The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

While you wait for Bethany Baptiste’s The Poisons We Drink to come in May, check out this magical adventure also set in an alternate reality where magic is real and once again, the fate of the world rests in the hands of a teenager. This was originally posted in July 2021.

Available Now

I am a sucker for any book with “library” in the title. Add in “the dead” and I’m instantly intrigued. It’s science. 

Set in a complex and strange near future, The Library of the Dead, is a genre-bending mix of fantasy, post-apocalyptic dystopia and mystery. With all that it has going on, it would be easy to stray off course, but Huchu keeps the story tight and the characters never stray from the world’s rules that have been crafted for them. 

After losing their home, Ropa, along with her sister and grandmother move into their caravan and are barely making ends meet. With her grandmother’s ailing eyesight and her sister still being quite young, it’s up to Ropa to make enough money relaying messages from the dead to the families they left behind. It’s also up to Ropa to run all errands, maintain the caravan, and protect her family. Needless to say, Ropa has a lot of responsibility and it is really, really starting to wear on her. But, Ropa is also incredibly smart and loyal and does all she can to protect her grandmother and sister from the stress. 

When a deceased mother begs for Ropa to find her missing son, Ropa is more than hesitant to take on a non-paying job. But as mysterious occurrences around town begin to point to a larger child abduction operation, Ropa quickly realizes that if she doesn’t help the children, no one will. It’s through her investigation that Ropa discovers her best friend Jomo has begun to work at a private and prestigious Library. When she convinces him to sneak her in so she can utilize the Library for her investigation, the two are quickly caught and Ropa has somehow defied a death sentence to become a member of the mysterious Library. Upon meeting Priya, a powerful healer who herself is confined to a magical wheelchair, Ropa finds a fast and loyal friend. But as much as Ropa would love to lose herself in the immense collection of occult knowledge found within the Library, she has bills to pay and missing children to find. 

Ropa’s sharp instincts and keen intellect save her from one near death experience after another. I was immediately drawn to her no-nonsense attitude and fierce love for her family and friends. Ropa’s world is similar to our own, full of economic disparity and power imbalances. Even the magical power and knowledge is reserved for those with wealth and connections. Ropa has no problem with pointing out the unfairness of it all and it’s her lack of refinement, and amazing courage,  that let her get by with calling out the members of the Library for their unwillingness to help her find the missing children. But Ropa does find a few allies within the Library and I really hope that books are written in this world so we can find out more about the Library’s history and I would love to see how much change Ropa could bring as she gets older and more powerful in her magical ability. 

I thoroughly enjoyed The Library of the Dead and if you are interested in adding this wonderful adventure to your shelves, you can find ordering information here:

This post contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. 

The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste

Available May 7, 2024

CW can be found here on The StoryGraph

Look at this gorgeous cover!

From the Publisher:

In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family.

Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.

Then an enemy's iron bullet kills her mother, Venus's life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister Janus safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother's killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge. The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave D.C.'s most influential politicians.

As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it's hard to tell who to trust…Herself included.

Reader Friends, this book is incredible. No lie, I started this book months ago and was just a few pages in when I knew I had to put it down because this is such an amazing and special book that I wanted to be sure I was giving it the attention it deserved. I finally had a couple of days to really sit down and immerse myself in this emotional, heartbreaking, and powerful novel. If you are one of those readers who immediately disregards YA, this book will change your mind on the genre.

Baptiste crafted an alternate world that uses magic to explore themes of racism, classism, sexuality and generational trauma. Venus, still so young but straddled with such responsibility, literally puts her body and life in danger to support her family by brewing love potions. Her younger sister, Janus, wants to follow in her father’s footsteps and lead a revolution to guarantee the rights and freedom of witches, but her youthful overconfidence often puts both sisters in danger, adding to Venus’s stress and sense of responsibility. Adding to that tension is the fraught relationship both girls have with their mother. A mother who is more often terse, controlling, and detached when dealing with her two daughters. This complicated relationship drives much of the story and really packs an emotional punch.

The magical system is well developed and very interesting. I really enjoyed the lore of the brewers and their importance in history. There was just information given to keep the reader invested in the story without being too cumbersome with overly detailed rules. The magic was expertly woven into the story and always felt integral, not at all like it was used for convenience or to fill plot holes.

