Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the digital review copy in advance. This book, now translated into English, hits shelves today, September 2nd.

As I did with my review for Save Me, let me preface this by saying, I have not watched the television series on Amazon Prime and went into this completely blind. It’s my understanding that the first season of the show roughly follows the first book. This is book two in the trilogy and after the cliffhanger of Save Me’s ending, I was ready for it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Saturday Book for the digital review copy of this book in advance. It hits shelves on September 2.

Set in the same world as Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows, this is another stunning novel from Rebecca Ross. This one can be read without reading the other duology as it shares a few characters but actually serves as a prequel with events occurring far before those of the other books.

I said in my review of Divine Rivals that I had hopes for this installment in the duology to make up for some of my unmet expectations. That was certainly the case here. My main disappointment came from my desire for more worldbuilding and fantasy elements in the first one, and it wasn’t even a large concern because the book still got over 4 stars from me. This one gave me everything I wanted and more.

I ate this up. It was most definitely a teen drama with all kinds of eye-rolling moments. It was angsty and a bit toxic. I hated the ending. The author even apologizes for it in her acknowledgements—not enough, Mona Kasten. These characters better get redemption! It’s a good thing I have book 2 on deck.

I finished this two weeks ago and keep thinking about it.

This took me back to my college English major days. Yes, these two are in an MFA program, but it still put me right back into those classrooms full of writing, creativity, awkwardness, and exposure. Leigh is one of the most relatable characters I’ve ever read. The way she adjusts herself to please the people around her. The way she holds back her comments in class (or isn’t sure she even has anything meaningful to say) were just like me as an undergrad.

I’m so late to the game with the hype surrounding this duology. I kept intending to read it, borrowed it from Kindle Unlimited multiple times and somehow kicked it down the road over and over again. Then I got an email offering for me to read Wild Reverence (releasing in September 2025) as an early reader. I said yes, knowing that I really enjoyed Rebecca Ross’s writing in her Elements of Cadence duology. What I didn’t realize at the time was that the new book is set in the world of Divine Rivals. So here we are, finally picking up a book I always intended to read eventually.

There was so much about this I loved. The premise alone? I mean, what a heart-wrenching opening. I felt the grief in my bones and my family saw the evidence in the tears streaming down my face, especially in some of the closing chapters.

My original star rating was a 4 because I felt so conflicted about this book. After letting it sit, I've landed on 4.5 because this definitely has some staying power.

The Favorites made a splash when it released at the beginning of the year, and I see why. It was propulsive and interesting. It was one of those books I couldn’t look away from, even when I wanted to.

I read the first installment of this duology (A Letter to the Luminous Deep) last year, and while I enjoyed it, I wasn’t enthralled. I liked the worldbuilding and the letter-writing and journal style of it, but the pacing was slow and I had trouble with differentiating the numerous characters’ voices. The story was mysterious, a bit romantic, imaginative, and funny, but I had a few qualms.

When I picked up Ivy Fairbanks’s debut novel, Morbidly Yours, late last year, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It did not disappoint.

This book surprised the heck out of me.

After reading Love, Theoretically back in 2023 (and loving it, I should add), I thought Ali Hazelwood had crossed my threshold for steam in her books.

Here’s the deal. I loved this book, but, and it’s a big one, I kind of had to tell myself that I was not reading an Emily Henry title.

As part of the “improbable meet cute” series of short stories, this one definitely met the description “improbable,” but I didn’t care one bit.

Florence and Jude spend summers in Michigan at Harbor Arts Camp. Every year on the last night, the "HAC"ers find someone at the bonfire to hang out with until sunrise.

Eliza is a widow and she’s not even thirty yet. Her late husband has left her a fortune, but there’s a catch—a morality clause that means she can do nothing untoward. It’s a good thing that the new Earl of Somerset is her childhood love (is there any chance for them after how they left things a decade ago?) and he’s the one controlling those purse strings.

Ellis and Wren grew up together and had their son, Sam, as teens. A decade later, their marriage fell apart. Now in their 30s, they still can’t keep their minds off each other. A summer road trip to drop Sam at college is an opportunity to see whether forever might still be possible.

Xavier is a veterinarian. He’s known for a gruff bedside manner, but he’s also very good at his job. When Samantha comes in with a kitten who has a life-threatening condition, he gives it to her straight; and she serves it right back.

Since her best friend died of cancer six months ago, Lenny has been taking temporary nanny jobs–a weekend here or there because that’s the limit to how long she can “hold it together.”

Meghan Davis has done it again, making unsuspecting victims of her readers, fooling us with a campy vampire cover and description, and punching us in the gut with the full spectrum of human emotion.

This was an interesting take on a second-chance. While I wouldn't categorize it as strictly romance, more contemporary fiction, it centers on Charlie and Vivian now in their sixties, who were married forty years ago.