Sneak Peek Wednesday: Dune Queen by Amina Adamou

10 June, 2026 7:59 pm , 2 Comments ,

Dune Queen
Dune Queen #1
Amina Adamou
Publisher: Self- Published
Publication date:
Genre: Fantasy Romance

When Salima Farhan turns eighteen, she thinks she’s finally old enough to escape the absurd teachings of the cult her parents joined ever since she was a kid, but Farik Masood, the founder and leader of the Crescent Compound, has other plans for her: he wants her to join a recruitment program to bring in more cult members.⁣
⁣
Salima agrees to join the program in order to eventually escape—but she quickly regrets that decision when she finds out Masood’s ‘program’ is actually a front for something far more sinister. Knocked unconscious before she can run, she wakes up two months later only to be told that she now has the same magic as djinn, mischievous, mythical beings who are normally invisible to the human eye. And as a reward for these powers, she’s expected to use her new abilities to help Masood take over the world.⁣
⁣
Distraught but determined, Salima must fight for her freedom and for the innocent lives Masood wants to destroy—even if it means marrying the very djinn who has sworn to protect her enemy.⁣

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Posted in: Excerpt

Review: Sweet Like Sugar Cane by Leah T. Williams

8 June, 2026 8:00 pm , 2 Comments ,

Sweet Like Sugar Cane
The Prequel to Neither Out Far Nor In Deep—Gwen’s Story
Leah T. Williams
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 1, 2025
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

Before she became the mother struggling to understand her American-born son in Neither Out Far Nor In Deep, Gwendolyn Richards was just a girl in St. Kitts trying to figure out who she was.
She had her best friend Sharon, her father’s quiet wisdom, her mother’s firm and loving hands, and Lenwell Turnbull whose eyes found hers across every school assembly. Life moved to the rhythm of sugar cane fields, market mornings, and the island’s radio reading out the names of the dead.

Then everything changed.

In one season, Gwen will discover the electricity of first love and learn that some things cannot be rushed, like yam vines, like grief, like growing up. She will face heartbreak she never saw coming and changes that will alter her world forever.
Sweet Like Sugar Cane is a lyrical, tender coming of age story set against the vivid backdrop of Caribbean island life. It is a story about the sweetness of first love, the bitterness of loss, and the bittersweet reality of becoming someone new.
Perfect for readers who love Jamaica Kincaid, Edwidge Danticat, and stories about Black girls finding their strength in the most difficult seasons of their lives.

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Posted in: YA Contemporary, YA Romance

My Summer Project: Reading My TBR From Oldest to Newest

7 June, 2026 5:54 pm , 4 Comments ,
This post is linked to Sunday Post, Staking the Shelves, and the Sunday Salon.

I did a deep dive into my Goodreads TBR list this weekend, to go through all the books and delete ones I don’t plan to read. I have had books sitting on my TBR for over a decade. A DECADE!!! Books that I saw and thought, “That looks like a good book” but then never actually purchased it or read it. It’s safe to say that some of those books are no longer of interest to me. Most were YA, and while I still enjoy reading YA, it’s not my primary genre anymore.

So, I went through my list, and any books that I immediately went “meh” over, got the boot. Books that are not available on KU or at my library, that I was not willing to pay money for, got the the boot. I was able to knock out almost half of the books on my TBR. What was once a TBR of over 200 books is now a list of 112 books. It’s still a bit overwhelming, but I feel like it’s more manageable… as long as I don’t go crazy adding books to it again.

Therefor, I have decided that I will spend this summer going through and reading my TBR one book at a time from oldest to newest. I won’t push myself to read anything that I’m not feeling, but I do feel like I need to give these books a chance. So many of these books have so few reviews and ratings. The book I’m currently reading now only has 83 ratings on Goodreads and  only 12 on Amazon.

So, it’s time to brush off my TBR and start giving these books a chance in the spotlight.

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Posted in: Ramblings

Review: Wed to the Orc Warrior by Penny McMara

5 June, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Wed to the Orc Warrior
(Orc Wed, #1)
Penny McMara
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 4, 2026
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

To save my sister, I’ll marry a monster.

The orc mercenaries were meant to die. When Khal Drazha’s-son, their scarred, lethal leader, returns to claim his prize, a bride of noble blood, I know only one thing: my frail half-sister cannot be the one sacrificed.

I’m the bastard daughter no one wants, but I have street cunning, and a plan: I’ll deceive this golden-eyed orc warrior, taking my sister’s place at the altar and in his bed. If I can endure the wedding night, I can find a way to betray him. I can escape into the wilds beyond my father’s walls.

Now, we’re locked in a chamber together. I’m braced for the worst. But the warrior I’ve deceived believes I chose him…and he’s here to rescue me. He intends to bond us, soul and flesh, for a lifetime.

I came here prepared to survive a monster, but this green-skinned mercenary wants peace for his people, a peace he won’t win, because he’s married the wrong daughter.

My lies are about to tear his life apart. The bond we’ve forged in the dark might just shatter my heart first.

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Posted in: Fantasy Romance

Top Ten Books I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Read

2 June, 2026 1:58 pm , 13 Comments ,
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

 

We’ve all been there. A book explodes onto book blogs, BookTok, and Bookstagram.

