herself, using the knowledge she gained from Bones to her advantage (and sometimes her detriment). She doesn’t dwell too much on the past until the past catches up to her in the form of her assignment, a vampire with close ties to the one she has spent five years trying to forget.

I like Cat. She is stubborn and headstrong. Her actions are led by her heart which inevitably leads to more trouble than she bargained for. Her loneliness at the beginning of this book is so sad to me. I understand that she felt she had no choice but to leave Bones behind in book one, but I still wish she’d made a different choice. How different her life would be now!

Despite that loneliness, she has made friends, something she admits that she has never had. I love her team, handpicked and trained by her, even Tate who clearly has an unrequited crush. The dynamic with the team and Cat is great. They have each others’ backs and clearly care for one another. My favorite member of her team is also the newest, untried member. He is a question mark for Cat, but I love how he integrates himself into the team and wins her over.

Bones is fantastic. He is so patient with Cat, even through his own hurt and anger at her choices. His first appearance in this book made me laugh out loud. Cat was unsure if he was there to kiss her or kill her, and she was ready for either situation. There is a lot of broken trust between them, and they spend a majority of this book repairing that. I enjoyed their romance. The infamous ch. 32 made me blush furiously, and as I told the girls I was buddy reading with, of course my kindle would die in the MIDDLE of the chapter

I absolutely adored this book! Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade combines two of my favorite tropes – celebrity and penpal – which sets us as the reader up for some great dramatic irony. Following an actor at the height of his career and a curvy geologist who gets her 15 minutes of fame via twitter, Spoiler Alert is an unputdownable read that is sure to leave you smiling.

April Whittier is a career woman by day and a fanfic writer and cosplayer at night. This character is so much fun. She’s driven, empathetic, and not ashamed to be who she is. I identified with her so much. It’s nice to see a character who looks like me on the page, curvy and ok with it. She doesn’t hide that she is overweight, and despite having some insecurities stemming from her parents, April is happy with her looks. When her weight is pointed out in a negative light after posting a stunning picture of herself in cosplay as her favorite character, she is shocked with an intriguing proposal: a date with Marcus Caster-Rupp.

Marcus is an actor, who just finished filming the series finale of a long standing fantasy epic (think like Game of Thrones). He is tired, overworked, and ready for a change. He just doesn’t know what. His escape from the script and his real life is writing fanfic about the show and how he feels it should have gone. I love Marcus. He is a fantastic character, if a bit naive at times. Having struggled most of his life with undiagnosed dyslexia, his celebrity persona is about his looks and he appears dim. When in reality, Marcus is anything but that. And he is tired of playing that game.

When Marcus and April meet up for their date, as the reader, we know that these two already have a relationship, they just don’t know it yet. This is one of my favorite tropes/gimmicks in books/movies. Marcus writes as Book!AeneasWouldNever on his fanfic server and has been friends with Unapologetic Laivinia Stan for a few years, beta reading each other’s work and sharing personal tidbits about their day. Marcus realizes fairly quickly who April is, and sadly realizes that his celebrity persona isn’t going to win her over. If he wants April in his life for real, he is going to have to be himself without telling her his fanfic name because if that ever got out it would end his career. I have to say that I loved and hated this plot point. I get it. Marcus would face serious repercussions for the things he wrote even though he never links it to the show. April is left clueless, and I love her POV chapters where we see her falling for Marcus.

Overall I really enjoyed Spoiler Alert! I loved Marcus and April together. I enjoyed seeing how their relationship grew over time and how they overcame their secrets. I loved the fanfic aspect of the book. I read a lot of fanfic myself so it was fun to see it play out in a book as well. If you are a fan of romantic comedies, I highly recommend this one.

I received an eARC of this book via NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

A loose retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe takes place over the course of one day, following Mae and her role in the Prosper family. I have never read The Tempest so I personally cannot compare the two. What I can say is that I enjoyed Cohoe’s melding of 1920s culture and magic. It made for a compelling read.

Mae herself is an okay character. I didn’t hate her, but I also didn’t love her. She’s an unreliable narrator as a lot of what happens is shown from her POV with her own emotions and feelings skewing the action. As an orphan of a former servant of the family, Mae keeps to herself, hoping the Prosper family will allow her to continue to live in her father’s cottage. But on the eve of her 18th birthday, it’s announced that Mae will marry Ivo, the heir apparent, much to her dismay.

Ivo I liked. He’s a quirky character whom we don’t really get to know in great detail. Mae is attracted to him and also scared of him. He is a magician, fueling the magic that feeds the island and gives the Prosper’s their fortune. Yet he is hiding a lot of secrets, the burden weighing heavy on his shoulders. The heaviest weight of all is what he has done to Mae without her own knowledge.

