Fiction

Never Been Shipped by Alicia Thompson

This is a sweet friends to lovers romance focusing on Micah and John. They meet in high school and as teenagers form a band with other friends that takes off in popularity. They release an album and tour the world, until the band breaks up just before they turn 20 years old. Ten years later the band is recruited to reunite for one more performance on a tv-show themed cruise. John misses Micah and performing with the band. They were best friends growing up and he’s secretly been in love with her since he was 12. Micah dreads getting back with the band and facing the mistakes and heartache that forced her to break from the band in the first place. But, she misses John and wants to connect with him again.

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June 10, 2025 0

No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding by Catherine Mack

I didn’t read the first book in this series, but I didn’t feel lost while reading this one. Eleanor is a best-selling author and has just finished wrapping up a movie of her latest novel. It stars her best friend Emma, who is engaged to her leading man and getting married after the film wraps. The entire cast and crew are invited to the wedding on Catalina Island, just as a storm develops that will hit the island. As the wedding weekend gets underway, Eleanor discovers a dead body. This sets the guests in a panic and overstretches the one police officer still on the island.

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June 8, 2025 0

King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby

I didn’t know going into this book that it was inspired by The Godfather, but now that I know it, I can totally see it. Roman is a successful financial consultant in Atlanta and is summoned to his small hometown of Jefferson Run after his father’s car accident. It’s a run-down, crime riddled town in central Virginia that’s run by gangs. He finds out that his younger brother Dante is in debt to dangerous criminals that he needs to clean up. His his sister, Neveah, is exhausted from holding the family—and the family crematorium business—together.

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June 8, 2025 0

The Howling Dark (Sun Eater #2) by Chrisopher Ruocchio

Book two has Hadrian searching for the lost planet of Vorgossos with his band of mercenaries. He’s tasked with finding the enemy Cielcins, who have been ravaging the empire’s worlds with intense ferocity. He believes he can reason with them and wants to try to reach some form of peace with them. Empire officers that accompany him not only have contempt for the mission, they have contempt of Hadrian and stand in his way as much as possible.

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June 8, 2025 0

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros

I know I’m late to the party on this book, and I get why it is so popular. Is it perfect? No. But it’s a fun, crazy ride. Books that involve a deadly training academy are my jam. They always have plenty of insane challenges, found family bonding, and of course, the obligatory off-the-chain crazy villain(s). This book has it all – plus dragons!

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June 8, 2025 2

Bourbon Sunset (Bourbon Canyon #7) by Walker Rose

This is the last book in the Bourbon Canyon series but the first one I’ve read. The book can be read as a stand alone, although there were definitely a lot of family members so I got a bit lost when they all got together. But, that is a minor thing and didn’t detract from the story. It was enough to know they were all family, and their family had each other’s backs.

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June 3, 2025 0

Feather and Famine: The Withering Saga – Book 1 by Mariah L. Rosewood

This is such a good first book in a new fantasy trilogy. The Elf kingdom of Ittora is suffering from a years-long famine they believe was caused by a Fey curse. Ayse is the daughter of an apothecary that stumbles upon a magical birch tree in the woods that regenerates itself that she believes may be the key to breaking the famine. It’s outside a log cabin where Aiden, a grumpy mysterious stranger has taken up residence. They are both haunted by their past and desperate to figure out a way to stop the famine. Prince Seok pushes his mother the Queen to declare war on the Fey hoping to force them to stop the famine. He uncovers something amiss with the rations and works to figure out if there is a conspiracy to hoard rations.

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May 28, 2025 0

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

It hurts my heart to give this rating to a Katherine Center book. Normally I love them. Sadly, this one missed the mark for me. The writing is still good and the characters were pretty well formed, I just didn’t really like either of them or care about the plot.

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May 28, 2025 0

Story of My Life (Story Lake, #1) by Lucy Score

This book is an absolute delight!! Hazel is a successful romance writer that’s just suffered a really bad breakup. Since then, she’s been wallowing in depression and is suffering writer’s block. Although I’m not an author, I can so relate to how stuck Hazel is, and her bestie Zoey is the kind of friend every floundering woman needs to kick her butt and get her moving. Desperate for inspiration, Hazel impulse-buys a historic home online and flees Manhattan to tiny Story Lake, PA. Upon her dramatic arrival―involving an incident with a bald eagle―she discovers the charm of her new home may have been slightly exaggerated. Especially when she runs into perpetual grump Campbell. He’s a bit too grumpy for me, but he was redeemed the further the story went along.

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May 28, 2025 0