Even though the premise of this book is clear from the title, the cover, and whatever the blurb says (which you all know by now I almost never read) — it still surprised me.
There are ghosts, and ghosts make for excellent adventure, and, turns out, make pretty good matchmakers.
Morgan is haunted by a guy she barely knows and she has no idea why. What is it that is anchoring him to her? He was nice and all, but how does she get rid of him?
Then she meets Sawyer, who has been haunted for years by the love of his life. Together, they decide to help one another. After all, how often do you meet someone who is actively being haunted?
Though the premise is a little silly, and translated to a story that is sometimes silly and fun, it’s also a story of deep grief and loss, and learning to live again. I really appreciated the careful balance of the depth, and I thought the romance was handled really organically, too.
Besides the cover, which makes no sense (why are both of the ghosts there girls?!), I thought it was a really great book, and I recommend it.
Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Details
Title:: Seeing Other People Author:: Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemung-Broka Genre:: Paranormal Romance Publisher:: Berkley Length::352 pages Audio Length::9h 45m Audiobook Narrator:: Brittany Pressley & Dan Bittner Published:: December 9th, 2025 The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
A city is falling – it’s inevitable – but the man who started it is also the one who cannot leave. Not without her.
Maris and Luca, oh my my. This book has political tension, mystical mysteries, warfront tactics, rivalries, brotherhood, courting, and a love so deep and true it’ll have you aching for more and afraid to find out what happens next.
The pacing and reveals in this book are its crowning achievement. Young pulls you through the novel with sparse inner-chapter hints and last-line gut-punches that keep that sense of discovery feeling constant through just about the whole book. It’s propulsive. It’s a valuable lesson for writers (like me).
I honestly feel like the plot is secondary here, though there is plenty of it to sink your teeth into. But it’s the characters that make it unforgettable.
Will I read the next installment? You don’t even have to ask.
Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Details
Title:: Fallen City (Fallen City Duology #1) Author:: Adrienne Young Genre:: Romantasy Publisher:: Saturday Books Length::416 pages Audio Length::11h 19m Audiobook Narrator:: Dylan Reilly Fitzpatrick & Leela Bassuk Published:: November 4th, 2025 The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars
Man, sometimes you gotta go back to a genuine sports romance novel, and If Only You Knew by Ellie K. Wilde really fits the bill (also it’s part of a standalone series so if you like it, there’s more).
Parker and Summer are the ultimate friends to lovers indulgence. They’ve been friends forever, but for their own reasons, have never really considered that they may just be exactly who they’re looking for.
Physical therapist and competitive surfer Summer is sick of dating, starting to think there was nothing but duds out there. Parker has a reputation and has never been one for a serious relationship.
Their story finding their way to one another is full of twists and turns and a little bit of heartbreak, and starts when the agree to help matchmake one another. Who knows them better than their best friend, after all?
Like the rest of the books in this series (and indeed the sports romance genre in general), this book is very spicy. Like, four cayenne peppers spicy. Very explicit! There, you’ve been warned.
Wilde is really good at matching up her heroes and heroines, and their backstories always play into unlocking them to love. It’s such a satisfying feeling for the reader.
So, do I recommend? Absolutely! Grab yourself a copy to bring some sunshine into your winter blues.
Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Details
Title:: If Only You Knew (Oakwood Bay #3) Author:: Ellie K. Wilde Genre:: Sports Romance Publisher:: Atria Books Length::400 pages Published:: February 17th, 2026 The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Romantasy fans, this one’s for you. Part fairy tale, part romance, this book is bound to satisfy many romantasy lovers.
Riela is taken to an enchanted house in the woods, where she is essentially trapped with a partly terrifying, partly misunderstood brooding powerful man, his wolf companion, and enough magic to protect them from the evils outside. But strange as that is, it becomes ever stranger when she accidentally does the one thing she was told never to do, and opens an entirely new can of worms.
In some ways, this book was refreshing in the face of other romantasy novels, but in others, it’s still the same note. Romantasy heroines are essentially all inter-changable, and I found that to be the case here as well. They’re always doing things they ought naught, having an attitude about it, being stuck in magical situations that barely make any sense at all…
But…
Somehow it is still interesting enough to keep you turning pages. Did I want to know what happened next? Mmhmm. Did I fall in love with Garrick alongside her? Um, duh. Are the politics nothing but window dressing? Of course. But that’s what romantasy readers want, and here, they get it. A fulfilled promise. An entertaining handful of hours. A new series to track.
And will I read the sequel? …probably 🙂
Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Looking for your historical Scottish hunk fix? Fan of true-blue bodice rippers? You’re going to love The Highlander’s Lady of Loch & Sea by Heather McCollum.
