Summer Romance List

Summer is here and the sun is finally making an appearance! 

We believe that there's no better way to enjoy it than relaxing outside with a good romance novel. 

Whether you are at the beach, by the pool or simply in your own garden, we've pulled together a list of romance novels to take with you this summer. This list is made up of some of our favourites and a few that are currently on our on summer TBR. 

Click on the image to be taken to the related Goodreads page.

Some or our favourites 

Love Her Or Lose Her - Tessa Bailey

Blurb: ‘Rosie and Dominic Vega are the perfect couple: high school sweethearts, best friends, madly in love. Well, they used to be, anyway. Now, Rosie's lucky to get a caveman grunt from the ex-soldier every time she walks in the door. Dom is faithful and a great provider, but the man she fell in love with 10 years ago is nowhere to be found. When her girlfriends encourage Rosie to demand more out of life and pursue her dream of opening a restaurant, she decides to demand more out of love, too. Three words: marriage boot camp.

Never in a million years did Rosie believe her stoic, too-manly-to emote husband would actually agree to relationship rehab with a weed-smoking hippie. Dom talking about feelings? Sitting on pillows? Communing with nature? Learning love languages? Nope. But to her surprise, he's all in, and it forces her to admit her own role in their cracked foundation. As they complete one ridiculous - yet surprisingly helpful - assignment after another, their remodeled relationship gets stronger than ever. Except just as they're getting back on track, Rosie discovers Dom has a secret... and it could demolish everything.’

If you look at my Goodreads profile you will quickly be able to tell that I am a shameless Tessa Bailey fan. If she writes it, I will read it. So it is only natural that one of Tessa’s books would make an appearance on this list. Love Her Or Lose Her is the 2nd book in Tessa’s ‘Hot & Hammered’ series. It takes place not long after the events of Fix Her Up. However, I feel that it makes sense as a stand alone. 

The Duke And I - Julia Quinn

Blurb: ‘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...’

With the release of season 3 of the Bridgerton series on Netflix this year, its safe to say that this series has had a boost in popularity. I recently finished reading this series and can confirm that it is one of my favorite historical romance series that I’ve read, to date. Each installment follows a different Bridgerton sibling through the ups and downs of their love story. My personal favourite has to be ‘When He Was Wicked’ which tells Francesca and Michael’s story.

The Seven Year Slip - Ashley Poston

Blurb: ‘Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.

So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.

And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.

Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.

Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.

After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.’

I was captivated by the Seven Year Slip from the very first chapter and had a severe book hangover upon turning the last page. The contemporary setting and the smallest hint of magic to mix things up really appealed to me. Who doesn’t love a bit of time travel?

The Happy Ever After Playlist - Abby Jimenez

Blurb: ‘This is the second book in the companion series The Friend Zone.

Two years after losing her fiancé, Sloan Monroe still can't seem to get her life back on track. But one trouble-making pup with a "take me home" look in his eyes is about to change everything. With her new pet by her side, Sloan finally starts to feel more like herself. Then, after weeks of unanswered texts, Tucker's owner reaches out. He's a musician on tour in Australia. And bottom line: He wants Tucker back.

Well, Sloan's not about to give up her dog without a fight. As their flirty texts turn into long calls, Sloan can't deny a connection. There's no telling what could happen when they meet in person. The question is: With his music career on the rise, how long will Jason really stick around? And is it possible for Sloan to survive another heartbreak?’

Abby Jimenez’s books are always powerful, but The Happy Ever After Playlist holds a special place in my heart. This is a beautiful story about overcoming grief and opening up to love. I was completely unable to put this book down, devouring it in one day.

Feather - Olivia Wildenstein

Blurb: ‘It was supposed to be a quick mission. The only thing quick about it was how rapidly I failed.

With only a month left to earn her missing feathers, nineteen-year-old Leigh embarks on a trip to Paris to meet her newest project, twenty-five-year-old Jarod Adler, leader of the Parisian Mafia and the worst kind of sinner . . . a Triple.

If Leigh can get Jarod to accomplish a single act of kindness, she stands to win 100 feathers, more than enough to complete her wings and ascend to Elysium, the land of angels.

What she doesn’t count on is Jarod's dark charm costing her feathers.

She’s dead set on saving him, and he’s dead set on destroying her.

Until he realizes destroying her wings is also destroying her heart.

A heart he longs to hear beat only for him.’

For those of you, like me, who love a bit of fantasy with your romance Feather by Olivia Wildenstein could be the perfect next read for you. The Angels of Elysium series is one I don’t see recommend often and I think it deserves more hype than it gets. Beware though, this is a Romeo & Juliet retelling so don’t expect a happy ending (of the first book anyway).

On Our TBR

The Catch - Amy Lea

Blurb:  'A grumpy lobster fisherman tosses a fashion influencer’s impeccably curated life overboard in the next romantic comedy from international bestselling author Amy Lea.

In a last-ditch effort to rescue her brand from the brink of irrelevance, Boston fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen finds herself in a rural fishing village on the east coast of Canada. The only thing scarier than nature itself? The burly and bearded bed-and-breakfast owner and fisherman, Evan Whaler—who single-handedly disproves the theory that Canadians are “nice.”

After a boating accident lands Evan unconscious in the hospital, Mel is mistaken for his fiancée by his welcoming yet quirky family, who are embroiled in a long-standing feud over the B&B. In a bold attempt to mend family fences, Mel agrees to fake their engagement for one week in exchange for Evan’s help with her social media content.

Amid long hikes and campfire chats, reeling in their budding feelings for each other proves more difficult by the day. But is Mel willing to sacrifice her picture-perfect life in the city for a chance at a true, unfiltered love in the wild?'

Tangled Up In You - Christina Lauren

Blurb:  'She has a dream. He has a plan. Together they’ll take a leap of faith.

Ren has never held an iPhone, googled the answer to a question, or followed a crush on social media. What she has done: Read a book or two, or three (okay, hundreds). Taught herself to paint. Built a working wind power system from scratch. But for all the books she’s read, Ren has never found one that’s taught a woman raised on a homestead and off the grid for most of her twenty-two years how to live in the real world. So when she finally achieves her lifelong dream of attending Corona College, it feels like her life is finally beginning.

Fitz has the rest of his life mapped out: Graduate from Corona at the top of his class, get his criminal record wiped clean, and pass himself off as the rich, handsome player everyone thinks he is. He’s a few short months from checking off step one of his plans when Ren Gylden, with her cascading blonde hair and encyclopedic brain, crashes into his life, and for the first time Fitz’s plan is in jeopardy.

But a simple assignment in their immunology seminar changes the course of both their lives, and suddenly they’re thrown out of the frying pan and into the fire on a road trip that will lead them in the most unexpected directions. Out on the open road, the world somehow shifts, and the unlikely pair realize that, maybe, the key to the dreams they've both been chasing have been sitting next to them the whole time.'

Business Casual - B.K. Borison 

Blurb:  'Two opposites decide to test their chemistry with one steamy night together. But will once be enough?

Nova Porter isn’t looking for love, and she certainly has no explanation for her attraction to buttoned-up, three-piece-suit-wearing investment banker Charlie Milford. Maybe it’s his charm? Or maybe it’s his determination to help her fledgling business however he can. Either way, she’s distracted every time he’s around. With her new tattoo studio set to open in her hometown of Inglewild, she doesn’t have time for frivolous flirtations. 

In an effort to get Charlie out of her system once and for all, Nova offers a proposition. One night. No strings. They’ll kick their uncomfortable attraction to the curb and return to their respective responsibilities. But their explosive night together scatters their expectations like fallen leaves. And with Charlie in town as the temporary head of Lovelight Farms, Nova can’t quite avoid him. 

And Charlie? Well, Charlie knows a good investment when he sees one. He’s hoping he can convince Nova he’s worth some of her time.'

The Fiancé Dilemma - Elena  Armas

Blurb:  'Josie Moore has given the opposite sex—and love—plenty of chances. Four exactly, if you count all her failed engagements, and five if you include the absentee father who kept her existence a secret until very recently. So when her father decides to announce his retirement with a splashy magazine piece about the family, Josie realizes her romantic history is a complicated PR issue.

Matthew Flanagan is in the mud, literally. Not only has he been fired from his job, but also the tires of his car are stuck in the muck after taking a wrong turn as he enters Green Oak, North Carolina. So, he grabs a duffel with his essentials and goes in search of a place to crash until he gets his life back on track. But instead, he finds his best friend’s sister, Josie, greeting him as her fiancé.

What starts as a big messy misunderstanding quickly turns into an arrangement with Matthew playing a new role as doting fiancé. A fifth engagement—and a stunt, at that—makes Josie’s stomach turn, but every dilemma requires a choice between equally undesirable alternatives, and Matthew doesn’t seem to mind becoming one more number in a colorful list of grooms-that-never-were. Despite the ring on her finger, Josie knows this is only temporary, even if the rest of the small town believes that the fifth time’s the charm.'

Yours Truly - Abby Jimenez

Blurb:  'Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse.'

November Wrap-up

Here is a list of all the books I have read in November. Click the link in the title to add to your Goodreads shelf.

The Dragon Lord's Fated Mate (Dragon Chronicles #1) by Ana Calin

I'm a dragon, and I'm here on a mission.

Finding my fated mate in Acatia Riley, my target's fiancée, is the last thing I need.

The last thing I want.

And the only thing I can think about.

The more I try to stay away, the more she pulls me in. She wants me, too, but she doesn't know the beast inside.

My passion can destroy her. My lust literally burns, and she is only human.

I have to keep my distance even if it tears my guts out.

But mortal danger threatens to wipe out the world, and I'm the only one who can keep her safe. The question is, can I save her from myself?

Our rating 3.5 stars ✮✮✮✬

The Dragon's Prisoner (Dragon Chronicles #2) by Ana Calin

A dragon on a mission. A woman he can use. A game of fate that could destroy them both.

When every-woman’s-wet-dream Bastian Steel first walks into my life, it’s to use me against my ex. I’m the bastard’s only weakness, and Bastian has every intention to exploit it.

I’d tell him no, fight to resist him, really, I would, if he didn’t make me such an enticing offer. One no one could resist.

I resent the cocky bastard, but I don’t really have a choice.

Not even when he asks me to strip for him, those devilishly black eyes eating me alive.

He’s a thug, cruel and unyielding, but he’s also my master—or so he proclaimed when he took away my freedom.

Soon, I'm hooked on him. Still, I’ll die before I let it show.

I’m Vienna Marten, and I had many powerful bastards in the palm of my hand before Bastian Steel.

True, none if his caliber. None as sinfully sexy. None as darkly powerful.

But if this is a power struggle, I’ll win it, or I’ll die trying. 

Our rating 3 stars ✮✮✮

Claimed By Drago Wolf (Magnificent Beasts #1) by Ana Calin

Drago Wolf is a muscle-bound, cocky, leather-wearing beast. He's also a pro at what he does - kicking ass at underground fight clubs, and messing with women's heads for money. I swear I was determined to resist him, but I just couldn't. Not when those eyes like midnight wandered all over my body, and those rock-hard arms pinned my hands above my head. I was wet mid-thigh before he even kissed me.
I gave in to temptation, certain he'd just zip up and hit the road afterwards. But guess what. He emerged convinced I was The One.
Now my public image hangs by a thread. I depend on local investors to keep my dad's legacy going--medical research labs against deadly diseases. Just imagine those people finding out I'm screwing a male escort....

Drago

I came to Darkwood Falls for a gig. Some chicks paid big bucks for their frigid girlfriend to screw a leather-studded pack of muscles for her birthday. A highlight for her, nothing special for me, right?
Wrong.
Turns out, the frigid girlfriend is The One. Hell, I never even believed the ancient lore. No werewolf has met their fated mate in centuries.
But when I part Arianna Parker's thighs for the first time, all bets are off. Before I know it, I'm addicted to her. I begin stalking her, and I won't stop until she's mine.
For that I'll have to get her cheating ex, Sullivan, out of the way. He wants her back and, like me, he'll do anything to get her. Problem is, kicking his ass would only cause Arianna more trouble.
But when my own natural enemies step into the picture, putting Arianna's life in danger, the gloves are off. I'll kill them all, including their supporter Sullivan, and I'll claim Arianna for good - or I'll die trying. 

Our rating 2 stars ✮✮

Taken By Nero Wolf (Magnificent Beasts #2) by Ana Calin

Princess
Imagine this. A guy slips a sex drug into my drink, and my new boss saves me. Now my boss is the only one around to scratch my itch, but that's a big no no. 

You see, my boss is an alpha werewolf that women swoon over, a handsome beast that I'll mean nothing to. Yet the drug has gotten to my head. I'm dying to feel his big werewolf dick inside of me, and I'll beg if I have to. But when I wake up the next day....
I wish the ground would split open and swallow me. How could I let Nero Wolf bang me on the hood of his Porsche like that? And what the heck am I hoping for now? He can never be mine, and not only because he roams the woods as a big black beast with golden eyes at night. But because he zipped up, and won't look back.
Only he does. He says there's an evil plot behind the drug in my drink, the hand of a villain, and he wants to know--who and why? He's cool and reserved as we work together, but he goes ballistic when a new guy makes a move. I can't help wondering.... If our night together was nothing to him, why is he glaring at men around me like he could rip them apart?

Nero
The choice was simple - bang Princess Skye, or watch her die. I had many women before her, and she shouldn't have been special.
But the moment I dipped myself inside of her, the world tilted. Now it's enough to catch a whiff of her, and I grow hard. I lurk outside her door at night, breathing in her scent and jerking off. Damn, how I want to make her mine for good, but as alpha of my pack and protector of this town I have powerful enemies. They'd hunt her down and kill her. I have to turn my back on her, but....
Someone had a deadly sex drug put in her drink, and I have to protect her until we find out who and why. But the more I'm around her, the more I crave her. I might save her from the villain who manipulated her drink, but in the meanwhile I'll become an infection in her life. Soon I realize - she'll have to kill me to ever be free of me again.

Our rating 3 stars ✮✮✮

Protected By Conan Wolf (Magnificent Beasts #3) by Ana Calin

Janine
Conan Wolf is a huge guy with boulder-like muscles and a scarred face, who just proclaimed himself my bodyguard. He looks more like a warlord, but I guess that's part of the package, right?
I'm one of the Fated Females of Darkwood Falls, which makes me a target for the bad guys, so I'm not exactly surprised the werewolves ruling this town want to keep an eye on me. But when I get an invitation to Europe from a Venice werewolf Lord, I have to wonder--why does he want to meet me of all people, and why do I get his letter on the very day Conan became my bodyguard?
One thing is clear, I can't travel to Europe without my protector. But by the time we land on the other side of the world I'm already crushing hard on him. I'm hoping for a one-night stand, at least, but Conan is a battle-hardened bastard with a cold heart, and maybe I should just accept that. But, if he doesn't want me, why does he stare at me the way he does?

Conan
A rich needy bachelorette. That's what I thought Janine Kovesi was until the pack made it my job to protect her. Nothing special at first. I'm centuries old, and I've met so many women nothing can impress me anymore. But, against all odds, Janine is different. The more I stare at her, the less I can look away. The mystery of those cobalt blue eyes pulls me in.
Damn it, I can't let this happen, I can't imprint on her. I would need her like air then, I'd crave her like a madman, I'd become weak. And I'm responsible for the defense of the entire pack, I can't afford to be weak. I need to stay focused, hard, cold.
But then the tables turn, and I have to make a choice. Either I imprint on her, or another man does--a man with an agenda to misuse her hidden superpower, and force my own dark secret up to light. A secret that's bound to destroy someone once it claws its way back up from where I buried it--me or Janine. 

Our rating 3 stars ✮✮✮

In Sin With The Wolf (Magnificent Beasts #4) by Ana Calin

Achilles Wolf is bad news. He's the youngest of the Wolf brothers, and cocky as f*ck.

And who can blame him? He's a mean ass shifter bursting with testosterone, used to the favors of older rich ladies and young floozies alike. I'd never give such a man satisfaction. But as destiny will have it, I need him. With my ex husband dead, I want to take over his seat in the Council and find out who had him murdered. I need Achilles' protection, and with him as my bodyguard 24/7, resisting him gets harder. No. I'll die at the hands of my enemies before I let this wolf become my Achilles' heel.

