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Book Review: Mayhem and the Mortal by Shanora Williams

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 512 pages
Author: Shanora Williams
Publisher: Red Tower
Release Date: March 17th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

One mission. One curse. No escape.

Zaira doesn’t want a hero. She needs a weapon.

To save her sister from a soul-devouring curse, she has to cross The Shallows—a nightmare landscape of ruined magic, shifting paths, and vicious creatures that eat people alive.

Her guide? Thane Valkor: sorcerer, assassin, walking red flag. His name clears rooms. His magic kills quietly. And whatever he’s really after, it’s not salvation.

He promises to help. He might even mean it.

But Zaira knows better than to trust a liar with a blade and ice in his veins.

She just doesn’t have a choice.

I LIKED IT!

Thanks to a random story I saw I went and downloaded this book! It was a fun romantasy and while I did think it’s a standalone, I’ll read the sequel!

I liked the dynamic between the romantic leads. Zaira is a strong empath and truly leads with kindness and in a brutal world and magic system I thought it was a great opposition to things happening around (and to) her. While it totally frustrated me at times, I was also interested to see how her character arc would be shaped over the novel.

The romance is very much grump x sunshine. Thane is a force and I liked getting more of his background too. I do think the spice started a little early and I’m still not 100% sold on the relationship. I’m hopeful to see how book two increases the connection.

I liked the world. I liked the magic system and it was all around a good read. I’m not a huge fan of travel adventure style plots so that became repetitive for me, otherwise though, I think you should pick this up!

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy romance
  • Language: mild – moderate
  • Romance: 3ish open door
  • Violence: high
  • Content warnings: near death experiences, murder, torture, kidnapping, creature encounters

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Book Review: The Night We Met (Say You’ll Remember Me #2) by Abby Jimenez

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Rating: ★★★★.25
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Abby Jimenez
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: March 24th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A beautiful, compelling novel that revels in laughter, friendship, and the messy choices life can throw our way.

In everyone’s life, there’s a split-second decision that can change everything…

For Larissa, it came when choosing which guy to ride home with after a concert. That night, she had no idea she’d met the perfect man. She and Chris are great together, co-parenting a slightly unhinged rescue Yorkie, sharing their favorite books, and judging bread (pumpernickel for the win!). For the first time amid all her side hustles to scrape by, things finally feel easy.

But Chris isn’t the one who drove Larissa home all those months ago—Chris is her boyfriend’s best friend. All Chris wants is for Larissa to be happy. Standing by on the sidelines is slowly killing him, but making a move would destroy someone else. And he’s just not that guy.

HARD TO RATE.

I kind of waffled back and forth on what I would finally rate this for a few different reasons.

The yearning? TOP TIER. I love a man who years and years hard. Chris was the definition of a sweetheart and took care of Larissa in all of these beautiful little ways. I generally love the little moments most in romances and this is exactly what I got here.

I struggled with Larissa a bit. She’s dating *Mike* for a large majority of the book and while I didn’t expect to get much of them together I guess I was expecting maybe a little more? Only because they both talked (especially Mike) about how much they liked/loved each other and I didn’t believe it for one second so I was frustrated that they dated for a year. I loved when Larissa finally put her foot down and the book gained some momentum for the last few chapters.

It’s heartfelt and romantic as I find all of Abby Jimenez’s books. Up against my favorite (Part of Your World) this one didn’t beat it out. But still very enjoyable and incredibly easy to fly through. I did not want to put it down. I liked the mental health conversations, working hard and choosing a new [better] path for yourself and other nuanced things too. The ending was just what I was hoping for and gave a beautiful sense of hope.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: mild+
  • Romance: fade to black
  • Violence: low
  • Content warnings: alcoholism (on page), mental illness, toxic relationships, loss of a parent (recounted)

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Book Review: The Q by Beth Brower

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Fiction
Length: 592 pages
Author: Beth Brower
Publisher: Rhysdon Press
Release Date: October 19th, 2016
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

CAN QUINCY ST. CLAIRE KEEP THE Q?

A dying man with a scheme
A charming smuggler one step ahead of the law
A former foundling with a mangled hand
A family of kingmakers
A printing tycoon
A constable on the trail of justice
An idealistic solicitor with secrets of his own
&
The genius at the center of it all, Quincy St. Claire

CHARMING.

This is a delightful read that is a few hundred pages too long. But I did enjoy it?? I just felt like it took me FOREVER to get through too?? There’s a quality to Beth Brower’s writing that I loved seeing in a different story (I am Emma M. Lion obsessed).

There were a lot of good themes and quotable moments I found while reading. I loved the journey of letting go of the things you need to so that better ones can fall into place. I loved Quincey learning that some people won’t leave and will be there when you need them. The strong friendships and meaningful connections that are sometimes hard to see at first.

There’s even a little sub-plot romance that was sweet and I loved that journey for them too.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Fiction
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low

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Book Review: Because the Beasts Came (Wells of Istri #1) by Madeline James

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 630 pages
Author: Madeline James
Publisher: Spellbound Worlds
Release Date: April 9th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She’s already broken, but this mission may be what shatters her.

A young guardian bearing the burden of a kingdom torn to shreds, Iryana works tirelessly from the shadows to keep her clan’s outpost standing. After the beasts ravaged the lands and the gangs claimed what was left, the survivors can only cling to the scattered settlements, fighting desperately to hold their borders.

But they’re losing.

Her clan’s only hope lies beyond their brittle the ancient magic of the metal-wells, and the ruthless military gangs that control them. Iryana has no choice but to infiltrate a nearby brigade, earn their volatile trust, and see her magic forged in one of their closely guarded wells.

Unfortunately, surviving among liars and killers proves to be harder and more mystifying than expected.

Their cruel and calculating leader sees value in her when no one else does. The bitter soldier with haunted eyes and a devastating smile wants her gone but can’t seem to stop saving her life. As each passing day brings her deeper within the brigade, two devastating paths forward present themselves and her deep-rooted cracks become impossible to conceal.

Iryana came to the fortress to save her family—she never expected someone would try to save her.

Perfect for fans of The Bridge Kingdom and The Serpent & The Wings of Night, Because the Beasts Came is the first book in a romantic fantasy duology within the Wells of Istri world. Full of aching tension, a brutal world of monsters and fragile hope, and a heroine torn between duty, desire, and survival, you won’t be able to put this book down.

Thank you to MTMC Tours and the author for a gifted copy.

WHY SO LONG?

I went into this with decent hopes and am left wondering if it’s worth reading book two? There’s no way this needed to be 600+ pages without more character exploration. Every single character lacked depth. I didn’t have an attachment to anyone.

I was genuinely invested for the first 30%ish. I thought the world building was going well and liked the military training grounds idea. I think overall the writing style was good, just needed dialed in.

I’m always here for a slow burn but the fact of the matter is we didn’t get more than maybe one interaction with the leads until after halfway? And their dynamic was lackluster. No chemistry or banter or anything swoony. There was also a weird situation with the guy’s brother? It wasn’t a love triangle, but it wasn’t good either.

There’s a few more things that made me cranky but it is what it is.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: one open door (literally the last pages)
  • Violence: moderate-high
  • Content warnings: physical/emotional abuse

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