The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall

Format: 322 pages, Paperback

Published: September 19, 2023 by Alcove Press

Paranormal/borrowed

The person I borrowed it from dnfed it, people on my friend list had dnfed it, and it was meh, but I wanted to see if the romance would pay out. BOOM! I got hit in the face, wtf happened? The romance part suddenly imploded. Was this not a cozy paranormal romance? Eh..ok?

Nope, now we are all about the curse because this is a family of witches. And oh no, grandma is dying and we are all doomed!

Boom! Bloody hell, that effing romance is back. I hate this romance. It sucked! What the heck was that?!

I honestly do not know what this book was meant to be. Paranormal cozy? Nope changed. Romance? Nope, changed. It was messy and it made me mad at the end.

Yes yes I should have given up, but I wanted to know.

Sadie Revelare has always believed that the curse of four heartbreaks that accompanies her magic would be worth the price. But when her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer with only weeks to live, and her first heartbreak, Jake McNealy, returns to town after a decade, her carefully structured life begins to unravel.

With the news of their grandmother's impending death, Sadie's estranged twin brother Seth returns to town, bringing with him deeply buried family secrets that threaten to tear Sadie's world apart. Their grandmother has been the backbone of the family for generations, and with her death, Sadie isn't sure she'll have the strength to keep the family, and her magic, together.

As feelings for Jake begin to rekindle, and her grandmother growing sicker by the day, Sadie faces the last of her heartbreaks, and she has to decide: is love more important than magic?

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton

Series: Love's Academic (#1)

Format: 384 pages, Paperback

Published: July 23, 2024 by Berkley

Historical fantasy

I liked it, but while I was reading I came to realised something was missing. Something that could have made it great.

Two ornithologists are competing in a contest, they are rivals, but are thrown together. It is a historical fantasy romcom with birds with magical powers.

And now I get all negative because that is all I can think of. I liked the world. I liked the banter, the hidden jokes, the weird birds with magic. But as I was reading I kept wondering why it was not truly pilling me in?! And I realised, it was the damn romance. I did not feel the romance. I totally thought they were rivals, and that she despised him. But as they got closer, nope, I felt no connection, no chemistry. The romance was this dead weight that made me feel nothing.

I did look that following books have other couples, but as the romance was dead here I worry. I am curious though.

Rival ornithologists hunt through England for a rare magical bird in this historical-fantasy rom-com reminiscent of Indiana Jones but with manners, tea, and helicopter parasols.

Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, capturing both her bird and her imagination like a villain. Albeit a handsome and charming villain, but that's beside the point. As someone highly educated in the ruthless discipline of ornithology, Beth knows trouble when she sees it, and she is determined to keep her distance from Devon. 

For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Professor Beth Pickering. She's so pretty, so polite, so capable of bringing down a fiery, deadly bird using only her wits. In other words, an angel. Devon understands he must not get close to her, however, since they're professional rivals. 

When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. Now keeping their distance becomes a question of one bed or two. But they must take the risk, because fowl play is afoot, and they can't trust anyone else—for all may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology.

Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti

Series: Belvoir's Library (#2)

Format: 336 pages, Paperback

Published: January 21, 2025 by St. Martin's Griffin

Historical romance/own

Lydia is a spinster and an heiress. She has been writing to an Earl for some time, under a male name obviously. They talk politics, and now she is on her way to propose to him. He needs money, she has money.

Arthur is the Earl who is kind, and so busy trying to keep his estate going. But he has no idea why this woman is.

Oh no, it was the brother, we must find him! But the plot thickens. Suddenly it gets more spydrama too. And feelings grow between Arthur and Lydia as the hunt for his brother around Scotland.

It was humorous and fun. I will def read more in this series, and perhaps her other ones too

For three years, wallflower heiress Lydia Hope-Wallace has anonymously penned seditious pamphlets. And for almost as long, she’s corresponded with the Earl of Strathrannoch, whose political ambition is matched only by his charm. When Arthur’s latest letter reveals his dire financial straits, Lydia sets out for Scotland to offer him the only salvation she can think of—a marriage of convenience. To, um, herself.

Unfortunately, the Earl of Strathrannoch has no idea who she is.

When a bewitching redheaded stranger offers him her hand in marriage, Arthur Baird is stunned—but when he learns that his traitorous brother has been writing to her under Arthur’s name, he’s bloody furious. He’s content to live alone in his moldering castle, and he has no desire for a provocative, radical wife. (Or at least, he shouldn’t.)

But Arthur is desperate to track down his brother, who’s become dangerously entangled in British espionage, and he needs Lydia’s help. What he doesn’t need? The attraction that burns hotter each moment they spend together. As Lydia slips past his defenses and his brother’s mysterious past becomes a very present threat, Arthur will have to risk everything to keep her safe—even his heart.

Slewfoot by Brom

Format: 305 pages, Paperback

Published: April 25, 2023 by Tor Nightfire

Horror/borrowed

Oh you know what is coming, 1600s, the colonies. Men thinking they know better. Men saying women should do this and that, but not other things.

And here comes Abitha, struggling with her husband on their farm. His brother being a total ahole. A guy pointing fingers in town and group mentality. Abitha does speak her mind, she works hard, she forgets to be prim and proper.

And then she is alone, and vulnerable. And that brother really wants her farm. But something is in the woods, something that was wakened. Something angry....

It was never like eeek, horror! Mostly it made me angry at men at the end and I might have cheered at some things cos men suck.

I liked it. But ugh, puritans sucked!

Connecticut, 1666: An ancient spirit awakens in a dark wood. The wildfolk call him Father, slayer, protector.

The colonists call him Slewfoot, demon, devil.

To Abitha, a recently widowed outcast, alone and vulnerable in her pious village, he is the only one she can turn to for help.

Together, they ignite a battle between pagan and Puritan – one that threatens to destroy the entire village, leaving nothing but ashes and bloodshed in their wake.

This terrifying tale of bewitchery features more than two dozen of Brom’s haunting full-color paintings and brilliant endpapers, fully immersing readers in this wild and unforgiving world.