Achilles

Protecting the rich widow Melanthe Skye is nothing but a job to me. At first. Melanthe is a cold beauty with enough strength of character to crush a king, and yet there's something deliciously vulnerable about her. F*ck, I want to possess that beauty. I want to see this woman kneel in front of me, submit to me. The Ice Queen, giving in to her knight. I promise that I'll submit her to my lust if it's the last thing I do. And when I'm done, and her enemies are dead, I'll claim the ultimate prize. I'll have her do the one thing she swore she'd never do.

Our rating 3 stars ✮✮✮

The Dog Share by Fiona Gibson

Suzy Medley is having a bad day…

… when a shabby terrier turns up at her door. Just like Suzy, Scout has been abandoned, although only Suzy has been left with a financial mess and a business in tatters thanks to her ex.

Suzy takes Scout in and her chaotic world changes in unexpected ways: strangers have never been more welcoming and her teenage kids can’t wait to come home to visit.

Then a chance encounter on a windy Hebridean beach makes things more complicated, because Suzy isn’t the only one who needs a friend.

Scout has plenty of love to go round… but does Suzy?

Our rating 4 stars ✮✮✮✮

Hold Back The Tide by Melinda Salisbury

Everyone knows what happened to Alva's mother, all those years ago. But when dark forces begin to stir in Ormscaula, Alva has to face a very different future - and question everything she thought she knew about her past... 

Our rating 4 stars ✮✮✮✮

Prince Of Midnight (Dracula's Bloodline #1) by Ana Calin

Let me tell you a secret - Dracula had a brother. This is true. They called him Radu the Handsome, but his beauty was deceiving, and it hid a deadly secret...

With high ambitions as a journalist, Juliet Jochs travels to the Carpathians to investigate a mysterious and unnaturally beautiful prince. She suspects that he's a dangerous man, and that this mission may cost her life. But, as the prince's masks begin to peel off, she fears she may lose her sanity. 

Prince Radek's dark powers suck Juliet into a whirl of hypnotic desire--no woman has ever resisted his lures. But something is different about her, special, and he's growing dangerously addicted to her. She must keep her head above the water if she is to save herself, run away and not look back before he consumes her completely. But can she resist opening the last door to his most terrible secret?

Our rating 3 stars ✮✮✮

Prince Of Obsession (Dracula's Bloodline #2) by Ana Calin

Carpathian prince Radek the Handsome no longer turns into a monster at nightfall. But does that make him any less wicked than his brother, Lord Dracula?

Three nights before their wedding, reporter Juliet Jochs storms out of Prince Radek’s castle, determined never to return. Five years later, she makes a terrible discovery—the true reason why Radek broke her heart, and its connection to Dracula.

The Prince and Juliet meet face to face again when he comes on business to her city. He tries to keep cool when she probes his shady dealings, but his craving for her grows obsessive and even dangerous, striking with a vengeance after their time apart. Stalking her from behind mirrors at night, he can barely contain his lust. But can he afford to lose control now that he’s so close to attaining the very goal for which he sacrificed Juliet years ago?

Our rating 3.5 stars ✮✮✮✬

Prince Of Blood (Dracula's Bloodline #3) by Ana Calin

Dracula exists.
For centuries he's been lurking in the underworld, searching for the one woman whose blood can make him invincible--
Dracula's Grail.

A shadow stalks librarian Ruxandra Len, a demonic power from a past she can't remember. Intrigued when she discovers that her bloodline leads back to the notorious Prince Dracula, she travels to the Carpathians to learn more. But what she finds is a truth darker than legend.

The Prince of Blood fascinates Rux. His dark energy weaves a web of enchantment around her, making her crave him. But just as the Dark Lord thinks she's ready to surrender her blood, the deepest shadow of her past emerges. Can Vlad Dracula defeat an even older, darker legend, and protect the woman who means the world to him in more ways than he likes to admit?

Our rating 3 stars ✮✮✮

Prince Of The Damned (Dracula's Bloodline #5) by Ana Calin

Lord Vlad Dracula has just one weakness--his wife, Ruxandra.

