If you were obsessed with Greek mythology as a kid, Lifestyles of Gods & Monsters will have you riveted even as you want to look away. The myth of Adriadne, Theseus and the Minotaur is a common enough story that you may go into this book with a vague idea of the narrative. The twist, however, is that this is a retelling set in a vaguely modern Crete, complete with both Gods and Monsters and cell phones and social media. And reality TV. Ariadne's family has been organizing and hosting a yearly competition in which fourteen young competitors from Athens try to kill the Minotaur one at a time. This has gone on for ten years and no one has been successful. They air it like any good reality TV show, complete with parties and dramatic pyrotechnics, and an arena of blood-thirsty fans.
Between the stress of her job, her emotionally distant fiance, his overbearingly bougie parents, and her disapproving mother, Antonia Harper is struggling to muster up even the tiniest bit of her Black Girl Magic. Antonia’s never met a personal conflict she wanted to deal with head on, so she does her best ostrich impression until everything, and I mean everything, in her life implodes.
One of my gateways to romance was Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series, but for years I have told myself that her Urban Fantasy Guild Hunter series was simply just not for me. Too much blood, horror and war. But last month the only books I could seem to finish were Guild Hunter books, so maybe there is just a time and mood for everything. Archangel’s War, book 12 in this series, just came out and in it Nalini Singh closes out one of the major story arcs in her series, making it an excellent time to catch up with Singh’s Vampires, Angels and Hunters and come along on a wild ride.
[Read Ana's review of Archangel's War here.]
The twelfth book in the Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series has been eagerly awaited by long-time fans after the excruciatingly tense way the previous book, Archangel’s Prophecy ended. In this book Singh brings to a close the long-running Cascade storyline, but not before nearly shattering the world, Raphael and Elena, and their people in an intense showdown between the most powerful members of the Archangelic ruling Cadre.
Kingdom of Exiles is a promising fantasy romance debut with badass main characters, complicated worldbuilding, and a searing romance. And it has some issues.
Dine with Me is filled with light, love and hope. It's heartwarming, heartbreaking, and it made me cry. Actually cry! —from joy, then sadness, then joy again. It’s a bright yet realistic story about shattering expectations. It's Netflix's Chef's Table come to life as a passionate, mouth-watering, queer Romance. It's my favourite Romance read of the year.
No Judgments is two different books smushed together. One part is a fluffy tale about two stubborn people coming together during a hurricane and then rescuing animals in the aftermath. The other part is about a woman who's just run away from a toxic relationship and family. I'm going to give spoilers in this review, so if that's not your thing, go ahead and click away now.
I would be lying if I said that reviewing Always Never Yours was easy to do. First, I enjoyed it and especially the actual romance. Second, I loved that Megan is mostly happy with who she is (extroverted, open to romance, unapologetic about her number of ex-boyfriends, opinionated). Third, the romance had me anxious in the best way. With all of that, there are some things I’m not sure I’m comfortable with.
Little reviews of The Love Solution, Trashed, Shatter the Sky and Hot Dog Girl.
