I fully did not expect this to be a five-star read for me even after having started the book, but I absolutely fell in love with this story. Our MMC Devin used to play the main character in a show that reads as 50% Supernatural, 25% Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 10% X-Files, 5% Teen Wolf— and the character himself is clearly a lot Ackles with some Padalecki and SMG thrown in. And as someone who has spent/will continue to spend many years in fandom (BtVS especially)— but also has never equated the actors with the roles in quite the same way— I wasn’t sure this was for me. But I absolutely adored the way Devin is portrayed as a fan of his own show, while simultaneously getting in his own way because of it. The deeper dive into child actors and their money grabbing parents hit pretty solidly with a lot of the stories that have come out lately, and the way Alex’s perspective of him changed over the course of the story, where she comes to understand him as a real and flawed person, was gorgeous. She’s such a wonderful ball of angst also, and I loved that that doesn’t really change for her and he loves her that way too. It isn’t a fix-it relationship, it’s a place for them both to grow from. Absolutely stunning. This was my first Rosie Danan book and I’ll definitely be picking up more.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC to review.

This book is stunning. I’m not usually a mystery reader and have never gotten into cozy mysteries, but I love a good sci-fi, and I adored Waite’s Celestial Mechanics, so I jumped at the chance to read this. The worldbuilding here, for such a short read, is so solid. It reminds me of more than a couple episodes of Doctor Who mixed together in the best ways, but with enough original elements that it could be its own world within that show. Dorothy is a wonderfully compelling protagonist and I hope Waite develops this into a series, because I would love to see where her story goes from here. Blair Baker was a new narrator for me and she does an excellent job, my only wish was that she’d made Dorothy’s nephew English— it’s implied and he was already giving goofy aristocrat vibes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this to review.

I absolutely loved this. I related WAY too hard with some things— the coincidences to my life are actually insane here and I may have had to message Raen being like “DO YOU KNOW ME?” 🤣— but Sigrid is a very different person than me, despite our wild similarities (who else has been broken up with ON their birthday? Oh it’s me. Twice), and I loved reading her story. This is the second single POV romance I’ve read in a row and I really love seeing things from one perspective, even when you can understand more than your MC is catching on to. Maddox… oh man, here’s a MMC to adore. So much the same as my late 20s in NYC, but where was my surprise monster along with a secret world that was… just more Brooklyn? (I loved Sigrid’s disappointment at the lack of magic in the monster world.) I can’t wait to read more of this universe.

Thank you so much to Raen Tetra for the ARC of this book to review!

This story was absolutely stunning, don’t let anyone spoil you for it, because there are so many twists and turns— and even when you know or greatly suspect the truth, the reveals are just so so good. Also for a fairly chaste slowburn, the culmination of their relationship is absolute FIRE.

(MOSTLY VAGUE) SPOILERS AHEAD:

Their happy ending is so earned, I really wondered through most of the book if the solution James presented was the only answer. When Christopher came back with his solution, I genuinely felt like Jason in The Good Place when the Judge tests him. (Stay with me here.) We were so focused on Christopher winning, we never asked if he could opt not to play. Absolutely brilliant.

Thanks to NetGalley and Vintage Books for the ARC to review.

This was definitely my favorite of the trilogy, Aurora & Apollo have been simmering through the previous two books and seeing them collide finally is wonderfully satisfying. Herrera’s pacing has improved over the course of the series as well, although listening was still a bit slow, not sure if that would have been better with eyes. Aurora’s plot with her family hit all my feels, but there were just a few too many villains/wildcards running around by the end here. As for the audio, we’ve changed narrators (probably since both MCs are American?) and Frankie Corzo does a fine job, but I found her voices a bit lacking & her English/Scottish accents were rough.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the ALC to review.

Well, now I’m just on an Eris Adderly kick, and this one was solid as well. Takes place in the same year/universe as her pirate books, but I didn’t notice any actual connections? The only thing I’ll say is this one sort of suffered for a lack of motivations, especially the FMC. Emmat (yes, that’s her name) has become a highwayman to support her family, but they’re awful and she doesn’t blink at leaving them forever, so why? Or why is she willing to sell herself to save her brother for them, it seems? Why does she stay at Vane’s as long as she does only to THEN take off on him? I loved Adderly’s contemporary Bass-Ackwards, and I think she might do a bit better with history between the characters. But I still enjoyed this East of the Sun, West of the Moon/Beauty and the Beast retelling.