Second books in romantasy trilogies usually have one job: hold the reader’s attention while the author moves furniture around for the finale. Elise Kova refuses that assignment. She opens with her heroine chained, beaten, and dragged back to the prison she barely escaped, and she does not let up for another five hundred pages. The […]
Small press, big splash There are five publishers who dominate bookstores and major media platforms. They have countless imprints, big budgets, major distribution networks, and hundreds of years of connections. Oftentimes, authors want to publish with these presses because they want to maximize exposure; they want to be read. But not every author works with […]
A fizzy, warmhearted debut that turns the mundane routines of new adult loneliness into something genuinely luminous Victor Navarro is twenty-two years old, works remotely as a web developer, and has not, by his own admission, done much with either of those facts. He shares a cramped apartment at a quaint Tustin live-work complex with […]
A wildly authentic, unexpectedly hopeful novel of the legendary parties and tested friendships of a tight-knit Navy crew When Bosner and his fellow sailors discover that two of their crew are moving into a house on Cape Henry Avenue, it seems like the perfect escape from cramped barracks life. What follows is three weeks of […]
Some romances borrow a profession for atmosphere and never bother to learn how the job works. This one does the reading. Yes, Chef by Grace Reilly arrives with a comparison-title pitch (The Bear meets It Happened One Summer) that sets a high bar, and while the book does not clear that bar in every direction, […]
A bold, insightful unpacking of the software that runs our lives When investigating digital catastrophes, focusing on the immediate collision between automated logic and the chaotic nature of human implementation yields a distinct kind of analytical comfort. Modern technological systems frequently break down precisely where they connect with everyday human context, turning basic design gaps […]
A riveting paranormal adventure fit for a spooky campfire tale When Finn Garcia heads into the Twisted Pine Range to camp with his family and their friends, he doesn’t have high expectations. His parents, Dan and Maeve, have been fighting lately and his brother Matt has been getting increasingly meaner for the past few years. Being […]
Most thrillers lock you inside a house and dare you to find the exit. In The Last to Drown, Noelle W. Ihli locks you inside a canyon, then points out that the only exit is downstream, and that it is also trying to kill you. Put-In: What You Are Actually Signing Up For Kaia books […]
A blissful summer on the scenic coast of Delaware offers a quarter-life crisis, a doomed romance, and new vices in this charmingly funny literary novel. Most of us have very little desire to relive that intrepid period of our twenties, defined by unemployment and overwhelming aimlessness. It seems, however, that author Mike Andrelczyk feels differently. […]
Before they ever fell in love, they were each other’s home. Few things are more satisfying than a historical romance that fully embraces the exquisite agony of longing. Born For You delivers it in abundance. S.K. Snyder transports readers into a richly imagined Regency world filled with sprawling country estates, strict social expectations, family obligations, […]