“Darkness was always drawn to light, but I wasn’t just drawn to her; I was fucking obsessed. I would throw myself into her flame and let it burn me alive if it meant her warmth was the last thing I felt before I died.” – 4.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: green dresses, cybersecurity, surveillance cameras, plant watering, social media, stalkers, dark curls, and… butterflies.

He’ll do anything to have her…including lie.

Charming, deadly, and smart enough to hide it, Christian Harper is a monster dressed in the perfectly tailored suits of a gentleman.

He has little use for morals and even less use for love, but he can’t deny the strange pull he feels toward the woman living just one floor below him.

She’s the object of his darkest desires, the only puzzle he can’t solve. And when the opportunity to get closer to her arises, he breaks his own rules to offer her a deal she can’t refuse.

Every monster has their weakness. She’s his.

His obsession.
His addiction.
His only exception.

**

Sweet, shy, and introverted despite her social media fame, Stella Alonso is a romantic who keeps her heart in a cage.

Between her two jobs, she has little time or desire for a relationship.

But when a threat from her past drives her into the arms—and house—of the most dangerous man she’s ever met, she’s tempted to let herself feel something for the first time in a long time.

Because despite Christian’s cold nature, he makes her feel everything when she’s with him.

Passionate.
Protected.
Truly wanted.

Theirs is a love twisted with secrets and tainted by lies…and when the truths are finally revealed, they could shatter everything.

Twisted Lies is a steamy, medium to slow burn fake dating romance. It is the fourth and final book in the Twisted series but can be read as a standalone.

WARNING: Contains a morally gray male MC, explicit content, violence, profanity, and topics that may be sensitive to some readers. Please see inside the book for a detailed list. Recommended for 18+

For a romance series… not bad! I think all the books from the series are fairly close in quality but I would say this is probably my favorite. If I were to order the books in the series from best to worst, I would order them this way: Twisted Lies > Twisted Hate > Twisted Games > Twisted Love.
This book, the final installment of the series, is about Stella! We get to see Stella here and then in the previous books, but here we get a true glimpse of her personality. She’s a really fun character, with a love for fashion, plants, and social media! We also have Christian Harper, the dark and mysterious love interest who owns a cybersecurity company and the building she lives in – and I dare to say, is one of my favorite male love interests from the series. I liked them a lot as characters and how their romance developed slowly!
The story is good, easy to keep up with, and engaging! You keep wondering who the stalker is and what’s going to happen next, so you’ll want to keep turning the pages! Sure, it took me a while to finish this book because at the beginning I felt like I was losing my interest in the series – and I have commitment issues with book series in general -, but I’m glad I kept going because I ended up having a good time reading this last book.
Not the best romance series I’ve ever read, but it was enjoyable and entertaining! There was depth, romance, character development, and good storylines. Worth checking out!

“Melodies hold memories, Like nothing else on earth, they recall feelings, places, moments– the needle dropping into the groove of the soul’s record player.” – 2.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: tour buses, pianos, bunk beds, breakup songs, wedding dresses, superstars, songwriting, glitter bodysuits, divorces, and a ton of inspiration.

A rising-star musician has a second chance at love with an old flame she remembers all too well in this swoony romance from the acclaimed authors of The Roughest Draft .

Riley Wynn went from a promising singer-songwriter to a superstar overnight, thanks to her breakup song concept album and its unforgettable lead single. When Riley’s ex-husband claims the hit song is about him, she does something she hasn’t in ten years and calls Max Harcourt, her college boyfriend and the real inspiration for the song of the summer.

Max hasn’t spoken to Riley since their relationship ended. He’s content with managing the retirement home his family owns, but it’s not the life he dreamed of filled with music. When Riley asks him to go public as her songwriting muse, he agrees on one he’ll join her in her band on tour.

As they perform across the country, Max and Riley start to realize that while they hit some wrong notes in the past, their future could hold incredible things. And their rekindled relationship will either last forever or go down in flames.

