Jerry Cooke

4.25⭐️ - A great sequel that delves further into the divine powers of the City of Fantome!

With the shadowy conflict of the past morphing into a new fight, Sera and Ransom find themselves diametrically opposed and leading their respective factions. The Order of the Flames, under Sera, is devoted to bringing forth the newly discovered powers of light that can banish Shade from the city forever. With the forces of both the crown and the Order of Daggers opposing them in this, it's not a battle they can easily win though. Alongside this conflict is the emergency of new saints as portents of the past signal major changes coming.

This was a great sequel and adds much more detail to the world Doyle created in the first book. Sera and Ransom's conflict and attraction continues to grow and cause difficulties, especially as the reins of the crown cause Ransom to be pulled tighter in line with the monarchy's wishes and this makes for a very satisfying story. There's all the new magic and discussion of fate and divinity and it's going to be fascinating to see where the story goes from here!

4⭐️ - A fantastic fantasy reimagining of British wartime history, with many powerful parallels to the current political state of the world.

Vivienne Featherswallow’s Parents are both dragon experts and she has the same aims for her own academic life. In the rigid hierarchy of this society, she is fortunate enough to be in the second class and be able to pursue a degree of draconic linguistics, with desires to be a translator eventually.

When their role in the ongoing anti-government sentiment causes her parents to be taken away, Vivienne wants nothing more than to clear their name and destroy any evidence, but when she enlists the aid of an imprisoned dragon, she unwittingly ignites a new dragon versus human civil war. Pulled in by the government and told that she can essentially be tried for treason or accept a place in a mysterious program that aims to aid the war effort, she's really only got one choice if she wants to help her family.

This is such a great fantasy reimagining of this period in British history. The way in which this rigid system is in place that separates the classes really highlights the way that the government are disadvantaging and trying to push away the lower classes and it's immensely political. There's so many parallels in there in terms of social injustice that resonate with a lot of the things we're seeing in the world right now and that contributes to making it a really powerful read.

Vivian is at times really annoying character but you have to make allowances for the fact that she is essentially a teenager and ask yourself, placed in those situations where the only real thing you can think of to find your way back to feeling normality is to free your parents, what choices would you make that might be deemed cruel by other people?

There’s a diverse cast of characters with her in this Bletchley Park environment and so much lore about the dragons established - it makes for a really well-rounded world. I was so excited to go onto the second book after reading this - the hype is justified for this one

4⭐️ - A fantastic sequel to A Language of Dragons with even more political intrigue and dragon lore!

With the Civil War from the first book changing into a multi-party conflict now, Viv finds herself the unwitting face of the rebellion. Working undercover and pretending to be of the first class, she tries her best to sway public opinion about dragons as the government starts strongly cracking down on otherness and becoming a lot more centralist.

With her cover blown, she finds herself on a remote Scottish island that is the home of the wyverns that she hopes to recruit to support their cause, but being pulled between the rebellion the government and the Romanian Dragon forces it's not remotely an easy time for her.

This was just as good as the first book and the exploration of the race of wyverns is amazing. They're such a well thought out race of dragons and the way that they are nomadic and obsessed in doing things in a kind of human way is really interesting. There's so much intrigue so much deception loyalties tested and introduction of new enemies - for not a lot of pages it packs in a lot of new detail. I'm very excited to see where Williamson is going to go with the third book!

4.25⭐️ - A fantastic fantasy tale of shadow magic and competing dark factions!

Seraphine has grown up as the daughter of a Shade smuggler, always adjacent to the underworld of the City of Fantome, but kept separate from it. Her quiet life is turned to ash when she returns home to find that her mother has been killed by the dangerous Order of the Daggers, the shade consuming guild of assassins. With the shadowy figures pursuing her, she seeks sanctuary in the only place that can protect her - the equally shadowy thieves of the Order of Cloaks. The Daggers are more persistent than she could have imagined though and coming into direct conflict with with the silver-eyed assassin Ransom, secrets of her past are forced into the light.

