Last month, Marina Scott released her historical horror novel, The Night Guests. (It was also an Amazon First Reads selection in October.) Set in Omaha, Nebraska in 1903, it follows Nina Wilson in the wake of losing her father. Her twin brother is absent and her mother lives in a delusion that she can communicate... Continue Reading →
Farah Heron is an author I've been wanting to read for a few years, and I've finally found my entry point with her recent Christmas romance, A Little Holiday Fling. Ruby has spent years moving around Canada working in different retail jobs, but now she's about to make her and her mom's lifelong dream come... Continue Reading →
Gothic tales always catch my eye, and I've been especially interested in ones set in different countries. This drew me to The Villa, Once Beloved by Victor Manibo, set in the Philippines. Filipina-American Sophie travels to the Philippines for the first time with her boyfriend, Adrian Sepulveda, when his grandfather passes away. The Sepulveda villa... Continue Reading →
One of my most anticipated horror novels this year has been I'll Make a Spectacle of You, the debut from Beatrice Winifred Iker. Set at a Tennessee HBCU, it follows Zora, a grad student in Appalachian Studies who's researching religions, folklore, and hoodoo... and a beast that supposedly lurks the university woods at night. A... Continue Reading →
Despite reading almost no YA books in the past few years, I was unable to resist My Roommate from Hell by Cale Dietrich. This paranormal romance follows Owen during his first semester of college. His dorm roommate turns out to be a literal demon, Prince Zarmenus, come straight from hell. Zar seems friendly, but he's... Continue Reading →
Erin La Rosa is an author I've been wanting to read for a couple of years, and I've finally started with her newest release, Not You Again. Carly and Adam are two strangers, but both are having a terrible day. Carly is in town for her dad's funeral; Adam just found out his wife cheated... Continue Reading →
Last week, Once We Are Safe by Alessandra Carati become available in English. Translated from Italian, it follows a Bosnian family fleeing the Bosnian War in 1992. They end up in Milan, Italy, where they must rebuild a life. Still tethered to Bosnia, still hoping to at some point return, they spend decades in their... Continue Reading →
Alix E. Harrow is a master of building multilayered worlds, and that skill is on full display in her latest novel, The Everlasting. It's a tale of time-travel, love, ambition, and memory, one where the ending is never really the end. Owen Mallory has spent his whole life obsessed with the legend of Una Everlasting,... Continue Reading →
Happy book birthday to Sasha Laurens's adult debut, When I Picture You! I've been eagerly reading every music-related romance that has come out this year, so when I heard about this one, I couldn't wait to read it, too. Lola Gray is a wildly successful pop star known for her songwriting. But after a breakup,... Continue Reading →
Ever since I lived in Spain for a year, I'm eternally drawn to books set there. This is why Suzanne Redfearn's new novel, Call of the Camino, first caught my eye. Set between two timelines, it follows two different women who walk the Camino de Santiago through northern Spain. In 1997, Isabel is on the... Continue Reading →
Happy release day to Kill the Beast, the debut novel by Serra Swift! This was one of my most anticipated books this fall, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint! Thirteen years after a horrible beast killed her brother, Lyssa has made a career of slaying evil fairy creatures. But her ultimate goal... Continue Reading →
Happy rerelease to Hollow by Karina Halle! First published two years ago, it has just been republished with a gorgeous new cover. Hollow is the first half of A Gothic Shade of Romance duology; the second part, Legend, comes out in December. Hollow is a retelling of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving.... Continue Reading →
This week sees the traditional publication of Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf by Isabelle Taylor. It was first released through Kickstarter, but the new Harlequin edition has additional content to fill out the characters and hint at further books in the Claw Haven series. This first in the series finds Luna, a slightly out-of-touch heiress,... Continue Reading →
My year of demon romances continues with Charlotte Stein's new novel, Dealing with a Desperate Demon. Though this is actually the second in the Sanctuary for Supernatural Creatures series, this works as a standalone, too. (Thankfully, as I wasn't aware of the first book until after I'd finished this one—oops!) Nancy is a quiet bookstore... Continue Reading →
Alexis Daria is an auto-read author for me, so I was excited for her new novella, The Holiday Hookup List, even though I don't read a lot of holiday romances. When former school enemies reunite at a holiday party, a steamy hookup brings them closer than they could have expected. Valencia and Gideon have both... 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 →
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 →
Amanda's Book Corner 