NetGalley Review: The Re-Do List by Denise Williams

The Re-Do List by Denise Williams

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

I generally enjoy this author, but this book just didn't do it for me.

The premise was cute, the idea of what happens when you become a meme was so promising. Add in some favorite contemporary tropes (brother's best friend, age gap, teach me, etc.) and this should have been great. The writing was solid and the spice excellent...but, outside of people talking about and having sex, there wasn't much there.

The brother angle only served to manufacture fake angst and the return of said prodigal son didn't really further the plot beyond toxic male posturing. The leaning heavily into the military hero complex stuff was also a turn off for me. Men who make their service their whole personality are a HUGE red flag, so much so in real life that I couldn't suspend belief. The meme thing basically disappears so not sure why that was important.

Alas, this one just didn't hit for me.

Published on 27 January 2026 by Berkely Publishing Group  

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NetGalley Review: Melting Point by Cici Williams

Melting Point by Cici Williams

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

While I enjoyed reading this book, overall it is a solidly mid-pack contemporary. While advertised on NetGalley as Adult Romance and Erotica, it really reads as a mild spice, new adult novel. While those genres are great, and I enjoy them as much as the next reader, getting over this book not feeling at all like I expected made getting into the narrative a bit difficult.

I liked:

• Great setting-romance in the Olympic Village is fun and the wintery atmosphere made for a cozy read.
• Good tropes-friends to lovers, he falls first, first loves reunited and fake relationships all make an appearance-we love the tropey romance for a reason and this did not disappoint.
• An HEA that makes some sense-there is some tension and conflict, but no one has to act wildly out of characters or do an unpredicted personality inversion to make it all work in the end.

I didn't enjoy:

• Slightly too tropey supporting characters. The tragic brother, the unavailable father, the conflicted sports stars...eh, this could have gone better
• Immature behavior-this may be on me since I am running out of steam for how 20-somethings behave at the crone-esque age of 43, but some of this felt less like banter and competition, and more like tantrums and impulse control issues.

All together, the plot was OK, the spice was less spicy than promised and the setting was a delight. I would still say to cozy up with this fun winter read, but it is not 100% what's on the tin.

Published on 4 December 2025 by Avon Books UK

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NetGalley Review: Can't Get Enough of the Duke by Lenora Bell

Can't Get Enough of the Duke by Lenora Bell

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

In so many ways this was a great book that hit all the high points of the historical genre. All our favorite tropes are here for our enjoyment. The grumpy hero has a solidly tragic past and sense of duty to play the "I want to, but I must not" game perfectly. The heroine is plucky and shiny even when life is not going very well. Add in some marriage of convenience and a cleverly inserted feminist subplot? This should have been a winner.

The hitch? The age-gap trope here was a little too much of a gap to feel OK. While this trope is common in historicals, because historically cis-het men have been free to sexuaize and partner with teenagers, here it was a bit much. Given that the seminal incident for all of this is Ana attempting to break the glass ceiling of getting a book published, making her "barely legal" feels gratuitous. Either the feminism is ahistorical and we all suspend disbelief or not. Given the plot progression and time between our stoic Duke being assigned as Ana's guardian and when they actually meet up, making her solidly in her 20s (and still "on the shelf" by historical standards) was a viable option that would have taken this book right to a five-star rating.

While this was a solidly enjoyable book for the genre, beware the ick that this age gap creates.

Published on 7 April 2026 by Avon and Harper Voyage

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NetGalley Review: Once Upon a Courtesan by Jess Michaels

Once Upon a Courtesan by Jess Michaels

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

This was a great, light and comfy, historical romance that is exactly what is on the tin.

The premise is realistic, though just fun enough to get you into that fun romance headspace. The pasts are tragic, but in a manner that gives the characters dimension, not triteness. The FMC being a courtesan means the story can fast track to the good stuff. In this book the spice is instant while the love is slow-burn. The climactic drama happens to the couple, not between the couple, so the HEA really works.

Overall, a great historical that will please fans of the genre.

Published on 7 October 2025 by  The Passionate Pen LLC

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NetGalley Review: Witchcraft by Sole Otero

Witchcraft by Sole Otero

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩ 

There was so much about this graphic novel that I really liked.

The art is great. The style and color palette gave great witchy vibes and felt a bit "Gorey-esque." I loved it.

The premise is pretty good...who doesn't love three weird sisters and murmurings of witchcraft? It is a classic for a reason. The story, in parts, plays well into the intersection of colonization, xenophobia and the misogyny that labels anything by women/for women as somehow deviant. There were also some interesting subplots, though these don't get too deeply explained or resolved.

What kept this from being a great read is the slightly disjointed feel of the narrative. Now, this is a translation and it is possible that vital nuance has been lost. Regardless of the origin, the story still felt choppy and then concluded in a big rush.

I would love to see more in this setting and storyline, but as a stand alone graphic novel this was missing something for me.

Published on 7 October 2025 by Fantagraphic Books

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NetGalley Review: Fall at Once by Nora Everly

Fall at Once by Nora Everly

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

Alas, another two-star review for this series. I tried another book figuring that same world/different author could be an improvement, but maybe this collection of authors just isn't my jam.

Having been immersed in Cozy Creek, the stories all seem to be formatted Hallmark-style. Namely a cast of characters lacking any diversity exist in a picture-perfect small town where no one has had an independent, unreported by the town crier, thought...ever. Big city woman who just needs the right man to have her give up her life to trad-wife for some guy enters, creates moderate chaos then all ends well.

This particular tale relied a little too heavily on the imposter-syndrome-hero meets quirky-woman who is not like anyone else in town (despite being a local in her youth). Meddling Grandmas, absentee fathers, critical moms, big public confrontations where villain archetypes do cliched things and "crazy" ex-wives abound. Now I don't mind some fluff in my romance, but this could have been any standard made for TV script.

It may be time for me to abandon this series, though I am sure it is someone's perfect set of romances.

Published on 28 October 2025 by Avon and Harper Voyage

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NetGalley Review: She Made Herself a Monster by Anna Kovatcheva

She Made Herself a Monster by Anna Kovatcheva

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

I have to open with my excitement for the cover being one of my favorite art pieces. Add in a premise that intertwines with my special interest of vampire lore in New England and I was hooked. With great hopes that this would be the vibes of the whole book, I was excited to receive this ARC. What followed was a delightfully spooky and dark story of the ways women have searched for their freedom in times of superstition and oppression.

The premise of a vampire hunter who knows she is working an angle to disperse manufactured panic is a very interesting approach to historical vampire lore. The allusions to said lore are artfully written into the narrative. Calling on Slavic traditions surrounding vampires (which also became the new world superstitions leading to "slaying the dead" as late as 1893 in my neighboring town...but I do digress) to build a town in a panic makes for an atmospheric read. While no characters are completely good-the hunter is a self-admitted fake, the man who "saved" our fair protagonist is an obsessed groomer, the brother is trying to help but cannot resist damaging everyone to get what he wants- the overall theme of justice via myth was cleverly done. In the end the real monsters get their just desserts.

As a dark novel for the dark days of winter, this one should be on the TBR list of any spooky fans.

Published on 10 February 2026 by Mariner Books

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