Laria is a fierce heroine who knows her own mind. In her first scene she’s seducing a powerful man she’s promised to kill. She would do anything for her family and her people. These are strange times, which call for strange measures.
Cyrus, her intended victim, is in a pinch of his own. With an imminent and complicated inheritance on the horizon, the last thing he needs is a complication as beautiful as Laria, but…she’s bewitched him.
For me, I wasn’t as interested in the perhaps overly-complicated political side of things peppering the novel with drama. It felt like a lot of telling, and though the characters cared about these conditions, I didn’t, really. It gave the book some scaffolding to stand upon, but it didn’t add a lot to the reading experience.
There is something about them Scots though – this book is a great escape for when you need something straightforward and sexy.
Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Details
Title:: The Highlander’s Lady of the Loch & Sea (Brotherhood of Solway Moss #3) Author:: Heather McCollum Genre:: Historical Romance Publisher:: Entangled: Amara Length::346 pages Published:: January 26th, 2026 The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars
What do you do when your one-night-stand turns up at your family’s Christmas celebrations at a picturesque Christmas tree farm? Turns out, he’s the proprietor’s brother, so they’re stuck together for a week. The thing is, things didn’t end well after their night of bliss, months ago, and now they’re forced to confront it.
Nick is a hockey star, but she didn’t know that when they slept together. He’s had an off season, benched with an injury that isn’t healing as fast as they used to. He’s in a bit of a personal crisis, and that one-night-stand was atypical behavior for him. But she never got out of his head. Maisie Smart. His dream girl.
Being bundled up close to your family is a stress test that Maisie hates. She’s always felt like a failure to her parents who respect academic and financial success. Maisie is successful in her own way as a photographer, and she’s come to accept that that’ll never be good enough in their eyes, even with the recognition and opportunities she’s gotten.
It doesn’t take long for Maisie and Nick to realize that the spark they had that night are still there, and it doesn’t take long for him to apologize for his behavior afterward (we love a guy who can admit his mistakes).
This is a holiday romance that will keep you reading for the steamy sexual tension, and the sweet and genuine care these characters have for one another. It has that dash of sports romance that seems to come with guys with soft, devoted hearts.
It’s a book with heart, and healing, and the best kind of heart-warming romance.
Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Details
Title:: You Make It Feel Like Christmas Author:: Sophie Sullivan Genre:: Holiday Sports Romance Publisher:: St. Martin’s Griffin Length::320 pages Audio Length::10h 25m Audiobook Narrator:: Patti Murin Published:: September 23rd, 2025 The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Jill Jacobs is a scrooge who hasn’t been back to her hometown for years, avoiding a certain someone she was once hopelessly in love with. Things between them ended badly, weirdly, uncomfortably. But when she gets there it’s not only her ex around town – her high school crush is also there, and single. Is this her chance for real happiness?
This book is magical realism. Magic Santa gives her a ghost-of-Christmas-past experience where she gets to explore her hypothesis without any actual real-world consequences.
Jill is in denial about history and the future. She’s in a pretty unhealthy mental space, and she really needed this come-to-Jesus moment of self-realization. We all need that sometimes to get over our own BS.
If you’re a fan of hallmark movies, and corny holiday romances, you’re going to love this.
Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Details
Title:: Christmas People Author:: Iva-Marie Palmer Genre:: Holiday Romance Publisher:: St. Martin’s Griffin Length::304 pages Audio Length::9h 56m Audiobook Narrator:: Patti Murin Published:: September 30th, 2025 The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars
What happens when you’re trying to save your new boss, who is your best friend’s big brother, from being sabotaged at work? Turns out, you accidentally fall in love.
This new internship is mostly a vanity job for Juniper, who is already loaded, but still, she wants to prove herself (unlike her best friend who blows it off almost completely). But this is Beau’s business. He is a rockstar there, and when a competitive bid contest comes in and Juniper catches wind that someone else is keeping too close an eye on Beau and his work on the project, she decides to let him know…anonymously…through the dating app their company is launching.
The secrecy of it is a catalyst. As he tries to guess who it is he’s regularly communicating with, it gets flirty. The tension building is *exquisite*.
What I didn’t like was the backdrop. This is a billionaire romance (or at least, close enough), and these kids are spoiled absolutely rotten. The best friend was a caricature of a flighty bougie nepo baby who literally trots off to her nails done instead of work. A little too gross to just gloss over and really enjoy the book. But others may not mind that as much.
Overall, the romance of this book snaps, crackles, and pops. If you’re in the mood to not get real deep into every aspect of the story and just enjoy THAT? Then absolutely, add this one to your TBR!
Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Details
Title:: Meet Me at Midnight (Midnight #1) Author:: Max Monroe Genre:: Workplace Romance Publisher:: Mox Monroe (Indie) Length::354 pages Published:: November 8th, 2025 The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars
I feel like I’m in my romantasy era, and I don’t hate it! Look at the cover of this book. What an absolute killer. For me, Quicksilver lives up to the hype, but it’s not perfect.
This book, and pretty much all romantasy I’ve read, is an absolute whirlwind. I would say I loved it up to the 85% mark or so, when things got a little squirrely and felt almost like another type of book entirely, and I didn’t love that so much. I can’t mention exactly what bugged me without throwing major spoilers, so I won’t. But a new trope essentially was thrown in an already tropey book and…it just wasn’t expected at all by the rest of the story setup. At least by me.
Honestly, I’m super under-read in this genre, and even I could spot the heavy use of popular tropes in this book. I get it, and really I loved most of it despite being a little taken out of the story by those hey, I recognize this moments. But it did feel a little like spaghetti being thrown at a wall. I really don’t want to say the specific complaints I had because they would be major spoilers, but at the 80-85% mark it felt like this book made a major turn I personally did not see coming, and it felt…I don’t know. Half corny, half unnecessary, and a little bit dumb? It took me out of the story so fast. However, I will absolutely still read the rest of this series, so it wasn’t completely…ruinous *smirk*
Speaking of romance: Saeris Fane & Kingfisher. Build me a ship and send me to sea, because hot damn, I loved the enemies to lovers thing going on there, and their…whole deal. If you’re going to write romantasy, you better get the romance right, and Callie Hart nailed it.
I even liked the side characters in this book. Like most romantasy, there’s a lot to keep track of, but it stayed interesting and engaging throughout, and you never feel too lost or confused by mountains of new information. It boils down to Kingfisher being the guardian of his homelands, and the entire world conspiring against his goal, while Saeris Fane might just be the one thing that could help him actually succeed.
Overall, bravo! You have to leave your belief suspended reading a book like this, but it feels like Ms. Hart has her entire basis covered with this one. Everything feels well developed, if not entirely to my taste, but I can’t deny she’s great at her craft! I’ve got my copy of Brimstone pre-ordered!
I get it now, the intense hype for Jessica Joyce. The Ex Vows is an angsty, emotional story about childhood friends who once took a shot at love and missed, coming back together for their best friend’s wedding and finding the embers still burning deep.
Georgia and Eli had a connection ever since they met as kids, which manifested in a tight-knit friend group that never wavered. That is, until they finally recognized deeper feelings one summer at the vineyard, and that changed everything. But they were young, and stupid, and were too good at ignoring their problems until they were too big to handle. Fast forward a few years, and their third wheel best friend Adam has found his person and they’re getting married. It’s not the first time Georgia and Eli will see each other since the breakup, but nine days? It might as well be an eternity. With a wedding that is cursed with the worst possible luck, and Georgia and Eli as the fixers, the two of them are seeing far too much of each other to maintain the careful avoidance they’ve practiced for years. It’s time to finally face the truth.
I should probably only give this book five stars, but this is a case of the prose making it impossible to rate it lower. Jessica Joyce can write, y’all. The way she builds an emotionally wrought scene in the present while pulling backstory and flashbacks in those same moments without losing focus is immaculate. It’s the kind of writing I want to do. So yeah, five stars.
My problem with the story itself I think stems from Georgia’s personality? It’s consistent, at least, but she gives herself so many problems by being a people-pleaser at any cost, especially to herself. She feels like she has to earn her relationships, that if she doesn’t invest in them consistently, smooth out any discomforts that might arise, her friends might realize they don’t need her and she’ll lose them. It’s a deep hurt that stems from her family life, and it’s still a very real part of her daily life.
This book explores a prioritizing friends culture I’ve never experienced. For these folks, friendship is everything. It covers a lot of versions of friendships being tried and tested. It’s something very important to Georgia. Maybe too important? But that’s probably being conflated in my mind with her aptitude as a major pushover.
Aside from that, this story has heaps of swoon-worthy romance. As I mentioned before, she uses just enough of the history between Georgia and Eli to make us burn and yearn for them in the present. I really appreciated that these flawed characters in the end earned their happy ever after.
Read it for the prose, read it for the redemption, read it for learning from clumsy mistakes. Read it for the immersive summer vineyard vibes. Read it because this is the kind of love story that demands a place in your thoughts for a long time after you’re done turning the pages.
Details
Title:: The Ex Vows Author:: Jessica Joyce Genre:: Contemporary Romance Publisher:: Berkley Length::390 pages Audio Length::11h 10m Audiobook Narrator:: Kyla Garcia Published:: July 16th, 2024 The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars
