Book Review: Here Lie All the Boys Who Broke My Heart by Emma Simmerman

February 22, 2026February 12, 2026 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Thriller
Length: 384 pages
Author: Emma Simmerman
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: February 3rd, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder meets Tell Me Lies in this binge-worthy debut murder mystery about a college student whose senior year takes a deadly turn when her exes start turning up dead…

Every time a guy breaks my heart, I write him a eulogy in my journal. It’s kind of my thing—closure through creative mourning. They don’t actually die… or, at least, they didn’t.

Now? These guys aren’t just dead to me, they’re dead to everyone. And I’m the prime suspect.

With my senior year at Pembroke College—and my entire future—on the line, I’ve got no choice but to play detective. Unfortunately, that means teaming up with my long-standing frenemy, Asher, who is insufferable and somehow always there when I need him the least. We bicker, we banter, we occasionally almost hook up, but with the body count rising and my name all over the suspect board, there’s no time to get distracted.

Between college parties, messy exes, suspicious deaths, and a murder investigation I never asked to be a part of—one thing’s for this is not how I thought my last year would go.

Here’s to hoping I can find out who the real killer is… before someone ends up writing my eulogy.

Thank you Avon Books for the gifted copy.

WELL NOW I’M JUST MAD.

This felt a little all over the place. As if it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a thriller or a romance or maybe romantic suspense? But that didn’t nearly bug me as much as the FMC. I think it’s a cop out in thrillers to have the FMC be under the influence of alcohol or drugs every single time something big happens. The unreliable narrator component didn’t play out well because of this. And all she did was make bad choices.

I oddly enough, really liked Asher. He was probably my favorite character and I liked most of the romantic tension between him and Sloane. It did have an enemies vibe I could get behind. But his character was absolutely ROBBED with a plot choice at the ending. Whyyyyy???? Oh it totally ruined it.

The reveal of the big bad guy seemed out of pocket too. They weren’t involved with the plot much and the destruction they caused didn’t line up with the reasoning during their villain monologue. I had my eyes on multiple other characters who would have made more sense.

Anywhoooo not my favorite, moving on.

Overall audience notes:

Thriller/Romantic Suspense
Language: strong
Romance: 3-4ish open door
Violence: high
Content warnings: multiple murders, weapons violence

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: The Best Worst Thing by Lauren Okie

February 5, 2026January 29, 2026 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★.5
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Lauren Okie
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: October 14th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From a stunning new voice in romance, Lauren Okie’s The Best Worst Thing is an intimate story about starting over, second chances, and two people who cannot help falling into each other’s orbit once again.

All things considered, Nicole Speyer has a pretty amazing life. At least that’s what she tells herself. She’s got a beautiful house, a relatively successful fertility podcast, and a perfect husband, Gabe. The only thing that’s less than ideal is her years-long struggle with infertility—and how, with every passing day, she and Gabe seem to drift a little further apart.

But then, mere hours after a Hail Mary embryo transfer to her gestational carrier, Nicole discovers Gabe’s been sleeping with their dog walker, and her world turns upside down. Suddenly, a jobless, childless, and now-husbandless Nicole finds herself at the doorstep of somebody she tried to say goodbye to a long time ago.

Logan Milgram: a former colleague with serious golden retriever energy who happens to be laugh-out-loud funny, a colossal nerd, and legitimately kind of hot. When Logan opens his door that night, it’s like no time has passed. And as they fall back into each other’s lives, Nicole starts recognizing herself in the mirror again. She even begins to like what she sees. And then, like a cruel joke, she gets the news she’s spent a lifetime waiting for: her surrogate is finally pregnant.

As her relationship with Logan develops from a blast-from-the-past fling into something much deeper, Nicole struggles to balance her past, present, and future. Racing against the clock, she must learn to forgive her body for falling short and recognize that sometimes, it’s the biggest betrayals in life that set us free. With everything on the line, can Nicole accept love from the greatest man she’s ever known . . . even if it’s nothing like the story she’d written for herself?

Thank you Avon Books for the gifted copy.

WHAT A MESS.

That I honestly could not put down. This wasn’t on my radar as it truthfully didn’t seem like a romance I’d love BUT HERE WE ARE FOLKS. Lauren Okie has done it and I will be seeking information on her next book because this one had me in a chokehold.

It also made me feel every. single. emotion. I was all over the place in my righteous anger over all the things and also just wanting to sit and cry with Nicole too.

