I was provided with an ARC copy of this book that was gifted to my workplace by the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own. { gifted } My reviews and content can also be found on Goodreads, on StoryGraph, on Instagram @Tackling_TBR, and on TikTok @TacklingTBR.
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
Genre: romance, contemporary romance
Tropes: fake dating, grumpy x sunshine, single dad, rockstar MMC, small town, found family
Page Count: 496 pages
Book Blurb:
A grumpy rock star and a joyful children’s show creator revive television magic in this cozy small-town romance.
Griffin Harvey lives his life in the spotlight. Reluctantly. The brooding famous singer-songwriter is on the cusp of composing his sophomore album . . . if only he could find the notes. But after gaining custody of his two-year-old daughter, the only music he’s writing is about shapes and counting to ten.
Enter Beverly, who lives her life in the background producing children’s television and laughter. Except joy is hard to find when her nonprofit loses funding. She sinks all of her savings to revive the children’s show by herself, but when her variety show appearance collides with Griffin’s, their banter and chemistry is caught on live television.
Suddenly, Griffin is singing a new tune. He needs a muse, and Beverly needs all the help she can get. With his secret daughter in tow, they hide out in her cozy mountain hometown, attempting to script, compose, and revive television magic. Their dynamic shouldn’t work. He’s all harsh tattoos and rough hands while she’s bright colors and gentle touches. Once their three months of work are done, they’ll return to their separate worlds. But what happens when it seems the true magic might be found in each other?
Review: 5 stars
TW: grief, toxic relationships
Oh my gosh, this was exactly the read that my 90s/early 2000s romcom loving heart was searching for. As I was reading this book it gave me the same cozy hug that my favorite comfort Nora Ephron or Nancy Meyers movies give me on every single (frequent) rewatch.
I really loved all of the characters in the book – except for the one. Obviously. He knows who he is. Beverly is honestly the sweetest FMC ever. She is sunshine and happiness personified and I want to be her best friend. I bet we would have the BEST sleepovers, and I mean that as the absolute highest form of compliment. And Griffin. Oh my, Griffin. Is there anything hotter than a grump in a grumpy x sunshine relationship who falls so hard and is absolutely not afraid to show it? Oh yeah, how about he’s also a famous rockstar and a single dad to the cutest little girl? Sign me up.
I had actual tears in my eyes finishing this book, just because it was so cozy and the happily ever after was giving me so many big feelings. I couldn’t put it down, but I didn’t want it to end.
Thanks so much to the author for the gifted advanced electronic and physical copies of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } My reviews and content can also be found on Goodreads, on StoryGraph, on Instagram @Tackling_TBR, and on TikTok @TacklingTBR.
Publication Date: July 30, 2026
Genre: fantasy, romance, romantasy, historical fantasy
Tropes: Gold Rush vibes, enemies with benefits, love triangle, LGBTQIA+ rep, magic & dragons, charismatic cult leader, villain origin story
Page Count: 384 pages
Book Blurb:
A people-pleasing scholar. A dangerous cult leader. Good luck picking sides.
Talia Salaren is a brilliant scholar and obedient eldest daughter with a bright future decided by everyone but her.
Then she finds a dead god’s salacious journal.
The secrets inside could unravel four centuries of empire. The gods were jerks, and their power was stolen, claimed by five families who built legacies on a lie. Families like hers.
With her life’s work outlawed, Talia flees to Gateway, a frontier boomtown where divine magic is clawed from the earth like gold. She walks straight into a trap — a dangerous expedition led by a cult leader who is very good at making people want things they shouldn’t. He has no interest in studying the gods. He plans to become one.
As their uneasy company pushes deeper into godforsaken territory, the myths she was raised to believe begin to fracture — along with the careful version of herself she’s always performed.
The cult leader is wrong. She knows it. For once, she wants to be wrong too.
If Talia doesn’t choose what she stands for — and who she’s willing to lose — she won’t just have her heart broken. She’ll become someone else’s weapon.
Review: 5 stars
TW: death/murder, cults, manipulation, SA, emotional abuse/toxic relationships
Y’all the minute the author described this as “a romantic fantasy that gives gold rush era Seattle, but with magic and dragons,” I said GIRL SIGN ME UP. Throw in that she’s a PNW local and I honestly couldn’t sign up to ARC read it fast enough.
I enjoyed this book so much! I have a spread in my reading journal every year where I do a bracket of my favorite reads of the year – and this absolutely has a place in the bracket as a top read!
This book drops you right into the action of the story, as if you’d been there all along, and trusts that the world will be built along the way. It’s full of distinct and messy characters that form the somewhat ragtag crew as our core ensemble cast, and plenty left to explore in the future of the series. I’ll even forgive the cliffhanger ending because I’m so excited to see where the story goes from here. And that’s saying a lot – your girl HATES a dramatic cliffhanger.
Thanks so much to BookSparks, the author, and Audiobrary for the gifted advanced audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and participation in this book tour. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } My reviews and content can also be found on Goodreads, StoryGraph, on Instagram @Tackling_TBR, and on TikTok @TacklingTBR.