This is definitely a well paced, emotionally charged, and thought provoking book that will stay with you long after the last page. If you’d like to add it to your shelf, you can click on the cover above or here for ordering information.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own. This post may contain links, including Amazon Associate Links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

Sign Here by Claudia Lux

Available now

CW: Click here for a comprehensive list available on The StoryGraph

This book is another “Why Did I Wait So Long To Read” Book of the Month pick. You would think that a book set on the fifth floor of Hell would be an immediate read for me and you would be correct. But like many people, I sometimes like to save a book that I know is perfect because it’s my favorite way to get out of a reading slump. And yes, this book did just that.

Peyote Trip works in the Deals Department on the fifth floor of Hell. Surrounded by pens that don’t work, annoying coworkers, endless paperwork, and Jagermeister as the only alcohol available, it’s actually a pretty good job. Peyote is set to land his first Complete Set, a major accomplishment in his line of work. While we follow Peyote on his quest to complete this goal, we are introduced to the Harrison family, the family that will give Peyote his first Complete Set. Silas and Lily Harrison are high school sweethearts who are raising their two children, Mickey and Sean. When the Harrison’s go on their annual summer vacation at the family’s vacation home, they bring along Mickey’s new best friend Ruth.

No one was prepared for Ruth.

Like so many young, wealthy families, things aren’t always picture perfect. Secrets and lies, both on Earth and in Hell, threaten to tear everyone apart and upend their lives.

I absolutely adore this book! I love quirky books with interesting settings and characters who are…pretty awful. And these characters are pretty darn awful. Considering Peyote is working in Hell, we can only assume he made some questionable choices in life. I’m not judging, apparently someone else did that for us…but he actually seems like a nice guy. I thought it was quite interesting how kind and helpful he was to Calamity even though he was residing in the literally the worst place ever. I really enjoyed all of the quirks of Hell and the wonky things that went on there. Pens never work, radios only play your most hated genres of music, and the only drink sold in bars is Jagermeister and Peyote just rolled with it all. Meanwhile on Earth, the Harrison family is harboring all sorts of awful secrets. Told from multiple POVs, this fast paced story really kept me guessing and there were a few twists I did not see coming.
I found this book to be darkly humorous, imaginative and wildly entertaining. This was an incredible debut and I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next.

If you’d like to add this amazing novel to your shelf, you can click on the cover above for ordering information. This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen

Available now

This book is utterly enchanting! This was my most recent pick from Book of the Month and it was perfect to read during the winter holidays-but don’t wait until next Christmas to read it! Grab it now if you’re looking for a snow filled world full of magic, mystery, and danger.

Twin sisters Natasha and Clara were cursed by their godfather on the day of their christening. Clara, declared Light and Natasha, Dark. Clara grows up the golden child, full of life, charm, and beauty. Natasha, shadowed by her sister, grows up plain, studious, and ignored. Together, the girls grow up wealthy thanks to the deep pockets of their godfather Drosselmeyer who funds their parents ostentatious lifestyle and social climbing.

On the night of their 17th birthday, their godfather Drosselmeyer comes to the annual gaudy and drunken family Christmas Eve party with gifts for his goddaughters. For Natasha, a garish and terrifying clown doll the size of a man, capable of moving on its own. For Clara, a small nutcracker that appeared both incredibly cheap and magical. More shockingly, Drosselmeyer was there to announce the engagement of Clara to Conrad, a young man from a prominent family and Natasha’s not-so-secret secret lover. Later that night, furious, heart broken and bereft, Natasha finds herself swept away to a magical land alongside her sister. But the two don’t remain together for long. When Clara is taken away by the now lifelike nutcracker in a horse drawn carriage, Natasha finds herself alone in a magical candy-filled world seemingly made from Clara’s dreams.

What follows is a dark and deadly adventure through the lands of the Sugar Plum Fairy. An adventure that leads Natasha on a twisted mission of revenge and retaliation.

This book is incredibly dark. Please don’t go into this Nutcracker retelling expecting anything light or fluffy. Even the scenes through the magical candy filled lands are very disturbing. I can’t even look at a gingerbread man the same way. It’s full of dangerous magic, violence, deception, greed, and borderline child abuse. The characters are not likeable, not even remotely likeable. But the world building is very well done and finely detailed and I found the story incredibly compelling. And that cover! Stunning. If you’re in the mood for some serious sibling rivalry, absolutely atrocious family members, wicked wealthy people, and dark magical lands, this is definitely a good pick for you!

