Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
The Spellshop (Spellshop #1)
Publisher: Bramble
Pub Date: 9 July 2024
Genre: Cosy Fantasy
Panda Rating:
(3.5 pandas)
The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst’s romantasy debut–a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.
Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.
When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.
In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.
But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.
Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.
Domestic abuse (recounted), death of parents (recounted)
I buddy read this with Charlotte @ Bewitching Books, Ravenous Reads and I’m so glad we did cos I loved our discussions about this (and thanks for patiently allowing me to bombard you with questions, lol)! 💜
TL;DR: The Spellshop is a whimsical and magical cosy fantasy that many readers have loved and I know many readers will continue to love. Unfortunately, while I liked it, I didn’t wind up loving it the way I thought I would. The best parts of this cosy fantasy are the descriptions of the lush verdant greenery of the island, especially the area surrounding our MC’s cottage in the forest, the magical creatures, and Caz, the sassy sentient magical plant.
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Happy Thursday, friends! It’s time to share one of my favourite annual tags: The Mid-Year Check-In! I’ve been doing this tag since I started this blog six years ago, and it’s a great way to reflect on half the year that’s already passed. I still can’t believe that we’ve already crossed into the final half of 2025 when it feels like this year has just begun. But maybe the rest of this year can speed by even faster now cos it’s been a bit of a hot mess train wreck, and I think it’s safe to say that we’re all ready for a different vibe next year. But I digress… Let’s get to this tag and see what I’ve read in 2025!
Check out my previous check-ins: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019
Note: I’ll do my best to not repeat too many books but I’ll tell you now, there are a couple that are repeated often. 🤭 I also wanted to stick to books that came out in 2025 but that would’ve been even more limiting as I don’t think I’ve read many new releases… So, this is what it is!
Read More » Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
Hi friends, I’m back for another blog tour today! I’m excited to share my thoughts as part of the blog tour hosted by Toppling Stacks Tours for Elvira Vance and the Monster Mystery by Kacy Ritter.
Thanks to Storytide for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
Click the banner above or here to check out the other incredible bloggers on the blog tour!
Elvira Vance and the Monster Mystery
Publisher: Storytide
Publication Date: 15 July 2025
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy Mystery
Rep: Biracial, Black
Rating:
(3.5 pandas)
Half-siren Elvira Vance doesn’t trust outsiders. Especially not the human detective who’s been hired to investigate the disappearances of a chupacabra and the crown for the Marfa Monster Festival. While humans are convinced the monster skipped town with the crown, Elvira knows there’s more to the story. As the daughter of Vince Vance—founder of Vince Vance’s Vintage Trailer Park Inn for Monsters—Elvira cares too much about her home to let this mystery go unsolved.
With her two best friends, Elvira collects clues and investigates humans, banshees, vampires, and ghosts. But when more creatures start disappearing and antimonster attitudes rise, Elvira realizes that her friends could be in real danger.
Now time is running out, and Elvira must use her siren powers and sleuthing skills to solve this mystery—or lose everything she loves.
Racism, discrimination from police
TL;DR: Elvira Vance and the Monster Mystery is an adventure-filled Scooby-Doo and the Gang style middle-grade fantasy mystery that I think many young readers will enjoy. The hijinks that ensue may be over-the-top at times, but the story is action-packed as we follow Elvira and her group of friends as they try to the solve the mystery of who’s hurting monsters in the place she calls home. Tough topics that mirror our reality were addressed well by the author in an approachable and easy-to-digest way that wouldn’t be overwhelming for young readers. My only qualm is certain situations relating to the MC’s actions that I wish had been addressed differently, but otherwise, this was a fun romp of a read that’s not only perfect for the spooky season but also summer-time reading!
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I can’t believe June has already come and gone, and with it goes the last holiday I have before the end of the year. 🤭 We held the annual Bali family summer holiday mid-June to celebrate my nan’s 94th birthday and this year we also had family photos (*shudder*). My sister flew down from Japan, and the rest of family flew in from where we’re spread out globally. These years, family holidays feel less and less like a ‘holiday’ due to overly hectic schedules and trying to pack everything into a 1-2 week period, but it’s always lovely to see everyone. Even though I came back feeling the need for a holiday from my holiday, it was also nice to get a break from work!
Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
Special thanks to HarperCollins for providing a digital ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
Embrace the Serpent
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: 24 June 2025
Genre: YA Romance Fantasy
Panda Rating:
(3 pandas)
In this sweeping romantic fantasy, a dangerous deal binds a young jeweler’s apprentice to the mysterious Serpent King in a marriage of convenience, thrusting her into a deadly game between the cunning, fearsome ruler and his rebellious huntsman. Perfect for fans of The Wrath & the Dawn and Once Upon a Broken Heart!
The Serpent King has come to find his bride, and with his arrival festivities sweep through the city. Inside and outside the Rose Palace await women from across the six kingdoms determined to become his new bride-to-be—all except for eighteen-year-old Saphira.
After escaping life as a palace ward under the cruel djinn Lady Incarnadine, Saphira now works as the apprentice to the unscrupulous jewelsmith Galen. Out of fear of being discovered, she hides her rare gift for harnessing the magic in gemstones and lets Galen take credit for her craft.
But when Galen makes a boast that ruffles the court, Lady Incarnadine punishes him with an impossible task—one that threatens to drag Saphira back into Incarnadine’s grasp. Desperate to avoid this fate, Saphira strikes a dangerous deal with Rane, the enigmatic huntsman sent by the Serpent King to find the best jewelsmith in the empire.
Rane promises that if Saphira crafts a mysterious piece for his master, the Serpent King will grant her a new identity and freedom. But when their plans go awry and the only way out is to marry the Serpent King, Saphira becomes entangled in the dangerous affairs of kingdoms and empires—caught between the cunning, handsome Rane and her cold, serpentine husband.
Death of a parent (off page, recounted), violence, war themes, blood, poisoning
TL;DR: Perhaps my expectations were a bit too high but I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t end up loving this more. I rarely say this, but I think Embrace the Serpent could’ve benefitted from being a duology for more detailed world-building, better exploration of the magic system, and deeper character arcs/relationship development. That said, I think it was a fairly solid YA romance fantasy with a unique magic system, and interesting settings and characters. I would recommend this for fantasy readers who aren’t looking for in-depth world-building and magic exploration, but enjoy being reeled in with a simple and unique system, plus those who love an innocently sweet romance with fairly decent stakes.
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Special thanks to the author for providing a digital ARC via Valentine PR in exchange for an honest review!
The Bad Boy Rule (Hellcats Hockey #1)
Publication Date: 12 June 2025
Genre: Adult Contemporary Sports Romance
Panda Rating:
(4 pandas)
A deliciously sexy, bad boy/good girl, hockey romance from Amazon Top 20 bestselling sports romance author, Maren Moore.
Lennon
Saint Devereaux has a reputation that precedes him.
Orleans University’s resident bad boy on and off the ice.
And I know to stay far away.
Until there’s a mixup and we’re forced to share our ice time.
I can’t stand his cocky attitude, or how annoyingly attractive he is.
He’s the reason the Bad Boy Rule exists.
Because guys like him will break your heart.
But the more time I spend with the hot, tattooed enforcer, the more I realize that being bad… has never been so much fun.
Saint
Lennon Rousseau plays the role of a high society socialite well.
She’s the definition of a good girl.
Valedictorian, president of the esteemed Social Club, a purity pact with her friends.
And I want to ruin her the way that her father ruined my life.
I can think of a hundred ways to dirty her up, and getting her beneath me is the perfect place to start.
I thought she might be the answer to getting my revenge, but now I’m beginning to wonder if she’s the one who’ll bring me to my knees instead.
The Bad Boy rule is a standalone in the Hellcats Hockey series which takes place in the Orleans University world.
Emotional and physical abuse by a parent (mostly off-page), drug and alcohol abuse of a secondary character, toxic familial relationships, chronic illness of a child (briefly mentioned, very minor secondary character), fighting/physical violence (on page), explicit sex scenes (on page)
TL;DR: The Bad Boy Rule is a great start to a new hockey romance series from Moore and I’m excited to see whose story comes next! This was a great hate-to-love romance featuring a good girl x bad boy combination that set my Kindle on fire. Once Saint and Lennon open up to each other and see beyond the personas they’ve perfected for the public, their connection was so good and their chemistry was intense! If you’re looking for personal growth and emotional vulnerability alongside many wickedly steamy moments, plus, no third act breakup then I think you’ll enjoy this romance!
That said, I would recommend checking out the author’s content warnings for the book as it does cover topics that may be triggering for some readers.
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