Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and finished copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: I’m Dreaming of a Wyatt Christmas

Author: Tiffany Schmidt

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4/5

Recommended For...: young adult, romance, holiday

Publication Date: October 26, 2021

Genre: YA Romance

Recommended Age: 13+ (grief, parent death, romance, fatphobia, dieting TW, vomiting TW)

Explanation of CWs: Grief and parent death are discussed and grief is shown in the book. Romance is enemies to lovers without sexual content. Fatphobic comments and dieting and vomiting are shown in the book and discussed).

Publisher: Amulet

Pages: 336

Synopsis: Noelle Partridge is known for three things: being the best ballet dancer, babysitter, and person with the most Christmas spirit in her small town. But lately she’s bored by the lessons at her dance school, and her friends and father are more bah humbug than Hallmark movie marathon. So when her favorite babysitting clients ask her to accompany them on a ski trip over winter break, she packs her bags for the slopes. It helps that they’re offering double her rate—she’ll need the money for Beacon, an elite ballet academy that’s granted her an audition.

Noelle is ready to “Deck the Halls” and have fa la la la fun, until Wyatt, the older half-brother of her babysitting charges, decides to surprise his family for the holiday. He’s one of the best dancers at Beacon, and makes Noelle’s head spin faster than pirouettes. Unfortunately, she also manages to step on his toes—spoiling his surprise and complicating his secret plans. After a few missteps, Noelle and Wyatt begin to thaw toward each other and bond over the big decisions looming in each of their lives. With enough Christmas magic, Noelle might just start the New Year with lots of babysitting cash in her pocket and a chance with the pas de deux partner of her dreams.

Review: For the most part I enjoyed the book! It’s corny and punny with the usual holiday sayings. It’s done great with the character development and the world building. The book is also well written and it’s one of the cutest cozy holiday reads I’ve read recently. I also liked the message behind the book about confronting your problems head on instead of running from them.

However, Noelle as a protagonist is a bit pushy and it took me a long time to warm up to her.

Verdict: It was good!

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc from netgalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Edge of Anything

Author: Nora Shalaway Carpenter

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: OCD rep! Own voice!

Publication Date: March 24, 2020

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: 15+ (mental health, depression)

Publisher: Running Press Kids

Pages: 368

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Len is a loner teen photographer haunted by a past that’s stagnated her work and left her terrified she’s losing her mind. Sage is a high school volleyball star desperate to find a way around her sudden medical disqualification. Both girls need college scholarships. After a chance encounter, the two develop an unlikely friendship that enables them to begin facing their inner demons.

But both Len and Sage are keeping secrets that, left hidden, could cost them everything, maybe even their lives.

Set in the North Carolina mountains, this dynamic #ownvoices novel explores grief, mental health, and the transformative power of friendship.

Review: I really loved this one! It was poignant and heartbreaking all in the same. The book did well with the dual POVs and the character development was amazing. The world building was also done well and I applaud the author for making realistic characters, with flaws and all. Also, hats off to the amazing OCD rep!

The only issue I had with the book is that there were some overdramatic scenes and writing that I felt was a bit out of character. Other than that, this was a great book!

Verdict: A must read!

Disclaimer: I received this finished book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Pahua and the Soul Stealer

Author: Lori M. Lee

Book Series: Standalone for now

Diversity: Hmong mc and side characters

Rating: 5/5

Recommended For...: Middle Grade readers, fantasy, mythology, retelling

Genre: MG Fantasy

Publication Date: September 7, 2021

Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents

Pages: 320

Recommended Age: 10+ (Slight racism, Murder mentioned, Parent leaving, Death, Slight gore)

Explanation of CWs:

Synopsis: Pahua Moua has a bit of a reputation for being a weirdo. A lonely eleven-year-old Hmong girl with the unique ability to see spirits, she spends her summer days babysitting her little brother and playing with her best friend, a cat spirit no one else can see.

