I’ll Pretend You’re Mine by Tashie Bhuiyan

 

“Summer Ali has been making a name for herself in the music industry for years, slowly but surely climbing the charts—but the world doesn’t know her stage parents are the ones who molded her entire public persona. Finally eighteen, Summer breaks free of their control and focuses on creating her own path.

Upon running into writer’s block, Summer grows eager to take any opportunity to shake things up—even if it means agreeing to a PR stunt with child-actor-turned-playboy, Jules Moradi, famous for his tabloid escapades.

At first, Jules keeps his distance, maintaining professional boundaries. But as time passes, his walls come down, and Summer uncovers who he is beyond his reputation, and it’s someone more like her than she ever realized. As the lines blur between fake and real, Summer begins questioning who she is and what she wants—and if her dreams are worth sacrificing her heart.” - taken from Goodreads.

Tashie Bhuiyan has quickly become one of my go to authors for romance. Summer Ali has just turned eighteen and has taken control of her musical career from her domineering parents. On her own for the first time, she must navigate being a celebrity solo. When her manager suggests she “fake date” a bad boy actor for some publicity, she is in for a situation she never expected.

Bhuiyan knocks it out of the ballpark every time with her stories of romance and struggling to get out from underneath controlling parents.

Visit Tashie Bhuiyan’s website.

Once a Villain by Vanessa Len (Monsters book 3)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first two books in the series, Only a Monster and Never a Hero, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“Joan has failed to stop Eleanor.

Now Eleanor rules over a cruel new timeline where monsters live openly among humans, preying on them and subjugating them.

Nick—once a hero to humans, and Joan’s first love—is tormented by the choice he made to save her over the timeline itself. And Aaron—the ruthless heir to a powerful monster family—now finds himself in a world where monsters have power beyond imagining while his feelings for Joan grow.

Wrenched between love and rivalry, the three of them must negotiate their fractured pasts to survive the new world and restore what was lost. Because only they remember that there was once a better timeline.

But how will they defeat a whole world of monsters with control over time itself?” - taken from Goodreads.

This was a great wrap up to this trilogy that finds Joan, Nick, and Aaron in a race against time to stop Eleanor from stopping time travel and creating her version of the perfect timeline. Without giving too much away, the ending was fast paced and satisfying.

Visit Vanessa Len’s website.

The Raven Boys; Graphic Novel by Maggie Stiefvater, adapted by Stephanie Williams (book 1)

“Blue Sargent comes from a family of psychics. Only, she has never had the same clairvoyant abilities they had and has always felt too ordinary within the magic that surrounded her. Enter Gansey, a rich student from Aglionby, the town’s all-boys private school teeming with wealth, privilege, and trouble. Blue's always made it a point to stay away from its students, the Raven Boys.

But when Gansey asks her to join him and three other Raven Boys on his quest to find a long-forgotten Welsh king rumored to be sleeping beneath the mountains of their quiet Virginia town, Blue doesn’t hesitate. She jumps at the chance to finally be a part of something real and full of magic, a world she was born into yet one that always stood just out of reach. Soon enough, she’s swept into a strange and shifting world woven into theirs, one far more dangerous than anything they could have dreamt up.” - taken from Goodreads.

This was a great adaptation of the novel. I thoroughly enjoyed going back to the world of Henrietta and the Raven Boys.

Visit Maggie Stiefvater’s website.

The Executioners Three by Susan Dennard

 

“Freddie Gellar didn't mean to get half the rival high school arrested. She’d simply heard shrieks coming from the woods, so she’d called the cops like any good human would do. How was she supposed to know it was just kids partying?

Except the next day, a body is found. And while the local sheriff might call it suicide, Freddie's instincts tell her otherwise. So, like the aspiring sleuth (and true X-Files aficionado) she is, Freddie sets out to prove there's a murderer at large.

But her investigation is quickly disrupted by the rivalry between her school and the school of the partying teens she got arrested. For over twenty years now, the two student bodies have had an ongoing prank war, and Freddie's failed attempt at Good Samaritanism has upped the ante. Big time. Worse, the clever―and gorgeous―leader of the rival prank squad has set his sights on Freddie.

As more pranks unfurl, more bodies also start piling up in the forest. But it's the supernatural warning signs around town―each plucked straight from an old forgotten poem called "The Executioners Three"―that worry Freddie the most. She knows the poem and its blood curse can’t be real, but she's quickly running out of time to prove it.

Because the murderer―or executioners?―knows she's onto them now, and their next target might just be Freddie. - taken from Goodreads

With a throwback to 1999 and all of the cool references from that year, Freddie Gellar soon finds herself involved in a creepy murder mystery that only seems relevant to her.. With weird happenings occurring in the town that seems to relate to an old poem that she uncovers, Freddie is in a race against time before the next victim is discovered.

Visit Susan Dennard’s website.

Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti

“It was all her idea. They would get away from their parents and spend the weekend camping. Down by Salvation Creek, the five of them would make smores, steal kisses, share secrets.

But sometime around midnight, she vanished.

Now the four friends who came back are under suspicion―and they each have a very different story to tell about what happened in the woods.

The clock is ticking. What are they hiding? Who is lying? Dark truths must come to light if their friend is to be found...

Told entirely through first-person police interviews, this riveting mystery asks: what really happened that night? - taken from Goodreads.

This story is told from four different points of view as they are each being interviewed by the police. Each chapter is a different question that has been posed to each suspect by the police. As Petra, Nolan, Abigail, and John recount the night in question, the surprising details about Maylee’s disappearance begin to unfold.

