Review: Rolls and Rivalry (Gaming and Romance #3) by Kristy Boyce

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Rolls and RivalryRolls and Rivalry by Kristy Boyce
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rolls and Rivalry is the 3rd-book in Kristy Boyce’s YA-Romance series now called Gaming and Romance. I could be mistaken, but I believe this series used to be known as the Dungeons and Drama series.

Regardless of the series title, these are a set of companion novels that all involve RPG-Gaming, in particular, as you might have assumed, Dungeons & Dragons.

These novels are companions really in theme-only, meaning there’s not a lot of character crossover. Therefore, you are free to read them in any order.

There are very small cameos of past characters, but I don’t feel like if you miss the reference it will cause you to enjoy the book any less. The cameos are more like Easter Egg bonuses for loyal Readers.

In this installment, we follow Hazel, who is getting ready to enter her Senior year in high school. Hazel has been an active participant in her high school Color Guard since she was a Freshman, and we start the novel with Band Camp.

Hazel is now Color Guard Captain and feels a lot of pressure in that role. She’s striving to gain respect for herself and her fellow Guard members with the rest of the marching band, who seem to look down on them.

In the midst of all of this pressure, Hazel’s best friend from childhood, Max, returns to their school after having moved away following his parent’s divorce.

Hazel is initially excited to have him back, to have a chance to rekindle their friendship. Admittedly, Hazel had a bit of a crush on him when they were younger, and upon seeing him again, she can tell that hasn’t changed.

But Max is a member of percussion, and those two groups, percussion and the Guard, do not get along. In fact, Max seems to be falling into the jerk percussion role well. He gives her the cold shoulder in front of everyone.

Unfortunately, Max is showing up at her house every Sunday, just like the old days, because his Mom has rejoined Hazel’s parent’s D&D group.

Hazel is finally at a point where she is ready to run her own D&D group, and since people aren’t exactly lining up at her door to join, she offers to have Max join. He’s super into D&D, and he’s at her house on the weekends anyway. He’s also easy on the eyes; it just makes sense.

Also joining them are Hazel’s best friend, and two younger members of the band, one Guard member, and one percussion member. Look at Hazel, building bridges.

D&D is a fairly intimate game. You really come to mesh with the people you’re playing with. You bond over the campaign as you batter around ideas and create whole new worlds with your joint creativity and imagination.

As you can imagine, with their preexisting relationship, Hazel and Max start to see each other again with fresh eyes. Maybe their constant bickering is masking other feelings they’re too afraid to express…

This was so, so good. Kristy Boyce writes such fun and realistic characters. The relationships are also always so endearing and compelling.

I love how the D&D group was incorporated into this. There was just enough details of game nights and the campaign for my liking. It never overshadowed the rest of the story, which I appreciated.

I had moments where the marching band element seemed a bit too much for me. It’s not something I could relate too as it wasn’t part of my experience, but it was a huge part of Hazel’s experience, and because I came to care about her so much, I came to care about the band’s success.

I think around the 40%-point, that’s when I was truly pulled in. I was waffling initially, but the cuteness soon started to come out and I was hooked.

I feel like Hazel showed a lot of positive growth over the course of the story. She started to stand up for herself more, including with her Mom, who was a bit overbearing. I also loved seeing Hazel and Max get their friendship back. Romance aside, being friends first is so important to me, and I love how Boyce developed it here.

I would highly recommend this to YA Romance Readers, or anyone who is looking for true to life representation of RPG in their stories. All of the books are super cute. Read one, read them all. I’m very happy that I have.

Thank you to the publisher, Delacorte Romance, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I look forward to whatever Kristy Boyce releases next!

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Review: Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey

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Make Me BetterMake Me Better by Sarah Gailey
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars**

Make Me Better mainly follows a woman named Celia. She’s struggling in her life. All she wants is a family, and no matter what she does, it’s not happening for her.

Seeking a way to make things better, Celia signs up for something called the Salt Festival, set on an island within the remote community of Kindred Cove. She buys their promise that healing is possible, even for her.

We follow Celia as she arrives at the island and starts to learn what the Salt Festival is all about. The individuals involved in the Festival are all provided lodgings and daily activities to help them to grow and heal.

In addition to Celia in the present timeline, we also get various other perspectives at numerous other periods in time, from months ago, to years ago, of people living at Kindred Cove. It’s a lot to wrap your head around.

