Author: tamaramorning

Book Review: The Unicorn Hunters, by Katherine Arden

Image belongs to Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey.

Title: The Unicorn Hunters
Author: Katherine Arden             
Genre: Fantasy  
Rating: 5 out of 5 

Anne of Brittany was a child when her realm was invaded, her home besieged, and her royal father driven to his death.

Now her treasury is empty, her land occupied by her enemies, and she is ordered, under threat of renewed war, to become queen of her conquerors and marry the King of France.

This marriage means her country’s annexation. But Anne promised her father that Brittany would never be conquered.

Defiantly, she betroths herself in secret to France’s greatest enemy. But in a world where courts may spy on each other by magic, there is only one way to solemnize this illicit union.

Anne takes her court deep into a legendary forest, where the court diviners’ skill cannot reach. The world thinks they are only a hunting party, coursing after unicorns. But that is a lie, a trick, a feint. No one in living memory has seen a unicorn. All Anne wants is this secret wedding, which is her only hope of salvation.

But when against all hope a unicorn appears and a stranger out of legend stumbles from the trees and falls at her feet, Anne is plunged into a world of enchantment where a doomed sovereign might find the power to change her own and her country’s destiny—or be lost in the shadows forever.

This was a lovely fantasy/historical fiction read! I truly loved reading Anne’s story and this wonderful fictional twist.  Anne was a great character, and the supporting characters were also believable to read. I really enjoyed all aspects of this, and found Katherine Arden’s writing to be as beautiful as always.

Katherine Arden was born in Austin. The Unicorn Hunters is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: My Roman Summer, by Bruna De Luca

Image belongs to Scholastic | Chicken House.

Title: My Roman Summer
Author: Bruna De Luca            
Genre: YA  
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 

Sixteen-year-old Scottish-Italian Livia feels like an outsider, working in her ailing grandmother’s bar in Rome. Smug local boy, Guilio, works there too, and quickly becomes Livia’s nemesis. She is not going to be the cliché foreign girl who has a summer romance. But as Livia navigates family drama, newfound friendships and… Giulio, she starts to see the city (and herself) in a new light.

This was a quick, fun, read, but nothing unexpected. It all resolved about like I expected—with the added bonus of great scenery and lovely little local details. Lots of family drama and teenage angst, but this was an entertaining, cute read.

Bruna De Luca lives in Scotland. My Roman Summer is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Scholastic | Chicken House in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Heirs, by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Image belongs to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends.

Title: The Heirs
Author: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé   
Genre: Mystery/thriller, YA
Rating: 4.0 out of 5

Octavius the Maestro.
Fola the Brain.
Bilal the Olympian.
Perdita the Artist.
Romeo the Failure.

These are the five heirs of the illustrious billionaire Leontes Button. Adopted and viciously trained with their father’s infamous “Button Method” to prove his hypothesis for creating prodigies—child geniuses—the Button siblings have had no choice but to be brilliant according to their father’s impossibly high standards.

Until he is murdered at his annual Prodigy Ball.

Now, all who attended the ball are required to stay in the Button Manor while the police investigate. But the officers have their work cut out for them—each of the Button siblings has something to hide, but The Heirs aren’t the only ones with secrets. After all, Leontes Button was especially good at making enemies. . .

This felt a tiny bit like The Inheritance Games—except I liked all the heirs in those books. This? Not so much. Romeo was the only one here I actually liked. The other four I was ambivalent about at best. Leontes Button was obviously a horrible person, so I didn’t feel bad for him. This was an interesting sort of closed-room mystery with lots of red herrings, but it didn’t take me long to read and it held my interest. As long as you’re not expecting terribly likable characters, you should be good.

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is a bestselling author. The Heirs is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Valencia Expat Club, by June Patrick  

Image belongs to Atria Books.

Title: The Valencia Expat Club
Author: June Patrick            
Genre: Fiction  
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Dahlia Delaney’s marriage just imploded, her friend group picked a side (not hers), and her fancy San Francisco life now fits into a single suitcase. Armed with a broken heart, a freelance marketing gig, and one blurry childhood memory of her abuela’s garden, she impulsively hops on a flight to Valencia, Spain, to reconnect with distant family—and maybe herself.

But Valencia isn’t just sunny plazas and sangria. There’s her chaotic new job at a quirky expat bar, a family she barely knows but who embrace her like she’s always belonged, and a brooding American bar owner who’s frustratingly attractive and entirely too familiar.

As Dahlia stumbles through language mishaps, clashing cultures, and late-night paella with new friends, she begins to realize that the fresh start she came for might turn into something even better—if she can let go of the life she planned and embrace the one unfolding around her.

