NetGalley Review: Claimed by the Monster King by Katee Robert

Claimed by the Monster King by Katee Robert

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

Having read each of these books upon initial release, i was thrilled to get a reread in this collected works version. Eacho book held up on a second pass and solidified Robert as one of my "must read" authors. From my previous readings"

Having only read Robert’s contemporary Dark Olympus series, I was very excited to see some fantasy/monster stories. I am sure I don't need to tell you that this was a fantastic and fun read. The “auctioned to a supe” premise immediately suspends your disbelief and then the insta-lust/love flows perfectly within the plot. The characters are developed enough to make this more than straight up monster-f*&ker fanfic, but don't get too bogged down in it…that is 100% not why this series was written. Just a great spicy paranormal romance series for a relaxing read.

The Dragon’s Bride
Great opener to the series. Robert drops the reader right into the fun and trusts that we will keep up. This pair is eminently lovable and while the plot skirts some issues of consent, the HEA is great.

The Kraken's Sacrifice
While this installment of the series gets into some deeper themes and shows much worse behavior on the part of our reluctant MMC, it is still a great read in the genre. I could have done with some more character development in this pairing, but extra points for the pro-choice narrative and building a mystical world where even when the FMCs are legitimately traded like objects, we don't have to endure modern patriarchy dressed up as a new magical world.

The Gargoyle’s Captive
I am loving this series and while this one was my least favorite so far, it was still great. The FMC skates a little too close to “not like other girls” and the banter is more of the “mean immaturity” variety, both of these being not my favorite tropes. However, I can overlook Grace as not my favorite FMC for the overall world building and grade-A spice.

Published on 9 February 2027 by SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca

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NetGalley Review: Bedside Manner by Stephanie Archer

Bedside Manner by Stephanie Archer

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

Stephanie Archer is one of my "always read" authors so this new book was greeted with much excitement. As always, Archer lived up to the hype.

This fun and spicy contemporary does rely on a little bit of suspension of disbelief. The idea of meeting a coworker during your side hustle of sex work isn't completely out of the realm, but the "I will pay you enough to make all your problems go away completely unprompted and we are all cool with it" is a bit of a stretch. That said, I don't read romance because it is real life. It is exactly this tropey opener that makes the whole book fun.

After that, the book is exactly what's on the tin. Some fake-relationship/relationship of convenience classics come into play. The characters' chemistry is solid enough to make the story work and the inevitable catching of feelings feels authentic and not wedged in for the sake of an HEA. What makes the book work beyond just an excellent use of favorite tropes however is the yearning. Even though we only see the FMC's POV, you can feel the MMC's yearning just rolling off the pages. The whole set-up feels way less unreasonable when you see it as the desperation of a besotted man. Love everything about this.

All together a great contemporary that hits all the right spots for lovers of the genre.

Published on 8 December 2026 by Ballantine

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NetGalley Review: Viper & Lilies by Lexie Axon

Viper & Lilies by Lexie Axon

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

I thoroughly enjoyed the act of reading this book, but found it in total a mid-pack romantasy with lots of chances to grow.

All my notes are a real "rose, then the thorn" vibe regarding this debut novel
-The world building is interesting, but the author uses lots of exposition...trust the reader to pick up what you are showing and creating.
-The three POVs provided interesting insight into the fantasy mythos and how each characters experiences magic and their role in the world. However, it makes for a long book where not much happens.
-This is a solid introduction into what will be at least a duology or more, but the cliff hanger feels a bit more "I ran out of space" and not so much "here is a climactic moment to set up the upcoming plot development."
-The romance aspect is very slow burn and doesn't generate much chemistry nor further the narrative. Here Axon is happy to leave us without too much exposition in sharp contrast to how much of the book is deeply explained.

Now, it was a fun almost 500 pages of meandering through magical regency. Setting up the first in a series requires a full world-build, character development AND set up for more books worth of interconnected narrative. Here the reader is certainly equipped to continue. I would like to see the next in the series, there is so much potential here even though this one was not a perfect romantasy for me.

Published on 2 February 2027 by Grand Central Publishing

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NetGalley Review: Wench by Erynne Rivers

Wench by Erynne Rivers

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩ 

The best way to describe this book is "trope madlibs."

