Erin

 I really wasn't sure what to expect with this book, but I'm so glad that I read this! There's so much depth to these characters that's touched on, that I know I'll be picking up more of Emily Austin's books!

This book follows Darcy, a librarian that has just returned to work after a mental break. Her wife has travelled to her sister's home to help her look after her newborn baby, and Darcy is trying to work through the trauma of discovering her ex-boyfriend has passed away. She also has to deal with the patrons of her library, and with the growing protests of the services provided by the library. Told in a semi-stream of thought style, Darcy tries to come to terms with her family, her past, and herself.

This book grabbed me from the start and didn't let go. Darcy is struggling throughout the book, but it's her friends, coworkers, her therapist and her wife, Joy, that give her the strength and guidance to help her through her struggles. This story felt like a deep dive into grief and self discovery, while trying to work in the modern world. The conversations Darcy has with herself felt so believable, and resonated with me at many points in the book. Darcy's coworkers added so much to the book, and gave the library a sense of community. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will be picking up more by this author in the future!

This was a great story! I was unsure of what this book would turn into, but this was a lovely, cozy read with enough magic and peril to keep the story going. It did tend to get a bit saccharine and predictable, but overall this was a fun story!

In this book, Kiela is a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, the capitol city. She and her assistant, Caz, a magically-sentient spider plant, escape the incoming revolution with cases of spellbooks and sail to her home island of Caltrey. She finds her childhood home intact but empty, and so the two of them move in. As introverted as Kiela is, she tries to stay separate from the community, but needs a way to sustain herself on the island. She finds her mother's recipe book, and starts to make jam to sell on the island, with a bit of help from the spellbooks she's hiding in her home. As Kiela gets to know her neighbours, she is determined to help the island flourish, and brings more of the magic out to the community. 

This book was really fun! There were times where Kiela's anxiety and introvertedness were a bit too strong for me, but she's a lovely character to follow. The mix of magical creatures, especially the merhorses, added to the magical world of this book. The book blurb compares this story to a Hallmark rom-com, and I'd agree with that comparison. I did immersion read this with the audiobook, and I highly recommend the audiobook; the narrator added so much to the story. Overall, if you're looking for your next cozy read, I'd recommend this one!

This book was a sweet journey to an adventure, but fell a bit flat for me. This book reminded me of a Hallmark movie, mixed with a ‘what if' story and some magical realism, and while the story was quite cute, it was not quite for me.

This book follows Greta Perks, an actress who was the former star of the Maple Gold Coffee commercials. She met her husband on the sets, and ended up starring in commercials with her husband and daughter. Eventually, the company decided to not use her family anymore in the commercials, her daughter doesn't enjoy acting anymore as a teenager, and her marriage is falling apart. She's desperate to have the perfect life she once had, and then comes across a mysterious coffee shop and its proprietor, Iris. Iris offers Greta the ‘perfect cup' of coffee, which can transport her to her dream reality. Greta wishes to live in Mapleville, the fictional town in the Maple Gold coffee commercials, and finds a fantasy world that she finds incredibly tempting to stay in. Having a one-week mandatory break between visits to the coffee shop, Greta has to decide which world she wants to stay in, and if she's willing to give up her real life for the one in Mapleville.

I'm quite torn on this book. The overall character arc for Greta was quite believable, with her being so desperate to save her marriage and reconnect with her daughter. There were many parts of her personality that just rubbed me the wrong way. Greta's deep focus on her past is relatable, but she does push people at times in directions she didn't intend. I also found the mythos around the coffee commercials a bit far fetched; the idea that a family of commercial actors would be as famous as they are in this book was a bit much. Overall, this book was well written, but not quite the book for me. 

I received an e-ARC of this book from Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

 This was such an amazing story! A story of lost love, war and vampires, this book was incredibly vivid and lush, with enough creeping horror to keep me engaged the whole time.

This book is set in 1840s Mexico and follows Nestor and Nena. Nena is the daughter of a rancher, and Nestor is the son of one of the ranch hands. The two of them grow up together and have a deep friendship. One night when they're 13, they go out into the wilderness looking for treasure, when Nena is attacked by a monster. Nestor takes her back to the ranch and, believing she's died, runs away. He bounces between ranches and jobs, always grieving the loss of Nena, until the invading US Army drives him back to the ranch he grew up on. When he arrives, he discovers Nena is alive, and has grown to be a curandera, a healer, and is trying to prove to her father that she shouldn't be married off to another rancher. Together, they join the cavalry of ranchers to fight the war with the US, and try to reconnect. But the monsters in the chapparal are always lurking along the way, and add to the journey the two are on.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The relationship between Nestor and Nena was really fun to read, and the journey they are on was well balanced between the vampires and the US-Mexico war. I went into this book hoping for more of the vampire element, but having them in the background gave the story more of a gothic horror element. I did find some of the miscommunication between Nena and Nestor a bit much at times, but overall, this was a lovely book! 

This book was a wild ride! There were so many moments that took me by surprise that I'm still thinking about them. This book touches on so many topics, environmental change, fertility, maternal expectations, and adds in grief, miscarriage, and a possibly-possessed painting. 

This book is set in the near future, where climate change is in full effect, and a virus had emerged that makes men sterile. Once the virus has been identified, a new company in the US, MotherWise, aims to help couples have children and the government provides many incentives to encourage couples to have as many children as possible to maintain the population. In this setting we're introduced to Mathilde ‘Tilly' Crewson, an art restorer in Savannah, Georgia. She and her husband, Wyatt, have one daughter, and Tilly is still grieving the loss of their second pregnancy and her inability to conceive again. She is hired to restore a newly-discovered painting by a scientist-turned artist, and once she begins work on the painting, she discovers that she's pregnant. She attempts to balance her desire to work with the societal pressure to become a housewife, but also starts to notice that something isn't right with the painting. As she continues to restore the piece, she finds her world isn't as safe as she hoped.

I inhaled this book. Every step Tilly takes had me on the edge of my seat, and her interactions with the painting are unnerving. The nanny-state that Tilly is ushered into with MotherWise is deeply upsetting, with the use of new technology to have her health monitored at every second. There's also the added horror from the painting, and the mysterious death of the artist. Add into this the constant health monitoring, the questioning from her husband and friends, and Tilly's on grip on reality, the general horror from this book was incredibly well-written. This book had me engaged the entire time I was reading, and I look forward to rereading this book soon.

I received an e-ARC of this book from Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley, all opinions are my own.