Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 02 May 2025 06:57:06 -0700 60 Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Wedding People 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach 0 4.11 2024 The Wedding People
author: Alison Espach
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/02
shelves: currently-reading, book-club, books-i-own, bookish-bounty-25, contemporary, fiction, literary-fiction, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles, #1)]]> 19090384
And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night....Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans—an alpha-strain werewolf—and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.]]> 225 Ilona Andrews 1625173431 0 4.10 2013 Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles, #1)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/02
shelves: currently-reading, audio, coyer-25-readalong, books-i-own, buddy-read, fantasy, magic, new-to-me-narrator, paranormal, romance, urban-fantasy, vampires, werewolves
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)]]> 44453040 From the bestselling author of The Bone Season, an epic high fantasy about a world on the brink of war with dragons-and the secret society tasked with stopping it.

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years.

Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to ensure the continuation of her bloodline. But as she clings to her independence, assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has converted to the Six Virtues and risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she will never be truly at home in Inys. As she dutifully goes to the sanctuary each day, Ead keeps a watchful eye on the queen, protecting her with forbidden magic.

Yet even she cannot keep Sabran from harm indefinitely. Dragons are encroaching on Inysh lands for the first time in centuries, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and an age-old force is stirring that no mandate can keep at bay.]]> 831 Samantha Shannon 1635570301 0 to-read 4.23 2019 The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)
author: Samantha Shannon
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Silver Elite 217245572 In the first book of a searing new dystopian trilogy, a young woman must conceal her psychic powers—and her attraction to her handsome, infuriating commanding officer—as she works undercover to take down a brutal government from within.

The world is divided. On the Continent, you’re either a Prime—immune to the biotoxin that nearly wiped out the Earth’s population 150 years ago—or a Modified, one who was enhanced by the toxin, developing powerful psychic gifts.

As conflict rages between the two sides, Wren Darlington lives in hiding. Occasionally running the odd op for the rebel Uprising against the Primes� oppressive rule, she must keep a low profile. After all, if the enemy finds out that she is a Mod with a staggering four psychic abilities, she won’t just be sent to the labor camps. She’ll be executed—immediately and without trial.

When a careless mistake puts Wren in the crosshairs of the Continent’s military, she is taken captive and forced to join their most elite Silver Block. Unwittingly, they’ve handed her the perfect opportunity for the Uprising to strike a devastating blow from inside their ranks. That is, if she can keep her powers hidden, survive training, and prove herself to Cross Redden, her maddeningly cocky commanding officer.

Despite the explosive chemistry between them, Cross doesn’t trust her—even as he seems determined to destroy the remaining shreds of Wren’s self-control. Yet as the war between Primes and Mods escalates, and as Wren and Cross find themselves unable to stay away from each other, they must decide how far they’re willing to go for their secrets—and how much of the Continent is worth saving.]]> 528 Dani Francis 059387546X 0 to-read 4.43 2025 Silver Elite
author: Dani Francis
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> White Rose Painted Red 231305704 My fresh start is finally around the corner—but so is the man standing in the middle of the f*cking road.

He could’ve died when I hit him, and his two friends are downright furious. But instead of pressing charges, they offer me a deal: work for them for six months, and they’ll let it go.

Their secluded mountain estate is vast and beautiful. Full of stolen artifacts and dark secrets.

Atticus, Elijah, and Seven might be equally alluring, but they’re also damaged and dangerous—driven by a thirst for revenge they say I can help satisfy.

Only now that they have me, they don’t seem to want to let me go. And it’s not one-sided.

Before long, their vengeance becomes my own, and I begin to understand that even if helping them claims my life, it’s too late to turn back now.

I can’t guard a heart they’ve already stolen.

White Rose Painted Red is a dark romance full of kindle-melting chemistry and possessive, damaged men who will do whatever it takes to get the revenge they crave and keep the girl they never meant to fall for.

*This book contains themes and scenes that may be disturbing to some readers.

Tropes:
Psycho golden retriever
Who hurt you?
Forced proximity
Damaged heroes
Badass FMC
Found family
'F*ck it'

]]> 452 Elena Lawson 0 to-read 4.20 2025 White Rose Painted Red
author: Elena Lawson
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Rom-Commers 217388042 She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies―good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates―The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!―it’s a break too big to pass up.

Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone―much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.� Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script―it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.

But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter―even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules―and comes true?]]> 352 Katherine Center 1250382823 0 to-read 4.11 2024 The Rom-Commers
author: Katherine Center
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Severed Heart (Ravenhood Legacy, #2)]]> 217516050 Go deeper with the Ravenhood Legacy in this second installment of the sizzling, darkly seductive, internationally bestselling series spin-off. Here, at last and in his own words, is Tyler’s story . . .

NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.

Once upon a time . . .

There lived an ambitious boy determined to become a man before his time.

And a woman, and battered soldier who recognized the scars that marred his soul—scars which mirrored her own.

Determined to help shape the warrior within him, it was their inexplicable bond that would forever alter his heart.

And the loss of that love that would redefine his destiny.

After all, nothing has ever been fair in love and war.]]> 720 Kate Stewart 1496757017 0 to-read 0.0 2024 Severed Heart (Ravenhood Legacy, #2)
author: Kate Stewart
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One Dark Kiss (Grimm Bargains, #2)]]> 219522054 Rebecca Zanetti explores the forbidden and the taboo in this modern dark romance twist on Snow White�the second in a captivating new series set in a seductive world of money, power, billionaires, and the dangerous desires that drive them.

Mirror, Mirror . . . Innocence or Sin. The reflection holds a darker truth.

ALEXEI
I’ve spent the last seven years in the hell of a maximum-security prison, every moment consumed by the need for revenge—revenge against the bastards who framed me, and revenge against the family who stole everything I owned. Now that I’m finally free, nothing will stand in my way. Not even her—my hot as sin new lawyer. Maybe she’s another weapon sent by my enemies to break me, or maybe she’s the key to my freedom. Either way, once she’s mine, I’m never letting her go.

ROSALIE
When I took this case, I thought I had it under control. But Alexei is no typical convicted killer—he's a dangerously seductive force of nature. Perhaps it's the lingering power from his days as heir to a global social media empire. Innocent or not, he's dangerous in the worst and best ways.

I secure Alexei’s release as we prepare for a new trial, but he wastes no time turning against his traitorous relatives and plotting his return to power. Amidst the chaos, our explosive chemistry ignites, putting us—and everyone I care about—in the crosshairs of ruthless enemies. If we can’t stop them, Alexei plans to burn the whole world down. And if anything, he’s a man of his word . . .]]> 384 Rebecca Zanetti 1496756304 0 to-read 4.08 2025 One Dark Kiss (Grimm Bargains, #2)
author: Rebecca Zanetti
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Daughter of Fair Verona (Daughter of Montague, #1)]]> 218155584 Knives Out meets Bridgerton in Fair Verona, as New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd kicks off a frothy, irreverent, witty new series with an irresistible premise—Romeo and Juliet’s daughter as a clever, rebellious, fiercely independent young woman in fair Verona—told from the delightfully engaging point of view of the captivating Rosie Montague herself�

"A sharp, determined heroine, a clever historical mystery, sparkling wit, a unique setting, family drama and a dash of romance.”� Amanda Quick, New York Times bestselling author of The Lady Has a Past

Once upon a time a young couple met and fell in love. You probably know that story, and how it ended (hint: badly). Only here’s the thing: That’s not how it ended at all.

Romeo and Juliet are alive and well and the parents of seven kids. I’m the oldest, with the emphasis on ‘old’—a certified spinster at twenty, and happy to stay that way. It’s not easy to keep your taste for romance with parents like mine. Picture it—constant monologues, passionate declarations, fighting, making up, making out . . . it’s exhausting.

Each time they’ve presented me with a betrothal, I’ve set out to find the groom-to-be a more suitable bride. After all, someone sensible needs to stay home and manage this household. But their latest match, Duke Stephano, isn’t so easy to palm off on anyone else. The debaucher has had three previous wives—all of whom met unfortunate ends. Conscience forbids me from consigning another woman to that fate. As it turns out, I don’t have to . . .

At our betrothal ball—where, quite by accident, I meet a beautiful young man who makes me wonder if perhaps there is something to love at first sight—I stumble upon Duke Stephano with a dagger in his chest. But who killed him? His late wives� families, his relatives, his mistress, his servants—half of Verona had motive. And when everyone around the Duke begins dying, disappearing, or descending into madness, I know I must uncover the killer . . . before death lies on me like an untimely frost.]]> 320 Christina Dodd 1496750179 0 to-read 3.00 2024 A Daughter of Fair Verona (Daughter of Montague, #1)
author: Christina Dodd
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> It's a Love Story 218153839 USA Today bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script, a novel about a former adolescent TV punchline who has left her awkwardness in the rearview mirror thanks to a fake-it-till-you-make-it mantra that has her on the cusp of success, until she tells a lie that sets her on a crash-course with her past, spending a week in Long Island with the last man she thinks might make her believe in love.

Rules for a love story: There are none. It’s all a lie.

Jane Jackson knows that true love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth—you can’t fake a belly laugh. Jane should know, she spent her adolescence as "Poor Janey Jakes," the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punchline on America's fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s a Creative Executive at Clearwater Studios and she’s living by a new mantra: Fake it till you make it.

Except, she might have faked it too far. Desperate to get her first project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan, she opened her mouth and a big fat fib fell out. She claimed that Jack Quinlan, hottest popstar of the moment, has promised to write an original song for the soundtrack. Jack may have been her first kiss—and greatest source of shame—but she hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years.

Now, Jane must turn to the last man she’d ever want to owe: Dan Finnegan. Because Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown on Long Island, and Dan has an in. A week in close quarters with Dan while facing down her past is Jane's idea of hell, but Dan just might surprise her. While covering up her lie, can they find something true?]]> 368 Annabel Monaghan 0593714105 0 to-read 4.29 2025 It's a Love Story
author: Annabel Monaghan
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Fear the Flames 223927257 NATIONAL BESTSELLER - An exiled princess teams up with the last man she thought she could trust in the start of a dazzling and unforgettable epic fantasy romance series.

As a child, Elowen Atarah was ripped away from her dragons and imprisoned by her father, King Garrick of Imirath. Years later, Elowen is now a woman determined to free her dragons. Having established a secret kingdom of her own called Aestilian, she's ready to do what's necessary to save her people and seek vengeance. Even if that means having to align herself with the Commander of Vareveth, Cayden Veles, the most feared and dangerous man in all the kingdoms of Ravaryn.

Cayden is ruthless, lethal, and secretive, promising to help Elowen if she will stand with him and all of Vareveth in the pending war against Imirath. Despite their contrasting motives, Elowen can't ignore their undeniable attraction as they combine their efforts and plot to infiltrate the impenetrable castle of Imirath to steal back her dragons and seek revenge on their common enemy.

As the world tries to keep them apart, the pull between Elowen and Cayden becomes impossible to resist. Working together with their crew over clandestine schemes, the threat of war looms, making the imminent heist to free her dragons their most dangerous adventure yet. But for Elowen, her vengeance is a promise signed in blood, and she'll stop at nothing to see that promise through.

An immersive fantasy filled with a sizzling reluctant-allies-to-lovers romance, a world to get lost in, dangerous quests, dragon bonds, and an entertaining band of characters to root for, Fear the Flames marks the stunning debut of Olivia Rose Darling.]]> 400 Olivia Rose Darling 0593873912 0 to-read 3.77 2022 Fear the Flames
author: Olivia Rose Darling
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Well, Actually 217387757
Forced to confront Rylie on a live episode of Sausage Talk, he offers Eva a deal: allow him to take her on a series of dates to make up for his toxic behavior, then debrief them on his channel to show he’s changed. Eva refuses to play nice, but agrees to the scheme to advance her own career and continue defaming Rylie’s good name. When these manufactured dates start to feel real, Eva has to wonder if the boy that broke her heart has become the man that might heal it.]]> 384 Mazey Eddings 1250333318 0 to-read 3.98 2025 Well, Actually
author: Mazey Eddings
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Ghostwriter 217506549 368 Julie Clark 1464221286 0 to-read 4.24 2025 The Ghostwriter
author: Julie Clark
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Caught Up (Into Darkness, #2) 220207768 From the viral TikTok author of the stalker romcom, Lights Out, comes Navessa Allen’s second book in bestselling The Into Darkness Trilogy, upping the ante with voyeurism and play club kink.

“I wanted this woman, and I was a man who always got what he wanted.�

Nico “Junior� Trocci knows Lauren Marchetti is off limits. She is sweetness and laughter, whereas Junior exists in a world of violence and depravity. Men like him don’t get to have women like her. It’s why he pushed her away back in high school and kept his distance ever since.

But when Junior looks Lauren up online, he discovers the shy, bookish girl he remembers is gone. In her place is a strikingly beautiful woman whose social media is filled with scantily clad pictures of herself and a connection to a nearby play club. Junior’s innocent curiosity quickly turns into a dark obsession. Watching Lauren from a distance isn’t enough; he needs to make her his.

“He’s ruthless; a walking red flag. Good thing red is my favorite color.�

Lauren is intrigued by the mystery man who keeps showing up at her club, who tempts her white-hot desires. But as their flirty online messages stir up a deeper form of connection, Lauren worries she’s developing real feelings for this brooding stranger. As their combined desire ratchets up to a breaking point, who will seduce who?]]> 352 Navessa Allen 1638932255 0 to-read 4.17 2025 Caught Up (Into Darkness, #2)
author: Navessa Allen
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Songbird & the Heart of Stone (Crowns of Nyaxia, #3)]]> 207613054 New York Times bestselling author and BookTok sensation Carissa Broadbent returns with a brand new novel in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, Songbird and the Heart of Stone, where A Court of Thorns and Roses meets Dante's Inferno, in an epic fantasy romance of love and treachery between mortals and gods. Features beautiful case art and a detailed map.

