2025 releases

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: House of Idyll by Delilah S. Dawson

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House of IdyllHouse of Idyll by Delilah S. Dawson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

After Angelina, a struggling singer/songwriter, loses her job she’s unsure how or what to do next. Then she gets the offer of a lifetime to join an experimental luxury compound run by the most famous band in the world, Black Idyll.

Now you or I may read this and be like, wait, she’s gonna join a cult? I mean, my brain goes there immediately when I hear words like ‘experimental’ and ‘compound’ put together.

Angelina jumps on it though, without really knowing anything about what she’s getting herself into. She moves to the compound, where she has all of her needs provided for her: food, lodging, clothing and she has nothing but time to work on her music.

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

I finished this at the end of April, and I put off writing a review because I had mixed feelings. Initially, I had rounded up to 4-stars, but as I try to write this review, I realize I don’t remember much about the story.

It was just sort of okay for me. It was quite predictable and though somewhat fun in the moment, it certainly didn’t do anything groundbreaking, or obviously memorable.

I did still enjoy it. I know I may sound a little salty right now, but for the brief period of time I was reading it, it’s a shortie, I was relatively invested. Nevertheless, I think a 3.5-star is a proper rating based on my experience.

I love stories featuring music, or musicians, so that element was a definite plus for me. The atmosphere, as far as the compound went, was also well-imagined and I appreciate how far Dawson took it to the dark side.

Additionally, I liked how it wrapped-up. I felt like it was as satisfying an ending as you could get with this particular set-up. Overall, I would say this was compelling enough in the moment, but didn’t leave a lasting impression.

I would recommend it for Readers who enjoy stories featuring rock bands, cult stories, or fever dream type elements. Of course, I would also recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed Dawson’s work in the past.

Thank you to the publisher, Titan Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This is actually the first I’ve read from Dawson, but I’m looking forward to more!

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Review: The Killer Question by Janet Hallett

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The Killer QuestionThe Killer Question by Janice Hallett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Janice Hallett has made quite a name for herself as the Queen of the Unconventional Narrative. Her books are always a journey. They’re truly a unique reading experience and I always walk away amazed.

The way she’s able to weave a complete story together using only human interactions is unmatched. The use of mixed media is exceptional, making for highly-entertaining audiobooks. In The Killer Question, the mystery centers around pub quiz nights in one small village.

The mystery and corresponding story are revealed through a cycling array of quiz categories, phone messages, and email correspondence. The full cast audio pulled me in and never let go. I was swept away, feeling like a patron of the pub.

If you’ve enjoyed Hallett’s work in the past, you should absolutely read this one as well, and if you’ve never read Hallett before, I think this could be a fun one to start with. It’s certainly a great example of her style!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Janice Hallett is one of my go-to authors and she hasn’t let me down yet.

I always look forward to her latest releases. Even though her style is very distinctive, and carries over throughout her books, you never really know what you’re going to get. She certainly keeps her Readers on their toes!

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Review: The Late-Night Witches by Auralee Wallace

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The Late-Night WitchesThe Late-Night Witches by Auralee Wallace
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

The Late-Night Witches is a Cozy Paranormal story from Auralee Wallace. I really enjoyed Wallace’s Evenfall Witches B&B series and have been excited to read more from her.

When I saw this cover, I knew I’d have to read it. It’s absolutely adorable and I had no doubt that the story would fit the Halloweeny cover art. Spoiler alert: it definitely did!

This story, which is set on the atmospheric Prince Edward Island off the Eastern Coast of Canada, follows Cassie, her younger sister, Eliza, and the rest of their family, during the spookiest month of the year, October.

Oh yeah, and also, vampires have invaded the island and legacy dictates that they need to be the ones to defeat them. The set-up of this was a lot of fun and gave me heavy Practical Magic vibes, but not in a copy cat way, more in a comforting way if that makes sense.

I loved Cassie as a MC. She’s a typical older sister, but also a Mom to 3-kids, parenting by herself as her husband works overseas. Eliza is also a typical younger sister, and as a younger sister myself, I found it easy to connect with her.

The interactions among the family brought the cozy for me. They have an estranged Aunt, Dorcas, who due to the whole vampire thing, they end up reaching out to and unsurprisingly they a learn a lot from her about their family, and the special powers they may hold.

I also liked Cassie’s kids. I normally find children rather annoying in books, but I thought here the scenes with them ended up being more fun than trying, and I loved the banter.

