Category: Contemporary

Never Been Witched by Molly Harper

On By TracyIn Contemporary, Mystery, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Romantasy, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Never Been Witched (Starfall Point Book 3)Never Been Witched by Molly Harper

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Starfall Point, #3

Release Date: August 12, 2025

Alice Seastairs runs her grandparent’s antiques shop in the small lake town of Starfall Point, Michigan. She is also a witch/ghost wrangler, who along with her sister witches are trying to find the remaining Welling lock so they can ensure the safety of the ghosts at Shaddow House. Alice loves her sister witches, but lately she has been pulling away from them because she is ashamed of herself and scared of them rejecting her when they learn she has unwittingly given information about their coven to her former lover. A chance meeting with Collin Bancroft the new owner of the Duchess hotel, sets a lot of things in motion, and gives her new opportunities in not only her career, but in her love life too.

Collin Bancroft has made some bad choices in his life, but he has put his bad boy ways behind him and has purchased a hotel that was built by his family with plans to restore it to its former glory. He never expected to find romance or ghosts, but he has found both and life will never be the same! Throw in an ex-fiancée who still thinks they are destined to be together, some entitled family members and Collin will have to work hard to find his way to happily ever after.

This was a well-written, nicely paced story with wonderful, relatable characters. I loved Alice and Collin, they have both known immense grief and toxic relationships, but have each handled it differently, Alice by bowing to her nasty grandparents and Collin by becoming a “bad boy”. I loved how Alice finally stood up for herself, but I thought Collin was a little bit too beta and needed to say “No” like he meant it, but I still liked him. This was a new to me author and I jumped into the ending of a series without a clear understanding of the ongoing story in that series – but the author did a great job of filling in the backstory without losing track of the current story, so other than wanting to go back and read the previous books, I had no problem following this story.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

Whisper Among Thorns by Cassandra Aston

On By TracyIn Contemporary, First Person Narrative, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Romantasy, Tracy's Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

Whispers Among Thorns (Deadly Fae Duology, #1)Whispers Among Thorns by Cassandra Aston

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Series: Deadly Fae, #1

Release Date: June 24, 2025

There’s only one rule that truly matters. Never fall in love with a human. Break it and die.

Living under the radar in New York City, Sav just wants to carve out a life in her new world. That hope is shattered when the leader of the anti-fae movement destroys her home in an attack on her people. Finding herself caught between protecting a deadly secret and saving the fae from the humans bent on slaughter, Sav must infiltrate the extremist’s inner circle, posing as a human, and seduce her sworn enemy’s son.

Jack, the son of the infamous anti-fae-faction leader Dane Clyde, has always lived in his father’s shadow. When a woman is brought into AFF headquarters in chains, he finds himself drawn to her despite the danger. Caught between duty and desire, Jack must choose a side before one is chosen for him.

What began as a mission to rescue Sav’s people may end up costing them both so much more than they bargained for.

When I saw this blurb on Netgalley – I was excited to read this story, but sadly it didn’t live up to the blurb. First the book is written in First Person Narrative – UGH – but the author doesn’t just give the reader one POV – no, it is multiple character POVs in rotating chapters – which made the story drag and hard to get into. Then there is Sav, I just never warmed up to her and found the romance between her and Jack to be underwhelming. I did like the dual world perspective and some of the secondary characters, but unfortunately, that just wasn’t enough to salvage this story for me. This is the first book in a duology, and I would recommend reading the books in order.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *