Ali Hazelwood could punch me in the face at full force and I would thank her as long as she continues writing these books. I’m convinced she is incapable of writing a bad book. Was this as good as Bride? In my opinion, no but fck me if it wasn’t still a bloody good time. It had the perfect amount of slow burn and both MCs were loveable, flawed in all the best ways and a whole lot of fun. Ali’s sense of humour really hits the spot with me because these books always have me giggling. I do think Bride was slightly funnier only because I enjoyed Misery’s character more but the banter between Serena and Koen definitely had me laughing out loud a few times.

If Ali doesn’t write another one of these I’ll riot.

I would recommend it if you loved Bride or you want to dip your toes into the shifter or omegaverse world (to be clear, it isn’t omegaverse but more like a taster of it).

❤ Mates (what gave that away? lol) ❤ Knots and heats ❤ Very alpha male MMC ❤ Werewolves ❤ Grumpy x sunshine ❤ Yearning

Amount of spice: 🔥🔥🔥 Explicitness: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Open door, explicit & bolder than usual

❤️Magical realism ❤️A twist on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. ❤️Grumpy x sunshine ❤️’It was always you’ ❤️Holiday romance ❤️Cosy and emotional

Good Spirits had me crying more than once which I definitely was not expecting! I think what really sold me on this book was the individual journeys that each character had been on and their complicated relationship with their pasts. I’ll be honest, I really wasn’t overly invested in the romance and if I had based my rating on that alone it probably wouldn’t have been rated so highly but all the aspects surrounding the romance were so wonderful and their stories were written in such a moving and gentle way that I have a feeling this one will stick with me for a while.

Also, I’m very intrigued about the potential reaper story! So I will definitely be picking up the next book.

❤️Thank you to HQ for the ARC❤️

I would recommend it if you want a cosy holiday romance with so much heart and whimsy that it’s practically bursting from the pages.

Amount of spice:🔥🔥 Explicitness: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ Open door and explicit

❤️Opposites attract ❤️Forced Proximity ❤️Musician x home organiser ❤️Instant attraction ❤️Sapphic romance ❤️Fun friendship group

This was a very quick, easy and enjoyable read. The friendship aspect was probably my favourite part, each character in their friendship group brought their own little bit of joy and quirkiness to the story. I actually think I enjoyed the parts with Dom’s family and all their friends more than the romance.

I really loved Sabrina’s character but struggled to connect with Dom which is probably what let this story down for me. Dom was a bit of a prickly character which I usually enjoy but I found her a little selfish and frustrating at times and I don’t feel that she had enough of a character arc or lessons learnt. Nonetheless, I do think this series is a lot of fun and I would recommend giving it a read.

I would recommend it if you like a romance with instant attraction, just the right amount of steam and sweet friendships.

❤️Thank you to Tantor Media for the audio ARC❤️

Amount of spice:🔥🔥 Explicitness: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ Open door and explicit

❤️Instant attraction ❤️They have history ❤️Biblical retelling ❤️Frenemies to lovers ❤️Little bit of mystery

It absolutely pains me to rate this the way that I have so I’ll start with the things that I liked about it. I did like the atmosphere of the book, it was dark and a little gritty and there were some fun dark academia vibes. I also thought the ending really hooked you in and I was a little sad that it hadn’t felt like that the whole way through. Also, special mention for the spice because Scarlett really is a master at writing spice.

Unfortunately for me the cons outweighed the pros with this book. It felt a bit like I had started in the middle of a series and I couldn’t quite grasp the worldbuilding as it didn’t make much sense, there was so much that seemed to go unexplained. It was sold as having a lot of female rage which is what initially drew me to it but it lacked in this and rather than being strong, independent and determined Lilith was portrayed as being so child-like and a little helpless. She didn’t achieve much without the help of the men around her and her defiance came across as quite juvenile. With this in mind, when the romance came in it felt almost uncomfortable and the power imbalance put me off.

I’m truly sad that I couldn’t rate this higher as I have been a fan of Scarlett’s work in the past. This one unfortunately just wasn’t for me.

❤️Thank you to Sourcebooks UK for the ARC❤️

I would recommend it if you like an urban fantasy with dark academia vibes or the idea of a biblical retelling intrigues you.