This is a wonderful world that Doyle has written, with a fascinating system of plant based magic and divinity. Seraphine and Ransom are well paired and have the most authentic feeling enemies to lovers vibe - genuine hatred and desire to kill, threaded with an intense attraction. The larger political landscape and the shadowy conflict between the two orders makes for great tension and there is an engaging cast of characters on both sides of the shadow divide.

4.75⭐️ - Perfectly applied humour and fantastic characters in this chaotic story of magic and trauma!

Clare Bishop is the best name in magic on the Las Vegas strip - a fact made possible by the almost unlimited powers of a future Zaro, a leader of the world's witches. Power that nobody suspects she possesses, because everyone knows there can only be one future Zaro at a time and that's Ozarik. The universe doesn't particularly care what anyone thinks though.

When Ozarik experiences a spiral of panic that leads him to cast a spell that stops all death on earth in the name of protecting Clare, she must (reluctantly) take hold of the power and try to fix what her oldest friend has broken.

This was such an unexpected joy - Thorne brings the perfect Pratchett style wry humour forth to balance the dark trauma the characters experiences and it makes for such a fascinating and well written story. The setting makes for such a great way to expose the question of how a human would deal with almost godlike power and Ozarik and Clare's parallel experiences show how different two people can be based on their life stories. There's something so satisfying about seeing magic like this used and I particularly loved how Thorne describes the interaction of that power and the physical world - the semi-sentience of objects is so very much in that Pratchett tradition and it's so fun.

An utter joy and such a powerful story, so very worth reading!

3.75⭐️ – A sweet, chaotic sapphic witchy romance with serious grown-up Sabrina vibes

Bryn has worked hard to put her awkward and embarrassing years at Grimoire Academy behind her, focusing instead on building a career as a successful spell-book author. But when her favourite professor dies and unexpectedly leaves her his entire book collection, Bryn is forced to return to the Academy herself — bringing back far more memories than she’d planned on revisiting.

She’s hoping to keep a low profile and leave as quickly as possible, only to immediately run into Amelia Hexford: newly minted headmistress of the Academy and Bryn’s first serious crush from her school days — a secret that was very publicly exposed during lunch once, much to her mortification. This makes the reunion one that feels pretty awkward for Bryn. As it turns out, Amelia is under immense pressure, and despite Bryn having no teaching experience, she’s persuaded to temporarily cover the classes left behind by the deceased professor. What follows is a mix of clashes with the school governors, a rediscovered attraction between Bryn and Amelia, and Bryn’s internal struggle over whether to embrace this new life or hold onto the publishing dreams she once had for herself.

This book was sweet, awkward, a little chaotic, and completely charming. The mutual support between Bryn and Amelia, the found family of fellow teachers, and the genuinely lovely students Bryn connects with in her after-school class all combine to make this such a comforting, joyful read. A perfect witchy escape that I’d love more of!

4.75⭐️ - A world filled with tarot based magic restricted to the elite - a crafter who may change the world!

Clara has lost almost everything in her life; her family, her freedom, her friends. The one thing she has left is her power to create the powerful tarot cards wielded by the elite casters in her nation, a talent freely abused by the warden of the prison she has found her self in. When this illegal crafting causes her to be brought in front of Prince Kaelis, youngest heir to the throne and head of Arcana Academy, she finds herself with the choice of supporting his goals, or returning to dungeons.

This was an absolutely phenomenal piece of world building, with the wonderful card based magic system and symbology working so well. There's an excellent cast of characters, from Clara's former underworld friends, to her allies in the Academy, and we get so many twisting paths of intrigue and questions of loyalty. I was absolutely hooked and I can't wait to see where Kova takes the story going forward!

3.5⭐️ - A Celtic fantasy with a storyline based on the movie Legally Blonde, the plot of which it sticks to a little too hard!

Having been planned to be betrothed to Prince Domhnall for many years, Princess Clia is more than a little offended when the prince tells her that she's not strong enough of a leader to be his wife. Hearing that he's going to the prestigious Caisleán Cósta, where the fiercest warriors of their land are trained, she decides to follow him, prove that he's wrong about her, and win back this marriage that will appease the gods. Rather unfortunately, she's barely any experience with the sword, but what she lacks in martial skill, she more than makes up for with determination.

