Tag: Book Review

Book Review: To Drown a Witch by Lindsey Olsson

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 359 pages
Author: Lindsey Olsson
Publisher: GP Putnam’s
Release Date: August 1st, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A criminal and a royal guard are drawn into the hunt for a dangerous witch—and an unexpected romance—in this YA enemies-to-lovers romantasy, perfect for fans of Heartless Hunter.

In Orlonea, the Witch is feared above all else. Reborn into each generation, she is the only person with magic running innately through her veins, able to wield magic with a single thought.

So when guards across the city begin to drop dead, gruesomely murdered by violent and vicious magic, everyone knows the Witch has returned—and no one will be safe until she’s killed.

Toran is the Prince’s Crown, the most highly skilled fighter in the King’s Guard. Tasked with the responsibility of leading the hunt for the Witch, Toran tries to focus on his assignment to forget the ghosts of his past. And after he learns of Nes, a thief with an uncanny ability to sniff out magic, he forcibly recruits her into joining his hunt.

As the two face deadly magic and otherworldly threats, their mutual dislike soon turns to something more electric, and they find themselves drawn to each other in ways they’d never imagined. But the Witch is always a step ahead of them, and with bodies piling up, secrets threaten to come to light—secrets that could destroy everything from the fragile trust between them to the very city of Orlonea itself.

IT WAS ALRIGHT.

I kept hoping for this to turn into something that brought some awe, but it felt more mid than anything else. AND also please note, this is not young adult, it’s new adult.

I’m trying to write this review days later and I am struggling to remember enough things to say which I think is a review on its own. It just wasn’t a book that stuck with me. The audiobook is good and I thought things started out well but didn’t hold that for long.

IT IS NOT LIKE HEARTLESS HUNTER. This is why I don’t always love when a summary claims to be like another book because I have often found that not the case. This isn’t a true enemies to lovers (things move to quickly for that). And the heated chemistry is non-existent.

Its predictability was a negative and the disconnect with anything happening was prevalent. Is there going to be a book two??? I don’t know.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: fade to black
  • Violence: high
  • Content warnings: multiple deaths, drowning executions, alcoholism

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Book Review: The Sacred Space Between by Kalie Reid

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 432 pages
Author: Kalie Reid
Publisher: Little Brown
Release Date: November 4th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

An enchanting enemies-to-lovers fantasy about an exiled saint and the devout iconographer sent to paint him, for fans of Divine Rivals and A Study in Drowning.

The Abbey has controlled the minds of its patrons for a millennium through memory magic, stolen from exiled saints. At fifteen, Jude was exiled from the Abbey to the bleak moors in the countryside, to maintain their control over his bourgeoning magic. Almost a decade later, he wants to live a normal life free from the Abbey’s oppressive gaze. When they send Maeve, a stubbornly devout iconographer, to paint an updated icon of him, Jude makes it his mission to get rid of her as soon as possible. That is until he discovers she holds the same tainted magic of the saints as he does, and that the icons she paints may be the key to destroying the Abbey’s power.

As Jude and Maeve draw closer, the two of them face a choice—they can take on the full power of the Abbey and risk their lives for freedom or escape back to exile and make the most of their fading memories. But this institution has eyes everywhere, and the only thing the Abbey loves more than a saint is a martyr.

NOT E2L.

I’m feeling sassy over this book because I’m really tired of “enemies to lovers” books only lasts about 100 pages. I want to FEEL the animosity. I want heated banter where clearly there’s a vibe but they still can’t stand each other. GIVE IT TO ME. This did not do so.

This just didn’t feel like anything new. I’ve read something along these lines multiple times and I kept waiting for a reveal to surprise me or for the story to hold my attention. I also hate epilogues that are just one long open door scene.

Oh well, on to the next.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: 2ish open door
  • Violence: moderate
  • Content warnings: past self harm, child abuse (recounted), panic attacks

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Book Review: Resisting the Fall (Falling for Autumn) by Jess Heileman

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Rating: ★★★.5
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 382 pages
Author: Jess Heileman
Publisher: Vagabond Publishing
Release Date: August 26th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The divorce never finalized. Neither did their feelings.

