Audio: Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

By: Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Narrated by: Em Eldridge

Series: Assistant to the Villain, Book 2

Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins

Release date: 08-20-24 by Tantor Media

Fantasy/received from publisher

These are so much fun. Light fantasy, fairytale vibes, all in all while we are clearly on the villain´s side.

Evie is working for the Villain. The big bad in all the land, but he is just so...nice! Sure he is evil, but beneath that grumpy outside is clearly someone who wants to protect.

Book 1 ended with a cliffie, and well not all is as it seems. Is the villain really a villain in the end?

In this one they are trying to find her mother. Trying to find out what is happening to magic. Trying to stay hidden from the King´s forces. And just you know trying to keep everyone in check. Evie has a lot on her plate, so much office intrigues.

Oh and there is some romance sparking, but it is slow going. She fancies him, but she should not. He clearly fancies her, but he should not! So...it takes time.

Good, fun, and just different.

Great narration, she really does a amazing job with this series.

Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome, evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat . . . out-of-evil-office.

But Rennedawn is in trouble, and all signs—Kingsley's included—point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom's magic, and it's made The Villain's manor vulnerable to their enemies . . . including their nemesis, the king.

Now it's time for Evie to face her greatest challenge: protecting The Villain's lair, his nefarious works, and maybe the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie.

It's time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It's all so . . . so . . . delightfully fun.

But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?

Caroles Monday

Author: Kate Cochrane

Title: Yours for the Season

Series: Puck Struck #2

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance, LGBT

Format: ebook

Pages: 352

Expected publication October 28, 2025

Where I got It: My shelf (Given to me for my honest and unbiased opinion)

Summary: 

Making the yuletide gay

JT Cox never quite fit into Hart’s Landing. Playing on the boys’ hockey team and coming out young didn’t help. Now, thanks to an Olympic gold medal, JT’s name is on a sign greeting visitors to her hometown. Her family of artists and creatives still treat her as an odd duck, but elsewhere there’s a warm welcome. Especially from her best friend’s older sister, newly divorced Ali Porter.

Single for the first time since high school, Ali is ready to take the reins of her own life. She’s never had the chance to date another woman, and JT is an irresistible force of nature. When they team up for the town’s holiday contest, cocoa tasting and gingerbread decorating give way to snow-melting chemistry.

If teenage JT thought Ali was the prettiest girl on the planet, adult JT is completely smitten. But JT can’t see herself living in Hart’s Landing again and Ali can’t imagine leaving her job and her newly purchased home. And with Ali’s mom trying to plot a reconciliation with her ex, this holiday season might be bittersweet…or the start of something magical.

Review:

I meant to wait a bit before reading this, but I needed some holiday joy. 

Here we follow Ali and JT. The two have known each other for years. Ali is JT's best friend's older sister. Ali is finally free of her stuck-in High School husband and is ready to move on. JT never quite fit in and always felt like the odd duck out. This has all changed and everyone wants a piece of JT after she won an Olympic gold medal. When they team up to take on the holiday contest, they realize there is a strong chemistry between them. However, JT doesn't ever want to move back to Hart's Landing and Ali can't imagine leaving her job. 

This is technically book 2 of the series, but it did well as a standalone. The first book was about another couple. I totally forgot I wanted to read book 1 first...oh well. This was fine. 

The two had a lot of family stuff to deal with and I felt so bad for them. Screw both of their families (minus Ali's brother). Honestly, I think they both needed therapy because a lot of the hurdles they face were internal. But they were an adorable couple and I adored them soooo much. They deserved all the love!

Don't even get me started on KYLE. >_> Ugh. Such a stereotypical jerk. 

Awwww this made me miss Christmas!!!! I want some hot chocolate now!

I did enjoy this overall, but I did feel that some of the side characters seemed so 2D and in some case pretty stereotypical. 

All-in-all, this was a very sweet romance between two gals who deserved all the love in the world. I loved that couple!!! The side characters needed some fleshing out since they felt so 2D to me. This was adorable and a nice Christmas read. 4 stars from me. 

 

Favorite Character(s): Ali and JT

Least Favorite Character(s): KYLE!

Visa citerad text

Great big beautiful life by Emily Henry

Format: 416 pages, Paperback

Published: April 23, 2025 by Penguin Australia

Fiction

Library

Seriously, what do people categorize this one as? Because it certainly is not a romance. Yes there is romance, but is more romantic fiction  if that even. I enjoyed it, but this is my second Henry book and neither has been romance, and still...oh I do not know.

This is a book about two journalist competing about who can write the tell it all book about a famous socialite. And see that is the story, Margarets story. She tells about her family, and her life. Alice is a side character who gets to listen, and when she is not listening she runs into Hayden and sparks does fly in the end. Byt yes to me this is truly The Ives family story.

Romance, well I would say there is as much romance between these two as there are between others in the book. Margaret does tell about a lot of people.

The book was good, I really enjoyed learning the Ives tragic story. Did I agree with some choices they made, no, but that was life.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication.

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.

Audio: Assistant to the villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

By: Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Narrated by: Em Eldridge

Series: Assistant to the Villain, Book 1

Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins

Release date: 08-29-23 by Tantor Audio

Fantasy/ received from publisher

Wait,  this was first a viral tiktok thing? I really need to check that out.

This one was funny, and this villain is more like grumpy meets sunshine. I know he is supposed to be evil, but aww, he just awww. And then he kills someone, but aww.

Evie takes care of her sick dad and her little sister. And she needs money so an accident makes her meet the dreaded villain. But he is hot, and she needs a job. She becomes his assistant.

There are other people to at his Evil castle. The dragonkeeper, a healer who loves pink, someone in the office that she butts heads with and she will meet more. She is sunshine and happiness, and clumsiness. She also speaks faster than she thinks.

And the villain just can not say no to her.

But something evil is afoot, and it is not the villain.

Great narration. She kept a good pace and brought everyone to life.

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer—naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat…and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain—and his entire nefarious empire—out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work…and ensure he makes them pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find.