Standalone Title – Page 11 – Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

Hopelessly Teavoted by Audrey Goldberg Ruoff

Series: Standalone

Release Date: September 16, 2025

Victoria “Vicki” Starnberger has a gift, she can communicate with the dead via personal items they left behind and items that burn up when she contacts the ghost. She wasn’t born with the gift; it came to her when her parents made a deal with a demon. For years she has used the gift to help her parents build an empire, while attending college. But after 8 years, she still hasn’t graduated, and she has returns to Hallowcross with a plan. She wants to buy the tea shop that was owned by the deceased parents of her childhood friend and secret crush, Azreal “Az” Hart. Her parents are opposed to this and threaten to cut her off if she goes through with the sale. But it isn’t until she is disowned that she learns that she is beholden to the lesser devil Olexandre for the balance of 3 souls due on the contract by Halloween. She also learns that until she fulfills that contract, anything (or anyone) with a sentimental connection to a spirit will be incinerated by her touch.

Enter Az, who has finally returned to Hallowcross after a failed screenwriting career in California. This is the first time he has been home since his parents passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic. Az and his family are witches and have magical powers, but even that wasn’t enough to save his parents, and he is drowning in guilt and grief for not being able to be with them at the end. To make matters worse, he learns that Vicki is back and has bought his parent’s tea shop. He hasn’t seen Vicki since an “incident” 6 years ago when he went to visit her in college and tried to move out of the “friend zone”. Thanks to his parent’s spirits, he has a second chance, but nothing worth having is easy.

After reading the blurb, I was super excited for this book, but unfortunately it just didn’t work for me. There were just too many things that didn’t make sense and were never explained to my satisfaction, for example, the magic system, or why Vicki was responsible for a contract made by her parents, and most especially the “incident”. The story dragged and at times felt like a YA fantasy, but with lots of F-bombs and love scenes and if it is important to you, it did have LBGTQ+ representation, as both the main characters and several secondary characters identified as such. Overall, the story had good bones but lacked the depth and cohesiveness necessary to hold my attention. I do believe this author has promise and would consider reading future books.

*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. *

The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin

Tracy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: N/A

Release Date: August 26, 2025

After surviving three abusive marriages and unbelievable heartbreak, Clara Chambers, the Countess of Duxbury is finally free. Widowed and wealthy, Clara is determined to save other women from suffering as she has, to that end, she selects four women from society and invites them to join her for tea, all save one accept. She then offers the women use of her extensive library, as well as her support and guidance facing the struggles of being a woman in Victorian England. Clara gently guides each lady, taking special notice of Eleanor Clarke, the wife of a self-made man who married her for her social status. She makes book suggestions to each woman but offers Eleanor a glimpse into her own life by encouraging her to read her personal journals. And so, begins the Secret Book Society…

The members of the Secret Book Society are Eleanor Clarke who is married to Cecil Clarke, a controlling, dominating man, who saved her family from financial ruin, a fact he doesn’t let her forget. He controls every aspect of her life and even limits the time she is allowed to spend with their son. Rose Wharton is an American heiress who married Theodore Wharton, the second son of an earl in a love match, but since learning Theodore’s elder brother the Earl is dying and Theodore is his heir, their marriage has suffered as the Earl doesn’t believe Rose is a proper lady, leaving Rose wondering if her marriage can survive. The final member is Lady Lavinia Cavendish, who accepted the invitation in her mother’s place, Lavinia’s father has banned her from reading, believing that it will encourage her capricious nature and lead to the same madness that her grandmother suffered. Together these women will forge a friendship so strong, that it will ultimately help them save one of their own.

With this book, Madeline Martin has crafted an emotional story of friendship, empowerment and healing. Until they met at Lady Duxbury’s home, each woman in this story is at a crossroads in her life and facing it alone, but thanks to the secret book society, they have each other to lift them up and support them through the challenges they face, and woven within their story is Clara’s tale of heartbreak and loss, which gives readers a powerful and insightful look into the life of a woman in the male dominated Victorian era. I loved this book, not only does it make me proud to see how far women have come but reminds me of the power women have to lift up and support each other through the inequalities we still face today. Before you start this book, I highly recommend grabbing a beverage, a box of tissues and comfy chair, because once you start reading, you aren’t going to want to stop until the last page!

*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. *

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