The vampire bits were also fun, and I was laughing out loud in quite a few places. I would definitely recommend this to fans of Auralee Wallace’s other books, as well as fans of Lindy Ryan’s Bless Your Heart series. The humor and cozy level is fairly similar to that series, IMO.

Thank you to the publisher, Ace, for providing me a copy to read and review. It sounds like there could be a sequel to this, and I would absolutely pick it up!

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Review: Daughter of No Worlds (The War of Lost Hearts #1) by Carissa Broadbent

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Daughter of No Worlds (The War of Lost Hearts, #1)Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In 2025, Bramble, a Romance Imprint for Tor Publishing, graciously gifted me a copy of Daughter of No World. This is a series that was previously Independently Published, but has now been picked up by Tor. I knew nothing about this series, but it certainly sounded like something I would enjoy.

Nevertheless, it sat unread for a long time because I was trying to be good; I was trying to avoid starting any new series until I had wrapped up some I already had going.

Then she sat and sat…

Recently though, I was participating in a Reading Challenge with some Book Friends and this lovely novel fit all the parameters I was looking for. Over 500-pages? Check. Red Cover? Check. Sword on the cover? Check.

Oh, also, must be able to finish within a 24-hour period.

Luckily, I found it so easy to get into this story and had no problem finishing it within that allotted time period. This was the first that I’ve read from Broadbent, and I found her writing to be consumable, and frankly, addicting.

This story follows Tisaanah, a young woman who barely escapes with her life on the night she tries to buy her freedom from the man who owns her. Desperate to save the best friend who helped her to escape, Tisaanah flees to the Orders, a powerful organization of magic wielders, to try to join their ranks.

Prior to being granted membership however, she needs to complete an apprenticeship. She’s assigned to Maxantarius Farlione, a reclusive and handsome fire wielder who despises the Orders, and clearly wants nothing to do with his new apprentice. Until he does…

As mentioned above, I became swept up in this story very quickly. Broadbent wastes no time getting to the action and I always appreciate that. I loved Tisaanah as a character. I thought she was very well-developed and I found her to also be believable as a heroine.

Of course, due to her former slave status, her prowess as a fighter and just her overall attitude and humor, I did get very heavy Throne of Glass vibes from this, particularly in the 1st-half. It was unique enough to me though that it didn’t feel copy cat. It does stand on it’s own to me.

I love any sort of training or competitions in my stories and I think Broadbent pulled it off so well here. The mentor/mentee relationship was great, and I liked how much of the training process we got to see. I feel like because of the depths that we went into with that aspect, it made the evolution of their relationship very believable.

This was so worth me breaking my own rule and starting another series. It was really such a fun experience and I can’t wait to continue on in this word, with these characters. I have a feeling I’m going to love them more and more the further I get into the series.

Thank you so much to Bramble for providing me with a copy to read and review, and for introducing me to Carissa Broadbent’s books. I’m a fan!

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Review: Murder, She Wrote: The Body in the Trees by Terrie Farley Moran

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The Body in the TreesThe Body in the Trees by Jessica Fletcher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

The Murder, She Wrote series holds a special place in my heart. I have read over 50-books in this series that I started when I was a kid. My Mom used to buy the mass market paperbacks upon release and I gobbled them up.

It’s been the longest committed relationship of my life.

The series, originally written by Donald Bain, began in 1989. 37-years later, we are getting the 62nd-installment of this long-running series, The Body in the Trees. Since Mr. Bain’s passing in 2017, the series has had a few different authors contributing to keep the series going.

I do feel like the series has struggled to maintain consistency since Bain’s passing, and some of the newer authors have seemed more natural to the series than others. Terrie Farley Moran, so far, has been my favorite.

Admittedly though, I struggled a bit with this one. It’s definitely not my favorite in the series. It did scratch an itch though, and I was happy to be back in Cabot Cove. I have lots of thoughts and opinions on the way this one came together, but I’m trying not to get salty.

With long series like this, you aren’t going to love every one and that’s absolutely fine.

This story centers around a group of young tourists who are visiting Cabot Cove. The young women end up staying at the Hill House Hotel, the best hotel in Cabot Cove, and a setting that will be familiar to veteran Readers of the series.

Jessica and her friends have a run in with these young ladies while they are dining at the Hill House restaurant one night. It was from this initial scene where the tourists are introduced, that I started to realize this one might not be for me. The way the young ladies were written, I just didn’t find it believable. Sweatshirts and sneakers at a nice restaurant?

