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Book Review:: At Last | Marisa Silver

At Last is a new slower-paced saga style novel from Marisa Silver that follows the connecting of two families through the marriage of their children. It’s an interesting dynamic, blending two families together. They each come with their own baggage and motivations.

Helene’s son Tom and Evelyn’s daughter Ruth are starting a family together. The novel explores both of their histories, and follows the fate of them through to the sunset of their lives. They don’t have a lot in common, and honestly get quite competitive with one another, especially once grandchildren become involved. This story explores the theme that love isn’t quantifiable. Loving someone doesn’t mean there is any less available for someone else, even when our human instincts fight against that idea.

It’s an interesting story, but I didn’t find it very engaging. It’s not a very happy story, and there wasn’t much active drama either. I felt like maybe a stronger through line could have been helpful. As it is, it felt quite disjointed. I’m not sure I was the ideal reader for 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:: At Last
Author:: Marisa Silver
Genre:: Women’s Fiction
Publisher:: Simon & Schuster
Length:: 288 pages
Audio Length:: 8h 4m
Audiobook Narrator:: Mia Barron
Published:: September 2nd, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars

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Book Review:: Pitcher Perfect | Tessa Bailey

Girl meets boy. Girl hates boy for being a sleezy womanizer. Boy is completely lost for her. Girl ‘hires’ him to fake date in order to catch the boy of her dreams and impress her family at their uncivilized annual event. Feelings catch and blaze along the way.

Pitcher Perfect by Tessa Bailey Book Review

It’s a tale as old as time. Or at least, it must be because the amazon marketplace is flooded with them. Another fake dating sexy sports romance novel is here, and folks, you’re actually not going to want to miss it!

Okay so every time it just feels so cheesy for anyone anywhere at anytime agreeing to ‘FAKE DATE’. Like, I really don’t understand this trope at all. That being said, there are good ways to do it, and Tessa Bailey nailed it in Pitcher Perfect. Both characters are highly motivated, and everything clicks together like a snug little puzzle piece that is so satisfying to find.

The process of falling in love in this novel isn’t rushed, but at the same time, we don’t have to wait for it either. There is insecurity there for each of the characters, but their falling together is so inevitable and wonderful it’ll make you giddy. Also, the protectiveness thing is what gets me going, and this book had me feral with it.

Tessa Bailey is clearly a master at her craft, and if you like sexy little books, girl, get over here. The best part? I have SUCH a backlist to devour. *chefs kiss*

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:: Pitcher Perfect (Big Shots #4)
Author:: Tessa Bailey
Genre:: Sports Romance
Publisher:: Avon
Length:: 336 pages
Audio Length:: 12h
Audiobook Narrator:: Callie Dalton & Teddy Hamilton
Published:: September 9th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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Book Review:: Forget Me Not | Stacy Willingham

Nothing pulls me out of a reading burnout better than a really compelling mystery thriller. Sometimes you just want a book where you can’t stop turning the pages, and for me, Forget Me Not, Stacy Willingham’s newest release, was exactly that.

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham Book Cover

After her sister disappeared as a teenager, Claire left home and never went back, eager to escape the weight of the memories. Now as an adult she’s an investigative reporter and she gets a call from her father that her mom needs some help. She feels like she has to go home, despite their difficult relationship. She only lasts a day or two under the same roof before she’s desperate to find an alternative temporary residence. When she visits a local muscadine vineyard and they have an opening, she agrees immediately. Her sister worked there before her disappearance, and they have a live in cabin for her to stay in – a perfect setup for her to do some digging into her sister’s case. But something is a little bit strange at Galloway, she just can’t quite put her finger on it.

I thought this book played perfectly between is Claire just on edge and looking for things to be suspicious when it’s really just a quirky little farm, or is there actually something else going on here? There’s a secret journal, homemade teas, complete seclusion, and lots of room for tension between these pages, and the author uses all of them.

This is a perfect book for an escape. A creepy escape, perhaps, but certainly transportive. I recommend the audiobook. It definitely pulled me in and made the experience quite atmospheric.

