• Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Best Lines by Nicole Pyland

    Cover of The Best Lines (Nicole Pyland)

    The Best Lines (Chicago #1) by Nicole Pyland


    Dr. Eva Dash has just lost her job as a professor at her alma mater. That seems to leave her with no choice but to leave the city she considers home. When restaurant owner Ember Elliot shows up in Eva’s life, Eva is fascinated by this mysterious, former player. The preamble to their connection is a napkin note that leads to more notes. As both struggle with their unknown professional futures, what will become of their relationship?


  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    While My Heart Beats by Erin McKenzie | ARC Review

    Cover of While My Heart Beats

    While My Heart Beats by Erin McKenzie


    CW: war, off-page deaths of family

    This is a beautiful historical romance across classes set in WWI Great Britain and France.

    Ellie Winthrop is high-born, a feminist, and holds big dreams during a time women cannot even vote. Her mother is eager to marry her off at twenty-two, but Ellie enlists in Volunteer Aid Detachment. At the hospital, she meets Johanna Lennox, a working-class, twenty-four-year-old nurse with a no-nonsense attitude. As the pair gradually become friends, they can no longer resist their yearnings for each other’s bodies. But with Ellie’s mother pestering Ellie with marriage, Johanna wonders if she, being poorer and a woman, could ever be good enough for her.

  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi | ARC Review

    Cover of The Silvered Serpents

    The Silvered Serpents (The Gilded Wolves #2) by Roshani Chokshi


    CW: dismemberment, torture, blood Forging, off-screen killings, emotional abuse, alcohol, (possible) panic attacks, antisemitism, racism, suicide of a very minor character, bombing, manipulation

    I love the tagline, “They are each other’s fiercest love, greatest danger, and only hope.” Upon finishing, I realized just how true it is.

    “We debase ourselves for the ones we love.”

    Laila
  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Fresh Start by Nicole Pyland

    Cover of Fresh Start (Nicole Pyland)

    Fresh Start (Chicago #0) by Nicole Pyland


    Alyssa Masters had sat in prison for two years for a double-homicide she did not commit. The news of her case is all over the country. So even though she is now a free woman without criminal records, it is very hard to live a normal life. Then Hannah Granger shows up for rental viewings at Alyssa’s workplace without knowing who Alyssa is. Hannah is relocating after traveling for three years and just losing her mother. Will their friendly encounter develop into something deeper with Alyssa’s past hanging overhead?


  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus by Alanna McFall | ARC Review

    Cover of The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus.

    The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus by Alanna McFall


    Chelsea Shu died a tragic death on NYC Subway tracks and never got to attend her brother Osric’s wedding. After discovering an afterlife as a ghost, she befriended Carmen, a fellow spirit, and Cyndricka, a homeless mime-performing human. The three of them, incidentally the Triple Cs, set out on foot for a cross-country trip to attend Osric’s postponed wedding in San Francisco. They understood it would be a difficult journey, but little did they know what was actually in store for them throughout the months-long walk.