Author Archives: Kristin

Review: Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

13 October, 2025 7:36 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Phantasma
Wicked Games #1
Kaylie Smith
Publisher: Forever
Publication date: Sept. 3, 2024
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

When Ophelia’s sister disappears, there is only one way to save her. Ophelia must enter Phantasma, a deadly contest inside a haunted mansion, and claim its prize—a single wish.

Phantasma is a maze of twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, of demons and temptations. Ophelia will face nine challenges, each more dangerous than the last. There can only be one winner, and the other contestants will stop at nothing to eliminate their rivals.

Every day the house creates new monsters. But just as Ophelia’s fears threaten to overwhelm her, a mysterious stranger offers her a bargain.

Charming, arrogant and infuriatingly attractive, Blackwell claims he can guide her through the lethal trials ahead. All he asks in return is ten years of her life.

Ophelia knows she shouldn’t trust him. Blackwell doesn’t seem dangerous, but appearances can be deceptive. Worse still, she feels a dark and irresistible attraction drawing them closer and closer.

Her life is on the line. But in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart . . .

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Posted in: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

Review: Bride by Ali Hazelwood

10 October, 2025 7:24 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Bride
Bride #1
Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: Feb 6, 2024
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating:

A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis.

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again…

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was….

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she’s ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.

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Posted in: Paranormal Romance

Review: Quicksilver by Callie Hart

8 October, 2025 7:10 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Quicksilver
Fae & Alchemy #1
Callie Hart
Publisher: Forever
Publication date: June 4, 2024
Genre: Fantasy romance
Rating:

Do not touch the sword. Do not turn the key. Do not open the gate.

In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn’t much a girl wouldn’t do for a glass of water.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen’s reservoirs for as long as she can remember.

But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.

When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently re-opens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares… but it turns out they’re real, and Saeris has landed herself in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist’s magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him . . . or her.

Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he’s the only way Saeris is going to make it home.

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Posted in: Fantasy, Romance

Review: My Happy Marriage Vol.2 by Akumi Agitogi

5 October, 2025 7:54 pm , Leave a Comment ,

My Happy Marriage
Vol #2
Author: Akumi Agitogi
Illustrator: Rito Kohsaka
Character Designer: Tsukiho Tsukioka
Publisher: Square Enix Manga
Publication date: Jan. 10, 2023
Genre: Fantasy Romance Manga
Rating:

A “Cinderella”-inspired slow-burn historical romance with a paranormal twist set in Taisho-era Japan!

A browbeaten and mistreated daughter is cast out of her home and sent to audition as a bridal candidate for the heir to one of the most powerful families in the land…

For failing to inherit the boon of unusual power that is the Saimori birthright and bringing shame to the family name, mistreated Miyo is cast out to become another’s problem.

Sent to the Kudo clan—itself preternaturally powerful—as a potential bride for its heir, Kiyoka, Miyo is surprised to experience kindness for the first time in her thus far sad life.

Though the rumors make him out to be cold and haughty, Kiyoka Kudo quickly warms up to the Saimoris’ eldest daughter. Intrigued by the girl who stands worlds apart from the spoiled, social-climbing women who usually vie for his hand, Kiyoka soon comes to regard Miyo with affection.

But though Miyo has found a place—and warmth—in the Kudo household, the fact remains that she is untouched by the power that defines both the Saimori and Kudo clans, making her a failure as a bridal candidate.

Will the small happiness Miyo has found with Kiyoka end as soon as it has begun?

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Posted in: Manga

Review: Pen Pal by J.T. Geissinger

3 October, 2025 7:15 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Pen Pal
J.T. Geissinger
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Aug. 16, 2022
Genre: Thriller, Paranormal Romance
Rating:

The first letter arrived the day my husband was buried. It was postmarked from the state penitentiary, and contained a single sentence:

I’ll wait forever if I have to.

It was signed by Dante, a man I didn’t know.

Out of simple curiosity, I wrote back to ask him what exactly he was waiting for. His reply?

You.

I told the mystery man he had the wrong girl. He said he didn’t. I said we’d never met, but he said I was wrong.

We went back and forth, exchanging letters every week that grew increasingly more intimate. Then one day, the letters stopped. When I found out why, it was already too late.

Dante was at my doorstep.

And nothing on earth could have prepared me for what happened next.