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:: Forget Me Not
Author:: Stacy Willingham
Genre:: Mystery Thriller
Publisher:: Minotaur Books
Length:: 336 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 30m
Audiobook Narrator:: Helen Laser & Karissa Vacker
Published:: August 26th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

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Book Review:: Storms and Secrets | Claire Kingsley

Sometimes when you’re stuck in a bad pattern of thinking you have to be jolted out of it. That’s what happened to Zachary. Literally. During an electrical repair at the shop of a girl he’s been secretly harboring feelings for for years, he gets the shock of his life, but physically and emotionally when he realizes that if he keeps waiting to share his heart, he may never get the chance.

Storms and Secrets by Claire Kingsley Book Cover

Unfortunately, he’s been so standoffish and ugly toward Marigold Martin for too long and she doesn’t believe him when he says he’s a changed man. His timing is way off, because a handsome rich bachelor comes in for a trim at her hair salon and sweeps her a little bit off her feet with flattery and flowers.

There’s something off about this new guy in town, building a behemoth establishment in town the likes of which none of them have ever seen. He’s a little too forward with Marigold, a little too fishy in his business dealings, and a little too possessive of a girl who doesn’t even know if she likes him yet. And when things get really uncomfortable, Zachary is there to step in and protect the girl of his literal dreams.

So romantic suspense is absolutely my jam, and Claire Kingsley is one of the bestsellers of the genre. This one gets quite dark with a missing girl, a true evil psycho, and some seriously dark scheming. I think maybe it was a little too dark for me ultimately, but the bond and connection between Zachary and Marigold was done so well and was very swoony. Personally I think I preferred the first book in this Haven Brothers series because it was a little bit more behind the curtain so the love story was more of the center stage and the cloud wasn’t so damn dark over the whole thing.

I’ll certainly be reading more of this series, and everything I can get my hands on from this author!

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:: Storms and Secrets (The Haven Brothers #2)
Author:: Claire Kingsley
Genre:: Romantic Suspense
Publisher:: SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca
Length:: 384 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 41m
Audiobook Narrator:: Samantha Brentmoor, Teddy Hamilton, and Desiree Ketchum
Published:: August 26th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars

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Obsession Falls | Claire Kingsley
All the Missing Pieces | Catherine Cowles

Book Review:: Obsession Falls | Claire Kingsley

Y’ALL. If you have never read a romantic suspense novel, it is an oversight that must be remedied. It is the perfect blend of swoon level romance and page turning thriller. It is mystery and the majesty of love with an emphasis on the love and I am here for it.

Obsession Falls by Claire Kingsley Book Cover

In this particular novel, a girl comes back to the town she left long ago, looking to settle into a new life. Needing a little distance from her mother, she rents a little place from a drop-dead gorgeous contractor who mistakes her at first for a squatter (his sister hooked her up with the place, it was a whole thing). Anyway, they have a sexy meet-cute, and run into each other often since he’s working on remodeling the rental unit next door. Strange things keep happening around Audrey, dead squirrels on her property, and incidents that only escalate from there, and Josiah is the one making sure she’s safe. It doesn’t take the two of them long to form a strong connection, and even though he’s been burned in love before, he can’t deny the hold this girl has on him.

Josiah is a strong silent type with big feelings he plays close to the chest. Audrey is kind of a sunshine character who is struggling in a new career that seems doomed from the start. She doesn’t have any enemies, which makes what’s happening to her all the more mysterious.

Give me all the books like this. All the typical romance stuff is in there, but there are high physical stakes that jack it all up on steroids until it makes you completely obsessed with the story. Apt title! These are the kinds of books you absolutely devour, and that feeling is unmatched!

Details

Title:: Obsession Falls (Haven Brothers #1)
Author:: Claire Kingsley
Genre:: Romantic Suspense
Publisher:: SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca
Length:: 384 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 38m
Audiobook Narrator:: Connor Crais, Ava Erickson, & Scott Rose
Published:: February 4th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

All the Missing Pieces | Catherine Cowles
Storms and Secrets | Claire Kingsley (Book Two)
A Killer Getaway | Sienna Sharpe

Book Review:: Love at First Sighting | Mallory Marlowe

Love at First Sighting is no ordinary romance. You might say…ahem…it’s out of this world.

Just kidding. It takes place on Earth. But it is tightly wrapped up in a mystery that has more at stake than broken hearts. It’s fun, it’s a little bit silly, it’s tender-hearted, and absolutely worth a read.

Love at First Sighting by Mallory Marlowe Book Cover

Mallory Marlowe is also the author of Love and Other Conspiracy Theories, so I think she’s nicheing down into a pretty distinctive brand here, and I love that for her.

A close encounter of the romantic kind?

Come on. Pure gold.

El is an influencer who encounters something she cannot explain. An Unidentified Flying Object. Naturally, she livestreams it following her. Carter is the agent assigned to her case, but this time it’s different…because it’s the very same thing Carter saw the night his father died. Together they uncover the truth of what it really was up there.

So it’s a little cheesy, but this book will leave you with a full heart by the time you’re done turning pages. Carter’s story is tragic, and completely entwined in the plotline. It’s El’s background and profession that is honestly kind of hilarious. There is certainly some mild commentary about the career of an influencer, but when it comes up in the climax crisis, it just had me rolling.

The best part of this novel, as all romances should be, is the budding romance between El and Carter. Their connection is genuine and so sweet, and is what will bring me to pick up this book again in the future for a reread. It’s exciting, it’s action-packed, and it has a big, mushy, heart at it’s center. Can’t go wrong!

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:: Love at First Sighting
Author:: Mallory Marlowe
Genre:: Romantic Comedy Mystery
Publisher:: Berkley
Length:: 352 pages
Published:: August 12th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

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Book Review:: Wes and Addie Had Their Chance | Bethany Turner

Another second chance love story out of Adelaide Springs. That place did their youth so bad the universe has conspired against it to bring all the little soulmates back together. Wes and Addie are just the latest to be struck (again) by cupid’s arrow. Of the two books I’ve read in this currently three book series, it is by far my favorite. The stakes are high, the histories are complicated, and they choose each other anyway.

Wes and Addie Had Their Chance by Bethany Turner Book Cover

He’s running for president, and she’s running from her problems. Wes once left his dream girl Addie at the alter and skipped town. It broke her. For years. Until she decided to let go of all that hurt and move on. Now hovering around 40, she’s widowed, unemployed (kind of), and recovering from an alcohol addiction, living back with her aging father in good ol’ Adelaide Springs. She’s seen Wes on TV. Who hasn’t? He’s the country’s most hopeful candidate for president in a long time, following in his once undisclosed father’s prestigious footsteps. He recently lost his perfect candidate’s wife to cancer and flies back to Adelaide Springs without telling anyone on his campaign team. Once more Wes and Addie are at the same place at the same time, and the profound love of their childhood has a long memory.

Okay, so I wasn’t expecting this book to be quite this good. I read Brynn and Sebastian awhile back and Brynn’s attitude and entire kerfuffle from the first book of the series kind of turned me off. However, this is a very grown up story of two people with many faults finding their way to forgiveness and love. How can you not love that?

My main complaints would be in how many elements seemed to mirror in this book and the first in the series, and how convenient certain things are set up in order for all of this to make sense, but hey, it’s a rom-com. It’s for fun.

I have to say I really liked the male narrator on the audio version of this novel, Patrick Zeller. He has a very deep and calm voice and I certainly believed he could be running for president. He did a great job with Wes’ character! Talon David was also great, but Patrick really stuck out to me, and I listen to a lot of audiobooks.

Also, the covers for this series are amazing. Seriously, look at them!

Ultimately, this book really gives me hope for future Bethany Turner books. I many even search out the Cole & Laila love story. The blurb actually sounds amazing. Okay Okay Turner, I hear you, I see you, I’ll read you again!

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:: Wes and Addie Had Their Chance (Adelaide Springs Love Stories #3)
Author:: Bethany Turner
Genre:: Small Town Romance
Publisher:: Thomas Nelson
Length:: 320 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 48m
Audiobook Narrator:: Talon David, Patrick Zeller, and Bethany Turner
Published:: July 15th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

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Book Review:: He Falls First | Jill Shalvis

Jill Shalvis can be depended upon for a heartstrings tugging romance that will linger in your bloodstream. He Falls First, her newest release and first in a new series, is no exception. Penny and Ryder will grip your heart with their story, and then melt it entirely.

He Falls First by Jill Shalvis Book Cover

Penny is back home to care for her family, her aging grandmother and young brother, after a hell of a false start. She’s home to heal and to nurture, that’s it. That’s enough. She’s not ready to even think about men anymore. But Ryder Colburn is everywhere. In her house (dropping off her grandmother’s caregiving charge), in her workplace (she works for his sister’s catering company and regularly feeds his contracting crew), and ever-increasingly in her head. Penny is skittish from her past experience, but Ryder is a patient, kind man. He has a gaggle of younger siblings he’s always been responsible for, his own business, and he knows all about hard pasts. He has one himself. But he’s a lot farther on the road of acceptance and growth, and accepts Penny for who she is an exactly where she’s at.