The discovery that I was still legally married—years after I thought my divorce was final—was supposed to be the worst thing to happen to me this fall.

It wasn’t.

Because apparently the state of Vermont believes in closure. And no regrets. And court-ordered thirty-day reconciliation efforts. So now, in order to fast-track my divorce from Bennett Walker—my high school sweetheart and the man who walked out on our marriage seven years ago—I’m being forced back to the small town we grew up in to spend an entire month proving our relationship isn’t worth saving.

A situation Ben annoyingly finds amusing.

Which is why I plan to make this the most memorable, insufferable, torturous thirty days of his life. As a prank-loving aficionado, I have countless ideas about how to drive Ben crazy while keeping myself focused on the goal: finalizing our divorce.

With my life in New York and a career I absolutely love, not even deeply embedded habits and old feelings can threaten my resolve.

I’m resolved.

So resolved.

Absolutely, definitely, one hundred percent resolved. And if I keep saying it, maybe this time around, I’ll be capable of resisting the fall.

WELL THAT WENT DOWNHILL.

I tend to enjoy marriage in crisis books so I was all over this one. Buuuuut there were some issues y’all.

One of the big ones was the fact I wasn’t convinced for basically the entire book that this couple made it??? There was hardly an attempt at working through the communication issues that caused the initial separation. Most things were brushed under the rug and never genuinely resolved.

I think having Ben’s POV from his childhood was a disservice to the current timeline. I wanted to see him yearn more and get his thoughts and feelings rather than having to wait until 85% of the way through to finally figure out why they separated in the first place. Maven was actually too petty for me about things (which again, I think could have been helped had I known the WHY not just “he’s the reason we’re in this mess”).

Lastly, the ending. I won’t go into specifics (but DM me if you want them). I don’t think it was handled well and let me wanting more for Maven, regardless of her assertions. All leading back to the communication y’all.

I did fly through this book and I didn’t hate it by any means. There were just enough stand out issues that I have been cycling through them on repeat since I finished. I do recommend the audiobook if you want to read it, the narrators were great!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses

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Book Review: A Wilder Wild by KP Haven

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Romantic Suspense
Length: 400 pages
Author: KP Haven
Publisher: Self published
Release Date: October 21st, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Chasing her next photograph, Jay Roke takes a chance on a remote Alaskan town. With her late father’s shadow hanging over her, a few months encased by towering spruce and endless wild is exactly what she needs.

She doesn’t expect Briggs Sawyer.

The sawmill owner is doing everything he can to keep his family’s business afloat. Burned by a failed marriage and too stubborn to admit how alone he is, he has no patience for outsiders—least of all a wildlife photographer with no intention of staying.

Then one impulsive night changes everything.

Snow-choked trails. Sun-starved wilderness. The undeniable pull between them. Jay wonders if Alaska offers more than her next viral shot—right up until her camera catches something she was never meant to see: a criminal operation hidden deep in the wilderness.

Now dangerous people want what’s on that memory card. And the one complication neither of them planned might be the only thing keeping her alive.

INTRIGUING.

This is my second book from this author. I had some mixed thoughts about the first one I read from KP Haven, but received an opportunity to try this book and I liked it! I would be interested in reading another. I think one of my favorite things to note is that it’s a genuine closed door (aka more than kisses). I feel like this niche in romances is hard to find and I appreciate it! I’m always here for a genuine slow burn too.

There’s some suspension of belief I had to rely on to follow through with a few tropes in here. It’s a little on the insta-romance side of things but it worked? I thought Jay and Briggs had chemistry and the banter between them worked well. I loved the remote Alaskan setting and the winter vibes this book provided. It does lean on the mildly heavy side but without overwhelming the romance. There were many themes to work through and I liked the way they were combined.

Overall audience notes:

  • Romantic suspense
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: fade to black
  • Violence: moderate-high
  • Content warnings: murder, gun violence, physical violence, mentions of past abuse, divorce, arson

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