Tag: Book blog

Book Review: Off the Wall (Only Magic in the Building) by Julie Christianson

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance + Magical Realism
Length: 328 pages
Author: Julie Christianson
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: April 9th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She’s in search of her soulmate. He avoids love at all costs. These neighbors are a total mismatch … until serendipity steps in.

Nori Sinclair has two goals in find the husband of her dreams, and purchase the beloved tea shop in her hometown, Serendipity Springs.

So when Nori finds herself short on funds to land a business loan, she joins a dating app that pays her to be their featured single in a month-long ad campaign.

Per her contract, all men are off-limits, except those matched for her by Swipe Rite.

This seems simple enough… until she keeps seeing herself in every mirror holding hands with Cash Briggs.

AKA her aloof, unavailable neighbor.

After a career-ending injury, ex-baseball player Cash is on a mission to help others who’ve been shattered like he was, inside and out. With his sights firmly set on a job in Los Angeles, he doesn’t have time for family or friends, let alone a relationship where he’d only get burned. Again.

Continually having to rescue Nori—his flustered neighbor, who seems desperate to avoid him—was not part of his plan.

While Cash and Nori fight their growing attraction, magnetic elements in their magical building draw them together, until they’re forced to choose between breaking all the rules or breaking both their hearts …

REALLY SWEET.

This book just made me smile. I feel like all of these books have brought the smiles. This series has been such a delight!!

I loved both of the main characters, Nori and Cash. I thought there was charming banter and chemistry from the beginning. The way Cash constantly found ways to be around Nori (even when he was resisting his feelings) was my absolute favorite. I love when a man is GONE.

The mirror aspect didn’t quite click for me, I felt like I never understood what was happening? I’m not sure it was needed for this book. (**I’ve also noticed that this is the third book in this multi-author series with the same dating a bunch of guys format and that felt a little repetitive**).

I enjoyed the Cash and Nori overcame their problems and started to lean on each other. There were really great characters ARCs. This was sweet and romantic and easy recommend.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance + Magical Realism
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Content warnings: loss of parents (off page, brief)

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Book Review: Stay with My Heart by Tashie Bhuiyan

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Tashie Bhuiyan
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Release Date: January 2nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the author of Counting Down with You  and  A Show for Two comes a new YA contemporary about a girl who accidentally sabotages an up-and-coming local band and falls for the guitarist while secretly trying to make up for her mistake.

Liana Sarkar lives and breathes music, hoping to follow in the footsteps of her A&R coordinator father. Maybe if she succeeds, he’ll finally give her the time of day instead of drowning himself in work to distract from the grief of her mother’s passing.

When Liana accidentally sabotages an up-and-coming local band, Third Eye, she makes it her mission to steer them towards success—without them discovering her role in their setback. But as she gets closer to Third Eye, especially their enigmatic leader Skyler Moon, it becomes harder to hide the truth.

With both her heart and their futures on the line, will Liana be able to undo the damage she’s caused?

ENJOYABLY MESSY.

When I read YA contemporary I can get frustrated with decisions and the attempt at problem solving. But sometimes it comes off really well and just feels human. This had that quality. I felt for the main character battling depression, an absent father and a mistake she truly didn’t mean to make. I loved the positive therapy rep and acknowledging the need for help and having the support system around you to make it to the next day. I LOOOOVED this found family with the band. They had ups and downs and you could clearly see how they came together to make it to those final pages.

I loved all of the music content and lists of songs throughout the book. There’s an obvious theme of the power of music and the effects it can have in someone’s life. The quiet moments were sweet and I loved how the romantic relationship developed. This was a solid young adult contemporary I thoroughly enjoyed.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low-moderate
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: absent father, mentions of loss of a parent, depictions of anxiety and depression

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: April 2025

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New look who this?

I feel like this month got wildly out of hand. I even had MULTIPLE two star books sooooo that was fun. Anywho, here’s the list!

