Tag: romance

Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks

- Stephanie Leave a comment

“We show the people we love the ugliest parts of ourselves, and we tell them the truth even when it hurts, because that’s what intimacy is.”
― Ivy Fairbanks, Morbidly Yours

Morbidly Yours is the first book in the Love in Galway series by Ivy Fairbanks. This series starter was a sweet, yet spicy, open door romance between a demisexual Irish mortician and a Texan widow who moves across the world to escape her past.

Callum Flannelly is painfully shy. He has been working at the family undertaking business for years, but after learning that his grandfather updated his will before he died, his life and business are in jeopardy if Callum can’t meet one major stipulation. Callum must marry before his thirty-fifth birthday if he wants to inherit the business. The main problem: he has no romantic prospects and the few dates he has been on have not ended well.

Lark Thompson has left Texas to restart her life and career in Galway, Ireland. Having found her rental site unseen, Lark was excited to be moving next door to a quaint bed and breakfast. Imagine her surprise when she learns that, instead of the bed and breakfast, she is living next to an undertaking business! The last thing Lark wants is to be reminded of the death of her husband by living next to a funeral home.

When she meets Callum though, Lark is intrigued. After Callum shares his dating dilemma, Lark decides to help him on his quest to find the one. The tiny issue is that the more time they spend together, the more she grows to like Callum and vice versa. The two develop a chemistry that they are both scared to investigate further because their time together is limited. Their connection grows stronger by the day though and it quickly becomes obvious that something has to give.

I absolutely adored the chemistry between the two main characters, but there was a bit of a miscommunication between them that could have been fixed if they *just talked to each other*. Still recommend this title and I will definitely be reading the second in the series, Heart Strings.

Love in Galway series (so far)

  1. Morbidly Yours (2023)
  2. Heart Strings (2025)

New Dark Academia Books

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Fall, to me, means it’s time to pull out the dark and spooky reads. As someone who is not a fan of horror, I turn to one of my favorite fall genres: dark academia. This name is a bit of a misnomer as dark academia is a broad term that applies across genres to novels that center on the symbols of higher education.

If you’re unsure what I mean by dark academia, check out on of the books below! These dark academia books were published in 2025. This is by no means a complete list. As of this writing, all of these books are owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions are provided by the publishers.

Let us know in the comments if you have other favorite dark academia novels!

The Dark Library by Mary Anna Evans

Can a family’s dark history repeat itself?

Estella Ecker has returned to Rockfall House, the last place on earth she wants to be. Years after she ran away from her overbearing father, she has been forced back home to walk in his footsteps, teaching at the college he dominated and living in the fabulous home where he entertained artists and scholars for decades—and perhaps she owns it now, because her mercurial mother has disappeared. At the center of everything—the whispers, the rumors, the secrets—is her father’s library of rare books, which she had been forbidden to touch while he was alive to stop her.

Everyone in town is watching Estella, with her dead father’s name on their lips, and no one seems to care about her missing mother. Who were her parents, really, and is the answer hidden somewhere in the depths of Rockfall House? And who will Estella be, if she gathers enough courage to find that answer? What she discovers is that no one can escape the secrets hidden in this dark library.

Suspenseful and unsettling but ultimately triumphant, The Dark Library by acclaimed author Mary Anna Evans is a compelling tale of mystery, family secrets, and the quest for truth. – Poisoned Pen Press

The Dollhouse Academy by Margarita Montimore

Ivy Gordon is living on borrowed time. For the past eighteen years, she has been the most famous star at the Dollhouse Academy, the elite boarding school and talent incubator that every aspiring performer dreams of attending. But now, at age thirty-four, she is tired of pretending everything is fine. In secret diary entries, Ivy begins to reveal the truth of her life at the Dollhouse: strange medical exams, mysterious supplements, and something unspeakable that’s left Ivy terrified and feeling like a prisoner.

Ramona Halloway and her best friend, Grace Ludlow, grew up idolizing Ivy. Now both twenty-two, neither has made much headway in showbiz until a lucky break grants them entry to the Dollhouse. They’re enchanted by the picturesque campus and the chance to perform alongside their idols. When Ramona begins to receive threatening anonymous messages, it’s easy to dismiss them as a prank from a rival. Her bigger concern is Grace’s skyrocketing success, while Ramona struggles to keep up with the fierce competition. As the messages grow more unsettling, so does life at the Dollhouse. Can Ramona overcome her jealousy and resentment to figure out what’s really going on? Will Ivy finally find her voice, before another young performer follows her catastrophic path?

With dark academia twists and enormous heart, The Dollhouse Academy is a novel about the complexities of friendship, our desire to be seen and understood, and the true cost of making our dreams a reality. – Flatiron Books

This title is also available in large print.

Flashout by Alexis Soloski

A thrill-seeking young woman joins a radical theater troupe in this taut, suspenseful novel of art, seduction, and the deadly limits of liberation.

New York, 1972. A cloistered college student slips out of the dorms to attend a performance by a legendary experimental performance troupe. Within months, she has left campus life behind and joined the company, infatuated by its charismatic leader and his promises of absolute freedom.

California, 1997. A theater teacher at an exclusive private school receives an unsettling letter. With her job at risk and her past clawing at her carefully constructed present, what will she do to protect the life she has made?

Riveting and atmospheric, Flashout is a coruscating coming-of-age story and an immersive thriller exploring the enchantments and perils of art. – Flatiron Books

Fox by Joyce Carol Oates

Who is Francis Fox? A charming English teacher new to the idyllic Langhorne Academy, Fox beguiles many of his students, their parents, and his colleagues at the elite boarding school, while leaving others wondering where he came from and why his biography is so enigmatic. When two brothers discover Fox’s car half-submerged in a pond in a local nature preserve and parts of an unidentified body strewn about the nearby woods, the entire community, including Detective Horace Zwender and his deputy, begins to ask disturbing questions about Francis Fox and who he might really be.

A hypnotic, galloping tale of crime and complicity, revenge and restitution, victim vs. predator, Joyce Carol Oates’s Fox illuminates the darkest corners of the human psyche while asking profound moral questions about justice and the response evil demands. A character as magnetically diabolical as Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley and Vladimir Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert, Francis Fox enchants and manipulates nearly everyone around him, until at last he meets someone he can’t outfox. Written in Oates’s trademark intimate, sweeping style, and interweaving multiple points of view, Fox is a triumph of craftsmanship and artistry, a novel as profound as it is propulsive, as moving as it is full of mystery. – Hogarth

Heart the Lover by Lily King

You knew I’d write a book about you someday.

