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: 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.

LIST: most anticipated 2024 releases (pt. 1)

With the dawn of a new year means more books to look forward to! This list is a bit later than usual (admittedly, I got a bit lazy) and somehow even shorter than last year, but hopefully that means that I’ll get to read everything on this list for once. Here are my most anticipated releases for the first half of 2024!

*** This list has redacted titles from St. Martin’s Press and its associated imprints in solidarity with the readers’ strike against SMP.
Visit Readers for Accountability for more. ***

LIST: my top ten favorite reads of 2023 (final)

2023 has simultaneously flown by and been the longest year ever. While I’ve had a lot of mediocre reads, I’ve also read some new favorites. With the end of the year, it’s also time to update the list of my favorite reads from earlier this year. Here are my top ten favorite reads of 2023 (final)!

SONG SATURDAY: book recs + my top songs of 2023

Continuing my many-years-old tradition of pairing some of my most listened to songs of the year with books <3! My top 100 songs this year actually was technically not all BTS but when you factor in all their solo music…either way the list was almost entirely K-pop and I haven’t read as much this year in general, so I kinda just slapped this list together. It’s much shorter than usual because I really am so bad at book recs now :’).

This is a selection of songs from my top 100 songs playlist. I tried to pick a variety but let’s just say that I tend to put the same songs on repeat so this was very difficult. Anyways, here are my top songs of 2023 paired with books!

LIST: 2023 reads that emotionally WRECKED me

If I thought 2022 was a mixed bag of reads, then 2023 was filled with more average books than anything which honestly might be worse. This list is sadly much shorter than last year (although, granted, I have read a lot less than last year). Even though it’s a condensed list, here are the reads that emotionally wrecked me this year!

As usual, these are only the books that I read for the first time this year, no rereads. Here’s hoping that I read some more emotionally devastating books soon 🥂!

LIST: 5 2024 debuts i’m unbelievably excited for

In the past couple weeks, I’ve been going through catalogues and scanning people’s TBRs to find more releases for next year because I just keep finding new ones that sound so good. This list is no different; there are so many great-sounding debuts coming out soon. Here are 5 2024 debuts that I’m unbelievably excited for!

This list is a mix of young adult and adult novels, releasing throughout the year. I’ll try to update one of these with buy links and more information when we get more updates! Hope you add these debuts to your TBR list as well, if they’re not already there <3.

LIST: pick an emoji and i’ll rec you a 2023 release (pt. 4)

Only a quarter of the year left, which means it’s time for the last post in this series for this year. There are so many great releases out in the fall; hopefully this post will help you find some new books. So without further ado, pick and emoji and I’ll recommend you a 2023 release (from October through December)!

Check out the other posts in this series for this year: part 1 (January – March), part 2 (April – June), and part 3 (July – September). For previous years’ posts, check out this tag.

As usual, none of the emojis in this post are spoiler-y and more based on vibes and/or the cover of the book. Age range and genre details are also included with each title. Hope you enjoy this post, and let me know which emoji you chose in the comments!

REVIEW: He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

**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: He Who Drowned the World (The Radiant Emperor #2) by Shelley Parker-Chan

Release Date: August 22, 2023

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Rep: Chinese and Mongolian cast, nonbinary sapphic protagonist, gay main character, lesbian main character, Korean characters

CW: rape, blood, gore, self-harm, violence, war themes, torture

Summary: The sequel and series conclusion to She Who Became the Sun, the accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China. Mulan meets The Song of Achilles.

How much would you give to win the world?

Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, is riding high after her victory that tore southern China from its Mongol masters. Now she burns with a new desire: to seize the throne and crown herself emperor.

But Zhu isn’t the only one with imperial ambitions. Her neighbor in the south, the courtesan Madam Zhang, wants the throne for her husband—and she’s strong enough to wipe Zhu off the map. To stay in the game, Zhu will have to gamble everything on a risky alliance with an old enemy: the talented but unstable eunuch general Ouyang, who has already sacrificed everything for a chance at revenge on his father’s killer, the Great Khan.

Unbeknownst to the southerners, a new contender is even closer to the throne. The scorned scholar Wang Baoxiang has maneuvered his way into the capital, and his lethal court games threaten to bring the empire to its knees. For Baoxiang also desires revenge: to become the most degenerate Great Khan in history—and in so doing, make a mockery of every value his Mongol warrior family loved more than him.

All the contenders are determined to do whatever it takes to win. But when desire is the size of the world, the price could be too much for even the most ruthless heart to bear…

REVIEW: Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane

**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: Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane

Release Date: August 8, 2023

My Rating: 4 stars

Rep: lesbian side character, British-Indian side characters

CW: gaslighting, infidelity

Summary: “The whole time I’m reading a Mhairi McFarlane novel, I feel like a fist is squeezing my heart… she is so ridiculously talented.” – Emily Henry

International bestseller Mhairi McFarlane delivers a witty, clever, emotional new novel about a woman whose life unravels spectacularly after her screenwriter boyfriend uses their relationship as inspiration for his new television show.

When Roisin and Joe join their friends for a weekend at a country house, it’s a triple celebration–a birthday, an engagement, and the launch of Joe’s shiny new TV show. But as the weekend unfolds, tensions come to light in the group and Roisin begins to question her own relationship. And as they watch the first episode of Joe’s drama, she realizes that the private things she told him–which should have stayed between them–are right there on the screen.

With her friend group in chaos and her messy love life on display for the whole world to see, Roisin returns home to avoid the unwanted attention and help run her family’s pub. But drama still follows, in the form of her dysfunctional family and the looming question: what other parts of her now-ex’s show are inspired by real events? Lies? Infidelity? Every week, as a new episode airs, she wonders what other secrets will be revealed.

Yet the most unexpected twist of all is an old friend, who is suddenly there for Roisin in ways she never knew she needed…