I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Set in a fantasy world where a cut from the sand can leave you tearing your own skin apart, and where people can control creatures called dust demons, Maika is a ruthless warrior that captures peaceful gardener Dani for his skills in horticulture. Soon Dani finds himself at home in the home of the raiders, and finds himself growing closer to Maika who may be a dominant on the battlefield but is a submissive in bed.

This was a short but very interesting novella that gave a great look into a really intriguing fantasy world while also giving readers some steamy scenes between characters. I really liked that this world obviously had queer characters and queer relationships, and there was no problems with this, and there were mentions of trans characters as well. The main characters in the story are also in a polyamorous relationship where there was a lot of love, trust and respect from each member and I liked reading it.

This novella also had a fantastic twist on the end that I didn’t see coming, and I really liked it.

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tori Bailey is a bestselling author of a self-help book aimed for women in their twenties. Now 31 years of age, she’s still talking about the previous decade and can’t help but feel like she’s lying to herself because her life is not as perfect as she’s pretending, particularly her relationship.

This book was the perfect recipe for a day tying to escape the summer heat. I read 90% of it in one afternoon curled up in the shade, and I loved it.

Tori isn’t the most likeable character, I have to admit, but I think it’s because some of the things she thinks about, particularly when it’s about other people in her life, and very realistic. Everyone has had those moments when they’ve thought something cruel about someone they love and immediately had the reaction, ‘omg, I can’t believe I just thought that.’ Well, Tori thinks those things a lot - mostly due to her own insecurities.

I liked the emphasis on social media in this book and how those likes can become a crutch for people, and easily it can be fooled to think people have the perfect life when they’re posting about the best, filtered bits online.

I would have liked a bit more character development in Tori as I feel like I didn’t really see her grow as a person at all except the very, very end when she finally just admits something to herself at the very last minute and it made the ending feel a bit rushed.

I received a free copy of this book from Head of Zeus in exchange for an honest review.

It's the middle of WW2, and the nuns in a convent in the French town of St Croix have to deal with the suffocating effect of the invading Germans, and the Nazi officer who is determined to break them. But this doesn't stop them from helping Jewish children and families in need, In the middle of this, the Mother Superior's niece arrives from England in the disguise of a French villager, and she is ready to help arrange transport of stranded pilots back home.

This was a fantastically-written, evocative and atmospheric novel that will have you feeling all the feelings!I was immediately entranced into this book even though it started off a few years prior to the war with Adelaide discovering the truth about her biological father and traveling to meet her aunt. Adelaide was genuinely so wonderfully British and I loved it about her. She was educated, polite and stoic and her later role in the war proved her to be capable, strong and brave as well.

There were characters in this book (the Germans mostly but also some of the nuns) that had me feeling a level of hatred I didn't know I possessed. I've read some books with terrible characters int eh past but for some reason, this book in particularly had me enraged when certain characters would of things to people or harass the nuns and it drove me nuts but in a good way as it just kept me reading to see what happened.

This book is fiction but there are so many true stories of wartime bravery similar to what happened in the novel that can turly take your breath away. Seeing the danger that Adelaide, Marcel, Sarah and the other sisters put themselves into save others and knowing real people were once in those situations and did those incredible things take your breath away.

CW: Sexual assault, rape, stalking behavior

I received a free copy of this book from Harper Collins in exchange for an honest review.

When Rachel wakes up after her neighbour's New Year's Eve party, she instantly knows something isn't right. She's covered in bruises and tender in places she shouldn't be, and she can't remember anything from the night before. After Rachel realises that she's been drugged and raped, she starts trying to piece together her memories to discover who hurt her. But who can she trust is telling the truth?

I thought this book was going to be something a bit different if I'm honest. When I went into this originally, I just presumed something bad had happened but I never thought it would be sexual assault and rape, and I feel like maybe this is something that should be stated on the Goodreads blurb or back cover because many people wouldn't want to read about such a topic, and some people may feel like I did and just be uncomfortable with it being used as a plot point for a 'thriller.'