Our narrator understands good love stories—their secrets and subtext, their highs and their free falls. But her greatest love story, the one she lived, never followed the simple rules.

In the fall of her senior year of college, she meets two star students from her 17th-Century Lit class: Sam and Yash. Best friends living off-campus in the elegant house of a professor on sabbatical, the boys invite her into their intoxicating world of academic fervor, rapid-fire banter and raucous card games. They nickname her Jordan, and she quickly discovers the pleasures of friendship, love and her own intellectual ambition. Youthful passion is unpredictable though, and she soon finds herself at the center of a charged and intricate triangle. As graduation comes and goes, choices made will alter these three lives forever.

Decades later, Jordan is living the life she dreamed of, and the vulnerable days of her youth seem comfortably behind her. But when a surprise visit and unexpected news bring the past crashing into the present, Jordan returns to a world she left behind and is forced to confront the decisions and deceptions of her younger self.

Written with the superb wit and emotional sensitivity fans and critics of Lily King have come to adore, Heart the Lover is a deeply moving story that celebrates love, friendship, and the transformative nature of forgiveness. Wise, unforgettable, and with a delightful connective thread to Writers & Lovers, this is King at her very best, affirming her as a masterful chronicler of the human experience and one of the finest novelists at work today. – Grove Press

History Lessons by Zoe B. Wallbrook

As a newly minted junior professor, Daphne Ouverture spends her days giving lectures on French colonialism, working on her next academic book, and going on atrocious dates. Her small world suits her just fine. Until Sam Taylor dies.

The rising star of Harrison University’s anthropology department was never one of Daphne’s favorites, despite his popularity. But that doesn’t prevent Sam’s killer from believing Daphne has something that belonged to Sam—something the killer will stop at nothing to get.

Between grading papers and navigating her disastrous love life, Daphne embarks on her own investigation to find out what connects her to Sam’s murder. With the help of an alluring former-detective-turned-bookseller, she unravels a deadly cover-up on campus.

This well-crafted, voice-driven mystery introduces an unforgettable crime fiction heroine. – Soho Crime

The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

“Look at you, eating magic like you’re one of us.”

Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school’s boundaries from demonic incursions.

Walden is good at her job—no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from—is herself. – Tor Books

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek:

The story of a hero’s descent to the underworld

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world.

That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams….

Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion.

With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like.

But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn’t always the answer, and there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could forge them into the perfect allies…or lead to their doom. – Harper Voyager

This title is also available in large print and CD audiobook.

Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders

A young witch teaches her mother how to do magic–with very unexpected results–in this relatable, resonant novel about family, identity, and the power of love.

Jamie is the average New England academic in-training–she has a strong queer relationship, generational trauma, and an esoteric dissertation proposal. But she has one extraordinary secret: she’s also a powerful witch.

Serena, Jamie’s mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. All she has left are memories.

Jamie’s busy digging into a three-hundred-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn’t know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago, and those secrets are leading Serena down a destructive path.

Now it’s up to this grad student and literature nerd to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic, before her mother ruins both of their lives. – Tor Books

The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw

The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously powerful: the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers.

Hellebore promises redemption, acceptance, and a normal life after graduation. At least, that’s what Alessa Li is told after she’s kidnapped and forcibly enrolled.

But the Institute is more than just a haven for monsters. On graduation day, the faculty embark on a ravenous rampage, feasting on their students. Trapped in the school’s cavernous library, Alessa and her surviving classmates must do something they were never taught: work together.

If they don’t, this school will eat them alive… – Tor Nightfire

Modern Divination by Isa Agajanian

The colour of magic was gold . . .

Twenty-three-year-old witch Aurelia Schwartz has always had to carefully balance her human life with her secret magical one. With a place at an elite Cambridge University college, she almost has everything she could possibly want within her grasp. Just so long as she follows the rules: make no promises. Tell no one what you are. And never stay the night.

Except Aurelia’s gift of green magic has begun to fade. Worse still, someone is hunting witches – and stealing their powers. Reluctantly, Aurelia needs the help of fellow witch – and dreadfully arrogant classmate – Theodore Ingram. Together, they seek refuge among his family in the remote corners of an already-desolate town. But as she grows closer to Teddy, the power-hungry witch-killer, too, draws nearer. And they threaten to destroy everything Aurelia holds dear . . . – Pan Macmillan

Notes on Surviving the Fire by Christine Murphy

At a Ph.D. program in Southern California, Sarah and her best friend, Nathan, spend their time working on their theses, getting high, and keeping track of the poor air quality due to nearby forest fires. No one believes Sarah when she reports a fellow student for raping her at a party—“He’s such a good guy!”—and the Title IX office simply files away the information, just like the police. Nathan is the only person who cares.

When Sarah finds Nathan dead of an overdose from a drug he’s always avoided, she knows something isn’t right. She starts investigating his death as a murder, and as the pieces fall into place, she notices a disturbing pattern in other student deaths on campus.

As a girl, Sarah grew up in the forests of Maine, following her father on hunts, learning how to stalk prey and kill, but only when necessary. Now, she must confront a different type of killing—and decide if it can be justified.

Notes on Surviving the Fire is a story about vengeance, the insidious nature of rape culture, and ultimately, a woman’s journey to come back to herself. – Knopf

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay

In the glow of their children’s exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families gather over dinner and cocktails for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids—five residents of Campisi Hall—never show up to dinner.

At first, everyone thinks they’re just being college students, irresponsibly forgetting about the gathering or skipping out to go to a party. But as the hours tick by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. Soon the campus police call in reinforcements. Search parties are formed. Reporters swarm the small enclave. Rumors swirl and questions arise.

Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella—The Five, as the podcasters, bloggers, and TikTok sleuths soon call them—come from very different families. What drew them out on that fateful night? Could it be the sins of their mothers and fathers come to cause them peril—or a threat to the friend group from within?

Told from each family’s point of view—and marking the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from Every Last Fear and The Night Shift—Parents Weekend explores the weight of expectation, family dysfunction, and those exhilarating first days in the dorms when friends become family. – Minotaur Books

This title is also available in large print.

Rules for Ruin by Mimi Matthews

No one betrays the Academy. But now Euphemia must decide: break the rules for her enemy, or let the rules break her heart.