 

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Posted in: Paranormal Romance, Thriller

Review: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

1 October, 2025 7:26 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Iron Flame
The Empyrean #2
Rebecca Yarros
Publisher: Entangled
Publication date: Nov 7, 2023
Genre: New adult fantasy
Rating:

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet’s wondering how she’ll get through it. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is—unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body is weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she has her wits—and a will of iron. Leadership forgets the most important lesson Basgiath taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules. But determination to survive won’t be enough this year, because Violet knows the secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

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Posted in: Fantasy, New Adult

Review: A Cage of Crimson by K.F. Breene

29 September, 2025 6:34 pm , Leave a Comment ,

A Cage of Crimson
Deliciously Dark Fairytales #5
K.F. Breene
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: June 27, 2024
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:

Of all the people in the world, why her?

It was supposed to be find the drug maker. Find her, and drag her back to the dragons to deal with. She deserves death for what she’s done.

For someone like Weston, the best alpha in the world, the one who shuts people up just by walking in the room, it would’ve been.

Until he learns what she is…

Finding a fated mate is nearly impossible. Very few are able to do it. But the call of their bond is unmistakable. Against all odds, and in the worst situation imaginable, he’s found his true mate. Her.

Worse? If there could be anything worse than a true mate that has brought the world to its knees – she doesn’t seem to realize what she is. Her animal is suppressed. Locked away, leaving her nearly without magic. She doesn’t know what the feeling is, and she doesn’t care. She claims innocence. She thinks he’s the villain in this story, and she aims to kill him before he destroys her.

It doesn’t change his duty. He must bring her in, nature be damned. Regardless of how much it hurts, he’ll resist the sweet taste of her lips and the heaven between her thighs. She must pay for what she’s done.

He just hopes he doesn’t die inside for the part he’s forced to play in the destruction of his true mate.

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Posted in: Fantasy, Romance

Review: Lady and the Orc by Finley Fenn

30 May, 2025 9:20 pm , Leave a Comment ,


The Lady and the Orc
Orc Sworn #1
Finley Fenn
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: Oct. 28, 2019
Genre: Erotic Fantasy Romance
Rating:

He’s the most feared monster in the realm. And she’s what he needs to win his war…

In a world of warring orcs and men, Lady Norr is condemned to a childless marriage, a cruel lord husband, and a life of genteel poverty — until the day her home is ransacked by a horde. And leading the charge is their hulking, deadly orc captain: the infamous Grimarr.

And Grimarr has a wicked plan for Lady Norr, and for ending this war once and for all. She’s going to become his captive — and the perfect snare for Lord Norr.

There’s no possible escape, and soon Lady Norr is dragged off toward Orc Mountain in the powerful arms of her greatest enemy. A ruthless, commanding warlord, with a velvet voice and mouthwatering scent, who awakens every forbidden hunger she never knew she had…

But Grimarr refuses to accept half measures — in war, or in pleasure. And before he’ll conquer Lady Norr’s deepest, darkest desires, she needs to surrender everything.

Her allegiance.
Her wedding-ring.
Her future…

And with her husband’s forces giving chase, Lady Norr can’t afford to play such a dangerous game — or can she? Even if this deadly orc’s plans might be the only way to save them all?

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Posted in: Erotic Romance

Review: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

19 May, 2025 9:16 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Fourth Wing
The Empyrean #1
Rebecca Yarros
Publisher: Entangled
Publication date: May 2, 2023
Genre: New Adult Fantasy
Rating:

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die

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Posted in: NA Fantasy, New Adult

Review: The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy

16 May, 2025 8:52 pm , Leave a Comment ,

The Graham Effect
Campus Diaries #1
by: Elle Kennedy
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication date: Oct. 31, 2023
Genre: New Adult Romance
Rating:

Gigi Graham has exactly three goals: qualify for the women’s national hockey team, win Olympic gold, and step out of her famous father’s shadow. So far, so good, except for two little things. Fine–a little thing and a big, grumpy thing. She needs to improve her game behind the net, and she needs help from Luke Ryder.

Ryder is six-foot five, built, opinionated, rude…and sexy as hell. But he’s still the enemy.

Briar’s new hockey co-captain has his reasons, though. The men’s team just merged with a rival program, leaving Ryder with an angry roster where everyone hates one another’s guts. To make matters worse, the summer coaching spot he’s angling for with the legendary Garrett Graham is out of reach after he makes the worst possible first impression on his hero. So, really, this compromise with Gigi is win-win. He helps her make the national team, she puts in a good word with her dad.

The only potential snag? This bone-deep, body-numbing, mind-spinning chemistry they’re trying to ignore. It’s a dangerous game they’re playing, but the risks just might be worth it.

 

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Posted in: NA Romance, New Adult