While I was writing this review I realized I was being too generous with my rating, so I ended up lowering it to the 2-star tier. To be honest with you guys, this book was disappointing. I probably hyped it up too much in my head because of how popular it became and because it was “inspired” by Taylor Swift – but at the end of the day, it was a very mediocre book. Buckle up, because I have a lot to say!
The characters were so boring and had zero personality – especially Max. We get it, the retirement home is your only priority… but what does he like and what is he like? I couldn’t tell you, because I have no clue. I really wish there was some character development because it was seriously lacking in this book.
Now the romance… yawn! It was very boring and they had no chemistry. The story has a second chance romance trope – which is not my favorite, but I kind of hoped we would get a Taylor Lautner relationship inspo. But nope! Sure, they share musical talent and a love for music, but other than that… They were together for 9 months like 10 years ago, and suddenly she decided she liked him all along and they rekindled their romance that easily and fast? Also, if Riley is such a big pop star, do you really think he could get a ticket last minute? *laughs in The Eras Tour*
I also think there were a few elements added to the book that could have been developed, but they were left unfinished – or even just removed, if I’m being honest. Like for example the retirement arc was so weird. What was even the point of adding it to the story in the first place? At first, we get a scene of him playing there for the residents, but other than that, the retirement home is mostly forgotten. So Max leaves the retirement home, the only thing he cares about in his life… to be part of a tour. We didn’t even get a conclusion for this! Another example is Riley’s mom who was recently divorced. What was the point of her having that long conversation with Riley at the beginning of the book? Sure, she “contributes” to the main relationship OK, she gets with the tour bus driver… and? It reminds me of the saying “This meeting could have been a call”. It was such a weird addition.
But not all was bad! There were a few fun elements here and there that I liked, like for example there were a few song lyrics I recognized throughout the book from Taylor, and I also liked how the “easter eggs” thing was incorporated into the book. I feel like the book needed more fun elements like this to be enjoyable because it lacked action and details.
Now let me tell you what bothered me about this book. The book progresses with so little action. There’s a lot of internal dialog and introspective from both main characters, and, consequentially, the actual action is missing. Also, there was so much room and inspiration from Taylor’s tour to add details and to develop the story to make it rich, but the authors kept it very superficial and it wasn’t fun to read about. Also, I know this is probably a personal ick, but I’ll tell you anyway: couldn’t they just thank Taylor in the acknowledgments? I know they mentioned her in the dedication, but they’re literally marketing this book as a Taylor Swift-inspired book and profiting from her story. I don’t know, it rubs me off the wrong way because it feels like an easy cash grab and only that. I guess the biggest issue for me is that the book continues to perpetuate the image that Taylor is trying to escape. It felt invasive and disrespectful to make the character a person who tries to capitalize on her romantic relationships and sees other people only as “new good songs”.
I honestly was expecting more from this story. I was disappointed, bored and I wouldn’t recommend this to other swifties.

“If I had a heart to give, it would be all yours. Free of cost.” – 4/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: drawings, pins, princess castles, beauty boutiques, PowerPoint presentations, text messages, streaming service passwords, snow, Pride and Prejudice movies, mentorship programs, carved pumpkins, takeout food, book signings, and haunted houses.

Rowan
I’m in the business of creating fairy tales.
Theme parks. Production companies. Five-star hotels.
Everything could be all mine if I renovated Dreamland.
My initial idea of hiring Zahra was good in theory, but then I kissed her.
Things spiraled out of control once I texted her using an alias.
By the time I realized where I went wrong, it was too late.
People like me don’t get happy endings.
Not when we’re destined to ruin them.

Zahra
After submitting a drunk proposal criticizing Dreamland’s most expensive ride, I should have been fired.
Instead, Rowan Kane offered me a dream job.
The catch? I had to work for the most difficult boss I’d ever met.
Rowan was rude and completely off-limits, but my heart didn’t care.
At least not until I discovered his secret.
It was time to teach the billionaire that money couldn’t fix everything.
Especially not us.

The Fine Print is the first book in a series of interconnected standalones following three billionaire brothers.

I finally read the first book in the “Dreamland Billionaires” trilogy! If you haven’t been sleeping under a rock, you know this book was way too overhyped on BookTok -, and now I finally got the opportunity to read it for myself and draw my own opinion.

To be completely honest I went into this book without knowing what the story was about. The only thing I knew was that this is a romance trilogy following three billionaire brothers – and their respective romantic interests, of course -, so I was very excited when I found out this was like a Disneyland Parks-inspired series! The theme surprised me because I never read a book with a theme like this, and I thought it was very unique and creative. It was so obvious it was inspired by these parks in particular because of the small details mentioned here and there – like the beauty boutique, the similarity to real Disney movies, etc. So it was cool to read about the “Dreamland” park!

The romance between Rowan and Zahra was cute! I liked their banter, but mostly, I really liked how he fell for her first. I would describe the romance as an “enemies to lovers” trope because they hated each other (mostly) the entire time. This is one of my favorite tropes, so I had no problem with that! There are a few sex scenes here and there, but I still wouldn’t consider this a very smutty book like I thought it would be – from 0 to 10, I would give this a 5 or a 6 on a “smut scale”. 

I liked them as main characters – but as it often happens in these romance novels, they separate at some point for dumb reasons. With that said, don’t be afraid – the story has a happy ending. The writing is good and easy to follow. One thing I always appreciate authors doing is small chapters, which is the case for this book. It helps a lot to digest the story and it’s easier to take breaks. Also – and I could be completely wrong -, but I think there were a few references to Julia Quinn and the Bridgerton books, but with different names. If I’m correct, how cool is that?

I wonder if the next books will also have the theme park as a background? I’m guessing not as much since Rowan didn’t cross paths with his brothers often… but we’ll see!

I’m excited to keep going with the series! I hope the next book is a secretary-boss romance. From the small tip we got from the first book, it sure seems like it! We’ll see, but I think I’m going to be a fan either way!

“One last dance, my lady, before I am never to see you again?” – 2.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: invisibility cloak, magical teeth, silver, hidden romances, dance slippers, suitors, underground worlds, and secret passages.

Just when Azalea should feel that everything is before her—beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing—it’s taken away. All of it. And Azalea is trapped. The Keeper understands. He’s trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. So he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest, but there is a cost. The Keeper likes to keep things. Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

Yeah, this was not for me! I personally didn’t love this story if I’m being honest.
This is a retelling of the “Twelve Dancing Princesses” story – which I’m not the biggest fan of in the first place. In this retelling, in particular, twelve princesses were forbidden by their father to stop dancing for one year because their mother died and they had to spend the year mourning. Their father soon abandons them to go to war, and they are left sad and alone. But when they find a secret magical passage to a place where they can secretly dance all night, they decide to break the rules and dance the nights away!
From all the things I could point out from this book, this is the main critique: this could have been way shorter – it dragged out so much and it was very unnecessary! The pacing was really slow, and I quickly lost interest in the story because nothing engaging ever happened.
The characters were also pretty bland and uninteresting. Azalea was an okay character – not super likable, but not insufferable as well. In general, I think the characters lacked development and personalities. They’re all named alphabetically and after flowers, which I thought was cute. I’m not sure if this is part of the original story or not, but I thought it was a fun detail.
There’s a bad guy in the story that was really creepy, so it was uncomfortable at times to read when he came up. He was from the underworld, where the girls would dance all night to exhaustion. At first, he seems nice, but he turns out to be very dangerous to them and the kingdom.
Also, I guess there was some romance? Although it was mostly nonexistent – not a single spark was spotted -, which was a little disappointing to me because I thought this retelling screamed romance, but that’s on me.
Yeah, overall this wasn’t for me. The story wasn’t terrible, but the slow pace, lack of character development, and the overall plot didn’t make me a fan. I’m sure there are better retellings of this fairy tale out there, so I would skip this one!