I've got to preface this by saying that I think this book is marketed totally wrong - looking at it, you'd think it was in a similar fun vein as Lady's Knight, but you'd be so far off base you'd be in a different stadium. What I thought was going to be light and fluffy was in fact pretty dark, with a lot of combat, betrayal, and loss. Think of the vibe as more 'Celtic Princess goes to Basigath with less dragons' and you'll be prepared for the reality.

It tries really hard to stick to the same precise story beats of Legally Blonde (this book originally being called 'Medievally Blonde', but wisely getting a name change) and I feel like this is detrimental at points and doesn't give the book freedom to go where it will. That said, it was a perfectly enjoyable fantasy story and I enjoyed the little found family and the murderous otter-like pet Clia gets. I also appreciated that it was a really queer normative world - with good trans and non-binary representation.

5⭐️ - What if A Knight's Tale was sapphic and had dragons and drunk tea parties? Sounds like an amazing time and it was!

"Today you are a knight.. and today, you are MY knight"

Gwen hates that she has to hide that she's taken over her father's blacksmithing business, because god forbid somebody buy a sword made by a woman. She's also quite like joust, as it happens, just to know that she can. Some things aren't worth getting burnt at the stake over though, she decides, and so when she wins the first round of the tourney under the disguise of Sir Gawain, she doesn't intend on doing a second one!

Lady Isobelle is somewhat invested in the outcome of said tourney, her guardian having placed her hand as the prize to be won. As somebody who has always been able to talk her way out of any situation, being placed in this situation just won't do. Therefore, her discovery of Gwen's knightly ambitions comes just at the time, because it would be rather lovely to have her win instead of one of the lecherous old knights.. she just needs to convince Gwen to play along!

This isn't a world that accepts a woman doing a man's job though and so freedom for Isobelle comes with a severe risk of persecution for Gwen. Something that becomes more and more difficult to stomach as feelings grow between the two.

---------------------------

I'm not sure I've ever grinned so much during the first couple of hours of an audiobook. This truly does give A Knight's Tale vibes in the best way, but while there's a lot of similarities in the overarching concept, the execution done in a way that really makes it stand alone. I take my hat off to Helen Keeley and Barbara Rosenblat, because they do a phenomenal job here - giving perfect accents and wonderful Lady Whistledown vibes during the prologue and scattered narration segments.

Isobelle's queer awakening is a thing of beauty, with so much yearning and awkwardness. The tentative questioning and hinting that she and Isobelle both do to determine if they're both into women is as face-palmy as it is fun and affirming. It's some of the most fun I've had with a romance story in ages. The whole cast is amazing though and the Power of Female Friendship vibes are truly flawless. I couldn't ask for more.. except for desiring a sequel, which I'm happy to say we're getting this year!

4.5⭐️ - A land built on stories, a couple fated to kill each other over and over again - a beguiling sapphic romance!

The tale has been repeated so many times, the witch ensures the knight, they fall in love for real, then the knight kills the witch. It's immutable and integral to the Isle itself, where these reincarnations and reoccurrences control the shape of the land itself.

Simran is the latest witch, living a secretive life working as a scribe, passing powers of tales to people through magical ink. Vina is the knight who will be her destiny, sequestered in the Queen's court, the daughter of a minister, she bucks against the chains of expectations upon her. When the two meet by fate, they deny their tale for as long as they can, but the forces are too great to resist and soon they are falling for each other hard.

Determined to break this cycle and not be forced to end each other's lives, the two must do the unthinkable - re-write the tale itself to ensure a future for themselves together and to free everyone from this forced repetition of suffering.

---------------

This was an utterly beautiful story with such sumptuous world building. The exploration of the power of stories was really well done, a curious mix of anthropomorphism, apotheosis, and metamorphoses - a world in which these tales can literally shape the world, empower individuals with gifts, change them physically, and force them to fill rolls.