On the outskirts of London sits a seemingly innocuous institution with a secretive aim—train young women to distract, disrupt, and discredit the patriarchy. Outraged by a powerful lord’s systematic attack on women’s rights in Parliament, the Academy summons its brightest—and most bitter—pupil to infiltrate the odious man’s inner circle. A deal is struck: bring down the viscount, and Miss Euphemia Flite will finally earn her freedom.

But betting shop owner Gabriel Royce has other plans. The viscount is the perfect pawn to insulate Gabriel’s underworld empire from government interference. He’s not about to let some crinoline-clad miss destroy his carefully constructed enterprise—no matter how captivating he finds her threats.

From the rookeries of St. Giles to the ballrooms of Mayfair, Euphemia and Gabriel engage in a battle of wits and wills that’s complicated by a blossoming desire. Soon Euphemia realizes it’s not the broken promises to her Academy sisters she should fear. . . . It’s the danger to her heart. – Berkley

This title is also available in large print.

Voice Like a Hyacinth by Mallory Pearson

Art student Jo Kozak and her fellow classmates and best friends, Caroline, Finch, Amrita, and Saz, are one another’s muses–so close they have their own language and so devoted to the craft that they’ll do anything to keep their inspiration alive. Even if it means naively resorting to the occult to unlock their creativity and to curse their esteemed, if notoriously creepy, professor. They soon learn the horrible price to be paid for such a transgressive ritual.

In its violent aftermath, things are changing. Jo is feeling unnervingly haunted by something inexplicable. Their paintings, once prodigious and full of life, are growing dark and unhealthy. And their journey together–as women, students, and artists–is starting to crumble.

To right the wrong they’ve done, these five desperate friends will take their obsession a step too far. When that happens, there may be no turning back. – 47North

The Wildelings by Lisa Harding

Jessica and Linda have been best friends since the first day of school. Both girls are from very different broken homes – and beautiful, wilful Jessica has always ensured their survival.

Now eighteen, the two girls have come to Wilde – an elite university in the heart of Dublin, far away from their troubled childhoods. Jessica thrives immediately, and, with the faithful Linda at her side, finds herself at the heart of a new circle of friends.

But then Mark enters the picture. A philosophy student a few years older than them, he has strange and compelling ideas about self-discovery. When Linda and Mark start dating, Jessica is disturbed by the change in her friend – and how quickly she seems to have fallen under this abrasive, charismatic man’s control.

It turns out that Mark’s influence is not limited to Linda alone; and Jessica soon finds out that her whole group of friends are keeping secrets for him – culminating in a terrible tragedy that strikes at the end of their first year.

Years later, Jessica is still grappling with her guilt over what happened at Wilde. And when Mark resurfaces, she knows she owes it to herself – and Linda – to set the record straight once and for all. – Bloomsbury Publishing

New Witchy Books

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Over the last couple years, I have noticed an increase in witchy romances. That in turn led me to new witchy books across genres. Below you will find a list of witchy books published in 2025 that span a wide variety of genres: horror, romance, cozy, historical, and more! Let us know in the comments if you have a favorite witchy read.

As of this writing, all of these titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions are provided by the publishers.

The Anatomy of Magic by J.C. Cervantes

A young woman learns to embrace all the messy imperfections of life and love with some help from her magical family

Lilian Estrada seemingly has it all: an ob-gyn star on the rise, a master at balancing work with whirlwind romances and part of a family of fiercely loyal and exceptional women, all bound together by an extraordinary secret. The Estrada women each possess a unique power, and Lily shines with the rare gift to manipulate memories. Yet not even her mystical abilities can shield her from a harrowing event at the hospital, one that sends her powers—and her confidence—spiraling out of control.

Seeking solace, Lily retreats to her family’s ancestral home in Mexico, only to find herself face-to-face with a ghost from her past—Sam, the first love she never forgot. Nearly a decade since she last saw him, Sam is hardly the boy she once knew, and as old flames spark to life, Lily must navigate the mysteries of their shared history and the depths of her own heart if she hopes to control her unpredictable magic. – Park Row

This title is available in large print.

An Ancient Witch’s Guide to Modern Dating by Cecilia Edward

An ancient witch explores the thrills—and perils—of online dating with hilarity and heart in a charming rom-com perfect for fans of cozy fantasy and witchy romance.

Meet Thorn Scarhart, a thirty-nine-year-old witch who’s having trouble finding love in the 17th century. Despite the local matchmaker’s efforts and Thorn’s arsenal of powerful love potions, she has yet to fall in love. After the disappearance of her sister and the loss of her mother, Thorn was too caught up in…well, life, to focus on dating. Now, she fears she may have missed her chance.

But, when one of her potion brews backfires spectacularly, Thorn is hurled 350 years into the future, landing in a bustling city where her once-isolated cottage is now a historical museum. While this unexpected leap through time may seem daunting, modern life does have its perks: indoor plumbing, electric kettles, and the world of online dating. At thirty-nine, the odds may not be perfect, but at least they’re not impossible.

With the help of the museum’s new curator—and her charming veterinarian brother—Thorn dives headfirst into the 21st-century dating scene. And as she searches for romance, she might also find herself along the way. – S&S / Saga Press

The Antidote by Karen Russell

The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing—not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the dust bowl drought but beneath its own violent histories. The Antidote follows a “Prairie Witch,” whose body serves as a bank vault for peoples’ memories and secrets; a Polish wheat farmer who learns how quickly a hoarded blessing can become a curse; his orphan niece, a basketball star and witch’s apprentice in furious flight from her grief; a voluble scarecrow; and a New Deal photographer whose time-traveling camera threatens to reveal both the town’s secrets and its fate.

Russell’s novel is above all a reckoning with a nation’s forgetting—enacting the settler amnesia and willful omissions passed down from generation to generation, and unearthing not only horrors but shimmering possibilities. The Antidote echoes with urgent warnings for our own climate emergency, challenging readers with a vision of what might have been—and what still could be. – Knopf

This title is also available in large print.

The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn

Piers Corbin has always had an affinity for poisonous things—plants and men. From the pokeweed berries she consumed at age five that led to the accidental death of a stranger, to the husband whose dark proclivities have become… concerning, poison has been at the heart of her story.

But when she fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her volatile marriage and goes to stay with her estranged great aunt in the mountains, she realizes her predilection is more than a hunger—it’s a birthright. Piers comes from a long line of poison eaters—Bane Witches—women who ingest deadly plants and use their magic to rid the world of evil men.

