Book Review: The Roommate Rule by Georgia Stone

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Georgia Stone
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: July 7th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When two polar opposites find themselves sharing a cabin for the summer, they lay down some ground rules to keep the peace—only to discover that one of those rules might be impossible to keep in this steamy new novel from the author of The Friendship Fling.

Dylan is the kind of person who is always fifteen minutes early and never leaves things to chance—so she can’t believe she’s about to spend six weeks on a last-minute trip to Wales that she didn’t plan, living in a cabin with a man she’s only met once.

Max always goes with the flow, and after his plus-one drops out of his all-expenses-paid travel influencer trip, he’s happy for his sister’s friend to take the spot. After all, from what he remembers of their brief meeting a year ago, Dylan is the kind of woman he’d be more than happy to spend some alone time with.

Not that anything is going to happen between them, because Dylan knows getting involved with this reckless, irrepressible flirt is the last thing she needs. So she makes a house they are roommates only, and under no circumstances can anything . . . untoward . . . happen between them.

But as the days go by, Max starts to realize how much he enjoys chipping away at the walls Dylan hides herself behind, while Dylan begins to admit to herself that there may be more to Max than she first assumed. And before she knows it, she finds herself wondering if their “roommate rule” might be one rule she actually wants to break…

NOT ALL I HOPED FOR.

I adored Georgia Stone’s debut so I’ve been super excited to get my hands on this book and it ended up on KU months early??? So here we are!

I loved the concept. The setting felt absolutely gorgeous and all of the traveling and activities were fun too. Two relative strangers stuck together for six weeks?? What could happen ya know??

The first half of the book was okay. I honestly wasn’t feeling the chemistry all that much between Dylan and Max. I do think the second half got better and there was a little more romance but some of the spice overshadowed that too.

Thematically the discussions around living life and taking chances amidst not knowing if tomorrow is coming were all good. I liked the conversations and the walls coming down as Max learned to let Dylan in. Dylan was rather stubborn on her *taking care of everyone ways* but I understood and liked that she also started to let things go too.

Not a total downfall, and it is a fairly easy read, just not what I was hoping for. Maybe the next book??

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 3-4ish open door
  • Violence: mild
  • Content warnings: discussions around cancer and hospitalizations (theme throughout)

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ALC Book Review: When Dealing with Dragons by Dana Swift

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: Dana Swift
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: June 30th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Bonding with dragons gave humans magic to craft metal―now, two school rivals have to work together to protect a priceless secret, all while fighting their growing attraction to each other, from Dana Swift, author of Cast in Firelight.

Copper-crafter Farren Walsh is set on following in her father’s footsteps to become a dragon veterinarian. The only thing more powerful than her love for these magnificent creatures is her hate for those who exploit them for their precious metal. That includes her classmate, an arrogant dragon racer named James Murphy, whose silver-crafting family represents the worst of human greed and dragon abuse―plus, he’s the biggest competition for the college scholarship she desperately needs.

When James strongarms his way into interning at her family’s dragon sanctuary for the summer, it puts everything at risk. Farren isn’t just the plain copper-crafter she seems. She’s hiding a secret that could not only change her life, but their society as a whole. And James, trying to find refuge from his controlling father, harbors his own secret, years-long crush on Farren. Hating James might be harder than she thought, but Farren can’t risk getting too close: the fate of an endangered species is at stake.

When Dealing with Dragons is a delightful young adult dual-POV romantasy about cross-class romance, finding family, and creating a better world for creatures big and small.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the gifted audiobook.

THIS IS WHAT I MEAN.

This is what I mean when I think about young adult fantasy standalones. WDWD was flipping cute and I was obsessed from start to end (not surprising because I also loved Dana Swift’s previous duology). The audiobook is great and you should definitely go with that format.

The romance was adorable. I loved that she was taller than him?? I loved the banter. The guy is DOWN SO BAD Y’ALL. From the minute you get his POV. And I’m obsessed with those kind of dynamics. I liked the themes and discussions between them and how they learned to work together. Farren learns that there’s a lot more to James and it’s just sweet.

