Audio: Pumpkin spice and pour-overs

Release date: 01-19-23

Length: 1 hr and 37 mins

Narrated by: Andria Mae

Publisher: Elise Kennedy

Categories: Romance

From spotify

It was good for what it was meant for. A short audiobook for when you need something short. Or as for me, when spotify does not tell me how much I have left! Is it 2 h and 59 min or 2 hours and 10 min. Ugh, spotify complain finished.

Right so Becca wants to work in this book store, she meets a hot guy on the train and he also wants the job. Then they have to share a hotel room too, and yes it is a short story so they get busy and things work out for them.

Fall feels, romance, and booklovers.

Becca Habar is determined to get her dream managing a bookstore in Benning Falls, Vermont. The only things standing in her way? A bumpy train, no place to stay, and a bookish, kind, broad-shouldered stranger who is determined to get the job first.

Only one bed. Cinnamon roll MMC. Vermont in the fall. A cozy train ride. Too many coffees. A small-town bookstore. A "good girl".

The Malevolent seven by Sebastien de Castell

Series: The Malevolent Seven (#1)

Format: 373 pages, Paperback

Published: May 11, 2023 by Quercus Publishing

Fantasy/own

I am a bit torn. It was good, but I never really felt any connection to anyone. I wanted to root for someone.

Cade gets together 6 other people and sets off on a quest. Ok so a lot happens before that, magic, war, heaven and hell. Everyone is on edge here. He is being sent to save some lord from something. And when he gets there, well things are not as they seem.

I guess I just wanted more. But still a good story, and I just do not have a lot to say today.

Picture a wizard. Go ahead, close your eyes. There he is, see? Skinny old guy with a long straggly beard. No doubt he's wearing iridescent silk robes that couldn't protect his frail body from a light breeze. The hat's a must, too, right? Big, floppy thing, covered in esoteric symbols that would instantly show every other mage where this one gets his magic? Wouldn't want a simple steel helmet or something that might, you know, protect the part of him most needed for conjuring magical forces from being bashed in with a mace (or pretty much any household object).

Now open your eyes and let me show you what a real war mage looks like . . . but be warned: you're probably not going to like it, because we're violent, angry, dangerously broken people who sell our skills to the highest bidder and be damned to any moral or ethical considerations.

At least, until such irritating concepts as friendship and the end of the world get in the way.

My name is Cade Ombra, and though I currently make my living as a mercenary wonderist, I used to have a far more noble-sounding job title - until I discovered the people I worked for weren't quite as noble as I'd believed. Now I'm on the run and my only friend, a homicidal thunder mage, has invited me to join him on a suicide mission against the seven deadliest mages on the continent.  

Time to recruit some very bad people to help us on this job . . .

Audio: A barista´s guide to love & larceny

By: Caroline Bonin

Narrated by: Sarah Beth Pfeifer

Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins

Release date: 01-27-26

Publisher: Tantor Media

Categories: YA

To review

This was a sort of cozy fantasy where magic is real.

Dani ran away from her family who used her powers and got a partial scholarship at a magical college. But she has to work at a coffee place since she needs money. And then there is schoolwork. It is a lot to handle.

She has a good friend in her roommate McKenna who is partial fae (I would really want to know more about that). And then a crush at Kass who frequents the cafe she works at .

And then a professor learns of her ability and wants her to take part in a "extra credit project". And she seriously needs the money so she can get her degree.

But yes there is a lot more going on. A company who is making a dream drug. Meeting new friends. Handling her schoolwork and fearing getting kicked out. And that budding romance.

Very cozy feel to it. A but of love, a bit of larceny. But things will work out for her.

I liked the narration. She worked well with different characters and the mood of the book

Dani Lionet is no stranger to working hard. But now she's attending her dream magic university, and must manage classes, shifts at the local cafe, and maintaining her partial scholarship—all while trying to keep her unique ability under wraps. That way, no one else can take advantage of it like her parents used to. So when a visiting professor calls Dani out on her ability, she's terrified.

Yet, it seems Professor Silva just wants to pay Dani to use it to investigate a soon-to-be-released lucid dreaming product with horrible side effects. Dani is hesitant, but she needs the money, and it would help her new friend who was part of the product's clinical trials. Plus, she has a swoony distraction in Kass, a mage and her endearingly cute new regular at work...even if she can't tell him about her ability or extracurricular activities. The fact that he seems just as interested in her is very uncharted territory for Dani since, thanks to her parents, she's never lived in one place long enough to have a real crush.

Can Dani help with the professor's "group project," learn to embrace her ability, and get to know Kass? Or will it all fall apart before the semester is over?

TMST

 

 

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog. Feel free to leave your links in the comments if you are participating,

2/10/2026 Share some Romance Book recommendations

Ok it is late, so no pics! First of all TESSA DARE! Read her historical romance books. They are so fun.

And now I am just gonna go random, and not with picks that everyone knows at once....except Singh, I have to mention her. I also love her rugby books!

Anyway, here we go:

Historical romance: A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin

Paranormal romance. Storm Echo by Nalini Singh

Fantasy romance: The Desert King's Spy by Eve Langlais

Sci fi romance: Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik

Contemporary romance: Heidi's Guide to Four Letter Words by Tara Sivec

CR: Runaway Groom by Lauren Layne

2/17/2026 Are there any books you've read that changed your perspective on a subject?

2/24/2026 Which books are you looking forward to reading this Spring? (March-May)

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog. Feel free to leave your links in the comments if you are participating.

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