If you love stories that celebrate the power of books, community, and connection, this novel is a must-read. Set in Victorian London, it invites readers into a hidden world where women gather under the guise of tea to share stories, strength, and solidarity. What if your invitation to tea was really a lifeline—a secret book club tucked behind the rigid rules of society? That‘s the premise, and it‘s beautifully executed.

The Unraveling of Julia is a compelling, genre-blending novel that pulled me back again and again as it slowly raised the stakes. It‘s a gothic thriller pulsing with suspicion, a romantic escape bathed in Tuscan sunlight, a psychological horror set in a haunted pre-Renaissance villa, and a women‘s fiction journey of self-discovery and emotional rebirth.

👻🍂 Some hauntings are worth chasing—even if they vanish by November 1st.

Ann Rose‘s cozy paranormal romance is a Sapphic story that draws on centuries of tales about loss and reunion. It‘s also a celebration of the truest kind of love—the kind that says: I see you, I celebrate you, and I will stand beside you—no matter how that‘s defined.

This is a hauntingly beautiful novel that explores how history leaves fingerprints on the present. Richman‘s writing is lyrical and emotionally textured, weaving archival mystery with intimate human connection.

This is a story for anyone who‘s ever held an old book and wondered whose hands turned the pages before theirs. A love letter to libraries, to truth, and to the quiet romance of legacy.

An emotional & insightful exploration of that moment when everything is thrown out of focus—when your plan no longer fits, & the world feels unrecognizable. But it‘s Aaron‘s discovery of his romantic & sexual orientation that truly shines. Readers will cheer him on as he learns to celebrate himself, feel safe and seen, and find someone who cherishes him. His aunt began that process—but only Aaron can finish it.

A beautiful, soul-gripping debut.

A soul-soothing beach read with heart, humor, & a tribute to found family. What I loved most wasn‘t the drama, mystery, or seaside backdrop, but the vibrant relationships among the women and children who made the Beach House a home. This is chosen family in all its nuanced, everyday glory. The drama and mystery beyond the Beach House offer lively context, but never pull focus from the women and children at the story‘s heart.

The beauty of Port Anna lies not in its twists, but in its texture. In the way love here is not a rescue, but a recognition. In how healing arrives softly—not as a climax, but as a tide. And in how the past doesn‘t haunt, but holds, gently urging the characters—and maybe the reader, too—toward release. I wish I could say more.

Be prepared—this book is raw. It is emotionally challenging, & at times, I had to put it down just to process what I‘d read & brace myself before jumping back in. But the power of Hayford‘s writing & the compelling friendships—Genevieve, Mercer, Wreath, and Jezzie—drew me back quickly. I couldn‘t leave them long. And yes, part of me kept reading to witness justice—yes, that divine karmic turn of Fate you just have to write with a capital ‘J

This brings the unseen women of Cervantes‘ life into the light—the ones who paid his debts, kept his household running, and even worked tirelessly to ransom him from war slavery. Their sacrifices allowed Cervantes to exist as history remembers him, yet that same history erased their own achievements. Through immersive storytelling this books transports you to Golden Age Spain.

This novel reminded me of classic science fiction—the kind that feels ripped from the headlines, grounded in possibility and plausibility. This is where Taylor‘s talent shines. Her ambitious, intellectually rigorous storytelling thrives on its intricate exploration of time, biotech, & human ambition. As someone drawn to layered narratives, I appreciated how the structure mirrored the infinity. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This is the perfect summer read—ideal for days when you want to escape into a story of friendship, love, and connection. Brock “The Rock” Thomson and Dr. Valentina “Val” Hargrove are an unforgettable pair. Their connection is instant and undeniable, and their chemistry? Sharp, thrilling—like a slide skid stop right at the buzzer.

Aine Kamara is on the brink of adulthood, preparing for her university exams—a time that should be filled with hope and ambition. But in modern Uganda, where shifting religious ideologies clash with personal identity, Aine is forced to question where she truly belongs.And in those moments, I found myself thinking—just as Achen does—Why must someone abandon their home, so rich in heritage and joy, simply because of who they love?