Simran and Vina are complex characters with a lot of trauma informing their behaviours - profoundly human in their feelings, in this very fantastical world. The larger cast is similarly well written, from Simran's long time companion Hari, to the antagonistic assassin stalking these 'Incarnates'.

It was one of those wonderful cases where the story really didn't go the direction I thought it would and it was all the more rewarding for it!

4.5⭐️ - A sweet academic love story, with sexy pottery lessons, and a lot of yearning for a tweed clad professor!

Audrey has dedicated her life to academics and is thrilled to finally have an assistant professor position, albeit temporary, back at her alma mater. It brings back more than just nostalgia when she finds that her new office is directly opposite Dr. Michelle Thompson, the British professor who gave her the push into academics when she studied here.. and was her first burning crush.

The stand-offish woman she encounters now though is nothing like the passionate educator she knew as a student. In the decade since Audrey left, Michelle has experienced divorce and a stalling academic career, with nothing being published, unengaged students, and constant push backs against her proposed Women in Art class. Despite her initial anger at Audrey swooping in with all her enthusiasm and being handed that exact class that she was denied for so many years, she can't stop wanting to be around her.

As Audrey's enthusiasm reinvigorates something in Michelle, the two find themselves becoming closer and closer. Age gaps and workplace politics are a big concern though and with Andrey's place in the faculty a tenuous one, how much would the two risk for a relationship?

-----------------

I love an academic romance, not least because I work for a university, and this perfectly captured the academic politics, the need to keep things under-wraps, and the frustrations regarding advancement. Lacey has rendered with great detail this small college campus experience and the halls of academia and it felt really nice. The wintery environment in Vermont, trail walking and animals, it was all so wholesome. There was also really lovely descriptions the art and discussion of art history that fit with the theming perfectly.

Audrey and Michelle's yearning for each other was palpable at times and their healthy communication and talking things through properly was really affirming to see. One of the things that I regularly find with sapphic romances vs straight ones is that there's so much less of this frustrating misunderstanding and it makes it so much more lovely to read.

4.75⭐️ - All the sapphic yearning, respectful boundaries, and empathetic help toward healing!

Hallie has really experienced a roller coaster lately; her best friend moved home, then her parent's sold the inn she'd grown up in, then said best friend fell in love with the new owner, and now they're living together and Hallie is alone again. Despite the brave face she puts on, she's really at a loss.

Brynn has been finding herself after dumping her horrible chewing fiancé grant. A perpetual people pleaser, she's more than happy to help Hallie out when Reese needs to step back from managing the inn and Hallie is truly the best person she could ask to learn from, in more ways that one. She's happy in this new role, though wishes that her sweet but overbearing parents would give her little space.

With the two spending so much time together, both during work, and in tipsy nights of watching TV and sharing truths, they quickly become close. They both want the best for each other and so when they cajole each other to dip their toes back into dating, they've got lots of opinions about the potential suiters. What neither of them expect is to find themselves getting jealous.

---------------

I was so happy to return to Stoneport and get some time with Hallie and Brynn. I completely fell in love with Hallie during the first book and Brynn is such a sweet and supportive person - they work so well together. There's so many threads of story continued here, from Hallie, Reese, and Brynn's families, to Sydney's new career, and it's all woven in such an elegant way to give that context in a satisfying way without taking too much away from the focus on Hallie and Brynn.

It was so cute seeing them falling for each other and really entertaining how they tried to hide it from the very suspicious Sydney, who could see the change in her best friend quite easily. I really love the trope (if you can call it that) of the couple from the first book rooting for the two friends in the second to get together. Their little circle of friends is adorable and although there aren't any obvious candidates for a third book, I still secretly hope!

4.75⭐️ - A powerful retelling of Arthurian legend, with sweeping sapphic romance, and elemental magic!

"It made me angry, I realised – the gaping mouths and knowing looks between neighbours, not an ounce of sympathy among them. Morgan’s grief might be loud, it might be furious, or even ugly, all things we women had been taught to circumvent, but at least she was honest about how she felt. She wore her heart on her sleeve. I wished I could be a little bit more like her in that."