Definitely feeling the Eat, Pray, Love vibes with this one, which isn’t a bad thing, as I definitely enjoyed that read. I like how Dahlia learns and grows from her experiences. She might have started out running away from her problems, but she truly grows and changes from her experiences, learning from her mistakes and making efforts to move forward. The scenery, the food, and the friends all combined together to make this such a pleasure to read!

June Patrick lives in Colorado. The Valencia Expat Club is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.)

The Best Books I Read in May (2026)

In May, I read 16 books, bringing my total for the year to 67. (I’m way behind). I also DNFed 12 other books (Yeah, lots of DNFs this year. No wonder I’m behind. But life’s too short to read bad books.). Of those, several were really excellent.

The Shippers, by Katherine Center. Katherine Center’s books are always so much fun, and this was no exception. I had a blast reading this!

The Valencia Expat Club, by June Patrick. If you liked Eat Pray Love, you’ll probably enjoy this) although there’s not so much navel-gazing in this one). I loved the travel aspect of this and learning to live in a different culture and seeing the MC grow and change and learn was great.

The Unicorn Hunters, by Katherine Arden. Another fantastic historical fiction/fantasy read from Katherine Arden! I truly loved this from the very beginning and was completely entranced for the entire read.

What I Read in May (2026)

Books Read in May: 16
Books Read for the Year:  67/225

Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:
Penelope in Retrograde, by Brooke Abrams (TBR): I really enjoyed this! Penelope was almost clueless, but the whole family was pretty entertaining.
Brave New Girl, by Rachel Vincent (TBR): I enjoyed this, although it felt pretty familiar, like I’d read something similar.
The Alchemary, by Rachel Vincent (TBR): I REALLY en joyed this read!
Escape to Honeysuckle Hall, by Rebecca Raisin (TBR): This was basically too cutesy to be believable, but it was a nice, light read.
A Parade of Horribles, by Matt Dinniman (audio): Still enjoying this.
Warp, by Meghan Ciana Doidge (TBR): I’m not sure I’m going to read more of these.
For Review:

Burnout Summer, by Jenna Ramirez. This was a decent read, although the MC blamed everyone but herself for pretty much everything, which got on my nerves.

Seconds to Spare, by Rachel Reiss. I enjoyed this YA mystery/thriller. not sure I’d ever step foot onto a plane again…

The Shippers, by Katherine Center. It’s a Katherine Center book. Of course I loved it. This was both funny and relatable.

Dungeons and Danger, by Elizabeth Penney. An enjoyable cozy mystery read.  

The Valencia Expat Club, by June Patrick. Really enjoyed this read about growth, change, and travel.

The Heirs, by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. I only liked one of the MCs, but this was a quick and interesting murder mystery.

My Roman Summer, by Bruna De Luca. This was a quick YA romance. Sweet, but not anything unexpected.

The Unicorn Hunters, by Katherine Arden. This was a great read! Historical fiction mixed with fantasy, with strong, fascinating characters. I found this deeply engrossing.

The Chateau on Sunset, by Natasha Lester. If you’re looking for a read about strong female characters fostering great friendships and learning to be strong, this is it.

The Stargazer of Nantucket, by Julie Gerstenblatt. This was a decent historical fiction read.

Left Unfinished:
The Night of Many Endings, by Melissa Payne: The MC seemed to be obsessed with her brother and his drug use, and I didn’t want to keep reading about ONLY that.
The Calamity Club, by Kathryn Stockett: I really, really wanted to read this. But I found it very slow going and I couldn’t continue reading with my attention wandering.
Enormous Wings, by Laurie Frankel: While I thought the writing was solid and the premise was great, I refuse to read anything that promotes abortion.
Only the Pretty Lies, by Rebekah Crane: Just nope.
Good Joy, Bad Joy, by Mikki Brammer: This just didn’t hold my attention.
The Cove, by Claire Rose: From the GOP-bashing, the let’s-portray-Chrsitians-as-evil-and-closed-minded rhetoric, and the glorifying the occult…this was a bad choice for me. And I find anything that sticks to surface level characterization to be poorly written.
Welcome to Fae Café, by Jennifer Kropf (audio): This was…bad. The characters were annoying at best, and ridiculous the rest of the time. And WHY did everything have to be “Faeborn”? Would the MMC really think about his “Faeborn days” to himself? Or just…his days?
The Cupid Dilemma, by April Asher. Just…why did the first five pages feel like a farce?
Deathbringer, by Sonia Tagliareni. I didn’t make it too far in this because I didn’t like either of the MCs.
A Sprinkle of Sweet Serendipity, by Rachel Linden. This just felt too predictable.
When the Forest Dreams, by Andrea Ezerins. I read almost half of this, but Emma…cannot POSSIBLY be this clueless about real life. This wasn’t remotely believable to me, and I quite at the part where Emma has narrowly escaped being assaulted, and Jake shows up and they hop into bed together. Jake, who knows she hasn’t even been kissed, and he takes advantage of her? No, thank you.
Road Trip, by Mary Kay Andrews. I read the first three chapters, but I didn’t like either of the FMC, so…I stopped reading.

Sundays are for Writing #373

This has been a fantastic writing week! I wrote five book reviews—and survived a hellish week at work.

–My Roman Summer, by Bruna De Luca
–The Heirs, by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
–The Valencia Expat Club, by June Patrick  
–The Unicorn Hunters, by Katherine Arden
–The Chateau on Sunset, by Natasha Lester

Happy writing!

Book Review: Dungeons and Danger, by Elizabeth Penney  

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books.

Title: Dungeons and Danger
Author: Elizabeth Penney     
Genre: Mystery/thriller  
Rating: 4 out of 5

As Halloween approaches, Ravensea Castle is bustling with excitement as Nora Asquith welcomes the fall season guests to her family’s newly converted bed and breakfast. A historian studying the movements of the Vikings has traced their exploits to Ravensea. A certain Viking woman, known as the Red Maiden, landed here and the historian believes she buried a treasure hoard before the castle was built. He is hopeful he can find the hoard now. Nora can’t help but wonder if the enigmatic castle ghost she’s always referred to as the woman in red could be this very Viking?

Meanwhile, a team of four ghost hunters is coming to stay at Ravensea for the filming of Britain’s Got Ghosts. Former students of the historian, the group arrives with their own rivalries and baggage. They try to see who can make the most paranormal contacts and end up getting more than they bargained for.

When the historian is murdered during a Viking festival on castle grounds and his notes go missing, Nora can’t help but wonder if the treasure was why he was killed . . . and could it be connected to the visiting ghost hunters? Additional “accidents” befalling the hunters raise the stakes as Nora races to find the killer—and the treasure—before another death occurs.

This is the second book in this cozy mystery series, and it’s a pleasant series to read. The Asquith family are fun to read about, and the secondary characters are solid, too. There were several red herrings in this read, but they were handled well without being heavy-handed. I really enjoyed the Viking festival and the historical snippets. This is just a sweet, fun read you don’t have to put too much thought into.

Elizabeth Penney lives in New Hampshire. Dungeons and Danger is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur books in exchange for an honest review.)

  

Sundays are for Writing #372

This was a decent writing week, considering my allergies are trying to kill me (bleh) and work felt like it was complicit in that effort. I wrote two book reviews, The Shippers, by Katherine Center, and Dungeons and Danger, by Elizabeth Penney.

I’m drinking copious amounts of hot tea, reading, and journaling, hoping my allergies cooperate with me so I can enjoy my birthday tomorrow.

Happy writing!  

Book Review: The Shippers, by Katherine Center

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title: The Shippers
Author: Katherine Center            
Genre: Romance   
Rating: 5 out of 5

After a whole lifetime of being bad at love, JoJo Burton decides to solve her intimacy issues once and for all at her sister’s destination wedding on a cruise ship. With the help of a little pop psychology, she diagnoses herself with a fixation on the neighborhood guy who was her first crush and first kiss (and who just happens to be a newly-divorced wedding guest ), and she decides to woo him during the cruise for some long-delayed closure. Only problem is, her sister’s a little busy being a bride at the moment—so JoJo ropes in her childhood bestie, Cooper Watts, to be her wing man. Cooper: who RSVPed no, but then showed up, anyway. Cooper: who left town without a word four years earlier and moved to London. Cooper: who was, if she’s honest, the worst heartbreak of JoJo’s life. It’s bliss for her to see him again, and it’s agony, too—and the more they team up for Project Conquest, the more she obsesses over questions she can’t bring herself to ask.

Shipboard antics ensue in this witty, heart-tugging, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance—as JoJo and Cooper fake flirt, slow dance, share a cabin, sing duets, treat sunburns, get jealous, rescue each other over and over, and finally, at last, figure it all out in the most blissful, swoony, romantic way.

It’s a Katherine Center novel, so of course it was heartwarming, sweet, and laugh-out-loud funny. The idea of being trapped on a cruise with my entire family is…overwhelming. Doing that six weeks after you walked away from your own wedding at the altar, and for your own sister’s wedding…well, I can’t imagine.

JoJo and her obsessive over-thinking and analyzing/planning really made me laugh because, same. Cooper…man, everyone needs a Cooper in their lives. These two are so absolutely perfect for each other! I loved their banter, their fighting, the way they had each other’s back no matter what. Watching JoJo slowly come to realize how perfect they are together was so much fun. Loved this read!

Katherine Center is a bestselling author. The Shippers is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)