Review: The Auction by Sadie Kincaid

19 June, 2026 8:00 am , Leave a Comment , Kristin

The Auction
Sadie Kincaid
Publisher: MIRA
Publication date: April 14, 2026
Genre: Dark Romance
Rating:

I was trained to be a pawn, but I will rise as a queen.

My life has never been my own. After the death of my parents, I was saved by my grandfather, with the promise that he would turn me over to the Brotherhood on my twenty-first birthday.

I was kept away from the outside world so I could one day be sold to the highest bidder—pure and unsullied. Penance for my parents’ alleged crimes.

That’s how I come to be sold at an auction.

And who buys me but the reclusive billionaire, Lincoln Knight?

Some say that he’s a monster, more dangerous than any of the evil men from the Brotherhood. That he wears a mask to cover his scars. But I believe he’s hiding more than just his face behind his mask.

My fate is sealed when he takes me to his crumbling mansion deep in the woods. I’m trapped. Entirely at his mercy.

I have to escape.

But something here isn’t what it seems.

Lincoln isn’t what he seems. Maybe he’s not a monster at all. I’m drawn to him in a way that I can’t explain. Until I discover that his secrets go far beyond his mask.

Posted in: Erotic Romance

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Makerborn by Daymon Ashcord

17 June, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment , Kristin

Makerborn
(Maladies of Empire, #1)
by: Daymon Ashcord
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 15 2026
Genre: Dark Fantasy

The God War is over. An empire built on suffering, slavery, and betrayal remains.

In the fractured lands of the Salvian Empire, the Great Houses rule through blood and fear. For years, Alandra Phoenyka has hunted powerful Sonomancers in the empire’s name, paid in empty promises that her stolen daughter would be returned.
Each step forward demands another compromise. Another betrayal. Another piece of herself lost.

When those promises turn to treachery, she is forced to take matters into her own hands and risk everything to reclaim her child.

In the empire’s mining camps, Bez Windstrider has endured years of torture and brutal experimentation. Broken but unyielding, he clings to one purpose: vengeance. The men who murdered his parents will pay, and their deaths will complete the ritual needed to free his parents’ souls from damnation.

But the deeper his grief cuts, the more he becomes something far more dangerous, for himself, and for the empire.

As their paths draw closer, the buried truths of the God War begin to surface. What begins as two personal vendettas threatens to unravel something far greater than either of them can control.

Because empires do not fall quietly.

And the gods that shaped them are not as dead as they seem.

Posted in: Excerpt, Fantasy

Review: Invictus by Heather Frost

15 June, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment , Kristin

Invictus
Esperance Trilogy #2
Heather Frost
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: Dec. 28, 2025
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

She chose to trust him.

He swore to protect her.

But surviving Esperance was only the beginning . . .

Amryn never intended to betray the rebels she swore to help—or fall for the husband she was forced to marry. But when everything at Esperance fell apart, Carver became the one person she could trust. Now, she must rely on him more than ever—especially since the knights who hunt empaths know one was at Esperance. If they find her, they will kill her. Yet the threat Amryn doesn’t see coming may prove deadlier, because even though she turned her back on the rebels, the Rising isn’t done with her.

Carver has already lost too much at Esperance. He won’t lose anyone else—especially Amryn. He’ll fight to protect his wife from every threat, including the mysterious bloodstone that nearly killed her. He knows the dangerous relic must be destroyed, but first he has to get the surviving Chosen to the capital—a mission that soon turns deadly, making it clear there is still someone out there who never planned for the Chosen to leave Esperance alive.

But safety isn’t guaranteed in the emperor’s palace. Here, every action is scrutinized and politics twist every word. Surrounded by hidden enemies, ruthless assassins, and deadly conspiracies, Amryn and Carver must navigate a web of danger that could cost them everything—including their lives.

Posted in: Fantasy Romance

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Dune Queen by Amina Adamou

10 June, 2026 7:59 pm , 2 Comments , Kristin

Dune Queen
Dune Queen #1
Amina Adamou
Publisher: Self- Published
Publication date:
Genre: Fantasy Romance

When Salima Farhan turns eighteen, she thinks she’s finally old enough to escape the absurd teachings of the cult her parents joined ever since she was a kid, but Farik Masood, the founder and leader of the Crescent Compound, has other plans for her: he wants her to join a recruitment program to bring in more cult members.⁣
⁣
Salima agrees to join the program in order to eventually escape—but she quickly regrets that decision when she finds out Masood’s ‘program’ is actually a front for something far more sinister. Knocked unconscious before she can run, she wakes up two months later only to be told that she now has the same magic as djinn, mischievous, mythical beings who are normally invisible to the human eye. And as a reward for these powers, she’s expected to use her new abilities to help Masood take over the world.⁣
⁣
Distraught but determined, Salima must fight for her freedom and for the innocent lives Masood wants to destroy—even if it means marrying the very djinn who has sworn to protect her enemy.⁣

Posted in: Excerpt

Review: Sweet Like Sugar Cane by Leah T. Williams

8 June, 2026 8:00 pm , 2 Comments , Kristin

Sweet Like Sugar Cane
The Prequel to Neither Out Far Nor In Deep—Gwen’s Story
Leah T. Williams
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 1, 2025
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

Before she became the mother struggling to understand her American-born son in Neither Out Far Nor In Deep, Gwendolyn Richards was just a girl in St. Kitts trying to figure out who she was.
She had her best friend Sharon, her father’s quiet wisdom, her mother’s firm and loving hands, and Lenwell Turnbull whose eyes found hers across every school assembly. Life moved to the rhythm of sugar cane fields, market mornings, and the island’s radio reading out the names of the dead.