I bought my book through Book of the Month and if you use my referral link, you get your first book for $5 and I get a free one! Or, pick this up from your local Library or bookstore. You can also find ordering information by clicking on the book cover above.

This post may contain links, including Amazon Associate Links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

Reading Randomness

I thought, silly me, that after having survived The Kid’s freshman year of high school, I knew what to expect. But no, sophomore year seems even busier and overwhelming and my reading time just hasn’t made it very high on the priority list. And no, The Kid is not overwhelmed, I am. He is doing fabulous and loves all the extra time with his friends and the fun side of school and his various clubs. I just have to find the time to take him everywhere, make sure the Farm Friends are content, fit in a job, and you know, sleep.

But, I have been able to fit in a few series books! Normally I don’t find it very useful to review books in long running series because it’s hard not to spoil earlier books and if you’re really interested to know if book #26 is worth reading, you’re going to read it anyways because you already the first 25.

But with that said…

Heir of Uncertain Magic by Charlie N. Holmberg is just as delightful and engaging as Keeper of Enchanted Rooms. It picks up right after book 1 ends and I loved it just as much as the first. Boy of Chaotic Making, book 3 in the Whimbrel House series is scheduled to come out February 13, 2024 and I’ve already pre-ordered it. Both book 1 and 2 are available in KU and it looks like book 3 will be as well.

Dark Olympus Book #5! Just as hot and steamy as the rest of the series with even more mystery surrounding the actual magical workings of the city of Olympus itself. I really love how Katee Robert isn’t afraid to explore non-traditional romantic pairings and includes a diverse range of characters. Everyone is interesting, everyone has a secret, everyone wants to sleep with everyone and we get to see it all! This one did leave me wanting a little more in the “how did we go from pants feelings to heart feelings” area, but overall I really enjoyed it.

If you’re looking to start your Spooky Season reads and don’t know where to start, here are two books coming out soon to add to your pre-order list! Full reviews will come soon.

I’m about 60% through Black River Orchard, which comes out 9/26/23. One of the darkest, creepiest, most enthralling books I’ve read in a while! I am absolutely loving this one! If you loved Wendig’s other books, you’ll love this one. It’s about a man who plants seven apple trees in his family’s orchard and then the whole town becomes obsessed with the fruits. Very, very disturbing to read as I am currently working my way through our own apple harvest…

Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson comes out 10/3/23 and is absolutely terrifying! One of the most beautifully written horror novels I’ve ever read. It’s quietly chilling and utterly compulsive. I read it in one sitting because I couldn’t tear myself away. I read this several months ago and I still think about it at least once a day. Definitely pre-order if you’re a horror fan.

This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases. All opinions and mistakes are my own. Both digital copies of Black River Orchard and Bloom were advanced copies I received from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg

Narrated by Amanda Leigh Cobb, Graham Halstead, and Nicholas Boulton

Available now

CW: murder, child abuse. It is kept pretty brief and matter of fact, with the majority of the story being quite light, but there are a handful of violent scenes.

I don’t remember adding this to my KU library but Past Me has excellent taste! This book was the perfect field mowing companion and I immeadiately downloaded the second book in the series as soon as I finished it. It’s so sweet, a little silly, and incredibly compelling. If you’re looking for a light, magical, cozy fantasy read with a dash of romance, this book is perfect.

From the Publisher:

Rhode Island, 1846. Estranged from his family, writer Merritt Fernsby is surprised when he inherits a remote estate in the Narragansett Bay. Though the property has been uninhabited for more than a century, Merritt is ready to call it home—until he realizes he has no choice. With its doors slamming shut and locking behind him, Whimbrel House is not about to let Merritt leave. Ever.

Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms has been trained in taming such structures in order to preserve their historical and magical significance. She understands the dangers of bespelled homes given to tantrums. She advises that it’s in Merritt’s best interest to make Whimbrel House their ally. To do that, she’ll need to move in, too.

Prepared as she is with augury, a set of magic tools, and a new staff trained in the uncanny, Hulda’s work still proves unexpectedly difficult. She and Merritt grow closer as the investigation progresses, but the house’s secrets run deeper than they anticipated. And the sentient walls aren’t their only concern—something outside is coming for the enchantments of Whimbrel House, and it could be more dangerous than what rattles within.

It’s so good! This one is hard not to spoil, so apologies for the brief and excited squealing. Keeper of Enchanted Rooms is incredibly fun. It begins with dual narratives. One is from a wealthy wizard who has a tragic childhood and the other is Merritt Fernsby, bachelor writer who inherits Whimbrel House. The magic found within Whimbrel House is quite whimsical in the beginning, balancing out the darkness of the story of our tortured wizard. There is a light romantic element that is full of pining and Great Concern for Propriety but isn’t the main focus of the story, more of a delightful bonus. There is delightful banter amongst all the characters, as well as some found family elements. The magic system, widely known to all in the world, is simple and easy to follow and provides some great comedic moments. Hulda holds an important and respected position within the BIKER, the magical agency that oversees enchanted homes. I love a heroine with an interesting job and Hulda definitely has an interesting job! She’s incredibly competent and I don’t remember her dealing with any type of patriarchal b.s. It could be there, but I don’t remember. Quite refreshing, to be honest.

I found the Keeper of Enchanted Rooms to be delightful and engrossing story with a fantastic mystery. I listened to the audio version and the performances were absolutely fantastic. If you would like to add this magical mystery to your shelf, you can click on the cover above, or here, for ordering information.

This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

Pride Reads: Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

There are numerous lists (yay!) of amazing books to read during Pride Month, and all year long! Here is one of my favorites!

Available now

I finished this book last night and I’m still devastated. Be sure to keep the tissues handy during this one! If you loved The House on the Cerulean Sea, you are going to love Under the Whispering Door. Not only does Klune have a way with long, whimsical titles, but he has crafted another heartfelt and emotional story about being a human and finding love.

Wallace Price has lived his life consumed by his career. Demanding perfection from his employees and spending each day working until the point of exhaustion has been his M.O. until, one day, he finds himself dead. Standing over his body, bewildered about his situation, and then suddenly, at his own funeral. What should be a well-attended, proper, and expensive affair, turns out to only be attended by his ex-wife and his partners from the law firm. There were no kind words, no tears, and to Wallace’s astonishment, a remarkable amount of sports talk. But there is one person at his funeral that Wallace has never met. And even more startling, she can see Wallace. Mei, Wallace’s reaper, has come to guide him to his next place and Wallace isn’t having it.

Finally relenting, Wallace and Mei make their way to a tea shop run by Mei and Hugo. But of course, this is no ordinary tea shop. It’s a way station for those newly departed before they make their way to other side. Residing in the tea shop with Mei and Hugo are Hugo’s faithful pup Apollo and Hugo’s grandfather, the deceased Nelson. Slowly, day by day, Wallace learns from this remarkable team the ins and outs of ghost life, and begins to realize how little he actually lived.

This is an emotional, tender, funny, and remarkable story of life and love and I was immediately caught up in Wallace’s story and his journey to the afterlife. Wallace experiences all the stages of grief over his own death and does so in a way that felt incredibly real and relatable. His journey to discovering how to be a friend and to become part of a family never felt forced, it was a gentle progression that we saw every step of the way. Klune has given us beautiful characters with full lives and distinct personalities. Every character is crucial to the story and grows within the book. Klune has created an interesting take on the Reaper mythos and I really loved how The Manager, no spoilers!, was imagined. The characters were so well thought out and imagined that it made the story really compelling and I was unable to put it down.
No lie, I finished this while eating dinner with my guys and sobbed over my mac ‘n cheese. The Kid was quite worried.

I cannot express how much I love this book. It’s compelling, beautiful, heartfelt, and just really, really lovely. If you would like to add this story to your collection, you can find ordering information here:

Thank you to Netgalley and TOR Books for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

This post also contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases.

Pride Reads: Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

There are numerous lists (yay!) of amazing books to read during Pride Month, and all year long! Here is one of my favorites!

Available now

If you are looking for a low stakes, soothing, warm hug of a book, this is it. It’s the perfect way to spend a few hours, lost in a world that is just discovering the joys of coffee and pastries, and the community that can be built around the mysterious concept of café.

This book is lovely.