Piers sets out to earn her place in her family’s gritty but distinguished legacy, all while working at her Aunt Myrtle’s cafe and perpetuating a flirtation with the local, well-meaning sheriff to allay his suspicions on the body count she’s been leaving in her wake. But soon she catches the attention of someone else, a serial killer operating in the area. And that only means one thing—it’s time to feed. – St. Martin’s Griffin

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter Minerva—stories that have stayed with Minerva all her life. Perhaps that’s why Minerva has become a graduate student focused on the history of horror literature and is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales.

In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay’s most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story: Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the same university where Minerva is now studying and became obsessed with her beautiful and otherworldly roommate, who then disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay’s manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus. These disturbing events also echo the stories Nana Alba told about her girlhood in 1900s Mexico, where she had a terrifying encounter with a witch.

Minerva suspects that the same shadow that darkened the lives of her great-grandmother and Beatrice Tremblay is now threatening her own in 1990s Massachusetts. An academic career can be a punishing pursuit, but it might turn outright deadly when witchcraft is involved. – Del Rey

This title is also available in large print.

A Circle of Uncommon Witches by Paige Crutcher

A witch generationally cursed to never find true love sets out to break the spell cast on her family, and must team up with the last person who wants to help her – the witch who set the curse in the first place.

Doreen MacKinnon is doomed to die of a broken heart – if she can’t break the centuries old curse placed on her family.

Three hundred years ago, Ambrose MacDonald, a powerful male witch, fell in love with a MacKinnon. And when the MacKinnon witches forbade him from seeing his love, by secretly hiding her away, he retaliated by cursing the family and its future generations to never find love. But it wasn’t without a cost. Now, Ambrose is imprisoned by those same witches, trapped in a tempest and doomed to outlive everyone he has ever loved.

But Doreen isn’t like the other MacKinnon witches. As the 13th generation of the MacKinnon line, Doreen is one of the most powerful witches in centuries… and one of the loneliest. So when she discovers where Ambrose has been trapped, she releases him to help her break the curse, once and for all. Ambrose agrees to help, but with his own motive: vengeance. He plans to use her as bait to enact his revenge on her family.

Together, they enter a series of trials, which take them to a castle in Scotland, off a cliff, and into a world beyond their wildest dreams. As they work together, sparks start to fly, but soon Doreen must choose how far she is willing to go to break the curse, and what she’s willing to sacrifice. – St. Martin’s Griffin

Disco Witches of Fire Island by Blair Fell

It’s 1989, and Joe Agabian and his best friend Ronnie set out to spend their first summer working in the hedonistic gay paradise of Fire Island Pines. Joe is desperate to let loose and finally move beyond the heartbreak of having lost his boyfriend to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The two friends are quickly taken in by a pair of quirky, older house cleaners. But something seems off, and Joe starts to suspect the two older men of being up to something otherworldly. In truth, Howie and Lenny are members of a secret disco witch coven tasked with protecting the island—and young men like Joe—from the relentless tragedies ravaging their community. The only problem is, having lost too many of their fellow witches to the epidemic, the coven’s protective powers have been seriously damaged.

Unaware of all the mystical shenanigans going on, Joe starts to fall for the super-cute bisexual ferryman who just happens to have webbed feet and an unusual ability to hold his breath underwater. But Joe’s longing to find love is tripped up by his own troublesome past as well as the lure of a mysterious hunk he keeps seeing around the island—a man Howie and Lenny warn may be a harbinger of impending doom.

The Disco Witches need to find help—fast—if they’re to save Joe and the island from the Great Darkness. But how? Fans of spicy queer romances with a dash of fantasy will fall in love with this stunning novel of community, love, sex, magic, and hope in desperate times. – Alcove Press

A Simple Twist of Fate by April Asher

At the bright-eyed age of eighteen, witch Harlow “Harry” Pierce attended her first Fates Festival Finding Ceremony certain the Blue Willow Wisp would lead her to her Fated match, her cougar shifter boyfriend, Jaxon Atwood. But Fate had other plans, guiding her best friend to him instead. With a broken heart, all her belongings, and a vow to never return, Harry did the only thing a heartsick witch could do. Run.

Thirteen years later, she returns to her magical hometown—with her half-human, half-shifter goddaughter in tow—hoping that not only would the town work its magic on the troubled teenager, but that the local Alpha of the Rocky Mountain Pack could help Grace identify—and control—her fiery abilities.

Jaxon Atwood was a shifter of few words and even less patience… until his mother retired as Alpha of the Rocky Mountain Pack and left the running of things to him. It’s a headache he didn’t need, and one that brought the witch who’d ripped his heart from his chest knocking on his door.

Ever since the disappearance of the town’s Fate Witch over a decade ago, Fates Haven’s magic has been slowly going haywire. There hasn’t been a Fated Match made in thirteen years, putting the town in serious jeopardy of losing its title of Highest Fated Mates Percentage in the World. But now, something is stirring in Fates Haven, Colorado, and it smells like the past, tastes like change, and looks like A SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE. – St. Martin’s Griffin

Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce

Newly-minted child psychologist Mina has little experience. In a field where the first people called are experts, she’s been unable to get her feet wet. Instead, she aimlessly spends her days stuck in the stifling heat wave sweeping across Britain, and anxiously contemplating her upcoming marriage to careful, precise researcher Oscar. The only reprieve from her small, close world is attending the local bereavement group to mourn her brother’s death from years ago. That is, until she meets journalist Sam Hunter at the grief group one day. And he has a proposition for her.

Alice Webber is a thirteen-year-old girl who claims she’s being haunted by a witch. Living with her family in their crowded home in the remote village of Banathel, Alice’s symptoms are increasingly disturbing, and money is tight. Taking this job will give Mina some experience; Sam will get the scoop of a lifetime; and Alice will get better, Mina is sure of it.

But instead of improving, Alice’s behavior becomes increasingly inexplicable and intense. The town of Banathel has a deep history of superstition and witchcraft. They believe there is evil in the world. They believe there are ways of…dealing with it. And they don’t expect outsiders to understand.

As Mina races to uncover the truth behind Alice’s condition, the dark cracks of Banathel begin to show. Mina is desperate to understand how deep their sinister traditions go–and how her own past may be the biggest threat of all. – Minotaur Books

Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things by Breanna Randall

In the small town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her two sisters carefully guard the secret of their magic and the price they must pay to practice it: memories. Luckily, all Calliope wants to do is forget: the mother who left without a trace, the sisters from whom she feels increasingly distant, and most of all, the way the love of her life shattered her heart two years ago.