At the start of the novel, I was very intrigued by the mysterious tone. I always find Gailey’s writing easy to get into and this was no exception. Unfortunately, the further I got into it, the more it lost my interest and attention.

The story has an interesting premise; Celia, traveling to an island to participate in the Salt Festival that she believes will heal all her woes. I could get behind that. I was ready to find out what her journey was going to be there.

The direction of the story does get pretty f*ed up, NGL, but not in a gruesome, or gory way, just in the truth of what it’s all about. Celia loses herself so deeply, IMO, in such a short amount of time, which honestly makes me sad. I know it’s possible, but still it’s sad to think about. This type of thing probably happens more than we’d like to imagine.

The construction of the story is what I struggled with the most. The time jumps, how random they felt, it made it hard to connect with the story.

I constantly felt like I was getting pushed out of it, and had to actively work to recenter myself in the narrative. It just wasn’t an enjoyable experience. I read for escape and relaxation, and for me, this was not relaxing.

I listened to the audiobook, which has the fabulous Xe Sands as narrator. I love their narration. They’ve done quite a few of Gailey’s novels, so that felt right. While the narration was well done, I feel like the story may have been better served had there been multiple narrators to help make the time periods and perspectives more distinct.

It was really difficult via audio to keep track of where you were in time and who you were following due to the single-person narration, IMO.

However, with all of this being said, just because it didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. I’m positive there are Readers out there who are going to be able to relate to Celia’s story, and better track the rest of what is going on, than I could.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I always look forward to Gailey’s new releases. Their creativity and confidence to take risks are things I admire.

While this one wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, I’m still glad I gave it shot. You don’t know until you try!

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Review: The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing by Sonia Faleiro

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The Good Girls: An Ordinary KillingThe Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing by Sonia Faleiro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

This was so interesting, yet simultaneously heartbreaking. Honestly, I’ve never read a True Crime novel that wasn’t set in the US, UK, Ireland or Australia.

It was eye-opening to get this glimpse into a crime and the corresponding aftermath occurring in a culture outside of my own. The reactions of the local citizens, news media and authority figures were varied and surprising.

I felt like the author did a great job of painting a picture of this community and the various reactions to the deaths of these two young girls. It sounds like Faleiro did extensive research into some very difficult topics, so I’m sure that was all-consuming for her over the course of this project.

It did jump around quite a bit, it’s not a linear narrative, but I definitely liked learning more about life in Northern India and this small community more specifically. It’s obviously a very heavy read, but I’m glad I gave it a show and plan to seek out more True Crime like this in the future.

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Review: The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore

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The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her DisappearThe Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was so good. Elizabeth Packard, the woman whose life this book features, lived quite an amazing life, and I don’t necessarily mean that as a good thing. She certainly fought hard and did the best she could though, especially post-release from the asylum.

She became a champion for not just Women’s Rights, but also Patient’s Rights. I had never heard of Elizabeth Packard prior to reading this and that makes me sort of sad. An incredible woman like this, who did so much for us all, almost lost to history.

Kate Moore has saved her and as always, makes history fun and engaging. I would absolutely recommend this to every Reader, especially if you’re interested in the fight for Women’s Rights, or the early state of the mental health system within the U.S.

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Review: The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer

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The House SaphirThe House Saphir by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

The House Saphir follows Mallory Fontaine and is set in historical, and also a wee bit magical, France. The atmosphere is steeped in occult elements and we love to see that. Mallory comes from a long-line of witches, but her one actual power is being able to see ghosts.

Mallory makes her living giving tours of an infamous mansion where the first of the Saphir murders took place. She’s considered a bit of an expert on the murderer, Count Bastien Saphir, aka. Monsieur Le Bleu, who murdered three of his wives over a century ago.

Mallory is shocked when she ends up meeting Bastien’s great-great grandson, Armand, on one of her tours. The heir to the Saphir estate, Armand offers Mallory and her sister a large sum of money to rid his estate of Le Bleu’s ghost.

He believes the sisters are as talented as their reputations purport them to be when it comes to dealing with spirits. To him, they’re the perfect solution. To them, he’s the perfect mark. A deal is made.

The two women travel to the palatial country manor expecting their same ole’ smoke and mirrors routine. However, when murder once again comes to the House Saphir, their ghost investigation turns into a real-life murder investigation. Will they be able to solve the crime and banish the ghost before more lives are lost?

I knew nothing about The House Saphir prior to picking it up except for the fact that it was written by Marissa Meyer. I’ve had nothing but great success with Meyer’s works in the past and I love picking up her latest releases.