Amount of spice: 🔥🔥🔥 Explicitness: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ Open door and explicit

❤️Insta lust (and a little bit of insta love) ❤️Small town ❤️Queer rep ❤️Sex lessons ❤️Polar opposites attract

The reviews made me really nervous to read this but I’m glad I did pick it up because there were some very sweet moments and it was a quick, easy read as are all of Hannah’s books. I think the problem here for me is that I know Hannah can do better and I find it hard to understand how the same person who wrote the books that broke me (in the best way), Next to You and Next of Kin could have also written this? It felt like a real departure from her usual style and lacked the warmth, laughs and emotion that her writing normally has. Don’t get me wrong, it still had a little of each of those things but not nearly to the same degree as her other books.

In terms of things that I did enjoy - I did like the family aspect and thought it was very sweet. I loved Milo’s family and actually would love a book about each of them. I also thought the storyline around Prue’s mother having Alzheimer's was very well done but as far as the romantic relationship goes, it was severely lacking. I felt no connection to Milo or Prue and as a result their romance was lacklustre and not well fleshed out. It was definitely the most steamy book Hannah has written. The romance relied almost entirely on their physical connection and I didn’t feel like it delved deep enough into their emotional connection for it to be believable.

As for the other mentions I’ve seen about Milo being problematic, I didn’t notice this myself. Was he a little annoying? Yes. But he wasn’t predatory or problematic, at least not in my opinion. I’m so hoping that this book was just an outlier, a little blip on the radar that is Hannah’s usual wonderful writing style.

I would recommend it if you like small town, cosy vibes, wonderful big family dynamics and some insta lust.

What Lies Between Us was my first novel by John Marrs and I’m kicking myself that I haven’t picked up one sooner because this had me hooked. It would have gotten a full five stars if it wasn’t for the fact I was expecting a little more of a twist (or rather I hadn’t guessed it quite so easily) and I personally wanted a slightly more satisfying ending. However, I thought the way that Marrs handled the two lead characters and the way he had me second guessing myself and what I was believing was fantastic. Maggie and Nina had such a dysfunctional relationship and it was fascinating.

❤️Single dad ❤️Small town fun ❤️Set in South Africa ❤️Slow burn ❤️’It takes a village’ in book form

If you take anything from this review then let it be that you should 100% be listening to the audio book. The narrator is fantastic and made it such an easy read. There was so much more depth and emotion to this than I was initially expecting but I’ll be honest, I did go in with quite low expectations given the reviews.

This wasn’t your typical steamy romance. It moved a little slower, it was pretty angsty and the romance almost took a backseat to each individual’s character arc. A large focus was placed on the friendships, personal growth and overcoming the past that shaped them while the romance was a little like the cherry on the top. Also, special mention for Deliah because I adored her.

The reason I couldn’t rate it any higher was mostly because of the third act and how that all went down because it felt very out of character for both of them and was pretty unnecessary (this is coming from someone who does not normally mind a third act break-up). I thought the final third of this book read very differently to the first two thirds and had a bit of a negative impact on my reading experience unfortunately.

I would recommend it if you like small town, cosy vibes, sweet friendships and a slow burn romance.

Amount of spice:🔥 Explicitness: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ Open door and explicit

This felt like a really boring fever dream. I wish this entire book had been about the very first character because her story was more interesting than all of the others put together. I wanted this to be so much more poetic, cosy and moving but everything was so surface level. I was unbearably bored (so sorry!). I am an astrology lover and even I found that aspect uninteresting.

Two chapters into this I said ‘what the fck’ out loud to myself and I honestly don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. This was genuinely insane, it just kept getting more and more bonkers. I was really torn about how to rate this because - is it good? No. But did it hook me in? And did I audibly gasp more than once? Yes.

I’m not entirely sure I would class this as a thriller, I really don’t know what it is but all I can say is - if you do pick this up then prepare for the weirdest, most ridiculous, Mommy influencer filled ride.

This was such a let down after the previous two books, I was so bored in comparison to my reading experience with the other two. Unfortunately, this was just a bit of a flop for me. It did still love both Millie and Enzo as characters and it was interesting to see them in a very different position to the previous book with a house and a family but it was lacklustre.

I really didn’t know how to feel about this one. It was an easy read and there were parts that really hooked me in but it was a little strange, and not just in the way that thrillers are often strange. This has so many unreliable narrators that it’s a bit disconcerting, which I guess is the whole point and made me feel very uneasy. It took me a little while to get into it and it didn’t particularly blow me away but it definitely got better and more interesting as the book went on. I also guessed a lot of the twists which was a bit of a let down too.