While I loved Ivo, the setting, and even the concept of the story itself, it was poorly executed. There are large plot holes, which can be written off as a part of Mae’s unreliable narration. But they were distracting to me. I kept thinking I was missing a page or skipped a scene when I didn’t. I also didn’t pick up that the entire book took place in one day. There are parts that truly drag out, making it seem like it is happening over a week instead of 24 hours. There is also a love triangle that is eye roll inducing and implodes as part of the main plot.

Overall, I thought this one was an okay read. I enjoyed the magical realism and 1920s setting. I also enjoyed all of Mae’s and Ivo’s interactions and wouldn’t be opposed to reading more about the Prosper family and their island. Mae’s narration adds to the mystery/thriller element of the book which is one of the reasons I’d say this is a compelling read as you need to find out what happens next. Bright Ruined Things is a Gatsby-esque thrill complete with magic, romance, and fireworks.

I received an eARC of this book via NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

This book hooked me from the first words. When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting is the first in a new series of standalone romances. This one features two friends who through unexpected circumstances find themselves moving their relationship from platonic to lovers. I personally loved this one. It is filled with heart-felt emotions and touches on mental health and childhood traumas. Declan and Avery are easy to root for, and their relationship progresses in a natural and believable way. I sat down with the intention of reading just a few chapters of this one, and before I knew it, I was closing in on the end. It is that good.

Avery is the eldest sister of the Spark family. Working with her two younger sisters, she is turning their childhood home into a hotel/event space that is renowned in their state and has become the destination for corporate and personal events. But her life comes to a crashing halt when she is in a car accident that leaves her dependent on her sisters and best friend for everything. Driven and hard-working, Avery rarely takes a break. This forced sabbatical isn’t what she had in mind, but it is exactly what her heart and soul needed to reset. And thankfully her best friend is there to help her pick up the pieces.

Declan is an interesting character, to the say the least. I was not expecting the depth that the author gave him. He has been Avery’s best friend since college and roommates for years. He firmly put himself in the friend category when Avery dated and was briefly engaged to his best friend Sam. But when that ended in disaster, Declan chose Avery’s friendship over Sam and never looked back. When he nearly loses her in the car accident, he has to face the feelings he’s been hiding head on or face losing her forever.

The car accident that is the catalyst for the story is alluded to in the blurb so as a reader you know it is coming, and I SO wanted to stop it. My heart was breaking before it even happened for both Avery and Declan. Declan made some bad decisions that resulted in Avery driving herself that day, so he blames himself every time he sees her grimace in pain or upset that she cannot do for herself as she is used to doing. I loved seeing their relationship evolve on the pages. It quickly goes from sweet to steamy, but does so in a natural and believable way.

Overall, I really enjoyed When Sparks Fly and look forward to Avery’s sisters’ stories. This is truly a friends to lovers story, even how they handle the (inevitable, 75% point in the book) conflict is representative of the years of their friendship. If you enjoy sweet romances, I highly recommend this one.

I received an ARC of this book via the Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Where There’s a Whisk by Sarah J. Schmitt follows Peyton, a recent high school graduate, as she competes on Top Teen Chef for a chance to win a full paid scholarship to one of the four top culinary schools. This YA contemporary has something for everyone: drama, lots of laughs, a hint of romance, and the excitement of competition.

See my full review on YA Books Central.

Dragon Marked by Jaymin Eve is the first book in her series Supernatural Prison that follows Jessa Lebron and the Compass brothers. I originally picked this one up through Kindle Unlimited after I saw that it was being turned into an animated series on PeacockTV. I attempted to watch the show, then decided to stick to the books, and I’m glad I did. The books are an upper YA/NA urban fantasy, paranormal romance which is right up my alley.

Jessa Lebron’s life is turned upside down when her father reveals that her mother didn’t leave them because she wanted to but left to protect her and her twin sister. As a twin, the two sisters are dragon marked, an ancient curse that sentences them to death at birth. With the help of a powerful sorcerer, the Lebrons hide the mark and separate the girls. Jessa has lived her entire life thinking she was an only child and that her mother left them. Now she has to come to terms with not only being marked but a sister and an estranged mother.

Jessa has lived a fairly sheltered life within the boundaries of Stratford, a protected supernatural town that houses creatures from all the supernatural community. As a wolf shifter and daughter of the alpha, she can come across as spoiled and selfish to an extent. Her redeeming grace is her interactions with her estranged sister and her best friends the Compasses. I personally love her loyalty to them and how they encourage the best in her.

The Compasses are great. They are a quadruplets, and each brother represents a different supernatural: a magic user, dragon shifter, vampire, and fae. To be honest, I had a hard time telling the brothers apart, except for Braxton. Braxton is Jessa’s best friend and the dragon shifter. It’s pretty clear from the start that he is will become the love interest, and he is the only brother that is fleshed out enough to differentiate from the others. I kept getting confused who was who and had to go back to a quote I highlighted early on as a reminder.

