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121 reviews by:
wrappedupinpages
Thank you @parkrowbooks and @doctorkellyanderson for gifting me this book!
Tropes:
⛵️Love triangle
🧜🏻♀️Mysterious stranger washed ashore
⛵️Fated/soulmate bond
🧜🏻♀️Magical realism
⛵️Grief & disaster origin story
🧜🏻♀️Second-chance romance
Annie MacLeod grew up on a sailboat in the Pacific Northwest, raised in sync with the ocean alongside her parents and her childhood sweetheart, Evan. When a tsunami destroys her world and sweeps her parents away, Annie is stranded on land, grieving, and confronted with how out of place she’s always felt off the water. In the wreckage, she rescues Walker, a wordless man who emits a hum only she can hear, pulling her between the stability of Evan and the pull of Walker’s mysterious, otherworldly ties to the sea.
Thoughts:
This is such a beautifully written story! Being raised on a sailboat with her parents, Annie is different than most children. Being surrounded by parents who love and adore her, Annie’s childhood cultivates her connection to the ocean and the life beneath its surface. This is where she is most at peace.
The way the past and present are interwoven is remarkably done. The conflict between human’s and nature is such an important part of this story.
There is an innocence that society pushes young children to shed at even early ages instead of allowing the child to mature at the rate nature intended. I sobbed reading about the losses Annie experienced that broke her, breaking the connection she had with the ocean. Because while nature is beautiful, it is a cycle of letting go and rebuilding stronger afterwards.
While there is a love triangle, it’s ultimately Annie’s love and understanding of herself that is the love needed for her to get to that place where she can rebuild stronger and make the decisions about her future.
The magical realism with Annie’s mom and the strange boy Walker who is literally swept in by a storm, add this mystery because there is so much we still don’t know about the oceanic ecosystem.
This book is beautiful, just like the watercolors the author did for the end pages. In my top 5 books for this year!
This is such a cute story! The illustrations, down to even the colors chosen are perfection. I want real life little dragons! There is a softness with the colors and shapes of the illustrations that is perfect for a sapphic romance.
I loved the IBS and very accurate PCOS representation. Lucy's thoughts that no one would want to be with her because of her PCOS hit home for me with my own health issues. Aster is so supportive and caring, making Lucy feel safe and loved. Also, the size representation with Lucy and August's boyfriend is refreshing to see in a graphic novel.
The way the bookstore is used to give people a chance to see themselves in books with the diverse representation are goals for bookstores! Age doesn't matter either as George, the grouchy elderly man discovers he is asexual. Lucy never kicks him out for loitering in her bookstore which saves the bookstore in the end when George brings his friends. Treat everyone with respect and kindness and maybe good karma will come your way.
I will be recommending this sweet book to friends!
Thank you Netgalley and Andrews McMeel publishing for gifting me this eARC!
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🌶️🌶️
I loved the IBS and very accurate PCOS representation. Lucy's thoughts that no one would want to be with her because of her PCOS hit home for me with my own health issues. Aster is so supportive and caring, making Lucy feel safe and loved. Also, the size representation with Lucy and August's boyfriend is refreshing to see in a graphic novel.
The way the bookstore is used to give people a chance to see themselves in books with the diverse representation are goals for bookstores! Age doesn't matter either as George, the grouchy elderly man discovers he is asexual. Lucy never kicks him out for loitering in her bookstore which saves the bookstore in the end when George brings his friends. Treat everyone with respect and kindness and maybe good karma will come your way.
I will be recommending this sweet book to friends!
Thank you Netgalley and Andrews McMeel publishing for gifting me this eARC!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️
🎭 In What World 🎭
By Bridget Morrissey
Thank you so much to @berkleypub for gifting me this book!
🎭 Sapphic rivals-to-lovers meets multiverse romance.
🎭 Marlowe and Priscilla hated each other in high school, until their old drama teacher goes missing, and a mysterious machine sends them jumping through alternate realities to find him.
