The Love Dare by Abiola Bello

Welcome Back, Booklovers! At this point I've read a few Abiola Bello books and The Love Dare was the one that intrigued me most with a mention of Notting Hill Carnival in the synopsis. And I'll say Ms. Bello has surprised me by improving every book so keep reading for my review of what I think is her best romance yet. 

Eva has been playing the flirtation game with Jayden for awhile now but he still hasn't made any real moves. During Notting Hill Carnival her friends get her to dance with a random guy and she meets Saint, a cute quiet comic book junkie. Later after a party ends with her father's car getting wrecked, her friend dares her to get Saint to fall in love with her and she'll give her the money for the car. 

This one had the right balance of teen drama sprinkled in with the budding romance. It was evenly paced, the teens felt like real people rather than tropes to fit the story.  Eva is quite confident and an extrovert which was refreshing in a sea of quiet bookish girl main characters. Then you have Saint who is a gamer and an avid comic reader. He's very laid back and comfortable in his own skin. Saint and Eva have great chemistry and there's a callback that Love in Winter Wonderland readers will enjoy. There's a distinct cast of characters from Eva's friends from school to her older brother to her Gran. 

The romance slowly developed outside of the initial Carnival premise and there was a good representation of Black British culture on display without over explaining to the audience. With Love in Winter Wonderland it felt like the Bello was trying too hard to appeal to the US YA market and not enough of the uniqueness of Black British teen life was on display which was something she remedied in Only for the Holidays. In The Love Dare it finally felt like she found the right voice and style in this easy flowing romance. I listened to the audiobook which had a narrator who captured the vibes perfectly. 

The Partner Plot by Kristina Forest

Welcome Back, Booklovers! The Partner Plot is the second book in the Greene sisters series by Kristina Forest and one that I was seeing splashed across my social media a lot in February so once my library hold came through for the audiobook I decided it was finally time to read. 

Violet Green is a celebrity stylist whose career is fast rising thanks to her largest client Caramel Kitty. However her personal life is a mess having dumped her fiancé months ago and he ran off with one of her clients. While in Vegas celebrating with Caramel Kitty, she runs into her high school sweetheart Xavier Wright, who is there with a friend. After club hopping, and several drinks later Violent and Xavier wake up in bed together. They quickly realize they didn't actually marry and instead signed up for the fake package and part ways. When Violet lands a big interview with a magazine, the interviewer starts asking questions about her love life and in an effort to redirect attention back to herself she what starts out as a small lie becomes more complicated. She and Xavier find themselves in each other's lives again and the old feelings that never died come to the surface.

The book starts off with a very YAish prologue recapping how they met, started dating, and broke up during high school before parting ways. I don't think hinging a second chance romance on a finnicky high school relationship worked in the book's favor. With both having been in relationships with other people there's little reason for them to still be holding onto each other as the one that got away. And adult Violet and Xavier have very little in common in both their personal and professional lives.

There was a lot of opportunity here with Violet having a career most people can only dream of to have a fish out of water story with Xavier having to adjust especially since he felt inadequate since she had her life more together than he did. But they end of spending the majority of their time together in the small town Violet ran away from.

It was also pretty long in length for a contemporary romance, particularly one that doesn't do anything new or exciting with the tropes it uses. There was a point where it felt like the book could've ended but instead kept going with minimal drama. The audiobook narrators were good and kept me reading managing to add some life into the story. There were attempts to add more depth to the characters by including Violet's drama with her mother and Xavier's career woes but more could've been done to beef those plots up.

Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton

Welcome Back, Booklovers! It's been a minute but I'm glad to be back and I'm switching gears with a horror novel. Devils Kill Devils was gifted to me by Macmillan Audio. I had read The Spite House by Johnny Compton and was curious to see how he followed it up. While I'm not a huge horror reader I do like to indulge every now and again. 

Sarita has had a guardian angel named Angelo watching over her since she was a child and he rescued her from almost death. He has since saved her life on multiple occasions. The book opens with Sarita's husband Frank being killed by Angelo on their wedding night. Sarita is confused by why her guardian angel would feel threatened by someone so close to her. moves from solely Sarita's perspective to also focus on her mother in law Harrah, and Cela, also know as the godmaker. 

While The Spite House kept me engaged from start to end even as it built upon the story and branched out into new perspectives, Devils got murkier and harder to follow. After a strong start the book lost momentum in the middle. There was definitely some interesting vampire lore mixed in as well as commentary on religion but the book start to meander and make the reader wonder if certain points are even important to the overall plot. It should've been more streamlined and kept the focus on Sarita. This book feels less like a horror and more like a dark fantasy and a lot could've been done with the demon and vampire lore. But the pacing was off here where it felt like a lot was happening but nothing was really happening. Harrah's chapters in particular felt more tell than show than tell.

Imani Jade Powers does a good job narrating but not much can be done to elevate the book during the slower, messier parts.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pies by Jackie Lau

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Crawling out of a reading slump slowly and I decided to read a romance from my backlist. I own many Jackie Lau books all gifted by publishers or free e-book offerings  and I'm ashamed to say I haven't read most of them. This was the only one I had the audiobook for so it became my in the car read. And once I was a significant amount into it I decided to finish it outside of the car. I received a finished copy of Love, Lies, and Cherry Pies from Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review.

