Introvert’s Book Club
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Check Out the Booksta
Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things by Breanne Randall (Sisters of Shadow and Light #1)
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 1/5
Plot: 4/5
Primary Genre: Romantasy/Fantasy Romance
Blurb: A young witch cursed with sacrificing memories to cast spells must decide how much she’s willing to lose to save her town in this thrilling tale of magic, love, and self-discovery—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic. In the small town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her two sisters carefully guard the secret of their magic and the price they must pay to practice memories. The more powerful the magic, the greater the memory required. Luckily, all Calliope wants to do is forget. Forget the mother who left them without a trace. Forget the cracks in her relationships with her judgmental oldest sister, Thalia, and her distant middle sister, Eurydice. Forget about the very cost of her magic. And most of all, forget the way the love of her life shattered her heart two years ago. But when an ancient evil awakens in their town, the fragile thread that holds the sisters together breaks. As their magic slowly begins to fade, Calliope accidentally binds herself to an annoyingly handsome leader of a rival coven infamous for their ruthless pursuit of power. Battling a sizzling chemistry to a man she can't trust, Calliope needs to confront her sisters and the painful memories of her past, dark family secrets, and ancient magic in order to keep the town and all she loves safe. But will she have anything left of herself?
The Cul-de-sac by Christopher Null
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 0/5
Plot: 4/5
Primary Genre: Thriller
Blurb: How well do you really know your neighbors? Veteran serial killer Klaus Fischer is determined that his most recent murder will be his last, but like many retirements, this one isn’t sticking. No one has come close to suspecting he’s buried the victims on his quiet suburban California cul-de-sac property—but he’s feeling the urge to kill again, and this time he’s set his sights on a target dangerously close to home. Widowed Peg Jurgensen has lived on the cul-de-sac for the past fifteen years, and she’s ready to shed her doldrums and re-enter the world around her. And where better to start than with mothering the curious young teen Eliza van Damal, whose family just moved to the cul-de-sac in order to expose their daughter to a better life. Eliza, however, prefers to coerce the enigmatic hermit next door, Alex, into helping her pass math. Alex wishes the lot of them would disappear. The closer these misfits become, the more danger even the most ordinary conversations invite. As the body count rises, can these residents trust anyone hiding behind their doors on this street? Fans of The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena, The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell and The Good Neighbor by A.J. Banner will love this domestic thriller filled with dark secrets and dangers lurking in a seemingly quiet suburban neighborhood...
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 0/5
Plot: 4/5
Primary Genre: Magical Realism
Trigger Warnings: Death of a loved one on page, unaliving of oneself attempt
Blurb: For fans of Practical Magic, The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a debut novel that explores the shields we build around our hearts to retain our own magic. Sadie Revelare has always believed that the curse of four heartbreaks that accompanies her magic would be worth the price. But when her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer with only weeks to live, and her first heartbreak, Jake McNealy, returns to town after a decade, her carefully structured life begins to unravel. With the news of their grandmother's impending death, Sadie's estranged twin brother Seth returns to town, bringing with him deeply buried family secrets that threaten to tear Sadie's world apart. Their grandmother has been the backbone of the family for generations, and with her death, Sadie isn't sure she'll have the strength to keep the family, and her magic, together. As feelings for Jake begin to rekindle, and her grandmother growing sicker by the day, Sadie faces the last of her heartbreaks, and she has to decide: is love more important than magic? Readers who love the magic of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and the sense of community found in The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches will enjoy this warm, witchy novel.
Ghost Dick by Kinsley Kincaid
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Primary Genre: Dark Romance
Blurb:
You Can Never Escape The Town
The Legacy
The Legends
Are Your Responsibility
Welcome to Port Canyon
This is a Very Taboo Dark Romance
Moth To A Flame by Eva Marks
This review is later than I would have liked but I’ve been down with the sickness (COVID) since Wednesday night. This strain is a really nasty one. Today (Saturday) is the first day that I haven’t slept all day in awhile so I must get to work!
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 3/5
Plot: 4/5
Primary Genre: Dark Romance
Blurb: I’ve always held back my darkness. But for her, I’ll unleash it. All of it…
I never lose control.
Just one moment of happiness might bring forth the evil that taints my blood. So, I stick to satisfying other people’s fantasies with my kink dating app. That’s how I found her.
Regan Everglow is sweet. Deserving of all the beauty this life has to offer.
But she’s known darkness, too. Her control was stolen from her years ago. Now, she’s ready to take it back.
And I’m going to help. I wish I could say my intentions were pure. But they’re not.
Truth is, I’m obsessed with her. I’d stalk her to the ends of the earth.
Because she draws out the beast I keep locked inside me, like a moth to a flame—and she has no idea how far that beast would go to protect her. She’s about to find out, though.
So is any man who even thinks of touching my Regan again…
Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey
Big Shots #3
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Primary Genre: Sports Romance
Blurb: A steamy chance encounter between a professional hockey player and the manic pixie dream girl he just can’t seem to forget takes a turn when the pair realize that their parents are engaged—in an all-new rom-com by #1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey. When professional hockey player Sig Gauthier’s car breaks down and his phone dies, he treks into a posh private country club to call a tow truck, where he encounters the alluring Chloe Clifford, the manic pixie dream girl who captivates him immediately with her sense of adventure and penchant for stealing champagne. Sparks fly during a moonlight kiss and the enamored pair can’t wait to see each other again, but when Sig finally arrives to meet his dad’s new girlfriend over dinner, Chloe is confusingly also there. Turns out the girlfriend is Chloe’s mother. Oh, and they’re engaged. Sig’s dream girl is his future stepsister. Though the pair is now wary of being involved romantically, Chloe, a sheltered harp prodigy, yearns to escape her controlling mother. Sig promises to teach her the ins and outs of independence in Boston—but not inside his bedroom. They both know there can never be more than friendship between a famous hockey player and his high-society, soon-to-be stepsister. But keeping their relationship platonic grows harder amid the developing family drama, especially knowing they were meant for so much more…
Brewing Up A Bad Boy by Katherine Garbera
Wicked Sisters #3
Rating: 3.75/5
Spice: 3
Primary Genre: Contemporary Romance
Plot: 4/5
Blurb: A tea shop owner good girl and a reformed microbrewer bad boy reunite in this wonderfully wicked love story.
Sometimes the second sip is sweetest.
In the cozy town of Birch Lake, tea shop owner Poppy Kitchener thought she’d left her mistakes, and her failed marriage, in the past. But when her ex-husband, Alistair Miller, turns up—as charming and irritatingly handsome as ever—those old feelings float to the surface. To top it off, he has a puzzling pretend they’re still married for his cousin’s wedding in exchange for a lucrative business deal with his family.
Easy enough, right? After all, this could be Poppy’s last chance to get closure, grow her business and use Alistair’s knowledge of microbrewing to help her finish that winning recipe for the tea competition.
But even after all this time, he still knows how to make her laugh. And he’s changed in ways that make Poppy wonder about the man he’s become… Can she trust this new Alistair with her heart, or will a second chance brew up disaster?
Ghost by Eva Simmons
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 3
Primary Genre: Dark Romance/MC Romance
Plot: 4/5
Blurb: Ghost lied to his club to protect me, putting a target on both our backs. Trouble is… I didn’t know I needed saving. Or that I was still being haunted by my past. Now my loyalty to the Twisted Kings is in question, and the only man who can protect me is a tall, tattooed biker with a taste for revenge and a vow of abstinence. Ghost is haunted. He’s reclusive. He ignores me at every turn, and I’m certain I mean nothing to him. Until I discover Ghost has been watching more than surveillance through the clubhouse cameras. He sees everything.And I’m his favorite subject.
Author's Note: Ghost is a dark MC romance with a morally grey hero, heavy subject matter, mature content, and explicit scenes. Content/TWs (which contain spoilers) can be found on author's website. 18+ Standalone with HEA guaranteed.
Don’t Stop by Lauren Biel
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 5/5
Primary Genre: Dark Romance, Traumance
Trigger Warnings: Please check the author’s website before reading
Blurb: If you don't stop, you'll live. If you do, you know what will happen. So for the love of all things unholy, don’t stop.
-Dalton and Rayna
The Halloween Harvesters
This is a similar hitchhiker themed romance but is more horror. It won't be in the series with the regular dark hitchhiker romances (Ride or Die Romances). Ride AND die!
Tropes: Unhinged fmc and mmc
More innocent mmc
damsel in distress
insta obsession
enemies to lovers
dark humor/banter
mask kink (they both wear masks)
What’s In A Kiss by Lauren Kate
Rating: 3.5/5
Spice: .5
Primary Genre: Romantic Comedy
Plot: 4/5
Blurb: From # 1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Kate comes an enemies-to-lovers “what if” romance about a prom kiss that never was, and one woman’s magical chance to live what might have been.This is not how Liv wanted to see Jake Glasswell for the first time in ten years. Once her high school rival and the prom date who humiliated her, now a successful TV personality, he’s more attractive than he has any right to be. And he’s her Lyft passenger.Since the prom night kiss that never was, Liv’s life has not gone to plan. She deferred Julliard to be with her mom during a crisis, and now swears she’s happy as a recently furloughed drama teacher going on no-strings dates. This weekend she’s maid of honor to her best friend, Masha, and, of course, Jake is the best man. But when Liv glares into Jake’s eyes as Masha says, “I do,” the universe turns on its axis and Liv is suddenly living a version of her life where prom night was the beginning of her and Jake, not the end, and it turns out he’s the love of her life. The catch? Her mom and Masha hate her now. What’s in a kiss? Maybe everything.
Hitched by Lauren Biel
Blurb:
"Ready or not, rabbit, here I come"
Lex
The moment I open the car door and see her sweet face, I know I'm making a mistake. By offering to give me a ride, so is she. I spot the rabbit’s foot hanging from the rear-view mirror. It's not her lucky day.
I take her with me as I run from the law. Despite being a felon and a documented sociopath, I only mean for Selena to be a ride to the border. But somewhere along the way she stirs up feelings I've long thought myself incapable of.
She's my rabbit, my sweet little bunny, and I need to teach her how to run from me so I can catch her and show her what it's like to be devoured by the predator she should be afraid of.
Danger lurks in every corner, and the risk of getting caught grows by the day. What will I do once she takes me to my destination? Will I let her go or do something much worse? Can we find some way to stay together when the world wants to pull us apart?
Where’s Molly by H.D. Carlton
A Cat & Mouse Duet spinoff
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 3/5
Plot: 4/5
Primary Genre: Dark Romance
Blurb: “Molly Devereaux has been missing for more than two weeks, and police are still searching for the girl who seemed to vanish out of thin air. The world still wants to know... Where's Molly?”
In my dreams, I never escaped the Oregon woods.
Life after death isn't easy to accept, especially when I still feel like a ghost.
Now, I live deep in the mountains of Montana—the paradigm of beauty. But they are also the home of horrors.
Horrors that I only unleash at night.
When my pigs are allowed to feast.