In the descent to the underworld, a bride of the sun must choose between the light of her redemption� or a dark love that defies the gods themselves

Mische lost everything when she was forcibly Turned into a vampire � her home, her humanity, and most devastating of all, the love of the sun god to whom she had devoted her life. Now, sentenced to death for murdering the vampire prince who Turned her, redemption feels impossible.

But when Mische is saved by Asar, the bastard prince of the House of Shadow with a past as brutal as his scars, she’s forced into a mission worse than execution: a journey to the underworld to resurrect the god of death himself.

Yet, Mische’s punishment may be the key to her salvation. In a secret meeting, her sun god commands her to help Asar in his mission, only to betray him� by killing the very death god she’ll help resurrect.

Mische and Asar must travel the treacherous path to the underworld, facing trials, beasts, and the vengeful ghosts of their pasts. Yet, most dangerous of all is the alluring call of the darkness � and her forbidden attraction to Asar, a burgeoning bond that risks invoking the wrath of gods.

As her betrayal looms, the underworld closes in and angry gods are growing restless. Mische will be forced to choose between the redemption of the sun or the damnation of the darkness.]]> 431 Carissa Broadbent 1250367786 0 currently-reading 4.06 2024 The Songbird & the Heart of Stone (Crowns of Nyaxia, #3)
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Witchcraft for Wayward Girls 207611566 There’s power in a book�

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master� (NPR).]]> 482 Grady Hendrix 0593548981 4 Wow. This had me hooked from the get-go and kept a tight grip on me throughout. This is historical, set in 1970, and I learned a lot while reading this. Overall, the stories of these "wayward" girls, four in particular, who had no control over anything in their lives, took control in the only way they could. Witchcraft.

This is my first time reading Grady Hendrix and I'm eager to pick up more.

I'm by no means a Stephen King connoisseur but I felt this story had a SKing/Joe Hill feel.]]> 4.00 2025 Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/25
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: 2025-new-release, fantasy, fiction, historical, horror, mysticism, new-to-me-author, suspense, thriller, witches
review:
*4-4.5 Stars*
Wow. This had me hooked from the get-go and kept a tight grip on me throughout. This is historical, set in 1970, and I learned a lot while reading this. Overall, the stories of these "wayward" girls, four in particular, who had no control over anything in their lives, took control in the only way they could. Witchcraft.

This is my first time reading Grady Hendrix and I'm eager to pick up more.

I'm by no means a Stephen King connoisseur but I felt this story had a SKing/Joe Hill feel.
]]> The Never List 213879514 The four princes of Lumathyst need a mate, and everyone wants a chance...except for her.

Threatened by invaders, the kingdom of Lumathyst is on the verge of chaos, and no one can stop it. Unless the four immortal god-princes find their fated mate―and safeguard the throne―Lumathyst will fall.

Five women have tried. Five have failed. And tonight in the royal city, the princes need to find their Chosen and hope she can survive the transformation that will make her immortal.

Only Rylee Gray wasn’t supposed to be here. She snuck in for her own dark reasons―and now they claim they've found their perfect match. Her. Of course, they have no idea she’s concealing a secret big enough to damn them all.

The four princes have no choice. They’ll use every delectably wicked skill they have to make Rylee fall for all of them…or watch their kingdom collapse.]]> 417 Jade Presley 1649377525 0 to-read 4.10 2025 The Never List
author: Jade Presley
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Wedding People 222348800 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN 9781250899576 can be found here

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 367 Alison Espach 1250899575 0 to-read 4.15 2024 The Wedding People
author: Alison Espach
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Turner House 25897901 352 Angela Flournoy 0544705165 0 to-read 3.70 2015 The Turner House
author: Angela Flournoy
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Things We Water 231547784 Once upon a time, a girl found a magical puppy, and her life was never the same again.

Nina Popoca needs help.

So, so much of it.

The only place she can find that help is on a sprawling ranch in Colorado. A place hiding more than a community filled with magical creatures trying to live their lives in safety and in peace. A village that might hold the answers to questions she’s had her entire life.

And if that ranch is owned by her best friend’s hunky cousin?

…there are worse things in the world than having to live right by Henri Blackrock.]]> 717 Mariana Zapata 0 to-read 4.40 2025 The Things We Water
author: Mariana Zapata
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Where the Blame Lies (Where, #1)]]> 52320637 Abducted.
Terrorized.
Imprisoned.

At nineteen-years-old, college student Josie Stratton was kidnapped by a madman and held shackled for ten months in an abandoned warehouse before she finally escaped her hellish prison.

Eight years later, when the body of a young woman is found chained in the basement of a vacant house, Cincinnati Police Detective Zach Copeland is instantly reminded of the crime committed against Josie Stratton. Zach was just a rookie on the perimeter of that case, but he’s never forgotten the traumatized woman with the haunted eyes.

As more information emerges, the crimes take on an even more sinister similarity. But Josie’s attacker died by suicide. Does the city have a copycat on its hands? A killer who picked up where the original perpetrator left off? Or are they facing something far more insidious?

Josie has spent the last eight years attempting to get her life back on track, but now there’s a very real chance she could be the unknown suspect’s next target. As Zach vows to keep her safe, and Josie finds herself responding to him in a way she hasn’t responded to any man in almost a decade, the investigation takes on an even more complex edge of danger.

As past and present collide, Josie and Zach are thrust toward a shocking and chilling truth. A revelation that threatens not only Josie’s life, but everything she’s been fighting so desperately to reclaim.]]> 426 Mia Sheridan 1689781491 5 Where the Blame Lies was so very well written, the pacing was perfect, and the plot...well, I kept thinking I knew who did it. I was wrong. Every time. I became so invested in these characters that I was pacing around, talking to them (read: yelling or scolding), adrenaline keeping my earbuds glued to my ears. And the ending was perfection. When I saw the name of the MC in the next book, I immediately queued it. I look forward to it and to all the other books from Mia Sheridan I've collected over the years.]]> 4.24 2019 Where the Blame Lies (Where, #1)
author: Mia Sheridan
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/20
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: coyer-2025-readathon-4, audio, bookish-bounty-25, contemporary, mystery, new-to-me-author, romance, romantic-suspense, suspense
review:
Why, oh why, did I wait so long to read Mia Sheridan?? Where the Blame Lies was so very well written, the pacing was perfect, and the plot...well, I kept thinking I knew who did it. I was wrong. Every time. I became so invested in these characters that I was pacing around, talking to them (read: yelling or scolding), adrenaline keeping my earbuds glued to my ears. And the ending was perfection. When I saw the name of the MC in the next book, I immediately queued it. I look forward to it and to all the other books from Mia Sheridan I've collected over the years.
]]> Out on a Limb 124950295 397 Hannah Bonam-Young 1778027784 0 to-read 4.25 2023 Out on a Limb
author: Hannah Bonam-Young
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Good Book (Sunday Morning, #3)]]> 231719126
Lucky for Gabby, her best friend, Ben, is attending the same college on a music scholarship. He is the perfect resource—girls love him, and he's more experienced with relationships than her, since she’s never had a boyfriend.

When Gabby panics before her first date with Matt, she begs Ben to show her how to kiss. But Ben has a secret, one he’s been keeping from Gabby for years. He’s in love with her.

One kiss turns into two, leaving Gabby confused and scared that their friendship might not survive the unforeseen emotions. She avoids Ben until something unexpected changes his life forever, and he’s forced to drop out of school.

Gabby tries to contact him, but he won’t respond. And Matthew Cory, her sister’s ex-boyfriend and handsome law student, is ready to fill the void Ben left behind.

Now that Gabby has the man she thought she wanted, can she forget about the boy who kissed her twice?

Dive into this unforgettable coming of age romance today!]]> 436 Jewel E. Ann 1955520607 0 to-read 0.0 A Good Book (Sunday Morning, #3)
author: Jewel E. Ann
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Guest Cottage (Firefly Summer, #1)]]> 218155604 In this uplifting series debut, forgiveness and unlikely friendship blossom in the haven of a quiet lakeside town when two very different women bond over one man’s betrayals.

Marlow Heddings is starting over. She’s carried the outrage of her husband Dylan’s affair with a younger woman—and the expectations of his family’s powerful Chicago holdings company—long enough. Now, after another devastating twist of fate, she’s unapologetically moving on.

Arriving in tiny Bramble, Kentucky, Marlow revels in her freedom, swapping her executive suits for sundresses . . . and scouting places to open her dream boutique. Best of all is her new residence, an adorable cottage with gorgeous lake views—and a breathtaking landlord, former Marine Cort Easton. Soon they’re sharing dockside morning coffee and nighttime firefly gazing. Marlow’s new life feels like a dream.

Then Pixie Nolan arrives on her doorstep. With a shocking secret.

To Marlow’s astonishment, Dylan’s “other woman� is a desperate girl of nineteen, destitute, exhausted, and disowned by her family. Defying her manipulative in-laws� demands, and surprising even herself, Marlow vows to lay down roots in Bramble and help Pixie get on her feet. Then they’ll part ways. But empathy has a way of forging bonds. As Marlow grows close to the hard-working, devoted young woman, she becomes something of a big sister to Pixie.

Now, with each sunrise, Marlow awakens to the life she was truly meant to live, one filled with deepening connections, supportive friendship . . . and even a second chance at love.]]> 304 Lori Foster 149675235X 0 to-read 4.50 2025 The Guest Cottage (Firefly Summer, #1)
author: Lori Foster
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Flatshare 48715812 here.

Tiffy and Leon share an apartment. Tiffy and Leon have never met.

After a bad breakup, Tiffy Moore needs a place to live. Fast. And cheap.

Desperation makes her open-minded, so she answers an ad for a flatshare. Leon, a night-shift worker, will take the apartment during the day, and Tiffy can have it nights and weekends. He’ll be there only when she’s at the office. In fact, they’ll never even have to meet.

Of course, since they live together, sometimes they do need to share information. Tiffy and Leon start writing each other notes—first about what day is garbage day, then politely establishing which leftovers are up for grabs and debating the evergreen question of whether the toilet seat should stay up or down. Soon, they're sharing details of their lives: their work, their families, their romances. And it's amazing how much they learn about their flatmate just by sharing a space.

Even though they are complete opposites, Tiffy and Leon soon become friends. And then maybe more.

But falling in love with your roommate is probably a terrible idea . . . especially if you've never met. What happens when you finally bump into each other?

A joyful, quirky romantic comedy, The Flatshare is a feel-good novel about finding love in the most unexpected of places—under the same roof.]]> 328 Beth O'Leary 1250295637 0 to-read 3.98 2019 The Flatshare
author: Beth O'Leary
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Can't Get Enough 218372451 “Kennedy Ryan pours her whole soul into everything she writes, and it makes for books that are heart-searing, sensual, and life affirming.”―EMILY HENRY, #1 New York Times bestselling author Hendrix Barry lives a fabulous life. She has phenomenal friends, a loving family, and a thriving business that places her in the entertainment industry's rarefied air. Your vision board? She’s probably living it.

She’s a woman with goals, dreams, ambitions—always striving upward. And in the midst of everything, she's facing her toughest challenge caring for an aging parent.

Who has time for romance? From her experience, there's a low ROI on relationships. She hasn't met the man who can keep up with her anyway. Until...him.

Tech mogul Maverick Bell is a dilemma wrapped in an exquisitely tailored suit and knee-melting charm. From their first charged glance at the summer's hottest party, Hendrix feels like she’s met her match. Only he can’t be. Mav may be the first to make her feel this seen and desired and appreciated, but he’s the last one she can have. Forbidden fruit is the juiciest, and this man is off limits if she plans to stay the course she’s set for herself.

But when Maverick gives chase—pursuing her, spoiling her, understanding her—is it time to let herself have something more?


A deeply moving and personal novel about sacrifice, self-reliance, and finding true happiness from “one of the finest romance writers of our age.� �Entertainment Weekly]]> 448 Kennedy Ryan 1538706857 0 to-read 4.38 2025 Can't Get Enough
author: Kennedy Ryan
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[It Happened One Summer (Bellinger Sisters, #1)]]> 215768409
Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father's dive bar... in Washington.

Piper hasn't even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won't last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can't do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She's determined to show her stepfather--and the hot, grumpy local--that she's more than a pretty face.

Except it's a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there's an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn't want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan--and this town full of memories--may have already caught her heart.]]> 360 Tessa Bailey 006341385X 0 to-read 4.33 2021 It Happened One Summer (Bellinger Sisters, #1)
author: Tessa Bailey
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons (Rose Gardner Mystery, #2)]]> 15836745
Or is there?

As if things weren’t bad enough, Rose’s older sister Violet is going through a mid-life crisis. Violet insists that Rose stop seeing her sexy new boyfriend, Arkansas state detective Joe Simmons and date other men. Rose is done letting people boss her around, but she can’t commit to Joe either. Still, Rose isn’t about to let the best thing in her life slip away.]]> 353 Denise Grover Swank 0 to-read 4.18 2012 Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons (Rose Gardner Mystery, #2)
author: Denise Grover Swank
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Thirty and a Half Excuses (Rose Gardner Mystery, #3)]]> 17152015
But Rose is in the middle of opening her nursery with her sister Violet, who’s separated from her husband Mike, as well as stalling her boyfriend Joe’s family, rich socialites who are determined to meet her. Along with her multiple encounters with Fenton County’s new assistant DA, Mason Deveraux III, it’s just another day in the life of Rose Gardner � chaos.]]> 360 Denise Grover Swank 1484976835 0 to-read 4.36 2013 Thirty and a Half Excuses (Rose Gardner Mystery, #3)
author: Denise Grover Swank
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes (Rose Gardner Mystery, #1)]]> 22847270
Rose realizes she’s wasted twenty-four years of living and makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt: twenty-eight things she wants to accomplish before her vision comes true. She’s well on her way with the help of her next door neighbor Joe, who has no trouble teaching Rose the rules of drinking, but won’t help with number fifteen-- do more with a man. Joe’s new to town, but it doesn’t take a vision for Rose to realize he’s got plenty of secrets of his own.

