REVIEW: The Villain Edit by Laurie Devore

**I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**

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Book: The Villain Edit by Laurie Devore

Release Date: July 2, 2024

My Rating: 5 stars

Rep: biracial (Malaysian, white) love interest, sapphic Vietnamese-American side character

CW: mentions of death of a parent (mother) from cancer

Summary: Emily Henry meets Fleabag …and The Bachelor! An irresistibly sharp and sexy dramedy about a cynical romance novelist who goes on a Bachelor-like reality show to revive her flagging career, only to discover that while she may have just met the love of her life, the producers have turned her into the show’s villain.

Good villains make good TV.

Romance novelist Jacqueline Matthis’s big career has gone bust and she’s ditched the bright lights of New York City for her more affordable South Carolina hometown. Desperate, Jac dreams up a comeback plan—she is going to be a contestant on the 1, the most obsessively watched reality dating show in the world.

After all Jac is a romance writer—she knows how to pull off a meet-cute and create a spicy plotline.

On set, Jac quickly establishes herself as a front-runner for bachelor Marcus’s heart, but she’s shocked to discover who’s actually pulling the strings. How was she to know that Henry Foster, her last one-night stand before the show, was actually a longtime producer on the 1? Henry is just as horrified…but they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other.

As Jac plays the game and the show unfurls, she slowly discovers that she’s getting the villain edit. They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but as Jac’s secret plan begins crumbling around her, she’s not so sure. What happens if Marcus chooses her? Worse, what happens if her affair with Henry comes to light? What if, in trying to save her career, Jac has ruined her life?

Heartbreaking, smart, and sexy, this novel is for anyone who has ever secretly rooted for—or felt like—the villain.

REVIEW: Summer Nights and Meteorites by Hannah Reynolds

**I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley (thank you, Penguin Teen!). These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**

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Book: Summer Nights and Meteorites by Hannah Reynolds

Release Date: May 21, 2024

My Rating: 3.75 stars

Rep: Jewish protagonist and love interest, Black side character

CW: death of a parent (mother)

Summary: From the two-time Sydney Taylor Honor author comes another sweet Nantucket-set summer romance, perfect for fans of Rachel Lynn Solomon and K.L. Walther.

Jordan Edelman’s messy dating days are over. After a few too many broken hearts, and a father who worries a bit too much, she’s sworn off boys—at least for the summer. And since she’ll be tagging along on her father’s research trip to Nantucket, she doesn’t think it’ll be too hard to stick to her resolution.

But hooking up with the cute boy on the ferry doesn’t count, right? At least, not until that cute boy turns out to be Ethan Barbanel. As in, her father’s longtime research assistant Ethan Barbanel, the boy Jordan has hated from afar for years. And to make matters worse, Jordan might actually be falling for him.

As if that didn’t complicate her life enough, Jordan’s new summer job with a local astronomer turns up a centuries-old mystery surrounding Gibson’s Comet—and as she dives into her research, what she learns just might put her growing relationship with Ethan in jeopardy.

SUMMARY: april

As usual, I have no idea where the time went but I do think I managed to read a lot considering how busy I was this past month, so that’s a first (in a while)! It helps that I read two of my favorite books of the year so far (one of which is only my second full 5-star read of the year…that’s so sad tbh). I read 8 books in April; check out all of them below.

REVIEW: Sound the Gong by Joan He

**I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley (thank you, Fierce Reads!). These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**

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Book: Sound the Gong (Kingdom of Three #2) by Joan He

Release Date: April 30, 2024

My Rating: 3,75 stars

Rep: Chinese-coded cast and inspiration

CW: blood, violence, full list here

Summary: From New York Times and Indie bestselling author Joan He, comes the dazzling and sweeping conclusion to The Kingdom of Three duology, Sound the Gong, the breathtaking sequel to the critically-acclaimed Strike the Zither.

All her life, Zephyr has tried to rise above her humble origins as a no-name orphan. Now she is a god in a warrior’s body, and never has she felt more powerless. Her lordess Xin Ren holds the Westlands, but her position is tenuous. In the north, the empress remains under Miasma’s thumb. In the south, the alliance with Cicada is in pieces.

Fate also seems to have a different winner in mind for the three kingdoms, but Zephyr has no intentions of respecting it. She will pay any price to see Ren succeed—and she will make her enemies pay, especially one dark-haired, dark-eyed Crow. What she’ll do when she finds out the truth—that he worked for the South all along…

REVIEW: This Is Me Trying by Racquel Marie

**I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**

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Book: This Is Me Trying by Racquel Marie

Release Date: April 16, 2024

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Rep: pansexual/queer biracial (Colombian, Irish) protagonist, bisexual Colombian-American protagonist with OCD, lesbian Filipino-American side character, non-binary Filipino-American side character, Black side character

CW: mentions of loss of a loved one (best friend / brother) by suicide, grief, depression, suicide ideation, panic attacks, full list here

Summary: Perfect for fans of Nina LaCour, This is Me Trying is a profound and tender YA contemporary novel exploring grief, love, and guilt from author Racquel Marie.

Growing up, Bryce, Beatriz, and Santiago were inseparable. But when Santiago moved away before high school, their friendship crumbled. Three years later, Bryce is gone, Beatriz is known as the dead boy’s girlfriend, and Santiago is back.