I had the pleasure of Buddy Reading this one with a friend and we both had so much fun with it. I actually read it in a day, which surprised me because it’s over 400-pages. I was completed invested the entire way through though. I couldn’t put it down once I started.

Apparently, it’s a Bluebeard retelling, but I didn’t go into it knowing anything about that lore, so can’t attest to this novel as a retelling one way or another. I have looked up information on Bluebeard since, and it does seem like it would be a fun ride for fans of that story.

What I do know is how consumable Meyer’s writing is. I always love her quirky characters, and she brings just the right amount of humor to her stories for my tastes.

Mallory is such an incredible MC to follow, and I loved the banter between her and Armand. She’s extremely witty and fast-thinking. You can tell she’s had to take care of herself. It shows, she’s tough and willing to do whatever it takes to survive. She’s a hustler. LOL

The murder mystery was such a bonus for me. It definitely added another layer of enjoyment. In that regard, it reminded me a bit of Belladonna. I do think Readers who enjoyed that, would enjoy this as well.

I also loved how many ghosties and monsters there were. I wasn’t expecting all that. Where I could see some Readers being disappointed, is if you go in expecting Romantasy. I don’t read a ton of Romantasy, but to me the Romance is very much a secondary-plot point compared to everything else that’s happening.

If you go in expecting big romance, you make walk away feeling let down. It exists in here, but yeah, it’s certainly not the star of the show, IMO.

I think this novel will hit best with Gothic Readers, or Readers who enjoy witches, ghosts, murder and other paranormal things, but also love humor and compelling characters. The setting of this gothic manor is super well done and it’s certainly action-packed.

Finally, I would recommend the audiobook. The narration from Rebecca Soler, unsurprisingly, was perfection. She brought Mallory to life and made me love her even more!

Thank you to the publisher, Feiwel & Friends and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Marissa Meyer is just so freaking talented!

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Review: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

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Mad MabelMad Mabel by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went into Mad Mabel. The synopsis didn’t jump out at me as a novel I’d need to read with any sort of immediacy. However, it is from Sally Hepworth and she’s never let me down.

I was afraid this would be more literary than I tend to enjoy, or that the little kid mentioned in the synopsis would drive me nuts. Spoiler alert: I’m not big on kids.

Regardless, I had to find out for myself how Mad Mabel was going to play out, and I’m so glad that I did. I loved this, full stop. I was on the brink of tears for like the last 15%. I can’t believe how emotionally-connected I became with these characters and this story.

Elsie, aka. Mad Mabel, will definitely be in the running for my favorite character of the year!!

The audiobook, narrated by Hannah Fredericksen and Jenny Seedsman, is absolutely the way to go, IMO. Their voice work brought this story to life. I was swept away and couldn’t put it down once I started.

We get both a past and present perspective from Elsie. The past perspective is filled with fascinating details as we learn about her family, her upbringing, and how she earned her reputation as Mad Mabel. Happily, this is one of those cases where both perspectives are equally compelling.

I loved learning about Elsie’s past because it added so much context to her present character, but the present was so fun as well. Elsie is 81-years old in the present perspective and her delivery and the way she interacted with others had me cackling on more than one occasion.

Equally though, there were moments that broke my heart. I feel like this range of emotions that I felt while reading this is a testament to Hepworth’s talent. I was so invested, I felt like I was a part of the narrative.

I would recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed Hepworth’s work in the past, but also to anyone who just really loves endearing elder characters. If you enjoyed Too Old For This, or The Marigold Cottage Murder Collective, I think you’ll really enjoy this one as well.

Thank you to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This story grabbed me by the heart and never let go. This will definitely be on my Best Books list for 2026!

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Review: Murder at the Highland Games (Ally McKinley Mystery #4) by Dee MacDonald

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Murder at the Highland Games (Ally McKinley Mystery #4)Murder at the Highland Games by Dee MacDonald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Murder at the Highland Games is the 4th-installment in the Ally McKinley Mystery series. Set in Scotland, these books follow Ally McKinley, a recent retiree and widow, who fell in love with the village of Locharran whilst on vacation and decided to move there.

Ally purchased an old malthouse, renovated it and turned it into a successful Bed & Breakfast. She runs it herself, with only the help of one local lady, Morag, who comes in and helps her with cleaning when there are guests in.

