Introvert’s Book Club
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Check Out the Booksta
Summer in the City by Alex Aster
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 1.5/5
Plot: 3/5
Primary Genre: Contemporary Romance
Blurb: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Alex Aster comes her adult debut novel Summer in the City—a swoony, fast-paced rom-com set in New York City in which a screenwriter and a sexy tech CEO go from lovers to enemies and back to lovers again… Twenty-seven-year-old screenwriter Elle has the chance of a lifetime to write a big-budget movie set in New York City. The only problem? She’s had writer’s block for months, and her screenplay is due at the end of the summer. In a desperate attempt at inspiration, Elle ends up back in the city she swore she would never return to, in an apartment she could never afford (floor-to-ceiling windows, skyline views, and a new coffee shop to haunt included). It’s the perfect place to write her screenplay…until she realizes her new neighbor is tech “Billionaire Bachelor” Parker Warren, her stairwell hookup from two years ago. It’s been a lovers-to-enemies situation ever since. When seeing him again turns into a full night of hate-fueled writing, Elle realizes her enemy/twisted muse might just be the key to finishing her screenplay... if she can stand being around her polar opposite. She writes anonymously, and he’s on the cover of every business magazine. He frequents fancy red carpeted events, and she doesn’t like leaving her emotional support five block radius. One summer. One wall apart. He needs to fake a buzzy relationship during his company’s precarious acquisition. She needs to write a movie around a list of NYC locations. Both need a break from their unrelenting schedules, and a chance to rediscover the skyscraper glimmering, pizza crusted, sunlit charms of the city. Summers always end, and so will this agreement. It’s all pretend. Promise. Until it isn’t.
Book News For Romance Lovers
Get ready for some information on exciting upcoming romance releases. You probably know about two of them but I’ve got two that might take you by surprise!
Free Book Friday - but make it every day
My free book Fridays have kind of fallen off, mostly because they’re so time consuming. I wanted to let all of my readers know that there are a few sites available that allow you to sign up for daily emails listing free kindle books. You can download and read these even if you don’t have a Kindle because Amazon has a kindle cloud reader which is a web browser that allows you to read your kindle books, as well as the kindle app which allows you to read your books on your smartphone or tablet. Check out the links to the website for free kindle books below!
Elphie: A Wicked Childhood by Gregory Maguire
Blurb: What happened to young Elphaba before her witchy powers took hold in Wicked? Almost 30 years after the publication of the original novel, for the first time Gregory Maguire reveals the story of prickly young Elphie, the future Wicked Witch of the West—setting the stage for the blockbuster international phenomenon that is The Musical.
Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, will grow to have a feisty and somewhat uncompromising character in adult life. But she is always a one-off, from her infancy; Elphie is the riveting coming-of-age story of a very peculiar and relatable young girl.
Young Elphie is shaped and molded by the behaviors of her promiscuous mother, Melena, and her pious father, Frex. She suffers ordinary childhood jealousies when her sister, saintly Nessarose, and brother, junior felon Shell, arrive. She first encounters the mistreatment of the Animal populations of Oz, which live adjacent to but not intertwined with human settlements, haunted by a Monkey and receiving aid from Dwarf Bears. She thrashes through her first bruising attempts at friendship, a possible lifeline from her tricky family life. And she gleans the benefits of an education, haphazard though it must be—until she arrives at the doors of Shiz University, about to meet the radiant creature that is Galinda.
Elphie is destined to be a witch; she bears the markings from childhood—most evidently in her green skin but more obscurely and profoundly in her cunning and perhaps amoral behaviors, as she seeks to make do, to slip by, to sneak out, to endure, and to aspire.
Ever Dark by M. Violet
Release date 03/19/2025
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Primary Genre: Paranormal Dark Romance
Blurb: Evil used to exist only in my nightmares.
Until I moved to Ever Graves. A town full of secrets, curses, and death. The darkness comes for me now in the form of three wicked deviants:
Bones, Draven, and Aries. They want to corrupt my soul and leave their filthy marks on my flesh.
They are all that is unholy. But their depravity isn’t my only torment. I’ve been plagued by a nightmare since I was a child. A monster who comes for my body and soul every time I close my eyes. Awake or asleep… there is no escape. Ever Dark is a dark gothic romance where the FMC ends up with multiple MMCs. This book is set in the world of Melancholia and directly tied to Wickford Hollow Duet, The Devils of Raven’s Gate Duet, and Absentia Mori. Content not suitable for everyone. Please check the author’s website for a full list of CWs.
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…
