Month: January 2026

Stepping into 2026

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Whew! We made it to 2026…even though it feels like we have stepped back into the 1950’s here in the US. But that’s a tangent for another day. I was so proud of myself for 2025 that I UPPED my reading goal from 50 books to 75! I’m already two books into 2026 so let’s get this party started! I’ve also planned on participating as much as possible with the Book Riot 2026 Read Harder challenge, so this will be so fun! If I read a book on that challenge, I’ll be sure to denote it here as well! If you would like to participate, the challenge is linked here. I would encourage, if you can, to also become a Book Riot member. They do send you 2 book ideas for the different challenges for free if you are not a member, but you get more if you are! Anyways, here are my first two reads of 2026!

Pucking Strong by Emily Rath

3 hockey pucks

Well. That was certainly a ride for the first book of the year! I have enjoyed the Jacksonville Rays series, Pucking Around and all the rest, and I really enjoyed this one too. For me, what makes this not a 4 or even 5 star is the unrealistic look at grief, especially for a young girl losing her mom, who is an only child to a single mother. I should know, I was one. My single mother died when I was 10 years old. It was the single most devastating moment of my life. It still is and I’m 37. I get that the story was going to be about the MMC’s love, but if Emily Rath is going to have this cataclysmic event happen to this little girl, then proceed in only showing her happy and well adjusted, then I’m afraid I have to call bullshit. Again, I get showing her going through therapy and everything isn’t fun or cute but it felt like her grief was glossed over to the point that it even seemed like Henrik and Teddy didn’t even care. She not only was there when it happened but also suffered her own injuries and trauma and the only time we see her is as an accessory or so happy it’s all sunshine and rainbows. Yes, there are some good days, but I can promise you, unless you hated your mother, no little girl losing their whole world in an instant would be so well adjusted.

Outside of that, Teddy and Henrik’s story was alright. I appreciated that it was a slow burn and not just jump into the sex and spice. The way they actually established their relationship was nice, even when I cringed when Teddy basically laid out all his feelings to Henrik at their pap dinner. Like, I get he was trying to make a point but that’s also a good way to get someone to never step up. Also, Teddy’s family, specifically his mother, sucked. Not a single one thought to actually ask him about how it all went down, they just assumed, then his mother basically disrespected him in front of Henrik?! Like the actual f?? And also, there was so much more about Henrik’s family life than Teddy’s which made the book feel very unbalanced.

Gosh, maybe I didn’t like this book as much as I thought. Which is a bummer since I liked the rest?? Ugh. Maybe I need to rest on it more or something. Either way, I didn’t hate it, it had its great moments, the epilogue stole my breath away, it was very sweet.

His Grace, The Duke by Emily Rath

3 whole men

Ok so let’s get gone thing out of the way: Emily Rath can absolutely write spice. She can even write drama!!! But for some reason, between book one and book two she couldn’t write the love between all the players in this book. There is no way that Tom the sailor was too in his head about sexuality. None. Even if he didn’t experiment, he would have seen things. Now Burke and James I get. I could see that Burke loved James and James loved Burke. And I still think that Burke really loved Rosalie. What I don’t believe is the torch Tom held for Burke. I think he certainly could have held one for James, given he always came to Alcott Hall when he was home from being away. I don’t know. I feel like in the end it was all very rushed. While I liked the book and duology as a whole, there were definitely parts that could have been fleshed out more. But in the end, it is what it is. A good romp.

Welp, there we are! My first two reads of 2026!

Final reads of 2025

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Ah! I can’t believe I made it out of my reading slump this year and read 100 books!! I am so proud of myself!! I neglected, however, to update here, simply because I didn’t want to get my computer up and running! But here are the last books of 2025 for me!

Go Luck Yourself by Sara Raasch

5 Shamrocks!

Oh goodness. I freaking loved this! I was so happy to finally read Kris’s story, especially with how badly he seemed to be in the book with Coal and Hex. This was such fun and yet, so much happened. The progression of hate from Loch and his one sister to them both absolutely adoring Kris was hilarious. I really loved Loch’s character too. He knew what he wanted and also knew he couldn’t have it? Very different from Hex, who was a very submissive character. Even Kris wasn’t that bad. I will definitely keep these as Christmas book rotations in the coming years.

Big Nick Energy by Morgan Elizabeth

4 Christmas Stockings!

Well this was adorable. For a novella, there was plenty of character arc for both Nick and Shae, and the epilogue gave us more to tie up any loose ends. I kinda wish we had more of a tie up for what happened to Shae’s ex, but I did love the conclusion of the mean girl Molly-she redeemed herself there, I think. Overall, super cute, pretty spicy but can definitely hold triggering plot lines so definitely make sure you’re in the correct space for that. The author does a great job of listing them in the beginning of the book, which is great, but I’ll add them here in case you are looking BEFORE you even decide to pick it up.

TW: domestic violence (not on page but described) including both verbal, physical and mental abuse.

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

3 Robots

This was…unexpected. Cute, hints of social discourse, lots of bots making noodles and figuring out their place in the new world they woke up to. Definitely could have been fleshed out more, made into a longer book, as there are some themes that kind of…fall off? Enjoyable and quick read.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar

5 freaking stars!!!

I have a love/hate relationship with true crime novels. Sometimes I feel like they are either over complicated, with legalese meant to confuse the reader and make the author feel like they are so much smarter than than the reader, OR , they are so dumbed down that I get bored very easily. This was neither of these. By the time I was halfway through the book, I had forgotten that this was a piece of fiction and not an ACTUAL true crime book. Chizmar does an excellent job of making the reader feel like we are indeed looking for a killer, that all of this actually happened. He keeps the idyllic nature of the small town in tact, while simultaneously showing the absolute horror that small towns can endure.

Richard Chizmar is a 20-something guy coming back to live with his parents in the summer of 1988, a few months before his wedding. He’s freshly graduated from college and his marriage to fiancé Kara is going to be in January. The timeline for all of this is important, since the murders happen during that summer. 4 young teen girls are abducted and murdered. All but 1 are sexually assaulted before death. But the police and FBI are completely stumped as there is no evidence at any of the sites. Chizmar and his friend Carly Albright, an up and coming journalist, begin to have their own investigation around the cops. Eventually, they are even stumped. 30 years later, the man is found and you will not even begin to believe who it is. Or will you?

I do have to admit I figured out who it was about halfway through but seeing it all spelled out still shocked me. And then I get to the authors note and am reminded that OH YEA! This didn’t actually happen but holy moly did the book feel like it did!!! I really really enjoyed this one. I would absolutely recommend you folks who like true crime and thrillers. This was a heck of a read.

Thank you to everyone who has read this blog in 2025! As always, to see other reviews, please check out my Goodreads page and follow me there too! On to 2026!!