🎭 Along the way they keep running into other versions of themselves… including ones who don’t hate each other at all causing them to rethink their perspectives on their rivalry.
🎭 Second chances, theater kid nostalgia, and a whole lot of “what if”
There is something so magical about this story beyond the fact there is a Memory Machine involved. Within theatre, we are asked to be transported into a story unfolding on the stage and let our imagination fill in the gaps since the story is contained within the stage. That is how I read this story. Not that I needed scientific support for the Memory Machine.
I enjoyed the unfolding progression of Marlowe and Pricilla's relationship from rivals to lovers. It isn't rushed or abruptly healed. Their dislike for each other is also important they discover because it challenged them. The point is made that a healthy relationship needs people who challenge each other to be better and ready for their goals.
I connected a lot with Priscilla history that shows neglect doesn't just mean not having basic necessities for life such as food and a roof over our heads, but there is also emotional neglect that made Priscilla feel that she wasn't good enough and needed to therefore become someone else rather than her truest self. Also, the importance of close friends in one's life. Platonic love is just as important as romantic love.
I loved all the different twists and how even one small change has a domino effect that completely changed the trajectory of Marlowe and Priscilla's lives.
I definitely recommend this book!
🌶️🌶️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
By Bridget Morrissey
Thank you so much to @berkleypub for gifting me this book!
🎭 Sapphic rivals-to-lovers meets multiverse romance.
🎭 Marlowe and Priscilla hated each other in high school, until their old drama teacher goes missing, and a mysterious machine sends them jumping through alternate realities to find him.
🎭 Along the way they keep running into other versions of themselves… including ones who don’t hate each other at all causing them to rethink their perspectives on their rivalry.
🎭 Second chances, theater kid nostalgia, and a whole lot of “what if”
There is something so magical about this story beyond the fact there is a Memory Machine involved. Within theatre, we are asked to be transported into a story unfolding on the stage and let our imagination fill in the gaps since the story is contained within the stage. That is how I read this story. Not that I needed scientific support for the Memory Machine.
I enjoyed the unfolding progression of Marlowe and Pricilla's relationship from rivals to lovers. It isn't rushed or abruptly healed. Their dislike for each other is also important they discover because it challenged them. The point is made that a healthy relationship needs people who challenge each other to be better and ready for their goals.
I connected a lot with Priscilla history that shows neglect doesn't just mean not having basic necessities for life such as food and a roof over our heads, but there is also emotional neglect that made Priscilla feel that she wasn't good enough and needed to therefore become someone else rather than her truest self. Also, the importance of close friends in one's life. Platonic love is just as important as romantic love.
I loved all the different twists and how even one small change has a domino effect that completely changed the trajectory of Marlowe and Priscilla's lives.
I definitely recommend this book!
🌶️🌶️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Veiled Court throws you into a world of ruthless politics, dangerous magic, and impossible choices. If you love dark romantasy with high stakes, sizzling tension, and morally gray characters, this one belongs on your TBR!
Thoughts:
This is not my first book by C.N. Crawford. I also read The Frost and Nectar series.
This story pulled me in so fast! It was refreshing to have a FMC who has weaknesses. She has to team up with others to make it through the trials.
I found the world to be interesting because the fey have invaded our World and there is a veil between these worlds.
I also appreciated that love triangle wasn't your typical one. Syn shows her age and maturity by valuing friendship.
This book has a very quick pace! Honestly, it could have slowed a bit and the book be longer and I'd still want to read it. I am a little confused on how Syn lost her magic. Also, what her magic was.
Syn herself is so interesting! With her backstory of being taken by the fey King, trained/tortured, and forced to kill until she could run away with her closest friend. There could be an entire prequel for her backstory to this point! I will definitely be read book 2 of this series and Fey Academy for Spies by Crawford is going on my TBR.