Publication Date: June 10, 2026
Genre: fiction, women’s fiction, contemporary
Page Count: 320 pages
Audiobook Length: 9 hours and 11 minutes
Audiobook Narrator: Julia Whelan
Book Blurb:
Bridget Jones fans will fall hard for this based-on-a-true-story, behind-the-scenes tale of a young woman’s calamitous adventures trying to break into the movie industry in 1990s Hollywood.
Hollywood, 1997. When Charity Trickett moves to LA to assist the director of the biggest blockbuster film of the year, she quickly realizes that Hollywood isn’t all red carpets and Rodeo Drive. But her determination to become a screenwriter and producer in this glamorous yet cutthroat industry cannot be stifled. Working harder than she ever has before, she impresses the top brass at Canopy Studios and inches herself closer to her dream. But her ambitions and tender heart are threatened by backstabbing coworkers, an evaporating bank account, love gone wrong, a mistake that could cost the studio hundreds of millions of dollars, and an FBI investigation that could land her in jail.
Surrounded by fame and money but unsure how to access either one, Charity’s grit and kindness steer her toward devoted friends and hopeful artists. If she can manage to stay out of trouble, maybe she can change bad to good.
Review: 3.5 stars
I thought that this book was so much fun! It’s filled with imperfect characters and crazy situations – this was Bridget Jones goes Hollywood with a dash of the Devil Wears Prada, and I honestly feel like it was just what the doctor ordered!
Here’s what I will say – this book is in no way reinventing the wheel or doing anything unexpected, so if you don’t enjoy a fairly predictable story within the genre then maybe this won’t be the book for you. There weren’t really any twists or turns that I didn’t see coming, and I wasn’t necessarily sitting at the edge of my seat dying to know what would happen next. But that’s also not why I picked this one up. Sometimes I just want to have a fun afternoon with a character whose world is a bit different than mine – whether I get that in a book or a Hallmark holiday movie, I love them all the same. And this book was exactly that for me. I had a whole lot of fun while I was in the world, and that’s all I cared about!
I will also say that I listened to this on audio, narrated by the incredible Julia Whelan who has truly never disappointed. I think I would listen to her read me the back of a cereal box. (Or a phone book, although these days that reference may make me seem ancient.)
This last week was filled with trading books from my bookshelves that I’ve already read (and that I’m not keeping as shelf trophies, IYKYK) out for new-to-me books from other readers’ collections!
Between a local event and Little Free Libraries, the theme of this week truly was just a good, old fashioned book swap.
This week I’m reading…
Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune
I’ve been listening to Our Perfect Storm on audio, and I am loving it! Two best friends who have been drifting apart decide to use her honeymoon to relax and reconnect after she is dumped the day before her wedding – what’s not to love about that? Friends to lovers, vacation romance, and lots of delicious food descriptions. I’m a happy camper!
Book Swap & Sip at Odd Otter Brewing
Mixing it up starting with the end of the week, but I have to jump in by talking about this super fun event!
People who know me out in the real world know that I’m not a beer girlie, so it may surprise some people to know that one of my favorite spots in Tacoma is this delightful, Otter-themed brewery.
And it’s become even more so recently, because they have really upped their game when it comes to hosting events – and especially bookish events! This week it was a book swap, complete with a local author signing and an amazing mobile bookstore that makes the rounds to events in the area.
The books up for trade…
I brought three books with me to contribute to the swap table in the back of the brewery, which definitely represent a wide variety of my book collection.
The first was The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling.
This is a book and a series that I LOVE, and absolutely still have shelf trophies of in my library, but I had an extra copy of this first book in the series.
(Shameless plug, but if you want to see my full thoughts on the book from when I read it around four years ago, you can take a look at my review here!)
The Four Dorothys by Paul Ruditis
This is a YA book that I read all the way back in junior high or high school – long before I forced my many book-thoughts on anyone but my mom. I remember enjoying it when I read it (I was a theater kid, so I was already biased in its favor), but it certainly wasn’t something that was foundational to my young life.
And despite that, it has been included on my shelves and moved from home to home since the time that I read it all those years ago. It was definitely time to let it find its place on a new bookshelf.
Hungry Hearts by Julie Hoag
This is one that I was gifted early on in my online reading journey, but it turned out that it wasn’t going to be the one for me.
I DNFed this book pretty early, and I kept it all these years in case I wanted to go back and give it another go – but that was starting to feel like the pair of jeans stuck in the back of the closet in case I can fit back into them one day.
While I’m not quite emotionally ready to let go of the old denim yet (one of these days those pre-pregnancy jeans just might come in handy, and who am I to risk not having them?), I’ve recently decided that there are too many amazing books in the world that I’ll never have the time to read. So I’m working on getting rid of the books that I’ll likely never go back to and make room for the next obsession or shelf trophy.
Now on to the rest of the fun!
After dropping my books off on the table for swapping, and having a few sips of a delicious beverage (it was mama’s night out, and I was going to enjoy it) my first stop was the mobile bookstore!
I have been following along with Lost the Plot ever since Ash, the owner, started posting content on TikTok about the behind the scenes of creating her mobile bookstore, focusing on adult fiction from under represented authors, from the ground up.
Ash is adorable, her videos are delightful, and truly, who among us hasn’t dreamed about quitting our daily life to open a bookstore? So it’s safe to say I was hooked from the very start, and I had just been waiting for the time that I could finally explore her little slice of heaven for myself!
While I didn’t let myself buy anything this time (since we’re on a budget, and I knew my next stop was going to get me), I had the most fun just getting to chat and look through the inventory. And believe me when I say that there are plenty of things that I’m keeping my eye on for next time she’s in my area.
Check out the Lost the Plot website here, to learn more about the bookstore and see where she’ll be popping up next!
And that brings me back to the excitement inside, with a signing table with local author NC Barton!
I had met NC before at a book fair earlier this year that was filled to the brim with local authors and bookish goodies, and she is just the sweetest! My mom (who went to that event with me) and I had a lovely time chatting with her, but when we were making our final rounds, we weren’t able to make it back to NC’s table to pick up the book that we had been eyeing.
So you know I had to get it this time around! It was like the book Goddesses were giving me another go, and I couldn’t disappoint them. Right?
It was so lovely getting to chat with NC again in a little bit calmer of an environment (I was there pretty early in the evening, so she had only just opened up her signing table), and I can’t wait to catch up with her again at the next event.
The book that I picked up was Meet Me at the Loch, which she was kind enough to sign for me! It is a Grumpy x Sunshine Celebrity romance set in a Scottish castle in the Highlands – so really, is there anything more you could want? I’m not sure there is.
You can purchase a copy of Meet Me at the Loch via Bookshop.org here, or check out the rest of what NC Barton has to offer on her website!
All in all it was a fabulous evening.
I got to chat with some of my online book friends, explore Lost the Plot, check out the Little Free Library onsite at Odd Otter (more on that later!), and walked away with four new to me books!
The books that I walked away with are…
Falling like Leaves by Misty Wilson
The book blurb describes this as “Gilmore Girls meets Jenny Han,” so you KNOW I had to grab it. A teen romcom about a city girl stuck in a small town, running into her post-glow up former best friend, during an annual fall festival that Stars Hollow would be proud of. Yes please.
Tangled Up in You by Christina Lauren
A part of the Meant to Be series where different authors take on the task of reimagining different Disney princess stories, this one (obviously) taking a turn on Rapunzel and Flynn’s story from Tangled. And Christina Lauren (best friends and writing partners, truly the dream) are some of my favorite authors for contemporary romance, so this has been on my list for quite a while! I was very excited to find it in the Little Free Library.
Vegetable Gardening in the Pacific Northwest by Lorene Edwards Forkner
This one is pretty self-explanatory, honestly. Since moving from an apartment to a house, I’ve had a dream of being one of those girls with a thriving back garden. One of my best friends has the DREAMIEST garden you’ve ever seen, with everything from delicious veggies to florals that I want to fill every one of my vases with, so the daydream only grows by the minute. And I thought this might be fun to add to my collection, to thumb through and try to get some tips to maybe keep up with her one of these days!
Little Free Library Week 2026
Okay, circling back around to the beginning of the week now.
Sunday, May 17th was the first ever Little Free Library Day, and kicked off Little Free Library week – a full week of celebrating these tiny book sharing spaces in communities all around us.
Little Free Libraries provide every person in their communities with 24/7 access to books and have programs in place to champion diverse books and reading.
I’m a huge fan of Little Free Libraries and have gone out of my way to visit tons of them over the years, both in my own community and passing through on road trips. Each LFL is different and unique, with so much life and personality put into them by the stewards that maintain them. I can’t wait for the day that I get to put together my own LFL – so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to celebrate!
A snapshot of the Little Free Libraries that we visited!
I visited a few of these on my way to and from someplace else, and one was even onsite at Odd Otter! The rest were an outing all their own – baby girl and I spent an afternoon driving around exploring different neighborhoods and dropping off books as we went.
It was the best way to spend a quiet, sunny day.
In honor of the celebration, the folks behind the scenes even put together a bingo board that you could download and play all week long – while I didn’t quite get a full-board blackout, I had a lot of fun crossing some things off.
And two completed lines and three near misses isn’t too shabby, right?
Head to the Little Free Library website to learn more about it, and to look at the map to find your closest LFL!
I had a really terrific week finding new-to-me books and doing my own little library refresh.
There was lots of book-related fun to be had in my neck of the PNW last week!
From date night with my partner to outings to share with baby girl – these were the perfect excuses to get out into the real world this week.
This is a new post style for me, a bit closer to the true-to-form blog post than I’ve explored in a while. The style and format may take shape and change here and there, but I’m hoping to add these more casual chats fairly regularly, even if it doesn’t end up being every week. Sometimes mom is busy, you know?