Lady Viviane's arrival in Camelot comes with much expectation from her father about gaining alliance through marriage with Arthur, but she's truly no desire to marry to prince. In fact, she's far more interested in spending time with the wild and adventurous Morgan. Having gained tutelage from the mysterious Merlin, the two begin to dream of charting their own course with their new power, but life in this court is not so easy and freedom has a price.

As machinations of kingdoms being danger, elemental magics cause chaos and grow a threat to the grown, and Viviane and Morgan must support each other and their closest allies to survive the darkness that emerges. With so much stacked against them, it becomes hard to know if a future is possible in this realm, or even in the Otherworld.

----------------

Menzies brings her love of lore and legend to bear in this beautiful and bittersweet retelling. It was such a powerful story of these two women (three, if you include Guin, who also had a pretty hard time of it) carving their own path in this incredibly patriarchal world they lived in. The way that Merlin is given a treatment as a powerful but devious letch, flipping that common assumption of him as a wise and benevolent sorcerer, is really satisfying, honestly. I very much enjoyed him getting his comeuppance.

Viv and Morgan don't have the easiest relationship at times and the way that they react to things is intensely human - feelings of jealousy, betrayal, etc. forming breaks in their interaction with each other, but always finding their way back ultimately. The way in which Viv allowed Morgan space and grace to be open with her feelings was really affirming - being reminded that it's okay to break down sometimes. I also enjoyed the truth to their respective desires - their eventual paths being ones that felt right for their respective drives and specialities.

A really wonderful fantasy debut and such a well written tale.

4.75⭐️ - A super cute winter sapphic hockey romance, with tons of trauma healing!

"If they can't see how incredible you are, that is their failure, not yours"

JT is back in her home town following her Olympic victory for Team USA, but as the only athlete in her family of artists, nobody really seems to care about her accomplishments or show up for her. She's thankful to be able to fall back on the friendship of her best friend though.. and his cute sister, Ali.

Ali is newly divorced and despite having realised she was bi- a while ago, she's never had a chance to be with another woman and so the flirty and fun JT turns her head in a major way. Aiming to have a good time together and to beat not just Ali's ex- but also JT's siblings, the two team up for the town's holiday contest. As they get closer, it becomes clear that her childhood crush has turned into something much stronger, but can JT really stay in Hart's Landing with all this family trauma and meddling around?

-------------------------

This was such a cute story and I absolutely adored the way Ali supported JT. Having spent so much of her life feeling like she had less value than her family, Ali's unflinching holding up of her worth was beautiful - seeing her for the kind and sweet friend person she truly was. I had several moments of being brought to tears by the way Ali revealed the community's love for JT's achievements, and how that love gave JT the strength to express her feelings to her family and heal those relationships.

This had so much small town charm, affirming queer growth, all the healing and finding of oneself that you could want and it made me so happy.

4.5⭐️- A sweet and affirming romance, with some great fake dating leading to karmic retribution!

Sydney's life is kind of falling apart. First she walks in and finds that her long-term boyfriend is cheating on her in the place they share when she comes back from a competition. Then she suffers a career ending injury that puts a sharp end to her place in the professional tennis circuit just before Wimbledon.So she's taking some time to recover back in her hometown, staying in one of the places she feels safest; with her best-friend Hallie at her parent's Stone's Throw Inn. Giving herself permission to wallow on the sofa for a week, the last thing she expects the day she finally manages to motivate herself to get up and shower is to have her cheating ex- Grant's sister walk in on her.

It turns out that Reese has just bought the inn, Hallie's parents having sold it without even bothering to tell Hallie it was happening, which is an issue in and of itself. The unexpected surprises keep coming when Grant comes looking for Reese that same day and shows up as well - making certain assumptions upon finding his sister with his ex-, the latter just wearing a towel. Given that Grant is getting married soon to the girl he cheated on Sydney with and attending those pre-wedding events together would be helpful to make Grant uncomfortable and get some gossip, neither woman feels like disabusing Grant of his assumption that they're a couple.

As the pre-wedding events get underway, it quickly becomes clear that Sydney was investing her emotions in the wrong sibling all along!

This was such a sweet small today romance and I adored Sydney and Reese together so much. They have a really great supportive and empathetic dynamic and it's so affirming to see. Hallie is great too and I'm so excited she gets her own book next!

4.75⭐️ - A sweet and snowy sapphic romance with NCAA teammates who become olympic rivals and now co-hosts!

Darcy, former three time gold medalist for Team Canada's ice-hockey team has been retired for three years now and putting in hard work at her television station in the hopes of one day making it to the the screen as a hockey commentator. She feels like this is closer to becoming reality when the veteran anchor for the station decides he'd rather not be the laughing stock who tries and fails all the spots for fun segments at the upcoming Winter Olympics and it's offered to her. However, she's going to need a co-host...

Natalie was looking forward to trying to gain her second olympic medal for Team USA at the games, but this dream is crushed when a younger player takes her spot on the team and she's pushed out. Being forced to re-evaluate her options, it seems like good timing when her agent offers her an on-air spot at the games, allowing her to keep close to the action. However, she's not particularly thrilled when she finds out she'll be working with Darcy. Not when, during their time as NCAA champion teammates, they had a secret romance that ended in heartbreak for Nat.

As they head to the games and start doing their segments they're happy to find that they're well received. Going somewhat viral though is a hashtag that suggests that they're secretly a couple - their on-air rivalry coming off very flirty - and because this is good for the ratings, the station are all in favour of keeping the theory going. As the games progress, the find that the flirting becomes a little more than just pretend and old feelings come to the fore again, forcing them to confront all that happened with them before.

This was super sweet and fun. I loved the dynamic that Nat and Darcy had, how their handler at the station was getting steadily more and more frustrated with their bickering, etc. It was really entertaining reading about all the sports they tried and so it makes for an altogether great fine. Big recommend if you're as obsessed with queer hockey romance as I am lately, hehe.

3.25⭐️ - An enjoyable, but a little predicable, romantasy with wolf clan politics and conflicting goals

Aurora, princess of the southland, has resigned herself to her fate of marrying the odious Sebastian. It's a political situation that will aid her father, but not one that she's pleased about, particularly when she experiences one of his brutal fighting pit displays. Sebastian's tradition of capturing the warewolves and treating them as slaves is one that is bad enough already, but forcing them into martial combat makes them sick to her stomach. Sneaking away in order to try and offer some medical care to a young wolf boy, she comes face to face with the brutal alpha. When a breakout attempt starts she has to decide on the lesser of two evils - staying to be wed to the terrible Sebastian, or following the violent alpha.

I really wanted to love this, as I'd heard good things about it, but I can't say I was really hooked by it. The way everything played out was more than a little predicable, even if it was still entertaining. It was good enough for me to want to read the next one in order to find out what happens, but I'm really hoping it adds a bit more overall. The one real positive was the narration, with Zara Hampton-Brown and Shane East offering great portrayals.

3.25⭐️ - A touching and spicy story of acceptance and change for a tired Hockey enforcer

Ryan has always had to play the role of the hard man on the ice, starting beef to distract the opposition and support his team. He's been traded so often that he doesn't feel like he's got anywhere to call home and it's no different now he's with the Toronto Guardians. All this moving around has definitely made it hard to find any lasting romance, especially when he's a giant of a man who likes pretty, petite guys. Guys like Fabian, the son of his host family when he was a young hockey player, his first proper crush and somebody he's not seen in years.

Fabian hates Hockey. All the big bros, the noise.. everything. With his parents billeting during his high school years, he had a lot of time to resent all the guys that passed through his house. All except for Ryan, the unwieldy red-haired player was the only person who'd made him feel respected in that time. He's not thought of him in years though, so it's a big shock when he appears at his department store counter.