Author: C.N. Crawford
Publisher: Independent
Release date: June 26th, 2026
Genre: Romantasy
Page: 496
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Thoughts:
This is not my first book by C.N. Crawford. I also read The Frost and Nectar series.
This story pulled me in so fast! It was refreshing to have a FMC who has weaknesses. She has to team up with others to make it through the trials.
I found the world to be interesting because the fey have invaded our World and there is a veil between these worlds.
I also appreciated that love triangle wasn't your typical one. Syn shows her age and maturity by valuing friendship.
This book has a very quick pace! Honestly, it could have slowed a bit and the book be longer and I'd still want to read it. I am a little confused on how Syn lost her magic. Also, what her magic was.
Syn herself is so interesting! With her backstory of being taken by the fey King, trained/tortured, and forced to kill until she could run away with her closest friend. There could be an entire prequel for her backstory to this point! I will definitely be read book 2 of this series and Fey Academy for Spies by Crawford is going on my TBR.
Author: C.N. Crawford
Publisher: Independent
Release date: June 26th, 2026
Genre: Romantasy
Page: 496
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️
✨My Take on A Treason in Magic ✨
By Melissa Marr
Thank you so much to @melissamarrwriting and @otrpr for #gifting me this book!
Gabrielle is the 1st woman to inherit the Hunter role, a job she has trained her whole life for, making sure faeries stay in their world.
Now she’s forced back into the orbit of her former childhood friend Isabeau, who abandoned her a decade ago abruptly.
Isabeau, a lady duke has been cursed. She needs the Hunter’s blade (and maybe her heart too) because a new fairy monster is roaming the woods, killing men.
Sapphic slow burn meets monster-hunting duty, and neither woman is walking away unscathed.
Read this in a single day. Once I started, I could not put it down. The pacing is perfection and Gabrielle is so easy to love.
Family and duty sit at the core of this story, and the way family makes room for sexual exploration instead of shame is such a nice touch.
I loved that the mystery stays the main focus while the romance simmers alongside it rather than taking over. You’ll likely guess who the beast is early on, but the twist attached to it still catches you off guard.
And Isabeau and Gabrielle? Their banter is everything. You feel every bit of shared history between them, and their physical relationship builds so naturally it never feels rushed.
The world-building here is stellar. The queer-normative society is lovely.
All ready recommending to friends and family!
A Treason of Magic is OUT NOW!!
Book 2, A Treachery of Curses is out in November!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️
By Melissa Marr
Thank you so much to @melissamarrwriting and @otrpr for #gifting me this book!
Gabrielle is the 1st woman to inherit the Hunter role, a job she has trained her whole life for, making sure faeries stay in their world.
Now she’s forced back into the orbit of her former childhood friend Isabeau, who abandoned her a decade ago abruptly.
Isabeau, a lady duke has been cursed. She needs the Hunter’s blade (and maybe her heart too) because a new fairy monster is roaming the woods, killing men.
Sapphic slow burn meets monster-hunting duty, and neither woman is walking away unscathed.
Read this in a single day. Once I started, I could not put it down. The pacing is perfection and Gabrielle is so easy to love.
Family and duty sit at the core of this story, and the way family makes room for sexual exploration instead of shame is such a nice touch.
I loved that the mystery stays the main focus while the romance simmers alongside it rather than taking over. You’ll likely guess who the beast is early on, but the twist attached to it still catches you off guard.
And Isabeau and Gabrielle? Their banter is everything. You feel every bit of shared history between them, and their physical relationship builds so naturally it never feels rushed.
The world-building here is stellar. The queer-normative society is lovely.
All ready recommending to friends and family!
A Treason of Magic is OUT NOW!!
Book 2, A Treachery of Curses is out in November!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Welcome to my stop for The Secret World of Briar Rose by @readwithcindy — YouTube star Cindy Pham's lush retelling about escapism, grief, and dreaming your way to something better.
