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BOOK REVIEW: LADY TREMAINE BY RACHEL HOCHHAUSER

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 GOODREADS SUMMARY A widow twice-over, Etheldreda is now saddled with the care of her two children, a priggish stepdaughter, and a razor-taloned peregrine falcon. Her entire life has become a ruse, just like the manor hall they live grand and ornate on the exterior, but crumbling, brick by brick, inside. Fierce in the face of her misfortune, Ethel clings to her family’s respectability, the lifeboat that will float her daughters straight into the secure banks of marriage. When a royal ball offers the chance to secure the future she desperately desires, Etheldreda must risk her secrets, pride, and limited resources in pursuit of an invitation for her daughters—only to see her hopes fulfilled by the wrong one. As an engagement to the heir of the kingdom unfolds with unnerving speed, she discovers a sordid secret hidden in the depths of the royal family, forcing her to choose between the security she’s sought for years and the wellbeing of the feckless stepdaughter who has rebuffed her...

Book Review: The Magic We Made by Meg Cabot

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GOODREADS SUMMARY Frankie A trained therapist, Francesca Giovanni knows there’s a scientific explanation for everything. Unfortunately, she lives in West Harbor, CT, a town that’s recently exploded in popularity thanks to “witch tourism.” Suddenly, witches are everywhere, offering locals their psychic services. Frankie’s fine with this…until aspiring teenage witches begin to disappear, and strange things start happening in the lake house next door. Frankie begins to suspect not all newcomers to West Harbor have the good of the community in mind—especially not her new neighbor, Ash Merit. Ash Ash Merit finds lost things—and people—for a living. All he wants is to help his clients, and maybe get to know the stunningly beautiful (and newly single) Dr. Frankie Giovanni a little better. But thanks to some troublesome young witches—not to mention his often faulty psychic “superpower”—everything goes wrong. If only Frankie wasn’t so distractingly attractive…and so unwilling to admit there mig...

BOOK REVIEW: THE SHARK HOUSE BY SARA ACKERMAN

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GOODREADS REVIEW: 998 . In the heart of paradise, danger lurks beneath the surface. Biologist and shark whisperer Minnow Gray travels to the rugged Hawaii coastline, where a series of shark attacks have left the island community on edge. Tasked with uncovering what's going on, she dives into the blue depths, and discovers the problem runs deeper than just one dangerous great white. Haunted by her own past marked by a tragic shark encounter, Minnow finds herself drawn into a tangled web of intrigue and peril that extends far beyond the ocean's surface. A scandal that implicates some of the island's most powerful people. Determined to uncover the reason for these attacks before the mayor calls a mass killing of sharks in the area, Minnow forms an unexpected alliance with enigmatic fisherman Luke Greenwood whose presence ignites feelings she can't ignore, but also stirs questions about his part in it all. As Minnow works to shield the sharks from the island's fear-fuel...

BOOK REVIEW: EVERGREEN ACADEMY BY HEATHER SCHNEIDER

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GOODREADS SUMMARY: Welcome to Evergreen Academy, the secret college for Magical Botanists. I’d always sensed something peculiar about the reclusive Evergreen Academy, tucked deep in the woods of my hometown. But I never could have imagined it was a college for magical botanists–and that I am one of them.  An invitation to the academy opens up a whole new world of wonder, yet my plant affinity powers remain elusive, and my scientific training is far behind that of my peers.  When I’m assigned a tutor, Callan Rhodes, a powerful descendant of the academy’s founders, I’m baffled by his willingness to help me. Despite my challenges, I’m enchanted by the academy’s glass schoolhouse, its grounds which are overflowing with plants that defy the climate, and the quirky festivals held each equinox and solstice. But disaster looms as the verdant shield that protects the academy from the prying eyes of nonmagical people begins to falter. Can Callan and the other founder’s descendants susta...

BOOK REVIEW: THE LAST VAMPIRE BY ROMINA GARBER

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GOOD READS SUMMARY: When a boarding school opens in a once-condemned Victorian manor buried in the woods of New Hampshire, Austen-loving Lorena Navarro enrolls in hopes of finding her own Mr. Darcy. Instead, she stumbles across a coffin and accidentally awakens the world’s last vampire. After hibernating for nearly three centuries, William Pride is desperate to find his family—and clueless about the modern world. Relying on Lorena for more than just blood, he enrolls at the school to catch up on all he’s missed. Soon, William uncovers a chilling truth: He is the last hope for his kind’s return to power. Torn between protecting the humans around him and fulfilling his fate, William must make a choice that could change everything. Will he sacrifice his species for love . . . or will he embrace his dark destiny at last? TEE'S THOUGHTS I seem to be reverting back to my old love of YA vampire books and I am not even mad about it! This my second one that I have read in a month, I think t...

Book Review: Hazelthorn by CG Drews

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GOODREADS SUMMARY: Evander has lived like a ghost in the forgotten corners of the Hazelthorn estate ever since he was taken in by his reclusive billionaire guardian, Byron Lennox-Hall, when he was a child. For his safety, Evander has been given three ironclad rules to follow: He can never leave the estate. He can never go into the gardens. And most importantly, he can never again be left alone with Byron's charming, underachieving grandson, Laurie. That last rule has been in place ever since Laurie tried to kill Evander seven years ago, and yet somehow Evander is still obsessed with him. When Byron suddenly dies, Evander inherits Hazelthorn’s immense gothic mansion and acres of sprawling grounds, along with the entirety of the Lennox-Hall family's vast wealth. But Evander's sure his guardian was murdered, and Laurie may be the only one who can help him find the killer before they come for Evander next. Perhaps even more concerning is how the overgrown garden is refusing to ...

Book Review: Karma's A Beach by Samatha Chase

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GOODREADS SUMMARY: It’s bad enough I have to fly home for a funeral. Not just any funeral either. My ex’s funeral. Where I have to give the eulogy. Let’s just say he was an ex for a reason, and I’d much rather write a speech about his flaws than wax poetic about what a great person he was. But I just couldn’t bring myself to say no to his mom when she asked. So here we are. I just have to get through the funeral and then it’s a whole month of relaxing on the beach with my oldest friends. But of course, nothing ever goes according to plan. Entitled passengers, flight delays, lost luggage. Everything that could wrong went wrong. And I might have had a little too much wine and spilled my entire life story to the man in the seat next to me. The incredibly nice, incredibly sexy man sitting next to me. It’s a good thing I’ll likely never see him again. Or so I thought. The stranger who awkwardly comforts me at my ex’s funeral? Airplane guy. And I’ll give you one guess about who shows up at t...