I felt for Rachel a lot, and it was very hard to follow her go through all her emotions, specifically because of the fact she also had no idea who had deliberately planned to hurt her in such a way. She wasn't treated very well by her family and friends and it was annoying to be a reader and witness it. There were moments when her husband was also really dismissive of what had happened - asking her at one point if they could just 'move on' - and there were also flashbacks to times before the party when he had been physically violent towards her.

The reveal for me wasn't very shocking- I definitely saw it coming. This book didn't thrill me, it just left me feeling uncomfortable and it's not one I'd recommend.

4.5 stars

Ava Lavender was born with wings. There is no explanation of why this happened. She is not an angel, not is she half-bird - she's simply a girl with wings. In this beautiful tale, we follows Ava's life but also that of her mother and her grandmother before her.

The Lavender family is pretty extraordinary and this novel is full of beautiful uses of magical realism from a mother fading away as she mourned her husband and her country of France, to a young woman who turned herself into a canary so she would be noticed by her love, a birdwatcher. The style of writing in this was just so wonderful, and beautiful. It was really elegant and the descriptions were honestly just delicious without being over the top.

I loved that the characters and the plot points in this book were not all sugar and sweet things. The characters had sharp edges to them and a grittiness that made them raw, open and real. But because of the element of magic that weaved throughout, everything was slightly softened up and it gave the story a true beauty.

I absolutely loved this.

I received this book from Abrams&Chronicle in exchange for an honest review.

When Rilla travels to Yosemite National park to live with her sister, she's determined to better - especially when she's busted for partying less than 24 hours after her arrival. Rilla soon falls into a climber crowd, and they begin to teach her the joys and hardships of climbing in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

This was an enjoyable read with some great descriptions and scenery. i officially want to travel to Yosemite and see it in person after reading this book, and I won't lie, I'm very tempted to take up rock climbing as well.

Rilla was a great character and I loved that she seemed really tough at times, and cool, but also very vulnerable and unsure at the same time. She came across as a badass at first but then immediately we saw her worrying that she was uncool around the climber crowd, and I loved that. Rilla definitely showed a lo of growth in this book, and I loved reading her as she discovered her passion for climbing and did things she never thought she'd be able to. I was definitely confused by her sister's objection to her climbing and did have to wonder what she thought Rilla was going to do the whole time she was in Yosemite - she can't do schoolwork all the time...and she's Yosemite for god's sake.

The relationship happened, not too fast, but the crush happened really fast for my liking - like literally on the second page. I liked the sex scene in this book - it was positive, and fun as well as sensual and I liked it as an example of having sex but not actually having sex at the same time.

There was a bit too much heavy description in this of climbing for me - like all the different equipment words and conversations just about climbing that meant I got a bit bored at times because I'm not a climber. There is a glossary for the climbing terms and words used at the end but by then I didn't car, I was finished the book.

TW: Terror attack, gun violence, knife violence

I received a free copy of this book from Penguin Ireland in exchange for an honest review.

When Cara is caught up in a London terror attack, she’s pulled to safety by a young woman and in the hours the two are huddled in a dark room together, Cara ends up spilling all her secrets. Then the girl, Amy, shows up at Cara’s workplace and becomes a part of her life just as things start to fall apart.

The opening pages of this book were so terrifying and totally hooked me into this story. I think it’s a situation that has unfortunately become way too much of a possibility of happening to anyone now and really made me as a reader sympathise and form a connection with Cara.

I liked for the most part how the dual narrative played with Amy’s disintegrating frame of mind, and how we knew she was putting together plans to destroy Cara but we didn’t know exactly what those plans were.

I definitely lost my complete devotion to this book about halfway through, I think for a domestic thriller it was a bit on the long side and could have done with being a little bit shorter.