Set in a fantasy world, Viv is an orc who is tired of fighting and pillaging. Determined to make a fresh start, she follows the ley lines to discover the perfect location for her next business venture: a café. But not just any café, it will be the first café in the area. With the help of some new friends, and a purse full of coins, Viv begins to turn a ramshackle stable into a place of warmth and community. But, not everything goes smoothly. People from her past are determined to make life difficult and there’s a pesky mob group demanding protection money.

Reader Friends, this book is perfect! I love it so, so much. I was looking for something light and you can’t get any lighter than this one. It is just a delightful account of people coming together as they transform a run down stable into a beautiful little shop. It’s full of shopping lists, shopping trips, and thoughts on decorations. It’s about making menus and arranging furniture. It’s about discovering new foods and the processes needed to make those foods. It’s about people becoming friends and being oblivious when the friendship develops into something more.

It’s just so lovely. If you are looking for something light that is both humorous and sweet, I highly, highly recommend this one.

If you would like to add this delightful book to your shelf, you can find ordering information here:

This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

Pride Reads: The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros

There are numerous lists (yay!) of amazing books to read during Pride Month, and all year long! Here is one of my favorites!

Available Now

Set during the wonderous and enthralling Chicago World’s Fair, The City Beautiful is a beautifully written story of young love, self discovery, and the barriers of social class. Alter Rosen came to America to help his father build a business empire, but their hopes and dreams ended with his father’s unexpected death. Now, Alter works at the newspaper as a typesetter and barely earns enough to share a small apartment with four other men, let alone enough to bring his mother and sisters to America. When young men from the neighborhood go missing, the local police claim they are runaways but Alter believes there is more to the story. When his roommate Yakov is found dead on the fairgrounds, Alter is convinced it was more than an accident. While helping with Yakov’s burial ceremony, Alter becomes possessed by Yakov’s dybbuk and finds himself in the middle of a dark conspiracy.

Now Alter must race against the clock to find Yakov’s murderer while battling against horrific racism and threats against himself and his friends. When an old friend resurfaces and offers his help, Alter finds himself battling his own desires and attraction to the handsome and mysterious Frankie.

This is a fascinating story. As someone who is not Jewish, I learned so much about the history of the Jewish community in Chicago and appreciated such an intimate look at the religion and their way of life. Alter lived a complex yet simple life. He came to America on the belief that his father had created a successful business and was going to set his family up with wealth and standing. What he found instead was an incredibly ill father and mountains of debt. All he wants is to make enough money to bring his mother and sisters over from Romania and provide a comfortable life for them. But along with that familial duty, Alter is facing his own inner conflicts over his attraction to other men. Trying to reconcile his true feelings with societal expectations is incredibly difficult. What I really loved, were Frankie’s explanations of how their relationship was completely fine in the eyes of their religion and gave evidence from their religious text. I completely understand that is probably only new information to me, but I hope that it also helps provide comfort for anyone else who may find themselves in Alter’s position.

Polydoros provides such vivid detail of the fair and Alter’s neighborhood that it made you feel like you were walking through the exhibits with Alter. You could feel the wonder that everyone felt at the technical and engineering advancements being created, but that was also balanced against the racism and degradation of many of the exhibits. This is a wonderfully written and well-researched novel that will keep any reader completely engrossed from start to finish.

Highly, highly recommend.

If you would like to add this amazing story to your collection, you can find ordering information here:

Thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own. This post also contains affiliate links and as an Amazon associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases.

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

Available now

Love this cover!

If you, like me, saw this book all over social media last fall but put off reading it, stop waiting! It truly is just as good as everyone was saying. It’s one of those delightfully genre bending romances that immeadiately hooks with you with the detailed and unique world building, interesting characters, and compelling romance.

Mercy Birdsall is doing her best to keep Birdsall & Son Undertakers running while her father’s health recovers and her brother finishes mortuary school. But running a business single-handedly is exhausting work, especially when a rival company wants to put you out of business and the local marshals are so irritating and exasperating. Exasperating and handsome. So handsome.

Hart Ralston is a marshal who keeps people safe from the many drudges roaming the wild lands of Tanria. Delivering bodies to local undertakers is just one part of his job, but some undertakers are far more annoying and exhausting than others. Especially those undertakers who are tall, curvy, beautiful and fiercely independent like Mercy Birdsall. And her having a lovable dog doesn’t hurt.