“Love is the most powerful healing force there is. You can take this love out into the world and silently share it with everyone you meet. Love yourself. Love one another. Love the planet and know that we are all one. And so it is.” – 5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: meditation, healing, hard work, and a ton of mirror work!

AN ESSENTIAL SELF-CARE GUIDEBOOK FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE

LOUISE HAY’S 21 DAY SIGNATURE DAILY PRACTICE FOR LEARNING HOW TO LOVE YOURSELF BASED ON HER MOST POPULAR VIDEO COURSE, LOVING YOURSELF

Mirror work has long been Louise Hay’s favorite method for cultivating a deeper relationship with yourself, and leading a more peaceful and meaningful life.

The Mirror Principle, one of Louise’s core teachings, holds that our experience of life mirrors our relationship with ourselves; unless we see ourselves as loveable, the world can be a dark and lonely place.

Mirror work—looking at oneself in a mirror and repeating positive affirmations—was Louise’s powerful method for learning to love oneself and experience the world as a safe and loving place.

Each of the 21 days is organized around a theme, such as monitoring self-talk, overcoming fear, releasing anger, healing relationships, forgiving self and others, receiving prosperity, and living stress-free.

The daily program involves an exercise in front of the mirror, positive affirmations, journaling, an inspiring Heart Thought to ponder, and a guided meditation.

Packed with practical guidance and support, presented in Louise’s warmly personal words, MIRROR WORK—or Mirror Play, as she likes to call it—is designed to help

• Learn a deeper level of self-care
• Gain confidence in their own inner guidance system
• Develop awareness of their soul gifts
• Overcome resistance to change
• Boost self-esteem
• Cultivate love and compassion in their relationships with self and others

In just three weeks, you will  establish the practice of Mirror Work as a tool   for personal growth and self-care, and a path to a full, rich life.

MIRROR WORK CHAPTERS

WEEK ONE
·         Loving Yourself
·         Making Your Mirror Your Friend
·         Monitoring Your Self-Talk
·         Letting Go of Your Past
·         Building Your Self-Esteem
·         Releasing Your Inner Critic

WEEK TWO
·         Loving Your Inner Child – Part One
·         Loving Your Inner Child – Part Two
·         Loving Your Body, Healing Your Pain
·         Feeling Good, Releasing Your Anger
·         Overcoming Your Fear
·         Starting Your Day with Love

WEEK THREE
·         Forgiving Yourself and Those Who Have Hurt You
·         Healing Your Relationships
·         Living Stress Free
·         Receiving Your Prosperity
·         Living Your Attitude of Gratitude
·         Teaching Mirror Work to Children
·         Loving Yourself Now

“Mirror work—looking deeply into your eyes and repeating affirmations—is the most effective method I’ve found for learning to love yourself and see the world as a safe and loving place. I have been teaching people how to do mirror work for as long as I have been teaching affirmations.

The most powerful affirmations are those you say out loud when you are in front of your mirror. The mirror reflects back to you the feelings you have about yourself.

As you learn to do mirror work, you will become much more aware of the words you say and the things you do. You will learn to take care of yourself on a deeper level than you have done before.

The more you use mirrors for complimenting yourself, approving of yourself, and supporting yourself during difficult times, the deeper and more enjoyable your relationship with yourself will become.”

Love,
Louise Hay

I absolutely loved this book! This is one heck of a book, my friends – you have to read it! You know when you start reading a random book without thinking too much, and you didn’t even know how much you needed it in your life? That’s what happened to me!
In “Mirror Work”, the author Louise Hay shows readers how we can heal ourselves by taking her 21-day journey of mirror work. The days are divided by chapters, so the goal is to read a chapter each day to complete the 21 days. Each day focuses on a specific topic, such as healing the inner child, letting go of anger, letting go of fear, etc. It is a very well–structured book, and the chapters are fairly short, so you can take 10 minutes of your day to read it! Another good thing is that each chapter always ends with exercises to do in front of the mirror and meditation, so you’ll be practicing what is preached every day!
I enjoyed this book a lot and I took a lot from it – so that’s why I will always recommend it to other self-development readers. I know it sounds cliché, but I’m not the same person I was when I first started reading it. Now I feel more comfortable looking at the mirror, I talk to myself more and I appreciate myself more after reading this book.
This ended up being a life-changing book for me, and I can’t recommend it enough! I loved it so much that I still read a chapter once in a while to start my day the right way. If you’re into self-development, this is a must!