Visit Chelsea Sedoti’s website.

Glorious Rivals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Grandest Game book 2)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, The Grandest Game, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

Please visit the Recaptains blog if you need a refresher of the first book.

“Seven players arrived on Hawthorne Island, each with their own secrets and motivations to win the Grandest Game. Millions are at stake, but so are hearts—and lives. The players now must race to win the game, solve myriad mysteries, and survive the twists and turns of Glorious Rivals.” - taken from Goodreads.

Picking up immediately where the first book left off, five players are left in the game and the stakes have picked up. This is really Grayson’s and his sisters’ story and the ride is contagious. Readers will quickly figure out that this is not the end of the series and the explosive ending will leave readers waiting for the next book. Lots of mysteries are still unsolved.

This trilogy will conclude with The Gilded Blade out sometime in 2026.

Visit Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ website.

Wish Upon a K-Star by Kat Cho

SPOILER ALERT. It's not necessary to read Once Upon a K-Prom, but it will greatly enhance your reading pleasure with this one. Previous characters do play a role.

“Moon Minseok—or Moonster as this WDB fans know him—wasn’t born to lead. Even as part of the world’s most popular K-Pop group, he found comfort in his role as the jokester, the sidekick, the unserious one (with the cutest smile). But now WDB is drowning in dating scandals, and it’s time for Moonster to take charge of the group's image.

Shin Hyeri has been dealing with some scandals of her own. An up-and-coming K-Drama actress, she’s been labeled a “nepo baby” (with a famous idol as a big brother) and now, a bully (which couldn’t be further from the truth). Desperate to show the world that she’s earned her spot, Hyeri is determined not to let her rising star crash and burn.

When these two childhood enemies get caught up in yet another scandal while co-hosting a K-Pop festival, there’s only one solution that will save both of their reputations: appear on one of Korea’s most popular variety shows, Our Celebrity Marriage (where celebrities pretend to get married and compete in ‘newlywed’ challenges).

The plan is simple—pretend to get along, win back the fans, then go their separate ways. But what happens when a fake marriage leads to real feelings? Will Moonster and Hyeri bow to the pressures of their famous realities, or will they decide their love is something worth fighting for?” - taken from Goodreads.

Super cute romance that takes place in the same world as Once Upon a K-prom. Childhood frenemies join a reality show in an attempt to repair their respective images and realize that old feelings never really went away.

Visit Kat Cho’s website.

Every Spiral of Fate by Tahereh Mafi (This Woven Kingdom book 4)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first three books in the This Woven Kingdom series, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

Check out Epic Reads if you need a recap of the first three books.

“At long last, the wedding day has arrived.

The Jinn queen and the enigmatic ruler of Tulan are to be married in a magical, enchanted ceremony—but Cyrus, tethered by a blood oath to his bride-to-be, can find nothing to celebrate in this union. He’s falling ever more deeply in love with the one person oathbound to kill him.

Sworn to an ancient, unbreakable magic, Alizeh can only fulfill the prophecy to free her people by ensuring Cyrus dies by her own hand. And Cyrus is forced to await his end all while Prince Kamran inches closer, ready to take his place by Alizeh’s side.

The countdown to murder coils tensions ever tighter, but the historic wedding has already drawn deadly attention. To prepare for war and protect her people, Alizeh must finally discover her magic—and outrun the enemies trying to stop her.

Alizeh and Cyrus, along with Kamran and their friends from Ardunia, must flee on dragon-back to begin the perilous journey into the legendary mountains of Arya, where a firestorm of revelations, magical discoveries, and fresh allies awaits them. Every allegiance will be tested, every darkness uncovered, and when the shattering secrets of the Tulanian king are finally revealed . . .

Nothing, and no one, will be the same.” - taken from Goodreads.

WOW! This book really picks up the pace where the story left off in the third book. Without giving too much away, the cliffhanger ending sets up the ultimate showdown between Alizeh and Iblees in the final book.

This series is slated to end with book five, due out sometime in 2026.

Visit Tahereh Mafi’s website.

Holler by Denali Sai Nalamalapu

“Real people are standing up for both their communities and the planet. Drawing from original interviews with the author, Holler is an illustrated look at six inspiring changemakers whose stories should be better known. Denali Nalamalapu, a climate organizer in their own right, introduces readers to six ordinary people who became resistors of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a project that spans approximately 300 miles from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia—a teacher, a single mother, a nurse, an organizer, a photographer, and a seed keeper.

In West Virginia, Becky Crabtree, grandmother of five, chains herself to her 1970s Ford Pinto to stop construction from destroying her farm. Farther south, in Virginia, young organizer Michael James-Deramo organizes mutual aid to support community members showing up to protest the pipeline expansion. These (and more) are the stories of everyday resistance that show what difference we can make when we stand up for what we love, and stand together in community. While each resistor has their own motivation and methods, they share a love for the land and a desire to preserve it. When the world tells them to sit down and back off, each one refuses to be quiet or give up. There is always hope.

More than anything, Holler is an invitation to readers everywhere searching for their own path to sending the message that no matter how small your action is, it’s impactful. The story of the Mountain Valley Pipeline is one of the people of Appalachia have resisted fossil fuel projects for a century. And it’s a story we can all relate to, in one way or another, as each and every one of our communities faces the increasing threats of the climate crisis, and the corporations that benefit from the destruction of our natural resources.” - taken from Goodreads.

This was a very informative graphic novel about the resistance people in our actual area put up against the Mountain Valley Pipeline that came through the eastern part of our county,

Visit Denali Sai Nalamalapu’s website.