Sea of Charms

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by Sarah Beth Durst
First sentence: “Marin was alone on her sailboat, and the sea was singing.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: July 28, 2026
Others in the series: The Spellshop, The Enchanted Greenhouse
Content: There are some tense moments. It will be in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Ever since she found out her ex-fiancé was swindling her and her family, Marin has been at sea. She makes her living as a runner, slowly paying off the debt her parents accrued when the bottom came out of Marin’s relationship. She’s alone, and she likes it that way. Until she picks up a sea serpent, a sentient wax myrtle (Ree!), and finally a musician she rescued from the revolution happening on the capital island. Suddenly, Marin isn’t alone anymore, and maybe, just maybe, she likes it better that way.

This one is going to be billed as a romance, but it’s barely that. It’s going to be billed as fake dating (there is a little bit of that). What it is, rather, is a super cozy fantasy, with a side of romance (just kissing at the very end), about found family. Which is to say: I loved it. This is everything I want in a romantasy: fully developed characters, a heroine that is smart and capable and not pining over someone all the time, a MMC that is smart and capable and interesting. And MOST OF ALL: a fantasy world that makes sense, is thoroughly built up, and is a place I want to spend time.

And (of course) Durst gives me all of that. And a charming sentient plant on top of it.

If you haven’t picked this series up yet, you’re missing out.

Dolly All the Time

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by Annabel Monaghan
First sentence: “‘Good sports.'”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: May 26, 2026
Content: There is some fade-to-black sex and mild swearing. It will be in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Dolly Brick is trying to live life. Her mother left the family when Dolly was 12, and she’s been taking care of things ever since. She got pregnant at 26, her boyfriend left her, and she’s been taking care of things ever since. And so, when she’s called because of a fire at her dad’s house, she and her son, Gus, head out there to take care of it. The problem, though, is that replacing the roof is going to cost $50,000. Which she doesn’t have. Enter Stewart Whitfield. He’s off a bad breakup with his fiancé, and is looking for a girlfriend so the board of his family’s company thinks he’s serious enough to be CEO. When he and Dolly accidentally meet, he comes up with a plan: he’ll give her the money she needs for the roof, and she will pretend to be his girlfriend for the summer.

Of course, things are more complicated than that. But I’m not sure it matters. I have discovered over the years that I like a good fake dating trope, and I do appreciate that Monaghan’s women are fully fleshed out people with concerns and hangups, and not young twenty-somethings who are just trying to figure things out. I also just really like the way she tells a story. It feels real, it feels fully dimensional.

And I really adore this particular story and the way it ended up. Everyone grew, everyone changed, and everyone’s lives were better for it in the end.

It was a delight.

Audiobook: Star Shipped

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by Cat Sebastian
Read by Joel Leslie
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are a couple of on-page non-graphic sex scenes, and swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Simon and Charlie have been co-stars for the past seven years, working on a space TV show called Out There. They have fought constantly, griping at each other. Simon doesn’t particularly like Charlie, and is convinced that the feeling is mutual. But then, Charlie needs help on a road trip to Arizona, and suddenly Simon’s life is turned upside down: maybe what he was thinking/feeling wasn’t right at all.

There’s more to the story than that – mostly because Sebastian does an excellent job with Simon’s issues: he has migraines, he is very anxious, and he has mild OCD. Charlie has panic attacks. They are real people with real problems (even if they are rich and semi-famous actors), and Sebastian does an excellent job weaving that into this romance. Simon started off cold and distant, and it was delightful to watch him grow and open up as his and Charlie’s relationship grew.

It was also a love letter to fandoms (I was describing this to my husband when I realized that it was very much a Kirk-Spock fanfic), and the impact that having stories that center queer characters have have in the lives of queer kids.

I absolutely loved it, and I’m definitely going to seek more of Sebastian’s books out!

Sunlight Finds You

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by Laura Moriarty
First sentence: “I’m named Eleanor because I was born a week after Eleanor Roosevelt came to Kansas City to campaign for her husband.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: August 4, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some mild swearing, talk of extra-marital sex, as well as some off- page sex, and some spousal abuse. It will be in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

Nora is an outgoing teenager. Leonard is a shy one. He’s an only child from a wealthy family in St. Petersburg; she’s from a working-class blended family. It’s an instant attraction. But that’s just the beginning. As they get older, both Nora and Leonard get trapped in lies that their parents tell them, discraces that they did nothing to earn, and choices that they made with the best of their knowledge they had at the time.

It’s really hard to describe the plot of a book that covers 16 years.

My coworker tried to sell me on this one by saying it’s a romance. Except that it’s not. Sure, there’s a love story – Nora and Leonard have a Passion, and yet Well=Meaning Adults tell them NO, and yet they defy them to live their passion (sort of) (but throw in the Korean War) (and an abusive husband). It was… fine. It was well-written; Moriarty knows how to tell a story. The problem was I didn’t care. (Well, I cared enough to finish.) I wanted to feel something for Nora and Leonard. I wanted to feel the tragedy of their situation, the heartbreak of so many lies being told to them, the joy when they eventually found a way to live together. But it all felt so impassive. So distant. Even though it was told from a first-person perspective (Nora’s). Maybe it was because she was reflecting on things when she was older, and there was distance between the events and the narration. But whatever it was, I didn’t feel anything when reading this.

So, in the end, it was just fine. Which is sad because it could have been more.

Young World

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by Soman Chainani
First sentence: “Dear Miss Escobedo, I know our weekly journals are supposed to be about current events and things that matter in the world, but right now the only thing that matters to me is a girl.”
Review copy provided by the publisher
Content: There’s some swearing (maybe f-bombs? I can’t remember), and violence. It’s in the Young Adult section of the bookstore.

All Benton Young wanted to do was impress a girl. So, he uploaded a video to YouTube with plans for a revolution, with demands that the young people of the world take over and change things. What he didn’t expect was for his video to go viral, for him to be written in as a presidential campaign, and for him – a 17-year-old black kid from St. Louis – to be elected as president. Suddenly, things aren’t quite as easy as he thought it would be. And he still didn’t get the girl.

I was honestly excited about this one. It sounded unique. The book itself is a fascinating mix of journals and “found” documents – graphs, newspaper clippings, etc. I liked the idea of a revolution and even though my husband was skeptical (“How do they get around the Constitution?”), I was game. Until I hit the halfway point. I hate to say it, but Benton isn’t a smart character. Maybe that’s the point, but he kept turning to his friends – both back in St. Louis and one he made in the White House – for information and help. And he never remembered what they said. He couldn’t make decisions – partially because of the way the adults were trying to handicap him, but mostly because he was just Obsessing about The Girl. So, we hit halfway, we find out who the girl was, and then he’s in Sweden for a G-8 conference, and there’s a whole made-up resource of oil and minerals the world is fighting over, and when the polar bear showed up, I bailed. I thought this would be a book for me, and I just didn’t have the patience.

I’m sure there will be readers out there who love it. Maybe they will even find it “empowering” as Chainani hoped. But this wasn’t for me.

Encore

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by Miles Toriko Burks
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: June 2, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some swearing and talking about sex. It will be in the Teen Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

It’s senior year, and Clay is determined to have a good year, surrounded by friends. But when his ex-best friend, Aron, suddenly appears in Clay’s theater class and (gasp) they are paired together, Clay isn’t sure where he stands. Especially since Aron is acting like nothing happened between them (and that he didn’t ghost Clay). As Clay and Aron spend more time together, Clay starts neglecting his current friends, and things spiral out of control. Can Clay save his friendships before it’s too late? (And what ARE those feelings he’s been having for Aron?)

The thing I kept thinking while reading this was that it was very much an American Heartstopper. Which is a compliment! I liked the characters, I liked their friendships, and I liked Aron’s journey to realizing his feelings for Clay and who he is as a person. I liked Clay’s journey to get past old hurt and to trust Aron again. I liked that it was effortlessly queer, and I liked the theater setting. It was all just joyful and fun.

I hope that Burke writes more, either with these characters or with new ones, because he is a talented artist, and I’d love to see more!

The Future is Peace

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by Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon
First sentence: “Once, there were two brothers who lived on opposite sides of a hill.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some mild swearing, descriptions of murder and torture, and talk of the genocide of Palestinians. It’s in the History section of the bookstore.

I picked this up becuase I was intrigued by the premise: Aziz, a Palestinian whose brother was kidnapped by the IDF and tortured, eventually dying of his wounds; and Maoz, an Israeli whose parents were murdred by Hamas on October 7th, traveled around Israel and the West Bank (as much as they could) together. They heard each other’s stories, they held each other’s grief, and they wrote a book, demonstrating that it’s the connection with the Other that helps build peace.

I can’t argue with their conclusion, because I agree: learning the stories, hearing the trials, and respecting those who are not like you is fundamental for building peace and connection in this world. And I appreciated that Aziz and Maoz respected each other to work for that connection. In fact, I respect that this book is trying to show the world that there is a way forward without war, if one will only Listen.

I just wish I liked the book better. I wish their stories, their journey together moved me. It obviously moved them. But, for whatever reason, that really didn’t come through on the page. Which is too bad, becuase I think what they’re trying to do is important.

Monthly Round-Up: April 2026

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The problem this month, if you can call it that, is that I had a really good reading month, and there are three excellent books to choose from. How does one choose? Maybe I shouldn’t and I should just pick three favorites. Two are the next in series that I adore, so maybe I should focus on the stand-alone. Except that one is currently getting a lot of buzz, and maybe it’s over-hyped (it’s still good, though.) Maybe I should just leave you guessing which three I really adored.

I think I’ll just pick all three:

A Kingfisher, Murderbot, and the One everyone is talking about. I loved them all.

Daggerbound
Platform Decay
Yesteryear (audiobook)

As for the rest:

Adult Fiction:

The Rally
Take Me With You
The Deal
How to Fake It in Society (audiobook)

Graphic Novel:

Midsummer Sisters
The Dream Thieves

Non-Fiction:

The Secret History of Wonder Woman
The Universe in Verse

What was your favorite this month?

Audiobook: How to Fake it in Society

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by KJ Charles
Read by Will Watt
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen on Libro.fm
Content: There is some swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and some fade-to-black sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Titus Pilcrow is the fifth son of a wealthy (now dead) English landowner, and so has had to make his own way in the world. He was given an apprenticeship in making paints for artists, something he has come to love, and even has his own ship. Except that his landlord (a former lover) is raising the rent. Titus is pretty despondent, and when he goes to collect a bill from a wealthy customer, he is roped into her dying wish: marry her, inherit her fortune, so she can cut her despicable nephew off.

The problem was: she was going to marry Nicolas-Marc, Comte de Valois de La Motte. So when Nico comes back from a business trip to find the woman dead and another man in his place, he’s a bit… upset. Especially since he and his cousin owe a money lender 2,000 pounds. So, of course, he’s going to find his way into Titus’s good graces. What he didn’t expect was to fall in love.

There was so much silliness in this one, and I found it absolutely delightful. Titus goes from a beleaguered and battered man – a terrible father and older brother as well as a cruel lover will do that to a man – to a more confident person because of Nico’s influence. And Nico learns to trust. And in between there are fabulous clothes, art, outrageous French accents, and a whole lot of delight. I really enjoyed this one a lot. It was silly, yet there was an undercurrent of seriousness (especially when Titus’s former lover was trying to blackmail him) and the reminder that not even wealthy people are exempt from people taking advantage of them.

An absolute delight of a book.

The Deal

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by Elle Kennedy
First sentence: “He doesn’t know I’m alive.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some on-page sex, lots of swearing including f-bombs, and mention of rape and emotional and physical abuse. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

After two years at Briar University, Hannah Wells has a crush: on a football player of all things. She hasn’t talked to him, but he’s amazing to look at, so of course she’s infatuated. He’s even in her Ethics class. Then again, so is Garrett Graham, star hockey player of Briar’s winning team. And he’s discovered that Hannah is brilliant at Ethics (she got an A when everyone else failed) and he needs her help getting his grades up. She needs someone to help her get the football player’s attention. It’s a match. And it works fine until they realize they’ve caught Feelings for one another.

I picked this up because my co-worker (who is Very Knowledgeable in all things Romance) told me I needed to read it before I read next month’s Romance Book Club Book (Love Song, by the same author). She said I need the backstory (we’ll see if I agree when I get around to reading that one!). And even though it’s so very 2015-coded, I enjoyed this. Hannah was raped when she was 15, so she’s dealing with issues surrounding trust and vulnerability, and Garrett, bless him, was super mature (for a 21-year-old). Especially since he’s dealing with his own trauma surrounding the emotional and physical abuse from his father. Either way, these two “broken” people are able to find something in each other that is healing, and I can’t fault that.

There were some humorous parts, and I think Kennedy got the whole college experience – especially at an elite private school – down. Am I going to read the others in the series (all surrounding Garrett’s best friends)? Probably not. But I did have fun with this one.