So here’s where I take issue with the book. There is a plot underfoot to take Jessa’s dad out of the council, it also involves getting the Compasses out of the way. As a result, they wind up in the supernatural prison that the town is guarding and that they have, coincidentally, been searching for. As this is all going on, Jessa is finding out about her heritage as a dragon marked and what that means for her. The plot is murky, and at times jumps around a lot. I had a hard time following what was going on and the climax is literally the end of the book. Now I know this is a series, and the ending intrigued me enough to continue, but I really needed a more direct plot.

Overall, I enjoyed Dragon Marked. As I mentioned, the end really saved the book. If you enjoy paranormal romance/urban fantasy, I would recommend it.

I am so glad this was May’s #COYER book club pick! I’m not sure I would’ve picked it up otherwise. Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare is a historical romance loosely based on Beauty and the Beast. I’m a sucker for all BATB retellings so I was really excited to dive into it. Y’all I turned on the audiobook to start listening, got close to halfway done then switched to reading and finished the book in one sitting. It is that good! Romancing the Duke will sweep you off your feet and give you all the feels.

Izzy is a twenty-six year old spinster, left penniless after her father’s untimely death, and has given up completely on finding a fairy tale prince of her own. I absolutely adored Izzy. Her father made a living from writing fantasy adventure serials with Izzy as the star. With a large following (think like Trekkies and Comic Con, but 1800s), Izzy must don her role as the naive maiden more often than she’d like, but she handles it well, falling into character as needed.

Just as Izzy begins contemplating what work she can acquire to keep a roof over her head, she receives notice that her godfather has passed and left her a castle. The only problem, the castle belongs to the Duke of Rothbury who happens to be living in said castle. With nowhere else to go, Izzy decides to go head to head with the mysterious duke and hope she comes out the winner.

The Duke of Rothbury, also known as Ransome William Dacre Vane, returned to his ancestral castle, one that is falling apart and barely considered liveable, to lick his wounds after his fiance ran off with another man. Not only did she run off with another man, said man beat the duke in a duel. To add insult to injury, the duel left the duke blind and in his own imagination hideously scarred. So now he haunts his own castle, trusting his proprietors to handle his affairs and only allowing his butler to stay at the castle with him. He’s surly, bitter, and quite callous, the complete opposite of Izzy’s bubbly personality. Yet somehow the relationship that builds between them works. I really liked the dynamic and how he grounds her and she gives him hope.

Overall, I really enjoyed Romancing the Duke. Izzy and Ransome will renew your hope in love. Sweet and steamy, this light historical romance has gone on my favorite pile. If you are looking for a heart-achingly sweet romance, this is it!

I love a book that makes me laugh, and this one did often! A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan Quinn is a romantic comedy about two people who strike an unusual business deal. This is the first time I’ve read a book by Quinn, though her works have been on my radar for a long time. I was drawn to this one by the fake fiancé mention in the blurb and the modern day take on Pretty Woman, and it delivered.

The story opens with Lottie sitting in her boss/best friend’s office being fired. Why she is being fired is the real knife to the heart moment here though: her contract stipulates it’s time for a pay raise, and why raise her pay when they can hire someone to do the job for less? This was a rock bottom moment for Lottie. Her friendship has always been toxic, something she’s come to recognize over the last year working with her, and as a result there is a lot of shame Lottie feels for allowing herself to be in the situation. During a moment of drunken weakness, Lottie takes to the streets to find herself a rich husband.

Then enters Huxley Cane. Hux is a billionaire businessman, used to getting whatever he wants, especially in business deals. When a particular client passes on his proposal and needs time to think, Huxley doesn’t react well. And then he runs into the client and his pregnant fiancé, and before Hux can think of the consequences he claims to have the same. The problem lies in the fact he has neither. To save face, he comes up with a harebrained plan that is clearly doomed before it begins.

I really liked these characters. Lottie is bold in most things, stubborn to a fault, and fiercely loyal. She hates the position she has found herself in as lying is not something that comes easily, but how can she say no to Huxley when in return he is paying off her student loan debt. Huxley grew on me. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about him. He’s quite grumpy and standoffish to begin with, but when he opens up and allows Lottie to see the real him, the man who knows how to relax, I was head over heels for him. The banter is spot on. As they find common ground and Hux removes the stick from his nether regions, I found myself rooting for them to succeed.

I chose to listen to this one, and I am so glad I did. The narrators are fantastic, I loved the life they brought to the characters. I don’t typically listen to romance because sex scenes make me blush while reading them. You can imagine my reaction while listening. Pretty sure you could cook eggs on my face