The romance is SWOOOONY. It worked for me on so many levels. I adored Logan, gosh he was a vibrant green flag. I will say there was one too many “break-ups” that Nicole instigated to where I did get frustrated. Otherwise though, this was a genuinely amazing book. it covered some very difficult topics (please read content warnings first) and I thought handled them well. It felt raw and an uphill battle that I loved seeing resolved into a new kind of hope and peace for the days ahead.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: strong
Romance: 3-4ish open door
Violence: mild
Content warnings major themes of infertility, miscarriage, surrogacy, infidelity, grief/depression depiction, drug use

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

ARC Book Review: Silver & Blood (Silver & Blood #1) by Jessie Mihalik

January 27, 2026December 24, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 448 pages
Author: Jessie Mihalik
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: January 27th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

On a deadly mission to kill the mythical beast that has been haunting her woods, a desperate mage finds her fate intertwined with the handsome, powerful man who saves her in this dark and sexy romantasy—perfect for readers of Jennifer L. Armentrout, Callie Hart, and Holly Black.

There’s something in the woods…

When a vicious beast begins attacking her fellow villagers, Riela reluctantly agrees to enter the forbidden forest and kill the monster as she’s the only mage available—or so she thought.

Untrained and barely armed, Riela is quickly overwhelmed when one beast turns into two. She fears her death is at hand until the unexpected arrival of a scarred, strikingly handsome man with gleaming moonlit magic changes her fate—and provides a rare opportunity to learn more about her own fickle power.

After being rescued and healed from the beast’s poison, Riela awakens in a magical castle complete with a gorgeous library, a strange wolf, and the surly man who saved her life. She soon learns Garrick is both more powerful and far deadlier than a mere mortal mage—but thanks to a century-long curse, his powers are weakening.

Trapped in his castle and surrounded by the treacherous woods, the spark of attraction between Riela and Garrick slowly ignites into fiery desire. But the more they discover about Riela’s magic, the more suspicious Garrick grows of her identity. As they unravel the secrets and lies connecting Riela’s past to Garrick’s, the tenuous threads of trust between them start to fray.

Because Riela’s life—or her death—might be the key to regaining everything Garrick has lost.

Thank you Avon Books for the gifted ARC.

FIRST HALF NONSENSE.

This was one of those books where I thought I quite possibly was going to DNF but it’s an ARC and persevere I must (I know you don’t have to but I’ve accepted this quality about myself).

ANYWAYS. Why the HECK are are we kissing at 15% and having two open door scenes before the halfway mark? Why was it literally only them and no other characters for 55% of the book? Both of these things bugged me 10x over. The addition of spice in the beginning just to call this book “spicy” was not it. And then there was nothing again until 85ish%? The big theme of my issues surround the plot organization.

The second half did get better. I liked finally seeing more of the world and the characters involved. It follows pretty typical fantasy romance lines but that’s not generally bothersome for me. There seemed to be some good bones in their that might help the second book succeed more.

I just don’t know how I feel about Silver & Blood. I went in with genuine excitement and I’m hesitant to pick up book two. I’m also now remembering that I like a different potential love interest more??? Is this a switch romance??? Honestly that actually might convince me more than anything else to pick up book two. WE SHALL SEE.

Overall audience notes:

Romantasy
Language: moderate
Romance: 3-4ish open door
Violence: moderate+

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Last Night Was Fun by Holly James

November 16, 2025September 9, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Holly James
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: June 10th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

You’ve Got Mail meets The Hating Game! Vying for a promotion against a bitter rival as the only female data analyst for a professional baseball team, Emmy finds solace in the text-flirting relationship that started as a wrong number exchange—unaware that the man she’s texting is the one she’s fighting for the promotion.

Emmy Jameson lives by three no dating, no sharing personal news at work, and baseball above everything. As the only female data analyst for a professional baseball team, Emmy is constantly trying to prove herself.

Especially when she’s put up for a senior analyst position against her arrogant, infuriating coworker Gabe Olson. Sure, he’s gorgeous and smart and he was a baseball star in college who knows the sport inside and out, but so does Emmy. She is not going to lose to him again. There will be no distractions this summer. Not even her sister’s pending destination wedding in Mexico for which she needs to find a plus one.

But then she receives a text from an unknown number with a simple “Last night was fun.” When she strikes up a conversation with the mystery texter, they realize that he was given a fake phone number after a bad date that just so happened to be Emmy’s. Despite her rules, Emmy can’t deny the instant connection she feels and soon finds herself falling for the stranger on the other side of the screen…and inviting him to her sister’s wedding.

Thank you to Avon Books for the gifted copy.

IT WAS FUN.

This was a new to me author and I did like it y’all!!! Random book mail success story here.

I thought most of it was super cute. I loved the texting conversations and banter and the way that the reader knows what’s happening but the characters haven’t clued in yet. It’s got an overall sweet quality to the story line.

BUUUUUT. Y’all know I will rant about a ridiculous third act and here we are. I haaaaate the let me interrupt you ten times rather than just letting you finish one sentence so I can understand what’s happening trope. Gabe deserved ONE SENTENCE. Meh.

Anyways, I think I would read another book from this author. It was a quick read that was overall on the lighter side and hit the spot.

Overall audience notes: