Review: Rings of Fate (Curses and Crowns #1) by Melissa de la Cruz
12 January 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Review, Books, Curses and Crowns #1, Fantasy, Melissa de la Cruz, Review, Rings of Fate, Romance, romantasy
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Didn’t Quite Hit the Mark
Well, I’m on a bit of a romantasy reading ‘thing’ at the moment and so this book appealed to me with its description of a cursed prince and a hard working barmaid who reluctantly strike a bargain that ultimately puts their hearts at risk!
Prince Dietan is living under a curse. Only a few select people know the details and I’m not going to spill them here in this review. He’s currently travelling the country, supposedly looking for a bride. In truth, he’s looking for someone with magic who might be able to help him.
Aren Bellamore is a hard working barmaid with dreams of escaping her small world. Unfortunately she has too many responsibilities to make this dream a reality, until a handsome prince walks into her world and strikes up a bargain.
What worked for me.
This was definitely an easy to read story. It had a kind of Cinderella vibe but with a totally different angle. We have Aren, hard working and responsible, her mother has died and her elderly father takes a back seat in affairs. She has two sisters – but far from being evil step sisters they are beautiful and adorable and Aren wants nothing more than to see them happily settled. And, of course, we have a handsome prince, supposedly looking for a bride to secure alliances for his country to stop the threat of war.
The story is told in alternating chapters by Aren and Dietan. I really liked this approach letting the readers get into both heads to see what was really going on and of course it gives us a bit of insight into the world itself.
To be honest, I didn’t have any problems reading this, it was light, fun in parts and I was never at the point of putting it down and not picking it up again.
What didn’t work too well for me.
Well, firstly, this being adult fantasy I did expect the foundations to be a little stronger. That being said, I’m new to romance and romantasy so I’m never really quite sure what to expect. Personally this felt very focused on the romance and less so on the fantasy. The world building was thin, I never really got the feeling of threat and most of the story was the two povs travelling together with little thought about the looming war – I don’t know, I just didn’t feel any real urgency just a lot of backward and forward ‘does he doesn’t he like me’ and ‘does she doesn’t she like me’.
I also thought that the other characters were very underplayed. I mean, let’s take a look at Aren’s sisters for example. They fall in love instantly, they have no voice at all, they do nothing whilst Aren runs herself into the ground running a bar, staying up into the early hours sewing dresses to make them look amazing, cooking – I mean, she really is a Cinderella character – but they’re adorable, supposedly, I just don’t understand why they don’t offer to help maybe, or occasionally get more involved, or, maybe they don’t want to be married off either? The same with Dietan who has his two closest friends travelling with him – they never really get to play a strong role or have anything useful to contribute. The four of them exist purely so they can all fall in love and not take part in the story at all, so why include them at all? Just start with Dietan and Aren and keep it simple. It felt like a missed opportunity not to have the four of them contribute a little more.
That probably sounds a little more critical than I intended. On the whole, this was an entertaining and light read. It didn’t quite work for me but I can definitely see it working for other readers who are not only more familiar with romance and therefore know what to expect but also have a firmer grip on what they’re really looking for. These are new waters for me and I’m still really finding my feet so strictly speaking it’s more a case of ‘it’s me not you’ at play here.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 3 of 5 stars
Review: Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
9 January 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Black Sheep, Book Reviews, Books, Cackle, fiction, Horror, Play Nice, Rachel Harrison, Review
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Unreliable Narrator plus Possessed House
What could possibly go wrong!?!
I really enjoyed Play Nice. I wouldn’t say this was a haunted house story, it’s more a possession and the core of the plot revolves around secrets and lies and a dysfunctional family but it has drama, intrigue and a few scares up it’s sleeves
As the story begins we meet Clio. A young woman with a picture perfect life – on the face of it at least. She’s an influencer, she is happy in life to be honest and again, on the face of it, she has a good relationship with her family, she’s the youngest member who is seemingly doted on. In reality. Her parents divorced when she was young and after a series of dramatic episodes their mother lost custody. A lot of Clio’s memories of that period seem to have been lost to time so when she receives a phone call informing her that her mother has passed away (and died in the house where all the drama took place, a house that everyone believed to have been sold) well, a whole can of worms is opened up.
Firstly, Clio, wants to prove her maturity by ‘flipping’ the house. Her sisters don’t want her to do so but reluctantly agree. Clio is also the only family member to attend the mother’s funeral – which leads to discord. To be honest, relationships between all the family members are a little strained and come quite easy to fall outs which leads me to think that their happy family vibe was a very surface level affair. Of course, at the funeral, Clio learns a few home truths about the family (because of course she’s only ever heard one side of the story) and then moving into her mother’s house, and finding a copy of the book that their mother wrote about her experiences living at the house, a copy that seems to have been annotated especially with Clio in mind, well, her memory starts to open up a little and something doesn’t quite fit.
What I really enjoyed about this.
Well, I won’t deny that I’m a fan of this author. I’ve not read all of her backlist but the books I’ve read have been really good. (I will gave a special shout out to Black Sheep and Cackle). Always easy to engage with and incredibly entertaining and Play Nice is no exception.
I think that Clio could be a downside for some readers. She’s basically a bit selfish, immature and makes some stupid decisions, but I didn’t find her unlikable. She’s young, she’s popular and she basically thinks her life is golden, that nothing will ever go wrong for her. I think her side of the story did give me doubts as to whether she could be totally reliable as a narrator but, again, I quite enjoy the whole ‘unreliable narrator’ trope and as her mother also fits into this category you have something of a double whammy going on which is a win/win for me.
I liked that we have a double story taking place. The one we’re reading in the moment and the backstory being provided by the now deceased mom who published an account of what she says took place in the house. This is a creepy story – of course you have no idea how much artistic license has been taken by the mother – so, this is why we have the is she/isn’t she an unreliable narrator.
On top of this there is plenty of family drama. As I mentioned above it doesn’t take long before cracks begin to appear in what at first felt like a perfect family unit. And, not everyone is being totally honest with the truth.
The scary scenes were kept to a minimum but when they appeared they certainly produced goosebumps.
This isn’t an all out horror story. There’s a lot of blown out of all proportion family drama and some psychological scares. Frankly, I couldn’t have slept in that house for a New York minute but I’m a total wuss so any of the parts with the demon/possession element did give me the heebies. I suppose if you’re an absolute horror aficionado you might find this a bit tame. Frankly, I enjoyed it very much and have no problem recommending so long as you go in knowing – light on horror, demon not ghost, annoying central character, lots of family drama and unreliable narrators. Haha, that sounds terrible when I write it down like that but personally I would pick up this/any book based on that list.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4 of 5 stars
Review: A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St James
8 January 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A Box Full of Darkness, Book Reviews, Books, Fantasy, fiction, Review, Simone St James
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Great Start to New Year
A Box Full of Darkness was one of my most hotly anticipated reads for 2026 and was in fact my first book of the new year – and what an amazing way to start. I loved this and it’s made me more determined than ever to go back and read some of this author’s previous work. I’ve already read and thoroughly enjoyed Murder Road and I also have a copy of The Sun Down Motel but the Book of Cold Cases and the Haunting of Maddy Clare are also trying to tempt me! So many books to look forward to. Anyway, focus woman! Review.
A Box Full of Darkness takes place in Fell, New York. This is a strange place where many inexplicable things occur. The Esmie family live in a particularly creepy part of town where few children play and it doesn’t bode well to develop any curiosity about what goes on in the woods. Years ago the youngest son, Ben, who was doted on by the whole family, disappeared. His body was never found and the stress and unhappiness eventually broke the family apart, not that they were particularly close in the first place. Now, it seems that Ben is calling his siblings home and the three have no hesitation in returning.
I practically inhaled this ghost story. It has the creep factor in spades and I really loved the main characters. This is only my second book by the author but she really does write her characters so well that they jump off the page. This is mysterious, dark and completely compelling.
The three siblings in question are Violet, Vail and Dodie. Violet is the eldest sister, she has a no nonsense attitude and a way of looking at people that makes them not want to mess with her or get on her wrong side. She currently works as a cleaner for a company who go into houses of the recently deceased where there are no relatives left to finalise their affairs. Its perhaps not the best job for her given that Violet has been able to see ‘ghosts’ for as long as she can remember. Vail is the middle child – but essentially ‘big brother’ to both his sisters. He used to be a diver but now investigates alien sightings and UFOs. Dodie is the youngest of the three, she models (hair and hands) out of New York and of the three of them she is the most explosive. The three have never got over the disappearance of their beloved younger brother. Their parents have long since passed and the three are estranged but a sighting of Ben is enough to bring them back together.
Why I loved this.
The writing is excellent. I found myself immediately drawn in, and I do mean after just a couple of pages. The chapters are split between the three siblings and at first, whilst they try to hold you at arms length, you eventually find yourself really caring for them. They all have very different natures and yet what eventually shines out is that they are in fact incredibly protective of each other. They were predominantly left to their own devices, their parents seemingly ambivalent about whether they ate/didn’t eat/went to school, didn’t go to school, etc. Basically, it wasn’t the happiest childhood for any of them and rather than pull together they fractured and fell apart. But, and this is perhaps a key element of the story, their upbringing has given them a strength and resilience, especially to Fell, that they would otherwise not have had.
Of the three, Violet takes the lead in getting out and about, trying to find out more by any means. She finds herself accompanied, willing or not, by another local (a boy that she had a massive crush on at school – even though he had no idea she existed). Vail is trying to apply his investigative prowess closer to home, taking pictures, examining the attic room and eventually calling in a colleague with the right expertise. Dodie is less active in this way, she’s more likely to breakdown and yet she finds herself discovering information through the least likely means. The three complement each other really well.
I loved the house and the dark carrying ons. For me this was just about as creepy as I would like to read and had a good balance of backstory and other human interest elements to stop me from feeling overwhelmed.
In terms of the setting Fell is definitely a spooky place and I understand there are references to other stories in this book which makes me even more intrigued to search out this author’s earlier work.
In conclusion, I couldn’t put this down. It had me hooked from the get go and I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next (and in the meantime I have the pleasure of reading some of her previous work).
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4.5 of 5 stars
Review: What Stalks the Deep (Sworn Soldier #3) by T Kingfisher
5 January 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Review, Books, Fantasy, Horror, Review, Sworn Soldier #3, T Kingfisher, What Stalks the Deep
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Soft horror with Unexpected Outcome
I am enjoying the Sworn Soldier series by T Kingfisher although the first book still remains my favourite.
In this story Alex Easton travels to America to help out an old friend whose cousin has gone missing, last known destination – an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia.
The story is a mystery that takes our MC into a supposedly haunted mine where the threat of rock falls or suffocation is the least of the problems. Disturbing lights can be seen where there shouldn’t be any light and strange things go bump in the night.
What I really enjoyed about this.
First and foremost the writing. I love reading Kingfisher, she manages to write compelling characters who find themselves in the strangest places and she infuses her stories with her own brand of humour and darkness.
I like the character that she’s come up with for this series and that’s also what I find myself returning for. Alex Easton is a good friend and a strong person who doesn’t flinch from danger or discomfort. In the past stories Alex has dealt with strange mushrooms and ghosts and in this edition, well, I don’t want to give away any spoilers but this went in a direction that I really didn’t see coming. Really quite creepy – and I must mention the dog! I realise I’m being very cryptic but you have to discover these things for yourself.
I liked the setting although at the same time this was also the issue that brought the story down a little for me. It started off very dark, creepy and claustrophobic. Alex isn’t a lover of small spaces and so caving and crawling through tight spaces into the unknown really brought out the fear factor. I did feel that after the reveal the tension and atmosphere seemed to dissipate. I still enjoyed the story and this is a very quick read but I didn’t feel the sense of dread that I had felt during the first half when the unknown occupant of the mine was creeping around.
Overall, a good instalment in the Sworn Soldier series. I can’t wait to see what dilema Alex gets into next and I hope for many more weird and wonderful adventures.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 3.5 of 5 stars rounded to 4
Review: Ragwort by Sam K Horton
22 December 2025
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, Books, fiction, Gorse, Ragwort, Review, Sam K Horton
My Five word TL:DR Review: Like Gorse, Beautiful and Atmospheric
Ragwort is the second book by Sam K Horton that takes place in Mirecoombe, Cornwall during the 1700s. Once again the story has a mystery at its core combined with a world at strife, the church vying for control and the superstitious villagers still holding firm beliefs about the ‘others’.
If you haven’t read Gorse then I would encourage you to do so first. Gorse is such a beautiful story to read and I think you would miss seeing Nancy before she is thrust into the role of keeper. Also, be aware that spoilers for the first book (like Spriggans) may be lurking in this review.
Nancy is struggling with the loss of her father, Lord Pelagius Hunt, and the additional burdens this has placed at her door in the form of becoming the new Keeper (before she was ready). On top of this there are whisperings of the return of ‘Mother’. Concerning rumours that see Nancy travelling abroad across the Cornish moors in search of her grandmother.
What I love about this series. The writing. Its beautiful and evocative. A fantastic combination of atmosphere and folklore. The setting is wild, a little harsh and yet beautiful. I mean, as with the first story there is a mystery unfolding here and Lord Pelagius Hunt is still stirring the pot (in spite of his demise) and yet I think I could read these books just for the sheer beauty of the prose and the way they make me feel. Cornwall, and its rugged beauty springs off the pages and it’s quite simply lush.
Which isn’t to say that the story isn’t intriguing, it just took second fiddle to the writing for me personally.
Getting to the story, this one felt a little more convoluted than the first book and it took me some time to get on board with what was going on, but, enjoyable nonetheless and certainly a demonstration of the fact that people are not always as ‘dead’ as they may at first appear.
Nancy played her part very well. She’s a little unsure of herself in this instalment which was no surprise given her hasty advancement into the role of Keeper. She also takes herself out of her comfort zone, trekking across the Cornish wilds in search of answers and at last coming to the seaside. I loved the inclusion of this coastal visit. Once again Horton’s writing excels and brings the place to life.
In conclusion, this was a great instalment in the series, hopefully there are more stories to come from this fascinating and beautiful world.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4 of 5 stars
Books and travelling with Lynn 