Thrown for a Loop (New York Legends #1) by Sarina Bowen
Friday, July 18, 2025
Fat Stack Friday July 18, 2025
Thrown for a Loop (New York Legends #1) by Sarina Bowen
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
ARC Review: Maid for Each Other by Lynn Painter
As a professional cleaner, Abi Mariano never thought her apartment would have any sort of infestation, but because of a building-wide outbreak, she now needs somewhere to stay for a week. As a part-time student with two jobs, she doesn’t have many options. Then the solution presents itself: the owner of the penthouse she cleans is out of town for the week. She normally wouldn’t consider it, but he’s literally never around (she hasn’t even met him). It goes great…until one morning she finds two strangers in the kitchen. They’re the parents of the penthouse owner and they seem to think they’ve heard all about Abi—not as their son’s maid, but as his girlfriend.
Declan Powell has always put his career first, working his way up to become an executive at his company, but he still has his sights set on the next level. When his parents mention that they met his girlfriend, “Abby,” he all but chokes on his escargot. As wonderful as it sounds that she was just darling, he doesn’t actually have a girlfriend—he made her up to get everyone off his back. When Dex finds out who Abi really is, he makes her a proposition: pretend to date him, and he’ll provide everything she needs during their little arrangement. What harm would it do? It’s purely business, no pleasure…right?
Lynn Painter is the author of Better Than The Movies. She writes romantic comedies for tweens, teens, and adults, and when she isn't reading or writing, odds are good she’s guzzling energy drinks and watching rom-coms.
Obscure facts that might make her sound interesting (but probably don't):
*She can fit an entire cupcake in her mouth. BOOM.
*She threw up all over herself on the first day of 2nd grade.
*She once saw Kelsey Grammar hailing a taxi in Manhattan, so she's pretty much an NYC native who is best friends with celebrities.
*She has a one-inch vertical.
*Her love for spaghetti is brighter than the sun, stronger than The Rock.
*If you see her doing anything crafty, it isn't her; she has literally set things on fire with a hot glue gun and has the motor skills of a preschooler. No offense, preschoolers.
*Her 4th grade teacher moved her desk out into the hallway because she wouldn't shut up. Like, ever.
*She held the record at her elementary school for finding the most bats (vampire, not baseball) in a single year. The little dork located - and alerted authorities to - four potentially-rabid bats.*
So technically, if you think about it, she might've saved hundreds of lives with her nerditude. #hero
*She was the only one to ever find any bats because everyone else had better things to do at recess.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Most Anticipated Releases July 15, 2025
Monday, July 14, 2025
ARC Review: A Wtich's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
Title: A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping
Author: Sangu Mandanna
Publisher: Berkley
Expected Publication Date: July 15, 2025
Review:
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I truly loved the other book in this world and was super excited when I heard there would be another. Don't be fooled, though, this book is not a sequel. While it takes place in the same world, the characters are all different and there is no true overlap with them.
Mandanna did a fabulous job of pulling me right into this story. I love her magical theme and how she integrates it with the characters and the plot. She's queen of the cozy fantasy plot for me. She wraps me in her stories and they give me all the good feels.
Sera is such a great character. She's funny and loving and caring. Almost too much. She barely takes care of herself. Which is commendable but also somewhat detrimental. She has lost most of her magic but wants to desperately get it back. As if that would make her a better person. But what she learns along the way is that she is already that amazing person. She surrounds herself with people who love and care for her, even if she doesn't truly let them.
Luke Larson just wants to take care of his autistic sister, Posy, and do his job. But he cannot find a good fit for his sister to be educated in the ways of magic. She doesn't fit into the "normal" box of a witch so it's harder for her to be educated that way. And his parents are no help. They just want her to be "normal" and Luke understands she is not like other witches. He grew up being different and forced into a box and he does not want that for his sister. When he finds Sera's inn, it's not by mistake. The inn allows those who need it to be drawn to it. Luke has no intentions of staying but somehow he does and it turns out to be the best thing for both him and his sister!
I love the found family theme in this book. It shows that blood is not always true to accepting you for who you are. And it shows you can find others to be your family when your own family won't. I love how they all work together to attain the goal of finding out how to bring Sera's magic back. I also love that they all are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save each other.
