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Review: Want - Chelle Bliss

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Review: Want - Book #2 Men of Inked: Sinners Series - Chelle Bliss - March 2025 After a string of DNF reads, Want by Chelle Bliss swooped in like a warm hug on a cold dayā€”and what a perfect choice it turned out to be. As someone whoā€™s read and enjoyed a few books from the original Gallo Brothers series, I was beyond excited to dive into this spin-off. The moment I saw it featured Santino (Tino) and Bettyā€™s extended family, I was all in. The story kicks off with Brax, whoā€™s working behind the bar when Iris walks in, having just been stood up on a blind date. Cue the snowstorm of the centuryā€”classic Chicago vibesā€”and a very generous offer from Braxā€™s sister Tate to let Iris crash in the apartment above her tattoo shop. What starts as a night of awkward but cute proximity soon becomes the beginning of something real between Brax and Iris. Iris, however, comes with baggage. Her ex not only broke her heart, but also left her with a dangerous messā€”he owes some very bad people a lot of mon...

Review: The Perfect Cheerleader - Cole Baxter

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Review: The Perfect Cheerleader - Cole Baxter - October 2022 Cole Baxter, best known for his adult psychological thrillers, delivers a darkly addictive YA offering with The Perfect Cheerleaderā€”a razor-sharp high school thriller aimed at the 16-30 crowd that asks: how far would you go to get rid of the most popular girl in school? Set against the backdrop of Sherman Oaks High School, this book plunges readers into a world where popularity is power and cruelty is currency. At the top of the food chain sits Bea Ardentā€”rich, stunning, untouchable, and utterly ruthless. Sheā€™s the kind of queen bee who rules through intimidation, and when she feels threatened by new girl Melanie Glass, the claws come out. Melanie is everything Bea isnā€™t: warm, kind, and genuinely liked. But being the ā€œnice girlā€ doesnā€™t make her safe. As Beaā€™s schemes grow more twisted, readers are taken on a breathless ride through jealousy, manipulation, and psychological warfare. If you love books with unreliable friendsh...

Review: If We Ever Meet Again - Ana Huang

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Review: If We Ever Meet Again - Book #1 If Love Series - Ana Huang - June 2020 With the popularity of Ana Huang's Twisted and Kings series, I decided to hop on the Ana Huang bandwagon and of course being the type of person I am, I brought all of her series in its entirety and then what happened is that they ended up on my bookshelf, till the spark occurs to read them. I needed something that felt like a quick romance read as the other ones I had tried were just blah and boring. Ana Huang's If Love series is not too big so I grabbed the first one and started reading. The first chapter was a break-up scene so we already get the idea that this book will not end in HEA and it's a book that we all can relate to as most of us have had that one love that we have fallen hard in, only to be left hurt and the one standing on the sidelines while the other person walks away. The love that should be forever, but for some reason, it can never happen that way.  Farrah and Blake, both met ...

Review: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls - Grady Hendrix

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Review: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls - Grady Hendrix - January 2025 Set against the haunting backdrop of a 1970s unwed mothers home in St. Augustine, Florida, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is Grady Hendrix at his most chillingā€”and most heartbreaking. Combining the authorā€™s signature horror-tinged storytelling with a devastating slice of social history, this novel struck an especially personal chord with me. Like the girls in this story, my own mother had her child taken from her as a teenager under the guise of ā€œwhatā€™s best,ā€ a story so many women in that era know too well. We follow 15-year-old Fern, frightened, pregnant, and utterly alone as she enters the rigid confines of the Wellwood Home. Girls like Fern are labelled ā€œlooseā€ and ā€œtroubled,ā€ stripped of their autonomy and made to follow a life path dictated by shame and control. But what begins as a bleak narrative of conformity slowly morphs into something powerful, strangeā€”and even a little magical. When a mysterious Mobile Libra...

Book Blitz - Lush - Tinia Montford

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lush Tinia Montford Publication date: March 31st 2025 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Suspense Laurene King had it all: beauty, wealth, and a sexy secret affair with Reese Ashbourneā€” the brooding heir of her familyā€™s sworn enemy. But one reckless night shattered everything. Tragedy struck. Laurene disappeared. And Reese was left with betrayal, unanswered questions, and scars heā€™ll never forget. Now, Laurene is back, forced to return to the life she fled, but her homecoming comes with a cruel twist. Their families, teetering on the edge of ruin, have resurrected an old deal to save themselves: an Ashbourne and a King must marryā€”or lose everything. Only this time, Reese is the groom. Not his brother. Haunted by the past, Reese craves revenge as much as he still craves her. Trapped in a forced proximity neither can escape, their chemistry ignitesā€”and so do their secrets. But someone knows the truth about that night. The lies that tore them apart are unraveling, and th...

Review: The Good Samaritan - Toni Halleen

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Review: The Good Samaritan - Toni Halleen - March 2025 The Good Samaritan by Toni Halleen is a chilling psychological thriller that delves into the complexities of redemption, moral choices, and the consequences of helping othersā€”even when it might be the wrong thing to do. Matthew Larkin, a sociology professor whose life has unraveled in the wake of his toddler sonā€™s death, is barely holding it together. After a messy divorce, the estrangement of his daughter, and the loss of his job, Matthew is clinging to the last thread of stability with a new tenure-track position at a small college. But life has a way of testing you when you're already at your breaking point, and that test comes on a desolate stretch of road one stormy evening. Caught in a hailstorm, Matthewā€™s attention is drawn to a small child huddled under a tarpaulin. The boy is unconscious, soaked, and potentially hypothermic. In a split-second decision, Matthew makes the choice to rescue him, even though it means putt...

Review: Return to Wyldcliffe Heights - Carol Goodman

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Review: Return to Wyldcliffe Heights - Carol Goodman - July 2024 Reading Return to Wyldcliffe Heights felt like stepping into a world of eerie deja vu. Even though Goodreads told me I hadnā€™t read it before, there was something about this book that felt so familiarā€”perhaps because it taps into a beloved trope of mine: the unreliable narrator. Itā€™s a type of story I can never resist, and this one absolutely delivered. Agnes Corey, a junior editor, is hired to transcribe the long-awaited sequel to The Secret of Wyldcliffe Heights , a 1993 literary hit by the reclusive author Veronica St. Clair. St. Clairā€™s life has been shrouded in mystery since the release of her book, which was followed by a tragic fire that left her scarred and blind. When Agnes arrives at St. Clairā€™s crumbling estate, once a psychiatric hospital for ā€œwayward women,ā€ she expects a routine project. But as St. Clair dictates the sequel, Agnes uncovers chilling details that blur the line between fiction and reality, h...