OUT NOW from @kokilabooks / @penguinteen in a JAW-DROPPING deluxe edition: embossed jacket, colored edges, illustrated endpapers, gold foil case. 😍
I haven't read any sleeping beauty retellings and this story sets the bar high and completely turns the story inside out and on its head.
I absolutely loved this book! The world building is atmospheric with two timelines clearly defined and a slow and gentle sapphic love story that crosses 100 years.
You'll love this if you're into:
🌻 Queer fairytale retellings
💜 Dual timelines
🌻 Grief & depression done right
💜 A dreamworld split by season
🌻 Messy, complicated sisters
Into the Darkness by Brenna Bustamante
She was hired to kill him… now she might die saving him instead.
Thank you so much Brenna Bustamante and @booksandbloompr for the gifted copy of INTO THE DARKNESS! Available now!
If you’re a fan of enemies-to-lovers, morally gray characters, forbidden magic, and high-stakes action, Into the Darkness deserves a spot on your TBR!
This one is packed with tension, action, betrayal, and a romance that burns just as fiercely as the fight for survival.
🖤Book Review: Into the Darkness🖤
What I loved most was the found family thread running through this story. When Aza’s sister gets taken by the Stars, the rescue isn’t a solo mission, it’s a group effort. The way the team rallies around each other hits hard. Special shoutout to one of the side characters, who uses a wheelchair and is an active, essential part of the rescue crew. Representation like this in a fast-paced action/romantasy is not something I see often, and it was done really well.
The enemies-to-lovers tension between Aza and her target delivered exactly what I wanted: forced proximity, reluctant trust, and an attraction neither of them saw coming.
A few smaller plot details left me with questions, but since this is only the 1st book of the series, I’m hoping those threads get picked up later.
⚠️ Heads up: there’s more gore than I expected at certain points, so please check the trigger warnings before diving in.
Overall: a strong start to a series I’m already excited to keep reading.
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Title: Into the Darkness
Author: Brenna Bustamante
Release date: June 30th, 2026
Genre: Romantasy
If dark academia, elemental magic, rival schools, and a love triangle that promises heartbreak
are your thing, then Shadowmire by Reaghan Quinn needs a spot on your TBR immediately!
Thank you so much to @reaghanquinn and @booksandbloompr for the gifted copy of
SHADOWMIRE, releasing July 1st!
Synopsis:
Whittaker School of Magick, an elite academy where elemental wielders are forged into weapons for
the ruling Service, where power isn’t just a gift—it’s something to be controlled, contained… or
taken.
And Celeste Farris is hiding something they would kill to own. She tries to stay invisible. To bury the magick rising beneath her skin.
But power like hers doesn’t stay hidden.
Not from Noa Gallagher—the fire-wielder who burns too bright, too hot, and looks at her like she’s
something worth destroying the world for.
And not from Gavrail Kamenov—the shadow-bound rival with silver eyes that sees too much, knows
too much… and pulls her closer with every dangerous step.
As ancient bloodlines begin to wake and the balance of power starts to fracture, Celeste realizes the
truth:
She isn’t just part of the game.
She’s the reason it’s being played in the first place.
Thoughts:
Shadowmire took a minute to find its footing, but once it did, I could not put it down. The slow-burn opening gives way to a much faster pace, and I loved that Noa and Garvail aren't fighting over Celeste but working together to protect her. Such a refreshing change from the usual rivalry trope.
Celeste's abilities grow so naturally throughout, nothing felt rushed or convenient. And that ending?! I did not see it coming! Now I need book two immediately.
Author: @reaghanquinn
Title: Shadowmire (Starweaver, book 1)
Release date: July 1, 2026
Genre: Romantasy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️
are your thing, then Shadowmire by Reaghan Quinn needs a spot on your TBR immediately!
Thank you so much to @reaghanquinn and @booksandbloompr for the gifted copy of
SHADOWMIRE, releasing July 1st!
Synopsis:
Whittaker School of Magick, an elite academy where elemental wielders are forged into weapons for
the ruling Service, where power isn’t just a gift—it’s something to be controlled, contained… or
taken.
And Celeste Farris is hiding something they would kill to own. She tries to stay invisible. To bury the magick rising beneath her skin.
But power like hers doesn’t stay hidden.
Not from Noa Gallagher—the fire-wielder who burns too bright, too hot, and looks at her like she’s
something worth destroying the world for.
And not from Gavrail Kamenov—the shadow-bound rival with silver eyes that sees too much, knows
too much… and pulls her closer with every dangerous step.
As ancient bloodlines begin to wake and the balance of power starts to fracture, Celeste realizes the
truth:
She isn’t just part of the game.
She’s the reason it’s being played in the first place.
Thoughts:
Shadowmire took a minute to find its footing, but once it did, I could not put it down. The slow-burn opening gives way to a much faster pace, and I loved that Noa and Garvail aren't fighting over Celeste but working together to protect her. Such a refreshing change from the usual rivalry trope.
Celeste's abilities grow so naturally throughout, nothing felt rushed or convenient. And that ending?! I did not see it coming! Now I need book two immediately.
Author: @reaghanquinn
Title: Shadowmire (Starweaver, book 1)
Release date: July 1, 2026
Genre: Romantasy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️
In a city where vampires and humans cling to a fragile peace, revenge might be the very thing that destroys them all…
Thank you so much to @maeolivine and @booksandbloompr for the gifted eARC!
TAINTED SOULS came out July 1st and is filled with gothic atmosphere, dangerous secrets, political intrigue, and a deliciously slow-burn romance, that is perfect for fans of morally gray characters and enemies-to-lovers tension!
I read this book so fast! I just couldn't put it down once I started reading. The world building is fantastic, with attention paid to even describing smells so I was able to really visualize what I was reading. The scene at a world food event with blood tinged treats for vampires, creating a culinary experience that jump off the page and made me want to be there with all the noise and smells.
Main characters that are full adults who don't just magically become proficient fighters in a week but have years of practice and experience.
The pace was pretty quick with many smaller scenes that had me trying to guess what the heck is going to happen next because the twists got me and that ending? I need book 2 now! The pace helped build the suspense like a slow burn (which this is a very, very slow burn romantically as well, but it's so worth it). I will be recommending this book to friends and family!
Title: Tainted Souls (Carved From Divine, book 1)
Release date: July 1st, 2026
Genre: Romantasy
Thank you so much to @maeolivine and @booksandbloompr for the gifted eARC!
TAINTED SOULS came out July 1st and is filled with gothic atmosphere, dangerous secrets, political intrigue, and a deliciously slow-burn romance, that is perfect for fans of morally gray characters and enemies-to-lovers tension!
I read this book so fast! I just couldn't put it down once I started reading. The world building is fantastic, with attention paid to even describing smells so I was able to really visualize what I was reading. The scene at a world food event with blood tinged treats for vampires, creating a culinary experience that jump off the page and made me want to be there with all the noise and smells.
Main characters that are full adults who don't just magically become proficient fighters in a week but have years of practice and experience.
The pace was pretty quick with many smaller scenes that had me trying to guess what the heck is going to happen next because the twists got me and that ending? I need book 2 now! The pace helped build the suspense like a slow burn (which this is a very, very slow burn romantically as well, but it's so worth it). I will be recommending this book to friends and family!
Title: Tainted Souls (Carved From Divine, book 1)
Release date: July 1st, 2026
Genre: Romantasy
Reese, a rising driver, begins training under Sloane, a former Formula 1 star whose career ended in a devastating crash. Their instructor-student bond turns romantic as Sloane confronts her trauma and Reese chases her own breakthrough.
I liked how Reese and Sloane worked through Sloane’s PTSD, and there was no third-act breakup. But their connection felt like insta-love to move. Sloane’s coaching seemed to transform Reese’s skills unrealistically fast. The pacing also dragged in the middle, losing my interest. If you love sports romances, this may be for you.