 

Emily Hung is an author who also works as a barista and is still barely making ends meet. She's in her early 30s and unsatisfied about her marital status, inability to afford a decent apartment on her own downtown, and her position as an author of color in the very racist publishing industry. In an effort to stop the pressure from family in regards to her love life she decided to fake date Mark Chen, a seemly perfect prospect hand selected by her mother.

The title truly makes no sense in the context of this book. I can probably count on one hand the number of times cherry pie was mentioned. It wasn't a significant food/dessert to the couple nor did it hold special meaning in the story. So I'm perplexed that it made it's way into the title. We get a couple mentions of a cherry pie milkshake but truly it was nothing special to the story. Nobody in this is a baker either. They never bonded over cherry pie!

Though I'm someone who is invested in publishing even I experienced fatigue when it came to the constantly info dumps about the publishing industry. Maybe some of the information might be fascinating to readers who have no idea about the inner workings of the publishing industry. If you've spent years on bookish social media around authors of color none of what was discussed here is new to you. At times it felt like Emily was an avatar for the author and her frustrations with publishing. The constant unprompted inner monologues about everything wrong with the publishing industry and how being an author who is traditionally published worked, detracted from the romance itself. The author also failed to highlight the positives when it came to Emily as a creative. I can't even remember what her books are normally about let alone what the current book she was writing is about. Every chapter she was trying to write but couldn't because she was in a writing slump.

Another weird choice was the switching from most of the book being Emily's pov to randomly including Mark's pov in the second half of the story. It didn't add any new insight and only seemed to lengthen a story that was droning on at a slow pace all book. Mark had a cute cat but was otherwise a very forgettable love interest that had little chemistry with Emily.

The themes of being in your thirties and not achieving everything you thought you would hits very close to home for so many people. There's so many aspects that are very relatable in this story that were bogged down by pacing and repetition.

The Starter Ex by Mia Sosa

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I'm a girl who loves audiobooks. Sometimes I just need to be read to especially when in in the kitchen cooking. In my search for something light and because I was doing an Audible free trial I figured this was the perfect time to read The Starter Ex by Mia Sosa. Having read a few of her books before I was familiar with her vibe.

Vanessa Cordero used to have a business in college as what she called a Starter Ex. She would get paid by girls to date guys they were interested in and then be the worst girlfriend ever so her clients could swoop in and pick up the pieces of his broken heart. She's since long given that life up however when she's recently back in New York after relocating her job, she runs into one of her old clients. Then her sister Lisa decides to have Vanessa help land her best friend's brother Jason by dating him.

Jason is allergic to commitment after a relationship went sour. He wants to entertain Vanessa to get his mother off his back and has no interest in her sister Lisa, despite Lisa's hints over the years. Jason's sister is getting married and he's doing his best to help things run as smooth as possible as she prepares to teach abroad. 

Previously I read a fake dating romance by Mia Sosa that felt forced particularly with the main characters pointing out it made no sense. While the characters point out how this scheme has potential to backfire and it's also not that believable  it worked because Jason flips the script on Vanessa early on. The narration here is great especially with the male narrator Noah B. Perez. If someone is looking for a quick palette cleanser this is a nice option.

Love in Bloom by Lucy Eden

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I took a break from the Christmas Romances to read Love in Bloom which was my first read from Lucy Eden. I've been seeing her cute covers for years and small town farm set romance with a Black lead is something I'm interested in reading more of. 

Love in Bloom follows Emma, who seemingly has the perfect life with a job in public relations and a future senator boyfriend. And then the grandparents she barely remembers die and will their small town farm to her. When she ends up losing both her job and her man she sees the farm as her fresh start. But she soon finds out she may not be fully cut out for farm work and the small town is not what it seems. 

This starts off with a great meet-cute and some light-hearted moments during a heavy time for Emma. The romance quickly progresses between Emma and Danesh, a horticulturist working for her grandparent's farm. There's some humor with city girl Emma trying to tackle the hard work of farm life and get acquainted with life in the small town. 

The characters are fine but I would've liked a little bit more development of them. There was a lot more telling than showing when it came to their relationship and I didn't fully buy their connection. Emma has a lot of growing to do and a complicated relationship with her family. The book was already over the top but the 3rd act tried to do too much. Lucy Eden tries to tackle a multitude of topics and while more serious topics can be addressed in a book that is humor it just felt off here.  Throwing in the typical miscommunication felt out of place based on how Dan had been waxing poetic about Emma being his soulmate. It also just didn't feel like the biggest issue among all the other issues happening. I think had it been paced better and proper time been dedicate to tackling the various plot points while keeping out the minor ones that did not move things forward this would've been a stronger book.

Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Dark Academia is still widely popular and we're starting to see even more in the mainstream from authors of color. Society of Lies was a Reese's Bookclub pick and seeing people share it was how it ended up on my radar. 