For four years, Mercy and Hart have traded increasingly hostile barbs at one another, all fueled by a bad first meeting. After a particularly unpleasant encounter with Mercy, Hart writes a letter to “A Friend.” Pouring out his feelings of loneliness in an uncharacteristically vulnerable letter, Hart is surprised and delighted to receive a response. What he doesn’t realize, is that kind, warm, and funny person he is corresponding with is none other than Mercy Birdsall. That’s right! They’re falling in love through anonymous letters.

As the two fall head over heels for each other, the world around them seems to be falling apart. Mercy’s undertaking business is in grave jeopardy. Hart is battling an increase in drudge attacks. And then the unthinkable happens. Hart discovers Mercy is his pen pal. Terrified that he’ll lose her friendship and hate him forever, he keeps his discovery a secret.

You guys. This is one of the best enemies-to-lovers I have ever read. These two can’t stand each other in the real world but are so smitten with each other in their letters it’s unreal. It’s so good! Also, the world building is really interesting. Magic is so prevalent in this world that it’s almost an afterthought. Hart is a demigod. His father is one of the Old Gods and it’s quite possible that he is immortal, but he won’t know until he dies. Or doesn’t? A magical occurrence/disaster/something caused “drudges” to be created. Souls that take over the living and can only be killed by piercing their appendix. I love how quirky this is. All of this is just normal and treated as such. And the best part-those magical letters that made it to “A Friend?” They are delivered by magical animal postal workers!

I love how passionate Mercy is about her job. She truly feels that ushering people into the afterlife is a calling and one that she enjoys doing. She has to deal with all sorts of patriarchal b.s. that is infuriating to read and completely relatable. And of course, Hart is perfect throughout all of it. He’s such a delightfully tall cinnamon roll.

This book is fun, quirky, sweet, sexy, and very romantic. If you love family drama, magic, witty banter, and epistolary novels, this will be perfect for you. If you’d like to add this fabulous book to your collection, you can click on the book cover above or here for ordering information.

This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

Available now

From the Publisher:

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio–a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

I really, really enjoyed this one! Klune has this way of making, what I felt was, a very action packed and plot driven novel still seem very quiet and contemplative. Set in a dystopian future, our characters always seem to be on the verge of grave danger and yet, still find humor and joy throughout their days. If anyone can write a whimsical, dystopian love story, it’s Klune. Full of adventure in a futuristic setting, at it’s heart, In the Lives of Puppets is a magical story of found family, loyalty, acceptance, and love.

If you’d like to add this wonderful novel to your shelf, you can click on the cover or here for ordering information.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own. This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate Links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

Available now

This book is incredible! Absolutely one of the best books I’ve ever read. Told in alternating points of view, we watch as The Bridegroom falls hopelessly in love with Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada, an incredibly wealthy and enigmatic woman. He’s known from the beginning that he can never ask about her past and is so swept up in his love for her that he manages to never question her until they are summoned to her childhood home to say goodbye to her dying aunt. As The Bridegroom wanders the mansion, he discovers the house wants to reveal secrets that Indigo is desperate to remain hidden.

Indigo’s childhood is revealed to us through the eyes of Azure, her closest friend. Orphaned as a young child, Indigo inherits not just her family’s wealth and business empire, but closets full of designer clothes and jewelry. Together, they crafted spells to take them to the world of fae and spent their days in preparation of becoming fae royalty and a life of immortality.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is hauntingly beautiful. It’s part mystery, part fantasy, and completely engrossing. Chokshi is an incredibly talented writer and has crafted some of the beautiful sentences I’ve ever read. This ended up being far darker than I anticipated, but was so enthralling that I couldn’t put it down.

If you would like to add this amazing book to your collection, you can click on the cover for ordering information.

This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

Entranced by the Basilisks by Lillian Lark

Available now

Reader Friends, I love Lillian Lark’s books. I love how imaginative and sexy they are. I love how the characters have real, interesting lives and jobs. I love how easily she can turn magical elements into something that feels completely believable and relatable. I also love how imaginative and sexy they are.

Her books are so hot. So. Hot.

In Entranced by the Basilisks, we are back with Emilia from Deceived by the Gargoyles. She is still reeling from learning that magic is real and the discover that her best friend and co-worker has been lying to her for their entire relationship. When a crate of books is delivered to her office for restoration, she follows all of the precautions taught to her by Grace, including using crystals to check for, and deactivate any magical wards. When the first book appears to be nothing more than a beautiful antique book, Emilia is delighted to have a project that will keep her busy and focused on something other than her new-found magical knowledge.

