Milo is definitely going down in my book as of the most toxic MMCs in history. This book honestly feels out of place with the rest of her work and the fact that he is just nothing like the other men in this universe that I’ve read about. This man lacked self-control. For someone who is hell-bent on getting back together with our FMC and showing her that he’s ready to commit. He’s literally does the opposite every chance that he can get.  Also, I wish less time was spent on them having sex and more time spent on them exploring the issues of why they fell apart in the first place and then also what they currently have and why stuff keeps happening.  Specifically, there were certain things that were brought up in this book that one could infer is reason they show up the way they are doing their relationship, but it wasn’t truly explored, and I don’t like that. Why bring it up if we’re not going to go there? Also, the fact that some of the stuff really was not resolved like sex is just such a Band-Aid for them, and the fact that one character was kept around as long as she was is still blowing my mind. The audio narration was amazing though, and once I started the book, I was committed to finishing it with hopes that I would see character growth and development, but I did not at all. I really just rather it had been short and been a novella or an erotica and called it a day because for us to have almost 400 pages of no growth or development EW. Is very disappointing. Like I do not see how Nature even likes this man nor loves him. What is their connection outside of sex? By the end of this book, I do not see what it is. One thing that stood out to me in the story after his first slip-up when he is trying to force his way back into her good graces and they are at lunch and he’s like I’m coming for you. You’re the woman that I deserve to be with. I deserve you, and she’s like respectfully no, you don’t deserve me, and he then says that of the things that he will do for her, and all he essentially talks about is sexual and financial ways that he can provide for her. Oh, and that he’s willing to lay down people for her. Be so forreal…

I loved this book in their shenanigans. I do, though feel like he definitely was rushing, his consume so much with having his own thing and identity outside of his family that I don’t think he really truly evaluated how much harm he was putting Shar into.

Wasn’t a fan of the FMC. Secret/hidden child. Communication is the major downfall a lot Of times when it comes to second chance romances. Grief sucks. I know LaDonna’s mom was really consumed with grief, but also she was not wrong in a sense that. Ladonna and Neha we’re literally doppelgängers and looked very much alike.. yes, I know that it was always strictly gonna be coparenting and friendship between LaDonna and Steele. but I do wish he would’ve acknowledged more that he was subconsciously with someone that reminded him so much of his first love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC. I highly encourage anyone interested in this story to listen to the audiobook as well. I’m not even going to hold you. This is my first time experiencing the narrator Kristolyn Lloyd, and hands down I must say she killed it. She brought this book to life, and I felt like I was listening to a full-cast audio experience instead of one narrator. I listened to it at 1.5 speed.

IF I Ruled the World is the story of a young woman in the big city who has hopes of making it into the industry, but everything comes with a cost. This is someone dealing with her identity as well as ambition, and maybe even being attracted to and dancing with the devil a couple of times. Nikki Rose, our FMC, is someone that many women will be able to identify with. I loved her, and though she is not perfect, I supported her rights and her wrongs in this story because guess what? We have all been there, and if you have not been there, then you haven’t really lived. We get to see her explore navigating and trying to climb up and earn respect in her career (where she doesn’t have the best reputation due to her ex slandering her and trying to get her blackballed). I also loved how the dynamic of her friendships were explored, her learning who her true friends were as well as people who were not, and how sometimes when we get over our head or try to get on the path to achieving things, we forget who we are in those around us who care about us the most. No one is perfect at all. The story gave me a little bit of Sex and the City, Brown Sugar, Living Single vibes. You know, sometimes when you are at that age where you don’t think about the consequences or you feel like you are always right, we got to experience that in this book for sure.

My heart, be still, my heart. My only regret is that I did not read this as soon as I received this ARC. The Seven Daughters of Dupree (The unnamed, Emma, Jubilee, Ruby, Gladys, Nadia, and Tati) is a story that spans generations, covering the story of seven women from the 1800s all the way to 2024. The story explores generational trauma, family secrets, and it’s the story of Black women in each generation doing the best they can with the cards that they are dealt.

After a brief but chilling prologue, we start off with chapters with the last of the Dupree daughters, which is Tati, who is newly 14 and longing to know who her father is, which her mom will not tell her, saying instead, “AIN’T I ENOUGH.” The next chapter takes us to 1870, where we meet Emma, whose ninth birthday it is, and she longs to know who her mother is and her name, but Evangeline, her caregiver, refuses to tell her.

As the story unfolds, we meet each of the daughters. It’s split into sections in which we have questions and answers. That is followed with the aftermath and then the end, the beginning section. So as the story begins, even though each chapter is set in a different time period, all of them are connected, and each section answers the previous section prior, so by the time we get to the end of the story, there is clarity.

I laughed a little bit and cried during this story of the coming of age of women in this family whose secrets were their salves. This was such a great debut novel by the author, and for me, as someone who doesn’t typically branch into historical fiction, I must say this story truly resonated with me as someone who is from the South, in Mississippi, currently living in Chicago. I was reminded of my family, and specifically the women in my family on my mother’s side.

At times, these women and their decisions will frustrate you so much, and please understand they’re not perfect, but also I challenge you to look within and think about your life as well as the women before you, and sometimes we didn’t always make the best decisions, and we don’t always make the best decisions. One thing I noticed, too, in this story is that when the mothers became grandmothers and their daughters became mothers, I realize sometimes it seemed like the grandmother would want to right the wrongs that they did with their daughter with their granddaughter.

I think one thing that is important about this is that story sometimes we bury secrets and we refuse to speak of things, but as we evolve and grow, it no longer becomes secrets, but lost history that needs to be passed down.

This is a dark romance that is not for the faint of heart. While I was reading, I was on edge, wondering how everything would turn out. My jaw dropped quite a few times and I even hollered with some of the things that were happening that shocked the heck out of me. Damar Scott is married to Aviana and is in love with her in the most controlling and obsessive way. This is a story of a wolf in sheep’s clothing because Aviana is none the wiser to the lengths he will go to to keep her in his life. To Aviana , he comes off as the perfect husband who loves her and provides for her, yet she is unfulfilled. Aviana is always conflicted because he is the man that her parents, who are super religious, love her with. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and especially that it was set in Chicago. I felt like this was happening right in my own city, from the restaurants and businesses mentioned, I felt like this was something that was happening currently, and I was reading a newspaper write-up or something like that. Like I easily could imagine myself with me and my friends out on the lakefront for a yacht day, having fun, turning up, and a body popping up, which is scary, but also makes this book feel so real. The story is filled with suspense, betrayal violence, deception, spice, and drama. Jessica really did her thing. I do wish we had more of was flashbacks or chapters dedicated to the past because I would’ve loved to get more of the early days of all of the characters to really push and elevate these character motivations because he was doing some wild things in this book, and we were mostly given a summary of why he did certain things. I would’ve loved to see how him and Aviana originally came to be as well as some of these other entanglements. Thank you to Black Odyssey Media, as well as NetGalley for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this latest installment of the Mystery Bookshop series. This is my first time actually reading in this series, but what I love is even though it’s book 11 in this series, it stands alone so you can drop in anywhere. You don’t have to read the other 10 in order to know what’s going on. I actually enjoyed the characters so much from Nana Jo and her crew to Frank and, of course, Samantha that I think I will go back and read from the top of the series just so I can get to know these characters even more in this world. Samantha and her sister Jenna, who is a lawyer, are hosting an estate planning seminar for her grandmother’s retirement community during that time at the shop. One of the ladies attending sends out a SOS saying that her family is trying to kill her for her money. And not only does she get Jenna to amend her will, but from there, not even a day or two later, she is dead. This story for me moves pretty fast, and what I also love is that since our main character Samantha is a published author too, we get to see her writing a story within this story too. What it seems like to me and is that her story that she is writing is heavily influenced by the case that is currently happening now that she is trying to crack. As she writes to me, it’s almost as if she is solving the mystery through her writing. By the end, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear to me too, but for a minute, I was unsure of the real culprit. We get a couple of plot twists as well too. That honestly will have you rethinking everything you thought you knew. So I really did enjoy this cozy mystery and will definitely be back. Thank you to NetGalley as well as Kensington for this ARC copy.

And on this episode of don’t let that cover fool you…….The Winning Play by Lauren Lacey may be the first true 5 star read of the year. When reading this story, think of Love and Basketball meets Pretty Woman meets Scandal. Shoot even Romeo and Juliet . Read over the synopsis and the trigger warnings and tropes and pay attention to them because it has a mix of all of those things that I won’t cover in this review . This my first true 5-star read is because while the stars of the show are Lottie and Bash, our FMC and MMC, the world built is one where you will not only be drawn to them as characters, but also other (characters) players in this game as well. But let’s be very clear: Lottie, my Lottie, my Lottie, my Lottie. She is the star of this book. This is her story! She is so loyal and self-sacrificing. Everything that she does is out of survival and what she believes is to atone for a mistake she made. There were so many adults in her life who failed her as a child and she is having to suffer and pay for that as a teen, young adult and adult. When reading this book many times I just wanted to grab Lottie and say, Get behind me, girl, while I go slay your dragons every time she was being betrayed or let down in this book. This is honestly a story of real redemption as we see actual character growth in multiple people in this book. This story does span 10 years, so please buckle up because this is a messy drama and not just a cutesy romance. I love how also some of the characters were redeemed through this story in the book because their actions changed over the years.i just knew I was not going to like them the whole time. Sometimes epic romances and love stories take time and are not always happy endings. They don’t always come when we want them. Lottie and Bash are very flawed characters and both imperfect. I did get frustrated with Bash a lot because if anyone knows what Lottie is going through you do and there were just certain times where he would let people say things about her and play a passive route and that definitely deducted points for me for him as a book bae. I definitely recommend that people pick up if you want a book that will take you through there. It will break your heart and put it back together. There are love shapes in this story too.lol Not just a triangle or square… maybe even a love pentagon too! Thank you Lauren for this ARC.

When I think about this story, I’m reminded of the song Cinderella from The Cheetah Girls. Meadow reminds me of the woman in that song because, Meadow is a strong female lead who doesn’t want to depend on anyone to save her. Zaire, our male lead, is a black pro golfer who’s different from the accepted Tiger Woods. He embodies the real black experience and faces pressure in the whitewashed golf industry to shrink himself. Evelyn Latrice does a wonderful job of bringing life to black women, men, boys, and girls, and their journey to love is really about trusting yourself to be soft for someone who’s showing up for you, as well as no longer shrinking yourself. I absolutely love Meadow and Zaire’s relationship. I highly recommend that readers take their time with this story because it delves into the ebs and flows of someone who has been a caregiver for their aging parents and one who carries the burden of a community all of his shoulders. You’re that example of someone who made it out and now you’re on a platform where you can’t fail. I think that even though for me, I’m not a pro golfer or an only child I can resonate so much with both our characters. Now, this book is also quite spicy, and I certainly love that for me. This story is layered with family, faith and community as well too. Legacy Legacy Legacy.