The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell came out earlier this month, and though I only found it by surprise, it's become one of my favorite reads of 2025. It starts out in modern times, where Tess Bright and Hugh Balfour are the leading actors in an adaptation of Northanger Abbey. They're opposites in every way,... Continue Reading →
Alexandra Vasti's Belvoir's Library trilogy comes to end with the newly released Ladies in Hating. Set seven years after the first book, it stars Lady Georgiana Cleeve (she was so funny in Ne'er Duke Well!) and Cat Lacey. Both are popular Gothic novelists who publish under pseudonyms (it is the 1820s, after all). Some strange... Continue Reading →
Next week the Scared Sexy collection of six short stories comes out, and I was happy to get an early look at one of them: "Beautiful Nightmare" by Katee Robert. I've read one of their books before, Hunt on Dark Waters, and was interested in this story for its focus on a sleep paralysis demon.... Continue Reading →
Books and music: two of my favorite things to read about in a novel! This drew me to With Stars in Her Eyes by Andie Burke. It starts with Courtney Starling, stage name Kestrel, at a live event to launch her solo career and debut album. But it goes horribly wrong due to a bad... Continue Reading →
Earlier this month, Adib Khorram released his second adult romance, It Had to Be Him. After getting dumped for being "boring," Ramin makes the exciting choice to take a vacation in Milan. There he coincidentally runs into Noah, once a friend back in high school, and they quickly resume their friendship. It's not long before... Continue Reading →
Since reading A Dash of Salt and Pepper a few years ago, I've been wanting to read more from Kosoko Jackson. My second foray into his work is The Macabre, his debut fantasy/horror novel for adults. Lewis is a struggling artist who suddenly gets tasked with entering magical paintings to put a stop to their... Continue Reading →
I couldn't let this month end without reading Regina Black's new romance, August Lane. Set between the late 2000s and 2023, this second-chance romance takes one-hit-wonder Luke Randall back to his small hometown in Arkansas to perform a song with the new Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, JoJo Lane. But he knew JoJo's daughter,... Continue Reading →
This week Darcie Wilde released the first in her Young Queen Victoria mystery series, The Heir. Set in 1835, it follows 16-year-old Princess Victoria when she stumbles upon a dead body. Who was this man, and why is his death being covered up? Was it truly an accident, or is something more sinister afoot? As... Continue Reading →
The year of music romances continues! Emma Lord's For the Record is a second-chance, enemies to friends to lovers romance between two former rivals, pop star Mackenzie Waters and punk rock frontman Sam Blaze. After two years away from the industry, they're each ready to make a solo comeback... until their label decides to make... Continue Reading →
This year I have been loving the reprint of Aurora Ascher's Hell Bent series. A couple weeks ago, the third in the series, Demon with Benefits, got its rerelease. I was so excited for this one ever since the first book, and guys, this was my favorite one yet! Meph is the fun-loving, happy demon... Continue Reading →
Last week Rosália Rodrigo released her exciting historical fantasy, Beasts of Carnaval. Rooted in Caribbean (especially Puerto Rican) history and culture, this novel follows Sofía as she searches for her missing twin brother Sol in el Carnaval de Bestias. But there's something very disorienting about her travels, and soon she's not entirely sure what she's... Continue Reading →
I've been wanting to read Paulette Kennedy since her first book came out a few years ago, and have finally started with her latest novel, The Artist of Blackberry Grange. Set in 1925, it follows Sadie Halloran just after her relationship with a married man ended badly. She ends up going to her great aunt... Continue Reading →
It's been years since I worked out in a gym, but Up Close & Personal by Ana Holguin made me want to join a spin class asap. What an inspiring and heartfelt debut! Jo De La Cruz has spent the last decade as a semi-famous spin instructor, both in always-full classes at the gym and... Continue Reading →
My first time reading Emily Sullivan was last fall with Duchess Material. I loved that series opener, so I was excited to read another book—also the first in a new series!—A Death on Corfu. Set on the Greek island of Corfu in 1898, it opens with Minnie Harper, the widowed mother of two. Despite her... Continue Reading →
For me, the best summer reads tend to be ones that transport me to other countries around the world. One of my favorite destinations is Italy. That led me to Jill Francis's debut, The Summer You Were Mine. Fourteen years after childhood friends almost became something more, they're back in Italy together for their respective... Continue Reading →
Pride and Prejudice is a popular book to reimagine, but The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod is the first I've seen that draws a romance between Charlotte Lucas and Mary Bennet. To be honest, this actually seems like the perfect pairing! Here, Charlotte has become a widow after only four years of... Continue Reading →
For months I've been anticipating Clarence A. Haynes's adult debut, The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery. This is one of those books that plays like a movie, with high action and plenty of other-worldly intrigue to hold your interest from start to finish. Set in present-day New York City, it follows Gwendolyn, an overworked but effective... Continue Reading →
Two years ago, I enjoyed Jodie Slaughter's romance, Play to Win, so I was excited to read more from her. Her newest book is Ready to Score, a rivals-to-lovers romance between two women aiming for the same head coach position at the high school where they work. Though both books (and Bet on It) are... Continue Reading →
I haven't read nearly enough romantic mysteries, and the ones I have read are usually historical. But there have been some exciting contemporary romantic mysteries lately, including He's to Die For by Erin Dunn. It just came out earlier this week and I loved it! What I Liked: Music-industry mystery. If you've read many of... Continue Reading →
I'm a person who's obsessed with time and reality and the butterfly effect of everyday life decisions. This is what drew me to Paige Harbison's adult debut, The Other Side of Now. Over a decade after losing her best friend, Meg Bryan is a successful actress, but she's not happy. Nothing in her life is... Continue Reading →
Next week, V. E. Schwab will release her highly anticipated new novel, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. Divided between three timelines—1520s and 1530s in Spain; 1827 in London; 2019 in Boston—it follows three young women craving something more in life. But there's a price to pay when seeking freedom and answers. Though I've... Continue Reading →
Tomorrow is the release day for one of my most anticipated books this year, Behooved by M. Stevenson. This debut romantasy novel is for the horse lovers out there. When Bianca is sent to marry the neighboring kingdom's heir apparent, Aric, she doesn't expect to turn her new husband into a horse on their wedding... Continue Reading →
The past few years I have been loving Kennedy Ryan's Skyland series. Now the trilogy ends with Can't Get Enough, Hendrix's story. Career-focused and confident, Hendrix isn't willing to sacrifice her goals for a man. But when she meets Maverick, a tech mogul, she needs to consider whether being with him is worth risking a... Continue Reading →
Asexual representation, Mexican American women falling in love, a viral TikTok scavenger hunt—all of this can be found in Gabriella Gamez's new novel, Kiss Me, Maybe. This is the second in her Librarians in Love series, and even if you haven't read the first book yet (I haven't), it works well as a standalone romance.... Continue Reading →
Amanda's Book Corner 