Review: Out of the Woods - Book #2 Out Series - Helena Bonham-Young - January 2025 I'll be honest with you all—contemporary romance has felt a bit blah to me lately. I've been in such a reading slump with the genre, picking up book after book only to set them down halfway through with a shrug. But then Out of the Woods came along and completely broke that spell. From the first few chapters, I was hooked, and more surprisingly, I found myself genuinely enjoying a romance novel again. What really got me about this story is how personal it felt. Sarah and Caleb are high school sweethearts who've been together for seventeen years, and there's something so real about watching them navigate that question we've all wondered at some point: Who am I outside of this relationship? Sarah's struggle to prove her independence while simultaneously loving her husband hit close to home for me. My own partner and I have been together for years, and I saw so much of our dynamic r...

      Review: Gone Before Goodbye - Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben - October 2025 I'll be honest with you—when I first heard about this collaboration, I raised an eyebrow. I'm a die-hard Harlan Coben fan, and the thought of him co-writing with Reese Witherspoon had me a little worried. Would it still have that signature Coben punch? Would it feel diluted? Friends, I'm thrilled to report that this book absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. From the very first page, I was completely hooked. If you took Ruth Ware's Zero Days, threw in the adrenaline-pumping action of The Bourne Identity, and sprinkled in some Mission Impossible impossibly high stakes, you'd get Gone Before Goodbye. It's that addictive. Our protagonist, Maggie McCabe, is the kind of character you instantly root for. She's a brilliant Army combat surgeon who's always thrived in high-pressure situations , the kind of person who runs toward danger while everyone else is runnin...

Review: The Last Guests - JP Pomare - July 2021  You know how sometimes you pick up a book by an author and you're just not sure what you're going to get? That's exactly where I found myself with JP Pomare's The Last Guests. My relationship with this Kiwi author has been a bit of a rollercoaster, if I'm being honest. His debut left me putting it down unfinished, but then 17 Years Later completely won me over with a solid five stars. So settling in with this one, I wasn't quite sure which version of JP Pomare I'd be getting. Here's the thing about New Zealand fiction that I've noticed over the years we tend to take our cues from the UK when it comes to pacing. There's that slow-burn, atmospheric quality that builds and builds rather than hitting you with the high-octane intensity you often find in American thrillers. Sometimes I love that deliberate unfolding, and sometimes I'm itching for things to move faster. With The Last Guests, I found ...

Review: The Last Session - Julia Bartz - April 2025 Oh, how I wanted to love this one! After absolutely devouring Julia Bartz's The Writing Retreat (a solid 5-star read for me), I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into The Last Session. The premise had everything I adore—amnesia, a celebrity lookalike who could be our protagonist's twin, shared secrets between strangers. I settled in with my favorite reading blanket, fully expecting to be swept away. The opening chapters didn't disappoint. The mental institution setting was atmospheric and gripping, pulling me right into Thea's unsettling world. But then our two main characters left those walls, and something shifted. The story took a turn that I can only describe as... odd. I found myself rereading passages, trying to piece together what was happening, feeling a bit lost in the narrative fog. We follow Thea as she trails clues to a remote center tucked away in Southwestern New Mexico, where a charismatic couple runs...

Review: Divine Dicks and Mortal Pricks - Walburga Appleseed - January 2024 You know those cozy evenings when you're curled up with a cuppa, and you want something that's both clever and entertaining? Well, I found exactly that in Walburga Appleseed's delightfully irreverent romp through Greek mythology. This isn't your dusty school textbook version of these ancient tales. Appleseed has taken the familiar stories we all half-remember – you know, the ones where Zeus couldn't keep it in his toga and everyone seemed to be related to everyone else – and flipped them on their head. Finally, someone's asking the questions that should have been asked millennia ago: Was Achilles really that heroic? And why on earth did the Trojan War start over what was essentially a cosmic temper tantrum? What I absolutely loved about this book is how it centers the women who've been lurking in the margins of these stories for ages. The goddesses dealing with their philandering hu...

Review : Witchycakes #2 - Changing Magic - Kara LaReau and Illustrated by Ariane Moreira - August 2025 There's something wonderfully comforting about settling down with a cup of tea and a book that feels like a warm hug, and Witchycakes #2: Changing Magic delivers exactly that cozy feeling. As soon as I opened this charming chapter book, I was transported to the magical little bakery where Blue, our adorable witch-in-training, is learning that change isn't quite as scary as it seems. What I absolutely love about this story is how it captures that bittersweet feeling we all get when seasons shift. Blue doesn't want summer to end, clinging to those long sunny days the way my own kids resist putting away their shorts when autumn arrives. It's such a relatable struggle, and watching Blue work through these feelings while delivering magical baked goods around town felt both gentle and genuine. The beauty of this book lies in its sweetness . As Blue helps their neighbors ad...

Review: June First - Jennifer Hartmann - May 2022 There's something special about settling into your favorite reading spot with a chunky book that you just know is going to wreck you in the best possible way. For me, that's usually the bus—my sacred space where I can lose myself completely in a story without interruption. When I picked up June First by Jennifer Hartmann, I knew I was in for exactly that kind of read. Jennifer Hartmann has become one of my go-to authors for a reason. She brings this raw edginess to her new adult romances that keeps me coming back, and this book absolutely delivered on that promise. The story opens with six-year-old Brant and his best friend Theo, two little boys living next door to each other with their whole lives ahead of them. Then tragedy strikes—Brant's parents are killed, and he moves in with Theo's family just as baby June arrives home from the hospital. From that very first moment Brant lays eyes on her, she becomes his light i...

VBT# Not Her Daughter - Book #2 - Robin Mahle - November 2025 You know that feeling when you finish a book and immediately need to know what happens next? That's exactly where Robin Mahle left us dangling at the end of He's Lying About Everything . Well, grab your cuppa and settle in, because this sequel doesn't disappoint. Poor Evelyn . As if discovering your husband's affair wasn't enough trauma for one lifetime, she's now raising his love child alongside her own son Ben . When we catch up with her, she's done what any sensible woman would do—packed up the lot and started fresh somewhere new. But Ben's not making it easy, constantly reminding everyone that Nicky isn't really his sister. Kids, eh? They've got a special talent for making difficult situations even harder. Just when things seem to be looking up—new job at a cosy law firm, a lovely new man in her life, and what appears to be the perfect nanny—Mahle pulls the rug out from under...