One day Pahua accidentally untethers an angry spirit from the haunted bridge in her neighborhood--whoops. When her brother suddenly falls sick and can't be awoken, Pahua fears that the bridge spirit has stolen his soul. She returns to the scene of the crime with her aunt's old shaman tools, hoping to confront the spirit and demand her brother's return. Instead, she summons a demon.

Thankfully, a warrior shaman with a bit of an attitude problem shows up at the last minute and saves her butt. With the help of this guide, Pahua will have to find her way through the spirit worlds and rescue her brother's soul before it's too late. Little does she know she'll have her own discoveries to make along the way. . . .

With its unforgettable characters, unique nature-based magic system, breathtaking twists and reveals, and climactic boss battle, this story based on Hmong oral tradition offers everything a fantasy lover could want.

Review: I really loved this book! It was amazingly sweet and cute read. I loved the characters and character development. The world building was well done as well and the plot had me hooked from the first page.

However, I did feel like the the pacing was a bit fast. There was a lot of stuff that wasn't explained in story but I did appreciate that the context was in the back of the book.

Verdict: Highly recommend!

Disclaimer: I received this finished copy and e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: A Broken Blade

Author: Melissa Blair

Book Series: The Halfling Saga Book 1

Rating: 5/5

Spice: 2/5

Diversity: Sapphic couple mentioned, Bisexual MC

Recommended For...: fantasy, LGBT, new adult, romance

Publication Date: August 2, 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Age Relevance: 18+ (racism, violence, gore, alcohol consumption, death, war, sexual assault, colonizing, “blood purity”, cutting, slavery, cursing, romance, alcohol addiction, withdrawal, human trafficking, sexual content)

Explanation of Above: The book has a running theme and allusion to racism and discusses things like colonizing, “blood purity”, slavery, and human trafficking based on ones birth. There is a lot of violence, war, death, and gore in this book, specifically blood, corpses, and vomiting. Alcohol is consumed by the MC and other characters, but the MC is suffering from alcohol addiction and goes through withdrawal in the book. Sexual assault is alluded to but not specifically mentioned or shown. Cutting, specifically cutting names of people the MC murders onto her skin, is shown in the book. There is some cursing. There is some romance and some sexual content with scenes/body parts described in detail.

Publisher: Union Square Co

Pages: 431

Synopsis: Keera is a killer. As the King’s Blade, she is the most talented spy in the kingdom. And the King’s favored assassin. When a mysterious figure called the Shadow starts making moves against the Crown, Keera is forced to hunt the masked menace down.

She crosses into the magical lands of the Fae, trying to discern if her enemy is Mortal, Elf, or a Halfling like her. But the Faeland is not what it seems, and neither is the Shadow. Keera is shocked by what she discovers and can’t help but wonder who her enemy truly is…

The King that destroyed her people? The Prince that tortures them? Or the Shadow that threatens her place at court?

As she searches for answers, Keera is haunted by a promise she made long ago. A promise not only to save herself but an entire kingdom.

Review: I really liked this book! I thought it did so well talking about real life atrocities, such as Indian Boarding Schools, slavery and running away to freedom, and the creation of cops to stop run away slaves. The book focused a lot on the political/humanitarian side of the issues, a lot like Ash Princess, and it did well with the enemies to lovers romance (and there’s even a one bed trope!). Overall, I felt like the character development was well done and the world building was great. The book is very well written and I can’t wait for book 2!

However, I did have issues with the slow pacing of the book overall and I felt like the action build up was super slow as well. There were some time skips as well that I felt didn’t help further the plot. But my biggest issue is that I don’t understand why this book is shelved as young adult fantasy. The MC is 68 years old in the book and there are some graphic sex scenes in the book. There’s also a character in the book who is a teen that the MC sees as a child, which is a great indication of this not being a YA book. While the book could definitely be passed off as NA because the MC says that due to her slow aging, I don’t agree with the YA shelving because it contain NA/adult themes rather than YA.

