The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

             

Title: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

Author: Shannon Chakraborty

Publisher: Harper Voyager, February 28, 2023

Pages: 493

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates, she’s survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.

But when she’s tracked down by the obscenely wealthy mother of a former crewman, she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse: retrieve her comrade’s kidnapped daughter for a kingly sum. The chance to have one last adventure with her crew, do right by an old friend, and win a fortune that will secure her family’s future forever? It seems like such an obvious choice that it must be God’s will.

Yet the deeper Amina dives, the more it becomes alarmingly clear there’s more to this job, and the girl’s disappearance, than she was led to believe. For there’s always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savor just a bit more power…and the price might be your very soul.

Amina is amazing, right. I love her. She's the captain and she's older and strong and awesome. But you know who I want to know more about? Her poisoner. Dalila is a fascinating woman, and I NEED to know more. I want a slice of life novella of her in her little lab making her poison gases! BUT. If I can't have that, I'm very much looking forward to more of Amina's adventures on the Marawati. 

I just saw that this is a planned trilogy, and I'm now desperate for the final book to include a nearly adult Marjana taking over the wheel of the ship! 

Regardless, I really enjoyed this adventure. I liked the way it was framed like an interview or transcription. There were fun asides and interjections. I listened to the audio version, and the narration was so well done. I loved that there were two narrators. One for Amina, doing the dictation, and one for Jamal, transcribing Amina's story. 

*Spoilers*

I'm not convinced that Amina isn't a zombie. Or that everything that happens after her visit to the island of the gods isn't her version of the afterlife. But I loved every second of her reunion with Raksh. Raksh might actually be my favorite part of the whole book. He was hilarious.

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

A Little Kissing Between Friends

                               

Title: A Little Kissing Between Friends

Author: Chencia C. Higgins

Published: Carina Adores, May 28, 2024

Pages: 275

Genre: LGBT Romance

Music producer on the rise Cyn Tha Starr knows what she likes, from her sickening beats in the studio to the flirty femmes she fools around with. Her ever-rotating roster has never been a problem until her latest fling clashes with Jucee, her best friend and the most popular dancer at strip club Sanity.

It makes Cyn see Jucee in a different light. One with far fewer boundaries and a lot more kissing.

Juleesa Jones makes great money dancing the early shift and spends most evenings with her son, her Sanity family or at Cyn’s house. Relationships are not high on the priority list—until she’s forced to admit that maybe friendship isn’t the only thing she wants from her bestie.

Cyn and Jucee are amazing. 

This was a really fun, really hot journey that these two friends went on. Who would have thought a short work trip away would have you coming back and realizing that your best friend is actually someone that you definitely want to bang? Not Cyn, I can tell you that. But that's exactly what she realized. And what do we do when we realize that we have sexy feelings for our best friend? We make out and hook up and then panic and avoid one another for a while! Duh! Everybody knows that. 

I'm obsessed with the way that Houston strip clubs are described in this book. And just the view of sex work in general that's portrayed in this book. This is Jucee's career. She's not working her way through school or using the club as a way station until she moves on to bigger and better things. She's a dancer and this is her way to dance and do what she loves. It's incredible.

I also really love that these are fat women. Not just "curvy" or "voluptuous" but fat. And still super hot. Top of their games hot. And they celebrate their bodies and each other's bodies. It's really a beautiful study in body positivity. 

Thank you to Carina Adores and NetGalley for this ARC.

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Spice: 3/5

The Follower of Flowers

            

Title: The Follower of Flowers

Series: Flowers of Prophecy #2

Author: Natalia Hernandez

Publisher: June 27, 2023

Pages: 365

Genre: YA LGBT Fantasy

As a child, the Name-Bearer had one duty; to receive and deliver the names of the future monarchy from the Flowers of Prophecy. But on the day of the Naming Ceremony, the Flowers refused. They claim another child was born more worthy of the Naming, and the Name-Bearer must find him and deliver him to them in order to restore peace to her land.