Nevertheless, even though little bits and bobs got under my skin about it, the mystery did keep me invested and guessing. I predicted where it was heading, which is absolutely fine, but I ultimately didn’t enjoy who the baddie ended up being. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

I know this is nit-picky, especially for a Cozy Mystery series that is just supposed to be escapist and comforting. I just have read all of Terrie Farley Moran’s contributions to the series and was expecting to enjoy it a bit more.

Nevertheless, I love this series with my whole heart. As mentioned above, in long series like this, you are going to have some you prefer more than others. If I were ranking them all, this would fall in the lower end. For long-time Readers of the series, it’s still worth picking up, especially if you enjoy the mysteries set in Cabot Cove.

For new Readers of the series, I wouldn’t suggest starting with this one. I think you would be best served picking an earlier installment, though they can be read in any order.

Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I will never stop reading this series. As long as they’re being published, I’ll be reading them!

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Review: The Body by Bethany C. Morrow

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The BodyThe Body by Bethany C. Morrow
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is one of the rare cases where I’m going to keep my review as to the point as possible. Usually, I like to try to provide a basic breakdown of what you’re going to get if you pick up a book, and then go into my experience with it.

The only thing I am really going to say about this one is that it was not for me. I didn’t enjoy anything about my experience reading this story.

I’ve enjoyed work from Bethany C. Morrow in the past. I found her Song Below Water duology and Cherish Farrah, which I was in the minority opinion on, very enjoyable.

While her writing style does lean more towards a stream of consciousness style than I tend to prefer, I have vibed with it in her past stories. This also felt stream of consciousness, but in a way that was more confusing than lush and lyrical.

I also appreciated the character relationships and themes that were explored in those previous novels, while here, yeah, the themes being explored just are not anything that I’m interested in. I felt zero connection to this story and couldn’t sit down and go through with you what actually happened. It’s just out of my brain already.

I believe the intent was for this to be Religious Horror, and I have a great history with Religious Horror, hence why I picked it up. However, I feel like this could have been more impactful if Morrow had leaned into a hard-hitting Literary Fiction, or suspenseful Domestic Drama, lane.

But at the end of the day, what do I know? I am one Reader, and this is just my experience. Just because this didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. I’m sure there are plenty of Readers out there who will find something powerful in this story. Sadly, that just wasn’t me.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I’m anxious to see what Bethany C. Morrow writes next. I’d love to pick up more YA works from her.

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Review: Zomromcom by Olivia Dade

~ megs14malloy

ZomromcomZomromcom by Olivia Dade
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Olivia Dad’s Zomromcom is not in fact a romance novel where a protagonist falls in love with a zombie. Who knew?

Well, perhaps anyone who read the synopsis, which clearly, I did not. I saw the title and the adorable cover and was intrigued enough to give it a go. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed there was no zombie love. I was so curious how it was going to work.

Now I’ll never know…

So, what is it about then? This story is set in a post-apocalyptic landscape and follows our MC, Edie Brandstrup, who lives alone and has seemingly excelled at surviving in this world. She’s well-versed in the dangers and considers herself prepared for everything.

At the start of the novel Edie attempts to save her harmless-seeming, and of course stunningly-attractive, neighbor after the first zombie breach of their community in decades.

As it turns out though, the neighbor she assumed was a clueless bro is actually a very adept, super old and slightly grumpy vampire with a large sword. When he turns the tables and ends up saving her instead, Edie finds herself a little weak in the knees.

For all of his grumpiness though, the vampire, one Gaston ‘Max’ Boucher, quickly becomes quite protective over our Edie, and insists that she stay within his bunker until the breach has been resolved.

As you can imagine, with two people in forced proximity, with fear of the unknown outside, things heat up quickly. Edie isn’t willing to turn a blind eye though to what is going on with the zombies. There are innocent people still out there who may not be as prepared as they are. Thus, the two set out with the hopes of helping in the fight for humanity.

This was cute. I liked it. I was drawn quickly to Edie as a main character. She was funny and I loved her perspective, the way she viewed everything around her. She had a great sense of humor and I appreciated the lightheartedness she brought to the story.

Max was swoony too and I did like him as the love interest. I could certainly see why Edie would fall for him so quickly and their banter was great. With this being said, the story itself did feel overly-long and slightly repetitive.

The backdrop of the zombie apocalypse was quite refreshing though, and they even spent a bit time in an abandoned mall, which I loved. That’s such a classic zombie setting. I thought that was really fun. After the mall though, it sort of lost me. I found my eyes glazing over, just wanting it to end.

I see that this is set to be a series and I am interested to see what the next one is going to be about. If it will be connected by characters, or the world, or just another romance featuring a different paranormal character. Depending on the content, I may check it out.

Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Even though this one didn’t quite knock my socks off, I did really like Olivia Dade’s writing and sense of humor.

I’ll absolutely be picking up more from this author!

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Review: The Night That Finds Us All by John Hornor Jacobs

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The Night That Finds Us AllThe Night That Finds Us All by John Hornor Jacobs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

The Night That Finds Us All is a Nautical Horror novel from John Hornor Jacobs. This story follows the journey of a century-old sailboat, The Blackwatch, as she makes her way from the shores of Washington state, all the way to England. This historic ship can’t sail herself though.

Thus, a hodgepodge crew is assembled to deliver her to her new owner. Our MC is Sam, and she gets invited on the project by a past crewmate, Loick, who believes Sam could be the only person capable of dealing with The Blackwatch’s complicated and moody engine.

Sam’s not thrilled by the idea. The head of the crew is someone she’s had issues with before, but she does care for Loick. It could be good working with him again.

The biggest motivator for her though is the money. Sam’s almost at rock bottom. Her drinking is out of control and she’s struggling to stay afloat on many fronts. Ultimately, she agrees to the job and the journey begins.

Sam’s committed to sobriety for the journey, and the withdrawels begin playing with her mind. At least, she believes it’s the withdrawels. The things she’s hearing, seeing, feeling on this ship, they can’t be real. Can they?

When one crewmate disappears and another is struck by a terrible, horrific accident, Sam’s confusion and fear grows. The Blackwatch is starting to feel a lot less like some rich man’s pet project, and a lot more like something sinister lying in wait to take them all out.

Interesting, interesting. This was a bit of a mixed bag for me, and I’ve been thinking on it for a while, trying to come up with the best way to explain my experience with it. The longer time goes by though, the more at a loss I find myself. Sadly, it didn’t leave much of a lasting impression. It was here one moment, gone the next, in my brain.

There were aspects I enjoyed, but there were also a few things that I thought were a little odd and out of place. Sam, as an MC, is not super likable, but that’s fine. That never really bothers me. I don’t need to like book characters.

I found the atmosphere aboard the ship to be my favorite part of the story. There was an overriding sense of dread that kept me moving forward quickly. Unfortunately, in many areas, it got a bit more fever dream than I tend to enjoy, and I had a difficult time sort of imagining exactly what was going down when the action scenes were taking place.

I did, however, enjoy how JHJ leaned into the historical nature of the ship, and even introduced some occult elements that I wasn’t expecting. Overall, I liked the tone and the ideas behind all that was happening, I just feel like for me, it lack a bit in execution.

This is the first that I have read from this author, though, and I would definitely be interested in picking up more. I would recommend this to Readers who enjoy Nautical Horror. It’s worth checking out. Just because it wasn’t a perfect fit for me, doesn’t mean you won’t love it.

Thank you to the publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was a fun time. I wish I could have imagined the action a bit more, but still a solid read.

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Review: The Day I Lost You by Ruth Mancini

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The Day I Lost YouThe Day I Lost You by Ruth Mancini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Day I Lost You is the 2025-release from Ruth Mancini, author of the popular 2024-Thriller, The Woman on the Ledge, which I adored. Ever since reading TWOTL, I’ve been looking forward to more from this author.

I’m happy to report I found this book to be equally twisty and fast-paced. Even though the content didn’t wow me quite as much as TWOTL, I still found this to be so enjoyable and I read it in an afternoon without stopping.

This story spans two countries, Spain and the UK, and involves a reportedly missing child. The child’s name is Sam, and he’s actually just a little baby when he’s thrust into the middle of a lot of adult drama.

Lauren and Hope are our two female leads, and it’s interesting following along as the truths of their connection is revealed. I actually really appreciated how Mancini rolled this all out. There’s a lot of moving pieces. You go in, of course knowing nothing, and as the narrative progresses, more and more pieces slot into place.

As the larger picture reveals itself, some details become predictable, IMO, but for me, not in a way that negatively effected my experience. I still enjoyed the journey to the conclusion, even if I knew exactly where we were headed.

I was lucky enough to have access to the audiobook and I thought it was so well done. I loved the full cast narration and the inclusion of some mixed media passages truly brought the drama to life.

Additionally, the fast-paced narrative worked so well in audio form. It was truly gripping. I enjoyed the time shifts, as well, as all the puzzle pieces came together. I respect Mancini’s concepts and writing style so much. I’m looking forward to more from her in the future.

Thank you to the publisher, Harper Perennial and Harper Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I had a lot of fun with this!

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