The last thing Beatriz wants is to reunite with Santiago, who left all her messages unanswered while she drowned alone in grief over Bryce’s death by suicide. Even if she wasn’t angry, Santiago’s attempts to make amends are jeopardizing her plan to keep the world at arm’s length – equal parts protection and punishment – and she swore to never let anyone try that again.

Santiago is surprised to find the once happy-go-lucky Bea is now the gothic town loner, though he’s unsurprised she wants nothing to do with him. But he can’t fix what he broke between them while still hiding what led him to cut her off in the first place, and it’s harder to run from his past when he isn’t states away anymore.

Inevitably drawn back together by circumstance and history, Beatriz and Santiago navigate grief, love, mental illness, forgiveness, and what it means to try to build a future after unfathomable loss.

REVIEW: Welcome Home, Caroline Kline by Courtney Preiss

**I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**

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Book: Welcome Home, Caroline Kline by Courtney Preiss

Release Date: April 16, 2024

My Rating: 4 stars

Rep: Jewish protagonist and side characters

CW: alcoholism, vomiting, mentions of drug addiction

Summary: A debut novel sparkling with wit and insight about a young woman whose reluctant return to her Jersey Shore hometown gives her the second chance she didn’t know she needed.

Caroline Kline isn’t ready to strike out.

In New York City, newly single Caroline is stumbling her way through the recent implosion of her life. After a surprise breakup leaves her with no job, no apartment, and no backup plan, she’s unsure of what to do next. That is, until Caroline’s father Leo injures himself in a bad fall and asks her to move home to the Jersey Shore suburb she’d always been desperate to escape. But Leo doesn’t want his daughter to be his caretaker; he needs her to replace him as third baseman in his local men’s softball league. This isn’t just any season, Leo claims. This is the year they have a real shot at the World Series, the pride and joy of Glen Brook, New Jersey.

Caroline agrees to move home, concerned that Leo is hiding a more serious health condition than he’s willing to admit. As the first female player in a league full of old-school men, she’s up against more than a few challenges. And when a night gone wrong lands her in the path of her hometown crush—and first love—Caroline struggles to reconcile the life she thought she’d have with the life she might actually want.

Sharply observed and full of humor and heart, Welcome Home, Caroline Kline is a touching tribute to the many unconventional paths that victory, and recovery, can take.

SUMMARY: march

March has never felt so long to me…particularly because I am in a horrible slump. I have motivation to read but I’m not really enjoying anything that I’ve picked up this month 😭. And not for lack of trying! I’ve dnf’ed at least 3 books this month (but also…they were just not good), which kinda set me even more back in wanting to read. I did read 8 books this past month, but let’s hope for better in April!

DISCUSSION: seven years of magical reads

We’ve made it, friends: it’s the big seven (7!!) year anniversary of magical reads (7)!! I said it last year but I’ve basically made it through this entire last year just so I can get to this lucky number 7 year :’). To celebrate, I’m continuing my tradition of another Q&A post! Happy seven years of magical reads 7 💜.

REVIEW: Old Flames and New Fortunes by Sarah Hogle

**I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**

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Book: Old Flames and New Fortunes by Sarah Hogle

Release Date: April 2, 2023

My Rating: 2.5 stars

Rep: Korean-American side character

Summary: From the celebrated author of You Deserve Each Other and Just Like Magic, a steamy second-chance romance about a magical florist’s unexpected reunion with her high school sweetheart as she fake dates his soon-to-be stepbrother.

A small, magical town tucked away in rural Ohio, Moonville is the perfect place for flora fortunist Romina Tempest to expand her shop, where she uses the language of flowers to help the hopeful manifest their love lives. After giving up on her own big romance eleven years ago, at least she can bask in the promise of others’.

So, when the shop’s potential financier shares news of his wedding, Romina jumps on the opportunity to discuss buying the business. What better place to negotiate a deal than at a wedding, even if she has to fake-date her chaotic colleague Trevor to get an invitation? But all hell breaks loose when she discovers Trevor’s soon-to-be stepbrother is none other than Alex her high school sweetheart. Her greatest love. The boy who, eleven years ago, broke her heart, and who now thinks she and Trevor are dating. 

What starts as an innocent misunderstanding becomes a week-long fake dating scheme, as Romina resolves to make Alex pay for breaking her heart. The only issue? She can’t deny their still-burning connection. Caught between proving to Alex what he lost, and coming clean and risking her business, Romina must decide whether giving Alex another chance means going back on herself, or finally releasing her hold on the past.

REVIEW: Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

**I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley (thank you, Clarion Books!). These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**

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Book: Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

Release Date: April 9, 2024

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Rep: Pacific Island mythology inspiration and -coded characters

CW: blood, gore

Summary: From acclaimed author Makiia Lucier, a dazzling, romantic fantasy inspired by Pacific Island mythology.

In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person’s greatest sorrow. An unwanted marriage, a painful illness, and unpaid debt … gone. But as with all things that promise the moon and the stars and offer hope when hope has gone, the tale comes with a warning.

Every wish demands a price.

Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most. A chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong.

Samahtitamahenele, Sam, is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign. Sam is left with two to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time – hope.

But Hanalei and Sam are not the only ones searching for the dragonfruit. And as they battle enemies both near and far, there is another danger they cannot escape…that of the dragonfruit itself.