So when a mysterious vampire tries to assassinate her, Vlad tears his throat open. But the vampire's blood starts a strange process in Lord Dracula's body, enhancing his killer instincts and making him dangerous even to the one woman he'd die for--Rux.

Dracula changes, his inner demons boiling to the surface--control, jealousy, bloodlust. His desire for Rux grows dangerous and suffocating, and his thirst for blood insatiable. Rux must unmask the invisible foe that drives her husband ever deeper into darkness, before his evil plan makes Dracula self-destruct. The question is--will she survive long enough to do it?

Our rating 3.5 stars ✮✮✮✬

The Forbidden Prince (Dracula's Bloodline #5) by Ana Calin

Tristan DeKnight is Lord Dracula's left hand. He's hard, ruthless, and never fails in his missions. But when he's sent to deliver a secret potion to Isolde Serpaint, Dracula's extended family, things go terribly wrong.

Tristan meets Isolde's abusive husband, Mark, and all bets are off - they've met before, and they owe each other a debt of blood. Problem is, Tristan is trapped among Mark's men, a lone vampire among serpents. To make things worse, circumstances force him and Isolde to drink the love potion that was meant for someone else. Soon, they are sucked into a forbidden love affair that may cost them both their lives.

Our rating 3 stars ✮✮✮

Princess Of Seduction (Dracula's Bloodline #6) by Ana Calin

There's a fine line between hate and love.

The seductress vampire Irina turned young scholar Lazarus into a vampire many years ago. He hates her for it, but now they're forced to work together on a mission to discover the secret to human immortality. Yet as Lazarus goes discovering Irina's terrible past and what turned her into a princess of seduction centuries ago, the line between hate and love blurs dangerously. Can Lazarus save Irina's doomed soul, or will he go down with it?

Our rating 3 stars ✮✮✮

Prince Michael The Bad (Dracula's Bloodline #7) by Ana Calin

Dracula's son is one the most dangerous vampires that ever walked the Earth. They call him Michael the Bad because the only thing that matches his wicked good looks is his vicious nature. Every creature of the Underworld knows better than to cross him, but Angelique Serrano is only human. Now he's got a score to settle with her - but will he do it when he realizes that she's the key to destroying his oldest and most dangerous enemy?

Our rating 3.5 stars ✮✮✮✬

The Devil's Son (Dracula's Bloodline #8) by Ana Calin

Vampire prince Michael the Bad has a reputation—his breathtaking looks, his force, his control. But there’s a part of him that’s very different. A hell spawn lurks inside him, one that he’d rather keep forever dormant. But the time has come for Michael to face his strongest enemy, and for that he needs to become the beast.
Problem is, the beast will demand something in return—to consume Michael’s fated mate, Angelique Serrano.
In order to win against his oldest enemy, Michael has to give himself completely over to the demon, and sacrifice Angelique to its dark desires. If he doesn’t, the war is lost, along with both their lives. Will Michael the Bad find a way to save his lover, or will he give in to evil, and forever become The Devil’s Son?

Our rating 3 stars ✮✮✮

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo ( Millennium ) by Stieg Larsson

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

Our rating 5 stars ✮✮✮✮✮

A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan Quinn

How did you two meet?

The quintessential question asked to every couple. And the answer is usually some bubbly, lovey dovey tale of being struck in the bum by Cupid’s arrow.

My meet cute (well not so meet cute) is slightly different. I was trolling a wealthy neighborhood in Beverly Hills, searching for someone to take me as their bride, you know, to make my arch nemesis jealous who consequently just fired me.

He was stomping around the block like some sort of gorgeous ogre, mumbling about a business deal gone wrong and attempting to finagle his way out of it.

And that's when we bumped into each other.
There were no sparks.
Not even a hint of blossoming love.

But next thing I knew, I was scarfing down free chips and guac, listening to this man lay out all of his problems which led to his big ask . . . he wanted me to be his Vivian Ward, you know, from Pretty Woman--minus the frisky behavior.

We're talking about living in a mansion, intimate double dates, and pretending we were head over heels in love . . . and engaged. Can you imagine?