Right now my books are my time to turn my mom brain off. Sometimes these outings are an excuse to talk books with people older than a year old, and sometimes they’re an excuse for the baby and I to simply get out of the house. And while I’m pretty sure this section of my “brand,” for lack of a better term, is mostly just me talking to myself on the internet, I like the idea of celebrating those fun memories and breaks in routine.
And if I get to celebrate all of the fun events and local small businesses around me at the same time? Truly all the better.
This week I’m reading…
The Devil of Arden by R.H. Linehan
As soon as I saw the author describing this as Robin Hood x A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I knew that I absolutely had to read it. Throw in Autumn Equinox vibes and a slow burn romance filled with banter and sassy nicknames, and I am all over it.
Storytime at Page and Pine Books
On Thursday morning baby girl and I attended the cutest story time hosted by Page and Pine, an independent bookstore in Puyallup that we absolutely love.
It was themed around nursery rhymes and, together with a small group of kiddos and their grownups, we spent the morning reading and singing about speckled frogs and itsy-bitsy spiders.
This was such a lovely way to spend a morning! It was just a quiet, low-pressure event completely centered around reading and singing and letting the babies show off their newly found walking skills by wandering all around the bookstore.
Plus, all of the other kiddos were really close in age to my baby girl as well – while she does have lots of “cousins,” there is a pretty wide range of ages in the group. So any time there is a group this close in her age it always feels like such a treat. At least it does for me.
And, of course, girlie takes after me, so we couldn’t leave without picking something out to take home with us. We decided to grab the Five Little Speckled Frogs book that was a part of the story time, and she very excitedly read it again with my partner that night before bedtime.
The Music of Jane Austen with the Seattle Symphony
Throughout the course of my life, I truly believe that I have spent at least two cumulative years watching Jane Austen adaptations.
And I’m not even counting the retellings, although I would argue that Clueless and the first Bridget Jones are possibly perfect movies. Sorry, film bros.
I’m a sucker for a BBC mini-series of all varieties.
And both the 1995 and 2005 Pride and Pejudices (Prides and Prejudice? Pride and Prejudici?) are among the pillars holding up my entire personality.
Truly I can’t have any form of potato with dinner without internally complimenting a fair cousin for the exemplary vegetable; or even think about the existence of my birthday without contemplating my status as a) a burden to my parents, and b) frightened.
So when I saw that the Seattle Symphony was hosting a night dedicated to the music of the adaptations that bewitch me body and soul, I immediately knew that I wanted to go – and my partner was amazing enough to get us tickets for my birthday!
There were people dressed in their Bridgerton-best, there was onsite book shopping from Seattle romance favorite Beguiled Books, and there was even someone leading regency style dancing in the lobby that Emma Woodhouse would have approved of. It was an absolute dream.
And there were two more stars of the evening, in addition to the symphony.
The first is soprano Jane Eaglen who was featured in several songs throughout the evening, and whose name you might recognize from the soundtrack for the Sense and Sensibility movie from 1995 starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. Y’all, she was incredible.
The second was the host of the evening, acting as a narrator and storyteller – Susannah Harker, miss Jane Bennet herself from the 1995 Pride and Prejudice. Are you kidding me? I lost my mind. I fangirled. I want her to narrate my life.
This was seriously the best night. The music was so amazing. The dancing was so much fun. I only wish I had realized people were going to show up in costume, because I absolutely could have obsessed over that for the couple of weeks leading up to it.
Audiobook Walk with the Tacoma Silent Book Club
Tacoma’s chapter of the Silent Book Club got together on Sunday morning at Titlow Park to take a walk and soak in the sunshine of an early PNW summer day.
I used this walk to finish up The Breakup Vacation by Anna Gracia on audio. I pulled this one out of my Libro.fm library because after all of the fantasy/romantasy and other slightly more intense reading I’ve been doing lately, I wanted something a bit light. Something that I wouldn’t have to think too hard about, and I could just listen and giggle and kick my metaphorical feet about the romance. This book was all of that and more, and I really enjoyed it!
After the walk the group found a spot on the grass in the park to sit and chat, and a couple of folks even brought some fun beverages – let me tell you, I will be much more prepared with some fun snacks and things for the next meeting!
As a socially awkward person who quickly fell out of practice at talking to people who aren’t my partner or my baby, a Silent Book Club is truly my dream come true. You have the opportunity to make friends and chat about books as much as you’d like to, but you can also just sit and read and simply share space. No pressure to read the same book and prepare talking points, and no pressure to socialize more than you’re prepared for.
Happy new week! Let’s take a look at some of the many exciting new books that are being released out into the world this week.
The list below includes books that I’ve been gifted early reading copies for (from the author, publisher, or sometimes a third-party PR company), as well as any books that I’ve pre-ordered for purchase, that I’ve either already read or have added to my upcoming TBR!
I am incredibly thankful for all of the reading opportunities that I am gifted through these various sources. These books represent the many hours of work that countless people have put in to telling these stories, and I’m so grateful to be a small part of the book’s journey.
