ericas_bookshelf's reviews
733 reviews

Sweet Summer Serpentine by Rose Santoriello

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Ok so I now find snakes hot lol. 

In all seriousness, I love Rose’s monster romances. They’re cozy, spicy, full of heart, and honestly feel like a safe place to visit for a while. I adore them. 

This book follows Iris as she is assigned to work on a project with the Head of the Botanical Magic Department, Adeib. These two bicker initially, but the way he immediately became concerned about her not eating?? PLEASE. Food as a love language is my weakness lol. Also the humor in this was so good, I was cackling!!

“Book boyfriend?” “
“It’s like a fictional crush. I’ve got book girlfriends too.”“You have a boyfriend?” 
“No. Adeib, just shut the fuck up and trust me.” 
“I am going to look it up.”

D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

With Love, from Cold World by Alicia Thompson

emotional funny hopeful inspiring relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

What an absolutely delightful, warm hug, of a book. Seriously adored every minute of this! Asa was just so kind, patient, and tender with Lauren. Asa’s complicated relationship with his family was also handled beautifully in my opinion. I honestly went into this just expecting to enjoy it, I didn’t expect to become SO invested and devour it like it was my last meal. 🥹😭

Can we also just get a moment of appreciation for his dirty talk?! Cause WOW

“What if I said please?”

“Pull my hair anytime.”

“F*ck me Lauren.”

Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This romance is so sweet and tender, and yet somehow full of pure feminine rage as well. Literally the only reason this wasn’t a full 5⭐️ for me was because I wanted MORE. The romance just didn’t occupy enough of the story for me haha. Honestly if it was a full length novel, I think I would’ve liked it more. Because the romance genre desperately needs more representation like this. The discussions of aging, falling in love, and desiring intimacy as you age, were so beautiful to read. Again, I wish this was a full length novel. I especially loved the scene where they discuss how nature is perceived and admired vs women’s aging bodies, it was so therapeutic and full of rage. I adored it!

Overall this is a light, fun read, with lesbians falling in love, making cheese toasties, and fighting the patriarchy together 🥳

Some quotes I loved:
“Her heart was wrapped in suffocating folds of cloth, each layer a regret made of things she’d never said.”

“Lover wasn’t a close enough word. What did you call the person who made your life worth living? What did you call her, when you weren’t supposed to even have her at all?”

“I am lonely and I’m sad and I’m so, so scared. People tell me that I am supposed to mellow with age, but I care as fiercely as ever. And caring hurts. I’m frightened of caring.”

“You really shouldn’t blame men for everything.” 
“No, just the ninety-eight percent of society’s ills they’re responsible for.”

“It was amazing how years of mere existence had taught Violetta to hate herself, as if simply existing in the impossible sea of society’s expectation put hateful scales over her eyes and made her believe that her own body was unworthy of love.”

King of Immortal Tithe by Ben Alderson

adventurous dark funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Why yes I did picture Faenir as one of the hot elves from LOTR, thanks for asking 💅🏻

Seriously though, this was so good. I loved the lore, court politics, and ofc the romance between Arlo & Faenir. I will say, I didn’t love this one as much as book one. It felt a little rushed and some of the writing wasn’t my *fav*. 

“You are my monster. My destroyer. And I count down the moments until you have the energy to terrorise me again.”

Lord of Eternal Night by Ben Alderson

adventurous dark funny hopeful relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Ok why did it take me so long to try Ben’s books?? WTF IS WRONG WITH ME. This was so much fun?!

We follow Jak, a witch who is sent to kill the “beast” aka Marius the vampire, but they fall in love instead (duh). I ate this UP y’all. Now listen, some of the writing wasn’t my fave (why are we describing rain clouds as pregnant lol), but given how fast I devoured this and how much fun I had, I’m keeping my rating at 5 stars haha. 

“Let me have you.” I nipped at his lip, urging a low growl to bubble from his throat and replied, “you already do.”

Threads That Bind Us by

adventurous dark funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

**I was an alpha reader for this, and am friends with the author. The copy I’m reviewing is the finished arc copy however**

That being said, I do genuinely love this book and think it’s a solid debut, and great start to a series. I wouldn’t yap about this book if I didn’t like it y’all. 

Gwen & Charlie have excellent chemistry and truly feel drawn to each other from the beginning. We have mafia adjacent vibes, with some great action scenes and politics that I think will further evolve and get more complicated as this series progresses. Personally, even during my alpha read, I was fully invested in our cast of characters, & I am definitely intrigued by the Costa family (especially Clara, she’s so mean I love it). 

I wouldn’t classify this as a slow burn romance, as it’s very much instant attraction, even though Gwen tries to fight it. But dominant women in dark romance is so rare, I LOVED getting that representation from Gwen. Plus the cast is full of Queer characters, which is also incredible. Rae really knows how to write accurate smut and kink, so truly this wasn’t a surprise that it was done well. 

And Charlie?? Listen. I really love him. 

Charlie literally sees her kill ONE person and goes, “I gotta wife her up asap.” WE LOVE A MAN WHO APPRECIATES HIS STABBY WIFE OK. 

“Every single touch from you is torture I beg for.”

The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

This was aggressively *ok* for me. Tbh I think my standards were set at an unreasonable standard since I loved ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ SO much and that was my first book of hers haha. 

Idk, I just found the supporting characters annoying overall. As a whole this was cheesy, over the top, and not one I would reread. I honestly think the narrator is what kept me engaged and not dnfing haha. They did a phenomenal job. 

I did actually enjoy the instalove in this, though I wish our timeline was a bit longer. But Tansy & Gemma had great chemistry, and I adored them.

Lady Venom Takes a Mistress by Kat Blackthorne

adventurous dark hopeful relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

ok so my fav genre might actually be lesbians falling love then killing men together 

The Duke in Question by Amalie Howard

adventurous funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes