
ShelbyLines TBR'd a book
1w

Brewed with Love
Shelly Page
A cozy, contemporary romantasy about a teen witch who wants to keep her familyâs apothecary from falling to the competition but can only do so with assistance from her first crush. Plant witch, Sage Bishop, is determined to run her familyâs old apothecary one day. She spends her time trying to invent the perfect tonic to put Bishop Brews on the map. And sheâs going to need one quickly, too, because their biggest competitor is drawing away customers. Short-staffed, her nana hires Ximena Reyes, Sageâs ex-best friend and first crush, whoâs more of an unwelcome distraction than anything. Ximena has always dreamed of leaving their small town behind while Sage wants to tend to her roots. And during one of their first shifts together, someone breaks into Bishop Brews, stealing several tonics, including the one Sage has been working tirelessly on, the same one that wipes a councilmemberâs kidâs memory. To avoid being shut down by the sheriff, Sage decides to investigate. If so much wasnât at stake, sheâd do it alone. But with her grandmotherâs legacy and her future on the line, she must partner with her ever smug and unfairly pretty new coworker. As Sage begins to fall for Ximena (again), sheâll have to decide if the comfort of the familiar is worth missing out on a chance at real happiness.

ShelbyLines started reading...
1w

Here We Go Again
Alison Cochrun
The author of Kiss Her Once for Me returns with a new queer rom-com following once childhood best friends forced together to drive their former teacher across the country. A long time ago, Logan Maletis and Rosemary Hale used to be friends. They spent their childhood summers running through the woods, rebelling against their conservative small town, and dreaming of escaping. But then an incident the summer before high school turned them into bitter rivals. After graduation, they went ten years without speaking. Now in their thirties, Logan and Rosemary find they arenât quite living the lives of adventure they imagined for themselves. Still in their small town and working as teachers at their alma mater, theyâre both stuck in old patterns. Uptight Rosemary chooses security and stability over all else, working constantly, and her most stable relationship is with her label maker. Chaotic and impulsive Logan has a long list of misguided ex-lovers and an apathetic shrug she uses to protect herself from anything real. And as hard as they try to avoid each otherâand their complicated pastâthey keep crashing into each other. Including with their cars. But when their beloved former English teacher and lifelong mentor tells them he has only a few months to live, theyâre forced together once and for all to fulfill his last a cross-country road trip. Stuffed into the gayest van west of the Mississippi, the three embark on a life-changing summer tripâfrom Washington state to the Grand Canyon, from the Gulf Coast to coastal Maineâthat will chart a new future and perhaps lead them back to one another.

Quite a few glaring inconsistencies but it's still a meet cute

ShelbyLines finished a book
1w

A Hexcellent Chance to Fall in Love
Ann Rose
In this slightly spooky paranormal romance, will two women finally break their curse and get the happily ever after theyâve fought for?Each year, when no one is paying attention, The Dead of Night Halloween store appears in a new location with its giant sign and great low prices. No one sees them setting up or tearing downâone day itâs just there and then, two days after Halloween, itâs gone.Pepper White knows exactly how this works. For five years, ever since the last Keeper of the Store tricked her, she has been cursedâappearing when the store does, and disappearing when it goes away. People will remember The Dead of Night, but theyâll completely forget Pepper. That is, until Christina Loring walks in the door. Their chemistry is instantaneous and, for the first time in five years, Pepper finds herself wishing for more time.But how do you tell the girl youâre falling for that youâre cursed and that you only have ten weeks together before Christina forgets . . . everything? To have a chance at happily ever after, Pepper has to do the one thing she swore she wouldnâtâfind the right treat to trick someone else into taking on the curse. But allâs fair in love and spells, and this spooky season, Pepper and Christina are ready to stir up trouble in the name of love.

ShelbyLines started reading...
1w

The Librarians and the Lost Lamp (The Librarians, #1)
Greg Cox
The story toggles between the past, as Flynn Carsen tries to find Aladdinâs Lamp before an ancient criminal organization known as the Forty Seals gets hold of it, and the future, when Eve Baird and a new group of Librarians â protectors of ancient artifacts like King Arthurâs sword Excalibur â stumble on a mystery in Las Vegas that seems to relate to the Lamp and the powerful djinn it can summon.

ShelbyLines TBR'd a book
1w

How to Be Eaten
Maria Adelmann
This darkly funny and provocative novel reimagines classic fairy tale characters as modern women in a support group for trauma. In present-day New York City, five women meet in a basement support group to process their traumas. Bernice grapples with the fallout of dating a psychopathic, blue-bearded billionaire. Ruby, once devoured by a wolf, now wears him as a coat. Gretel questions her memory of being held captive in a house made of candy. Ashlee, the winner of a Bachelor-esque dating show, wonders if she really got her promised fairy tale ending. And Raina's love story will shock them all. Though the women start out wary of one another, judging each otherâs stories, gradually they begin to realize that they may have more in common than they supposed . . . What really brought them here? What secrets will they reveal? And is it too late for them to rescue each other? Dark, edgy, and wickedly funny, this debut for readers of Carmen Maria Machado, Kristen Arnett, and Kelly Link takes our coziest, most beloved childhood stories, exposes them as anti-feminist nightmares, and transforms them into a new kind of myth for grown-up women.

ShelbyLines started reading...
1w

Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife
Deston J. Munden
An undead orc knight leaves battle behind for a new kind of afterlifeâone with good food, good friends, and maybe even fatherhood.  Rottgor is worn out. Literally. Barely held together by dark magic, he has protected the necropolis for centuries. When heâs forced into retirement, heâs faced with a new to forge a future guided not by obligation, but by passion.  Following his heart (and stomach), he decides to open a restaurant where the cityâs undead and living residents can share food and community. Heâs helped in his quest by an unlikely assortment of neighbors, including elves, skeletons, vampiresâand a young orphan girl named Astra, whose ancestry, if discovered, could put her and the entire necropolis in danger. To protect Astra and the life heâs building, Rottgor must face his past and form new alliances built on friendship, loyalty, and love. As comforting as warm pumpkin bread, this gentle fantasy traces how even a dark history can rise into a bright future.Â

I do love it when I'm expecting something and it happened but not quite. I rarely not see a plot twist coming so whenever I get an unexpected it's such a delight

ShelbyLines finished a book
1w

A Tempest of Tea (Blood and Tea, #1)
Hafsah Faizal
Why save the world when you can have tea? On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save itâand she canât do the job alone. Calling on some of the city's most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the sinister, glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not everyone in her ragtag crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it. From the New York Timesâbestselling author of We Hunt the Flame comes the first book in a hotly anticipated fantasy duology teeming with romance and revenge, led by an orphan girl willing to do whatever it takes to save her self-made kingdom. Dark, action-packed, and swoonworthy, this is Hafsah Faizal better than ever.
The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #2)
Lemony Snicket
As an adult rereading ASOUE, I'm more surprise that Mr. Poe's cough didn't kill him