In this installment, Locharran is hosting their annual Highland Games. A lot of the local lads have been training hard and they’re excited to get the chance to compete against their friends, and maybe even show off a little for their loved ones. The excitement in the village is high.

Just in time for the games though, a Canadian family, the Armstrongs, arrive for a stay a Ally’s B&B.

The traveling group is comprised of a father, mother, their two teen daughters, as well as the father’s sister and her husband. It turns out, the father, Archie, is a successful Highland Games competitor in Canada and he’s started touring around to compete in games in other locations.

The locals are disgruntled this outsider, a ringer no less, has come to town to compete in their games. They don’t think it’s fair for him to even be allowed in, when so many of their boys have worked so hard to get ready for the competition.

Nevertheless, of course Archie is allowed to compete. It’s an open games, but that doesn’t mean everyone is okay with it. When Archie drops dead during the caber toss, it quickly becomes apparent that his death is no accident. Archie has been murdered, right there in the open, in the middle of a fully attended event. All eyes were upon him.

Ally can’t believe it. Who could have pulled something like this off, and why? With Archie’s death under investigation, the rest of his family is forced to stay in place at the malthouse until they’re cleared to leave.

When no easy answers present themselves to the local authorities, Ally decides to take matters into her own hands. Ally’s not sure who the killer might be, but it’s clear to her that the killer could just as easily be one of her guests as a local, and she’s determined to get to the bottom of it.

Ally has gained a bit of a reputation locally as an amateur sleuth, so much so that the lead investigator often seeks her out to bat ideas around with. She’s a trusted member of the community and she uses her relaxing attitude to get people to spill the beans.

Just as Ally thinks she’s approaching a final answer, her lead suspect ends up dead by the loch, clutching a mysterious note in his death grip. With the killer still at large, will Ally be able to determine their identity before it’s too late?

I’m so sad another Ally McKinley mystery has come to a close. I love Ally so much at this point. She’s like a Grandma to me, and it’s not just her either, it’s all the locals that I’ve come to know and love over the course of these 4-books.

This series has quickly become one of my favorite, currently-running, Cozy Mystery series and the warm vibes of Locharran is one of the main reasons why. Settling in with one of these mysteries is like snuggling in with a hot cup of tea on a rainy day.

This mystery got really messy and poor Ally, I wanted this family out of her house. The two adult women, Archie’s wife and his sister, Patti and Wendy, they were stressful. A little high maintenance and I started to really feel for Ally having to deal with them every moment of the day.

The girls, Julie and Janey, were super sweet though. I feel like they came to love Ally as much as I do. I wish they could become regular characters. They’d be such cute additions to the series. They loved Ally’s dog, Flora, and I feel like Flora really helped them get through the difficult circumstances they found themselves in. Dogs are the best.

There were a lot of twists in this one. Every time I thought I had it figured out, there would be some new development that would send me in a different direction. I loved how it ultimately all came together though. I think MacDonald did a great job with the plot progression, revealing things just when you needed them most.

I’m looking forward to whatever comes next in this series. I’m not sure how many books the series is slated to be, but I’m here for the long haul. I’d love for Ally’s children to come for a visit. Maybe if they saw her solve a mystery, they’d realize what a great life she has now.

Thank you to the publisher, Bookouture, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I would absolutely recommend this series to any Cozy Mystery fan, particularly if you enjoy more mature protagonists and small village vibes. 10/10 recommend!

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Review: The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego

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The Library After DarkThe Library After Dark by Ande Pliego
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Library After Dark starts with Aria, a bookseller, and Jasper, one of her bookstore regulars, going on a Valentine’s Day date. It seems they’re new in their relationship, but if the date that Jasper has planned is any indication, he knows Aria quite well already.

He’s gotten them tickets to an exclusive, after-dark tour of the Daedalus Library. For a Book Lover, a dream date!

The Daedalus is an imposing establishment known for more than its book collection. It’s also filled with immersive genre-based reading rooms and rumored hauntings.

Even though Jasper believed it was going to be a private tour, it’s not long before other guests end up arriving and they’ve all got tickets for the tour as well. Though initially disgruntled, apparently he needs privacy to be romantic, there’s not much to be done about it.

Meanwhile, we learn from Aria’s perspective, that she has a personal connection to the Daedalus that she’d rather keep secret from Jasper and everyone else.

This was the section of the book that stuck with me the most. The other group members were Wes, Piper, Michelle, Callum, Ruth and Saskia, but Saskia worked at the Daedalus and was their tour guide.