Everyone is talking about it, reviewing it, and making videos about it.

You add it to your TBR list with the best intentions.

Then… time passes.

Months turn into years, and suddenly you realize you are the last person on earth who hasn’t read it.

Today, I’m clearing the air and confessing to ten books that have been sitting on my TBR Goodreads list for way too long.

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Posted in: Ramblings

Review: Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry

29 May, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Rites of the Starling
Shield of Sparrows #2
Devney Perry
Publisher: Entangled
Publication date: April 7, 2026
Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance
Rating:

Calandra’s five kingdoms are on the verge of destruction. The crux migration is coming. And in the wake of a devastating attack, I’ve been separated from the man who owns my heart.
I’m lost. Terrified. Homesick. Hunted by monsters, driven to exhaustion, and kidnapped by a powerful priest, the only thing keeping me going is the little girl counting on me to keep her safe. It’s my turn to become the Guardian.

Our lives change one fateful night. A night of death. A night of monsters. A night of truths. That night, I learn the real meaning of fear—and the depth of my own strength.

Everyone wants me to be something I’m not—a queen, a spy, a sacrifice. But what if I embrace my crown? What if the secrets I uncover save our realm?

What if my sacrifice means salvation for the man I love?

For too long, I’ve feared the monsters we make.

It’s time to discover the monster within.

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Posted in: Fantasy Romance

Top Ten Favorite Books By My Favorite Authors

26 May, 2026 1:24 pm , 13 Comments ,

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

 

Thousands of pages later, and I am still not over these ten books. They gave me the worst book hangovers of my life, and I loved every second of it.

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Posted in: Ramblings

Review: A Soul to Touch by Opal Reyne

25 May, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

A Soul to Touch
Duskwalker Brides #3
Opal Reyne
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Feb. 24, 2023
Genre: Erotic Fantasy Romance
Rating:

All Mayumi ever wanted was to hunt Demons.

After being discharged from the Demonslayer guild, Mayumi chose to isolate herself within the forest. The best place to hunt and kill Demons. But, one night, she’s surprised when a different monster is lured by her baits.

Just before she unleashes an arrow that’s aimed to kill, Mayumi pauses. She realises she’s seen that skulled, feline face before and that it had once saved her life.

All Faunus ever wanted was her.

After the Demon King cracked his skull, Faunus returns to watch over the only human he has ever cared for. He knows what his future holds, she would never become his bride, but he wants to spend what remains of his life protecting her.

He never expected that she would ever befriend him, or that she would openly desire him. She’s as fiery as her burning passion, and he’s desperate to let her consume him.

But his time in this world grows short, and Faunus doesn’t know how he can be with Mayumi when he knows nothing will save him.

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Posted in: Erotic Romance, Fantasy Romance

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Wed to the Orc Warrior by Penny McMara

20 May, 2026 8:00 pm , 1 Comment ,

Wed to the Orc Warrior
(Orc Wed, #1)
Penny McMara
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 4, 2026
Genre: Fantasy Romance

To save my sister, I’ll marry a monster.

The orc mercenaries were meant to die. When Khal Drazha’s-son, their scarred, lethal leader, returns to claim his prize, a bride of noble blood, I know only one thing: my frail half-sister cannot be the one sacrificed.

I’m the bastard daughter no one wants, but I have street cunning, and a plan: I’ll deceive this golden-eyed orc warrior, taking my sister’s place at the altar and in his bed. If I can endure the wedding night, I can find a way to betray him. I can escape into the wilds beyond my father’s walls.

Now, we’re locked in a chamber together. I’m braced for the worst. But the warrior I’ve deceived believes I chose him…and he’s here to rescue me. He intends to bond us, soul and flesh, for a lifetime.

I came here prepared to survive a monster, but this green-skinned mercenary wants peace for his people, a peace he won’t win, because he’s married the wrong daughter.

My lies are about to tear his life apart. The bond we’ve forged in the dark might just shatter my heart first.

Read More →

Posted in: Excerpt

Review: Credence by Penelope Douglas

18 May, 2026 8:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Credence
Penelope Douglas
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Jan 13, 2020
Genre: New Adult Taboo Romance
Rating:

Tiernan de Haas doesn’t care about anything anymore. The only child of a film producer and his starlet wife, she’s grown up with wealth and privilege but not love or guidance. Shipped off to boarding schools from an early age, it was still impossible to escape the loneliness and carve out a life of her own. The shadow of her parents’ fame followed her everywhere.

And when they suddenly pass away, she knows she should be devastated. But has anything really changed? She’s always been alone, hasn’t she?

Jake Van der Berg, her father’s stepbrother and her only living relative, assumes guardianship of Tiernan who is still two months shy of eighteen. Sent to live with him and his two sons, Noah and Kaleb, in the mountains of Colorado, Tiernan soon learns that these men now have a say in what she chooses to care and not care about anymore. As the three of them take her under their wing, teach her to work and survive in the remote woods far away from the rest of the world, she slowly finds her place among them.

And as a part of them.

She also realizes that lines blur and rules become easy to break when no one else is watching.

One of them has her.

The other one wants her.

But he…

He’s going to keep her.

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Posted in: NA Erotic Romance, NA Romance, New Adult
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