Before I get into all the parts that did not work for me, I want to give an immense amount of praise to the prose. The world building is solid. The descriptions of the forest world are beautiful and drop you right into the magical atmosphere. Rivers can write, the issue is everything else.

The tropes go pretty hard here, to the point that no real plot or character development happens. She is "not like other girls" while secretly being the chosen one (the mystery here is anything but). He is a brooding, all powerful being with a tragic past. Together they must save the magical world while falling in love with, apparently, zero chemist 
I really loved the premise here, but the execution just did not hit the mark for me.

Published on 13 October 2026 by Harper 360

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NetGalley Review: Falling for a Villainous Vampire: A Novel by Charlotte Stein

Falling for a Villainous Vampire: A Novel by Charlotte Stein

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

I have enjoyed Stein's books to varying degrees across two series, but this one was a miss for me.

My overarching issue with the series is that there doesn't feel like enough world building. I don't mind when an author drops you in and teaches the mythos by immersion, but here I feel like I am adrift in a sea of magic with no guide. Each book has hinted as some of "how it all works," but other than some witches paring off with supernatural love interests and talking appliances, there just isn't enough to make the stories fit together.

As for this book specifically, it was all telling and very little showing. We see the story through the eyes of our MMC, but don't get much from her about herself. She doesn't really grow or change and the only reason this life doesn't end the same way as the others is almost accidental. The MMC doesn't really pass the "lamp test" (especially given that sentient lamp as love-interest is 100% on the table with this mythos). The ending just happens. The "mystery," that the reader didn't even know existed in this form, is resolved...just because the right combination of poorly performed spells? When all was said and done, it didn't really feel like a story.

Other ratings vary, so this may be just a bad fit for me and exactly perfect for another reader, but I think this series has run its course for my reading preferences.

Published on 27 October 2026 by St. Martins Press

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NetGalley Review: As the Snow Gathers by Mere Joyce

As the Snow Gathers by Mere Joyce

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

So much of this book was amazing. I liked the characters and the setting. It is very immersive and while it is your standard "Puritan-village" trope the vibe was appropriately spooky. The characters were interesting and could have served to really hammer home the notion of "other" being outcast and how the real monster is the bigotry we met along the way. The soft sub-plot of queer romance was lovely without detracting from the genre being horror (as often the romance can feel a little shoehorned in when death is circling). The conclusion of the story as revenge fantasy was an interesting way to wrap up the book.

My main complaint that made the book a hard read for me was the pacing and exposition. Sometimes the plot tools along and stuff is happening and bits of the mystery are coming together. Other times we are plodding through glacial telling-not-showing. It was very hard to feel the ending was a resolution when it happens all in a rush, having not really been explained by the clues along the way and so much explaining with little cohesion.

It was a twist on "The Village" with the lingering, simmering dread of "The Turn of the Screw" an a "Sleepy Hollow" vibe, but sadly without the follow-through to really bring it home for me.

Published on 1 September 2026 by Poisoned Pen Press

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NetGalley Review: She Haunts Me Still by De Elizabeth

She Haunts Me Still by De Elizabeth

My Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

I was so excited for a "Down a Dark Hall" vibed book with local lore and spooky academia. What I got was...not quite that.

I enjoyed the local lore. As a transplant to Rhode Island I loved the little hat-tips to local legends and historical sites. Playing "do you think this is Salve or URI?" was a pleasant way to spend time. Bouncing off some TB-Vampire lore, referencing Mercy Brown and the local witch myths was great. I even really like the slight twist on the story to add some new elements for the novel. It was atmospheric, and spooky and had all the hallmarks of a creepy romantasy-meets-horror story that would have been perfect for its fall (ish) release date.

However, the book just never really "took off" for me. The characters were decidedly YA (granted, they are college kids), but in a very "first day on earth" way, not a "coming of age" way. What could have been a very neat melding of historical events and a new element turned tedious because there was so much exposition. Just when you get into the tale, and feel some pieces of the puzzle coming together-it is like four pages of hand holding. The resolution is tidy to the point of triteness after so much over-explained backstory.

So five-stars for premise and spooky factor, one-star for too many other factors.

Published on 11 August 2026 by Dutton

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