Adult Fiction

Audiobook: That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon

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by Kimberly Lemming
Read by Hazel Addison
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: This is a spicy book! Lots of on-page sex, lots of swearing. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

All Cinnamon wants to do is grow her spice (guess which one) and live a quiet life with her family and friends. But then, she accidentally saves the demon Fallon, and gets caught in his quest to defeat the evil witch that is enslaving demons. Cin goes along reluctantly at first, but as they spend more time together, sparks start to fly (among other things).

This was so so silly. Incredibly silly. Like I felt myself getting less intelligent reading this silly. That said, Addison was a good narrator, and I had a grand time listening to it. I’m sure there are internal inconsistencies and that the world-building wasn’t that great, but honestly, I didn’t care. I was here for a good time, and Lemming gave me one.

I’m not sure I care enough to read the rest of the series, but this one was a lot of silly fun.

Hemlock & Silver

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by T. Kingfisher
First sentence: “I had just taken poison when the king arrived to inform me that he had murdered his wife.”
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Release date: August 19, 2025
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some violence, and swearing, including a few f-bombs. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

All Anja wanted was a quiet (enough) life to study poisions and to attempt to find antidotes and cures for as many as she could. Unfortunately, that means she is very good at what she does, and that catches the notice of the king, who comes and “asks” (do kings really ask?) her to save his daughter, Snow, who is slowly wasting away, probably being poisoned. Anja doesn’t want to do this – if she fails, it will be the ruin of her and her father – but she doesn’t have a choice. Once she sees Snow, however, things become more complicated: this is not any ordinary poison.

It’s a very loose, and very clever, retelling of Snow White, one that doesn’t focus on the princess, but rather in which you see the story unfold completely outside of it. It’s incredibly clever (even though it does take nearly 100 pages for the story to really get going – but Kingfisher’s writing is good enough that I didn’t mind that) in both its use of magic and the way in which the fairy tale is interpreted. But, mostly I liked it for what I have come to like about Kingfisher’s books: Anja is not your typical heroine. She’s older, she’s grumpy, she’s single-minded, she’s frumpy, she’s stubborn, and I adored her. I love that Kingfisher gives us main characters that aren’t what you usually think of when you say “fairy tale retelling”, and I am here for pretty much anything that she writes.

This is no exception: it’s truly a delight to read.

Finders Keepers

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by Sarah Adler
First sentence: “Given all the change I’ve had foisted upon me recently, it’s nice to find that Mr. FArina’s naked torso is pretty much the same as I remember.”
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Release date: June 24, 2025
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and two on-page sex scenes. It will be in the romance section of the bookstore.

Nina is not in a good place: she lost her adjunct professor job up in Boston the same time she broke up with her boyfriend (for Reasons, mostly to do with they weren’t compatible anymore), and has arrived at her parents’ house jobless and relationshipless. So, the last person she wants to see is Quentin Blake, aka her ex-best friend who broke her heart when he left town at age 15, soon after they were arrested for trespassing trying to find the hidden treasure of a local eccentric (and long-dead) soda magnate.

So when Quentin suggests they resume their search for the treasure, Nina is reluctant: what if he leaves again? What if he breaks her heart again? But, she has nothing better to do, and the job search is a bit fruitless, and what else is she going to do? So, they pick up where they left off, and find that while there are similarities to their younger selves, they’ve both grown and changed, and maybe what she’s really needed has been at home all along.

While I don’t think this has the same magic that Mrs. Nash’s Ashes does, I think Adler has a gift for weaving historical elements and contemporary romance. I do love how she writes about long-lost love and the joy of finding your soulmate. This is a sweet book, one that has some genuine humor, and I loved the way she wrote both Nina and Quentin. They had good chemistry together, and I loved the way Adler balanced their relationship when they were teens with the adults they are in the book. It’s a charming, lovely story, one that I found absolutely delightful to read.

Audiobook: Kate & Frida

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by Kim Fay
Read by Kelsey Jaffer & Ines del Castillo
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some emotionally charged situations, including a library fire in Sarajevo. It’s in the Adult Fiction section of the bookstore.

It’s the early 1990s, and Frida Rodriguez is in Paris to try and figure herself out. She wants to be a war correspondent, and she is trying to get someone to help her get into Sarajevo so she can cover the Serbia-Bosnia conflict. While she’s waiting, she writes to the best bookstore in Seattle (which isn’t Elliot Bay Books, but actually is) and Kate Fair answers her letter. Thus begins a correspondence between the two young women where they discuss books, food, life, romance, family, and everything else.

It’s another slight novel that really is more than it seems. There’s a lot of bookish references that I didn’t get – I really wasn’t reading what was popular in the early 1990s, not like now – but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy listening to Kate & Frida write back and forth. I was also in my 20s in the 1990s, and it all felt very, well, real to me. I also adored the narrators. Both women did excellent jobs bringing these letters to life, and giving both Kate and Frida more depth.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Sandwich

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by Catherine Newman
First sentence: “Picture this: a shorelined peninsula jutting into the Atlantic Ocean.”
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Content: There is a lot of swearing, including many f-bombs. It’s in the adult fiction section of the bookstore.

I usually don’t take my boss’s recommendations when it comes to books; she and I just have too different of reading preferences. She likes deeply literary things (and mysteries) and I prefer character- and plot-driven genre fiction. So, when she told me I really needed to read this one, I kind of brushed it off.

And then I kept seeing it everywhere, from people whose tastes are more similar to mine, and whose opinions I respect. And so I picked up for myself for Christmas.

I hate to say it, but my boss was right: I needed to read this one. It’s the story of one week in summer, a family vacation – mom, dad, two adult children, one partner, grandparents – all coming together. It’s about nothing, really, just snippets of their vacation. But it’s also about everything. It’s about growing older as a woman, watching your kids get older and become adults themselves, about redefining what it means to be a woman, a person who was once needed and now no longer is, really. It made me laugh – Newman’s observations about menopause, abou the barely contained anger and frustration, about the conflicting emotions (rage, gratitude, regret, joy) you constantly feel as a woman, are spot on – and it made me sob.

It’s a slight thing, this novel, but it packs a punch. And I am glad I finally got around to it.

The Bridge Kingdom

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by Danielle L. Jensen
First sentence: “Lara rested her elbows on the low sandstone wall, her eyes fixed on the glowing sun descending over the distant mountain peaks, nothing between here and there but scorching sand dunes, scorpions, and the occasional lizard.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is violence (lots- the body count is high in this one), on-page sex, and swearing including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Lara – along with 19 of her half-sisters – has been trained by her father, the king of Maridrina – with one goal in mind: marry King Aren, the king of the Bridge Kingdom, gain his trust, infiltrate his country, and help her father bring the country to its knees. At first, Lara is all-in on this plan: she has come to believe that Aren and his country are responsible for the starvation and plagues in her own. But, as she comes to know Aren and his people, she’s not so sure. Perhaps, just maybe, things are not quite as they seem.

I had kind of low expectations going into this one, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a solid fantasy – I liked the world-building that Jensen did, which never felt overly expository, and I liked the characters she developed. I didn’t get much of a sense of many of the minor characters (there were so many!), but Lara and Aren were really fully developed, which I liked. I did think the sex was a little bit… performative? If that’s the right word; it just didn’t feel as connected as I feel it could have been. My biggest complaint though was the twist with 40 pages left in the book. I don’t mind reading a sequel, but I do get a bit annoyed when the story is left unfinished and I feel I have to read the sequel to finish it out. That said, though, Jensen is a decent writer, and this was a solid book

Fast & Reckless

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by Amanda Weaver
First sentence: “Will Hawley downshifted, desperately attempting to hang onto his car as the laws of physics tried to rip it off the track.”
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Content: There is a lot of swearing, including many f-bombs, as well as quite a bit of on-page sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Mira Wentworth has been away from the F1 circuit for seven years, when she was exiled in discrace. Will Hawley is back on the F1 circuit after 3 years away, ever since his disastrous rookie season. When both of them show up to the new season – Mira as her father’s personal assistant (he’s the team principal) and Will as a driver – neither of them want a relationship. Mostly because a relationship between them would be disastrous. But, there’s chemistry, and tension, and sparks fly (pun intended!), and yeah… of course there will be drama. It’s F1.

Things I liked: that Mira’s scandal was truly horrifying, and her coming to terms with it was a definite growth arc. Will was very sassy, though I’m not as convinced he’s changed. The spice level was high but not off the charts. I have no idea how accurate the behind-the-scenes F1 stuff was, but it was fun to travel the world to the places I have seen on screen and in the app. None of the people were real, but there were elements; I could guess at who, maybe, that driver could be. It was silly and it was fun, and it was a quick read.

I really don’t want much more out of a romance, especially an F1 one.

Beg, Borrow, or Steal

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by Sarah Adams
First sentence: “I don’t care who you are, when you live in a town the size of your thumb, if you don’t like the way your hair turns out at the salan, you stuff it deep down an never acknowledge it.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: When in Rome
Content: There is a narcissistic parent, swearing, including f-bombs, and a couple of on-screen sex scenes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Emily Walker and Jackson Bennett have been bickering and competing since they met (accidentally; he bumped into her and spilled coffee on her shirt) their freshman year of college. So, she should be happy that he’s moved to Nebraska to marry his fiance. But, she’s not, not really. And so when she hears that he’s back in town after breaking his wedding off, and moving in next door, she shouldn’t be as furious as she… kind of is? As the summer goes on, Jack and Emily realize that maybe their bickering and competing is maybe hiding something deeper.

I was looking for something light and fun to read and this absolutely fit the bill. I know there’s another one in the series that I haven’t read (I think I have it on audio) but it doesn’t really matter. I liked the banter between Emily and Jack and I liked that Adams gave them both a darker deeper backstory. It gave the book enough depth to make it have some weight, but honestly, I was there for the fun. And it absolutely delivered.

Maybe I will get around to listening to the other one now.

Audiobook: Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales

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by Heather Fawcett
Read by Ell Potter & Michael Dodds
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands
Content: There are some intense moments and a bit of faerie violence. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Spoilers for the first two, obviously.

Emily and Wendell have returned to Wendell’s kingdom, the Silver Loopie, for him to take his place as ruler. It’s not all fun and games, because the former queen, Wendell’s stepmother, isn’t quite dead yet and has put a curse on the land poisoning it. It’s up to Emily, and her immense knowledge of fairy stories, to figure out which story this is playing out as, and how to set the Silver Loopie to rights. And, maybe somewhere along the way, she will figure out how to be the queen of a faerie realm.

I probably guessed somewhere along the way, that this was going to be the end of Emily and Wendell’s adventures, and while I’m sad to see them go, I love the way Fawcett wrapped them up. It had everything I have come to adore about these books: faerie magic, a bit of tension between Emily and Wendell, her dog Shadow (love the dog!), and adventures that she approaches scholarly. It was as charming and as wonderful as the other two.

I do have to admit that I got an advance copy of this book, and tried to read it but couldn’t connect with it. It wasn’t until I picked it up in audio and started listening that I realized that these books, while charming and delightful on their own, are made for audio. Potter does such as wonderful job capturing Emily’s voice and mannerisms, that she makes Emily just jump off the page. They are truly delightful as audiobooks

And, to be honest, I’m okay with the series ending. What I would like, though, is a spin-off series featuring Emily’s niece Ariadnae (not sure of the spelling of that one!). That would be delightful.

A thoroughly charming ending to a thoroughly charming series.

Audiobook: Onyx Storm

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by Rebecca Yarros
Read by Rebecca Soler, Teddy Hamilton, Justis Bolding & Jasmin Walker
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Fourth Wing, Iron Flame
Content: It’s super sweary, super violent, and lots of on-screen sexytimes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Spoilers for the first two books, obviously.

It’s picking up again, where Iron Flame left off – there’s venin (I think that’s how you spell it), Xaden’s turning into one (though he’s trying hard to stop it), the king won’t let refugees in, and they need to find Andara’s (is that spelled right?) dragon family.

And we’re going to spend 500+ (23 hours!) pages doing this.

I started out liking this one – Solner is still delightfully unhinged, I thought the travels around the islands were interesting, and it was nice to have Violet back being a smart badass again. But, as the book went on I lost patience with it. It dragged in the middle. I wanted to punch Xaden in the face on a number of occasions. I hated the “I wanted you but I don’t trust myself” parts and the miscommunication. The last one was a lot, but this was even MORE. And by the end, I was just not interested. (Speaking of the end: I hated it. So much.)

And, after three 500 page books in a five-book series that could have been a solid trilogy, I think I’m done. I have zero interest in where the story is going, in Violet and Xaden’s future, or in all the many plot strings Yarros left undone.

(If I consider reading the fourth when it comes out, remind me that I’m probably going to be annoyed and frustrated with it and that it’s probably not going to be worth my time.)