Review: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

4 May, 2026 9:14 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Sunrise on the Reaping
The Hunger Games, 0.5
By Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication date: March 18, 2025
Genre: YA Dystopia
Rating:

When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

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Posted in: YA Fantasy, Young Adult

Review: Blood of Hercules by Jasmine Mas

1 May, 2026 7:51 pm , Leave a Comment ,


Blood of Hercules
Villains of Lore #1
By: Jasmine Mas
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Publication date: Aug. 1, 2021
Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance
Rating

Step into the Coliseum at the Spartan War Academy where monsters are made, immortality is won, and even a god can die…

Alexis Hert isn’t a hero, and she certainly isn’t a god. All she’s ever been is a survivor.

But the Fates disagree.

When a blood test leads to her admittance at the Spartan War Academy, she’ll have to do more than merely survive.

Alexis will have to claim her birthright: immortality.

But immortality is a privilege, one earned in the crucible of the academy, where the heroes are villains and classrooms battlegrounds. While gladiators Achilles and Patro, her demanding mentors, hone her into a warrior, Augustus and Kharon, her professors and the brooding heirs to the underworld, haunt her steps and her thoughts.

Because where there are gods, there are bound to be monsters, and there is more than one hunting Alexis…

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Posted in: Fantasy Romance

Review: Spark the Flames by Ivy Asher

27 April, 2026 7:38 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Spark the Flames
Secret of the Syphon #1
By: Ivy Asher
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: March 21, 2025
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

When it comes to dragons, there’s no such thing as safe.

I learned that the hard way when my kith and kindred were slaughtered right before my eyes.

Everyone thinks the wyverns and the sorcai did it, but I know the truth.

I’ve been hiding from The Horde ever since, existing under their radar, surviving.

And then one day, they find me…he finds me. Aeson Noctis, the king’s second son and my new captor.

Aeson thinks he can force me back to Paragon City. He thinks he can use me and claim my power for his own.

But the dragons should’ve been more careful about who they let inside their city. I’m not some weak little pawn. I’m here looking for answers.

I’m here looking for revenge.

When it comes to dragons, there’s no such thing as safe. I know because I am one, and now I’m going to make The Horde pay for what they’ve done.

They thought they killed all the Syphons.

They thought they hunted down every one.

They thought wrong.

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Posted in: Fantasy Romance

Review: Red Winter by Annette Marie

24 April, 2026 7:25 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Red Winter
Red Winter Trilogy, #1
By: Annette Marie
Publisher:Dark Owl Fantasy
Publication date: Oct. 21, 2016
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Romance
Rating:

Emi has spent her entire life hiding from the creatures that hunt her. The savage earth spirits are determined to kill her before she can become the living host of a goddess, so she stays hidden—until the day she saves the life of one of her hunters.

Shiro isn’t the harmless fox spirit she thought he was. He’s mysterious, cunning, unpredictable…and now hers to command. He’s sworn to pay his debt to her, but he doesn’t know who she is. If he finds out, he’ll kill her.

But she can’t send him away—not yet. Her future isn’t what she thought. The lies surrounding her fate have begun to unravel, and she needs answers before time runs out—answers that lie in the spirit realm. Shiro can take her there…if she dares to trust him.

And only then will she find out how deep the gods’ treachery runs.

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Posted in: YA Fantasy, YA Romance

Review: The Exception by Vi Keeland

20 April, 2026 8:11 pm , Leave a Comment ,

The Exception
By: Vi Keeland
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Nov. 18, 2025
Genre: Romance
Rating:

He lives by a set of rules. She might be his one exception.

I just wanted a distraction, something to take the edge off before facing a wedding I was dreading. So on the flight back to New York, I signed up for a dating app. Harmless enough, right?

Wrong.

Turns out, it wasn’t just any app—it catered to people with very specific tastes. By the time I realized it, I was already on my date.

Tall, confident, and sinfully handsome, Jagger Langston seemed like the full package. The chemistry between us was instant—electric enough to burn the whole city down. Though things took a turn when we figured out I’d misunderstood who should join the app. We laughed it off, said goodbye, and went our separate ways.

Or so I thought.

Until I walked into my new internship Monday morning, ready to put the weekend behind me, and there he was—my boss.

Now I’m caught between the rules he lives by—and the temptation to make him break every single one of them.

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Posted in: Romance

Review: A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne

17 April, 2026 9:35 pm , Leave a Comment ,

A Soul to Keep
Duskwalker Brides, 1
By: Opal Reyne
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 16, 2022
Genre: Erotic Fantasy Romance
Rating:

All Reia ever wanted was freedom.

Known as a harbinger of bad omens and blamed for Demons eating her family, Reia is shunned by her entire village. When the next offering is due and the monstrous Duskwalker is seen heading their way, her village offers her an impossible choice – be thrown into the prison cells or allow herself to be sacrificed to a faceless monster.

However, he is not what he seems. His skull face and glow eyes are ethereal, and she finds herself unwittingly enchanted by him.

All Orpheus ever wanted was a companion.

Each decade, in exchange for a protection ward from the Demons that terrorise the world, Orpheus takes a human offering to the Veil – the place he lives and the home of Demons. The brief companionship does little to ease his loneliness, and their lives were always, unfortunately, cut short.

He’d thought it was a hopeless endeavour, until he met her. She’s not afraid of him, and his insatiable desire deepens within every moment of her presence.

But will Orpheus be able to convince Reia to stay before she’s lost to him forever?

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Posted in: Erotic Romance, Fantasy Romance

Review: Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry

13 April, 2026 9:27 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Shield of Sparrows
Shield of Sparrows #1
By: Devney Perry
Publisher: Entangled
Publication date: May 6, 2025
Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance
Rating:

The gods sent monsters to the five kingdoms to remind mortals they must kneel.

I’ve spent my life kneeling—to their will and to my father’s. As a princess, my only duty is to wear the crown and obey the king.

I was never meant to rule. Never meant to fight. And I was never supposed to be the daughter who sealed an ancient treaty with her own blood.

But that changed the fateful day I stepped into my father’s throne room. The day a legendary monster hunter sailed to our shores. The day a prince ruined my life.

Now I’m crossing treacherous lands beside a warrior who despises me as much as I despise him—bound to a future I didn’t choose and a husband I barely know.

Everyone wants me to be something I’m not—a queen, a spy, a sacrifice.

But what if I refused the role chosen for me? What if I made my own rules? What if there’s power in being underestimated?

And what if—for the first time—I reached for it?

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Posted in: Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, NA Fantasy, NA Romance, New Adult

Review: Tis the Season for Revenge by Morgan Elizabeth

22 December, 2025 7:00 pm , 1 Comment ,

Tis the Season for Revenge
Seasons of Revenge #1
Morgan Elizabeth
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Oct 25, 2022
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Abbie Keller thought that Richard Bartholemew Benson the Third would be her forever. In their four years of dating, she never doubted that she would end up with his grandmother’s engagement ring on her finger. Sure, she had to change a few things about herself to fit that mold, like dyeing her hair, dressing more conservatively, and finding golf enjoyable (honestly the most difficult of the changes), but she was sure that at the end of it all, it would be worth it.

That is, until he leaves her crying outside her apartment wearing a Halloween costume, having broken it off with her because she’s just not serious enough. She was just fun, he tells her – and now that Richard has becoming a partner at his law firm in his sights, he needs to focus on work.

So she does what every girl does when she’s broken up with: she calls her friends, gets drunk, dyes her hair, and formulates her plan for revenge. It just so happens that the universe supports her efforts and gives her the perfect match to prove to her ex that he made a huge mistake: his boss.

Abbie starts dating the founding partner of Richard’s law firm, Damien Martinez, with one thing in mind: convincing him to invite her to the huge annual Christmas party as his date.

But when the relationship starts to become something more than casual dating and Abbie sees that the tough New York lawyer has a soft side, will she be able to follow through with her plan of deceit?

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Posted in: Romance

Review: Love Me, Stalk Me by Laura Bishop

19 December, 2025 7:54 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Love Me Stalk Me
Obsessively Yours #1
Laura Bishop
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication date: Dec. 2, 2025
Genre: Romance
Rating:

When overworked department store manager Izzy Russo downloads an AI boyfriend app to fill the emotional void left by her inattentive real one, she thinks she’s just venting to a harmless chatbot named “Caleb.” In reality, she’s been pouring her deepest, dirtiest fantasies into the ears of Callahan Knight—her store’s brooding new head of security.

Because Cal? He’s been listening. The moment he saw Izzy, he knew she was his. Did he hack her phone? Absolutely. But who could blame him? A woman like Izzy deserves to be cherished by someone who truly knows her worth—and he’ll do anything to be that man.

So when Izzy finally sees her boyfriend for who he really is, and the danger she’s unknowingly been caught up in, Cal is ready to protect her, no matter the cost. Even if it means revealing the truth.

She might not have meant to build the perfect man. But he’s here now. And he’s never letting her go.

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Posted in: Romance

Review: The Witches Wolf by Heather K. Carson

10 November, 2025 8:45 pm , Leave a Comment ,

The Witch’s Wolf
Fated Destinies #1
Heather K. Carson
Publisher: Self-published
Published: March 1, 2023
Genre: Paranormal romance
Rating:

Fate doesn’t exist.
But try telling that to the growling wolf shifter who thinks I’m his mate…

This is not my week.
Or month.
Or year.

My now-ex-boyfriend cheating on me with my best friend?
I’d get over it eventually.
Pretentious chefs who looked down on me because I never went to culinary school while I was raising my little sister?
Screw ‘em.
Finding out my sister has Lycan wolf DNA and I have hours to get her out of the city before she’s locked away in a government research facility?
I definitely didn’t see that one coming.

To save my sister’s life, we take off in the middle of the night following cryptic instructions from our late father to what was supposed to be the toxic wastelands.

Imagine my surprise when we stumble into a fairy tale civilization of wolf shifters where magic is real and a frustrating, but ruggedly handsome pack enforcer has serious plans for me.

The big, bad, and hungry wolf thinks I’m his fated mate and he’s not taking no for an answer.

That’s just the icing on the metaphorical cake.
But this isn’t some magical bedtime story.

Real danger exists in the Cerberus pack. There’s a poison in the ranks. Shifters are leaving. My sister isn’t safe.

And a blood-thirsty Alpha murders anyone that challenges him.
Which I may–or may not–have accidentally done…
Did I mention today is not my day?

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Posted in: Paranormal Romance