These weekly posts include an overview of the book as well as my thoughts on the book, if I’ve already read it.
As always, if you are looking to get a copy of one of these new releases for yourself, I highly encourage you to support an independent bookstore that’s local to your area! Physical copies can be purchased in person at your local indie bookshop, or online via Bookshop.org. You can also support independent bookstores with audiobook purchases via Libro.fm. For books that are independently published by the authors, they can also likely be purchased directly from the author via their website!
Themes: motherhood, found family, recovering from substance abuse
Page Count: 352 pages
Publisher: Harper Muse
Publication Date: May 19, 2026
Thanks so much to BookSparks, the author, and Harper Muse for the gifted advanced copy of this book, and including me in the release review tour via BookSparks!
Book Blurb:
Two sisters reconnect on a long-overdue girls’ trip to Mexico—just as a woman from their small town back home goes missing, setting off a chain of revelations that forces them to confront old traumas, fractured marriages, and the fragile threads holding their lives together.
Told in alternating perspectives, Both Can Be True follows Mare and Frankie—two sisters in their late thirties navigating motherhood, marriage, and identity in a post-pandemic world. Mare is the hyper-responsible older sister, mother of a neurodivergent preschooler, and married to a husband who’s long since checked out. Frankie is a charismatic, sober bookstore owner raising two teenage daughters and struggling to maintain boundaries between her sobriety, motherhood, and the messy realities of womanhood.
Together with three friends, they embark on a girls’ trip to Mexico to celebrate Frankie’s ten-year sobriety milestone. But back home, their husbands go camping and stumble upon what they believe might be the body of Brie Hoover—a woman from their town and Frankie’s AA circle. What follows is a slow unraveling of secrets and shifting loyalties, set against the backdrop of a deeply rooted female friendship.
As the sisters reckon with the emotional weight of caregiving, trauma, and who they’ve become outside their roles as mothers and wives, Both Can Be True Can we be good mothers and still want more? Can we love our partners and still feel trapped? And what happens when the support systems we’ve so carefully constructed start to crack?
Check out my final review and blog tour for Both Can Be True here!
Thanks so much to the author for gifting me an early e-copy of this book!
Book Blurb:
A story for anyone who has ever wanted to lose themselves in a good book, and for those who have needed to rediscover themselves again the same way…
When Alastair, playboy fae prince and bisexual disaster, and his stoic, snarky bestie Killian travel to the human realm to retrieve the prophesied Chosen One, they abduct Vivi Pierce to save their home from a sinister, ancient curse. Vivi may be a nineteen-year-old college student, but fortunately for Faerie, she’s eager to save the world. In fact, she’s pretty sure that she could ride a dragon or help perform a coup, should the need arise. She has, after all, read every romantasy novel she’s ever gotten her hands on. She knows every trope in the book.
The only problem? Vivi isn’t actually the Chosen One, and this kidnapping isn’t the meet-cute that she thought it was. It turns out the Chosen One is actually her middle-aged mother Jenn, and the fae men grabbed the wrong woman. Now, instead of leading the charge to save the world, becoming inexplicably good at combat through a quick training montage, and getting seduced by a sexy, impossibly-old fae love interest, Vivi has to contend with the fact that her mother may be the real Main Character in this story. Worse yet, it looks like Jenn has known about the existence of Faerie for years, and purposely hid that knowledge from her daughter. It seems that maybe Vivi’s books have gotten more than a few things terribly wrong…
A loving but humorous homage to the genres of romantasy and portal fantasy, The Heart of Faerie is the first book of the Broken Tropes trilogy. This trilogy, meant for adult readers 18+, includes a Happily Ever After for all main characters by the end of the trilogy and wraps up at least one HEA in each individual book. It is a first person, dual point of view story that includes the POVs of both Vivi and Jenn (who, unfortunately, isn’t nearly as boring as Vivi thought she was).
Genre: romance, LGBTQIA+, adult, magical realism, fantasy
Themes: angsty new romance, magical cottages, haunted by the past
Page Count: 288 pages
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: May 19, 2026
Thanks so much to the author and Avon for gifting me an advanced e-copy of this book via Netgalley!
Book Blurb:
“The kind of book that feels like home. A brand-new all-time favorite.” — Becky Albertalli, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Amelia, If Only
From the author of The In-Between Bookstore, the sweet, unforgettable story of a trans man in his thirties who books a Cape Cod cottage for one lonely summer—only to have its magic bring him visitors from the past and romance where he least expects it, perfect for fans of TJ Klune and Ashley Poston.
Harlowe could use a break. With his academic future over, just like his relationship with his long-term boyfriend Jackson, a suspiciously cheap summer rental on the Cape feels like just the escape he needs.
But when he arrives at the picturesque seaside cottage, he’s alarmed to find his discouraging old professor in the living room. His father making coffee in the kitchen. And a handsome young repairman fixing things in the bedroom. Worst of all, Jackson is in the bathroom. None of them will leave. No one else can see them. And they won’t leave him alone.
The house isn’t magic only for Harlowe, and as the summer grows hot and thick with tourists, old wounds and fresh secrets—both in and outside its walls—begin to transform him. It’s clear the house is trying to tell him something, and he’s sure it has to do with the mysterious repairman who suddenly seems to be everywhere he looks… But can Harlowe let go of the past long enough to listen?
Evoking all the windswept dunes and Fourth of July fireworks of a perfect Cape Cod day, The House of Now and Then asks who you would find, if all your unfinished business was just behind one door.
Genre: romance, young adult, contemporary, fiction
Tropes: slow burn, friends to lovers, coming of age, self-discovery
Page Count: 320 pages
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: May 19, 2026
Thanks so much to the author and Wednesday Books for gifting me an advanced e-copy of this book via Netgalley!
Book Blurb:
Rani’s summer checklist didn’t include falling in love in this sparkling romance for fans of The Summer of Broken Rules and Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute.
Nineteen-year-old Rani Deshpande is on a mission to reinvent herself the summer before transferring to her new university. After a challenging freshman year, Rani can’t help but feel like she’s playing catch up. To that end, she’s crafted a packed summer to get back on track: a dream internship, adventures with her hometown best friend, and regular driving lessons so that she can finally lose her passenger princess reputation – even if it means learning from her aggravating family friend (and childhood crush), Kush Khanna.
Kush and Rani grew up together, but they couldn’t be less alike. Within their close-knit Desi community – a Jane Austen style cast of ridiculous, meddlesome families – Kush is the beloved model son; Rani is more the black sheep. Kush is pre-med; Rani plans to teach elementary school. Kush is cool and collected, bordering on reticent; Rani couldn’t keep her mouth shut if her life depended on it. So when their mothers first force the pair to drive together, the arrangement feels like a recipe for disaster. As the lessons progress, however, Rani discovers there’s more to the boy she’s known her whole life than meets the eye.
In Arushi Avachat’s Rani Deshpande Takes the Wheel, Rani must learn to course-correct, no matter how bumpy or windy the road – and even if it includes a detour right into love.
Tropes: age gap, secret society, forbidden romance
Page Count: 400 pages
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication Date: May 19, 2026
Bonus entry! I pre-ordered this book from my local indie bookstore, and couldn’t wait to pick it up!
Book Blurb:
In this thrilling and sexy dark romance, a graduate student and her adviser dive into a taboo branch of magic, igniting a dangerous passion.
“Dark academia, romance, and fantasy join forces in a gripping new book.”—People
Ambitious and driven, Ellsbeth Storer has long been determined to study the arcane arts, even before the mysterious death of a loved one draws her to prestigious Newlyn University.
Professor Thaddeus Rawlins was once the wunderkind of the field, but in the wake of a horrific tragedy that nearly ended his career, he has resigned himself to the boredom of tenure.
Yet when the magnetic Ellsbeth enters his orbit, he finds her impossible to resist. He agrees to oversee her pursuit of a taboo thesis topic: the study of writmagic, the illegal power to control and compel others—and a secret obsession of Rawlins’s.
As student and professor undertake their illicit research, harmless flirtation crosses into uncontrollable desire, which threatens to bloom into something even more dangerous: love.
But can two people who are masters of manipulation ever trust each other?
Review and blog tour courtesy of the author and Twisted Chaos PR!
Thanks so much to the author and Twisted Chaos PR for the gifted advanced galley of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts, as well as participation in the author’s Street Team for release. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } My reviews and content can also be found on Goodreads, StoryGraph, on Instagram @Tackling_TBR, and on TikTok @TacklingTBR.
Publication Date: May 12, 2026
Genre: fantasy, romantasy, new adult, comedic
Tropes: the chosen one, dragons, found family, heir trials, prophecy questline, old wizard mentor, breaking the fourth wall
Page Count: 507 pages
Book Blurb:
Eighteen-year-old Em Smith has spent her life preparing to become the Main Character in a fantasy novel written by one of the Great Authors.
Except, when her big break comes, it’s a disaster of clichés. She’s declared a “Chosen One” by an ancient elf prophecy and sent out on a mediocre questline to overthrow a dark lord in a tower–– with two hot guys, an impish sidekick, and an old wizard mentor in tow, of course. Caught in love-triangles, heir trials, and every trope possible, it feels like her story aligns with every plotline she swore off.
Worse, if she doesn’t complete her designated prophecy, it will kill her. Determined to rewrite her destiny before this book ruins her reputation, Em sets out to hunt down the author dictating her life before losing her last shot at true main-character glory.
OF PLOTS AND TROPES is an New Adult Comedic Fantasy about self-discovery, adventure, and every fantasy trope a reader could hope for.
Review:
At the time of publishing, I am still mid-adventure in the world of Of Plots and Tropes!
My full thoughts will be added here as soon as I have finished reading.
