Tag Archives: Romance

Review: The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz

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The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Deya Muniz
Little, Brown and Company
Published May 9, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich

A funny, heartfelt YA romance about finding love—and lots of grilled cheese sandwiches—in the place you least expect it, from rising talent Deya Muniz.

Lady Camembert wants to live life on her own terms, without marriage. Well, without marrying a man, that is. But the law of the land is that women cannot inherit. So when her father passes away, she does the only thing she can: She disguises herself as a man and moves to the capital city of the Kingdom of Fromage to start over as Count Camembert.

But it’s hard to keep a low profile when the beautiful Princess Brie, with her fierce activism and great sense of fashion, catches her attention. Camembert can’t resist getting to know the princess, but as the two grow closer, will she able to keep her secret?

A romantic comedy about mistaken identity, true love, and lots of grilled cheese.

My Review

As a pretty devoted cheese fan, I really enjoyed this playful book. The character names and places are all cheeses or cheese-related. I loved the emphasis on grilled cheese.

I also like that the story explores Cam’s choice to live publicly as a man as a complicated experience. It begins as a necessity for her financial survival and ultimately becomes a vehicle through which she influences others and finds love.

The illustrations, like the story, have a really playful feel to them. I love the images that show details about fashion and how the Princess uses fashion as a part of her activism. The color palettes of both main characters– soft pinks and light colors for Princess Brie and bolder, darker colors for Count Camembert– contrasted well and balanced nicely on the pages.

Overall, I had a great time reading this one. I would absolutely pass this book to anyone who enjoyed The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used once.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two characters fall in love. References to women needing to marry to rule or inherit wealth.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed this book from my local library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Charmed and Dangerous by Shelly Page

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Charmed and Dangerous
Shelly Page
Joy Revolution
Published March 24, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Charmed and Dangerous

A teen mystic will do anything to solve a series of love-related magical mishaps plaguing her high school, including fake dating her boss’s daughter, in this charming sapphic romance.

Magic lingers in the cozy town of Fair Glen, Illinois, and it’s up to the agents at the Bureau of Mystical Affairs to keep it in check. Monroe Bennett, a junior recruit at the Bureau, is ready to ace her first tracking down the source of a rogue love charm.

Protecting her charmed classmates, including the bureau director’s daughter Iris James, is top priority. But when Iris asks Monroe to fake date her to make her ex jealous, things get complicated. 

Monroe believes in duty, not romance. Yet the more time she spends with Iris, the harder it is to ignore the very real sparks flying between them. Can Monroe protect herself from love long enough to solve this case, or will her growing feelings get in the way?

My Review

This is the cutest book. I love how the premise involves these goofy charmed objects gone wrong and this serious government agency (Think Men in Black, but for magic gone awry) stopping them.

The romance has a hint of grumpy-sunshine vibes, which I find endearing. I like that each girl has something to learn through the course of the story, though. It’s not simply a tale about a girl who doesn’t like romance learning that love is pretty amazing. Iris also has to learn some things about the difference between romance and love.

The magical items going haywire add a lot of comedy to the scenes and keep things light. The romance develops at a good pace, which also made this a really fun read.

I liked that the story features an inclusive cast and adds complexity to the characters’ relationships with their parents without letting those relationships dominate the story. I loved Monroe and Iris as a couple, so it was easy to root for them from their first scene together.

If you like contemporary fantasy or romantic comedy, I highly recommend this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Charmed objects use magic for convenience or havoc. Even the helpful charms can go awry as they degrade over time. When used inappropriately, charms can harm others.

Violent Content
Situations of peril.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Unruly Heart of Miss Darcy by Erin Edwards

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The Unruly Heart of Miss Darcy
Erin Edwards
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published April 7, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Unruly Heart of Miss Darcy

Mr. Darcy got his happily ever after in Pride and Prejudice, and now it’s his sister’s turn in this swoony queer romance, perfect for fans of Bridgerton.

Georgiana Darcy has only ever kissed one girl before, and the resulting blackmail almost ruined her reputation. Since then, she’s carefully calibrated her life to be as quiet as possible, focusing on books and music. She certainly isn’t planning on falling in love with another girl. But then she meets Kitty Bennet, and everything is thrown off kilter.

After a moonlit kiss shifts their newfound friendship into something more, Georgiana follows Kitty to the Bennets’ home. The visit proves ill-timed when she encounters the one man who knows her secret and threatened her with it before. Terrified of testing the limits of her family’s love and of putting Kitty in danger, Georgiana doesn’t know if there’s any chance of a happy ending.

