Genre: Adult

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by St. Martin’s Press. Love, guilt, judgement, and paranoia, all within the four walls that may or may not be alive and angry, You Did Nothing Wrong is psychological thriller and explores Elodie’s twisted descent into madness. C.G. Drews’s adult novel debut, rather than simply serving as a straightforward haunted house narrative, this book instead is a horror story of an entirely different monster. Compared to Drews’s past books that had a more paranormal and fantasy angle to their stories, You Did Nothing Wrong instead plays off the monsters in our head and the horrifying ways love and devotion can spiral into something dark and unrecognizable. While featuring Drews’s signature macabre metaphors and stylistic prose, this book is very different from past YA books for those that enjoyed their past books. Marketed as a pulse-pounding and clever take on the haunted house novel, I went into this book expecting something along the lines of Drews’s past books that mixed elements of paranormal horror with fantasy flair. As a strong cautionary disclaimer upfront, You Did Nothing Wrong is very different and was not at all what I was expecting. While…

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by Forever, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing. As a genre, contemporary romance has been crossed with just about every topic and premise under the sun. Romance with musical elements is nothing new, but Erin Connor’s take on the concept is uniquely distinctive thanks to its commitment to the metal band focus. Where most star-crossed romance novels have swoony and smooth vocals, this book features mosh pits, overstuffed tour vans, and adrenaline-fueled passion that can only be found in a hardcore battle of the bands music festival. Centered around a second chance romance storyline and forced proximity through professional work trope, Still Into You is a solid romance novel with a swoony romance and well-written music industry storylines that are far more developed and insightful than expected. I originally picked up this book based on the positive reception around Connor’s debut novel Unromance that I had never gotten around to reading when it was first published. Going into her second book blind, I was immediately impressed by Still Into You’s compelling music and band elements that go much further than typical for the romance genre (spent too long trying to…

Mixing the popular tropes including sports romance, British-American culture clashing, and sports vs academic prowess, See You at the Finish Line is a M/M romance book that simultaneously feels familiar while also quite different from other similar books. Besides revolving around a less popular sport within the sports romance book genre (somewhat shocking considering two of the rowing positions are called the cox and stroke, the pun opportunities are endless), this is a romance book that prioritizes its main characters’ individual journeys and growth inspired by each other, rather than straightforward romantic coupling. Full of university-set drama and effective plotting, this book seamlessly blends romance and queer literature, telling a story with far more substance and intention than meets the eye. Endearingly sweet, well-intentioned, with just a little bit of light-hearted cringe for comedic purposes, See You at the Finish Line by Zac Hammett is a wonderful debut novel that’s a great sports novel for non-sports enthusiast as well as those looking for British university shenanigans. Before I get into the book’s strongest elements, there are a few notable elements that are worth mentioning that can be potential deal-breakers for some. While Hammett has utilized it as a very effective…

A heist set for a mysterious magical book, a power struggle between state and church, a tense reunion between ex-partners, and legendary beings trapped and abandoned by the God of Thieves, Ruth Frances Long’s The Book of Gold has a lot of interesting concepts to say the least. The start of the Feral Gods trilogy, this book has a lot of narrative content fitted into a sub three-hundred-and-fifty-page book that is part fantasy, part 16th century historical fiction adventure. Though the story has a variety of plotlines that lay the groundwork for the series to expand on, at its core it’s a tense and strained second-chance romance between individuals standing on different sides of the law and state, all in pursuit of otherworldly power. Action and relationship oriented, the Book of Gold is a competently crafted book that despite a sense of mismanaged focus, is still a fun and light entertaining fantasy read. At first glance, the Book of Gold appears to be a simplistic rogue x knight trope applied to a fantasy heist storyline. The book has all the elements one would expect such as an unorthodox assembled ragtag heist team, economic disparity between the nobility and the common…

While historical Regency romance isn’t usually my thing, Jane Austen inspired time-traveling isekai fanfiction is a hyper-specific concept that I love. The BBC’s miniseries Lost in Austen is one of my favorite hidden gem series and when I saw the premise for The Austen Affair, I had high hopes that this book would be able to work similar magic. Fortunately, Madeline Bell’s debut novel did just that all while doing its own thing despite loose similarities and ideas. Over-the-top and laugh out loud funny, this book is an unapologetic love letter to Regency romance readers and Jane Austen fans. While the romance and character writing isn’t quite as strong as its comedic punches, this is a really fun, light-hearted guilty pleasure kind of read meant to entertain. I will openly admit that I’m not fond of Regency, or really any similar period romance novels despite understanding their popularity and appeal. However, having read Pride and Prejudice as a rare classic literature required read in high school that I didn’t hate, I have a soft spot for Jane Austen-related content. And one of my favorite Austen-related spinoff projects was BBC’s mini-series Lost in Austen that at the time, felt like an…