Maya has returned to her alma mater, Princeton after 10 years for her younger sister Naomi's graduation. But then Maya receives the news that Naomi is dead and the police are quick to try and rule it as accidental but Maya believes otherwise. Maya discovers that her sister had joined the infamous Sterling Club, a secret society with a history of tragedy and lies surrounding it.

Society of Lies is told across three timelines: Maya's present day, Maya's time as a student in Princeton in the early 2010s, and Naomi's time at Princeton in the early 2020s. At first as an audiobook listener it was hard to differentiate between the povs of Maya and Naomi during their years at Princeton because they have very similar narrative voices. The story also takes too long finding it's footing during part one where certain incidents could've easily be recapped in a passing sentence rather than a full scene. My interest wasn't grabbed until part two when it felt like movement was actually happening with the storylines rather than the college parties and shallow friendships. Maya's perspective is the stronger of the sister's and the story would've faired better being completely told from hers both past and present. Naomi's experienced paralleled her sister's too closely and felt a little heavy handed in it's attempts to tackle current events.

While part two and three were engaging in part four the pacing again slows down to the book's detriment. It was hard to care when the side characters were rather lackluster. And the overused cliche phrases kept pulling me out of the story. It wasn't a terrible book but the writing lacked depth. It may be good one for those transitioning out of YA books because the plot moves pretty straightforward with a couple of twists thrown in so it's not too hard to follow. However if you've read a few of these types of books don't expect to be wowed by this story.

Church Girl by Naima Simone

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Harlequin debuted their new line Afterglow this year promising fresh new stories to appeal to a Booktok audience and I'll admit I was sad about the Desire line being shuttered and also unsure about the vibe of the new line. I appreciated the diverse array of authors and stories but was having a mixed experience with some of the previous selections. Church Girl caught my attention with it's premise that sounded different than my recent reads and it being from an author I was already familiar with gave me more incentive to try it. 

Aaliyah Montgomery was supposed to marry the ideal man and become First Lady of  the church but decides instead to flee on her wedding day and convince her cousin Tamara to take her back to Chicago with her. Her plan is to go to school for an art degree but she needs a job so she can start holding her own in the meantime. Von Howard is pretty rude to her on their first encounter deciding with one look at her that's she's unfit for the job. However he's desperate for a nanny for his daughter, Gia so the woman he's dubbed a "real life Disney princess" will have to do.

There's plenty of drama to keep the story going between Von's battle against his ex-wife for ownership of his tattoo shop and primary custody of his daughter. Aaliyah is experiencing her first real taste of freedom and navigating coming into her own outside of her parent's gaze. Von is a very talk straight type of man who says what he means and doesn't sugar coat anything. And it was refreshing specifically to have a Black male love interest who isn't prim and proper. He feels like a real tattoo artist from Chicago in how he talks and moves. We get good insight to his relationships with his employees at the shop as well as his passion for his craft. He supported Aaliyah and encouraged her to speak up and be confident in herself but his approach is a little different.

Aaliyah starts out as more of a meek character used to playing the role and putting the Lord above all. It was funny watching her hold her own in situations when it came to Gia's well being. And she's not only finding her voice but embracing her likes. She comes into her own sexually and the steamy scenes did not disappoint. Despite growing up in different households and going off on different paths, she's able to connect with her cousin who is a big support for her during this new transitionary period in her life. 

If you're familiar with Naima Simone from her other Harlequin books, this one has a different vibe at least from the ones I read but the things you love about her writing are still there. And I'm looking forward to the next book in the series following cousin Tamara. 

Dear Dad: Growing Up with a Parent in Prison -- and How We Stayed Connected by Jay Jay Patton, Antoine Patton , and Kiara Valdez

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I've been happy to see the surge in graphic novels the past few years because they're such a great way to tell stories that just wouldn't flow the same way in prose. They're also a great way to make stories more accessible. Nonfiction isn't always the easiest genre to take in so I'm all for anything that makes those stories more accessible. I wasn't really sure what to expect with Dear Dad but in the end it surprised me. 

Jay'aina "Jay Jay" Patton lives with her mom and brother in Buffalo, New York. Her father, Antoine has been incarcerated for a few years and they've gotten into a routine of phone calls and letters to keep in touch.  But phones calls can be expensive and not always possible and it's not always easy to receive letters. Antoine participates in a special program while in prison and learns how to code. Upon release he gets a software engineering job and the family has has to uproot their life in Buffalo to move to Florida. Antoine teaches his daughter how to code and they bond over that while developing an app called Photo Patch that makes it easier for families to share photos and letters to their incarcerated loved ones.

There aren't a lot of books out there that feature children with parents who are incarcerated and if there are it's focused on the negatives only. Books like this help destigmatize that which is especially important when we consider some of the crimes people are sitting in prison for and how they don't all hold the same weight. Kids should feel ashamed for being in that situation that's completely out of their control. And on the flip side this book can show children unfamiliar with that situation what another type of family looks like.

There's also not enough books out there that showcase good relationships between Black fathers and their daughters. Despite their situation Jay Jay and her father were able to have a relationship and though there was a lot of change to adjust to when he was released they took it in stride and found something to bond over. This book doesn't focus on the trauma surrounding the experience but instead how this family was able to flip a negative into a positive and will hopefully inspire. 

