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. *

One Dark Night: A Spooky, Steamy Small-Town Romance Anthology by Various Authors

One Dark Night: A Spooky, Steamy Small Town Romance AnthologyOne Dark Night: A Spooky, Steamy Small Town Romance Anthology by Andrea Jenelle

Tracy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone & Connected to Ongoing Author Series

Release Date: September 15, 2025

One Dark Night is a collection of spooky and steamy small-town romances, featuring the following novellas: No Ghosts by Andrea Jenelle, Scared to Love by Angi N. Black, Fascinated by His Fangs by Christi Barth, Love is a Thorn by Karson Dickinson, A Knight for Fears by Kay Lucas and One Little Dare by Nikki A. Lamers.

All the novellas are well-written and have varying levels of spookiness and steam, but if I had to pick my favorite it would be, Fascinated by His Fangs by Christi Barth, which is the story of Anthropologist and supernatural podcaster Lucy Hinton who has traveled to Badnaban PA, dubbed the “Scariest Town in the Country” for a Halloween podcast, which she hopes to have at the uber spooky MacKillop Mansion. She meets the mansion’s new owner, Duncan MacKillop, a lawyer from NYC who just inherited the property from a grandfather he never met. After getting over a frighting introduction to the mansion and the shock of learning the Duncan and most of the townsfolk are vampires, she agrees to work with Duncan to figure out the secrets of the house and the mystery of Life Art and shadow warriors. As the only novella written in the third person, I really enjoyed this story, it was the perfect blend of spookiness and steam, and I would love to read more about Lucy and Duncan.

Overall, this is a great collection of spooky and steamy romance novellas that are perfect for the Halloween season!

*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. *