Overall, this book wrapped me up and guided me through so many emotions. I laughed, I teared up, I got nervous, and then I was so happy at the end. Mandanna knows how to write a story that keeps you engaged. I was entertained the entire time. I loved the world building, the character development, and the plot. This book was charming and fun. Highly recommend picking it up and giving it a try!
Author:
Sangu Mandanna was four years old when an elephant chased her down a forest road and she decided to write her first story about it. Seventeen years and many, many manuscripts later, she signed her first book deal. Sangu now lives in Norwich, a city in the east of England, with her husband and kids.
Friday, July 11, 2025
Fat Stack Friday July 11, 2025
Thursday, July 10, 2025
ARC Review: Of Flame and Fury by Mikayla Bridge
On an island built from ash and shrouded in fire, phoenix racing is a sport just as profitable as it is deadly.
Seventeen-year-old Kel Varra and her team of underdogs, the Crimson Howlers, are desperate to win the annual races and the fortune that comes with it. But the Howlers need a new rider, which leads Kel to join forces with Warren “Coup” Coupers – an arrogant rival she can’t get out of her head.
As tensions rise on and off the track, Kel's home is mistakenly burned down, and she’s forced to take a job from a mysterious tech mogul with an unsettling interest in her phoenix, Savita. This sets in motion a conspiracy that threatens everyone Kel cares for, especially Coup, for whom her embers of resentment are quickly igniting into something dangerously new.
Heart-pounding pages full of steamy romance, fiery confessions, political scheming, and volatile magic culminate in a final twist readers will never see coming.
You can find her on instagram at @mikayla_bridge.
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
ARC Review: The Woman in Suite 11 (The Woman in Cabin 10 #2) by Ruth Ware
When the invitation to attend the press opening of a luxury Swiss hotel—owned by reclusive billionaire Marcus Leidmann—arrives, it’s like the answer to a prayer. Three years after the birth of her youngest child, Lo Blacklock is ready to reestablish her journalism career, but post-pandemic travel journalism is a very different landscape from the one she left ten years ago.
The chateau on the shores of Lake Geneva is everything Lo’s ever dreamed of, and she hopes she can snag an interview with Marcus. Unfortunately, he proves to be even more difficult to pin down than his reputation suggests. When Lo gets a late-night call asking her to come to Marcus’s hotel room, she agrees despite her own misgivings. She’s greeted, however, by a woman claiming to be Marcus’s mistress, and in life-or-death jeopardy.
What follows is a thrilling cat-and-mouse pursuit across Europe, forcing Lo to ask herself just how much she’s willing to sacrifice to save this woman…and if she can even trust her?
Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press
Find her on twitter at www.twitter.com/ruthwarewriter, on facebook at www.facebook.com/ruthwarewriter or via her website - www.ruthware.com
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Most Anticipated Releases Tuesday July 8, 2025
I read this series so long ago. I was surprised to see a novella being released. Now I will be re-reading the entire series to see how this fits!

ARC Review: Only Between Us by Ellie K. Wilde
After a death-defying injury sidelined him for two seasons, Brooks Attwood’s pro football comeback has hit a major snag. Naughty photos from a post-break-up bender have leaked, and they’re killing his chances with the Rebels—his old team, and the only one he wants to play on.
As he trains with the hope of being signed before the first kickoff of the season, Brooks’s plans to keep a low profile are suddenly upended when his selfie with a fiery fan goes viral, and tabloids mistake them as the football world’s newest It couple.
Turns out, Siena Pippen is the ex-girlfriend of the “face” of the League. And she wants nothing more to do with that world after being with her nightmare ex. While she and Brooks are busy blaming each other for the media circus surrounding them, NFL teams are suddenly scrambling to sign a housebroken Brooks. Meanwhile, Siena realizes that all this buzz could be the Hail Mary her family’s struggling business needs.
Together, Brooks and Siena hatch a ignore the will to kill each other and pretend to be madly in love—at least, until Brooks signs with a team. But the longer they pretend, the less fake their fauxmance begins to feel…and Brooks becomes as determined to convince Siena they’re truly meant to be as he is to land a spot on the Rebels’ roster.
When she's not daydreaming about her next book, you'll find her devouring other romance novels, bingeing reality TV and snuggling with fur babies.
Follow Ellie on Instagram and TikTok @EllieKWildeAuthor