Nonfiction can often be harder to access for children once it moves in to prose for. So I appreciated this is in a format they can connect with easier and it's short and straight to the point. It can be read in one afternoon.

This Cursed House by Del Sandeen

Welcome Back, Booklovers! This Cursed House had already gotten my attention being Black Southern Gothic and when I saw some early readers praising it I knew I had to check it out. And what better season to read something dark than fall when the sky is cloudy, the weather is frigid, and you're in the mood to just curl up in the house? 

Jemma flees Chicago for a fresh start after her cheating boyfriend ends up getting his side woman pregnant. She receives an offer that she believes is for a tutoring job in New Orleans for the wealthy Duchon family. Upon arrival, Jemma is warned by people in town about the mysterious family who keeps themselves isolated. The longer Jemma works for them the more she understands those warnings as secrets are revealed and she discovers ghosts roam the house. Members of the Duchon family are unable to leave the property and every seven years one of them dies on the same date. The family informs Jemma that she is the key to breaking the curse. 

This Cursed House starts off very fast-paced with many twists and reveals to get readers engaged. It had my undivided attention wondering what would be revealed next or how much more the Duchon family could disgust me. However once it's clear what direction this book is going in the story starts moving at a glacial pace.  There's also some repetition that made the book lag towards the end in addition to it feeling like it hits it peak long before the ending. 

This book deals heavily with colorism and racism with the Duchon family doing vile things to uphold those standards. So the forgive and move forward messaging in the second half of the book just felt clunky as that family was undeserving of forgiveness. Some of the discussions surrounding it too also felt more 2020s discussions than 1960s discussions so the overly modern feel there threw me out of the story. There's been much romanticization of families like the Duchons who believed in keeping the bloodline as white as possible to remain at the top of society so it was interesting to see that address in a book. However it didn't quite hit the mark. Jemma's motivations as a character started to not make sense in the grand scheme of things and what started out a very interesting tale fizzled with an unsatisfying conclusion. 

Sleeping with the Frenemy by Natalie Caña

Welcome Back Booklovers! I'd been meaning to get back to the Vega Family Love Stories series and Hoopla alerted me to a new release called Sleeping with the Frenemy. I saved it and put it on my list to read in the future. However after seeing it come across my Instagram feed for Puerto Rican Heritage Month I knew I had to read it right away.

Leo Vega has been in love with Sofi, his sister's best friend for years. But despite their aside on and off hookups Sofi has sworn off the Vega family after a revelation from Kamilah. Now Sofi is back after spending time in Europe and trying to mend her friendship. Leo just so happens to have an extra room when she needs a space to go and their grandparents see sparks between them.

There's a lot to love about this one from the Chicago setting to the big Puerto Rican familia. There's so many different nods to Puerto Rico from the music, to the cuisine, and traditions the characters hold. And it's done in a realistic way through things like the Puerto Rican Festival. It's truly a great cast of characters from Abuelo Papo to Tostone the dog. Readers who enjoy families being heavily involved in their romance stories will like how there's always a sibling or a grandparent popping up in the scene.

Though this is a second chance romance it's not solely focused on the romance. There's a lot of interpersonal drama that keeps the book moving aside from the standard second chance  romance plot. Sofi and Kamilah are working on mending their friendship with Kamilah helping her plan her wedding. Sofi also has a barely existent relationship with her father and she doesn't know how to approach wanting to confront him about her feelings of abandonment.  Leo is recovering from a gunshot wound and wants to get back to his firefighting career but he's also battling his feelings of inferiority compared to his siblings.

The author does a decent job showcases how the world if a little bit different for Sofi as an Afro-Latina even among other Latines. Even though this is a slower paced book it stays engaging through out. Sometimes the transition into flashbacks scenes could be a little abrupt and not all feel totally necessary.  But the most important flashback did it's job of showcasing that turning point in their relationship. The narrator was great and added that extra touch of playfulness when it came to the book's spicier scenes.

The Love Interest by Helen Comerford

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I have a love-disinterest relationship with superhero tales. I go through periods of time where I'm really into superhero media from comics to tv shows. But I also go through periods where I could care less about superheroes. This year we've seen shows like Supacell and books like The Second Chance of Darius Logan which offer a look at a different kind of superhero. So keeping in line with that I was excited to see The Love Interest released this year which promised a satirical look the superhero genre. 

Jenna Ray lives in the small coastal town of Nine Trees. Nine Trees, is the subject of a prophesy that said in the year 2024 a new hero would rise. In this world the Earth has evolved and people have evolved with it which resulted in many receiving powers. Anyone who displays signs of powers must be reported to the Heroics and Power Authority to be registered and monitored. Jenna Ray and her family don't buy into the Hero Industrial Complex like many people in their town so they're not thrilled when she becomes the new hero, Blaze's first rescue. Being his first female rescue means she's guaranteed to be his love interest something both Blaze and the HPA are pushing for. But love interests tend to die young and Jenna sees herself as so much more than a damsel in distress to be a pawn used by his enemies. She's ready to keep Blaze at a distance when she's approached by villains who tell her if she assists them they will take her to her mother who has been missing for years.