Somebody thinks Rose has something they want and they’ll do anything to get it. Her house is broken into, someone else she knows is murdered, and suddenly, dying a virgin in the Fenton County jail isn’t her biggest worry after all.]]> 374 Denise Grover Swank 4
Full review to come]]> 3.90 2011 Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes (Rose Gardner Mystery, #1)
author: Denise Grover Swank
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/19
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: coyer-2025-readathon-4, books-i-own, first-in-series, contemporary, mystery, new-to-me-author, paranormal, suspense, coyer-25-readalong
review:
This is my first read from DGS and I'm once again kicking myself. I quite enjoyed my introduction to Rose and her little town in Arkansas. I look forward to continuing this series.

Full review to come
]]> <![CDATA[Finding Claire Fletcher (Claire Fletcher, #1)]]> 34330657 In the first book in bestselling author Lisa Regan’s new series, a one-night stand sets a detective on the trail of a terrifying unsolved crime.

With his career on thin ice and fresh ink on his divorce papers, Sacramento PD Detective Connor Parks goes searching for solace at the bottom of a bottle…and winds up in the arms of a beautiful woman. By morning she’s gone, and the one clue she left behind sends Connor on a desperate mission to unravel a decade-old mystery—her abduction.

Presumed dead for the last ten years, Claire Fletcher has been living her life as “Lynn,� a woman in the terrifying grip of her captor. After her unforgettable night with Connor, Claire clings to the hope that she’ll see him again, that he’ll follow her into the dark. But anyone who gets close to Claire has a way of turning up dead…and she’s unwittingly made Connor next on the list.

Before long, it becomes disturbingly clear: finding Claire Fletcher isn’t just going to be dangerous—it could be deadly.

Revised edition: This edition of Finding Claire Fletcher includes editorial revisions.>]]> 325 Lisa Regan 1542096103 0 to-read 4.43 2012 Finding Claire Fletcher (Claire Fletcher, #1)
author: Lisa Regan
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Blood of Hercules (Villains of Lore, #1)]]> 218515947 The gorgeous collector’s hardcover edition of Blood of Hercules contains full color customized artwork, exclusive bonus content, and gold foil sprayed edges, foil casing, and metallic cover treatment.

I’m just a girl. And it turns out, I’m Hercules.

I’m struggling to survive in a Titan infested world where Spartans, immortals from twelve royal families who have god-like powers and obscene wealth, rule over all. A shy-stammering foster child with nothing, I keep my head down, cover my scars, and focus on excelling in school. At least, I try to. Then it happens.

My blood test reveals I’m part of the powerful elite. I’m one of them. A Spartan.

Forced to attend the Spartan War Academy, I undergo the most harrowing test of all time to see if I have what it takes to be an immortal. There’s just a few problems. Achilles and Patro are my scary mentors. Kharon, the ferryman of death, and Augustus, the son of war, are my terrifying professors. Also, I’m pretty sure either someone’s stalking me everywhere I go, or my sanity’s slipping––I have a bad feeling both are true.

I’m surrounded by Villains and they’re smothering me with their hate, obsession, and dark possessiveness. Too bad for them, they have no clue just who they’re messing with.

Perfect for readers who love:
� "Who did this to you?"
� Extreme Enemies to Lovers
� Morally Gray Alpha Heros
� Stories where the Villains get the girl
� Greek Myths and War Academies]]> 512 Jasmine Mas 1335474730 0 to-read 4.07 2024 Blood of Hercules (Villains of Lore, #1)
author: Jasmine Mas
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Long Time Coming 231431998 not by choice.

The barstool wobbled under me when reaching for a cheddar biscuit. They’re my weakness. Much like he used to be.

Rolled up sleeves and tailored pants have replaced the boots and jeans my brother’s best friend once wore. But it’s not just the clothes that have changed. His shoulders are broader and he’s broodier. Somehow, he's even more handsome than ever.

And seeing the little boy smiling at his side? My heart instantly melts. I can't handle Tagger as a hot single dad.

Since he has no plans to stay, I know it’s best to avoid him. But daily run-ins at Rollingwood Ranch make him hard to ignore, and even harder to walk away.

His heated glances warm my insides, his smile awakens my dormant heart, and one stormy night leads to crossing lines we vowed we wouldn’t.

But when falling in the hay turns into falling in love, I start to wonder if our happy ending is a long time coming. Or will he return to the city leaving me with a broken heart?

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, S.L. Scott, will lasso your heart and tie the bow in this Swoony, Single Dad, Forbidden to Date, Cowboy Romance that will have you falling in love along with the characters.]]> 406 S.L. Scott 1962626415 0 to-read 4.41 Long Time Coming
author: S.L. Scott
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.41
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Change 58912892 GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK

"The Change is like a guttural rage scream (and somehow a soft, tearful hug) of a book, and I couldn't have loved it any more." --Emily Henry

Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick--a gloriously entertaining and knife-sharp revenge fantasy about three women whose midlife crisis brings unexpected new powers--putting them on a collision course with the evil that lurks in their wealthy beach town.

"A roar of rage, a pacy page-turner, I loved it with all my broken heart. Read it. You'll love it."--New York Times bestselling author Marian Keyes

"Miller triumphs...THE CHANGE is that rare a suspenseful story with great pacing, memorable characters, and an engaging voice. Fantastic in every way, this fierce anthem against misogyny is a smash."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A pointed, punchy, and potent thriller...wry and clever, serious and exacting, and masterfully suspenseful."--Booklist (starred review)

In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment...

After Nessa James's husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she's left all alone in a trim white house not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn't take long for Nessa to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead--a gift she's inherited from her grandmother, which comes with special responsibilities.

On the cusp of 50, suave advertising director Harriett Osborne has just witnessed the implosion of her lucrative career and her marriage. She hasn't left her house in months, and from the outside, it appears as if she and her garden have both gone to seed. But Harriett's life is far from over--in fact, she's undergone a stunning and very welcome metamorphosis.

Ambitious former executive Jo Levison has spent thirty long years at war with her body. The free-floating rage and hot flashes that arrive with the beginning of menopause feel like the very last straw--until she realizes she has the ability to channel them, and finally comes into her power.

Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio of women discover a teenage girl whose body was abandoned beside a remote beach. The police have written the victim off as a drug-addicted sex worker, but the women refuse to buy into the official narrative. Their investigation into the girl's murder leads to more bodies, and to the town's most exclusive and isolated enclave, a world of stupendous wealth where the rules don't apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriett will take matters into their own hands...]]> 352 Kirsten Miller 0063144069 0 to-read 4.20 2022 The Change
author: Kirsten Miller
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Rose Bargain 211742041 The Cruel Prince meets The Selection in this captivating duology opener brimming with heart-pounding romance, vicious competition, and beautiful, cruel fae, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Witch Haven, Sasha Peyton Smith.

Every citizen of England is granted one bargain from their immortal fae queen.

High society girls are expected to bargain for qualities that will win them suitors: a rare talent for piano in exchange for one’s happiest childhood memory. A perfect smile for one’s ability to taste.

But Ivy Benton’s debut season arrives with a shocking twist: a competition to secure the heart of the Queen’s fae son, Prince Bram. A prize that could save Ivy’s family from ruin� and free her sister from the bargain that destroyed her.

Yet every glittering fae deal has a rotting heart—and at the center of this contest is a dark plot that could destroy everything Ivy knows.

Sweepingly romantic and deceptively enchanting, this alternate history romantasy will enthrall readers of Holly Black, Stephanie Garber, and Adalyn Grace.]]> 400 Sasha Peyton Smith 0063372525 0 to-read 3.97 2025 The Rose Bargain
author: Sasha Peyton Smith
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Amid Clouds and Bones 215813693 A princess determined to survive an arranged marriage to a heartless faerie prince is saved by a twist of fate that could destroy their world in this all-new standalone fantasy romance.

As the half faerie daughter of a human king, my days were spent tucked out of sight�until the Seelie Fae sought an alliance with our kingdom. In exchange for my father’s help in defeating their Unseelie enemies, I would wed Atakan the heartless.

The Seelie prince loathed everyone, but none more than me. Throughout the years leading to our nuptials, each encounter grew more terrifying than the last as he demonstrated how he’d earned his infamous reputation.

Fear would only doom me faster. So I learned to hide it with games I soon became happy to play. I wasn’t supposed to crave a monster. But just when I’d thought I might tame the untameable, fate intervened.

And delivered me straight to his enemy.


This fast-paced standalone features true enemies to lovers, arranged marriage, high heat, and a cast of morally grey and villainous characters. ]]> 403 Ella Fields 0 to-read 3.79 2024 Amid Clouds and Bones
author: Ella Fields
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fear the Flames (Fear the Flames, #1)]]> 63057844 Elowen Atarah, Princess of Imirath, came into the world like a firestorm made flesh. A princess with a link to five dragons should have been a blessing to her kingdom, but her blessing became her curse. The little girl in shackles became a knife wielding woman with a thirst for retaliation.
Now, Queen of Aestilian, a secret kingdom she forged through strength and survival, Elowen needs a way to feed her rising population. She never thought she would have the force to take on Imirath, but when the snarky Commander Cayden Veles of Vareveth, her father’s enemy kingdom, offers her a deal she’s been dreaming of for years, how can she not take it? Even if he ignites her temper like no other, nothing unites two begrudging allies more than a common enemy.
The pair of them, along with three accomplices, will navigate their partnership, politics, and attempt to pull off the greatest heist their world has ever known. Five people, all united through revenge, will have to transcend the odds stacked against them and infiltrate the impenetrable castle if they want to reap their rewards before someone reaps their souls. Putting aside their differences to accomplish a common goal because everyone knows…vengeance is a promise signed in blood.]]> 571 Olivia Rose Darling 0 to-read 3.66 2022 Fear the Flames (Fear the Flames, #1)
author: Olivia Rose Darling
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Four Letter Word (Dirty Deeds, #1)]]> 26093803 Fate. Hate. Love. Lies.
Which four letter word will change their lives forever?

Sydney Paige was never so mortified to hear the words "wrong number" in her life. She meant to tell off the guy who broke her best friend's heart, but unleashed her anger on a perfect stranger instead. And now her world is turned upside down by the captivating man who wants to keep her on the line.

Brian Savage is living a life he's quickly come to hate-until Sydney's wild rant has him hooked and hungry for more. Soon the sexy woman on the phone becomes the lover in his bed. But Brian has secrets, and the closer he lets Syd get, the harder it is to shield her from the devastating mistakes of his past . . .]]> 417 J. Daniels 145556608X 0 3.99 2016 Four Letter Word (Dirty Deeds, #1)
author: J. Daniels
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: ka-feel, to-read, books-i-own, first-in-series
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lady Luck (Colorado Mountain, #3)]]> 22920665 22 hrs and 2 mins

Ty Walker was wrongly imprisoned. For the five years he was inside, he honed his plan so when he gets out, he has nothing but vengeance on his mind.

But then he walks straight to stylish, leggy, beautiful, goofy Lexie Berry and he suddenly has something else to think about. He knows within seconds he wants her and within days he can love her. But with the filth that was flung at him clinging, he also knows he can’t have her.

Since birth, Lexie Berry has been Lady Luck’s favorite toy and because of that, Lexie is cautious. But within a day, she senses Ty is something special. With her luck, however, she can’t trust it. Then she finds out what was done to Ty and she’s willing to do anything to make it right.

Even what Ty will never forgive her for doing.

Ty clings to vengeance and Lexie goes all out to give him back the time he lost. But Ty is battling demons within and he and Lexie are up against dirty cops and criminals who will stop at nothing to sway Lady Luck against them. All Ty and Lexie have is hope Lady Luck will finally swing their way.]]> 22 Kristen Ashley 5 It's been 4 years and Ty & Lexi's story still hits me in the gut. And gives me all the feels.

**Re-Listen 2021**
Ty & Lexie's story gets better every single time! ;) I always turn to KA when I need the comfort of a re-read and Summer of 2021 necessitated a comfort re-read...or listen this time. Emma Taylor's range with male voices isn't wide but still gave me a good listen.

Re-read October 2018
I'd forgotten how much I love Ty and Lexie's story. I'm so happy I re-visited it and fell for them all over again. Because sometimes you just need the comfort of a re-read and KA is usually my go-to.



First read July 2016

There aren't words to adequately express my adoration for all things KA. I don't know how she continues to create characters I can't help but love in stories that wring every emotion from me. But I'm grateful. So freakin' grateful.

With Lady Luck, we return to Carnal, Colorado, via LA and Vegas, to take a journey with Lexie and Ty. These two are people very familiar with the bad side of Lady Luck - completely acquainted with her and all that her frowning implies. But, as y'all know, I'm a believer in things happening the way they're meant to and despite all the shit Lexie and Ty had to wade through in their lives - particularly recently - and I'm talking some deep shit - it brought them to each other. And that means the path they traveled got them to exactly where they were meant to be.

KA has never shied away from diversity in her stories but I was thrilled to have a bi-racial character in Ty. Woot! KA also didn't shy away from broaching difficult subjects and serving up massive amounts of tension and suspense alongside. Mixed in with not only two strong MC's but also a robust cast including a few familiar faces, Lady Luck is a brilliant read. Seems she (Lady Luck) smiled on me when she had me stumble upon KA. *wink*]]> 4.38 2011 Lady Luck (Colorado Mountain, #3)
author: Kristen Ashley
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/10
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: 2021-audio-challenge, audio, books-i-own, contemporary, diverse-character, diverse-romance, romance, romantic-suspense, suspense
review:
**Re-listen 2025**
It's been 4 years and Ty & Lexi's story still hits me in the gut. And gives me all the feels.

**Re-Listen 2021**
Ty & Lexie's story gets better every single time! ;) I always turn to KA when I need the comfort of a re-read and Summer of 2021 necessitated a comfort re-read...or listen this time. Emma Taylor's range with male voices isn't wide but still gave me a good listen.