Verdict: It was great! Highly recommend!

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Opportunist

Author: Elyse Friedman

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Character with muscular dystrophy

Recommended For...: thriller, mystery, contemporary, psychological thriller, adult readers

Publication Date: December 6, 2022

Genre: Thriller Mystery

Age Relevance: 18+ (sexual content, abelism, cursing, fatphobia, alcohol consumption, sexism, domestic violence, sibling death, child sexual abuse, romance, animal violence, cancer, suicide, death)

Explanation of Above: There is some romance and sexual content in the book, including sex scenes. There is some domestic violence scenes shown and one scene shown of child sexual abuse including other mentions of it in the book. There are abelist comments and fatphobic comments made, including things about diet and weightloss. There is cursing in this book along with alcohol consumption. There are sexist comments and cancer is mentioned. Death of a sibling and others are shown and mentioned, as well as a scene of suicide mentioned. Cancer is mentioned. There is a hunting scene shown and mentioned in the book in regards to deer.

Publisher: MIRA

Pages: 336

Synopsis: When Alana Shropshire’s seventy-six-year-old father, Ed, starts dating Kelly, his twenty-eight-year-old nurse, a flurry of messages arrive from Alana’s brothers, urging her to help “protect Dad” from the young interloper. Alana knows that what Teddy and Martin really want to protect is their father’s fortune, and she tells them she couldn’t care less about the May–December romance. Long estranged from her privileged family, Alana, a hardworking single mom, has more important things to worry about.

But when Ed and Kelly’s wedding is announced, Teddy and Martin kick into hyperdrive and persuade Alana to fly to their father’s West Coast island retreat to perform one simple task in their plan to make the gold digger go away. Kelly, however, proves a lot more wily than expected, and Alana becomes entangled in an increasingly dangerous scheme full of secrets and surprises. Just how far will her siblings go to retain control?

Smart, entertaining and brimming with shocking twists and turns, The Opportunist is both a thrill ride of a story and a razor-sharp view of who wields power in the world.

Review: This was an interesting read. The book is a duel POV told between Alana and Kelly. Alana is a single mom who is trying to raise her child when she gets a call from her estranged brother about their father’s new girlfriend who is significantly younger than him. The brother, fearing that the woman named Kelly is just using their father for money, employees Alana to help him out Kelly to their father. Alana’s POVs offer insight into the past, especially when more evidence and details are found regarding her sister, Lillian’s, death. Kelly’s POVs offer insight into her motives for being there, which may not be entirely for love. For the most part I thought that the book was really well spun and very twisted. I didn’t see the outcome coming but I’d love to reread it to see what clues there were in the book that might have led to this outcome. The book also did great making every character slightly unlikable and they really have you rooting for the murderer in the end.

The only issue I had with the book is that the ending is just a little too simple for me and kinda goes into the “it’s all a dream” trope in a way.

Verdict: It was really good!

Disclaimer: I bought this book! Support your authors!

Book: The Black Kids

Author: Christina Hammons Reed

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Black main character and main family

Recommended For...: historical fiction, books about racism and police brutality

Publication Date: August 4, 2020

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Recommended Age: 16+ (language, n word usage by non-black characters, racism, violence, gore, police brutality TW)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Book for Young Readers

Pages: 359

Synopsis: Los Angeles, 1992

Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer.

Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids.

As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal. Even as her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. Even as the model black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents have built starts to crumble. Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson.

With her world splintering around her, Ashley, along with the rest of LA, is left to question who is the us? And who is the them?

Review: For the most part this was a really good book. I enjoyed the story and oh my it felt like a blast from the past! The plot kept me hooked, the characters were well developed, and I enjoyed reading it.

However, I did think that the book was a bit weird in pacing. It was very fast and choppy in the beginning but then very slow after the climax. The book also needed more world building in my opinion.

Verdict: Required reading!