reviews

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!

October Catch UP

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Look, I’m aware it says “October” and we are CLEARLY in November, but here we are. So. I read a CRAP TON of both books and novellas at the end of October, but I want to focus mainly on the three books I read.

First up: Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro

Stars: 1 out of 5

I hated this book. I was so disappointed too. The book summary and the book contents are not at all the same. I wanted lore about La Malinche, I wanted deep, lush lore about the Aztecs and the Spanish Conquistadores. It was so promising in the beginning: I did love the history parts of the book, when Malinalli (her current name) is talking about her past. It seemed like we were going to get the vengeance alluded to in the summary of the book. Instead, we had cringe worth sex scenes, a mopey vampire and a rushed ending. The current events part of it all was just torturous to get through. The sex scenes especially were so cringe worthy, it’s actually painful to think about. Butter. BUTTER. I can’t even. I am so mad about this book because the premise sounded so cool, very different, and then I got…nonsense. Just…ugh. I kinda wish I DNF’d it but I didn’t want to miss something good happening. I just kept thinking surely it must get better!!! But nope. It didn’t. I even relayed it to my teen son and he was like “wtf??” When even he says that, you know it’s a problem haha. I also have to say, this was such a let down because I was truly expecting lush lore, gritty vengeance and dark fantasy and instead all I got was a mopey vampire and incomplete lore. Like be so for real. There were so many times I just wanted to stop and I definitely should have. Ugh.

Second up: Bochica by Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro

Stars: 3 out of 5

According to Wikipedia, Bochica is the mythical figure in the religion of the Muisca, who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense before the Spanish invaded what is now Columbia. There is little known about Bochica, save for some written documentation whereas “Bochica was variously described by witnesses as a building which [Melchor] Pérez de Arteaga had destroyed — as the father of a ‘tiger’ — perhaps a puma or jaguar that had recently been attacking travellers of local roads, and as an ‘idol’. When asked who Bochica was, Ubaque replied that ‘he is a wind’ — (un viento) — and that he was in the site of the building that the Spanish had destroyed.” (wikipedia).

Bochica monument

This book…not that AT ALL. This was a bit of a slow burn and mostly atmospheric. Lots of repetitive sentences and thoughts. I loved the idea of the journal entries, I kind of wish they had been utilized better. I also wish the folklore of the svetyba had been better used as well. The whole thing with the Madre at the school though? That whole sub-storyline was not needed, imo. I think for me, the biggest issue was that I figured out what was happening WAY too early and so the rest of the book was just me trying to see when the MC’s were going to figure it out. That was such a let down to me. I was so hopeful for this, especially since it was heavily compared to Mexican Gothic, which I loved. This ended up just being “meh” to me. Three stars though because the hallucinations and descriptions of the locations definitely helped the story, made it very visually appealing and interesting. Again, the only saving grace of this book was the vivid descriptions of the hallucinations and the atmosphere of the house. I think the haunted gothic house theme was underutilized and could have made this a much spookier and overall better book. I love myself a good Gothic Haunted House theme and this was just…not it. Like Immortal Pleasures, this one fell flat with lore usage and cultural richness.

Last up: Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin

Stars: 4 out of 5…and mostly confusion…

I’m not convinced I know what I just read. Was it horror? Absolutely? Was it a narrative on heteronormativity??? Absolutely. A thought masterpiece on religion and Anti-Semitism? Yup. Was it the weirdest and most bizarre thing I’ve ever read? Also yes, though to be fair, I read Tender is the Flesh, so the jury is out on that. This was wild from start to finish. I’m gonna need 3-5 business days to process this for sure. Hopefully I don’t see The Baroness anywhere in my dreams. I think I’d cry.

This was a GREAT presentation on how imagery can produce horrific results. I was convinced for a few days that I was going to sleep and see some of this crazy, fucked up shit in my dreams. I would have had to find a therapist STAT if that had happened. Also safe to say that the idea of being a film restorer is completely off my “jobs I’d like to try” list. *shudder* I’m SO ok with never doing that.

Needless to say, I ended my espooky season with a few bangs, some bigger than others. Then I went on to read a bunch of smutty novellas and started to get into the Christmas season, so here’s to jingling all the way soon! As usual, you can find all my other reviews (I did review those novellas) here, on my Goodreads profile. You can also check out all the books I have on my shelves, and maybe even recommend me one off my own TBR to read!

Two, that’s right, TWO book reviews!

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Whew! I’m on a roll! I have not one, but TWO book reviews here! I’m part of the Probably Smut monthly book club (don’t @ me!) and I am finally all caught up and ready for September’s book! In the meantime, my reviews for both Shadowed Obsession (July) and The Bad Boy Rule (August) are here!

Shadowed Obsession – 2 stars

The nice thing about the PS book club is that we get GORGOUS special edition covers! This was no exception! The colors were *chefs kiss* Perfect! However, the inside of the book, the meat, if you will…left some to be desired. There were many a grammatical and editing mistakes that really take you out the book once you see them. Things like quotation marks not being completed, a whole PAGE being copy/pasted…it was just kind of a mess? The story line could have been stronger too, like the premise was great, but overall? Eh.

*sigh* I REALLY wanted to like this. The smut was smutting and the MC’s had some depth to themselves. But their actual chemistry went from “stalker/stalkee” to “domestic bliss” once the mask came off-literally. Not to mention times when italics were used and then just not turned off. At some point, the emphasis on the Spanish words was annoying. It’s just dialogue like any other, yet it’s italicized. Every. Single. Time. As a non-native Spanish speaker but a Chicana, this was probably the most irritating. In her effort to make the character not othered, she othered his language the whole book.

Unfortunately, those items made the book slightly unbearable and while I finished it, I really only did because the redeeming parts were alright. (See my Goodreads review here)

The Bad Boy Rule – 4 stars

Whew! That was…hot. Like fire! I think I spent more time tabbing all the dirty talk than paying attention to the plot!

Lennon is a socialite, someone who’s parents are the who’s who of New Orleans. She is incredibly privileged and knows it. She is also rebelling against her parents…the blinders are off after a series of events, including forcing her to quit ice skating, her one escape, forces her to acknowledge that her parents are grooming her to be a trophy wife, nothing more.

Saint is a hockey player who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. His adolescent years spent in a trailer with his mother and his abusive and alcoholic father, Saint is well aware that he could end up like his dad and is trying everything in his power not to be. So he gives himself a new persona, “The Playboy” and has sex with basically any girl but with one rule: no getting attached.

Our MC’s meet at…the skating rink. Because of COURSE they do. Of COURSE they have the same time slot by mistake! Lennon, in her effort to rebel, asks Saint to be her fake boyfriend, unknowing that Saint has his own reasons why he says yes. They begin to see that neither is what they seem.

Seriously, this was so good. The tension and the banter between Saint and Lennon was so good. There wasn’t TOO MUCH of the pet names, which can really make or break a book. The only issue this time? A couple of plot holes that really made me question my own sanity, and a couple of grammatical and editing errors. So because of those, this went from a 5 star to a 4. (To see this and other reviews, check out my Goodreads profile here)

Ok, that’s all folks! I am hoping to get to 100 books by the end of the year…I’m currently standing at 67! Can I do it?! YES I CAN!