Every etiquette guide she’s ever read makes it clear that if she wants to protect her family name, Georgiana must pretend her heart follows society’s accepted rhythm. Unless, with a little help from those who understand how it feels, she can compose the future she and Kitty both deserve.

My Review

It’s always interesting to read a spin-off of Pride and Prejudice. It’s the work by Jane Austen that I’m most familiar with (and a go-to audiobook when I’m having trouble sleeping), so I sometimes get picky about how authors reimagine or eliminate certain story elements.

This story takes place after the original timeline and follows the coming-of-age of Georgiana Darcy. It also features Kitty Bennet, the sister most overlooked in the original.

I liked how the book reimagines both Georgiana and Kitty. Both characters felt like they could conceivably be found in the original novel, but our understanding today of neurodivergence and identity gives the characters’ interpretations new space to expand. I especially love that, in this story, Georgiana is a composer as well as a musician. That was a nice touch. Kitty wants to explore the world, which seems very much in line with her impulsive nature in Austen’s novel.

Some minor characters seemed a little oversimplified, but for the most part, I appreciated getting to see this familiar cast on scene in this sweet story. I enjoyed the development of the girls’ romance, and especially loved that Edwards included an older couple to mentor them at a critical moment.

All in all, if you’re looking for a sapphic regency era romance, definitely try this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Vague references to homophobia or fears of homophobic reactions to coming out. References to a blackmail situation before the story began.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Heiress of Nowhere by Stacey Lee

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The Heiress of Nowhere
Stacey Lee
Sarah Barley Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published March 17, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Heiress of Nowhere

An orphan races to uncover a killer—who may have come from the sea—when she and her beloved orcas fall under suspicion in this “atmospheric…beguiling” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) historical gothic mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of The Downstairs Girl, Stacey Lee.

1918. Orcas Island, Washington.

Lucy Nowhere has spent her eighteen years working on the vast estate of the eccentric shipbuilder who took her in after she washed ashore in a green canoe as a baby. But she has long wished for a life off the island, and in a matter of days, she is set to leave for college—and, for the first time, choose her own future.

Then she finds her employer’s severed head on the beach. Rumors swirl that a mischievous spirit and its minions, the sea wolves, have struck again. Lucy doesn’t believe in myths. She knows that a human—a human murderer—killed him. And when she is unexpectedly named heiress to the estate, she understands the next target is her.

Her closest friend, the estate’s vigilant young guard, begs her to escape while she can. But Lucy knows the only way she can discover who she is, and free the island of its curse, is to find the real killer—before she becomes the next victim.

My Review

I’m super late to the Stacey Lee fan club, but wow, I loved this book. It’s so different than other books I’ve read. The story has a bit of a spiritual or magical edge, plus all the tension of a murder mystery. I thought those elements, along with the historical setting, made this a very memorable reading experience.

Heiress of Nowhere brings together many plot elements and a fairly large cast of characters, but Lee keeps these components in perfect balance. I felt like I got a sense of the characters and invested in the relationships Lucy formed. One of my favorite characters was the secretary. I didn’t expect her to be such an important part of the story, but I loved the way that Lucy bonded with her and Flossie.

The murder mystery and the mystery surrounding the orcas and their behavior absolutely propelled me through this book. I ate up every breadcrumb that the author dropped and guessed at all the clues. It was a very engaging read.

Something about this book made me think of Angeline Boulley’s books. This story doesn’t center on Indigenous people or beliefs, but it does explore some of the history of Chinese immigrants in Washington state. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend reading Heiress of Nowhere.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
One character experiences a supernatural connection between themself and an animal. Rumors hold that another person experienced a connection like this, too.

Violent Content
References to the death of animals. A man’s head washes up on the beach after he’s murdered. Reference to a similar murder years before. Someone attacks another person and threatens to torture them to death or end their life quickly if they tell a secret. Two men get into a fistfight several times. References to an argument in which someone shot someone else in the leg. Reference to possible death by suicide (happens off-page).

Drug Content
Characters consume alcohol in a few scenes (legally).

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

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Sunrise on the Reaping (A Hunger Games Novel)
Suzanne Collins
Scholastic Press
Published March 18, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Sunrise on the Reaping

The phenomenal fifth book in the Hunger Games series!

When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

My Review

Where do I begin? In some ways, I think Haymitch’s story may be easier to tell than President Snow’s origin story. Snow becomes the villain. We know how Haymitch’s tale ends, and though it does start at kind of a low point when he enters the scene in The Hunger Games, we sense that he was more than the alcoholic recluse he’s become. This story shows us how much more.

I think Collins did a great job connecting this book to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which occurs fifteen years before this book, and The Hunger Games, which occurs twenty-four years after it. That couldn’t have been easy.

The story also contains a lot of surprising moments and some really fun cameos. (Wiress and Beetee, for example.) Katniss’s parents are also in the story. We know Haymitch outlasts the other tributes, but the story introduces some other goals and stakes. It sets up how and why Haymitch reacts the way he does to Katniss and Peeta in The Hunger Games, especially when Katniss reacts to the game makers the way she does.

Beneath its surface, the story explores the power of propoganda. Haymitch gives a lot of thought to the difference between how the Capital defines itself and its policies versus his real experience in District 12. Participating in the Hunger Games gives him a unique opportunity to share his own message, if he can find a way to do so that can’t be ignored.

Some of the story’s components are similar to the other stories. The tributes from certain districts have trained their whole lives to compete, while those from others are barely surviving. It was interesting thinking about what motivated the tributes to behave as they have, and to watch Haymitch evaluate those motivations in light of his own values.

All in all, Sunrise on the Reaping is a great addition to the series. You could read it without having read the rest of the series first, but it will spoil some events in the original trilogy. I’d recommend starting with The Hunger Games first, if you haven’t read it yet.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Lenore believes when people die, they move to another plane of existence, where loved ones might find one another.

Violent Content
Multiple brief graphic descriptions of harm and death. Situations of peril. Gun violence. Fire. Poison. Animals attacking people.

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol and illegally making alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson

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The Scammer
Tiffany D. Jackson
Quill Tree Books
Published October 7, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Scammer

A ripped-from-the-headlines thriller, following a freshman girl whose college life is turned upside down when her roommate’s ex-convict brother moves into their dorm and starts controlling their every move.

Out from under her overprotective parents, Jordyn is ready to kill it in prelaw at a prestigious, historically Black university in Washington DC. When her new roommate’s brother is released from prison, the last thing Jordyn expects is to come home and find the ex-convict on their dorm room sofa. But Devonte needs a place to stay while he gets back on his feet—and how could she say no to one of her new best friends?

Devonte is older, as charming as he is intelligent, pushing every student he meets to make better choices about their young lives. But Jordyn senses something sinister beneath his friendly advice and growing group of followers. When one of Jordyn’s roommates goes missing, she must enlist the help of the university’s lone white student to uncover the mystery—or become trapped at the center of a web of lies more tangled than she can imagine.

My Review

I’m posting about a lot of books that are my first time reading books by authors this week, and this is no exception. Tiffany D. Jackson has been on my reading list for a LONG time, but I finally managed to read one of her books.

And, wow. You know that feeling on a roller coaster, where you’re being propelled upward, and you know the fall is coming any minute? That’s how it felt reading this book. It’s called The Scammer, and the back cover copy offers some pretty strong clues about what kind of story this is, so I had no reason to be surprised by Devonte’s behavior. But I felt like I wanted to jump between him and those girls, or at least to tell Jordyn to listen to herself so many times.

It was easy to feel Devonte’s magnetism, both in how people responded to him and in the way his character was written. While I wanted Jordyn to escape, I also felt how affected she was by his words and ideas.

I thought it was a really interesting choice to set the story on an HBCU campus. This posed some interesting questions and introduced ideas that a different setting may not have centered as easily.

The story is timely and bold. Jordyn’s hunger for connection with her peers, especially her roommates, was so powerful. Her grief was also easy to sense. The balance between the mystery/suspense elements and the romance was perfect. I felt like both fit well within the story.

I’m a huge fan of this author now, and I want to read everything else she’s written. I think I already own several more of her books, so hopefully I’ll get to those this year.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used pretty frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. References to sex. One character tells another that their family abused them, even if they don’t remember it.

Spiritual Content
One character shares some brief information about her Christian faith. Another character directs others to refer to him as a god.

Violent Content
References to death by suicide (happens off-scene). Some scenes show domestic abuse and a group attacking one person at another’s direction. References to gun violence resulting in death.

Drug Content
Some scenes show teens (college students) drinking alcohol. Someone drugs another person’s drink.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.