Always Carry a Silver Cross by Andrea Robertson

Always Carry a Silver CrossAlways Carry a Silver Cross by Andrea Robertson

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: None Listed

Release Date: October 21, 2025

After the death of her best friend Emma Bancroft, Selene Jones’ live changed forever, not only has she lost her best friend, but she has become guardian to Emma’s sixteen-year-old daughter Allison. Feeling out of her league and hoping that she is making the right decisions, she leaves her life in LA and relocates to Emma’s house in the small town of Avondale to raise Allie. Already feeling out of sorts, nothing could have prepared her for the shock she is about to receive when she arrives at Emma’s house and meets Allie’s boyfriend Josh, who happens to be a werewolf. The shocks keep coming when she meets her neighbors and learns that Avondale is a paranormal haven, ruled by Fenris Hall, a werewolf and a man she knows of (but never met) from her job as a professional fundraiser.

She is still reeling from learning that Avondale is filled with Werewolves, Vampires, Magi and Fey beings, and she isn’t prepared for her first meeting with Fenris to discuss the relationship between Allie and Josh. She is stunned at her immediate attraction to him and even more surprised when it becomes clear that he returns that attraction. She returns home wondering how a relationship between the pack leader of Avondale and a human could work and is confronted with a ghost from the past – Allie’s father, Daniel Brix who disappeared without a trace ten years ago. Things will only get more heated and complicated from here…

This book is not what I was expecting, the blurb calls it “a paranormal rom-com full of spirited seduction, sinister secrets, and the sublimely supernatural” I am going to have to disagree with part of that description, because this was definitely not a “Rom-com” – it was intense and it was filled with seduction, secrets and the supernatural – but it was not a romantic comedy and it had scenes that were downright horrific – not in a scary sense, but in a violating sense and I hope the publisher adds a content warning to the blurb to protect more sensitive readers. Overall, I liked the book, I thought it was well written and flowed well, and even though I wasn’t super happy with the ending, I would definitely read the next book. If you are a fan of insta-lust, soulmates, touch-her-and-die heroes and heroines who can take care of themselves – you will probably like this book. I am happy to recommend it but would caution there are some scenes that might be disturbing to some readers, and I would highly recommend checking for trigger/content warnings before reading this book.

*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. *

Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi

Love At First Fright: The new spicy paranormal romance and perfect Halloween read from the author of Best Hex EverLove At First Fright: The new spicy paranormal romance and perfect Halloween read from the author of Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: September 16, 2025

Rosemary Shaw has been able to see and interact with ghosts since she was a little girl. This gift led her into a very successful career as an author of horror novels, and now one of her bestselling books is about to be made into a movie! She is beyond delighted, that is until she learns Ellis Finch, a Hollywood action star, has been cast as the male lead and sets out to get him fired. Ellis Finch is tired of being stereotyped as an action hero and wants to prove he can be a serious dramatic actor. When he learns that Rosemary wants him off the movie, he is not willing to walk away without a fight. Once these two get on set and they realized they have more in common than they thought, things start to heat up. But they each have secrets and will have to learn to trust each other if they want to fully explore the possibility of a deeper relationship.

This book was nothing like I was expect based on the blurb, I was thinking a fun, paranormal rom-com, but that is not the story I got. This book had so many tropes that my head was spinning, and I felt like I was being pulled in too many directions, there are secrets, blackmail, age-gap, opposites attract, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers, forbidden love, BDSM, and fake-dating. Any of these tropes would have made a great story, maybe even more than one, but throwing them all in made for a scattered, chaotic story and in the end, none of the tropes shine. I was also a bit surprised by the fact that both leads, and a lot of secondary characters were members of the LBGTQ community, but that wasn’t included in the blurb, I feel like that was missed opportunity to expand the reader base. Overall, I think the book had promise, but in the end, it fell flat for me.

*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. *