*swoon*

Okay, can we talk about how hot it is to have such a patient man? He knows his own mind, and knows when to step in and when to step away. He’s not pushy at all, ever, but he also positions himself to be able to keep an eye on this woman he has this energetic connection with. He’s exactly what Penny needs, and they absolutely both deserve the comfort and love the other has to offer.

What can I say except this book is an easy win. If you’re looking for your next emotional romance read, choose this one, and then dive into the extensive backlist of equally touching and swoon-y Jill Shalvis novels. Her characters are wounded and passionate and will bring you to your knees every time.

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:: He Falls First (Colburn Brothers #1)
Author:: Jill Shalvis
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca
Length:: 352 pages
Published:: August 5th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Wild Eyes | Elsie Silver
The Love Fix | Jill Shalvis

Book Review:: Who We Used to Be | Caitlin Weaver

When tragedy strikes, there is no telling how you’ll react. Not really. Even your closest relationships can be caught in the collateral damage. And they almost always bring to light the things that have gone unnoticed for too long. Who We Used to Be by Caitlin Weaver is an exploration of family and friendship while navigating difficult transitions, and tragedy.

Who We Used to Be by Caitlin Weaver Book Cover

Everything is unraveling at the Blair house. Dana’s business, Dana’s marriage, Dana’s relationship with her son. Her daughter is the only one she doesn’t have to worry about, an overachiever in everything she does. That is, until she collapses at school. Luckily, her best friend and next door neighbor, Padma, is an ER doctor and is there for her daughter’s intake. Everything checks out fine, until she slips into a coma hours later. It is one crisis after another for Dana, who now has to cope with the fact her dearest friend likely missed something that led to her daughter’s condition. Padma, too, is already dealing with a lot. She’s a workaholic who is up for a prestigious promotion, but this situation could jeopardize everything, even her longstanding sobriety. Their daughter’s are best friends in the same way they are themselves, but one day can change everything.

Wow. This book blew me away. Every character has something going on that adds to the drama and intrigue of this novel, and everyone is just trying to cope with their new reality. Dana’s son’s story line was especially touching. More of a risk taker to start with, he doesn’t handle his twin sister’s absence from his life well. He was written with such nuance and compassion, my heart goes out to him. Strange, perhaps to say that about a fictional character, but this book feels absolutely real.

I am beyond impressed with this novel. It’s a family saga condensed into a handful of months during their most difficult time. It’s compelling as hell, the tension is high, but it isn’t some mystery thriller psycho-on-the-loose situation. There is no blatant crime or bad intentions. It’s real family drama. It’s fascinating, and I think it will appeal to all kinds of readers. I can’t wait to dig into Caitlin Weaver’s backlist! If this novel is any indication, she’s a force to be reckoned with!

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:: Who We Used to Be
Author:: Caitlin Weaver
Genre:: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher:: Storm Publishing
Length:: 420 pages
Published:: July 29th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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Book Review:: The Brave and the Reckless | Dilan Dyer

Romance is far from dead in the wild west – or at least the wild west theme park called Bravetown.

The Brave and the Reckless by Dilan Dyer Book Cover

Esra is questioning her life choices when she winds up at Bravetown working with her brother. Expecting something straightforward, she is hired instead to play the lead in the park’s main act — a reenactment of a cowboy heist. The cowboy is played by her brother’s best friend Noah, who is not much fun. Esra and Noah fight like cats and dogs until the sparks sent up by their friction erupt into a blazing passion neither of them expected.

I wish I liked this more. I loved the representation of chronic illness, which is something you don’t find often. Some of the spicy scenes were very hot, and the romantic connection seemed genuine enough. But there was…something…missing. Something about the fabric this story was woven into seemed too thin. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what was missing, but it left me wanting.

One thing it does have going for it is the immaculate title. If you’re looking for a spicy romp this summer, this one will certainly scratch that itch, it just may not be something to write home about.

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 Brave and the Reckless: A Bravetown Novel
Author:: Dilan Dyer
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: Dell
Length:: 400 pages
Published:: July 29th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 3.5-Stars