About the Author:
Stephanie Sawyer wasted her teenaged years covered in paint thinking she’d be an animator for an unnamed movie studio with a cool theme park she’s obsessed with, all while handwriting stories about her imaginary friends and dreams. After attaining her BFA in Art Education in the armpit of the United States, she eventually found free time in her busy life as high school teacher to fall in love with writing again. She’s currently studying for her MFA at the Savannah College of Art and Design while raising a zoo of cats and freshwater fish tanks. Of Plots and Tropes is her debut.
Thanks so much to the author and Berkley Publishing for the gifted advanced galley of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } My reviews and content can also be found on Goodreads, StoryGraph, on Instagram @Tackling_TBR, and on TikTok @TacklingTBR.
A football star and a diehard fan entangled in a PR stunt—that only one side knows is fake—might be the right play in this new romantic comedy by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lynn Painter.
Duffy Distefano loves three things: her dad, the family cat, and Minneapolis Coyotes football. So when she gets booed out of a game and becomes the internet’s villain, she is distraught—and disgruntled. All she did was shove Coyote Carl away when he made a move on her, but everyone else just saw a woman attacking their team’s beloved mascot. Eager to clear the air, Duffy agrees to an interview on a hit morning show. She doesn’t expect a co-guest to join her—especially not the Coyotes’ star tight end.
When MVP Connor Cunningham gets tasked with damage control to help his team out of their PR nightmare, he thought that meant saying a few words on the team’s behalf. Instead, he finds himself in a highly amusing verbal sparring match with a recently wronged fan on live TV. Duffy pelts him with fiery jabs but is also clearly diehard about the Coyotes—color him intrigued…and attracted.
The interview instantly goes viral, and the public is obsessed with them. A strong push from the Coyotes’ PR team to ride the wave results in Connor asking Duffy out. Despite his distaste for PR stunts, he’s surprised to discover being with Duffy is much easier than he thought, and somehow it doesn’t feel fake to him. Harboring this secret can only blow up, but all he knows is that if he messes things up with Duffy, it’ll be the greatest fumble of his life.
Review: 4 stars
TW: illness in elderly parents, loss of parents (off page, prior to events)
Y’all, is there any more delicious combination than Fake Dating and He Falls First? I’m really not sure that there is. I mean, come on, the banter possibilities with that combo are endless – and First and Forever did not disappoint on that front!
This was such a fun, light, and easy read. I finished it in just a couple of days because I truly did not want to put it down – simply because it was making me smile!
Duffy, the FMC, is direct and sarcastic and pretty sure she knows better and more than anyone else in the room. Meanwhile Connor, the MMC, is basically the human equivalent of the heart-eyes emoji. In my humble opinion, it’s a match made in heaven.
I will say, I wish we had gotten a little bit more from Duffy’s best friend, Ellie. She seemed like such a fun character, and aside from a few choice “I’m your best friend and I’m going to knock some sense into you” moments with Duffy, we didn’t get much more from her than her interest in fashion as it related to Duffy’s storyline. I totally get that that isn’t uncommon for the female lead’s best friend in a romcom, so I’m not holding it against the book too harshly – I just feel like she is someone I really could have fallen in love with if there was a little bit more time dedicated to letting me do so. Who knows – maybe I’ll get my wish in a future book!
That being said, I think that overall this book was the perfect length. I didn’t find myself getting to the 3/4 point and constantly looking at my kindle’s progress bar to see where I was at in the book. It was just the right amount – and maybe could have even taken the tiniest bit more time at the end, which I almost never say, so you know I mean it.
All that to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be running to pick up any other books in this world, should we get them in the future (I’m looking at you, Lynn!).
Don’t go into this expecting to get a brand-new masterpiece of a story that you’ve never seen anything like before. This is a pretty standard, pretty predictable sports romcom. But if you like Hallmark movies and sassy characters with a lot of chemistry, then I think this just might be the book for you!
Thanks so much to BookSparks, the author, and Harper Muse for the gifted advanced copy of this book in in exchange for my honest thoughts and participation in this book tour. Thanks also to Harper Muse for the gifted audio copy via Libro.fm. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } My reviews and content can also be found on Goodreads, StoryGraph, on Instagram @Tackling_TBR, and on TikTok @TacklingTBR.
Themes: motherhood, found family, recovery from substance abuse
Page Count: 352 pages
Audiobook Length: 9 hours and 29 minutes
Audiobook Narrators: Helen Laser, Mia Hutchinson-Shaw, Rebecca Lowman, Jessica Guerrieri
Book Blurb:
Two sisters reconnect on a long-overdue girls’ trip to Mexico—just as a woman from their small town back home goes missing, setting off a chain of revelations that forces them to confront old traumas, fractured marriages, and the fragile threads holding their lives together.
Told in alternating perspectives, Both Can Be True follows Mare and Frankie—two sisters in their late thirties navigating motherhood, marriage, and identity in a post-pandemic world. Mare is the hyper-responsible older sister, mother of a neurodivergent preschooler, and married to a husband who’s long since checked out. Frankie is a charismatic, sober bookstore owner raising two teenage daughters and struggling to maintain boundaries between her sobriety, motherhood, and the messy realities of womanhood.