Now, ten years later, the Name-Barer and her companions are on a quest to find the Unnamed Prince and fulfill the prophecy. But with a bounty on their heads, an increase in monstro activity, and a long dangerous journey through enemy territory, they may be in for more than they bargained for. In order to survive, they will have to rely on strangers, unlikely new allies, and those they once loved – and hope that their trust in them has not been misplaced.

With so much opposition, will their courage – and their friendships, survive?

We've caught back up with Nova aka Nessa aka The Name-Bearer. She's on her mission to find the Unnamed Prince. 

I enjoyed their quest. All of the people that Nova picked up along the way. The struggles of hoping you've deciphered a prophecy correctly and then finding out you've missed something along the way. 

I was waiting for Nova to be reunited with Damika (and her other sisters). Every time they encountered a new group of people I was convinced that it was going to be Damika! But when they were finally reunited, things didn't go quite as I expected they might. There was a good bit more tension than I predicted, but it worked. Especially considering you have to factor Axchel into the equation now. 

The parallel storyline for Jess was interesting. It gave us a bit of backstory on some of our travelers. But a lot of this book felt like it was just setting us up for the next step on their journey. It was a transitional story, and it was good. But I am still SO curious what's next for this lot!

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Venery

        

Title: Venery

Series: For the Love of Aliens #3

Author: C.M. Stunich

Publisher: Sarian Royal, December 10, 2023

Pages: 772

Genre: Why Choose Sci-Fi Romance

I’ve been abducted by an alien in a cowboy hat.

He needs me to play the role of fake fiancée to appease his family of tentacle-tailed cops.

I’ll keep up the charade as long as I need if it means being reunited with Abraxas and Rurik.

Shouldn’t be too hard, right? To play pretend …

My life force is now inextricably tied to handsome, gun totin’ Officer Hyt.

But do you know what happens if my new in-laws find out that I’m mated to three different males?

Intergalactic war, that’s what.

Eve Wakefield here, currently stationed on the water planet, Yaoh. I’ve been subject to all sorts of unimaginable cruelty since landing here: family drama, ill-fitting bathing suits, and Hyt’s horrible childhood friend. This woman is not only in love with my (fake) mate, but she’s also disturbingly perceptive. If she tells the Chief of Police that his son and I are liars: we’re dead. Did I mention that liars are executed here?

And what about the king and queen, the ones stuck on that horrible spaceship?

Liars might be killed on Hyt’s planet, but Rurik’s people won’t stand for adultery.

If they find out, they’ll do worse: they’ll start eating planets and they won’t stop.

Ah, hell.

I did not intend to be crowned the queen of aliens.

It sounds like the dumbest dumb-dumb alien romance plot ever.

But if that’s the only way to save the people that I love, can I do it?

Wear the crown, take the throne, save the universe.

Yeah, I got this.

Man, f**k Minnae! But also f**k Eve. OK. I am so upset that I didn't DNF this book. But I'm also really glad that I didn't. I was glad that I saw how it actually worked out for them in the end. But man, I would not have been upset about like 300 less pages to get there. 

Hyt abducts Eve for like the 3rd or 4th time since she ended up on Jungryuk. He brings her to Yaoh, and I do like their relationship a lot. We're in another situation where they will actually die if they don't have sex. So. Eve will die if she doesn't have sex with Abraxas every 10 days or so? Rurik will die if he doesn't feed from Eve every few weeks, maybe a month. And Hyt and Eve will both die if they don't have sex every 6 months at least. These mate bonds do NOT mess about. 

Life on Yaoh sounds like an actual dream. I wish they weren't all cops or naked all the time, but swimming everywhere sounds super fun! So maybe not life on Yaoh, but it sounds like a perfect vacation destination. Not much beach, only water and over water villas! 

Eve harped on cheating a lot. This was truly a reverse harem. She didn't want them touching each other or anyone else who wasn't Eve. This took me all of the way out of the story every time it came up. Like if you're going to have 3 life partners, and you want to have group sex, the idea that you would be in the middle of having sex and freak out if they touch each other? That's WILD. I think it was the vehemence that she spoke about it. 

Other than that, their family unit was very cute. I am fully interested in how things go with Jane and Kayla and with Kya and the Atrata. But not enough to read their books.... I couldn't read another sentence about Eve. :/

Ratings

Stars: 3/5

Spice: 5/5

A Tempest of Tea

          

Title: A Tempest of Tea

Series: Blood and Tea #1

Author: Hafsah Faizal

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), February 20, 2024

Pages: 338

Genre: YA Historical Paranormal

On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by night, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—she can’t do the job alone.

Calling on some of the city’s most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the sinister, glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not everyone in her ragtag crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it. Dark, action-packed, and swoonworthy, this is Hafsah Faizal better than ever.

This was very fun. It's like King Arthur's Court meets Ocean's Eleven meets True Blood meets Peaky Blinders. So I had a really good time trying to find all of the little themes or Easter eggs in the story. A vampire in King Arthur's Court? It was so good.

Arthie is something else. I really loved her. Her whole aesthetic with the magenta hair and the page boy caps?! So hot. She's this entrepreneur, queen of secrets. I want to go to Spindrift during the day for a cup of tea, and I want to see it at night as the blood room. 

Then you have the whole heist of it all. Arthie pulls together her super crew, even though she's not sure she can trust them all exactly. Read. This. Book.

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Dirty Service

           

Title: Dirty Service

Series: The Dorsey Brothers #2

Author: Carmen Bishop

Publisher: B.A.D. Publishing, LLC, April 3, 2023

Pages: 378

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Axel Dorsey isn’t the kind of guy you take home to your parents.

He is, however, the perfect piece of man-candy to play the part of my fiancé at my best friend’s wedding.

Or so says my genius plan.

Turns out, Axel is as arrogant as he is attractive. But damn is he good with his hands.

And he has no problem putting on a show for the sake of all those who tormented me during high school.

But the more we pretend, the more the lines between reality and fiction blur.

And now I’m in danger of catching very real feelings for my fake fiancé.

What have I done? First of all, I started with book 2 in a series. It is fairly standalone. But that's the least of my concerns. Which sounds very dramatic. This was fine for a MF contemporary romance. But my tastes don't tend to skew that way most of the time.

So much happened in this book. More than I could have ever expected. Axel and Kennedy are fine. Axel agrees to be Kennedy's fake fiancé for her brother's wedding in Hawaii. They spend some time together leading up to the wedding, and you start to learn about Kennedy's family's disfunction. This woman has gone no contact with every member of her family except her brother. And poor thing, she really should have just written him off with the rest of them.

The. Drama. Holy moly. The things that these two deal with...I don't even want to get into it because the surprises just kept on coming. But I would like to talk about the fact that Axel's real name is Alex. Obviously chosen names are important. And no one is required to legally change their name if they choose not to. But his family is described as this mega inclusive, ultra accepting bunch. But he doesn't go by Alex because it's his dad's name, and he has a lot of mixed up feelings for his dad. But his mom won't call him by his chosen name. Or she will, but she also still calls him Alex. And that really threw me off. Especially because his family was clearly a foil for Kennedy's family situation, and that kind of messed it up for me.

Axel was also a big ol' alpha-hole. Which is amazing in a sci-fi or paranormal/shifter book. But not so much in a regular old contemporary where people have to deal with modern culture the way that it is. 

Ratings

Stars: 3/5

Spice: 2/5

Set in Stone

          

Title: Set in Stone

Author: Lynn Camden

Publisher: October 11, 2021

Pages: 209

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Evie Stone has experienced enough loss for a lifetime. To protect herself, this plus-sized event planner has decided to build herself a new solitary life in a new city, with a new job, and new apartment...but she wasn't planning on all the new friends.

Aaron is a bearded, burly stonemason who always thinks he knows best. He's also a temptation she can hardly resist. He's got the future in his eyes, and she's not looking for forever. But surely a fling can't do any harm...

The Canadian winter has never been so steamy, but will Evie risk loving again, or is their future set in stone?

These two are so hot. I'm actually shocked they aren't the reason for wrecking Elmdale's snow plans.  