Despite all the time that passed, the natural connection they initially felt has only grown stronger, so it seems natural that Fabian should be Ryan's guide to the LGBTQ village in Toronto that that latter has recently moved to. As they get closer and find all the ways they work together, it comes directly at odds with the psychically descriptive playing that Ryan is required to do and makes him question his future in the sport.

This wasn't my favourite of the series, but it was still a really well done story, highlighting the way in which an NHL career can cause major struggles for players with all the transfers and inability to be authentically themselves. Fabian is a great match for Ryan and it's lovely to see how the world is continuing to grow.

4.75⭐️ - Everything we could want in the continuation of Shane and Ilya's story! Steamy, sweet, and such a well-built world!

Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been together in secret for so many years now that hiding their relationship has begun to take a serious toll. With friends and teammates coming out recently, it's becoming increasingly hard to justify not going public, but the fear of fan and league reaction is still really strong. With the potential of their hand being forced and increasing negative pressure from the NHL itself, it becomes clear that they're soon going to have to make some serious choices about their careers and lives together...

This was such a satisfying conclusion(?) to their story together, pulling together so many of the branching stories that have been introduced in the earlier books. With the book taking place alongside Role Model, chronologically, we also get to see a lot more of Kyle and Harris from that book, as well as Haden, Scott, Kip, etc. from the earlier books. The most powerful thing about it though, is the way in which the boys stand up to the league and make it clear how strong their support for each other is.

I really hope we get more in this series, because it's so good!!

4.25⭐️ - A more satisfying sequel to The Wolf King than I expected, with a good expansion to the to the world set up previously

Aurora is caught in the middle of escalating werewolf clan politics, torn between Callum and Blake, while still facing the ongoing threat of her angry, jilted former fiancé, Sebastian. With the dark forces of the Night Prince moving to bring about the return of the imprisoned God of the Night and ancient laws being invoked due to shifting alliances, her path forward grows more obscured.

The story was satisfyingly twisty, and I found myself far more intrigued and pulled along than I ever was with the first book. There's a suitably satisfying love triangle going on and it was greatly aided by the three-part narration in the audiobook — Sean Masters stepping in to voice Blake works incredibly well and adds a lot to the listening experience.

Given how doubtful I felt after finishing The Wolf King, I was pleasantly surprised by how good this was and I'll be on the lookout for the next one when it comes out ^-^

4.5⭐️ - A hockey star with a tarnished reputation meets a supportive bearded cinnamon roll in this adorable addition!

Troy Barrett hasn't got a lot going for him right now. After calling out his ex- friend and team-mate publicly for sexual-assault, he found himself traded to the worst team in the league. Given how he's been treated, it's not surprising that he's a little standoffish, but it really doesn't help him integrate with his new team.

Harris Drover is pretty beloved by his team and family. Not only is he the team social media manager, he's also got an adorable puppy he's training that everyone is obsessed with. He's also perceptive enough to see through Troy's grumpy exterior to the person beneath who wants to use his platform to support people. As the two get closer and learn more about each other, they're able to offer each other a lot of healing and affirmation and find that taking a chance on the team being supportive can be a big pay-off.

This was super sweet and affirming. Seeing Troy coming out of his shell was really lovely, especially how Ilya is present as the team captain and able to get Troy to open up about his sexuality. The scrappy vibe of the team who have a lot of potential adds so much to the series as a whole and it's lovely that all the connections between the various characters continue to grow. Definitely one of my favourite books in the series!

3.5⭐️ - A retiring veteran goalkeeper experiences his queer awakening in this affirming and steamy romance!

Eric Bennet has had a sterling career, but when he's benched in favour of a younger goalie, he has to face the reality of retirement. While finding a new place in life takes a lot of getting used to, the upside is that he's also able to finally acknowledge his sexuality. When he gets to know bartender Kyle (who WE met in Game Changer) the flirting leads to a non-strings-attached arrangement where he gets the opportunity for some lessons in intimacy from the younger man. This friends with benefits arrangement is one that suits both of them, but becomes obvious after a while that there's an attraction there that may lead to falling even harder than Eric ever did on the ice.