Not long into the tour, the automatic doors seemingly malfunction, trapping the group inside the library. From there, it’s a fight to find a way out, but when bodies start dropping, it turns into a fight to survive the night.

I was pretty invested in this at the start. Meeting Aria and Jasper, as well as learning about the Daedalus was fun and engaging. Then all the other characters start rolling in, and we’re getting ALL of their perspectives.

We’re hopping around amongst them, learning about their connections to the Daedalus and trying to keep track of all the action going on in the library. It quickly became a lot.

Around 60%, my interest was gone entirely. It should’ve kept my attention. Everyone had secrets and their own motivations for being there, but the way it was tossed together, it made it unpleasant to try to track.

After that point, it was as unenjoyable for me as the author’s first book, You Are Fatally Invited. So, unfortunately, even though it did initially have a lot of promise, I was entirely let down by the second half.

It was sooooo convoluted by the end. I think this is my last go with this author. I gave their first book 1.5-stars and this is getting a 2. I just don’t think they’re for me. Good concepts, poor execution.

Thank you to the publisher, Bantam, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m sure I’ll be in the minority opinion on this one, but I’m always honest about my experience with the books I read.

Sadly, this author isn’t for me.

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Review: Roll for Romance by Lenora Woods

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Roll for RomanceRoll for Romance by Lenora Woods
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Roll for Romance follows Sadie, an artist who has been working in marketing in New York City. After suddenly losing her job, she’s in need of a shake up and decides to accept her best friend’s offer to go stay with him for the Summer in his small Texas town.

I don’t remember her BFF’s name, so let’s call him Frank. Frank is super into D&D and also finally convinces Sadie to join his group. He couldn’t be happier.

It’s there she meets Noah, a hot bartender, who also happens to be new to the area. There’s an attraction, and the two end up spending time together outside of game nights.

In fact, Noah is even able to secure some work for Sadie at his bar, so they’re forced to spend even more time together. They needed a mural painted and Sadie seemed like the perfect fit for the job. That was pretty much the only element I enjoyed.

Honestly, I should have DNFed this one at the halfway point. I was bored out of my skull. I didn’t feel anything for Sadie. I just didn’t care about her at all. She felt extremely flat and unemotional to me. IDK, maybe I’m just a bitch, but even though I liked Noah initially, even he came to bore me.

There was just nothing exciting or engaging about this romance, IMO. It felt like their connection was solely the fact that they were both new to the area. I just felt no spark at all between them.

Additionally, with the D&D game, we DID NOT need to go into the campaign in the depth that we did. It was awful. Every character in the group, of course, has their own character in the game, an there’s entire sections of their characters in the campaign and it completely kicked me out of the romance every time we got to one of the sections.

I’ve enjoyed gaming in stories before and have even loved books with D&D groups involved, but usually it’s more the banter amongst the group and the interactions they have on game night versus the actual campaigns!

Overall, I was just extremely bored by this. I wanted a cute, fun, kicking my feet romance between two characters who happen to also play D&D. Instead, I got two bores plus entire sections of fantasy campaigning. No, thank you.

But with this being said, just because this didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. There are some glowing reviews of this story, so people are definitely enjoying it. Don’t let me rain on your parade. If you think it sounds good, I encourage you to pick it up and give it a go!

Thank you to the publisher, Dell, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Though I didn’t walk away having found a new fave, I’m still glad I gave it a shot. You never know until you try.

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Review: Wildcard (Warcross #2) by Marie Lu

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Wildcard (Warcross #2)Wildcard by Marie Lu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Wildcard is the concluding book in Marie Lu’s Warcross duology. For some unexplainable reason, I preordered this book for it’s 2018-release and then never read it.

Even with Warcross being my favorite YA-book of 2017, I didn’t read it’s sequel. Honestly, what’s wrong with me?

Recently, I reread Warcross in order to finally be able to finish off this duology, and of course neither book disappointed. Lu is incredibly talented at her world-building, thought-provoking concepts and engaging character work.

This was devastating though, NGL. It gets pretty heavy towards the end as the truth is revealed, but also offers up a lot of food for thought regarding terrifying future tech.

Even though it’s close to a decade old, I feel like this duology definitely holds up. I would absolutely still recommend it to anyone looking for a fast-paced and thrilling YA-SciFi story. Particularly if you love gaming elements in your stories.

As for me, I’ll certainly be picking up more from Marie Lu!

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