But, magic is fickle and instead of hours of peace and quiet, Emilia discovers a curse. A curse that turns her into a Medusa-like creature and a threat to all who come near her. Desperate to find a cure, Emilia finds herself at the magical Love Bathhouse and in the capable hands of Rose, our favorite magical matchmaker. Will finding her mate cure the curse? Will finding pleasure on a serpent’s tongue be just what she needs?

Gods I love a book with the possibility of sex magic!

Luckily for Emilia, everyone steps up to help her control her new magical power. Everyone, including Jasper Adder, her very grumpy boss who has been harboring a secret crush on his employee. Everyone, including Ari Zeyad, the rich antiques dealer who has spent the last seven years wanting a real relationship with Jasper, only to be pushed away.

Lark has gifted us with a steamy romance that is a glorious blend of enemies to lovers, workplace pining, age gap, and “ancestor did something wrong so the entire line suffers” longing. It’s an incredibly sweet book, with characters that feel real even with all the magic involved. Jasper and Ari have a long and complicated history together with real reasons for not taking their relationship public. Ari’s tendency to be very pushy and manipulative makes things more difficult, not just for his relationship with Jasper, but for his relationship with both Jasper and Emilia. Emilia isn’t one for casual relationships and to just jump into a relationship with not one, but two men is an incredibly hard choice to make. Add in their shapeshifting abilities and the whole “magical curse” thing and it’s quite a lot for her to take in. But it all works. Lark is able to weave together all these elements and craft a beautiful, steamy, romance that I thoroughly enjoyed.

This is part of the Monstrous Matches series but can be read as a standalone. Deceived by the Gargoyles is fabulous so I recommend you read that first, then come back to Entranced by the Basilisks. Both are available in KU.

If you’d like to add this fantastical romance to your collection, you can click on the cover above or here for ordering information. If you’re interested in starting a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can find information here.

This post contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach

Available now

CW: homophobia, parental death, plague, body horror,

This is a wildly imaginative and fascinating book. Yat, a former thief turned police officer has recently been demoted after being seen at a gay bar. Her father’s death has left her devastated, both emotionally and financially. She’s struggling with the disappearance of her first love and is barely holding it together at work. When she discovers a dead body, two fellow police officers brutally murder her and throw her lifeless body into the harbor.

But she wakes up. Now, with a mysterious new power, she has to join forces with unlikely allies to stop a new plague from devastating her city and prevent a war.

The blending of fantasy and mystery was very interesting: our main character Yat is a police officer who lives in a giant mushroom and has to deal with dirty cops and politics. In Yat’s world, there are some really creepy religious groups that have a huge sway over local politics and are extremely homophobic. Sound familiar? When Yat was seen at a gay bar by an undercover officer, she was demoted to the night shift. And that’s not the only thing outlawed by the government. Steel is seen as political, as are books. Corruption amongst the police is widespread and Yat gets swept up with an officer who seems to be blatantly taking bribes and ignoring citizen infractions while they are out investigating the stabbing of an informant.

It’s through this investigation that we get to see more of Yat’s world. Bioengineering is huge. There are houses made of large fungus. Yat’s home seems to feed off of her-like her dead skin cells or something (science, science, science)-and grows around her at one point. There are guns that shoot grubs that kill you with neurotoxins and bore holes in to your body. People have also altered their bodies with various bone growths, limb alterations, and eyeball enhancements. Plants and fungus seem to be incredibly important in everyday life but this is where I got lost because science, science, science and that’s completely on me-not the author. There is also some really cool magic elements that may be spoilers so I won’t go into depth on those.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It’s one of those delightfully weird and imaginative books that you can escape into for hours. It’s also full of complex and interesting characters, the majority of which are queer. This is also the first book in a series and I’m very excited to see what comes next.

If you’d like to add this wonderful novel to your shelf, you can find ordering information here, or click on the book cover.

This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

Fantasy Quickie: Emily Wilde's Ecyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Available now

Emily Wilde's Ecyclopaedia of Faeries is a charming and enjoyable epistolary novel. In a world where the fae exist, and are known, Emily Wilde wants nothing more than to write the definitive book on the fae and is determined to do it all on her own. But Emily isn't the friendliest with the locals and her intense academic focus often gets in the way of her common sense, leading to many mishaps and awkward social situations.

