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Nerd Girl Loves Books

Book recommendations and short reviews just for you!

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Mystery

Death’s Daughter (Children of the Old Ones, #1) by S. A. Barnes

Rating: 3 out of 5.

This was a fun, fluffy urban paranormal fantasy that features the daughter of Death, Jocasta, just trying to be normal at college. She’s got great friends and a complicated relationship with a TA, Carter. Instead of killing people she feeds on their disappointments, failures, and rejections. All is going well until a sexy guy named Devon, a descendant of Lust—shows up on campus because Death just named Jo as his successor, making her a powerful ally and a massive target. When a friend of Jo’s is murdered, Jo becomes the number 1 suspect. As the body count rises, and Jo does everything she can to protect those she loves, she tests the limits of her power and doesn’t know who to trust.

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Rumors & Whiskey (The Whiskey Women, #1) by Victoria Wilder

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I love the world the author built for this series. The MFC’s intimidating family, the small town characters, the mysterious secrets, the small town cops – this book has everything you could want in a romantic suspense. I listened to the book and the narrators did a fantastic job. They infused plenty of suspicion, snark, hesitation, and steam into their voices to bring the book alive. Samantha Brentmoor’s voice is so versatile that you can easily recognize all the various characters. Connor Crais is smooth as whiskey (see what I did there? lol) and sexy AF. You can feel the heat pouring off him when he interacts with Wyn. I highly recommend you listen to the audio of this book.

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The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney #5) by Claudia Gray

Rating: 4 out of 5.

If you’re a Jane Austin fan, you will love this historical fiction cozy mystery series. As the story begins, Jonathan Darcy is recovering from the gunshot wound he received during his duel and Juliet Tilney is suffering from her ruined reputation after an artist’s scandalous fake portrait of her. Jonathan’s parents continue to hover over him and demand he stop his association with Juliet. Juliet’s parents mourn the possibility that Juliet could have married into the Darcy family.

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Grave Empire (The Great Silence, #1) by Richard Swan

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Wow. Just, wow. I don’t even know what I just read. It’s fantasy, it’s horror, it’s supernatural, it’s steampunk, it’s insanely, scarily, good. I don’t even like the horror genre and typically can’t read it because I’m a big scaredy cat, but Swan lulls me into a wonderful fantasy haze and then BAM. Horror. Lots and lots of horror. Not gonna lie. Scared the crap outta me. And yet. I can’t stop reading.

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The Silverblood Promise (The Last Legacy, #1) by James Logan

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I enjoy his writing style. This book develops more slowly than I normally enjoy, but the narrator did such a great job that I found myself just going with it. Initially the book focuses more on character development, worldbuilding, and political intrigue rather than the typical fantasy elements, but the author eventually gets there. I appreciated the author incorporating the world building through conversations and observation throughout the book rather than a big info dump. It made it much easier understanding the world and how the various characters fit into it.

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The Heirs by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I will never get tired of reading books about messed up rich people doing messed up things. I didn’t really know what to expect with this book and it exceeded my expectations. It revolves around the Button family. The father is a crazy rich guy who adopts 5 children (heirs) and experiments on them using his “Button Method”. He’s testing whether nature or nurture will decide the future of people. The children are immediately emersed in a grinding lifestyle of non-stop training and education by the world’s top experts to train the kids to become prodigies in 5 distinct categories. He succeeds in 4 of the 5 children.

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Marion by Leah Rowan

Rating: 4 out of 5.

4.5 stars (release date June 2, 2026)

I loved the feminine rage and girlpower in this book. It’s a twist on Psycho where Marion fights back and Norman ends up dead in the bathroom. That’s just the beginning of Marion’s journey as she tries to help her sister who’s in an abusive relationship. I loved the bond the sisters had and loved women protecting women.

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Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I absolutely loved this book. I listened to the audio and the narrators did a fantastic job. They instilled the perfect mixture of sweet, snarky, and sarcastic into their voices to bring Elsie/Mabel to life. The story is told in two storylines, present day and Mabel as a young girl. In present day the main character goes by Elsie and as a young girl, she goes by Mabel. Elsie is 81 years old and has lived on her street for over 60 years. She’s the neighborhood curmudgeon that has an opinion about everything and everyone. Her peace is disrupted by the appearance of a little girl named Persephone who relentlessly inserts herself into Elsie’s life.

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Test of Time (Blossom Peak #3) by Harlow James

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is book 3 in the Blossom Peak series but can be read as a stand alone. This time it’s sheriff and single dad Rhonan’s time to fall in love. He meets Vienna in a bar while playing wing-man for a friend. They have an instant connection, but before they can act on their attraction, she disappears, leaving Rhonan confused and quietly obsessing about her.

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