Re-read October 2018
I'd forgotten how much I love Ty and Lexie's story. I'm so happy I re-visited it and fell for them all over again. Because sometimes you just need the comfort of a re-read and KA is usually my go-to.



First read July 2016

There aren't words to adequately express my adoration for all things KA. I don't know how she continues to create characters I can't help but love in stories that wring every emotion from me. But I'm grateful. So freakin' grateful.

With Lady Luck, we return to Carnal, Colorado, via LA and Vegas, to take a journey with Lexie and Ty. These two are people very familiar with the bad side of Lady Luck - completely acquainted with her and all that her frowning implies. But, as y'all know, I'm a believer in things happening the way they're meant to and despite all the shit Lexie and Ty had to wade through in their lives - particularly recently - and I'm talking some deep shit - it brought them to each other. And that means the path they traveled got them to exactly where they were meant to be.

KA has never shied away from diversity in her stories but I was thrilled to have a bi-racial character in Ty. Woot! KA also didn't shy away from broaching difficult subjects and serving up massive amounts of tension and suspense alongside. Mixed in with not only two strong MC's but also a robust cast including a few familiar faces, Lady Luck is a brilliant read. Seems she (Lady Luck) smiled on me when she had me stumble upon KA. *wink*
]]> Britt-Marie Was Here 30753704
But hidden inside the socially awkward, fussy busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams, and a warmer heart that anyone around her realizes.

When Britt-Marie walks out on her cheating husband and has to fend for herself in the miserable backwater town of Borg—of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it—she finds work as the caretaker of a soon-to-be demolished recreation center. The fastidious Britt-Marie soon finds herself being drawn into the daily doings of her fellow citizens, an odd assortment of miscreants, drunkards, layabouts. Most alarming of all, she’s given the impossible task of leading the supremely untalented children’s soccer team to victory. In this small town of misfits, can Britt-Marie find a place where she truly belongs?

Funny and moving, sweet and inspiring, Britt-Marie Was Here celebrates the importance of community and connection in a world that can feel isolating.

The New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry “returns with this heartwarming story about a woman rediscovering herself after a personal crisis� fans of Backman will find another winner in these pages.”]]> 324 Fredrik Backman 1501142542 0 to-read 4.12 2014 Britt-Marie Was Here
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[White Rose Painted Red (The Painted Sinners Duet Book 1)]]> 223200162 My fresh start is finally around the corner—but so is the man standing in the middle of the f*cking road.

He could’ve died when I hit him, and his two friends are downright furious. But instead of pressing charges, they offer me a deal: work for them for six months, and they’ll let it go.

Their secluded mountain estate is vast and beautiful. Full of stolen artifacts and dark secrets.

Atticus, Elijah, and Seven might be equally alluring, but they’re also damaged and dangerous—driven by a thirst for revenge they say I can help satisfy.

Only now that they have me, they don’t seem to want to let me go. And it’s not one-sided.

Before long, their vengeance becomes my own, and I begin to understand that even if helping them claims my life, it’s too late to turn back now.

I can’t guard a heart they’ve already stolen.

White Rose Painted Red is a dark romance full of kindle-melting chemistry and possessive, damaged men who will do whatever it takes to get the revenge they crave and keep the girl they never meant to fall for.

*This book contains themes and scenes that may be disturbing to some readers.

Tropes:
Psycho golden retriever
Who hurt you?
Forced proximity
Damaged heroes
Badass FMC
Found family
'F*ck it'

]]> 454 Elena Lawson 1989723519 0 to-read 4.70 2025 White Rose Painted Red (The Painted Sinners Duet Book 1)
author: Elena Lawson
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.70
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Ever King (The Ever Seas, #1)]]> 223640997 They stole his crown, so he stole their daughter�

For years Erik, the scarred king of the Ever Kingdom, has thought of nothing but vengeance against the man who killed his father and trapped him beneath the waves, making Erik a prisoner in his own realm.

But on a dare gone wrong, his enemy’s daughter recklessly breaks the chains on the Ever. She soon becomes the unwitting pawn in Erik's vicious game of revenge.

She’s innocent. He’s vicious. But he will take back what he lost, no matter the price.

Unless she steals his heart first.

Welcome to the passionate world of the Ever Kingdom where pirates, sirens, and fae collide with Vikings in a spicy, dark fantasy romance between a made villain and the innocent princess who holds his heart.

*This series is a spinoff series from the bestselling Broken Kingdoms series, but can be read independently*]]> 480 L.J. Andrews 0593955021 0 to-read 4.39 2023 The Ever King (The Ever Seas, #1)
author: L.J. Andrews
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> You Between the Lines 214175139
No one’s more surprised than Leigh when a prestigious MFA program in North Carolina accepts her. A former sorority girl, Leigh’s the first to admit she knows more about the lyrics of Taylor Swift than T.S. Eliot, and she’s never been able to shake the “all-style-no-substance� feedback her high school crush made in their poetry workshop. Bad enough that her tattooed, New Yorker tote bag-carrying classmates have read all the right authors and been published in the country's leading literary journals, Leigh's insecurities become all too real when Will, that same high school crush-turned-nemesis, shows up at orientation as a first-year in the program, too. And now, he’s William, exactly the kind of writer Leigh hates, complete with his pretentious sweater vests and tattered Moleskine.

Leigh’s determined to prove herself—and William—wrong by landing the program’s highly-coveted fellowship. But Will’s dead-set on it, too, and in a small cohort, they can't keep apart for long. When Will submits an intimate poem (that's maybe, probably, definitely about Leigh) to workshop, they’re both forced to realize there’s more to the other than what’s on the page. And what’s between the lines may be even more interesting.]]> 368 Katie Naymon 1538768550 0 to-read 3.65 2025 You Between the Lines
author: Katie Naymon
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Salvatore 216318664 It was meant to be a girls� night. No guys allowed. Until one blind kiss had me caught in the devil’s web.
A monster in Armani.
An heir to the underworld.
He upends my life, his seduction smooth even as he offers two choices: get in his car or be shoved in his trunk.
No, thanks.
But when my past comes back to haunt me, there’s only one man ruthless enough to stand between me and the threat.
The same man who makes my heart race for reasons that should probably have me medicated.
Trusting Salvatore with my life is dangerous. But resisting him? Impossible.
Because he doesn’t just want me safe.
He wants me to remain by his side. As his queen.
And he’s not willing to let anything come between us.
Not fate. Not fear. Not even death.]]> Eden Summers 0 to-read 4.75 Salvatore
author: Eden Summers
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.75
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Holding the Reins (Silver Pines Ranch, #1)]]> 214490423 In this steamy cowboy romance, a woman returns to her family's ranch after a broken engagement and finds herself falling for her brother's best friend—the first novel in the Silver Pines Ranch series.

Take a deep breath and let go of the reins.

Cecilia “CeCe� Ashby is finally escaping the toxic relationship that has consumed her entire adult life. She's returning to her hometown of Laurel Creek, Kentucky, and to her family’s equestrian ranch, unsure of what the future holds. 

Nash Carter, the newly retired superstar of the Dallas Stars, is Laurel Creek's hometown hero, local business owner, and notorious bachelor. He’s also the unofficial fourth sibling in the Ashby clan. It’s been years since his days of tormenting CeCe with her older brothers Wade and Cole. So, when CeCe needs a job, he feels drawn to help her.

Nash can’t seem to take his eyes off of his best friend's sister, and it seems she’s been staring right back, not without animosity left over from his childish teasing back in the day. Despite their initial reluctance, the fire between them ignites and it isn't long before they jump into the flames.]]> 400 Paisley Hope 0593977114 0 to-read, audio, books-i-own 3.89 2024 Holding the Reins (Silver Pines Ranch, #1)
author: Paisley Hope
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read, audio, books-i-own
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Smooth Sailing (Wild West MC, #3)]]> 222283508
But he patched in anyway.

And he was all in to be a part of their not-quite-outlaw missions.

This takes him down to Phoenix, right into the orbit of Diana Armitage, a beautiful, green-eyed woman with a heart of gold and a scarily honed tendency to sacrifice for pretty much everyone she cares about, and some people she barely knows.

Hugger has been existing. Life has never given him much, now, he expects even less.

Diana lives life to its fullest. And she doesn’t keep it a secret she wants to drag Hugger right along with her.

But Hugger is certain he’s got bad blood. He’s got one foot in Chaos, one foot out. One foot in Diana’s life, one foot out.

Diana and his brothers in Chaos have their work cut out to show Hugger who he is.

That he belongs.

And he’s worthy to be loved.]]> 458 Kristen Ashley 0 to-read 4.45 2025 Smooth Sailing (Wild West MC, #3)
author: Kristen Ashley
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Wish You Were Here (Bluebird Basin, #3)]]> 230861725 She thought she could forget him. He’ll never stop trying to prove she shouldn’t.

Davis Thompson had never been so happy or so in love as she was with Kevin Lowes. Until his relapse shattered their world. After finding him at his lowest, in a moment that will haunt her forever, she’s convinced he’d not only chosen drugs over her. But he’d chosen another woman too. Now she’s trying to rebuild her life, wanting desperately to move on and figure out who she is and what she wants without him. There’s only one problem: Kev is returning to Bluebird Basin.

After a brutal rebab stay, Kev is determined to recommit to his recovery and win back the only woman he’s ever loved. But when he realizes the depth of the pain he caused and the secrets Davis has kept to protect him from himself, he wonders if it’s too late. More broken than he’s ever been, Kev finds unexpected healing while working with a wild mustang whose invisible scars match his.

But Bluebird Basin is a small ski hill, and as Kev and Davis continually cross paths, old wounds reopen and sparks reignite. Davis doesn’t know if she can trust Kev again. And Kev must confront his darkest fears and deepest regrets if he wants to prove to her that a second chance with him is worth fighting for.

Wish You Were Here is book 3 in the Bluebird Basin Romance series but can be read as a standalone. Although reading the first two books is recommended.

Content notes: Relapse, discussions of drug use, discussions of abuse.
Tropes: second chance romance, relationship in trouble, forced proximity, reformed bad boy, hurt/comfort, redemption romance, animal as a mirror, small-town romance, high angst, pining/groveling.]]> 366 Jess K. Hardy 0 to-read 4.47 Wish You Were Here (Bluebird Basin, #3)
author: Jess K. Hardy
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.47
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lips Like Sugar (Bluebird Basin, #2)]]> 208692656 A Fated Mates Best Romance Book of 2024!

Meet Cole Sanderson: 54-year-old drummer, brand new grandpa, Madigan's best friend, charismatic golden retriever, phenomenal flirt, and your new book boyfriend.

It’s official, Mira Harlow has finally lost it. Between running her small-town bakery, parenting her 14-year-old son, and taking care of her mom, she’s a stretched-thin mess. But kissing a total—and very sexy—stranger before begging him to be her date to Ashley and Madigan’s wedding just so her ex won’t see how lonely she really is? That’s a new level of chaos, even for her.

The last thing drummer Cole Sanderson expects when he drives into the small ski town of Red Falls, MT is to score a date to his best friend’s wedding. But since his life in Seattle is stagnating, when the gorgeous, green-eyed bakery owner propositions him to be her long-distance boyfriend, stirring his punk-shenanigans roots to their core, he doesn’t even hesitate to tell her, “Hell yes!�

Mira hopes for a fun night with her fake date, but when their wedding weekend turns into a genuine connection, when Cole returns to Seattle and she tries to go back to her normal life, she can’t help but wonder if she missed out on something real. But Cole isn’t done with her yet, and when he finds his way back to Red Falls, she’ll have to decide what’s more important, holding down her world, or taking a risk, embracing the chaos, and maybe even falling in love.

Lips Like Sugar is book 2 in the Bluebird Basin Romance series but can absolutely be read as a standalone. This story features two main characters in their fifties, lots of laughs, plenty of open-door steam, and so many butterflies.

Content notes: Living with and caring for a parent with mild cognitive impairment, addiction, relapse, an unhealthy ex, grown men deeply in their feels, strong friendships, conversations about love languages, and an absurd amount of Say Anything references, including a steamy riff on the airplane seatbelt sign scene�]]> 366 Jess K. Hardy 0 to-read 4.23 2024 Lips Like Sugar (Bluebird Basin, #2)
author: Jess K. Hardy
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Come As You Are (Bluebird Basin, #1)]]> 208470608 “I’ve gotta admit, it’s pretty strange to finally meet the woman you wrote a love song about thirty years after you wrote it.�

46-year-old Ashley Cooke will do just about anything to save her struggling ski hill. When she hires the men from a local sober living home for the season to cut costs, even she thinks she’s gone too far. With her credit cards maxed, her cheating ex-husband intent on buying the mountain out from under her, and record-breaking snow in the forecast, she can’t afford to be distracted by the six-foot-tall bearded and tattooed sober living home owner moving onto her mountain.

53-year-old recovering addict and ex-grunge rocker Matthew Madigan has devoted every minute of the last decade to the men residing at his sober living home. When he meets tightly wound and adorably flustered Ashley, desires he’s put on the back burner for years start to simmer. Immune to his infamous, albeit rusty charm, Ashley presents a challenge he can’t resist. When she offers to give him skiing lessons in exchange for his help training her St. Bernard rescue dog, he jumps at the chance to ride next to her on the chairlift despite his debilitating fear of heights.

During bunny hill shenanigans, chairlift confessions, and steamy cabin serenades, Madigan teaches Ashley that a person’s past doesn’t define them, and Ashley shows Madigan that the men he helps aren’t the only people who deserve a second chance. When sabotage threatens both the men and the mountain, Ashley and Madigan will have to decide if they’re only having a winter fling, or if the mountain isn’t the only thing worth fighting for.

Perfect for fans of L.B. Dunbar and Kate Canterbary, Come As You Are is a later in life, small town, rockstar romance with lots of heat and even more heart!