I loved all of the dragon content. I will say, don’t squint too hard at the world building. Some of it didn’t quite click but I overlooked it for how much enjoyment I was getting out of everything else. Back to the dragons, loved them. Loved the metal magic system and how that operated. I was very attached and very upset at a lot of things (complimentary).

Seriously a wonderful young adult fantasy. I loved Farren’s family too!! Supportive, strong families are such a gem and I loved that they were included too. It’s a book I’m going to be throwing at everyone to read.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy Romance
  • Langauge: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate – high
  • Content warnings: animal abuse (on page), child abuse (recounted), weapons violence

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Book Review: The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy (Dearly Beloathed #1) by Brigitte Knightley

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Brigitte Knightley
Publisher: Orbit Books
Release Date: July 8th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The first in a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy duology featuring a scholarly healer and a gentleman assassin, set in an exquisite fantasy world, perfect for fans of The Love Hypothesis and Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries.

Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, is in dire need of healing. Naturally – such is the grim comedy of fate – the only healer who can help is Aurienne Fairhrim, preeminent scientist, bastion of moral good, and member of an enemy Order.

Aurienne is desperate for funding to heal the sick – so desperate that, when Osric bribes her to help him, she accepts, even if she detests him and everything he stands for.

A forced collaboration ensues: the brilliant Woman in STEM is coerced into working with the PhD in Murders, much to Aurienne’s disgust. As Osric and Aurienne work together to heal his illness and investigate the mysterious reoccurrence of a deadly pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction, which only fuels the heat between them.

WORKED FOR ME.

I didn’t know what I would be getting when I picked this up but I was hopeful for a good enemies to lovers romantasy. I think that mostly delivered and I’ll read the second book because this did leave me curious about where that would go.

Some of the humor/innuendo/spice didn’t work for me and just wasn’t funny. That was my biggest gripe throughout that kept taking me out of the story.

On the other hand we have another case of a man falling first and falling head over heels so hard we doesn’t even realize it and GOSH I LOVED THAT. The banter is snappy and witty and it has a very unhinged level of antics that played off well for the plot. All of the wild things he’d do for her really worked for the characters.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: multiple open door
  • Violence: high
  • Content warnings: high violence, on page torture, loss of life, medical content

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Off Base by Haley Warren

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Rating: ★★★.75
Audience: Contemporary Sports Romance
Length: 324 pages
Author: Haley Warren
Publisher: Simon Maverick
Release Date: June 2nd, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He’s trying to find a way out.

She’s trying to find herself.

Miller Colson-Burke has only ever been good at three things: flirting his way out of anything, being the best shortstop in the league, and playing baseball side by side with his best friend, Matt.

Until an accident takes Matt from him forever, leaving him haunted by a memorial banner and a sport he used to love. The only things he’s really interested in being good at now are avoiding the press and figuring out how to run away from a rumour he can’t seem to escape.

Ren Jacobs has spent the last four years building a new life and trying to remember all the reasons to love the person she used to be. But when someone from her past comes along and steals her dream job, she finds it hard to love anything about herself at all.

Thank you to Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook.

IT GREW ON ME?

I immediately had to have this book because *dinosaurs*. Little did I know there was almost too much dinosaur content? As if the author was trying to make sure I knew that Ren was paleontologist. DON’T WORRY. I got it. She loves dinosaurs. The museum content was good though and I loved how the musuem and baseball team were working together.

Matt, I adored. He was a man broken by grief trying to find pockets of joy. There’s a soft fake dating angle to this that kept sending Matt and Ren into each other’s orbit and I think that worked well. I did like that banter and converations between them too. They were definitely a match.

Buuuut. The third act made me cranky. Which wouldn’t surprise anyone that has read this too. Not to mention there was way too much ex related content. I hate when the ex takes up too much time and overshadows the main romance. Just go away.

This was my first book from Haley Warren and I would read another!

Overall audience notes:

  • Sports romance
  • Language: mild – moderate
  • Romance: 3ish open door
  • Violence: low
  • Content warnings: loss of a friend, grief depiction, absent parent, gaslighting ex

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