The Love Interest sets out to tackle the issues with the role girls and women have in superhero stories. A few feminist talking points are addressed here that I hope will be expanded upon in the next installment particularly surrounding the way women of color navigate these types of environments. Jenna also has issues with anxiety which is something the author did a good job highlighting in the text as well as including information at the end of the book with resources for teens in the UK who also suffer with anxiety.

The idea of an organization specifically designed to handle all things hero isn't new but it was a fun addition here as Jenna attends cons set up to cultivate a fandom around Blaze and strategically set up photo ops. Though this is not a comic there's still news articles scattered throughout to give it more of that feel. Most of the popular superhero stories are set in the US so the UK setting here is a refreshing change. There's plenty of appeal for readers who like small town stories with close knit casts. The book has enough twists and turns to keep readers engaged along with a steady and even pacing. The ending is satisfying enough with just enough loose threads to set up the sequel.

Bad Witches by H.B. Akumiah

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I was in the mood for an urban fantasy read for the fall and Bad Witches sounded like just what I needed since I was looking for something a little bit lighter. So when Libro FM offered it as one of the ALCs I knew I had to jump at the chance.

Bad Witches follows three women with the same birthday who end up meeting at a bar where powers they never knew about are activated at the same time. There have been no new witches for years now as witches have been giving birth to normal babies in what is called the Typic (normal humans) Crisis. Nadia, a councilor working with the Witch Health Organization has been attempting to figure out a way to undo the curse and replenish the witch population and she believes Maya, Delali, and Gabbie may be the answer if they learn to get their magic under control.

At times while listening to the audiobook it could be a little confusing because it is such a large cast of characters with changing povs. But the friendship between the women from very different backgrounds was fun to read about their meetups and group text as they dealt with using their new powers to make gains in their every day life and the sanctions from the Council that came along with it. The modern day approach to witchcraft was interesting and sets this apart from other urban fantasies. 

The author leans heavily into the Sex in the City vibes even name dropping the show in text along with other pop culture references which at times gave the book a very 2000s feel. Mentions of hair, makeup, and designer duds are fun at first but become a little excessive towards the middle as details about their training took a backseat. I also think it would've been better to have the women newly 30 as opposed to newly 22 because despite their immaturity at times they did read a little older. The four povs are unequally balanced with some characters getting more attention than others.

The world building could've been better spread throughout rather than dumped in increments and the race to add more depth to it at the end. The story also lacked a common enemy in need of defeating to tie these women together though it seems like one is set up for a possible book 2. The ending felt rather abrupt and leaves readers with so many unanswered questions that should've been resolved here.

It was a fun, somewhat nostalgic read with a little drama sprinkled throughout to keep things going. If this is destined to become a series I hope to see the same effort and attention to detail given to the spells and magic that the elaborate designer outfits and hairstyles were given here. 

An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I loved Alexis Henderson's debut The Year of the Witching and I even interviewed her for this blog back in 2020. And although House of Hunger left me disappointed I was interested in seeing what she did next in the fantasy space. I didn't get the chance to read before release but when my library hold came through I pushed aside the rest of my TBR to jump right in. So keep reading for my full thoughts.

Lennon Carter is a 24 year old woman who has recently gotten out of a bad relationship where she lost herself and her ambition to playing housewife. With her acceptance to Drayton College, she is given the chance to start over. Drayton is a mysterious University located in Savannah, Georgia but also invisible to and undetectable to those outside of it's campus. Here Lennon discovers  she and other students have the power of Persuasion and she starts working closely with Dr. Dante Lowe to cultivate and control those abilities. 

The first half of this book moved very slowly as far as plot progression but we also didn't get much character progression either. Which made the book feel like it was attempting to coast on vibes only. Having read Catherine House, another novel set at an elite university with mysterious things happening unbeknownst to students and a rather passive mc; I felt like that book did a better job with showcasing how students can easily become seduced by that environment. It helps that that book is a lot more descriptive. Everything is presented so vaguely here right down to character descriptions. Characters are defaulted to white unless stated otherwise and usually described with vague features like a shaved head or blonde hair or having an Antebellum accent. Even the descriptions of Lennon and Dante do little to paint an image of them in my mind.

"Lennon couldn't place his race but could tell that, like her, he was mostly Black but mixed with something else. White, maybe?"

What was odd to me was that race never really comes up in regards to how she navigates this environment aside from a time when Lennon feels her position at the school is threatened. And even that was very briefly. 

Lennon's actions were confusing. She comes to campus ready to start anew but on the first night has sex with a random student on the main concourse. This person is never presented as a potential love interest and we're too assume she was just trying to get over her ex Wyatt but the only time it's addressed again is as a way to slut shame her. We're told later on in the story Lennon has a history of promiscuity but there's never any explanation given for why. Why does she fall into sexual relationships with authority figures and codependency? We're told she doesn't have the best relationship with her family but again there's no explanation for what happened between them. Even when readers do finally meet her family on page they seem relatively normal but Lennon can't wait to escape them.

