On My Bookish BS

As an ARC reader for volumes 1,3, and 4 of this charity anthology , I was absolutely blown away by the bench depth of the authors involved in this project. Some of the authors I was very familiar with, and some were brand new names to me and I fear my TBR has grown exponentially due to the number of new authors I have been introduced to. Every story hit me with how each author interpreted the task at hand and I felt rage, hope, despair, joy, fear, and despair in equal measure and I read through these stories. It was a whole dang ride. Some of the standout stories to me include: Karma, Madi Danielle - Sometimes the most dangerous thing is a pretty face Southern Discomfort, Aurora Graves - In the south revenge is a dish best served with a glass of sweet tea and a smile but try telling that to these ladies. Lucky Number 19, Alina May - A purveyor of snide talking medical malpractice gets what's coming to them The Bloom After Ruin, Maree Rose - Using art to heal from trauma and delicio...

Save Your Breath by Kandi Steiner is the fourth book in the Kings of the Ice series and seriously, it's unfair how each book is just SO freaking DELICIOUS. Here in book four, we meet Mia and Aleks, the squeaky-clean popstar and the hockey bad boy, who are in a bit of a tricky situation. He needs someone to help clean up his image and she needs help getting the attention off her ex and on to her and her music. So of course, fake dating and a fake engagement are CLEARLY the answer for BOTH of them.  What makes all of this extra difficult for them? Oh, they've totally NOT been entangled since they were teenagers, and he came from Switzerland to live with her family in Illinois with dreams of playing in the NHL. Of course, he promised to keep his hands off her and he did... and oh the yearning and regret.  So, of course, this is one of my favorite of Steiners books because he falls so hard it's PAINFUL in the best of ways.  This book is also so good in how it handles mental ...

Air & Essence - the follow up to Blood & Brujas by Mikayla Hornedo - had me SALIVATING for a chance to read this ARC.  Blood & Brujas was one of the most INTENSE and interesting books I read in 2024 and I was like WAIT... THE SEQUEL ISN'T OUT YET. BUUUUUUT I NEED TO KNOW.  Blood & Brujas was a beautifully wound tapestry of lore of vampires and witches and brujas and lobos wound around generational trauma in a time of war.  Air & Essence continues those story lines with the additional complications of growing love stories, betrayal, and so much character growth that it's insane that Mikayla is able to keep everything straight.  The prose is beautiful, the world is magical, and every character is so real you either love or hate them with so much intensity that it's insane. There are characters I cheered when they died, or I want to punch right in the jaw. There are characters I want to hug and protect and characters I root for every time they are ...

When it comes to fantasy, my favorite flavor has always been post-apocalyptic, sacrifice/entrust your children to "the powers", don't trust "them" because they never tell you everything, let's gamble with everyones lives, and burn it all to the ground for what's right stories - Hunger Games, Divergent, Potter, Maze Runner. You know the books...  The Trials of the Elysian by Reese Sherron is VERY MUCH that vibe. And I am so here for the journey!  In a world where children are sent off to the City from their villages when they turn 18 in search of their soul mates and put through a series of trials to ensure they are mentally and physically strong enough to serve the City ... well... maybe those who run the City aren't all that great to begin with. What are they hiding? What is really going on behind the polished walls of City and would they really be better off perishing in the Wastelands?  Following the journey of Faye as she leaves her village to t...

Everything about His Red Carnation by Cassandra Vega is the opposite of a slow burn and it is deliciously fun that way.  From the opening chapter you are swept away into a world where events are already unfolding, even if you can't see the machinations right off the bat. The President, the First Lady, and the First Daughter are attending a funeral on the First Daughters 18th birthday and she is, obviously, not so pleased about it. She catches sight of her new Secret Service contact and her body instantly responds. Turns out he's her dads best friend and former Navy Seal buddy. Sparks. Also, FUUUUUUUUUUUU. She immediately makes it her life goal to make this mans life a complicated hell. It's a beautiful things to watch unfold. AND THEN THINGS GET TWISTY. Not because they're hot for each other... but because stuff happens. Intrigue and violence and drama with a capital D  and it's not all about the relationship.  Being the daughter of the President comes with a lot o...

Another surprising ARC read for this spooky season! Whatever Whispers by Genna Black helped me get in to the seasonal mood with a dark, creepy and yet kind of sweet twisty romance.  Quinn is a college senior studying Forensic Psychology and a well established nanny in search of a job. Jack is a single dad and one of her professors. He also winds up her boss after a meet cute that would not have been out of place in a Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks movie in the 1990s.  It is probably the only truly wholesome thing that happens in this twisty turny story because wooooo DARK.  Things that you will get in this story? Secret societies. Stalking. Murder. Family drama. Ghosts, maybe?  Quinn and Jack are quite cute together despite all the stuff that goes on around them but they're still dark. Their darkness is the good kind of dark though. And it's a slow burn ... like a sexy Argentinian tango. They dance around each other and when the tension explodes it's so worth the wait.  I c...

Was I looking to read a grumpy/sunshine, actor/publicist, my exes brother romance? Wasn't on my bingo card for the first week of October and yet... here we are. When the author put out the call for ARC readers on Threads I said ... you know what, I really need to see where this goes.  This is A Little Bit Tempting by Courtney Corlew, the third book in the January Studios Series and will be released on October 8th.  Here we Annie and Zayn. Annie is just getting the chance of her career to have her first solo PR client after several years as an assistant/intern at a PR firm. Zayn is an actor trying to rehab his image after a year of being an utter twat to the media or else he loses out on the role that could take his career to the next level. Oh, and Annie used to date his total tool of a brother. After their first public event a picture of the two of them kicks off rumors of them dating and a of COURSE they lean in to it.  Fake dating trope - Activated. Can he help her lau...

I know it's early October and it's barely autumn but when you get a chance to read a cozy, PNW, rom-com love story with lots of snow you grab a warm drink, a fluffy blanket, and a curl up to get moody. When the Snow Settles is a spicy and sweet novella that continues the love story of Holland and Ivy who you can meet in A Lodge Affair also by the lovely Rachel LeBerge.  You still the grumpy/sunshine elements of Ivy and Hollands personalities come through from their main story but also how they've grown and how their love story has evolved. They are dealing with things any couple would be dealing with as their lives go on as well as what many romance stories rely on - dramatic irony and miscommunication. Delicious.  On the eve on one of the biggest events of Ivys career she is dealing with stress, bad weather, and possible major issues with Holland because of things left unsaid and woooooooo boy. Will they talk it out? Will they work it out? Will her job be ok? Will SHE be...

 HAPPY RELEASE DAY TO MADI DANIELLE AND THE BREAK OUT  the newest release in the Denver Dragons series.  I was *SO HONORED* to be an ARC reader for this book and I have read it twice. Once just to squeal and squee and enjoy once to make sure I did it justice when I wrote what I wanted to say about it.  Today when you get to meet Colton and Brynn there are a few things you should know.  He really is a grade-A jackhole. When Brynn says "It really is unfair that the universe decides to give a man that face and body, but his shitty personality" You will feel it with your whole chest along with her and yet ... you're still going to want him to ride you like he rides the mechanical bull.  Brynn is everything you expect her to be from getting pieces parts of her from Brents POV in The Hat Trick and so much more. You will want to protect her from being hurt by a fuck-boi but also know she is capable of doing that all her own - thank you very much.  So what ha...

This has been this month of ARC goodness. Next up? The INCREDIBLE Tips and Trysts by Rebecca Kinkade.  Previously, I talked about Streams and Schemes by Rebecca - because it was incredible - and now I was lucky enough to get an early peek at the sequel.  Tips and Trysts follows the story of Everett and Cora who we met in Streams and Schemes when Everette was a GRADE A SCHMUCK and INSULTED HER about her profession in SPECTACULAR FASHION.  That of course meant that they would have sparks like the Fourth of July...  Here we find out that he was a total bag of flaming dicks because she did the one thing that's nearly impossible to do to a politicians son, she made him nervous and he lost his shit.  Now, he does the nice thing and rescues her when one of her customers gets all aggressive with her at a bar and that of course leads to hot make outs. Which ends... poorly and then they get all aggressive and hateful with each other again... until a disgruntled voter tri...

I was lucky enough to get to be an advanced reader for The Key by Jo Morgan Sloan and I am SO GLAD I have the chance to tell you all about it.  In a beautiful twist on the second chance romance trope, a cis-gender bisexual man falls in love with a transgender man ... who he doesn't realize he's been in love with before... when they were in high school and they were first loves. Complex, layered, full of twists and turns that gave me pits and butterflies in my stomach The Key was a beautiful story about the journey Tabby and Jax go on to find each other AGAIN after Tabby moves from Colorado to California and is able to finally live as his authentic self.  When Jax finds his fiancee cheating on him with his best friend he takes a chance on a brand new job and moves to California. He is sad and looking to connect not just with people in Cali but also with who he was before his ex so he finds a D&D group from an ad and goes off to maybe find some new geeky friends in his new ...

 I was lucky enough to be an ARC reader for Exile by Poppy Fitzgerald and let me tell you... HOLY CRAP ON A CRACKER GO READ THIS NOW.  We met the FMC of this book, Serena, in Poppys first book, Astray, where she was a police officer attempting to help Eloise when she was being stalked. Serena said she understood... and here we find out why. Serena is working at the local coffee shop and Dominick, a local officer, comes in every day and there's flirting. When they finally go out on a date she is so taken by his generosity and up front kindness that she overlooks the red flags like a blind bull.  But why would she want to see the worst in people when she was living with a sick mother, severe traumatic brain injury from the car accident that killed her father, and barely scraping by to put herself through college. She was due something good and here was a protective, generous, cop who was bound to protect and serve who wanted to give her the world.  Until everything go...