Content notes: Addiction, divorce, mourning the loss of a parent]]> 322 Jess K. Hardy 0 to-read, books-i-own, kindle 3.91 2021 Come As You Are (Bluebird Basin, #1)
author: Jess K. Hardy
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read, books-i-own, kindle
review:

]]> Wild Dark Shore 228638936 This program features multicast narration.

A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.

Isolation has taken its toll on the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a future where she could belong to someone again.

But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, they all must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.

A novel of breathtaking twists, dizzying beauty, and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us disappears.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.]]> Charlotte McConaghy 0 to-read 4.02 2025 Wild Dark Shore
author: Charlotte McConaghy
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Dying to Meet You 217432720 The acclaimed USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author returns with a twisty thriller that probes how well we actually know the men in our lives.

Rowan Gallagher is a devoted single mother and a talented architect with a high-profile commission restoring an historic mansion for the most powerful family in Maine. But inside, she’s a mess. She knows that stalking her ex’s avatar all over Portland on her phone isn't the healthiest way to heal from their breakup. But she’s out of ice cream and she's sick of romcoms.

Watching his every move is both fascinating and infuriating. He's dining out while she's wallowing on the couch. The last straw comes when he parks in their favorite spot on the waterfront. In a weak moment, she leashes the dog and sets off to see who else is in his car.

Instead of catching her ex in a kiss, Rowan becomes the first witness to his murder—and the primary suspect.

But Rowan isn’t the only one keeping secrets. As she digs for the truth, she discovers the dead man was stalking her too, gathering intimate details about her job and her past.

Struggling to clear her name, Rowan finds herself spiraling into the shadowy plot that killed him.

Will she be the next to die?]]> 368 Sarina Bowen 0063280647 0 to-read 4.09 2025 Dying to Meet You
author: Sarina Bowen
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Toxic (Mafia Wars New York, #1)]]> 59726662
Dante Marino’s the definition of beautiful destruction.

Everything he touched, he destroyed...including me.

We were friends. Then we weren't.

He used me.

Played me.

Took every ounce of my affection and threw it away.

He became my enemy, then risked everything to save me.

Now, he wants me back, claiming he's changed—determined to make me his.

Each vow, every possessive kiss, feels like he’s mine.

But I can't forget that underneath his rock-hard body, seductive grin, and wicked promises, one thing will always remain true—he's my undoing.


(TOXIC is book one in Mafia Wars New York. It's a first love, second chance Dark Mafia romance, interconnecting stand-alone, and guaranteed to have an HEA. Please note this contains scenes and topics on sexual abuse that may be uncomfortable for some readers.)]]> 428 Maggie Cole 0 to-read 4.15 Toxic (Mafia Wars New York, #1)
author: Maggie Cole
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Six Scorched Roses (Crowns of Nyaxia #1.5)]]> 123283034 204 Carissa Broadbent 1957779039 4 Quick read but loved getting the backstory for Vale and Lilith, whom I met in The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King .]]> 4.32 2023 Six Scorched Roses (Crowns of Nyaxia #1.5)
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/09
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: fantasy, finish-what-you-started, library-book, magic, novella, paranormal, romance, vampires
review:
**4.5 Stars**
Quick read but loved getting the backstory for Vale and Lilith, whom I met in The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King .
]]> Ireland (Crossroads, #1) 211585947 #1 New York Times bestselling author Sylvia Day returns to the decadence of the multimillion-selling Crossfire® Saga with Ireland, a searing new tale of temptation, deception, and ice-cold vengeance.

Ireland Vidal is the third generation to control Vidal Records, and she’s on track to lead the recording company to greater heights. She’s the youngest of an affluent, prominent family headed by her eldest brother, Gideon Cross � one of the richest men in the world. Despite her siblings� outsized shadows, Ireland has carved her own identity. But the clever, stunning beauty with fierce tenacity and a heart of gold has yet to find a man with whom to share her life � someone who doesn’t need her connections to be successful.

Then a chance meeting with Ronan Boudreaux sparks an irresistible attraction. He has it all: wealth, charm, a wickedly irresistible talent for seduction, and he can hold his own against her powerful family. He offers Ireland everything she’s ever wanted, but at what price?

Waiting in the wings, someone from the distant past bides his time until he can unleash his vendetta against the Vidals. He’s got old scores to settle and when he sets his plans in motion, everything and everyone Ireland loves is in his crosshairs.

From the soaring penthouses of high-stakes Manhattan to the opulent mansions and mysterious bayous of Louisiana, Ireland draws readers back into the illustrious lives of the beloved Vidal / Cross family, where the only thing more dangerous than desire is falling in love.]]> 382 Sylvia Day 1626500118 0 to-read 4.44 Ireland (Crossroads, #1)
author: Sylvia Day
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.44
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Ireland (Crossroads, #1) 215359767 #1 New York Times bestselling author Sylvia Day returns to the decadence of the multimillion-selling Crossfire® Saga with Ireland, a searing new tale of temptation, deception, and ice-cold vengeance.

Ireland Vidal is the third generation to control Vidal Records, and she’s on track to lead the recording company to greater heights. She’s the youngest of an affluent, prominent family headed by her eldest brother, Gideon Cross � one of the richest men in the world. Despite her siblings� outsized shadows, Ireland has carved her own identity. But the clever, stunning beauty with fierce tenacity and a heart of gold has yet to find a man with whom to share her life � someone who doesn’t need her connections to be successful.

Then a chance meeting with Ronan Boudreaux sparks an irresistible attraction. He has it all: wealth, charm, a wickedly irresistible talent for seduction, and he can hold his own against her powerful family. He offers Ireland everything she’s ever wanted, but at what price?

Waiting in the wings, someone from the distant past bides his time until he can unleash his vendetta against the Vidals. He’s got old scores to settle and when he sets his plans in motion, everything and everyone Ireland loves is in his crosshairs.

From the soaring penthouses of high-stakes Manhattan to the opulent mansions and mysterious bayous of Louisiana, Ireland draws readers back into the illustrious lives of the beloved Vidal / Cross family, where the only thing more dangerous than desire is falling in love.]]> 380 Sylvia Day 1626500126 0 to-read 4.04 Ireland (Crossroads, #1)
author: Sylvia Day
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> There Are Rivers in the Sky 202468422 From the Booker Prize finalist author of The Island of Missing Trees, an enchanting new tale about three characters living along two rivers, all under the shadow of one of the greatest epic poems of all time.

In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives.

In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his interest: Nineveh and Its Remains.

In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time.

In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything.

A dazzling feat of storytelling, There Are Rivers in the Sky entwines these outsiders with a single drop of water, a drop which remanifests across the centuries. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers—the Tigris and the Thames—transcend history, transcend fate: “Water remembers. It is humans who forget.�]]> 464 Elif Shafak 0593801717 5
Thought-provoking. Beautiful. Intense. Enlightening. I loved this book. I couldn't stop thinking about it or talking about it from the moment I started it. ]]> 4.38 2024 There Are Rivers in the Sky
author: Elif Shafak
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/07
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: book-club, books-i-own, fiction, historical, literary-fiction, new-to-me-author
review:
ALL THE STARS!!

Thought-provoking. Beautiful. Intense. Enlightening. I loved this book. I couldn't stop thinking about it or talking about it from the moment I started it.
]]> The Paper Swan 25797013 Librarian's Note: Alternate-cover edition for ASIN B012HZC11G

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit.
They lie.
For 21 days she held on.
But on Day 22, she would have given anything for the sweet slumber of death.
Because on Day 22, she realizes that her only way out means certain death for one of the two men she loves.

A haunting tale of passion, loss, and redemption, The Paper Swan is a darkly intense yet heartwarming love story, textured with grit, intrigue, and suspense. Please note: This is NOT a love triangle.

A full-length, standalone novel, intended for mature audiences due to violence, sex and language. Subject matter may be disturbing for some readers.]]> 390 Leylah Attar 4 on-shelf, books-i-own 4.12 2015 The Paper Swan
author: Leylah Attar
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/08
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: on-shelf, books-i-own
review:
Wow! This book has been on my ereader since 2014 and I picked it up for a "books you've owned forever" read-a-thon. I'm super happy I did while at the same time kicking myself for having waited so long. I mean, I one-clicked it for a reason...then it got buried in my virtual stacks. Anyway, I know WHY I one-clicked it now and I'm thrilled to have gotten acquainted with LAttar's writing AND Skye & Damian. I appreciated the way the story was laid out, how the characters were developed, and the twists and turns along the way. So good! And now I want to one-click her backlist. :)
]]> <![CDATA[The Situation (Brewer Family, #5)]]> 228250223
I’ve learned the hard way—don’t be reckless with anything, least of all my heart. But after one too many vodka sodas, saying yes to a much younger, devastatingly smooth stranger for one wild night seems like the perfect way to forget my brutal divorce. I even gave him a fake name. What could go wrong?

You’d be surprised.

Because instead of being my spicy little secret, Tate is now the chief marketing officer at my new job. He’s determined to prove our night together was only the beginning—and he has the tools to do it.

Chiseled jaw. Washboard abs. Effortless charm. He knows exactly how to get under my skin, melt my defenses, and keep me coming back for more.

I wanted a one-night stand. Instead, I got a full-blown situation. I should run and protect myself. But when he looks at me like I’m his whole world, I’m not sure I remember how.]]> Adriana Locke 0 to-read 4.40 2025 The Situation (Brewer Family, #5)
author: Adriana Locke
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Anathema (The Eating Woods, #1)]]> 209741142 A spellbinding gothic dark fantasy about a shunned woman who is forced beyond the mortal realm's forbidden boundary, into a terrifying world of cursed souls and grotesque creatures.

Only the banished know what lies beyond the woods ...

There are whispers about what lurks in Witch Knell—the forest where sinners go to die. The villagers call it The Eating Woods because what’s taken is never given back. Only those who’ve lost their senses would dare to go near it.

Or the banished.

Maevyth Bronwick knows better than to breach the misty labyrinth of trees, but a tragic turn of events compels her beyond the archway of bones, to a boundary no mortal has crossed before. One that cloaks a dark and fantastical world that’s as dangerous as it is alluring.

It’s there that he dwells, the cursed lord of Eidolon. The one tasked to keep her hidden from the magehood that seeks to crucify her in the name of an arcane prophesy. Zevander Rydainn, known to his prey as The Scorpion, is the coldest, most calculated assassin in all of Aethyria and he’d sooner toss his feisty ward to a pack of vicious fyredrakes than keep her safe.

If only he could.

Maevyth’s blood is the key to breaking his despised curse and vanquishing the slumbering evil in Witch Knell. Unfortunately for Lord Rydainn, fate has other plans for the irresistible little enchantress. And his growing obsession with her threatens to destroy everything.

Including himself.

Anathema is a full-length, gothic dark fantasy, the first book in The Eating Woods duology. Perfect for readers who enjoy a plot-heavy and atmospheric story with a unique magic system, a slow-burn romance and a touch of horror.]]> 688 Keri Lake 0 to-read 4.13 2024 Anathema (The Eating Woods, #1)
author: Keri Lake
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rebel Witch (The Crimson Moth, #2)]]> 60217777 The stakes are even higher in this epic, romantic conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Crimson Moth duology.

A WITCH...
Rune Winters is on the run. Ever since the boy she loved, Gideon Sharpe, revealed who she was and delivered her into enemy hands, everyone wants her dead. If Rune hopes to survive, she must ally herself with the cruel and dangerous Cressida Roseblood, who’s planning to take back the Republic and reinstate a Reign of Witches—something Cressida needs Rune to accomplish.

A WITCH HUNTER...
Apparently it wasn’t enough for Rune to deceive Gideon; she’s now betrayed him by allying herself with the witch who made his life a living hell. Gideon won’t allow the Republic to fall to the witches and be plunged back into the nightmares of the past. In order to protect this new world he fought for, every last witch must die—especially Rune Winters.

AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE...
When Rune makes Gideon an offer he can’t refuse, the two must pair up to accomplish dangerous goals. The more they’re forced into each other’s company, the more Gideon realizes the feelings he had for Rune aren’t as dead and buried as he thought. Now he’s faced with a terrible choice: sacrifice the girl he loves to stop a monster taking back power, or let Rune live and watch the world he fought so hard for burn.

In Kristen Ciccarelli's Rebel Witch, the exciting conclusion to The Crimson Moth duology, love has never been so deadly.]]> 464 Kristen Ciccarelli 0 to-read 4.23 2025 Rebel Witch (The Crimson Moth, #2)
author: Kristen Ciccarelli
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Metal Slinger (Fire & Metal, #1)]]> 213309864
Neither is the encounter with an enemy soldier.

Returning home to Alaha, she’s confronted with the aftermath of the day’s events. The future is uncertain as the threat of hunger looms over the people. With rumors of a growing rebellion, Brynn and her closest friends promise to stick together.

When an unexpected visitor arrives, Brynn’s loyalty will be tested as she learns of a world of magic and treachery. Once her enemy, always her enemy, right? But the dark, knowing eyes of a stranger make her question everything�

…including her heart.]]> 497 Rachel Schneider 0 to-read 4.28 Metal Slinger (Fire & Metal, #1)
author: Rachel Schneider
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Serpent and the Wolf (Dark Inheritance Trilogy, #1)]]> 207297940 Perfect for fans of Raven Kennedy and Thea Guanzon, Rebecca Robinson’s thrilling romantasy debut combines high-stakes political intrigue and a steamy, slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance.

All her life, Vaasa Kozár has been sharpened into a blade.

After losing her mother—her only remaining parent—to a mysterious dark magic that has since awakened within her, Vaasa is certain death looms. So is her merciless brother, who aims to eliminate Vaasa as a threat to his crown. In one last political scheme, he marries her off to Reid of Mireh, a ruthless foreign ruler, in hopes that he can use her death as a rallying cry to finally invade Reid’s nation. All Vaasa has to do is die.

But she is desperate to live. Vaasa enters her new marriage with every intent to escape it, wielding the hard-won political prowess and combat abilities her late father instilled in her. But to her surprise, Reid offers her a deal: help him win the votes to rise in power, and she can walk free. In exchange, he will share his knowledge about the dark magic running through her veins—and help keep it at bay.