But when a mysterious evil awakens, the fragile thread that holds the sisters together breaks. As their magic slowly begins to fade, Calliope accidentally binds herself to the handsome leader of a rival coven infamous for their ruthless pursuit of power. Battling the sizzling chemistry with a man she can’t trust, Calliope must confront memories of her past, family secrets, and ancient magic in order to protect the town and all she loves. But will she have anything left of herself? – Dell

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

They were never girls, they were witches . . . .

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, frightened, and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by the adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid . . . and it’s usually paid in blood. – Berkley

This title is also available in large print and Playaway audiobook.

Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis

In a Gaslamp-lit world where hags and ogres lurk in thick pine forests, three magical queens form an uneasy alliance to protect their lands from invasion…and love turns their world upside down.

Queen Saskia is the wicked sorceress everyone fears. After successfully wrestling the throne from her evil uncle, she only wants one thing: to keep her people safe from the empire next door. For that, she needs to spend more time in her laboratory experimenting with her spells. She definitely doesn’t have time to bring order to her chaotic library of magic.

When a mysterious dark wizard arrives at her castle, Saskia hires him as her new librarian on the spot. “Fabian” is sweet and a little nerdy, and his requests seem a little strange – what in the name of Divine Elva is a fountain pen? – but he’s getting the job done. And if he writes her flirtatious poetry and his innocent touch makes her skin singe, well…

Little does Saskia know that the “wizard” she’s falling for is actually an Imperial archduke in disguise, with no magical training whatsoever. On the run, with perilous secrets on his trail and a fast growing yearning for the wicked sorceress, he’s in danger from her enemies and her newfound allies, too. When his identity is finally revealed, will their love save or doom each other? – Bramble

Diverse Romance

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When walking the new shelves, my attention was caught on the new diverse romance novels lining the shelves. Diverse romance feature characters from various ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, gender identities, and sexual orientations. Narrowing this list was hard, but below are the ones that stood out to me first. This is only a small list of the new diverse romances available at the library! If you are looking for different titles, let us know in the comments. As of this writing, all of these titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions are provided by the publishers.

Alice Chen’s Reality Check by Kara Loo and Jennifer Young

In this page-turning murder mystery perfect for fans of Dial A for Aunties, a reality TV contestant must fake date her rival as bodies pile up and the show spirals out of control. Can Alice crack the case . . . and confront her true feelings?

Alice Chen doesn’t believe in true love, but she does believe in cold, hard cash. Buckling under the weight of student debt and her mother’s medical bills, Alice will do anything to make bank—even star on Dawn Tay’s Inferno, the hot new reality TV show designed to push couples to their breaking point.

The show is Alice’s chance to sip cocktails on the beach and win a cash prize of a million dollars. But when her fiancé cheats on her with another contestant, Alice is faced with a choice: go home in defeat or fake date the other newly single contestant—who just so happens to be her high school rival and sworn nemesis, Daniel Cho.

But all’s fair in love and reality TV, and Alice isn’t the only one who will do whatever it takes to win. When a dead body turns up, Alice and Daniel are faced with uncovering the secrets of the cast and crew to catch the killer—all while playing the loving couple on camera.

Starring a murder mystery twist, plenty of reality show drama, and a thrilling romance, this debut by up-and-coming Asian American writer duo Kara Loo and Jennifer Young is the ultimate beach read. – Quirk Books

Anywhere You Go by Bridget Morrissey

A small-town waitress and a big-city Broadway press agent swap homes to escape the messiness of their personal lives, only to find new purpose—and new love.

Tatum Ward and Eleanor Chapman lead totally opposite lives. Tatum’s never left her Midwestern hometown. She resides in a quaint guest cottage on her parents’ property while working part-time as a waitress, where she spends most shifts ignoring her feelings for a beautiful regular named June. Eleanor dedicates every waking hour to her high-profile press career, sacrificing personal relationships for professional success, save for the occasional hookup to fight off her loneliness. When both women’s lives unexpectedly blow up at the exact same time, they each need an escape, and fast.

In Tatum’s hometown, Eleanor expects a quiet hideaway where she can recharge. Instead she gets wrapped up in the family drama that Tatum left town to avoid, pulled in by Tatum’s charismatic older sibling, Carson, who charms Eleanor at every turn. Tatum ends up in Eleanor’s New York high-rise apartment with June. One week together in the big city might make it impossible for Tatum to avoid not just her true feelings for June, but her real dreams for her life.

Amid a friendship with a reclusive Hollywood actress and a complicated family reunion, Tatum and Eleanor each discover much more than they bargained for away from home. Their house swap won’t last forever, but it might be just long enough for both women to surrender their defenses and finally fight for the life—and love—they deserve. – Berkley

Dream On, Ramona Riley by Ashley Herring Blake

Once upon a time, Ramona Riley was a student at a prestigious art school, with dreams of landing in Hollywood as a costume designer to the stars. But after her father’s car accident, she had to quit and return to her small New Hampshire town, Clover Lake, to help take care of her younger sister. Twelve years later, Ramona is still working at the town’s café, all but given up on her dream. But when a big-budget romantic comedy comes to Clover Lake to film, she wonders if this could be her chance. There’s only one problem—Dylan Monroe, her first kiss and Hollywood’s favorite wild child—is the star.

Dylan Monroe has always lived an unconventional life, having famous rock icons for parents. But she wants to prove that she’s not some chaotic, talentless nepo baby, that she has actual skills, that she’s just a normal person. To do that, Dylan takes on a project at a charming lake town—she even works at the town’s café (very quaint), shadowing a local waitress there (very cute), and asks her to take Dylan around to do Normal People Things.

But Dylan soon realizes it’s not just some small-town waitress she’s getting to know—Ramona Riley is someone she’s met before, someone who remembers her even more vividly. Before long, however, reality hits them, and both women must decide if the spark between them can fan the flames of their individual dreams, or if it will extinguish their light. – Berkley

Gold Coast Dilemma by Nana Malone

During an opulent publishing party, Ofosua Addo crosses paths with Cole Drake for the first time. Their flirtatiously witty exchange culminates in a kiss that etches a permanent mark on both their hearts.