The book focuses so much on building this slow burn relationship with Lennon and Dante while dancing around the power imbalance. She's infatuated well before he ever makes a move on her and other students notice he treats her differently. But despite the slow build we little to nothing from them aside from him helping her learn to wield her powers. I wish Alexis Henderson would've leaned in more and had Dante actually seducing Lennon. Lennon was acting as if she was his girlfriend well before he even touched her which wasn't until the last quarter of the book. I had to keep reminding myself she's supposed to be this experienced woman in her mid 20s because she read like a naive girl fresh out of high school. 

The implications on the magic of Persuasion and its effects on the world are never outside of the campus are never realized. Details about the school's overall purpose and the way in which it affects society outside of the school are glossed over.

If you're looking for a sweeping campus fantasy with lots of world building I suggest passing on this one.  With both this book and House of Hunger it felt like Henderson had unique ideas but wasn't sure how to develop them into a plot and rushed to tie those ideas together at the end. Where House of Hunger relied mostly on skin crawling descriptions this relies on shock value after shock value reveal dominating the second half of the story. The reveals feel unearned because there's no build up and the few answers we get still leave questions. It felt like a tv show that was greenlit because of it's cool premise but then the writers were unsure how to execute it beyond the initial first episodes and started throwing things in to see what resonates with viewers. 

Interview with Louangie Bou-Montes

Welcome Back, Booklovers! It's fall and I've been in a paranormal show and books mood. And nothing screams fall like New England which is where Louangie Bou-Montes hails from and where her recently published Till the Last Beat of My Heart is set. Keep reading to hear about her publishing journey, her love of horror, and some pretty cool hobbies of hers!

When did you decide to pursue publishing?

I decided in a kind of unofficial way to pursue publishing in 2018. At that time, I had just finished the first draft of TILL THE LAST BEAT OF MY HEART and I decided to do something with it since I had never written a novel length work all the way to the end before. I wasn’t sure if it was going to get anywhere, but it felt like it was worth a shot since I got that far. 

How would you describe Till the Last Beat of My Heart and what was the inspiration behind it? 

I would describe TILL THE LAST BEAT OF MY HEART as a romcom with a healthy dose of drama and spooky vibes. I don’t know if anyone but me would call it a romcom, but I think there’s a decent amount of humor and kind of ridiculous situations as well as romance. The inspiration behind it is kind of varied…I would say it’s heavily inspired by New England and Western Massachusetts specifically because I’ve always found the area I live in and the sort of inherent spookiness of fall and winter in this area inspiring. It’s inspired by sort of campy or horror like Death Becomes Her and Idle Hands, as well as the show Pushing Daisies which has necromancy and romance tied together and the movie Paranorman which was New England-y and heavy on the atmosphere. 

Was Jaxson’s love of horror movies inspired by your own? And if so, do you remember the first horror movie you watched?

Jaxon’s love of horror movies is inspired by my own in a way, but he’s a lot braver than me about it. I had to purposefully train myself to tolerate horror movies without getting too terrified to sleep for a few days afterwards. As a kid, I really struggled with horror…the first horror movie I remember watching was Pet Sematary when I was still in elementary school and I’m pretty sure I was sleeping in my parents’ bed for like a week afterwards.

Why did you decide to make Titi Clio a vegan?

Honestly, I think about veganism all the time for different reasons so it was just something that came about organically. Veganism is really popular where I live, one of my dear friends is a vegan, and it helped me figure out the person Titi Clio would be in some ways. She was a vegan before I knew what her abilities were, and then I started thinking about what her relationship with living things was like. It went hand in hand for me that she naturally has kind of an adverse effect on living things so she avoids eating living things. 

Do you ever feel a pressure to write your characters a certain way based on your culture?

I think yes and no. I think of my own experience and my own perspective as Puerto Rican and Latinx enough—I didn’t feel like I needed to write a particular brand of Latinidad that would be recognizable to non-Latinx people. I wrote it with Latinx people in mind, for Latinx people to see themselves rather than the shorthand ways we’re expected to be portrayed in things. 

However, my characters don’t have my exact identity. Jaxon is bicultural Puerto Rican and Dominican, and while I have Dominicans in my life that I know and love, I feel “pressure” to make sure I’m putting a concerted effort into making that part of him feel true and grounded in authenticity rather than cheap. Likewise with Christian being Afro-Mexican; that’s an experience that I don’t personally have, so I felt “pressure” to make sure I was doing the work to make him feel true. But I think that kind of pressure is good pressure because theoretically there are people who will read my book that share their identities and I think I want those readers to feel seen, not to feel like I just slapped a random ethnic label on the characters.

What has been the most surprising part of the debut experience?

Honestly, I think what’s most surprising for me has been how ready and willing so many people around me have been to uplift me when I’m down and to help me have the best possible experience. It’s not like I’m surprised that people in my life want to help me, but rather just the lengths my friends and family and even people I’ve just recently met have gone to for me. Debuting has been an emotional rollercoaster and I think, just like every other part of publishing, having a community that wants to take care of you and hold you through the good and the bad is so important. I’d be a wreck without the love and effort my people have put in for me. 