“There were rules among friends, commandments, really, and the most important one was Thou Shalt Not Lust After Thy Friend’s Sister.” – 3/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: duels, chestnut hair, ballrooms, aristocrats, viscounts, big families, fake courtships, prospects, reputations, and rakes. 

The Duke and I is a romance set in the Regency era.

In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince—while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable… but not too amiable.

Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. But no one truly desires her. She is simply too deuced honest for that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen.

Amiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society—just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. Yet an encounter with his best friend’s sister offers another option. If Daphne agrees to a fake courtship, Simon can deter the mamas who parade their daughters before him. Daphne, meanwhile, will see her prospects and her reputation soar.

The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London’s elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule…

Ohh my dearest Bridgertons! I’ve wanted to start reading this series for a while now, but now that the 3rd season of the Netflix show just came out, I knew I needed to make this series a priority.

But now that I’ve read the first book in the series… I have to say I’m not very impressed. In fact, after some thought, I decided to lower my rating to a 3-star rating. The truth is that I didn’t find the book to be very memorable – I read it last month and I can’t remember much from it. It’s not bad, just a little bland.

I found Daphne’s story to be boring and slow-paced. It was difficult for me to find the motivation to keep reading if I’m being completely honest. 

Now, to be completely fair to the books, the show version is packed with drama and is very fast-paced, so it’s way more addicting! Of course, it’s difficult not to compare the two versions when you’ve experienced both of them. I still plan on continuing the series, but I think reading “The Duke and I” made me realize that the books are going to be… less embellished. 

Would I recommend this to romance readers who love the Netflix show? Even though there were a lot of scenes I recognized, the pace was way slower, the characters were bland, and the story didn’t have that much drama. So my answer would be: probably not. Just like what happened to me, you would probably be disappointed.

“The night before her wedding, Daisy taught me that after the world ended, you still had to get up in the morning, and the things that you ruined would still be there, needing to be fixed. When I looked at famous Jay Gatsby, soul gone and some terrible engine he called love driving him now, I could see that for him, the world was always ending. For him, it was all a wreck and a ruin, and he had no idea why the rest of us weren’t screaming.” – 2.5/5 stars!

Immigrant. Socialite. Magician.

Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society—she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer, Asian, adopted, and treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.

But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.

Nghi Vo’s debut novel The Chosen and the Beautiful reinvents this classic of the American canon as a coming-of-age story full of magic, mystery, and glittering excess, and introduces a major new literary voice.

I can’t believe I was tricked into reading “The Great Gatsby” again. Well, it is my fault for not reading the synopsis beforehand, but how could I imagine by the title and cover this was going to be a retelling of that classic?

When I finally discovered this was a retelling, I was at least hoping the story would be changed to accommodate the magic, the Vietnamese representation, and an LGBTQ representation to the plot – like the synopsis indicates – but that did not happen.

It’s not that it’s a bad book, I just don’t see the point of writing the exact same story from top to bottom with a different POV and adding random magical elements here and there. The names are the same, the plot is exactly the same… there was no surprise in what I was reading. The only difference is that this is being told by Jordan’s POV, she is queer and there is magic – and unfortunately, that wasn’t enough for me. I’m not the biggest fan of the original book as well, so I can’t even say I enjoyed reading the story once again. 

Although I found beauty in the writing, there were a lot of moments that needed context and explanation, but that never happened. I thought the magic was going to save the book, but I was wrong. It was underwhelming, nothing exciting happened, (again) nothing was ever explained, and frankly, the magic was almost non-existent.

I guess I could recommend this to the fans of the original book, but what would be the point? If anything, just reread the original!