But Ofosua’s identity as a Ghanaian heiress comes before Cole. She loves the vibrant traditions of Ghana’s Gold Coast, and her hand is already promised to a man that even her overbearing mother loves. Yet, when her big Ghanaian wedding transforms from a fairy tale into a spectacle, she’s thrust into a whirlwind of heartbreak and self-discovery.

In the midst of it all, Cole enters her life once again, under circumstances far different from their magical first encounter. Can Ofosua and Cole’s rediscovered spark overcome the weight of tradition?– Gallery Books

If I Told You, I’d Have to Kiss You by Mae Marvel

Mr. and Mrs. Smith meets The Pairing in this heart-racing romance of secrets, spies, and steam.

A few rules for the international superspy:
(1) Never blow your cover.
(2) Never accept the first plan.
(3) Never fall for anyone at the agency. Especially if she’s your ex-girlfriend.

Yardley Whitmer, code name “the Unicorn,” can do no wrong. She’s honed her spycraft and become an instant legend in the field. If only breaking up with her girlfriend were as easy as rappelling off the Eiffel Tower. Living a full-time cover story has slowly eroded her relationship until there’s nothing left but lies.

KC “Tabasco” Nolan, hacker extraordinaire, can crack any code—except the one that would tell her the right moment to confess her secret job to Yardley. Now it’s too late, and she’s in danger of losing the best chance at love she’s ever had.

When an undercover shakedown goes wrong, Yardley and KC discover the unbelievable truth—that they’ve both been working at the agency for years. To salvage the mission, they partner up and fly across oceans, race through winding European streets, and give in to inconvenient passion while hiding in an ambassador’s linen closet. But can they throw away their rules and fight through their secrets to fall in love with each other’s true selves? – St. Martin’s Griffin

Just Our Luck by Denise Williams

Sybil Sweet has always been lucky, but lately she can’t catch a break. After years of bouncing from job to job in search of something that feels right and from man to man in search of something special, Sybil is worried that she’s the directionless, floundering daughter her family thinks she is. All she really wants now is a little financial stability and carb comfort. Lucky for her, she’s got just enough in the bank to buy a lottery ticket, and the late-night donut store is open.

Kieran Anderson put his dreams of becoming a doctor on hold to take over running his family’s bakery, and after fighting a losing battle to save the place, he’s exhausted, broke, and no closer to getting back to school. But when a whirlwind of a woman sweeps in late one night, flirty energy gives way to more…until she runs out the next morning, leaving behind her winning lottery ticket.

Lucky for Kieran, his attempt to return the ticket looks like a grand romantic gesture and goes viral, sending sales through the roof. In an effort to keep the store afloat and to convince Sybil’s family she can make good relationship choices, they agree to fake a relationship for three months. Even with hundreds of millions of dollars, finding each other might end up being the sweetest bit of luck for both of them. – Berkley

Kiss Me, Maybe by Gabriella Gamez

Librarian Angela Gutierrez has never been kissed. But after posting a video about her late bloomer status and ace identity, she’s finally ready to get some firsts out of the way. Using her new influencer status to come up with a scavenger hunt idea in which the winner earns her first kiss, Angela realizes she may need some help to pull off the event.

Enter Krystal Ramirez, hot bartender and Angela’s unrequited crush of five years. Despite vowing that romantic love isn’t for her, Krystal seems awfully determined to help Angela pull off the scavenger hunt and find true love.

There’s just one problem: the connection between Angela and Krystal is getting stronger and stronger the more they hang out, until Angela isn’t sure she wants to go through with the scavenger hunt after all. But Krystal is convinced that she isn’t capable of love and before long, Angela realizes she’s falling head over heels for a woman who may never love her back. – Forever

My Best Friend’s Honeymoon by Meryl Wilsner

Elsie Hoffman has been engaged to her college boyfriend for a year and a half. Ginny Holtz has been in love with Elsie for almost a decade and a half.

When Elsie discovers her fiancé already planned their wedding and honeymoon as a surprise and she’s expected to be in a white dress in seven days, she swiftly realizes she’s let herself become too comfortable with a future she never wanted. She breaks things off, and a week later is on a plane to the Caribbean for her non-refundable honeymoon with her best friend Ginny instead.

Ginny thinks it’s high time Elsie learned how to speak up for herself. So, they make a deal with her. For the next week, Elsie can have whatever she wants, wherever, however, and whenever she wants it, as long as she asks. They never expected Elsie to want them.

What starts as choosing activities and taking selfies soon turns to toe-curling kisses and much, much more. But what happens when the honeymoon is over?

Meryl Wilsner’s My Best Friend’s Honeymoon is about not only learning to ask for what you want, but for the happiness you deserve.– St. Martin’s Griffin

The Next Chapter by Camille Kellogg

Katrina Kelly might have eight million Instagram followers and a multipage IMDb listing, but she also has a completely stalled-out career and some major questions about her sexuality, which seems to be moving closer to raging lesbian every week. Yet maybe she can solve both of those issues at once. . . . After all, rebranding as a queer icon is a great way to jump-start an acting career.

Jude Thacker is fine. Completely fine, so please stop asking. Has the queer bookstore where she works been taken over by a boss who’d rather sell branded tote bags than books? Yes. Does she have a panic attack every time she has to leave her comfort zone? Maybe. Has she been on a single date since her heart was shattered two years ago? Absolutely not.

When Kat and Jude cross paths in the bookstore, Kat realizes that their meet-cute might just be a meet-opportunity. But what’s meant to be a temporary publicity stunt quickly turns into real feelings for both women. As the media scrutiny intensifies, each must decide what’s real, what’s not, and if true love is worth losing everything they believe is keeping them safe. – Dial Press Trade Paperback

A Rare Find by Joanna Lowell

When an aspiring archaeologist teams up with her childhood enemy for a treasure hunt, they find it impossible to bury their growing feelings, in a charming queer historical romance from the author of A Shore Thing.

Elfreda Marsden has finally made a major discovery—an ancient amulet proving the Viking army camped on her family’s estate. Too bad her nemesis is back from London, freshly exiled after a scandal and ready to wreak havoc on her life. Georgie Redmayne is everything Elfreda isn’t–charming, popular, carefree, distractingly attractive, and bored to death by the countryside. When the two collide (literally), the amulet is lost, and with it, Elfreda’s big chance to lead a proper excavation. Now Elfreda needs new evidence of medieval activity, and Georgie needs money to escape the doldrums of Derbyshire. Joining forces to locate a hidden hoard of Viking gold is the best chance for them both.