Together with three friends, they embark on a girls’ trip to Mexico to celebrate Frankie’s ten-year sobriety milestone. But back home, their husbands go camping and stumble upon what they believe might be the body of Brie Hoover—a woman from their town and Frankie’s AA circle. What follows is a slow unraveling of secrets and shifting loyalties, set against the backdrop of a deeply rooted female friendship.
As the sisters reckon with the emotional weight of caregiving, trauma, and who they’ve become outside their roles as mothers and wives, Both Can Be True Can we be good mothers and still want more? Can we love our partners and still feel trapped? And what happens when the support systems we’ve so carefully constructed start to crack?
Review: 4.25 stars
TW: death, substance abuse (alcohol and drugs), sexual assault
Wow.
It isn’t too often then days that I pick up a general women’s fiction read, since I’m so often distracted by my love of many other genres of fiction. While this book is categorized as a mystery, I would say that it fell (at least for me) much more under the larger umbrella of women’s fiction. Either way, I loved every minute of it and I am so thrilled that I got a chance to read it.
This complex book explores many overarching themes relating to motherhood, womanhood, and sisterhood (both born- and found-family). And when I first read the description of this book I was both very excited to read it and also a little bit nervous.
As a woman in today’s society, and as someone who became a new mom within the last year, I am no stranger to the idea of disappearing in plain sight. Making yourself smaller to fit into society or avoid drawing attention to yourself. Losing the woman that you were completely behind your new role of “mom.” The constant mom guilt. The shame that the world puts on us for being an imperfect person while also being a woman.
It can feel so lonely and isolating. What I loved most about this book was the raw look at these emotions and explored the relationships between a group of women learning to feel them and push through them all together. This book felt like it was both permission to feel those things as well as permission to let go of them entirely, while encouraging you to find your way back to your own personhood and who you are outside of the influence of those other things.
I decided to tackle this book with immersive reading, so I read it while also listening to the audio. The group of women that narrate the audiobook (including the author) do such a phenomenal job with their performances, and it really made the book and characters come alive for me. I would highly recommend this style of reading, or would generally recommend the audiobook if you’re not looking to take on both.
I would absolutely recommend this book. Truly, I finished it on audio while I was in the car yesterday and was worried that other drivers would be concerned about the crazy lady crying in the car next to them.
I am so thrilled to have a copy that I can come back to again in the future – I’m sure when I reach a new phase of life and motherhood I’ll find another new thing in it.
Thanks so much to the author and Hambright PR for the gifted advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } My reviews and content can also be found on Goodreads, StoryGraph, on Instagram @Tackling_TBR, and on TikTok @TacklingTBR.
Publication Date: November 11, 2024
Genre: romance, dark romance
Tropes: dark romance, enemies to lovers, bully romance, childhood best friends, kidnapping, good girl, hockey
Page Count: 224 pages
Book Blurb
Blaise He was once my hero, but that was a long time ago… before I left him. I never expected him to show up in my life again. Especially as my new roommate. The boy I once loved is now a brutal hockey player with a taste for revenge and reckless abandon. I’m indebted to him, and he expects me to pay in the form of blood, tears and humiliation. But once the games begin, I find myself falling into old habits I thought were buried. Out of all the bad ideas I’ve had in my life, Desmond Rickman has always been my favorite. Desmond I had a heart once… until she smashed it, leaving nothing but a hollow spot in my chest. I never expected to see her again. Especially not in my turf, in my apartment, as my new roommate. She may have held my heart once upon a time, but now I hold all the cards. She’s indebted to me, and I’ll make her pay for ruining my life. Old emotions are like scars, slowly fading and never disappearing. And she’s bringing them all to the surface. If there is a God, he designed Blaise Sheffield to bring me to my knees.
When your former, childhood best friend, quite literally from the opposite side of the tracks, disappears from your life only to pop back up years later as your new college roommate – you get a truly dark and twisted bully romance. Right? Sure, why not.
I will go into this saying that bully romances aren’t really my thing – as a queer woman, if I have to watch one more gay/bi character end up in a forever relationship with the person who used to bully them for being gay, I just might throw something. Obviously that’s not the storyline here, but I mention this to say – take this rating and review with the grain of salt that comes with reading a book where the primary trope is one that I’m predisposed to not loving and wasn’t expecting when I picked up the book.
That being said, I did enjoy the rest of the book well enough.
Blaise is a really fun FMC. A girl with a difficult childhood and dark secrets, working to better herself and her situation, and building a future career based around helping others do the same – all with a lot of sass and cute cotton candy pink hair. Love that for her.
The book itself is a pretty quick read, with fairly short chapters and a quick paced plot that jumps in with both feet right from the word go.
I’d say that if bully romances are your thing, definitely pick this one up – I think it’s probably a pretty good one. But if you’re just going in expecting the dark romance without the side of bullying, maybe be wary.
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