This was super cute and it was lovely to see more of Scott and Kip, as well as Maria, from the first book. Super lovely supportive friends and more time with Ilya, who is always such a fun addition to the stories. While I didn't love it quite as much as the others, it's definitely worth reading for the roundness of the series as a whole, because there's lots of back-story in here that adds fun to the later books!

4.5⭐️ - Barely averted vehicular manslaughter and a study of ancient fish in this cosy winter sapphic romance!

Heading to DC for a monthlong paleoichthyology internship, the last thing Shani wants after a tense car trip is for the incoming snow to cause her mum to hit, albeit very lightly, a girl crossing the road. When one of her housemates in the house she's staying in asks her to take over her dog walking gig, the last thing she expects is to run into (though thankfully not as literally) that same girl again. Suffice to say, May isn't thrilled to see Shani, but after initially chilly interactions, things start to warm up when the two get snowed-in together. Shani is still processing getting dumped by her first girlfriend prior to leaving for this trip though and with a limited time to get to know each other, can a relationship really come out of this?

This was a really sweet and emotionally rich queer coming of age story, with Shani and May experiencing their first positive intimacy with another girl, and being able to heal from their past trauma. There's a wide cast of interesting characters, from the 90+ year old friend of her grandmother that she's staying with, to her internship supervisor who is able to offer her a helpful queer ear, and it's a really diverse group. The relationship between Shani and May is really well handled and their time spent with the adorable fluffy loaf (corgi) on the walks is stinkin' adorable ☺️

5⭐️ - An enthralling and poetic tale that spans centuries, a scholar and a knight finding each other over and over again

Owen Mallory's academic obsession has been the tale of Sir Una Everlasting - the greatest hero of the nation, an orphan girl who became a knight that bested all foes until the last. The many conflicting stories of her life have made him fall in love with her legend, that of the virtuous and true champion, time and time again. When a book purporting to be the truest story of her life appears on his desk.. then promptly disappears again.. he finds that the history taught is a pale reflection of the woman who inspired it and that he has a greater role in it than he could have imagined. Caught in a cycle of life and death, holding on to each other more and more each time, Una and Owen must try to change history itself, no matter the cost.

This was jaw-droopingly good and profoundly poetic. The writing style, a mix of second person story telling with first person narration inserts, fills it with so much heartbreaking personality. The way both the characters have chances to tell their story, to talk about each other, makes it feel like a love letter. An object of devotion and careful chronicling.

The subversion of gender roles, the messaging of fighting back against totalitarian oppression, of challenging the appearance of fate, is so very powerful. More than this, the world makes sense - it's really hard to make time travel work in a book in a way that deals with paradoxes cleanly and this does a great job of it. The chronology, despite all the tangles and splitting paths, was entirely easy to follow and by the time we go to the end, I honestly had no idea how it would play out, yet it provided such a satisfying conclusion.

2.75⭐️ - A logic defying modern take on the Ghost of Christmas Past, with some sweet and affirming moments.

Harriet's December seems to be getting off to an unusual start, with disruption to her seasonal routines. Not least because a gruff and weathered looking Irishman has appeared in her house, insisting that he's the Ghost of Christmas Past. This doesn't make much sense to Harriet, because she's lead a people-pleasing life and can't see any reason her future would be a grim one. Other than in terms of her familiar relationships, of course, with her controlling mother and perfect sister being a big part of her people-pleasing ways.

Nolan's magic is kind of undeniable, but as they start to visit her memories of the past, it doesn't really seem like there's anything to learn from - other than that her mother is horrible. As the two get closer together, magic starts to go awry, and it seems there may be an unexpected path forward for both of them.

I had really big hopes for this. Perhaps that large expectation was part of the problem, but I didn't really feel as much enjoyment with this as I did First-Time Caller. Harriet is a well flushed out character and it was good that we're allowed an insight into both her past and Nolan's, but the way the two are written as connected is somewhat beyond what my mind would accept. The fact that Nolan is given corporal form I could just about accept, but, well, I loved Casper as a kid and this book defied some rules of ghosts that I'd take as basic 👀