Marsdens and Redmaynes don’t get along, and that’s the least of the reasons these enemies can’t dream of something more. But as the quest takes them on unexpected adventures, sparks of attraction ignite a feeling increasingly difficult to identify as hatred. It’s far too risky to explore. And far too tempting to resist. Elfreda and Georgie soon find that the real treasure comes with a steep price… and the promise of a happiness beyond all measure. – Berkley

Time Loops & Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau

Noelle Tom really shouldn’t have eaten those dumplings at the night market. But the old woman at the stall said they’d give her what she needed most, and what Noelle desperately needed after another long workweek was food.

Except now she’s reliving the same Friday. Every morning her alarm goes off at 6:45, and the Wordle answer is always “happy.” Worst of all, any work she does at her job as an engineer? It’s erased when she wakes up. Monday might never come in this workaholic’s nightmare. Noelle has no idea how being trapped in a time loop is the “thing she needed most,” and a trip to the food stall doesn’t help…because there’s no sign of it.

Then she meets good-looking Cam, who appears in multiple places on her Friday. While the brewery owner seems to have no memory of their encounters, there are signs he might be the key to getting un-stuck. But Noelle can’t figure out how, even when she steps outside of her comfort zone and lives a little. As she grows attached to him, she becomes more worried that she’ll never escape the loop and he’ll never recall her name. And if she does ever get out, can they be together in the “real” world?  – Atria / Emily Bestler Books

Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston

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“Grief is just a love song in reverse.” ― Ashley Poston, Sounds Like Love

Ashley Poston, a writer of magical realism, has found her sweet spot in her newest romance, Sounds Like Love. Joni Lark knew she wanted to leave her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina when she was in high school to pursue a career in songwriting. Now Joni is working as a songwriter in Los Angeles, where her songs are highly sought after by musicians. Her agent is anxious for Jodi to write her next hit, but sadly Joni is empty of ideas and can’t write. When her dad calls her back to the Outer Banks to share one last good summer with her mom, Joni hopes that she will find inspiration amongst the sand, the surf, and music at The Revelry.

When she finally gets home, Joni is shocked to see that everything has changed. Her mother’s dementia is getting worse, her best friend is hiding something, and her family’s business, The Revelry, isn’t doing well financially. Joni’s hopes of inspiration quickly shrivel, except for this one pesky melody that has been stuck in her head since the night before she left Los Angeles. It’s not just the melody though – there’s a man’s voice also in her head. While this completely freaks her out at the start, Joni slowly grows to enjoy his company. Who is this mystery man and why are they connected? When he shows up in Vienna Springs with a plan, Joni is on board. He wants them to finish the melody that’s stuck in both of their heads in order to sever their connection. Could that be as easy as he says? They’ll have to rely on each other in order to find out.

Sounds Like Love was a trippy read. The idea that the two main characters could hear each other’s thoughts was difficult to comprehend at first, but the rules that the author built into their gifts helped me to believe it *could* have happened. If you are able, I recommend you listen to this book in audio as the narrator sings! The small town beach setting was believable, while I also enjoyed the explorations into the music industry and the different musical elements. While the author does include a character with dementia in this book, she handles this topic with sensitivity. The relationships, both family and friends, were major plot points and helped to carry the story. Solid 4 star read.

This title is also available in large print.

“How do I forgive my past self for all the futures I didn’t become? I don’t know.” ― Ashley Poston, Sounds Like Love

The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson

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“Putting my foot down isn’t my strong point. Being an inconvenience to someone, or even thinking about the possibility of being an inconvenience to someone, is right up there with dropping into a tank of jellyfish. Unacceptable.” ― Melissa Ferguson, The Perfect Rom-Com

Bryony Page has written a novel that she has pinned all of her hopes and dreams on. Attending her first writers conference, Bryony knows that one of these agents will accept her manuscript, sell it, and help her raise awareness (and funding) for The Bridge, her grandmother’s organization where Bryony has taught ESL full-time for the last fifteen years. Her agent meetings are utterly disastrous with the last one ending with her critiquing and correcting a famous author’s latest manuscript. This last-ditch effort to impress literary agent Jack Sterling of the legendary Foundry Literary Agency ends up working in her favor though.

Bryony is offered the job of a lifetime: writing as ghostwriter for popular rom-com novelist, Amelia Benedict. While this isn’t exactly what Bryony’s goal, she finds a way to get what she wants out of Jack. She will agree to ghostwrite, only if Jack will work to sell her own book too. The Bridge needs all the help it can get.

Flash forward and it should come as no surprise that Bryony’s work as Amelia’s ghostwriter is fantastic. Her books have made Amelia into even more of a household name. She is selling millions of copies around the world which means that Bryony is irreplaceable to the Foundry Agency. Jack and Bryony are closer than ever, which makes the line between their professional and personal relationships grow murkier and murkier. Bryony’s ultimate goal is to get her book published under her own name, something that Jack has been working on for the past two years. Or has he?

The Perfect Rom-Com was a delightful read. While this was described as a grumpy x sunshine read, I had trouble figuring out who was who, as both Bryony and Jack had their moments of sunshine and grump. If you’re looking for a friends to lovers, opposites attract, kisses-only romance, this is the book for you. The romance is more subtle than other books I have read lately, but I kept reading because of the quippy dialogue between characters. I also enjoyed the insider knowledge of traditional publishing. This slow burn, workplace romance book about books was a good palette cleanser.

“Spend a few hours with your eyes skating over pages of happiness, all while the more serious bits of your life get to rest their legs. Take a break. Laugh your heart to healing, I like to say. Now there’s a tagline. Because laughter is a part of life too, isn’t it? Something not to be dismissed as it stands side by side with more serious matters of growth and grief.”
― Melissa Ferguson, The Perfect Rom-Com

Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson

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“You are not who you are because of where you come from; you are who you are because of where you choose to go.”
― Lana Ferguson, Under Loch and Key

Keyanna ‘Key’ McKay grew up in a family of secrets. Raised by a single father reluctant to share their family history, Key has never felt like she really fit in anywhere. After her father’s death, Key leaves New York, heading to Scotland to reunite with her estranged family and to explore the world her father never spoke about. All she knows about Scotland is her estranged grandmother’s name and the childhood story of her father’s about a monster that saved his life. Determined to fulfill her father’s last wish to go home, Key finds herself on the shore of a great body of water, unknowingly putting herself in danger, and eventually being rescued by an angry, yet attractive, Scotsman. Key is then escorted to her ancestral home, where the welcome she receives from her family is mixed and she realizes that her cranky rescuer lives on her family’s land.