This book was not just well written with amazing characters and vivid clear writing, but it made me stop reading and just think about so many things that I took for granted in my life. In following the life of LeMei and her daughter Lin in this multi-generational novel but my own world in the US and Canada through new eyes. This is a story of women searching for their identity and selfhood dispute everything that was put in their way.

Lyra Parish is known not only some of the wittiest banter, the most delightfully charged relationships, but packaging it with the most wicked sense of humor. But now she has added something new to her list of accomplishments: redefining my favorite trope, enemies to lovers, and creating a favorite microtrope - mortal enemies to soulmates. Billie and Asher are perfect sparing partners and they prove the saying that “Revenge is an act of passion“.

This book is filled with so much emotion & humor both which show how powerful love Is & the connection that it brings between people, not to mention how Love can endure no matter what stands in its way. If you are looking for a story that will draw you in with just the right amount of mystery and intrigue to keep you wondering about the ending, with all the sweet romance then you don't want to miss this standalone romance!

This book reached out to me despite the generational and cultural gap that exists between me & Huda. This is a book that will help so many be seen. Huda's relationship with her family, religion, culture, & even herself is all part of the insightful and, for me, educational blend that turns a simple growing up story into a humorous learning tale that bridges so may divides.

This is a real book about real women living real lives in the face of everything that life throws at them. Carolyn, Ava, and Jasmine are three of the most unexpected friends that Fate finds a way of connecting when they each need the others support. What brings these women together is not just a need to have someone be their advocate, but they are there to listen to each other & become a true sisters accepting each other without any expectations.

This was a book that will get inside you. The author has clearly taken the time to carefully develop all her characters and infuse them with motivation that makes you feel their longing, fear, excitement, and apprehension that makes these character human. If you enjoy women's fiction and what I call Life Stories where, you don't know how the story will shake out until just before its over you have a great choice here!

With one of the most powerful narrators & character motivations as real as life this is not a book for the faint of heart. This book holds up a mirror to life today and reflects it back to you in a way that shows life with all its fears & insecurities, bitter & sweet moments, as well as joys & sorrows. It is a life that leaves you with wrinkles, scabs, and scars but leaves you knowing that with love and friendship you will always shine in the end.

This was just the fun and joyous breath of fresh air I needed right now. Georgia and Eli's second chance romance reminded me of all the reasons love is worth fighting for and how special and precious that connection can be! Love is something that will always find its way back to you, and this book will have you look over at your person and go, “Yea, it is worth fighting to keep this feeling.

As a an older reader, I was impressed with Youngdahl's ability to share this story in a way that make me feel as if I was teen again. This book would be a great summer read, but I truly feel this is a book teens need in this moment when resiliency, love, compassion, and endurance are the mixed up hallmarks of their generation. Caprice's story is one that will allow many to process the confusing mix of feelings that is life in the 21st Century.

If titles like Diane Keaton's Baby Boom and Chevy Chase's Funny Farm make you laugh, then this book will be a welcome fit for you. Add three super hot contractors, a romance novelist writing her way out of the worst case of ex husband induced writer's block, one of the best adorable best friends ever, & you have an award winning recipe for a runaway best seller filled from page one to finish with screwball comedy gold, banter

This book has a slow start, but this was necessary for this book to truly reach me as a reader and allowed me to fall into this book and understand the characters. Everything needs to be established, questions, relationships, and even the readers own uncertainties to ensure that this book draws the reader in and, in my case, captivated me. Once I was about a third of the way into the book I couldn't put this mystery down.

Written with a powerful voice this is a story of real people with humor, passion, drive & the beginning to a career I will be watching. Gwen's story had me holding my breath to see what destiny, fate, and the author have in story for her. A princess who ascends to her father's throne unexpectedly, And her secret childhood love of The High Captain, Tyreal will leave you nodding, smiling, and sighing.

Written in a beautifully fluid and nuanced style, Joan Sung's Kinda Korean pulled me in on the first page with the writing and held me through her balance of humor, insight, honesty, and mature understanding by reflection of her life. In this collection of short essays that present her life and experiences was welcomed into her life with the joys and heartbreaks, hopes and despair that truly reflected a well examined life.

Even being introduced to Carlee and Weston in cameos in The Wife Situation as quick thinking, incredibly flirty, and deep loving characters, I was not fully prepared for Carlee and Weston when they got their own book!. Oh My Gosh! Did this pair have me highlighting new micro-tropes like He Laces Her Boots, He always Texts Her First, Wordless Conversations, She's no Damsel In Distress and Dosent Need Saving, Nicknames, & He wants Patient Love

This book is one that just ripped my heart out on so many different levels and for so many reasons and was so finely written that I can't even share the reasons why without laying a path of crumbs for you towards the books ending. And, I really don't want to do that because the power of this book lies in the misdirection and beliefs that make us all members of our communities that we often you don't want to admit that we live by.

Filled with mystery, tension, sibling rivalry, & family drama this story that will leave you questioning your own world. Beautifully paced and engagingly plotted, I found myself waking up early to read because these characters and their struggles were just that real. I enjoyed the depth of the narrative and the symbolism included that took this from pop fiction to something I could easily see on a reading list for a Black Women Writers course

Avery Flynn always makes me laugh and leaves me with biggest smile and warmest heart for the characters in her books. I love that her books show the messy side of love, romance and life. This is the second book in the Downsides of Dating series and just like the first this is a steam your glasses book that just shines.

This book was the perfect winter read, not only did it have the most amazing characters but it made me snuggle into my comfy blanket and remember why fictional men are so memorable. And to be honest, there is nothing as much fun to watch as a rich steamy banter holds emotions at bay waiting for that moment when their passion will ignite and explode on the page.

This book left me reeling. I love that this is really a series and that that each book draws me deeper into the romance between Jake and Rakell as well as the loves and loves of Jake's teammates and Rakell's friends. In this book, Jake and Rakell's relationship is now facing new successes and with that new fears and desires as Texas and Hollywood separate them. This was a romance filled with emotion, passion, and banter...what more can I ask for

This book is the best 90s rom com - the only thing missing is Hugh Grant. I was laughing as Declan and Chrissy win a cruise at a Hockey Game half time show but soon break up, however both go after all. Filled with all the best banter, wit, and well paced plotting this story will leave you laughing and cheering!

This book was a real surprise & high school as I remember it, the world of simmering passions, high feelings, confusion, uncertainty, & all the insecurities. This book will transport back and leave you reflecting on what you survived. Luckily for most of us, these sad and tragic events the Stacey must experience are ones that will only play out in fiction, however the power and nuance of Jaime Townzen's writing comes making U part of the story

With a wonderful tension built out of blending two great angsty yet comic tropes, this author blends Brothers Best Friend with Second Chance Romance in the best way! If you like banter and dialogue as much as I do then you have a great choice here for a wonderful weekend read. Clean, funny, romantic, and wonderfully written I enjoyed every page and the glimpses into the lives of characters I have met before in other books by Wilde.

This was a spectacular book that celebrated the bonds is sisters & the power of sisterly love to help us get through life & those moments when Love is forming and falling apart around use. It challenges us to think about question like How do we know we are in love? How do know what to recognize as Love? I saw so much of myself and my blood sister in this book as well as my chosen found sister.

A book for those looking to be seen & understood while learning to see & understand themselves highlighting all the mixed up feelings that teens go through as they separate from family & begin to define themselves. It claims that space and builds on it, so every reader feels like they are part of the crew of in a narrative that uses the darker side of YA Horror and Fantasy in a banter filled and surprisingly raw and insightful book.

A YA Middle School Cozy Murder Mystery with neurodivergent twins that have been separated since infancy and reconnect one Break. With Parent Trap vibes this precocious pair seek to understand not just the world they are now forced the share but deal with learning to celebrate their own selves, their cultural heritage, and even parts of their religion all while solving a murder mystery.

Power, beauty, vision, and hope all lie at the heart of this flooded landscape. I hope this book is viewed as speculative science fiction when it is looked back at in 100 years rather than as a missed Memo and warning. I hope we take a note of the question that is so often posed in this work today - “Didn't they know this coming? Couldn't they have done anything?“ “

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ebook I read

This book was so much more than I expected. It was touchingly sweet, beautifully spicy, and a humorous romantic comedy read, but it had the perfect amount of real emotion & vulnerability to make this go from being a standard beach read to becoming a fully developed novel that would not let me go. If you enjoy the blend of humor & emotions that a rom coms like 50 First Dates had, than you will want to check this book out.

One Sentence Review : An original and humorous read filled with character you will love and others you will love to hate, Pippa Grant will transport you to a destination wedding that will leave you giggling and wondering what the Bad Boy is really feeling behind his twinkling eye, quirky laugh, and seemingly completely carefree personality.

One Sentence Review: A fun, flirty, and spicy romance that flips the script on your favorite tropes but along with the humor and spice, this book also highlights the power of love to help us better understand how our past shapes who we are and what we expect from Love.

Thank You NetGalley and Flatiron Books for ecopy that I read.

I have literally devoured this book. Luckily it is a holiday today so I could stay up all night reading, yes I did literally fall asleep over my kindle last night. I don't know how I arrived so late to The Blood wing Academy Party, but I am so glad that I have found it now.

What can I say about this book that will get you to try it, beyond this is an author who is publishing Book Two soon and is always known for finishing her series.

A Spine Chilling, Heart Pounding Race against a Wildfire to save the life a small child! A work of fiction that is plausible and powerful that read as if it was ripped from the headlines and one that will stay with you long after you close the cover! This book had everything that I was looking for in a snap me out of myself read. This complex and vividly rich book read like the best action movie.

This was an amazing book filled with all the tension and other worldliness that I think of when I think of a Witchy Read. Ciccarelii has written an Enemies to Lovers romance that truly sets the bar for what can be done with this trope, especially when blended in with the Brothers Best Friend subtrope. With World building this vivid and detailed I cannot wait to see how the author will build on this for the nxt book.

This was the perfect weekend read to really prepare me for family gatherings of the holiday season. The writing was so vivid & humorous that I felt like a part of the story and the characters were so real I felt like I was part of the family. If you like stories with the perfect blend of romance, family drama, and the curious interaction of family relations all coming together, than this is a book you don't want to miss.

This book was the perfect blend of southern small town supernatural thriller YA fiction. Taken together this is the very definition of great gothic Storytelling! With great surprises and red herrings, this was the Nancy Drew style book my 16 year old self always wanted because it was real, current, imaginatively written and filled with all the longing, sweet kisses and pulse pounding emotions to fill any big screen

This was an original and intriguing Middle School Style Dark Academia / Romantasy read. I was a bit surprised by how slow the beginning of the book was, but with all the world building and the establishment of a very unique magical system with Scriptomancy that is needed, this pace is understandable. In this vivid and detailed book, Taylor needs to establish quite a lot of context and backstory for the reader to understand Maeve's world

This had many of the tropes that I enjoy reading like: He falls first, Second chance romance, if you fell in love with Allie and Noah in Nicholas Spark's The Notebook, then this book will whisk you away in a sweet and touching story of love found and lost, hearts broken and mended, and the strength of Love and Souls to find their back to each other.

This book is an inspiring collection that will left you up on days when you can't see the good around you. It is an excellent reminder of why doing the good and right thing is important, and reminder of the value of a small deed or a kind word can have on the lives of those around you. This is a wonderful book with short reads of literally 5-10 minutes, a powerful and easy meditation on how important we all are to each other.

This was a fun, cute, and relaxing read that read like the best screwball movie. In equal turns this felt modern like the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and classic like I Love Lucy and that dichotomy really drew me in and held me.

One Sentence Review: With strong banter and a fun twist on a classic theme, The Rom Com was a quest weekend read!

Three and A Half Stars rounded up to four.