Then everything changed.

In one season, Gwen will discover the electricity of first love and learn that some things cannot be rushed, like yam vines, like grief, like growing up. She will face heartbreak she never saw coming and changes that will alter her world forever.
Sweet Like Sugar Cane is a lyrical, tender coming of age story set against the vivid backdrop of Caribbean island life. It is a story about the sweetness of first love, the bitterness of loss, and the bittersweet reality of becoming someone new.
Perfect for readers who love Jamaica Kincaid, Edwidge Danticat, and stories about Black girls finding their strength in the most difficult seasons of their lives.

Posted in: YA Contemporary, YA Romance

My Summer Project: Reading My TBR From Oldest to Newest

7 June, 2026 5:54 pm , 4 Comments , Kristin

This post is linked to Sunday Post, Staking the Shelves, and the Sunday Salon.

I did a deep dive into my Goodreads TBR list this weekend, to go through all the books and delete ones I don’t plan to read. I have had books sitting on my TBR for over a decade. A DECADE!!! Books that I saw and thought, “That looks like a good book” but then never actually purchased it or read it. It’s safe to say that some of those books are no longer of interest to me. Most were YA, and while I still enjoy reading YA, it’s not my primary genre anymore.

So, I went through my list, and any books that I immediately went “meh” over, got the boot. Books that are not available on KU or at my library, that I was not willing to pay money for, got the the boot. I was able to knock out almost half of the books on my TBR. What was once a TBR of over 200 books is now a list of 112 books. It’s still a bit overwhelming, but I feel like it’s more manageable… as long as I don’t go crazy adding books to it again.

Therefor, I have decided that I will spend this summer going through and reading my TBR one book at a time from oldest to newest. I won’t push myself to read anything that I’m not feeling, but I do feel like I need to give these books a chance. So many of these books have so few reviews and ratings. The book I’m currently reading now only has 83 ratings on Goodreads and only 12 on Amazon.

So, it’s time to brush off my TBR and start giving these books a chance in the spotlight.

Posted in: Ramblings

Review: Wed to the Orc Warrior by Penny McMara

5 June, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment , Kristin

Wed to the Orc Warrior
(Orc Wed, #1)
Penny McMara
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 4, 2026
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

To save my sister, I’ll marry a monster.

The orc mercenaries were meant to die. When Khal Drazha’s-son, their scarred, lethal leader, returns to claim his prize, a bride of noble blood, I know only one thing: my frail half-sister cannot be the one sacrificed.

I’m the bastard daughter no one wants, but I have street cunning, and a plan: I’ll deceive this golden-eyed orc warrior, taking my sister’s place at the altar and in his bed. If I can endure the wedding night, I can find a way to betray him. I can escape into the wilds beyond my father’s walls.

Now, we’re locked in a chamber together. I’m braced for the worst. But the warrior I’ve deceived believes I chose him…and he’s here to rescue me. He intends to bond us, soul and flesh, for a lifetime.

I came here prepared to survive a monster, but this green-skinned mercenary wants peace for his people, a peace he won’t win, because he’s married the wrong daughter.

My lies are about to tear his life apart. The bond we’ve forged in the dark might just shatter my heart first.

Posted in: Fantasy Romance

Top Ten Books I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Read

2 June, 2026 1:58 pm , 13 Comments , Kristin

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

We’ve all been there. A book explodes onto book blogs, BookTok, and Bookstagram.

Everyone is talking about it, reviewing it, and making videos about it.

You add it to your TBR list with the best intentions.

Then… time passes.

Months turn into years, and suddenly you realize you are the last person on earth who hasn’t read it.

Today, I’m clearing the air and confessing to ten books that have been sitting on my TBR Goodreads list for way too long.

Posted in: Ramblings

Review: Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry

29 May, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment , Kristin

Rites of the Starling
Shield of Sparrows #2
Devney Perry
Publisher: Entangled
Publication date: April 7, 2026
Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance
Rating:

Calandra’s five kingdoms are on the verge of destruction. The crux migration is coming. And in the wake of a devastating attack, I’ve been separated from the man who owns my heart.
I’m lost. Terrified. Homesick. Hunted by monsters, driven to exhaustion, and kidnapped by a powerful priest, the only thing keeping me going is the little girl counting on me to keep her safe. It’s my turn to become the Guardian.

Our lives change one fateful night. A night of death. A night of monsters. A night of truths. That night, I learn the real meaning of fear—and the depth of my own strength.

Everyone wants me to be something I’m not—a queen, a spy, a sacrifice. But what if I embrace my crown? What if the secrets I uncover save our realm?

What if my sacrifice means salvation for the man I love?

For too long, I’ve feared the monsters we make.

It’s time to discover the monster within.