Lachlan Greer has secrets of his own and this wily beautiful redhead who showed up out of nowhere seems determined to ruin all of his plans. After learning her name, Lachlan is even more weary. He is hunting for answers to his family’s history, but Key is a wrench in his plans that he does not need. Living on her family’s land, Lachlan and Key can’t avoid each other. Their attraction ratchets up higher and higher, despite their mutual efforts to avoid each other. It soon becomes apparent that they will have to trust each other in order to find the answers they are each looking for. Their answers rest in each other’s histories.

I picked this book up purely because of the cover, aka the man in the kilt, (plus the punny title)! Under Loch and Key ended up being an absolute delight and honestly, I’m glad I went into this book without knowing anything about it. This is a magical paranormal romance with spicy scenes that happen on page. The characters’ relationships were silly, emotional, mysterious, yet completely magical. This was also my first monster romance, which was a bit of a shock to the system, but honestly not bad. Also bonus it has two of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers and grumpy meets sunshine. Even though this is a spicy read, the author also throws in several heartwarming themes that deal with forgiveness, family, burdens, and correcting your past mistakes in order to move on in the future. Solid four stars from me!

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming

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“Cin, I can barely breathe when you are not near. If anything were to happen to you, if you left me to be alone again, these memories of you would kill me.”
― Kimberly Lemming, That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon

I checked out That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming purely because of what the cover looked like. This book reminded me of the classic romance novel covers – think Fabio shirtless with his long hair blowing in the wind (highly recommend you look this up for *research* purposes). I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I enjoyed this read! That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon is the first book the Mead Mishaps series by Kimberly Lemming.

Cinnamon lives a quiet life as a spice trader. Having taken over part of her family’s spice farm, all Cinnamon wants to do is get a cat, expand her business, and actively avoid any adventuring. Stumbling her way home from a town party late one night, Cinnamon bumps into a demon that she decides, in her wine-drunk state, to save. Coming to her senses, Cinnamon runs to her parents’ house for safety. Upon awaking the next morning, she is shocked to see that the demon is still around and that he needs her help. Fallon, the demon, is on a mission to kill an evil witch that has been enslaving demons for centuries. Why should Cinnamon care? Well it turns out this evil witch also has her hands in the operations of her town and basically the entire country. Shocked, Cinnamon has no choice to go along with Fallon in their attempt to kill off the witch and rescue the enslaved demon. It doesn’t hurt matters that Fallon is easy on eyes and just so happens to keep burning off his shirt.

This was an adorably hilarious and steamy read. The spicy scenes take place on page, so be prepared if you decide to give this a read. I found myself laughing out loud in places because Cinnamon is quite funny. Fallon is intense, but his intensity helped balance out Cinnamon’s quirkiness. Their relationship started slow, but things got steamy once they decided to be serious. If you’re looking for a blend of romance, humor, and adventure, dive into this series debut!

Mead Mishaps series

  1. That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon (2021)
  2. That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf (2023)
  3. That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human (2023)

Summer in the City by Alex Aster

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“I didn’t fall in love with a version of you, Elle,” he says. “I fell in love with every you.”
― Alex Aster, Summer in the City

Ellie has been a screenwriter for years, but her latest project isn’t shaping up. She has had writer’s block for months, which is not great considering that her screenplay is due at the end of the summer. Her current project is a big budget movie set in New York City, so despite her reservations, Ellie moves back to New York City for the summer. After leaving two years ago, she swore she would never come back and yet here she is. She just might be able to get her screenplay written, that is until she realizes that her neighbor is tech billionaire Parker Warren, the man she made out with in the stairwell two years ago right before she fled New York City for good.

Their relationship is anything but positive, but after a night of hate-fueled writing, Ellie starts to think that he might be able to help her finish her screenplay. It turns out the Parker could use her help too: he needs to fake a relationship that will take the attention off his company’s acquisition. The two agree to spend the summer together, exploring New York City, crossing locations off Ellie’s list and hitting up paparazzi locations where Parker needs to make an appearance with his new girlfriend. This is one summer. Only one summer that will end. They can pretend for that long, but the lines between pretend and real start to blur leaving Parker and Ellie to question this new relationship and what it could really be.

Summer in the City is Alex Aster’s adult debut novel. This was a sizzling steamy read full of quick witted banter. I recommend you read this book if you like enemies to lovers, forced proximity, fake dating, and billionaire romance all set in New York City. This was my first billionaire romance, which was an adjustment. Parker has an incredible amount of money that he spends however he wants, seemingly on whatever strikes his fancy. That plays into the story significantly, but still took an adjustment. However I found the characters likable and the chemistry off the charts. Four stars from me!

“There are moments in life, I think, that make you grateful you didn’t just stay in your room.”
― Alex Aster, Summer in the City

Leap written and illustrated by Simina Popescu

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When choosing what graphic novels to read, what typically catches my attention first is the art style. Leap, written and illustrated by Simina Popescu, is drawn in muted shades of gray and pink with pops of bright colors to highlight important and expressive moments. This graphic novel explores first love, friendship, identity, and what to do when our dreams change.

At a conservative performing arts school in Bucharest, Romania, two young dancers spend all day in class and practice, leaving what free time they have to navigate outside experiences. This graphic novel is a small snapshot of their overall lives, but still manages to pack quite the emotional punch.

Ana has been studying contemporary dance for years, but lately she is lacking the desire. Instead of going to practice, her focus has been on Carina, her girlfriend of three years and a classical ballerina with big ambitions that don’t necessarily include Ana. Carina is afraid of being outed, so their relationship stays hidden, leaving the two with limited time and locations to be a couple outside of school. Ana continuously gives up more and more of her own dancing future to help Carina reach her dreams, but at a major cost.

Sara, Ana’s new roommate, is surrounded by whispers and rumors that she may be the best dancer in the entire school (and the best dancer that the school has produced in years). Feeling sad in the classical track the year prior, Marlena, Sara’s mentor and instructor, advised her to leave classical and switch to contemporary where she might feel more comfortable. Sara has always admired Marlena, so the switch was an easy choice. This admiration blossoms into something more, leaving Sara unsure and questioning everything she’s known, looking for answers and help online and eventually from Ana. Starting as roommates, Sara and Ana become friends, sometimes arguing, other times turning to each other for guidance.