25. The Hellion

By LaVyrle Spencer (293 pp)

I have developed a terrible habit of grabbing category romance when I'm out and about peeking into Little Free Libraries. This one is from 1984 -- how could I resist? Sadly, this book hasn't aged well and felt overly melodramatic. It's a second chane about Tommy Lee and Rachel, in small town Alabama, who grew up together and fell in love as teens. There was an unplanned pregnancy and the parents sent Rachel off to have the baby somewhere else and went to great lengths to keep them apart. The story opens 20 year later after Rachel is widowed. Tommy Lee has been the town hellraiser with a number of wives but when Rachel is free he is determined to win her back. It's hard to believe there was a time when a hero could be a heavy smoker. I loved the descriptions of the home furnishings and the clothes -- so 80s. The story had some great heart twisting moments but it a little much.

24. Love at First Fright

By Nadia El-Fassi (356 pp ebook)

Book club also talked about this one and since we're meeting next weekend we're going to talk about this, too. This one is about Rosemary a horror novelist and screenwriter who gots to a haunted country manor where one of her stories is being shot. There she connects with Ellis, a hugely famous action star and seemingly not a good fit for this small, historical horror movie. He and Rosemary hit it off. There are some ghosts. Didn't really work for me. The characterization felt flat and the tone was a little off.

23. This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me

By Ilona Andrews (470 pp)

This book was a gift from someone who really wanted me to read it because she loved it so much. I also loved it and we mentioned it in our small, informal book group. Now everyone has finished and we all have questions and comments so we are having an EMERGENCY book club meeting next weekend to talk about it. This book is about Maggie who has woken up in her favorite fantasy series. Books she loves so much she know them by heart. This book is Game of Thrones dangerous with betrayals and maneuvering and she has to use what she knows from the books and her own smarts to survive. Also, there are lots of sexy primary male characters who are interested. 10 stars. Loved it. Hope to read it again this weekend but I've been trying to tackle some projects instead.

22. The Deal

By Elle Kennedy (360 pp, ebook)

I went 2 months without finishing a book. I think I re-read some books and also DNF'd a book. Also I was going through a thing and instead of reading I was doing puzzles and listening to podcasts and not reading books. Then I watched Off Campus which was a TV series based on this book. I loved the show and wondered if I ever read anything by Elle Kennedy and searched my ereader and this very book was in my DNFs. (insert LMAO emoji) This seems to keep happening that I am intrigued about a book people are talking about and when I check my ereader, I learn that I shelved it. Oh well. This is set in college and is about a young woman who has an unrequited crush and some baggage she's dealing with. The big star hockey player needs some tutoring and manages to convince her to help him and in return he will help her connect with her crush. Except, oops, he falls for her. Cute romance.

21. Deal with the Devil (Mercenary Librarians 1)

By Kit Rocha (336 pp)

I bought this trilogy as a set and I needed something fun and easy to read and how could I resist post-apocolyptic romance? In this one Nina and her group of mercenary librarians set out on a mission with some Silver Devils who are escaped soldiers and led by Knox. Somehow everyone is tricking everyone to get something critical they need but also Nina and Knox are hot for each other. It delivered on all counts. I fully intended to read all three at once but something else caught my eye so I still have 2 left.

20. Across the Universe

By Beth Revis (399 pp, ebook)

This is a generation ship book, my favorite and it starts out amazing. Such a gripping scene of Amy and her parents getting into cryo-sleep for a three century trip across the universe to terraform a new planet. As these stories go, she's awakened before arrival to find the ship in chaos. She is part of 100 sleepers who are secret from the main ship residents who are living a tightly controlled existence on this trip. This is a YA with a very light romantic element (? -- some might find a wee bit creepy.) I love the ideas but the more the book went on the weaker it became and the characters harder to relate to. But also, I'm not the best audience for YA.

19. The Truth According to Ember

By Danica Nava (358 pp ebook)

Another contemporary Indigenous romance! In this one Ember Cardinal tells a little lie to get a much needed good paying job working in a tech company. There she meets super-hot Native IT guy Danuwoa and romance ensues! But company policy says colleagues shouldn't date and someone finds out and uses this information to get Ember into even more trouble. She has to figure out what truths to tell to be her best self and worthy of her dude. Super cute and funny.

18. Native Love Jams

By Tashia Hart (148 pp)

Another Native contemporary romance! In this one FMC Winnow is a cook and a forager who goes to a rural community to work at the big local cultural festival. When she firsts meets her colleague Niigaanii, they don't hit it off. But as the preparations go on, romance ensues. Both this book and Lizards Hold the Sun have epic berry picking scenes. This one is short and sweet.

17. Lizards Hold the Sun

By Dani Trujillo (255 pp)

Penname is going to be on a book festival panel with Dani and Tashia Hart (next review) next weekend (May 30-31, 2026) so I made sure to read one of each's book before I meet them. This book perfectly captures the intoxication of falling in love -- where you can't keep your hands off each other and you are entranced by the littlest details about the other person. Xiomara is an archeologist and she travels from her desert home to Bunchberry, Canada to work a a big cultural preservation and museum project. Calehan in an architect and loves his native community but feels kinda trapped and has an opportunity for an adventure in Spain. Romance ensues and they need to decide where they need to be and if they can be together. Recommend.

16. On the Hustle

By Adrianna Herrera (352 pp, ebook)

Adrianna is a friend of the Fated Mates podcast. One of my bookclub friends picked it up at the library so we all decided to read it. This is a spicy (for me) romance between Alba, a super competent and ambtious woman and her boss/former boss Theo, a former Olympic swimmer who now runs his family's real estate empire. Alba quits her job as Theo's assistant to move to Dallas and I can't remember the exact sequence events but somehow Theo, who misses having her around, goes to Dallas helps get them to work together on a reality show that does home improvement. Romance ensues! Sexy fun. I had some notes about the third act breakup but I still enjoyed.

15. To Shape A Dragon's Breath

By Moniquill Blackgoose (528 pp, ebook)

I loved this book. It's a YA set in the 1800s and has some steampunk elements. It's about a young Indigenous woman, Anequs, who is chosen by a dragon in a world where dragon-having is tightly controlled by the dominant culture. Here the natives community prefers to keep to themselves but now she has to go into the colonizer world to fulfill their requirements and there is a big culture clash. Anequs has a hard time adjusting to the societal constraints of the colonizers and she speaks her mind and stands up for herself. Fun book.

14. An Unkindness of Ghosts

By Rivers Solomon (351 pp ebook)

I loved this book even though it's pretty dark. I love generation ship stories and I have my own failed generation ship story in the trunk. This ship is divided into the wealthy, privileged upper decks and the poor labor-force living in broken down poverty below with a cruel system of enforcement. The MC is Aster who is such a great complex character -- she never does what you want her to do, she always does something you don't expect, and she endures so much. The whole story is populated with complex characters but the world they live in is grim. Aster tries to solve the mystery of what happened to her mother while trying to protect the people she cares about and tear down at least a little piece of the system they live in.