How do you find inspiration on the brink of burnout?

This is a great question and I wish I had a good answer for it. I think there’s something to be said for the idea of “refilling the well” by re-absorbing things that have inspired you in the past, but I don’t think that always works for me. I think first and foremost you just have to make sure you understand WHY you are burned out and make sure your most basic needs are met. I’m just coming out of a looong writing dry spell and I think a big part of it was I had a lot of anxiety and insecurity from a fairly recent period of time when some of my basic needs were either not being met or under threat of not being met. Once you’ve addressed those needs, that’s when I think it makes sense to do things like rewatch an old favorite or read something you’re excited about from your TBR to get the creative juices flowing.

And, in general, beating yourself up about being demotivated never helps. Have patience with yourself and give it time. 

What hobbies do you have outside of writing and reading?

I like taking up hobbies based on what I’m working on, so I have a lot of hobbies that ebb and flow over time haha. Right now, I’ve been into film photography and teaching myself a few instruments (ukulele, keyboard) because I’m working on something where some of the characters do those things. But my hobbies shift all the time. 

What countries are on your travel bucket list?

Ireland, definitely. Mexico, Cuba, DR. I’d like to see the Netherlands someday too.

What can we expect next from you?

As of right now, I have no updates on what might be next! But if I get the chance to share something with the world again, you can almost certainly count on something involving New England and the Latinxs who love it.

Sweetness in the Skin by Ishi Robinson

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Is there a book you see often on social media that it feels like everyone is reading and enjoying? Sweetness in the Skin was one of those books for me. Inescapable between my mutuals and my explore page on Bookstagram. 

In Jamaica, 13 year old Pumpkin lives with her granny and Aunt Sophie in a small home in downtown Kingston. Pumpkin and Aunty Sophie have dreams of moving to Paris on day and granny encourages them to move up their family's social standing. Pumpkin's mother Paulette dips in and out usually choosing not to stick around for long. However plans change when Granny dies. Sophie gets a job with the embassy in France while Pumpkin must stay behind until she's able to bring her over. Pumpkin's mother Paulette moves into the house bringing the father she never knew, Akil with her. Pumpkin peddles her baked goods at school and at local shops with the hopes to raise enough money to take the French exam and move in with her aunt.

This book almost felt like a checklist of commonly referenced topics in lauded Caribbean literature. The topic of colorism came up with Granny, Sophie, and Pumpkin being lighter than Paulette who was seen as the darker skinned less pretty one. However we never get a sit down between Paulette and Sophie to address this even though colorism divides the sisters. The author uses it as weak motivation for why Paulette is abusive and neglectful to Pumpkin. Abusive mothers often appear in acclaimed Black Literature not just in Caribbean stories but in other diaspora as well. However Paulette and Akil are downright evil towards their child and we never got good explanation why. There are plenty of neglectful parents out there who never wanted children. However many neglectful people simply stay away from their children and would be happy to have someone taking care of their child. These two both didn't want her but didn't want anyone else to want her and were jealous of her. 

There were plenty mentions of the uptown vs downtown dynamic that is present in Kingston which needed to be explored more. Reading this book it felt like an uptown author writing a story about downtown living via hearsay. We get glimpses of the dynamic via the school Pumpkin attends with her wealthier peers but nothing feels quite fleshed out. And it doesn't help that Pumpkin's environment is a stereotype of what "ghetto" life is. 

Even the conclusions Pumpkin comes to at the end seemed based off moments that happened off page because she suddenly had this open-minded outlook based upon how everyone else's lives had been going but not one solid conversation happened on page to warrant that conclusion. The ending felt too neat and tidy for the journey the story took readers on and this reader was left feeling unsatisfied. This type of story has been done before and better with more complexity. 

Beware the Heartman by Shakirah Bourne

Welcome Back, Booklovers! We're back in Fairy Vale, Barbados alongside Josephine again in Beware the Heartman where this time she faces a new villain. Keep reading for my review of this new installment in the series. I received an arc from Shakirah Bourne in exchange for an honest review.

Josephine has settled back into her regular life after the events of book one with Mariss. After almost a year, her father has been dating Miss Alleyne  and she's actually happy for him. She's a starting player on her schools' cricket team and they're getting close to the championships. Plus she may have a crush on one of her teammates. Things are going well until she takes the Common Entrance Exam and gets into Queen Mary instead of Lamming with her best friend Ahkai. Even worse is he's befriended a girl named Lynne who claims to be from overseas and is clearly trying to steal her best friend. Then things in Fairy Vale are really shaken up when her cricket coach disappears and all signs point to The Heartman, a fabled being who is known to kidnap people after dark and steal their hearts. Josephine and her friends must hurry to defeat the Heartman before they end up his next victims.

In book two readers are introduced to another figure from Bajan lore though not everyone in the village believes the Heartman is anything more than tales made up to scare children. I liked how some of the theories about the Heartman and his rumored society of secret men were included in a way that made sure to address the theories surrounding and bring the creep factor without being too much. We also see some of the lore from book one come full circle. 

One thing this series does really well is infusing comedy. Josephine is hilarious as always with a witty quip always in her arsenal. And she and her friends talk like real tweens in a way young readers will be able to relate. Her friend Ahkai is autistic but it's never treated as a hinderance. Though he doesn't like too much attention and touch, Josephine struggles more than him when it comes to fitting in with the other children and the prospect of attending a new school alone. It's very refreshing when I come across media with children with disabilities where those children are treated as just regular children.

Fast-paced, easy to read, and engaging Beware of the Heartman is a fitting sequel that keeps up the momentum of Josephine Against the Sea and leaves room for another installment. 

Till the Last Beat of My Heart by Louangie Bou-Montes

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Just in time for spooky season and Latinx Heritage Month we have a YA fantasy debut. I received an arc from HarperCollins for Till the Last Beat of My Heart, a queer contemporary fantasy whose release is perfectly timed with the start of spooky season and Latinx Heritage Month. 

Jaxson Santiago-Noble is very familiar with death. As the son of a mortician, he's seen his fair share of bodies pass through his family's morgue. But nothing prepares him for when the body of his former best friend, Christian is brought in after an accident. Unaware Jaxson accidentally revives him and discovers he comes from a long line of necromancers. Suddenly it's as if Jaxson is one of the stars in his favorite horror movies. Bringing back the dead comes with a catch and it's a race against time as Christian is fading again and Jaxson is trying to control his newfound powers with the help of his Titi Clio. 

With Christian back Jaxson reconnects with him and has to face some of his social anxiety as Christian pulls him into his world of Spirit Days and Homecoming celebrations. We get this story of two boys who have always had feelings for each other but are now realizing they should explore that more because life if short and not promised. Though wacky things are happening throughout the story they're happening alongside regular days at school. 

The relationship between Jaxson, his mother, and his Titi Clio really shines here. So often in these types of stories the teens stand alone and their house is nothing more than a place they sleep at night. We might brief conversations with the parents in passing. The involvement here from the adults in his life feels very realistic. When it's not his mother or aunt looking out for him it's close family friend's within the neighborhood. While the power over life and death is generational, this book takes a slightly different approach by not tying it to any cultural specific legends or religion. Additionally Jaxson lost his father when he was younger and is learning more about who his father was outside of the authoritarian he remembers.

Louangie Bou-Montes delivers some slight horror, humor, and a queer romance you can root for. 

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Immortal Dark is a book many people have been buzzing about this year and it's been on my radar for awhile as well. So keep reading to hear my thoughts on this new YA dark fantasy.

In the world of Immortal Dark, vampires also known as dranaics only feed on the blood of members of certain influential families. Kidan and her sister June are the last living members of the House of Adane. But when June goes missing, Kidan connects her disappearance to Susenyos Sagad, the only dranaic still tied to their House and legacy.  To discover more about this dranaic who has stolen her inheritance, she must enroll in Uxlay, a prestigious university which human companions and vampires attend to learn more about their symbiotic relationship . 

There's a lot of worldbuilding here which can be a little much at times but I found the lore fascinating albeit sometimes confusing. Tigest Girma writes the vampires in a seductive way that's often missing from YA vampire portrayals. It's bloody and gory, yes but it's also tantalizing and readers understand why Kidane is getting entranced by this world.  In a dark fantasy romance that push and pull between characters is what drives the story and Kidande and Susenyos have great chemistry where even if I found my attention waning at some points they pulled me back in. 

Well paced in the beginning this is a pretty easy one to get sucked into. Though sometimes the prose got a little too flowery and cliched for my taste, there were other times where she described things so vividly I could picture the scene in my head. The book ends on a cliffhanger that will leave readers ready for book 2.

The Second Chance of Darius Logan by David F. Walker

Welcome Back, Booklovers! The Second Chance of Darius Logan caught my attention in the search for YA SFF written by Black men with Black boys as the lead. One would be surprised at just how little is out there. And luckily it didn't take too long for my library to get the audiobook. So keep reading to hear my thoughts.

Darius Logan has spent most of his life on the streets or in and out of foster care and group homes. After a run in with the police after a drug deal gone wrong he gets a second chance by being recruited to join a special program through the Super Justice Force. This program called, Second Chance, is a program that helps ex convicts start a normal life after prison. Darius will be the first one through the program who hasn't gone to jail and they promise to help him get his life back on track.

The story starts out so interesting with a vibe that reminded me of Black Lightning with the way this crime ridden world riddled with metahumans is described.  I thought the concept of rehabilitation by helping with the special tax force was interest however since Darius doesn't have powers of his own that complicates things. Darius meeting the superheroes he grew up admiring  and encountering their different personalities is a strong point here. Where this story started to lose me was the heavy info dumping. Too much felt told instead of shown particularly when it came to the romance. It progressed quickly and I thought I had missed a section. Darius himself needed to be fleshed out more however a decent job was down fleshing out the side characters.

Being familiar with David F. Walker's work on Bitter Root I'm wondering if this would've read better as a comic or graphic novel instead of as prose. The pieces were all their for an interesting YA superhero story but the execution doesn't quite land. It does end in a way where if a book 2 isn't already in the works there's plenty of opportunity to do some cool things in the sequel.