Genre: Adult

A cute sapphic second chance at love via exes forced to professionally collaborate, Love In Focus by Lyla Lee is an easy and light-hearted read perfectly pitched for cozy romance readers. While the overall story is nothing groundbreaking for the genre, the novel’s plot mechanism of ex’s artistically working together on a personal interest piece involving the meaning of love is an excellent premise. Unfortunately, despite having a great foundation and numerous interesting storylines to work off of, I found Love In Focus to repeatedly disappoint at every opportunity, the overall execution being sub-par and quite dull to read. One of the most intriguing elements of Love In Focus is its focal plot mechanism, the photojournalism project “Modern Love In Focus”, featuring six couples of different ages and backgrounds sharing what love means to them. Some couples being queer, some interracial, spread across young, mid-age and senior couples, quantifying and reflecting on the different meanings and interpretations of love is a great concept. In addition to having a compelling reason to unexpectedly reunite college ex’s Gemma and Celeste, the novel’s other highlight is the story’s setting in the romantic and misty (or not depending who you ask) San Francisco as…

Devoid of mortals, the world of Lightfall is filled with vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers boxed in by dangerous and mysterious beings called the Grays. Despite the familiar setup that would typically be used for an action-packed fantasy warfare story, Ed Crocker’s debut novel is instead a sprawling and imaginative epic fantasy story focused on the political power struggle and socio-economic dynamics within the city of First Light’s walls. Full of extensive world-building, Lightfall is an ambitiously imagined novel that has all the right ideas to be a slow burn fantasy mystery thriller. Unfortunately, the presentation and execution of its ideas didn’t work for me, and I struggled with the book’s pacing and narrative. Easily the most impressive aspect of Lightfall is Crocker’s detailed and complex world-building and lore that for better or for worse, makes up the bulk of the novel’s content. Apart from the initial discovery of the First Lord’s younger son is dead, the book’s story falls into a period of relative lull. Preceding the last hundred years, Lightfall’s world and history is full of conflict that is written in great detail. Covering various topics including the origin of the three main groups of immortals, the mystery and…

Is there such a genre as romcomantasy? Despite being a mouthful fitting for this book’s very long title, Brigitte Knightley’s traditionally published debut novel is a light-hearted, nonserious romantasy that’s a lot of fun. Marketed as enemies to lovers, slow-burn romance, the Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy is exactly that in addition to incorporating the recent romcom trend of women in STEM within a romantasy wrapping. True to its synopsis and blurb, this book is full of amusing banter by lovable idiots, though much of its advertised romance is purposely left off for its planned sequel novel. While the pacing occasionally drags and its narrative material outside of the banter is inconsistent in quality, the Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy is a pleasantly comedic read for those looking for something less serious, passionate, or steamy than the romantasy genre norm. Before I get into my review for this book, there’s an important note to highlight about this book and author. While Brigitte Knightley is well-known for her fanfiction writing, specifically the Harry Potter fanfiction Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love, I’ve seen a lot of confusion and booktok readers criticizing that this…

Massively popular and trending online, Silver Elite is the start of a new series marketed as a dystopian romance, a “sizzling” story of distrust and self-preservation for those that possess innate psychic gifts. As is often the case with books that take off on social media, one’s enjoyment of this book likely comes down to one’s expectations and hopes for the book. If you’re looking for the next exciting dystopian action thriller like the Hunger Games or strong social commentary featured in the Giver, Silver Elite is definitely going to be a frustrating disappointment. However, for those looking for a booktok-style romance novel set within a vague dystopian world, Silver Elite is a lot more compelling. Expecting the latter going into it, Silver Elite more or less met my expectations of being a messy, yet decent read if one can overlook its many rough edges. At first glance at its premise and opening, Silver Elite appears to be a cool modern take on the dystopian genre. Despite the addition of various psychic powers, in many ways the story feels like an aged up take on Veronica Roth’s Divergent series, featuring adult characters instead of minors and their frequent wandering lusty…

Magical everyday objects scattered across the world, a secret society that meets in the basement of a bookstore, and dangerous individuals more than willing to kill for them, the Society of Unknowable Objects is an urban fantasy story full of great elements and ideas. Similar to Gareth Brown’s debut novel the Book of Doors, this novel has a premise that feels like a throwback to classic children’s fantasy books appropriately aged up for adult readers looking for a fun and straightforward magic adventure. Brown’s second book, from the get-go the Society of Unknowable Objects has a familiar feel that recaptures the fun of many popular YA fantasy books of the early 2000s. Revolving around a group of four adults who collectively make up the Society of Unknowable Objects, these individuals possess knowledge of special everyday items that grant their holder a variety of magical powers. But with strong magical powers comes the unwanted attention of those looking to use them for their own benefit, hence why the Society was formed to keep these objects out of less desirable hands. An interesting mix of cross-country hidden treasure hunting, mysterious intrigue, and fantasy action, the novel has strong mass appeal thanks to…