Evie is a massive introvert. She's not at all interested in forming big fundamental friendships. She just wants to do her job, until she's ready to leave again. And according to her that's going to be in one year. Which maybe was explained but I totally missed it. I think it's just because she doesn't want to put roots down, that is definitely her vibe.

But the people she works with in Elmdale? They have other plans for sure! This friend group that she finds herself pulled into have roots and offshoots and deep ties in their community. And Aaron is a frickin dreamboat! The good friends and the hottie with the body were enough to tempt Evie into their orbit, and also enough to send her into a full existential spiral.

Evie's growth was beautiful. She makes you work for it! I spent the last 30% of this book having some massive anxiety regarding Evie's future. I'm glad that she decided that roots aren't the worst thing in the world, that's for sure! Everyone deserves a community.

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 2/5

Only and Forever

         

Title: Only and Forever

Series: Bergman Brothers #7

Author: Chloe Liese

Publisher: Berkley, April 2, 2024

Pages: 366

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Viggo Bergman, hopeless romantic, is thoroughly weary of waiting for his happily ever after. But between opening a romance bookstore, running a romance book club, coaching kids' soccer, and adopting a household of pets—just maybe, he’s overcommitted himself?—Viggo’s chaotic life has made finding his forever love seem downright improbable.

Enter Tallulah Clarke, chilly cynic with a massive case of writer’s block. Tallulah needs help with her thriller’s romantic subplot. Viggo needs another pair of hands to keep his store afloat. So they agree to swap skills and cohabitate for convenience—his romance expertise to revive her book, her organizational prowess to salvage his store. They hardly get along, and they couldn’t be more different, but who says roommate-coworkers need to be friends?

As they share a home and life, Tallulah and Viggo discover a connection that challenges everything they believe about love, and reveals the plot twist they never saw coming: happily ever after is here already, right under their roof.

This is bittersweet. I'm so happy for Viggo. His bookstore is a dream. But the fact that this series is over is a tragedy. Never was a more tragic story ever told! Then that the Bergman's only had 7 children and they're fictional, every one.

Viggo has played matchmaker to all of his siblings. In just about the most obnoxious ways possible. So when it's time for his own matchmaking, it was pretty typical that he kept every card in existence close to his chest. And they still managed to wheedle their way in there in the end.

Tallulah's emotional journey was so nice to watch. Hard, sure. She drug her ding dang feet about it. But I love a healthy representation of working on yourself and getting the help that you need to become your best self. 

Mostly, I want to go to Viggo's book, coffee, pastry, plant store SO badly!!!! It sounds like an absolute dream! And I can't wait to see what else Chloe Liese has floating around her talented brain.

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 2/5

Happy Place

         

Title: Happy Place

Author: Emily Henry

Publisher: Berkley, April 25, 2023

Pages: 395

Genre: Contemporary Romance

A couple who broke up months ago pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.
 
Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.
 
They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.
 
Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blissful week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.
 
Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?

Choices are wild. And the choices that these two have made are even wilder! They have decided, mutually, to not tell the people important to them that they have ended their relationship for five months. 

As usual, Emily Henry has absolutely broken my heart and put it back together with this book. Like, you don't have to be that mean to us. I would still read the book without feeling like I got my whole life ruined in the reading of it. The writing is beautiful, but it really does require so much emotional energy to read it. 

Having this place where all of your favorite people can return every year sounds lovely. Those people all choosing to go back every year also sounds lovely. And then, those traditions changing, and those people growing up and apart. That's very relatable. Everything else about the place, and the people. Well, that's less relatable. But I'm not a hotel empire heiress, nor am I friends with one. 

I do wish that the conflict in this book weren't so contingent upon miscommunication/lack of communication. It's such a pain in my butt. Not only were they unwilling to communicate their needs, but they tried to make choices for one another. Which is very annoying, I don't like a "I'm doing this for your own good," especially when they're both clearly so miserable about it. 

BUT. It's a lovely story. It did make me sit down and reflect on my own happy places, which was a very fun exercise.

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 2/5