Highly descriptive and quickly paced, Emily Wilde's Encylopaedia of Faeries is a delightful romantic adventure. If you love your fantasy more on the cozy side, full of descriptions of the every day, this is perfect for you. I found it quite charming and delightful way to escape for a few hours.

If you’d like to add this lovely fantasy to your shelf, you can find ordering information here or by clicking on the cover above.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own. This post may contain links, including Amazon Associate Links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen

Available now

Have you read so far down the spooky book lists that you can no longer sleep and jump at every unknown noise?

Just me?

Ok, well here is the cutest book about a vampire that I have ever read. Garlic lives in a village of vegetable people and helps out in the garden of Witch Agnes. Garlic is always running a little late, tends to bump into things, and is just kind of anxious and stressed all the time. She would really love it if she could just stay in her garden all day and tend to her little garlic bulbs.

One day, her fellow villagers notice smoke coming from the chimneys of an abandoned castle. But when they ask Witch Agnes about the castle, she tells them a scary tale of a vampire who used to live there. Now, if anyone is going to go find out if their neighbor is indeed a bloodthirsty vampire, it only makes sense that Garlic be the one to go. She has a natural defense against vampires and because she can’t stand to let her friends down, she agrees to go.

What ensues is the cutest thing you will read this week.

I promise.

The art is just as beautiful as the friendships found within and I really loved how adorable the story was. I found this book through a cozy fantasy booktok account and immeadiately put it on hold from the Library. It’s also now in next month’s book order because I just can’t wait to share this with the Library Kids.

If you want to add this adorable graphic novel to your collection, you can click on the book cover for ordering information. As always, this post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling (Re-Post)

It’s a super busy spooky season around here and this book is too much fun not to share again!

Available now

This book is pure fun! If you’re looking for a romance with some wacky magic and family drama, this is the one for you. Also, be prepared for me to say over and over again that this book is delightful. It’s truly the best description. It’s absolutely delightful!

After Vivienne finds herself heartbroken after finding out her first love is engaged to another woman, she and her cousin may have broken the first rule of magic: don’t mix vodka with witchcraft. What begins as an innocent way to blow off some anger turns into a hilarious adventure of misfiring magic and finding a second chance at love.

Nine years later, Vivienne is all grown up with a successful teaching career at the local college when her life is turned upside down by the return of her first love, Rhys Penhallow. As a descendant of the original founder of Graves Glen, he must return to recharge the ley lines and give the speech at the annual Founder’s Day celebration. But things don’t go quite as planned. When his magic becomes unpredictable and he finds himself falling for Vivienne all over again, he discovers that there might be more going on. LIke, maybe she accidentally cursed him while drunk nearly a decade ago?

This one is so good! It is truly delightful from start to finish. VIvienne and her cousin Gwyn have this really close friendship and truly have each other's backs. If you love fun banter, they have it in spades. The curse they place on Rhys is   in its specificity. The best part? When they discover that one part of it really just curses all the women in his romantic relationships. It’s great. The small town drama surrounding Founder’s Day is really fun, especially Gwyn’s reluctance to get over herself and give in to her feelings for the beautiful and single mayor. Even the mysterious connection between Rhys’s curse and the magical mayhem is done in such a quirky way that the story never loses its lightness. 

The romance between Rhys and Vivenne felt very real and believable. I think it’s very hard to pull off a second chance romance. If the characters find themselves in a situation where the relationship truly must end, it can be very difficult to see them in any situation where they can work through the problems that originally split them up. Sterling has her characters wait nearly a decade before they see eachother again. While they both commit some low-key on-line social media searches, they don’t interact with each other until Rhys comes back to town. They both have grown up and matured significantly since their break-up and now have successful careers and places where they belong. They still dance around some subjects and should be more willing to discuss their feelings but hey, it’s a romance. That’s how they work. 

The Ex Hex is a truly delightful novel that made for a lovely reading experience. The characters are great, the magical system was really fun, and the story was compelling and moved along quickly. This would be a great way to dip your toes into paranormal romance if that’s a new genre for you, or to add a new holiday romance to your list. 

If you would like to add this hilarious romp to your shelf, you can find ordering information here: 

This post contains affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I earn from qualifying purchases.