The absolute audacity.

But people do crazy things when they’re desperate. And I reeked of desperation. So, I struck up a deal.

My one big mistake, though . . . big . . . HUGE? I accidentally fell for the incomparable Huxley Cane.

Our rating 4 stars ✮✮✮✮

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

Our rating 4 stars ✮✮✮✮

Earn Your Extra Credit by Meghan Quinn

"She went home with someone else that night?"

Hearing the disbelief from my best friend's mouth makes the events of my failed date sting that much more.

I would like to make it known, I have a lot more swagger than what it seems. I don't normally ask a girl out, have her fail to recognize it's a date, and then give me a high five--as if I'm her wingman--and take off with someone else.

No. Normally I'm the one taking the girl home but with Stella, it's been one failed attempt after another and frankly, I'm done trying.

But thanks to my best friend getting married in Hawaii right before the school year starts, I'm stuck on a tropical island, watching Stella parade around in what she claims is a bathing suit.

Unfortunately, that's not the worst of it, just the tip of the iceberg. Because what I think is going to be a relaxing vacation, avoiding the one girl I can't seem to make it work with, has turned into a spectacle of being recruited as Stella's doting fake fiancé so she can save face with an old "friend" from high school.

Now I'm navigating through purgatory while trying not to get turned on by the way she holds my hand or kisses my jaw. It's all fake, that's what I keep telling myself, even though it feels entirely too real.

Our rating 4 stars ✮✮✮✮

All synopsis taken from Goodreads or Amazon

August wrap-up

Here is a list of all the books I have read or listened to in August. Click the link in the title to add to your Goodreads shelf.

Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon (ebook) 

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Our rating ✮✮✮✮

Intended by 

H.L. Macfarlane (ebook) 

“There’s something here, beneath the surface. Something alive. Can’t you feel it? Don’t you want to…join it?”

The last thing Charlie Hope wants is to get into magical politics – especially when she’d rather spend all her time singing in the woods. But when her father gives her an ultimatum she cannot ignore Charlie reluctantly becomes assistant to Mr Silver, immortal magician extraordinaire and one of the biggest political influences in the country.

The last thing Daniel Silver wants is to look after a precocious young woman whilst working to avoid all-out war with foreign magical factions. Yet though Charlie hides the true extent of her abilities from the enigmatic man, it isn’t long before Silver is drawn in by what’s lurking beneath the surface of his unwilling protégé.

As tensions rise between Silver and Charlie and war between factions becomes inevitable, something deep and ancient and forgotten may just be using their petty distractions as a means to crawl back into existence and obliterate them all.

Our rating ✮✮✮✮✮

Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander 2) by Diana Gabaldon (ebook)

For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ...about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ...and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his ....

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ...in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising ...and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves.... 

Our rating ✮✮✮✮

Voyager (Outlander #3)by Diana Gabaldon (ebook)

Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had travelled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her... and her body still cries out for him in her dreams.

Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her...the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland... and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite or forever doom her timeless love.

Our rating ✮✮✮✮

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne (audiobook)

Crush: a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach…

Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough.

When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade.

Suddenly Darcy’s considering sticking around to make sure her twin doesn’t ruin the cottage’s inherent magic with his penchant for grey and chrome. She’s definitely not staying because of her new business partner’s tight t-shirts, or that perfect face that's inspiring her to pick up her camera again. Soon sparks are flying—and it’s not the faulty wiring. It turns out one percent of Tom’s heart might not be enough for Darcy anymore. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers. 

Our rating ✮✮✮

Neon Gods (Dark Olympus #1) by Katee Robert (audiobook)

He was supposed to be a myth. But from the moment I crossed the River Styx and fell under his dark spell... he was, quite simply, mine.

Society darling Persephone Dimitriou plans to flee the ultra-modern city of Olympus and start over far from the backstabbing politics of the Thirteen Houses. But all that’s ripped away when her mother ambushes her with an engagement to Zeus, the dangerous power behind their glittering city’s dark facade.

With no options left, Persephone flees to the forbidden undercity and makes a devil’s bargain with a man she once believed a myth... a man who awakens her to a world she never knew existed.