Version 1.0.0
  • Debt of My Soul by K.P. Haven
  • The Ragpicker King (The Chronicles of Castellane #2) by Cassandra Clare
  • [ALC] Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
  • [ALC/ARC] The Wind Weaver (Reign of Remnants #1) by Julie Johnson
  • Clean Out of Luck (Only Magic in the Building) by Carina Taylor
  • Out with the Tide (Never Harbor #2) by Julie Olivia
  • [ALC] The Love Haters by Katherine Center
  • Direbound (The Wolves of Ruin #1) by Sable Sorensen
  • [ARC] The Haven, the Hallow, & the Highborn (Roots of Magic Novella) by Jessa Grey
  • Daisy Haites (Magnolia Parks Universe #2) by Jessa Hastings
  • Fearless (The Powerless Trilogy #3) by Lauren Roberts
  • [ARC] Saving the Mountain Man’s Legacy (Brothers of Sapphire Ranch #8) by Misty M. Beller
  • [ALC] Enigma by RuNyx
  • Just Our Luck by Denise Williams
  • Off the Wall (Only Magic in the Building) by Julie Christianson
  • [ARC] The Ashfire King (The Sandsea Trilogy #2) by Chelsea Abdullah
  • The Shadow Bride (The Scarlet Veil #2) by Shelby Mahurin
  • I Knew He Was Trouble (Sweeter Than Fiction #1) by Amanda Schimmoeller
  • Swept Away by Beth O’Leary
  • The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor
  • A Proper Governess (Hearts of Harewood #2) by Kasey Stockton
  • The Book That Held Her Heart (The Library Trilogy #3) by Mark Lawrence
  • Signed, Sealed, and Smitten (Only Magic in the Building) by Melanie Jacobson
  • The Notorious Virtues (The Notorious Virtues #1) by Alwyn Hamilton
  • [ARC] Shield of Sparrows (Shield of Sparrows #1) by Devney Perry
  • Wild and Wrangled (Rebel Blue Ranch #4) by Lyla Sage
  • Voice of the Ocean by Kelsey Impicciche
  • [ARC] Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt
  • The Splendor of Fire (The Hebridean Shield #2) by Ashley Worrell
  • The Wolf King (Wolf King #1) by Lauren Palphreyman
  • The Escape Plan (Only Magic in the Building) by Katie Bailey
  • His Mortal Demise (The Last Bloodcarver #2) by Vanessa Le
  • Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine
  • Nightshade (Sorrowsong Duology #1) by Autumn Woods
  • Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
  • [ALC] Jilted by Vi Keeland
  • [ARC] Every Hour Until Then (Timeless #5) by Gabrielle Meyer
  • [ALC] The Thrashers by Julie Soto

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ALC Book Review: Enigma by RuNyx

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Dark Academia Romance
Length: 463 pages
Author: RuNyx
Publisher: Bramble
Release Date: April 29th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A new breathtaking tale of unforgettable romance, set in a dark academia world of secret societies, lush suspense and sizzling sensuality, from RuNyx, the New York Times bestselling author of Gothikana.

Salem Salazar comes to Mortimer University to get to the bottom of her sister’s mysterious death. There, obsessed with forensics, she discovers there have been a lot more unexplained deaths on the campus. Her search leads her down a dark and dangerous path to a secret society and to Caz.

Cazimir van der Waal is in her way and another mystery to unravel. Is he just an art student, a man living a double life, or a murderer? While also at the university seeking answers for another death, Caz has a lot more to him than meets the eye.

Secret forces are at play in Mortimer and no one is safe. As Salem tries to go under radar and Caz tries to block her path, somehow, they both end up in the crossfire of a powerful, secret society. They are forced to work together to discover the truth or risk losing their lives.

In this magnificent, steamy dark academia romance from RuNyx, sparks will fly, rivals will become lovers, and terrible secrets will be unleashed.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for the gifted audiobook.

WELL THAT WAS INTERESTING.

I read dark fantasy fairly often, I like dark fantasy, I liked dark academia, but I’ve neve read a dark romance. And this email caught me in a mood and that mood wanted to try this author out. Will I read another one?? I don’t think so, even though I did like this book.

What I loved circled around all of the mystery and atmosphere. This is quintessential dark academia and I loved the vibes. It felt haunting and the suspense elements alongside the secret societies are what I expect and what I like when I pick up a dark academia book (though this is being tagged as fantasy and there’s no fantasy elements FYI).

And I will say there were pieces of the romance I did like. I am who I am and I love a good jealousy moment so those worked for me. The spice though? Yeah, that’s not for me. And there were more scenes than I had anticipated needing to skip which took me out of the book often too.

I do think this wrapped up things well for a standalone and that you got the overall answers you needed. I loved that there was a epilogue at the end to get that happy ever after feeling. This book had good writing and story telling, and I’m not upset that I tried it out.

Overall audience notes:

  • Dark academia romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: 5+ open door
  • Violence: moderate – high
  • Content warnings: child exploitation, grooming, death, dubious consent, non-consensual drugging, murder, sexual assault and trauma, suicide

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