Love at First Bite

Love at First Bite by Katherine Dyson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such a fun read. I loved the opposites attract setup here and all the gothy goodness made it even better. It had that light, playful feel that makes a book easy to fall into, but there was still enough going on to keep it from feeling too fluffy.

What I really liked was that it kept surprising me. Just when I thought I knew what kind of story I was getting, it would shift a little and keep things interesting. And that ending was so satisfying, which always bumps a book up for me. This one just left me happy, and sometimes that is exactly what I want from a romance.

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Dragon King

Dragon King by Donna Grant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love these bite sized stories that let you spend a little more time in a bigger world without asking for a huge commitment. The romance does move quickly here, but in something this short I can forgive that pretty easily, especially when I already know where the larger story is headed.

What made this one especially interesting for me was reading it with the benefit of knowing where everything ends up. It is always fun to go back and see the earlier pieces falling into place and spot the little things that matter more later. This felt more like an in-between step than a fully standalone story, but I still had a good time with it and was glad to fill in that part of the journey.

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Spelldriver

Spelldriver by Gina LaManna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one really leaned into the murder mystery element and had me second guessing myself all over the place. Every time I thought I had things figured out, something would happen that made me rethink everything, and by the time I got close to the end I was basically threatening to throw my Kindle.

Also, poor Lily really cannot catch a break. Every time it seems like maybe she will get a minute to breathe, something else goes sideways. This was twisty, stressful in a fun way, and absolutely the kind of book that keeps you reading just a little longer than you meant to. And with that ending, I genuinely do not know how she is going to keep managing all this drama.

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Amuletto Kiss

Amuletto Kiss by Gina LaManna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are so many reveals in this one that I cannot possibly say much without spoiling something, but wow there are some big things happening here for Lily and her family. It really felt like this book kicked everything up a notch, while still keeping the fun energy that makes this series such an easy one for me to fly through.

Poor Lily continues to get handed impossible situations and somehow manages to make the impossible happen anyway. Again. I love that even when things get bigger and more dramatic, the story still keeps that cozy, slightly chaotic charm. This one very much feels like it is setting up some major things to come, and I was more than ready to dive straight into the next installment.

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Legacy of Desire

Legacy of Desire by Larissa Ione
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I always love coming back to this world, and this book was no exception. There were not really any huge surprises here, but honestly that did not bother me much because I was just happy to spend more time with these characters and see how everything would play out.

The emotional tension and relationship dynamics do a lot of the heavy lifting in this one, and that worked just fine for me. Sometimes you do not need a million twists when you already care about the people involved. The HEA was very satisfying, which is really what I wanted most going in. I will happily keep revisiting this cast in whatever form the author wants to give them to me.

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We Are All Monsters Here

We Are All Monsters Here by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one was definitely darker than what I usually reach for and a few of these stories were downright terrifying. I am not usually a huge anthology reader either, but the shorter length of many of these stories made it really easy to pick up, read one or two, and feel like I had still gotten a full little reading experience in.

As with most collections, some stories worked better for me than others, but overall I appreciated how unsettling and unpredictable this was. There is a lot packed into these shorter installments and more than one of them left me sitting there thinking, well that was horrifying. If you are looking for something you can dip in and out of without committing to one long story, this is a great option, as long as you do not mind things getting quite a bit darker than usual.

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Long Isle Iced Tea

Long Isle Iced Tea by Gina LaManna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

These books just keep getting better and better! This book throws on all sorts of new craziness and family drama, yet Lily still somehow manages to not lose it.

Lily is secretly planning a surprise party for her cousin, which is why she is concocting a magical potion that puts folks into the costume they most desire. This, of course, goes way off the rails before it even begins. While her relationship with X is going even better than ever, Lily gets all sorts of curve balls thrown her way. First, wish magic? That’s a thing. Lucky for her, her BFF can give her a crash course in it. The bad part? Wish magic can’t be used right now because the faction has taken over the place that controls it all.

In parallel to that bombshell, there are also the confusing feelings Lily has about her dad still being alive and running the faction. One big good thing in this book? Most of the secrets all come to light and we all survive it. Sure, there are some twists and turns that we go on, mostly with Lily getting kidnapped, again. It wouldn’t be a book in this series if Lily wasn’t taken by some nefarious evil doer. In this case, it comes packaged with some family drama resolution - at least a step in the right direction. I’m not sure I particularly enjoyed where this book ended, but since I’m powering through them at a rapid pace - onwards to the next one!

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