Hades has spent his life in the shadows, and he has no intention of stepping into the light. But when he finds that Persephone can offer a little slice of the revenge he’s spent years craving, it’s all the excuse he needs to help her—for a price. Yet every breathless night spent tangled together has given Hades a taste for Persephone, and he’ll go to war with Olympus itself to keep her close…

A modern retelling of Hades and Persephone that’s as sinful as it is sweet.

Our rating ✮✮✮

All synopsis taken from goodreads

What's on our NetGalley shelf

 We both like reading and reviewing books on NetGalley. Here's a peak at what we currently have on our shelves. Look out for the reviews of these books and others to come.

1. Fae Prophecy by Toni Cox

Dark magic threatens the Fae kingdom of Draeguard and the king stands accused of treason. 

Forced to flee, Princess Dana must now discover the source of her mysterious powers, the truth about her birth, and how to get along with a sworn enemy – a Shifter. 

Get book 1 of The Fae Prophecy series now to find out the fate of the magical kingdom of Draeguard. 

2. A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers

A young woman in Belle Epoque France is cursed to relive a doomed love affair through many lifetimes, as both troubled muse and frustrated artist.

In 1895, sixteen-year-old Juliet LaCompte has a passionate, doomed romance with the married Parisian painter Auguste Marchant. When her mother — a witch — botches a curse on Marchant, she unwittingly binds Juliet to the artist through time, damning her to re-live her affair and die tragically young lifetime after lifetime as the star-crossed lovers reincarnate through history.

Luke Varner, the worldly demon tasked with maintaining this badly crafted curse, has been helplessly in love with his charge, in all her reincarnations, since 19th century France. He’s in love with Nora, a silver screen starlet in 1930s Hollywood. He’s in love with Sandra, a struggling musician in 1970s Los Angeles. And he’s in love with Helen, a magazine exec in present-day DC who has the power to “suggest” others do her bidding.

In this life, Helen starts to recall the curse and her tragic previous lives. But this time, she might have the power to break the cycle…

A Witch in Time is perfect for fans of A Secret History of Witches, Outlander, and The Time Traveler’s Wife.

3. Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

From the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series comes a new blockbuster series…

Two sisters.

One brutal murder.

A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself…

And an intoxicating romance.

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost-even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems…

Release date 27th of October 2020.

4. Infernal by Mark De Jager

Stratus wakes in an unfamiliar place, with nothing but the knowledge that he is not human, with no memories of his past but possessing great strength, a powerful sorcery and the burning instinct to survive at any cost.

Embarking on a journey of self-discovery, he sets out across a landscape torn apart by the ten year war between the Kingdoms of Krandin and Penullin, now reaching new levels of savagery as a dark magic drives the world to the brink of destruction.

As his personality grows with each step he slowly uncovers the truth of what he has become and the unquenchable thirst for vengeance that has led him there.

A bold new voice in fantasy and a revolutionary new character.

Release date 24th of November 2020

5. Of Wicked Blood by Olivia Wildenstein & Katie Hayoz

NO REST FOR THE WICKED . . . OR THE CURSED.

SLATE
I didn’t mean to steal the Bloodstone from the De Morel’s crypt.
Scratch that, I did mean to steal it.
Until I realized it was a curse-magnet that only comes off if I, along with a jolly trio, successfully defeat four curses.
If any of us fail, I’m dead.
I’ve never been a glass half-empty sort of person, but my glass looks in dire need of a refill right about now.
The only highlight of this wicked treasure hunt: feisty, entitled Cadence de Morel.

CADENCE
I was raised on tales of magic, in a small town reputed to be the birthplace of French witchcraft.
Did I believe all the stories I heard? Absolutely not. I mean, if magic existed, Maman wouldn’t have died, and Papa wouldn’t be stuck in a wheelchair, right?
Wrong.
The night Slate Ardoin waltzes into my life, wearing a ring he stole from my mother’s grave, I call him a monster.
But then I meet real ones, and Slate, well . . . he becomes something else to me.
Something frustrating to live with but impossible to live without.
Something I will fight for, no matter the cost.

Release date 2nd of February 2021

synopsis taken from Goodreads