fixationrealm's reviews
80 reviews

Air & Essence by Mikayla D. Hornedo

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Part of me is irritated that I waited so long to start this series. Part of me is feeling very lucky I got to read Blood & Brujas and dive RIGHT into this one after.

I thought I was obsessed with book one, this one?! AMAZING. The twists and turns of the storyline were EVERYTHING. The most refreshing part is NONE of this was predictable. One thing about being an avid reader is books sometimes start to mesh together and you can get to a point where you know exactly what’s coming. I saw none of this coming in these two books.

There were new characters introduced I fell in love with, I laughed, my blood pressure skyrocketed, I cried, I gasped, I yelled colorful words out loud. Overall a 10/10 good time. A rollercoaster if you will.

The switch between character POVs was everything. The timing of these was perfect and you can tell how much time, thought, and hard work Mikayla put into how everything played out.

Needless to say, she ate DEOWN with these books and now that THIS baby is in the world I highly suggest starting the series. I mean it’s why choose with a fantastic storyline what other convincing DO YOU NEED FROM ME?!

Thank you so much Mikayla for my review copy this was PHENOMENAL 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Blood & Brujas by Mikayla D. Hornedo

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Why, the HECK did you guys allow me to wait so long to read this? I LOVED THIS BOOK. The FMC Dayanara is ME. I’m actually sure Mikayla wrote this book about me but idk. My entire time reading it I was like “is this freaking play about us?” 

The women empowerment, the feminine rage? CHEFS FREAKING KISS GOSH. 

Don’t even get me started on the spice?! I was actually sweating 🥵. 

The storyline is beautiful and I actually loved the writing in this. The characters were so well written too! I became obsessed with some characters and enraged at others. This book pulled several different emotions out of me, so I really enjoyed losing my mind in the chat with live reacts. 

I’m diving right into my ARC of Air & Essence because I HAVE TO KNOW what happens next. If you have not read this, do it today. Move it up on your TBR. Because this was quite the experience 😮‍💨 

Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I LOVED this audiobook. This was a reread for me since I’ve already read the series up until this point, but I had an urge to experience the audiobook and I’m so glad I did! 

First let me say, the narrator Amanda Dolan is very talented. It was so cool to listen to the different voices she made for every character. Everyone sounded different and it ALL CAME FROM HER?! 

The audiobook was a completely different experience than reading the book, being able to hear certain emotions through my ears instead of imagining them with my eyeballs. I dove immediately into glow and cannot wait share my thoughts in that one! 

Love Bites: A Supernatural Small Town Romance (Timber Creek, #2) by B. Perkins, Aimee Vance

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Guys, already a top read of 2025 for me. Even if I’ve only read a few books this year so far, this one will absolutely hold its place. I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again AIMEE AND B DO NOT GET THE HYPE THEY TRULY DESERVE. 

These books are great. They make me feel happy and giddy and heart eyed, but the best part is they are FUNNY. Like I actually LOL. Any book that can bring out these emotions for me are automatic 5 star reads. 

This one follows summer and max. Summer is the youngest Larkin sibling from timber creek, full of sunshine and rainbows and max is a dark “shadow daddy”. A beautiful contrast that WORKS. 

I loved summer, she was so whimsical and cute the entire book. And i loved max, hard around the edges but a real softy on the inside. The love story part was beautiful but there was also found family and a beautiful family dynamic, references to books that we’ve all read and loved that had me cackling, and even some parts that had me on the EDGE OF MY SEAT. 

I recommend those who like to read cutesy books as palate cleansers, or to those who love paranormal romance and small town romance. Also if you love a good decent sized series that is interconnected with another. These are for you. You don’t HAVE to do it this way but I recommend starting with deadlights cove series and then diving into timber creek. 

Thank you Aimee and B for my copy. I love yall sm 

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

5.0

What a ROLLERCOASTER THIS WAS? Why I waited so long to read this I’ll never know. This book started off slow for me, but not in a bad way. It was slow, but the overall story made me want to keep going just to see where this book was going to take me. 

The writing was beautiful through and through and I LOVED the banter between Roman and Iris. There were parts that made me LOL and parts that made me cry. There were even parts that had me actually biting my nails. I mean I was on the edge of my SEAT. 

I see now why everybody loved this book. I’m very behind on my readings obviously but I’m slowly catching up. 

I cannot wait to dive into ruthless vows and see how everything unfolds. 

Iron & Embers by Helen Scheuerer

5.0

FIRST BOOK OF THE YEAR DOWN 💀
& man what a great book this was 😩 i am completely obsessed with Helen’s books. The Legends of Thezmarr is by far one of my favorite series so I LOVE that she kept us in the same world with The Ashes of Thezmarr! I loved both Elwren and Torj before they got their own series so when time allowed I really lost myself in this book. 

Helen really knows how to write romantasy. As I’ve said before, I’ll read whatever she writes. Every time.

Pen Pal by J.T. Geissinger

5.0

I just finished this book and my chest hurts. I’ll never be the same again. So I’ll add this to my mental collection of the very few books that severely altered my brain chemistry. That’s it that is my review 

Virgin Sacrifice by L.M. Ramirez

5.0

I enjoyed this book so much. I am so mad I took so long to read it.

HOWEVER, I am actually glad I took a bit longer to read this one as I was able to really savor it and really absorb every detail. 

I fell in love with Luz from the very beginning and the Blackwell family had me intrigued the entire book. 

There were so many things to appreciate about this book. The parts that were funny and really showed the authors sense of humor and also the fashion descriptors. Those were some of my absolute favorite parts to read. 

The tension in this book between Luz and the Blackwells was everything and the suspense too! I loved it and cannot wait to dive into the next book. I am so excited to see what happens next after the ending I was just left with. 

Pumpkin Spice and Poltergeist by Ali K. Mulford, K. Elle Morrison

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

THIS BOOK HAD NO BUSINESS BEING THIS GOOD. Simple. I loved every second of it. It was full of belly laughs and was so cute I actually almost couldn’t stand it (in the best way obviously) 

When I tell yall this book is PERFECT for an October read. Please run, do not walk, RUN to go read this. It was so freaking good and it’s a quick read too! 

I have never read a sapphic book before. This was my first and I already knew I liked women but it 1000% made me question if I still like men so there’s that (see slide 2) 

This was an experience I enjoyed entirely too much and I am now obsessed and cannot wait to see what comes next for Maple Hollow. 

A Throne of Wings and Embers by Emilia Jae

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The trilogy is now complete and the very first thing I want to say is how proud I am of Em. 

The journey the Forbidden Heir Trilogy has taken me on was so amazing in not even sure how to put it into words properly. 

The very best part was watching Emilia grow as an author from the first book (her debut) to the last. I won’t lie I shed a few tears of pride once I finally finished this book. Because WOW 🥲

The way this book was executed was IMMACULATE. The storyline was tied up so well and I was left extremely happy with the trilogy as a whole. 

Emotions ran very HIGH reading this and honestly I was not ready to end. The characters had become MY PEOPLE if u get it u get it. I am sad to see them go BUT I also cannot WAIT to see what else em blesses us with. 

If you’re a “I only read a series if it’s complete” friend, this is done, it’s amazing and I am recommending it.