This proposal may be too good to refuse, yet Vaasa and Reid’s undeniable attraction threatens to break the rules of their arrangement. As her brother’s lethal machinations take form, everything is at stake: Vaasa must learn to trust her new husband, but how can she, especially when their perfect political marriage begins to feel like the real thing?]]> 352 Rebecca Robinson 1668052482 0 to-read 4.00 2024 The Serpent and the Wolf (Dark Inheritance Trilogy, #1)
author: Rebecca Robinson
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Arcana Academy (Arcana Academy, #1)]]> 219551319 A woman who wields magical tarot cards lands herself in a false engagement with the headmaster of a mysterious academy in this first installment of an enthralling romantasy series from the bestselling author of A Deal with the Elf King.

Clara Graysword has survived the underworld of Eclipse City through thievery, luck, and a whole lot of illegal magic. After a job gone awry, Clara is sentenced to a lifetime in prison for inking tarot cards-a rare power reserved for practitioners at the elite Arcana Academy.

Just when it seems her luck has run dry, the academy's enigmatic headmaster, Prince Kaelis, offers her an escape-for a price. Kaelis believes that Clara is the perfect tool to help him steal a tarot card from the king and use it to re-create an all-powerful card long lost to time.

In order to conceal her identity and keep her close, Kaelis brings Clara to Arcana Academy, introducing her as the newest first-year student and his bride-to-be.

Thrust into a world of arcane magic and royal intrigue, where one misstep will send her back to prison or worse, Clara finds that the prince she swore to hate may not be what he seems. But can she risk giving him power over the world-and her heart? Or will she take it for herself?]]> 576 Elise Kova 0593726340 0 to-read 4.35 2025 Arcana Academy (Arcana Academy, #1)
author: Elise Kova
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Steel's Edge (The Edge, #4) 12119496 The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny�

Charlotte de Ney is as noble as they come, a blueblood straight out of the Weird. But even though she possesses rare magical healing abilities, her life has brought her nothing but pain. After her marriage crumbles, she flees to the Edge to build a new home for herself. Until Richard Mar is brought to her for treatment, and Charlotte’s life is turned upside down once again.

Richard is a swordsman without peer, future head of his large and rambunctious Edger clan—and he’s on a clandestine quest to wipe out slavers trafficking humans in the Weird. So when his presence leads his very dangerous enemies to Charlotte, she vows to help Richard destroy them. The slavers� operation, however, goes deeper than Richard knows, and even working together, Charlotte and Richard may not survive...]]> 388 Ilona Andrews 1937007820 5 4.16 2012 Steel's Edge (The Edge, #4)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: audio, books-i-own, buddy-read, coyer-25-readalong, fantasy, finish-what-you-started, paranormal, romance, science-fiction, slow-burn, suspense, urban-fantasy
review:
What an ending! I couldn't have imagined a better ending for this series. And these characters, ALL the characters will live in my head for quite some time. I had the pleasure of buddy reading this with my COYER friends Anne & Berls for the COYER Read-along.
]]> For the Fans 62990658 Kyran Harbor is everything I’m not.

Rich. Popular. A superstar football player who’s awfully broody for someone who has it all. Basically, he’s a preppy jock who hates me. Oh, and he’s also my stepbrother.

That’s right. We’re stuck together, sharing a school, a house� A bathroom. Honestly, I wouldn’t care� If he wasn’t such an uptight control-freak who messes with me just because we’re different.

I had every intention of avoiding him when we got to college� Until abrupt misfortune forces us both into a compromising position.

Now the grouchy jerk I was hoping to evade might be the only person who can help me out of it.

Avi Vega is everything I despise.

A dreamer. A flake. An artist who smokes too much weed and thinks aliens exist. And by some sick cosmic joke, he’s now my stepbrother, following me on what should’ve been my escape plan.

It was already a disaster. Add a sudden financial disruption to the mix, and let’s just say my options are heavily limited.

If I want to stay an all-star quarterback on the way to the NFL, I’ll need to do something drastic. Unfortunately for me, and my desperate desire for control, the perpetually smiling stoner has a plan.

Maybe we can stop hating each other just enough to pull this off. As long as we remember we’re only doing it� for the fans.

** For The Fans is a full-length standalone MM forbidden romance with an HEA. This book contains sensitive subject matter that could make some readers uncomfortable. Please heed foreword warnings and proceed with caution.]]> 546 Nyla K. 0 to-read 4.34 2023 For the Fans
author: Nyla K.
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Wild Reverence 222376906
Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life―begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. When his request went unanswered, Vincent moved on, becoming the hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda. That is, until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him.

As Fate would have it, Matilda and Vincent were destined to find each other beyond dreams. There may be a chance for Matilda to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, but at immense sacrifice. She will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: to be vulnerable, and to allow herself to finally be loved.]]> 544 Rebecca Ross 1250373352 0 to-read 4.66 2025 Wild Reverence
author: Rebecca Ross
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.66
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Mountain of Souls (The Chosen, #1)]]> 77268392 Only the strong survive!

When Malina is sold at an auction block, she fears life will take a turn for the worse.

But even her darkest nightmares are nothing compared to the reality of what she faces when she's delivered to the Mountain of Souls.

Thrust into a brutal selection process where failure means death, Malina must train and fight not only to survive but to prove herself worthy to serve.

The risks are deadly, but if she succeeds, the rewards are beyond measure, and a destiny unlike any other awaits as one of The Chosen.

The Chosen. A thrilling and intricately spun Epic Fantasy that weaves a relentless fight for survival into a tapestry full of conquest, deception, magic, and an ancient prophecy that will determine the fate of the human race. ]]> 450 Marcus Lee 0 to-read 4.17 The Mountain of Souls (The Chosen, #1)
author: Marcus Lee
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.17
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Dream State 215362651 “The story of relationships built and broken, mistakes inherited and repeated, and the beauty of trying again�.already one of the year’s best.”�People

Cece is in love. She has arrived early at her future in-laws� lake house in Salish, Montana, to finish planning her wedding to Charlie, a young doctor with a brilliant life ahead of him. Charlie has asked Garrett, his best friend from college, to officiate the ceremony, though Cece can’t imagine anyone more ill-suited for the task—an airport baggage handler haunted by a tragedy from his and Charlie’s shared past. But as Cece spends time with Garrett, his gruff mask slips, and she grows increasingly uncertain about her future. And why does Garrett, after meeting Cece, begin to feel, well, human again? As a contagious stomach flu threatens to scuttle the wedding, and Charlie and Garrett’s friendship is put to the ultimate test, Cece must decide between the life she’s dreamed of and a life she’s never imagined.

The events of that summer have long-lasting repercussions, not only on the three friends caught in its shadow but also on their children, who struggle to escape their parents� story. Spanning fifty years and set against the backdrop of a rapidly warming Montana, Dream State explores what it means to live with the mistakes of the past—both our own and the ones we’ve inherited.

Written with humor, precision, and enormous heart, both a love letter and an elegy to the American West, Dream State is a thrillingly ambitious ode to the power of friendship, the weird weather of marriage, and the beauty of impermanence.]]> 448 Eric Puchner 0385550669 0 to-read 3.61 2025 Dream State
author: Eric Puchner
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Broken Country 214151202 “The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.�

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.]]> 320 Clare Leslie Hall 166807818X 0 to-read 4.41 2025 Broken Country
author: Clare Leslie Hall
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Last Trip 223201007 That’s all the getaway is meant to be.
Then the guests arrive.

When Calvin and Sadie decide to spend their babymoon in a remote cabin in the snowy mountains before their first child is due, it’s supposed to be a chance for them to connect, relax, and celebrate their future.

Before the vacation even gets started, shocking news leaves the couple reeling. To make matters worse, their arrival at the rental is marked by strange behavior from the homeowners, and Sadie can’t shake the paranoia that she’s being watched.

When another revelation comes to light that’s so distressing it cracks the stable foundation Calvin and Sadie once stood on, everything changes.

Suddenly unable to decide whom to trust and how to move forward, the getaway takes a terrifying turn. Just how safe are they up in the mountains all alone? Someone knows their location, and if the couple can’t discover the truth before it’s too late, their last trip before the baby arrives might just be their last trip…ever.

The secrets, lies, and betrayals hidden in this sinister domestic thriller from million-copy bestselling author Kiersten Modglin will chill you to your core.]]> 208 Kiersten Modglin 0 to-read 3.84 2025 The Last Trip
author: Kiersten Modglin
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Crash 216223604 The nightmare she’s running from is nothing compared to where she’s headed.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn’t what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself—and her unborn child.

A gut-wrenching story of motherhood, survival, and twisted expectations, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden delivers a snowbound thriller that will chill you to the bone.
]]> 384 Freida McFadden 1464232989 0 to-read 3.58 2025 The Crash
author: Freida McFadden
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Only When It's Us (Bergman Brothers, #1)]]> 177704614 Now with new exclusive content!

Meet the Bergmans in this enemies-to-lovers new adult romance that tackles the vulnerability of love with humor and heart.

From the moment Willa sat next to Ryder in class, she’s made it clear she hates his guts. Her reason is a mystery, but its outcome suits him fine. Willa Sutter is the feisty, tempting chaos he doesn’t need in his quiet, tidy life. She’s the next generation of women’s soccer. Wild hair. Bee-stung lips. And a temper that makes the devil seem friendly. He’ll leverage her hate as long as possible to keep his distance.

When Willa asked Ryder to borrow his lecture notes, the silent, surly, mountain man ignored her. Ryder Bergman is an arrogant, infuriating flannel-wearing enigma. Mangy beard. Frayed ball cap that hides his eyes. And a stubborn refusal to acknowledge her existence. But Willa’s never backed down from a challenge.

Forced to work together on their final project, Willa and Ryder begin a game of pranks and practical jokes, each determined to come out the champion. But once they catch unexpected feelings, victory begins to mean something else—winning each other’s hearts.]]> 384 Chloe Liese 059364235X 0 to-read 3.81 2020 Only When It's Us (Bergman Brothers, #1)
author: Chloe Liese
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[With You Forever (Bergman Brothers, #4)]]> 195036925
Opposites attract in this heartfelt, modern marriage-of-convenience romance about finding love—and home—in the most unlikely of places.

Rooney Sullivan is sunshine incarnate and the antithesis of quiet, reserved Axel. He’s been able to hide his attraction to her until a party game gets out of hand and ends in an unexpected kiss. Months later, Rooney’s staying just next door to him for a cozy A-frame getaway and temptingly within reach.

Axel, the eldest Bergman brother, is a gorgeous grump and Rooney’s longtime crush. Their kiss was an accident, and months later, so is stumbling into him at the Bergman family’s property. Rooney’s sure her feelings are unrequited, thanks to the distance Axel keeps, so she keeps her attraction to herself.

But when Axel and Rooney unexpectedly find their paths—and problems—converging, marriage proves the perfect solution. At least, until they face a new a marriage of convenience that’s inconveniently become a love match, after all.]]> 384 Chloe Liese 0593642414 0 to-read 3.96 2021 With You Forever (Bergman Brothers, #4)
author: Chloe Liese
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Four Weekends and a Funeral 201751633
When thirty-year-old post-double-mastectomy BRCA 1 carrier and reluctant thrill-seeker Alison Mullally arrives at her ex-boyfriend Sam’s funeral to find that no one knows he dumped her, she agrees to play the grieving girlfriend for the sake of the family and pack up Sam’s apartment with his prickly best friend, Adam Berg. After all, it’ll only take four weekends . . .

But Adam doesn’t want Alison anywhere near him. Forced to spend long hours with the grump, and his monosyllabic demeanor, Alison decides she must put her people-pleasing abilities to the test. She will make him like her. And after awkward family affairs and packing up dilemmas, the two form a tenuous friendship . . . if “friendship� means incredible chemistry and tension between them. Can Alison come clean and finally embrace the life and love she's always wanted? Or will her little white lie get in the way of her new, unexpected romance?]]> 368 Ellie Palmer 0 to-read 3.70 2024 Four Weekends and a Funeral
author: Ellie Palmer
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Promise Me Sunshine 214269328 Grieving the loss of her best friend, a young woman’s life is turned upside down when she meets a grumpy stranger who swears he can help her live again, in this heartwarming, slow-burn romance by the author of Ready or Not

Lenny’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Her best friend, Lou, recently passed away after a battle with cancer, and her death has left Lenny feeling completely lost. She’s avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and the list of things she’s supposed to do to help her live again. The only thing she can do is temporary babysitting gigs, and luckily, she just landed a great one, helping overworked, single mom Reese and her precocious daughter, Ainsley. It’s not perfect: Ainsley’s uncle, Miles, always seems to be around, and is kind of... a huge jerk. But if Lenny acts like she has it all together, maybe no one will notice she’s falling apart.

Miles sees right through her though. Turns out, he knows a lot about grief and, surprisingly, he offers her a proposition. He’ll help her complete everything on her “live again� list if she’ll help him connect with Ainsley and overcome his complicated relationship with Reese. Lenny doubts anything can fill the Lou has left behind, but she begins to spend more time with Miles, Lenny is surprised to discover that, sometimes, losing everything is only the first step to finding yourself, and love, again.]]> 416 Cara Bastone 0593595734 0 to-read 4.22 2025 Promise Me Sunshine
author: Cara Bastone
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Knight and the Butcherbird]]> 224970641
In this gritty, haunting tale about doing whatever it takes for love, a small-town storyteller resolves to keep the local monster—and her own secrets—safe from a legendary knight.

Nestled deep in the steep hills, valleys, and surrounding woodlands lies Iron Hollow, a rural community beset by demons. Such horrors are common in the outlands, where most folks die young, if they don’t turn into monsters first. But what’s causing these transformations?

No one has the answer, not even the town’s oral historian, seventeen-year-old Shrike. And when a legendary knight is summoned to hunt down the latest beast to haunt their woods, Shrike has more reason than most to be concerned. Because that demon was her wife. And while Shrike is certain that May still recognizes her—that May is still human, somewhere beneath it all—she can’t prove it.

Determined to keep May safe, Shrike stalks the knight and his demon-hunting hawk through the recesses of the forest. But as they creep through toxic creeks and overgrown kudzu, Shrike realizes the knight has a secret of his own. And he’ll do anything to protect it.]]> 36 Alix E. Harrow 1662527233 0 to-read 4.02 2025 The Knight and the Butcherbird
author: Alix E. Harrow
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Love Fix (Sunrise Cove, #8)]]> 219494895 Welcome back to Sunrise Cove for this heartwarming enemies-to-lovers tale where found family, forgiveness, and love may just be the key to finding yourself, from New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis.

Lexi Clark’s life is falling apart around her, so when she’s summoned home to Sunrise Cove, the last thing she wants to do is face all the complications she left behind. Her past, her stepsister Ashley, and especially her infuriatingly gorgeous childhood nemesis-turned-crush Heath Bowman.

Yep, Lexi’s pretty sure being home again just might kill her. She’s an overachieving art appraiser who doesn’t believe in trust, love, or Happily Ever Afters. Free spirit Ashley, on the other hand, is so full of life it hurts to look at her. But Lexi can’t refuse Ashley’s plea to honor their late mother’s final wish to make amends with the people she’d wronged.  So, on behalf of her estranged mother’s estate—and with Heath in tow as the executor—Lexi embarks on a road trip to repay all the people her gambling addicted mother owed money to. 

Complicating everything are the feelings that well up for for her mom, for Ashley, and most of all, for Heath. And for the record, she doesn’t like it, or the way he has of scaling the walls she’s built around her heart. The road trip shenanigans that ensue are both funny and heartbreaking, but Lexi finds something shocking along the way. Acceptance. Family. And unbelievably—if you ask Lexi anyway—love.]]> 320 Jill Shalvis 006335344X 0 to-read 4.04 The Love Fix (Sunrise Cove, #8)
author: Jill Shalvis
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Until You (Fall Away, #2) 209282123
Have you ever been so angry that hitting things felt good? Or so numb that you actually felt high? The past few years have been like that for me. Traveling between fury and indifference with no stops in between.

Some people hate me for it, while others are scared of me. But none of them can hurt me, because I don't care about anything or anyone.

Except Tatum.

I love her so much that I hate her. We used to be friends, but I found out that I couldn't trust her or anyone else.

So I hurt her. I pushed her away.

But I still need her. The sight of her centers me, and I can pool all of my anger into her. Engaging her, challenging her, bullying her...they are my food, my air, and the last part of me that feels anything human.

But she left. She went to France for a year, and came back a different girl.

Now, when I push, she pushes back.]]> 384 Penelope Douglas 0451477111 0 to-read 3.80 2013 Until You (Fall Away, #2)
author: Penelope Douglas
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Night Blossoms 49755917 New York Times bestselling author Leylah Attar returns with a page-turning romantic suspense/thriller that careens down an emotional highway toward a chilling finale. Dark, thrilling, and ingeniously unpredictable.

“Do you ever really know someone, or do you just know the parts they want you to see?�

When her husband goes missing after a heated argument, Vee Roza finds herself caught in a dangerous web of deceit.

Not only must Vee clear her name and uncover the truth about Rafael, but also survive a high-risk pregnancy while guarding secrets of her own.

Is Rafael’s disappearance the ultimate betrayal or the ultimate sacrifice?

A full-length standalone based on a supporting character from the New York Times bestseller, The Paper Swan.]]> 306 Leylah Attar 1988054052 0 to-read 4.11 2019 The Night Blossoms
author: Leylah Attar
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[From His Lips (53 Letters for My Lover, #1.5)]]> 22441259
This short story (90 pages) contains spoilers. It is meant to be read after the full length novel, 53 Letters For My Lover. For readers who want more from the hero's point of view. From His Lips (53 Letters #1.5) expands on some of the crucial scenes, and includes a few new ones.]]> 90 Leylah Attar 0993752748 0 to-read 4.29 2014 From His Lips (53 Letters for My Lover, #1.5)
author: Leylah Attar
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Moti on the Water 50837889 2019 Writer's Digest Award Winner: A romantic comedy about family, love, and inconvenient truths, by New York Times bestselling author, Leylah Attar

A Greek family. An Indian family. A summer wedding on the Aegean coast�

Meet Moti Ferreira—spectacularly jinxed from the day she’s born.

Saddled with an eccentric mother, she stumbles upon the one man who holds the key to her freedom—the best man at her cousin’s upcoming wedding.

All Moti has to do is overcome her fear of water, board a yacht to the Greek Isles, seduce the dreamy Nikos Manolas, and survive two weeks at sea with her oddball family.

The only obstacle Moti doesn’t see coming is Alexandros Veronis, the onboard chef and star witness to her awkward mishaps. He transforms onions into chocolate and aroma into nostalgia. Day by day, his alchemy works its magic on Moti. But she’s not the only one falling under his spell. Everyone has a secret, growing round and ripe at Chef Alex’s table. When the masks fall off, they spill out one by one, and everything blows up in their faces.

Now Moti’s truth is exposed, and worse, she’s hooked on more than Alex's midnight snacks. But this time, screwing up could be the best thing she’s ever done…]]> 258 Leylah Attar 1988054044 0 to-read 4.35 Moti on the Water
author: Leylah Attar
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.35
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mists of the Serengeti 33143435 Winner, 2017 Indie Reader Discovery Awards, Fiction

Once in Africa, I kissed a king...

"And just like that, in an old red barn at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, I discovered the elusive magic I had only ever glimpsed between the pages of great love stories. It fluttered around me like a newborn butterfly and settled in a corner of my heart. I held my breath, afraid to exhale for fear it would slip out, never to be found again.�

When a bomb explodes in a mall in East Africa, its aftershocks send two strangers on a collision course that neither one sees coming.

Jack Warden, a divorced coffee farmer in Tanzania, loses his only daughter. An ocean away, in the English countryside, Rodel Emerson loses her only sibling.

Two ordinary people, bound by a tragic afternoon, set out to achieve the extraordinary, as they make three stops to rescue three children across the vast plains of the Serengeti—children who are worth more dead than alive.

But even if they beat the odds, another challenge looms at the end of the line. Can they survive yet another loss—this time of a love that’s bound to slip through their fingers, like the mists that dissipate in the light of the sun?

“Sometimes you come across a rainbow story—one that spans your heart. You might not be able to grasp it or hold on to it, but you can never be sorry for the color and magic it brought.�

A blend of romance and women’s fiction, Mists of The Serengeti is inspired by true events and contains emotional triggers, including the death of a child. Not recommended for sensitive readers. Standalone, contemporary fiction.]]> 360 Leylah Attar 198805401X 0 to-read 4.42 2017 Mists of the Serengeti
author: Leylah Attar
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Play It Off (Kings of Campus, #2)]]> 219289377 From bestselling author Monica Murphy comes a sweet, sexy story about the secret crush between a college QB and his teammate’s sister, and the obvious chemistry that keeps them in the huddle.

Sienna

I’ve had a thing for Gavin Maddox ever since I was a freshman, but it’s a mission doomed to fail. Of all the guys I could have picked on campus, I had to go too far with the quarterback, my brother’s best friend.

We’ve spent the last two years avoiding each other. It’s not that easy when you have the same friends, not to mention I can’t forget the way it felt to be with him. But I can be civil. Polite. Detached.

I think�

Gavin

Sienna Cooper is off limits—except for that one time. I can’t forget it, but I need to forget her if I want to keep my head in the game. This is my senior year and, more importantly, my last season of college football. I can’t let anything distract me.

I’ve respected Sienna’s boundaries for this long. I can do it for another year.

…Can’t I?]]> Monica Murphy 1662522819 0 to-read 4.08 2025 Play It Off (Kings of Campus, #2)
author: Monica Murphy
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Walking Home: A Pilgrimage from Humbled to Healed]]> 23291177 Life was falling apart. Within the space of three years, Sonia Choquette had suffered the unexpected death of two close family members, seen her marriage implode, and been let down by trusted colleagues. And sympathy was not forthcoming. “You’re a world-renowned spiritual teacher and intuitive guide,� people jeered. “How could you not have seen this coming?� Having intuitive abilities didn’t make her superhuman, however. Nor did it exempt her from being wounded or suffering the pain of loss and the consequences of our all-too-human traits such as anger, resentment, and pride—traits that can lead even the best of us to stray from our spiritual path.

In order to regain her spiritual footing, Sonia turned to the age-old practice of pilgrimage and set out to walk the legendary Camino de Santiago, an 820-kilometer trek over the Pyrenees and across northern Spain. Day after day she pushed through hunger, exhaustion, and pain to reach her destination. Eventually, mortification of the flesh gave way to spiritual renewal, and she rediscovered the gifts of humility and forgiveness that she needed to repair her world.

In this riveting book, Sonia shares the intimate details of her grueling experience, as well as the unexpected moments of grace, humor, beauty, and companionship that supported her through her darkest hours. While her journey is unique, the lessons she learned—about honoring your relationships with others as well as with your own higher self, and forgiving all else—are universal.

]]> 452 Sonia Choquette 0 to-read 4.06 2014 Walking Home: A Pilgrimage from Humbled to Healed
author: Sonia Choquette
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Echo of Old Books 62060274
With no trace of how these mysterious books came into the world, Ashlyn is caught up in a decades-old literary mystery, beckoned by two hearts in ruins, whoever they were, wherever they are. Determined to learn the truth behind the doomed lovers� tale, she reads on, following a trail of broken promises and seemingly unforgivable betrayals. The more Ashlyn learns about Hemi and Belle, the nearer she comes to bringing closure to their love story—and to the unfinished chapters of her own life.]]> 431 Barbara Davis 1542038154 0 to-read 4.27 2023 The Echo of Old Books
author: Barbara Davis
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Guest Cottage (Firefly Summer, #1)]]> 218155603 In this uplifting series debut, forgiveness and unlikely friendship blossom in the haven of a quiet lakeside town when two very different women bond over one man’s betrayals.

Marlow Heddings is starting over. She’s carried the outrage of her husband Dylan’s affair with a younger woman—and the expectations of his family’s powerful Chicago holdings company—long enough. Now, after another devastating twist of fate, she’s unapologetically moving on.

Arriving in tiny Bramble, Kentucky, Marlow revels in her freedom, swapping her executive suits for sundresses . . . and scouting places to open her dream boutique. Best of all is her new residence, an adorable cottage with gorgeous lake views—and a breathtaking landlord, former Marine Cort Easton. Soon they’re sharing dockside morning coffee and nighttime firefly gazing. Marlow’s new life feels like a dream.

Then Pixie Nolan arrives on her doorstep. With a shocking secret.

To Marlow’s astonishment, Dylan’s “other woman� is a desperate girl of nineteen, destitute, exhausted, and disowned by her family. Defying her manipulative in-laws� demands, and surprising even herself, Marlow vows to lay down roots in Bramble and help Pixie get on her feet. Then they’ll part ways. But empathy has a way of forging bonds. As Marlow grows close to the hard-working, devoted young woman, she becomes something of a big sister to Pixie.

Now, with each sunrise, Marlow awakens to the life she was truly meant to live, one filled with deepening connections, supportive friendship . . . and even a second chance at love.]]> 304 Lori Foster 1496752341 0 to-read 4.40 2025 The Guest Cottage (Firefly Summer, #1)
author: Lori Foster
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles, #1)]]> 216470402
On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

The Kiss of Deception is the first audiobook in Mary E. Pearson's Remnant Chronicles]]> 512 Mary E. Pearson 1250377714 0 to-read 4.07 2014 The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles, #1)
author: Mary E. Pearson
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Warrior Girl Unearthed 217171525
Thankfully she has the other outcasts of the summer program, Team Misfit Toys, and even her twin sister Pauline. Together they ace obstacle courses, plan vigils for missing women in the community, and make sure summer doesn’t feel so lost after all.

But when she attends a meeting at a local university, Perry learns about the “Warrior Girl�, an ancestor whose bones and knife are stored in the museum archives, and everything changes. Perry has to return Warrior Girl to her tribe. Determined to help, she learns all she can about NAGPRA, the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items. The university has been using legal loopholes to hold onto Warrior Girl and twelve other Anishinaabe ancestors� remains, and Perry and the Misfits won’t let it go on any longer.

Using all of their skills and resources, the Misfits realize a heist is the only way to bring back the stolen artifacts and remains for good. But there is more to this repatriation than meets the eye as more women disappear and Pauline’s perfectionism takes a turn for the worse. As secrets and mysteries unfurl, Perry and the Misfits must fight to find a way to make things right � for the ancestors and for their community.]]> 416 Angeline Boulley 125039466X 0 to-read 4.36 2023 Warrior Girl Unearthed
author: Angeline Boulley
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Familiar 211004837 Hipnotyzująca opowieść o ambicji, przetrwaniu i kobiecej sile w świecie, gdzie jedno błędne słowo może oznaczać śmierć.

Złoty Wiek. Hiszpania. W nędznym domu, na nędznej ulicy, w nowej stolicy � Madrycie � mieszka Luzia Cotado, która wykorzystuje swoje magiczne zdolności, by przetrwać ciężki los pomywaczki. Gdy inni odkrywają jej moc, dziewczyna zostaje wciągnięta w świat arystokratycznych intryg, gdzie może stać się pionkiem w grze o władzę� lub jego królową.

Jej pokazy początkowo są zwykłą rozrywką dla znudzonej elity. Wkrótce sprawy jednak przybierają niebezpieczny obrót, gdy Luzia przyciąga uwagę Antonio Péreza � obdarzonego złą sławą sekretarza hiszpańskiego króla. Król wciąż próbuje się podnieść po druzgocącej porażce swojej armii, ale nie ustaje w wysiłkach, by zdobyć przewagę nad Anglią. A Pérez, pragnący odzyskać zaufanie i przychylność króla, nie cofnie się przed niczym.

Zdeterminowana, by wykorzystać swoją jedyną szansę na lepsze życie, Luzia rzuca się w świat proroków, alchemistów, świętych, handlarzy, w wir magii, nauki i oszustwa. Ale wraz z rozgłosem przychodzi niebezpieczeństwo, że jej istnienie przyciągnie gniew inkwizytorów. Luzia będzie musiała użyć całego swojego sprytu i siły, by przetrwać � nawet jeżeli oznacza to zasięgnięcie pomocy u Guilléna Santagnela, zgorzkniałego nieśmiertelnika, którego własne sekrety mogą doprowadzić do śmierci ich obojga.]]> 400 Leigh Bardugo 1250884276 0 to-read 3.91 2024 The Familiar
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Cove (Summer Suspense Mysteries, #1)]]> 58200493
Gabrielle Adams has it all � brains, beauty, a handsome fiancé, and a dream job in publishing. Until, one day, everything changes.

The ‘Underground Killer� takes his victims when they least expect it: standing on the edge of a busy Tube platform, as they wait for a train to arrive through the murky underground tunnels of London.

Gabrielle soon learns that being a survivor is harder than being a victim, and she struggles to return to her old life. Desperate to break free from the endless nightmares, she snatches up an opportunity to run a tiny bookshop in a picturesque cove in rural Cornwall.

She thinks she’s found the perfect escape, but has she swapped one nightmare for another?

Suspense and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced thriller, set amidst the spectacular Cornish landscape.]]> 197 L.J. Ross 0 to-read 4.06 2021 The Cove (Summer Suspense Mysteries, #1)
author: L.J. Ross
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Prince of Darkness (Dark Protectors, #17)]]> 209457770 Dark Protectors, Book #17

Unknown to humans, beyond daylight lies a world of intoxicating darkness where deadly creatures prowl with insatiable desires and unbelievable power: vampires, demons, witches, shifters. When vulnerable humans find themselves thrust into that realm, they’ll never be the same. . .

In the aftermath of war, a fragile peace hovers between the Kurjan nation and the Dark Protector coalition. Yet amid labyrinthine politics and intrigue, Vero Phoenix, a Kurjan, stands apart. He has lived devoid of legacy or lineage—until the day he backed his newly found brother as king, putting himself into the treacherous position of enforcer and shield. Yet there is another thorn in his side, no less vexing, undeniably captivating—and all-too-human . . .

Lyrica Graves was once ensnared by Kurjan captors and now embodies defiance and freedom as she guides other women to independence and modernity. She is particularly amused—and breathtakingly fearful—by her tangles with Vero. But their clashing also belies a sizzling connection, a dark attraction between supernatural and fully human that threatens their chosen destinies and makes them a target for far too many enemies . . .]]> 286 Rebecca Zanetti 1516111834 0 to-read 4.48 2025 Prince of Darkness (Dark Protectors, #17)
author: Rebecca Zanetti
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Comfort Food 211700196 Published in early 2010. If you love dark romance, this is where it started�

HER:
The first day of my captivity was like being born� or dying. They’re both kind of the same thing with the long tunnel and the bright light at the end. Maybe it wasn’t like either, actually. Maybe I’m remembering it wrong because for me that day all there was, was darkness.

HIM:
Today I found something beautiful and decided to break it. I wanted to see it shatter in my hand and crumble at my feet. Her name is Emily Vargas. She’s bright and educated and stunning. Articulate. She’ll want someone to talk to her.]]> 202 Kitty Thomas 196048060X 0 to-read 4.23 2010 Comfort Food
author: Kitty Thomas
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Way We Collide (The Bradford Boys, #4)]]> 229244393 Football is my life. I’m not interested in marriage or babies or poopy diapers. Yet here I am, standing in front of a judge saying “I do,� with a six-month-old on my hip and an aspiring storm-chaser on my arm.

From the time I was a little boy, sleeping with my head on a football, I’ve had one goal: carrying on the Bradford-family legacy.

Our famous father trained all my older brothers and me to be star athletes just like him, but seven years later, I’m the only one still focused on the game.

Until Raven Gale storms into my life.

She’s smart, sassy, curves for days, and lightning in the sack. When I met her at my little sister’s wedding we bonded immediately over our dedication to our dreams, our determination to let nothing stop us, and our insatiable, all-night, barrier-busting chemistry.

A baby girl is a surprise neither of us expected, but Raven has a plan. We’ll have a quickie marriage to secure her trust fund, be together three months tops, then shake hands and walk away.

The only problem is with every late night I spend chatting with my wife or consummating our marriage (which we both agreed was a bad idea) or rocking my baby girl to sleep or yes, even changing poopy diapers, the stronger our bond grows.

It never rains in California, there’s no football (for me) in south Alabama, but when you collide with a cyclone, everything changes, including what you thought were your plans.

(THE WAY WE COLLIDE is a small-town, surprise baby, sports romance with a marriage of convenience, close proximity, an over-protective alpha daddy, a feisty plus-sized FMC, and a few twisters. No cheating. No cliffhanger. No third-act breakup.)]]> 350 Tia Louise 0 to-read 4.36 The Way We Collide (The Bradford Boys, #4)
author: Tia Louise
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.36
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Throne of Glass 56168468 When magic has gone from the world and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin comes to the castle. She is a prisoner, but if she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to find the greatest assassin in the land, she will become the king's champion and earn her freedom. But the evil she encounters in the castle goes deep, and as dark forces gather on the horizon � forces which threaten to destroy her entire world � the assassin must take her place in a fight greater than she could ever have imagined.


This is the epic, heart-stopping fantasy series that has turned #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas into a worldwide phenomenon. Fans new and old will dive into this ebook bundle containing the whole series: Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn, the thrilling finale Kingdom of Ash, and the companion anthology The Assassin's Blade.

]]> 4855 Sarah J. Maas 1547608552 0 currently-reading 4.71 Throne of Glass
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.71
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Lights Out 211200239 MEET BOOKTOK'S LATEST OBSESSION . . . DARK, FUNNY AND SUPER SPICY, CAN YOU HANDLE THE RIDE?

I want someone with a soul as black as night. Someone who would burn the world down for me and not lose a single minute of sleep over it.

Trauma nurse Aly escapes her hard-working days by thirsting after masked men online. To her, nothing could top the fantasy of her favorite tattooed and masked man hunting her down. But she never could have guessed that one drunken text would turn those dreams into reality . . .

I want things most people don't, craving darkness and depravity instead of light and love.

Josh has spent his life avoiding the limelight, but his online persona is another story. At night, he posts masked thirst traps for his millions of fans, until one follower catches his Aly.

Together, Aly and Josh live out their darkest fantasies, unaware that Aly has captured the attention of someone with far more sinister intentions. As Josh turns from predator to protector, he must ask himself how far he'll go for the woman he can't live without.

Lights Out is a fast-paced dark romance with a morally grey male lead. Some themes and scenes may be disturbing to listeners. Please check the content warning at the beginning of the book.

Lights Out, New York Times bestseller, November 2024.]]> 416 Navessa Allen 1638932239 4 4.20 2024 Lights Out
author: Navessa Allen
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: books-i-own, contemporary, dark-romance, first-in-series, mafia, romance, suspense
review:
Is it terrible if I say this was a lot of fun?!? It's a dark romance, sure, and it deals with some bad things, and yet Aly and Josh together were just a lot of fun. I'm happy I gave this one a go!
]]> Heartborn (Heartborn, #1) 34676101 0 Terry Maggert 1370274017 4 3.61 2016 Heartborn (Heartborn, #1)
author: Terry Maggert
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: coyer-readathon-3, audio, books-i-own, first-in-series, fantasy, new-to-me-author, paranormal, romance, young-adult, angels
review:
An enjoyable listen! Julia Whelan is fabulous with her narration and the story was engaging. The worldbuilding was also well done. I'll try to listen to the sequel asap.
]]> <![CDATA[Beauty and the Mustache (Knitting in the City, #4; Winston Brothers, #0)]]> 49997061 There are three things you need to know about Ashley Winston: 1) She has six brothers and they all have beards, 2) She is a reader, and 3) She knows how to knit.

Former beauty queen, Ashley Winston’s preferred coping strategy is escapism. She escaped her Tennessee small town, loathsome father, and six brothers eight years ago. Now she escapes life daily via her one-click addiction. However, when a family tragedy forces her to return home, Ashley can’t escape the notice of Drew Runous—local Game Warden, bear wrestler, philosopher, and everyone’s favorite guy. Drew’s irksome philosophizing in particular makes Ashley want to run for the skyscrapers, especially since he can’t seem to keep his exasperating opinions� or his soulful poetry, steadfast support, and delightful hands� to himself.

Pretty soon the girl who wanted nothing more than the escape of the big city finds she’s lost her heart in small town Tennessee.

Beauty and the Mustache is book #4 in the Knitting in the City series, and book #0.5 in the Winston Brothers series. Each book is a standalone, full length (110k words), contemporary romantic comedy novel, and follows the misadventures and exploits of seven friends in Chicago, all members of the same knitting group.]]> 372 Penny Reid 5 Beauty and the Mustache with my COYER friends Kim & Lillian as part of the first COYER readathon of 2025. It was on all our TBRs and I'm so happy we were able to pick up this series again. I adore this series but will admit that this might be a favorite so far. Drew, the MMC, is absolutely my favorite hero in the series thus far. This was quite the emotional read. There were moments of laughter, which is expected in a Penny Reid book, but I also cried.

Beauty and the Mustache also introduced me to the Winston Brothers and I'm eager to get to that series as well!]]> 4.16 2014 Beauty and the Mustache (Knitting in the City, #4; Winston Brothers, #0)
author: Penny Reid
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: coyer-25-readathon-1, buddy-read, contemporary, comedy, romance, books-i-own, finish-what-you-started, coyer-2025
review:
I buddy read Beauty and the Mustache with my COYER friends Kim & Lillian as part of the first COYER readathon of 2025. It was on all our TBRs and I'm so happy we were able to pick up this series again. I adore this series but will admit that this might be a favorite so far. Drew, the MMC, is absolutely my favorite hero in the series thus far. This was quite the emotional read. There were moments of laughter, which is expected in a Penny Reid book, but I also cried.

Beauty and the Mustache also introduced me to the Winston Brothers and I'm eager to get to that series as well!
]]> We Are Made of Stars 214960921 Secrets, lies, and second chances are served up beneath the stars at a picturesque mountain getaway in this powerful novel about love and family by the bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends.

At the Vis Ta Vie inn, Reneé and Jean-Paul De La Rue face the daunting decision to close their beloved home for good.

They’re not the only ones going through a season of change, though. Their guests include three couples in Hollywood celebs Leo and Penny are spending their silver anniversary together while on the cusp of divorce. Lucy, a practical-minded therapist, and Henry, an astronomer with his head in the stars, are struggling to find common ground. And former lawyer and current stay-at-home mom Sienna and charismatic sports agent Adam look perfect but are hiding rifts of their own. Thrown into the mix are self-absorbed single mother Cassidy and her sullen fifteen-year-old daughter, Rosalie.

The stage is set for a week of betrayals, regrets, and shocking truths that can rend the heart or heal it. Vis Ta Vie�live your life—captures what it means to love through the darkness, and to find the light even after the magic fades.]]> 363 Rochelle B. Weinstein 1662520883 0 to-read 4.11 2025 We Are Made of Stars
author: Rochelle B. Weinstein
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated, #1)]]> 220642729
Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.

Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.

Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect.t.]]> 464 Danielle L. Jensen 0593599853 0 to-read 4.07 2024 A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated, #1)
author: Danielle L. Jensen
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sweet Dreams (Colorado Mountain, #2)]]> 23278796 She's ready for the ride of her life . . .

Lauren Grahame is looking to reinvent herself. After leaving her cheating husband, Lauren moves to Carnal, Colorado, and gets a job as a waitress in a biker bar called Bubba's. It's a nothing job in a nowhere joint . . . until Tatum Jackson walks in. Lauren has never seen a man with such good looks, muscles, and attitude. But when he insults her, Lauren doesn't want anything to do with him. Too bad for Lauren he's also the bar's part owner and bartender.

When the rough-around-the-edges Tate meets the high-class Lauren, he thinks she won't fit in at Bubba's. Yet there's more to Lauren than meets the eye, and Tate soon sets his mind on claiming her as his own. Before long, the desire burning between them is heating up the cold mountain air. But when violence strikes the town, Tate must reveal a dark secret to Lauren-one that may put an end to their sweet dreams.]]> 25 Kristen Ashley 4 audio, 2021-audio-challenge The first quarter of the book had me remembering how Tate could really be a jerk! But his and Laurie's love story, despite starting off rough, is beautiful. The suspense element is well done and the supporting cast is exceptional.

***


It doesn't count as a re-read if you listen, right?!? LOL

*4.5 Stars* I listened to this while on a road trip. I'd forgotten how much I love Tate & Laurie's story, even if Tate pissed me off fairly often. My only complaint is that the narrator doesn't have much range for male voices. As this is KA and there are many males in the story, this was a problem. But I still loved the story!!]]> 4.15 2011 Sweet Dreams (Colorado Mountain, #2)
author: Kristen Ashley
name: Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/11
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: audio, 2021-audio-challenge
review:
**2025 Re-read of all KA**
The first quarter of the book had me remembering how Tate could really be a jerk! But his and Laurie's love story, despite starting off rough, is beautiful. The suspense element is well done and the supporting cast is exceptional.

***


It doesn't count as a re-read if you listen, right?!? LOL

*4.5 Stars* I listened to this while on a road trip. I'd forgotten how much I love Tate & Laurie's story, even if Tate pissed me off fairly often. My only complaint is that the narrator doesn't have much range for male voices. As this is KA and there are many males in the story, this was a problem. But I still loved the story!!
]]>