As someone who read and loved Nell Stevens’s previous historical novel, Briefly, a Delicious Life (2022), I was eagerly anticipating her latest release, The Original (Norton, 2025), and it did not disappoint! Set primarily in England in 1899, Grace is the longtime ward of her uncle’s family on their once-grand estate. After her parents were sent to mental institutions,Read More
When the Past Won’t Stay Quiet: The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden Review
Living alone in her late mother’s house in Zwolle, Isabel is a quiet and fiercely guarded woman. An uncle bequeathed the house to the family with the understanding that whenever Isabel’s brother Louis married, he would inherit it. Isabel resides there now under a type of suspended claim—that of a caretaker, but not owner. LouisRead More
Rachel reviews Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Amazon Affiliate Link Famous Canadian author Ann-Marie MacDonald returns with an incredible new historical novel. Fayne (2022) sweeps readers away to an expansive world of fantasy and wonder. Set in late-nineteenth-century Scotland, Fayne follows Charlotte Bell, who is growing up at Fayne, the lonely and isolated Scottish estate that straddles the border between England and Scotland. Charlotte has beenRead More
Danika reviews Indestructible Object by Mary McCoy
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Messy bisexuals, this one’s for you. ❤️ One of my favorite things to read about is flawed main characters. Characters who make mistakes–mistakes they really knew better than to make, but they did it anyways. I can’t stand negative reviews of books based on the protagonist having flaws,Read More
Danika reviews Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Tamsin is a 17-year-old witch who was banished from her community of witches when she was 12, for committing the worse of magical crimes. Worse, she was cursed, and now she can’t feel love unless she takes it from others. Without love, she can’t see colors, taste food,Read More