Book Review: An Embroidery of Souls by Ruby Martinez

September 9, 2026September 23, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Ruby Martinez
Publisher: Knopf Books
Release Date: September 9th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Jade can manipulate souls with the tug of a thread–it’s up to her, and a boy with a soul as bright as the universe to stop a creature on the loose before it claims its next victim in this lush, Mexican & German inspired romantasy.

Jade Aguilar can kill a man with nothing more than a needle and thread. Like her mother, a thread speaker in the queendom of Mérecal, she has the unique ability to stitch love, beauty, intelligence and to unravel even death. When her mother goes missing, the queen orders Jade to find her or be conscripted into a life of servitude.
Lukas Keller is desperate to feed his family and makes a deal with a vicious gang leader. Though he swore never to seek the help of a thread speaker, he’s in over his head and it might be his only option.
Jade and Lukas form a mistrustful alliance. But as Mérecal erupts into chaos and the killer closes in, they must cling to one another for survival–and perhaps . . . something more?

LACKED DEPTH.

While I do think this is appropriate for YA audiences I was missing depth for multiple aspects of the story. The romance leans towards insta-love and that is always a problem for me. I do think there were some sweet/cute moments in here, but gimme MOOOORE.

The concept of the magic system was really cool. I liked learning more about it. There needed to be some boundaries to the way it worked because every time a new issue came up, all of a sudden the magic system could fix it.

The villains and twists aren’t anything surprising and you can see from far away. I did like the writing style and would be interesting in at least trying another book from this author.

Overall audience notes:

YA Fantasy Romance
Language: low
Romance: closed door
Violence: moderate

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Book Review: Vengeful (Villains #2) by V.E. Schwab

September 6, 2026April 25, 2026 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy/Sci-fi
Length: 478 pages
Author: V.E. Schwab
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: September 25th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.

But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she’s finally gained the control she’s always sought—and will use her new-found power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She’ll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.

With Marcella’s rise, new enmities create opportunity–and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.

A super-powered collision of extraordinary minds and vengeful intentions—#1 New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab returns with the thrilling follow-up to Vicious.

IT WAS TIME.

I’ve seen a little bit of marketing that the third (and final) book is finally coming out in 2026 so I figured it was time to see what the sequel was all about. I remember loving Vicious and the X-men vibes but make them all villains.

I don’t remember much from book one (I did not go reread it after 10 years), and I don’t think I really struggled with that fact. I was a little confused but the longer the book went on I did remember key pieces and that didn’t affect anything major. I’m grateful this book was pretty simple to fall into and the audiobook is fabulous.

The ever shifting POV is solid and makes the book flow well. There was less of Victor in this book than I was hoping and I think this lacked in some of the action I was expecting. The plot ramped up towards the end but was a slow starter in the beginning.

I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how the conclusion pans out.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy/Sci-fi
Language: mild-moderate
Romance: very brief scenes (but this is a not a romance!!!)
Violence: very high
Content warnings: loss of life, murder, attempted murder, weapons violence, physical violence, torture, lots of death and discussions surrounding it

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Book Review: Home Safe by Tracy Baack

September 5, 2026July 15, 2026 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Sports Romance
Length: 346 pages
Author: Tracy Baack
Publisher: Self published
Release Date: June 30th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Opposites may attract, but their differences could turn the relationship into a strikeout instead of a home run.

Danae Collins’ stable, quiet life as an elementary school librarian is upended when she becomes the guardian for one of her students in foster care. She carefully plans for every contingency on the road to permanent adoption—every contingency except crossing paths with a famous baseball player.

Griffin West is the star shortstop and “darling” of the Kansas City Crowns baseball team. Everything is on the line as he returns to the major leagues after a season-ending injury. When Danae brings her new son to Griffin’s baseball camp, the tug he feels toward her is a curveball he never saw coming.

On paper, their lives seem incompatible. But as they spend time together, the safety they find in each other only deepens. Will real obstacles ultimately break or bond them forever?

Home Safe is an opposites attract, single guardian baseball romance for fans of meaningful contemporary romance. This is perfect for readers who want a closed-door sports romance with plenty of swoon but no spice.

See Author’s Note for content considerations.

NOT TOO SHABBY.

I kind of wasn’t expecting to pick up another Tracy Baack book because I didn’t love her Christmas romance. But alas, the reviews of friends convinced me to take a shot with this one and as I have been on a baseball romance quest here we are!

It was very interesting to have the perspective of the FMC who hates baseball, and still doesn’t love it by the end. I was frustrated with her not being more understanding of Griffin’s schedule though. It was a consistent flair up and I don’t think Griffin had to continually grovel over it.

I loved how sweet Griffin was though. He’s a athletic teddy bear kind of character that shows up in small ways and big ways. I enjoyed his interactions with Danae and I liked them as a pair by the end. The foster parent content was also good and I liked those parts of the story.

What did bug me about the end though was something that I think is considered a spoiler. It felt like a short cut and I wish it had gone differently. All things end happy!! That is not the issue here.

Overall audience notes:

Sports romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: low
Content warnings: childhood trauma, toxic family relationships

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Book Review: Catching Feelings (Varsity #2) by Emily Charlotte

September 4, 2026 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Sports Romance
Length: 304 pages
Author: Emily Charlotte
Publisher: Simon Teen
Release Date: September 1st, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The first rule for a drama-free senior year? Don’t fall for the mysterious new football transfer. A swoony young adult romance full of undeniable chemistry and school spirit perfect for fans of Lynn Painter and Friday Night Lights, from the author of Heart Check.

When Sabrina and Tyler meet by accident outside (okay, inside) the football locker rooms, it’s not a big deal. After a rocky summer, Sabrina is focused on leading the Spirit Committee to its best year ever, while Tyler is eager to leave behind the mess from his old school with a second chance playing football as a transfer. Neither is looking for romance.

But as the team’s newest (and most eligible) varsity athlete, Tyler is suddenly the center of attention. And Sabrina is busy dodging Ryan, her longtime flirtationship who is determined to take her to the homecoming dance. Ryan is exactly the kind of chaos Sabrina doesn’t need, so she asks Tyler to go as friends instead. Eager to fend off other unwanted advances, Tyler is happy to accept.

Of course, this was before Sabrina realized Tyler is Ryan’s cousin. But as long as they’re just friends, everything should be fine. Tyler is less willing to ignore the connection he feels toward Sabrina, but he’s also desperate to keep his past buried. When the chemistry between them becomes impossible to deny, can their carefully laid plans survive the fallout, or will secrets and social pressure threaten everything they’ve built?

Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook.

THIS WAS CUTE.

A quick little romance read I flew through the other day. I love reading sports books based on the season and football season is heeeere.

I loved the emphasis on acts of service. Tyler was so sweet in the way he tried to show Sabrina he cared. It was sincere and I adored it. They had a lot of good moments together. There was plenty of football content that capture the essence of those Friday night football games.

Both of these characters had some things to work through. It felt relatable to the age group and I liked how both learned that they needed to accept help and trust others with the truth. The nostalgic quality of high school and the insecurities that come along with it are absolutely relatable.

I wasn’t a big fan of the multiple moments of underage drinking. It’s not in your face, but present enough that I wish it would have been more cut from the plot. Otherwise I do think this fits into the young adult category well. I’d lean towards the upper age pocket though.

Overall audience notes: