Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross | Book Review

Posted May 22, 2025 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 1 Comment

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Series: Letters of Enchantment #1
Also in this series: Ruthless Vows
Published by Wednesday Books on April 4, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, Historical Fiction
Pages: 357
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
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After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again…

All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the frontline forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the frontline and a mother drowning her sorrows, Iris’s best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

But when Iris’s letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands – that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper – an unlikely magical connection forms.

Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?

An epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.

Finalllllllyyyyyy I am out of my book slump! I’ve seen this cover around and seen the glowing reviews, but it’s classified as YA which tends to not draw me in anymore so I’d held off on giving it too much attention. But then one day, in the middle of a months-long book slump, I wanted something so uniquely different from anything I’ve ever read. And Divine Rivals fit the bill! First off, it doesn’t feel YA at all. There’s this sweeping romance that feels very mature and like it can stand the test of time. It definitely gives the historical fiction vibes I love so much, with the way the characters dress, the cars, the old money, etc. but it’s set in a completely different world from ours and there’s a hint of magic and a system of Gods and Goddesses that throws it into the historical fantasy genre. I took a little while to get my bearings and really feel invested, but then I quickly became obsessed and binged both books back to back.

I don’t want to spoil anything about what initially connects our two main characters, but it’s unique and magical and I loved these two together. I loved watching them navigate the twists and turns of their relationship, revelations popping up all the time. Roman is such a sweetheart, and I love how deeply he felt. I loved Iris’s bravery and tenacity. Both are very talented writers, and a large chunk of this novel is pieces they’ve each written. I’ve never read a book like this, and I thought it was so interesting. I really enjoyed the ins and outs of the mystical war between a God and a Goddess, and the people who worshipped them by choosing a side to fight for. And yes, I mean literally fight. There is war in this book that mirrors WW2. There’s soldiers and trenches and bombs, grenades, some magical weapons, death, lost and missing family/friends, and imprisonment. Magic adds layers of complexity to it. I loved the supporting characters and the found family aspects. Iris makes two great friends, Attie and Marisol, and I loved their relationships with each other. There’s a sweet little cat who makes her way safely and happily out of book 2, so fear not for her as you read!

All in all, Divine Rivals is unique and exciting. It’s magical, heartwarming, heartbreaking, swoony, and it kept me biting my nails and on the edge of my seat into the wee hours of multiple mornings. The writing is absolutely beautiful. I love how Rebecca Ross crafted this story, and the words she chose. There are some powerful messages of hope, love, resiliency, and never giving up. Fair warning, this book ends on a major cliffhanger and you will absolutely want to dive right into Ruthless Vows as soon as you finish. I’m so glad I had access to it right away, as I was not expecting this and ended up throwing my reading schedule out the window to read it next! You’ll find my 5-star review of that book in the coming weeks. I highly recommend both books!

Top Ten Books Featuring Travel

Posted May 19, 2025 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 26 Comments

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is books featuring travel. I LOVE traveling, and these ten books will take you away on some of the best vacations I could ever dream of!

1. The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler takes you to small town Alaska, where everybody knows your name.
I know I talk about this book a lot. Sorry, not sorry.

2. Christmas At Frozen Falls by Kiley Dunbar takes you to a stunning resort in the even more stunning Lapland for Northern Lights peeping and sled rides.
I also talk about this book a lot. I’m trying to find more favorite books, I swear.

3. The Gem Thief by Sian Ann Bessey takes you on board a luxury cruise liner that’s touring the Mediterranean.

4. Operation White Christmas by Nikki Edwards takes you to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls!
Also, there’s a baby llama. You’re welcome.

5. Love, Lucy by April Lindner takes you to Florence, Italy!

6. Starry Night by Debbie Macomber takes you to the Alaskan wilderness, where you’ll probably fall in love.

7. Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan takes you to the cozy Snow Crystal Ski Resort, where you’ll also probably fall in love.

8. Gentlemen Prefer Nerds by Joan Kilby takes you on a hunt for a jewel thief in Australia!

9. Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard takes you backpacking in Belize!

10. Just One Day by Gayle Forman whisks you off to Paris for the best sightseeing trip ever.

Do you have any recommendations for books that take place in amazing locations?
Those kinds of books are my favorite, and I can’t ever find enough of them.

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren | Book Review

Posted May 15, 2025 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 0 Comments

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren
on May 14, 2024
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Edelweiss)
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Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents — his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.

I was so, so excited for this book. If you know me, you know that The Unhoneymooners is one of my favorite books ever and I was so excited for another fake dating CLo book set in a tropical location. The Paradise Problem seriously had all the makings of a favorite book for me, but I ended up being so disappointed in it. Here are a few of my very unorganized thoughts on this book so I can move on and away from this.

I hated how Anna was portrayed (like is she really this dumb and hopeless?). I am so tired of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and that’s what the authors tried so hard to have her be. The romance felt too rooted in lust, and this has way more steam in it than I’m used to in Christina Lauren’s more recent releases. There’s also way more language than I’m used to from them. I hated the main dude’s entire family. The family drama was seriously so over-the-top. What poor little rich people. I loved the setting. This could have been so good, but they took everything I loved from The Unhoneymooners and did a complete 180. Oh, and it is so jam packed with modern pop culture references that will not age well at all. This ended up being my biggest bookish disappointment of 2024.

Five Ways in Which My Blogging Habits Have Changed Over Time

Posted May 12, 2025 by Jana in About Me, Top Ten Tuesday / 14 Comments

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is Ways in Which My Blogging/Review Style Has Changed Over Time, and was submitted by submitted by Susan @ Bloggin’ ’bout Books. I decided to tweak this a little because there’s no way I can find 10 ways my style has changed. But even this tweaked topic is still a bit of a tricky one for me, as I’m not sure I’ve changed much since I started reviewing books waaaaaay back in 2011. But I’ll see what I can do!

*30 minutes later* Ok, I’m changing this to five ways my blogging habits have changed because this is too hard. LOL

1. I am pickier about the books I accept for review. I used to accept almost anything I thought I might like because I wanted to get some experience, show that I’m trustworthy, and build a name for myself in the blogging world. I’m pickier now, which helps me keep my reading schedule under control and allows me more freedom to be a mood reader.

2. I am more willing to DNF books, which means I write way fewer negative reviews than I used to. I used to make myself finish every book in the beginning, even if I wasn’t enjoying it, so I ended up writing more negative reviews. Now that I DNF (and sometimes quickly), I get to spend more time gushing about the books I love and promoting authors rather than talking about why a book didn’t work for me. I love this, and it’s what kept me reviewing all these years later.

3. I’ve switched up the kinds of books I review! I used to read YA almost exclusively. My reading habits changed, and so did my review habits. I now focus primarily on adult romance, with the occasional mystery and historical fiction novel thrown in here and there.

4. I quit summarizing the book in my reviews. I actually quit this very soon after I started reviewing. It takes forever and why not just use the summary the publisher paid someone to write in the first place? It helps avoid spoilers, it saves time, it avoids redundancy, and it’s allowed my readers to find my thoughts easily without having to slog through a synopsis they most likely don’t need since they already read the official one (or one written by another reviewer). I really don’t love it when I go to read someone’s review and 95% of the review is their own summary of the book (which is often too detailed and gives away the entire book), followed by a couple generic sentences saying that they either liked it or didn’t. I’d much rather know what you liked and what you didn’t like and why you felt that way than read another summary.

5. I’ve allowed myself to write shorter reviews. I used to think that long, detailed reviews were preferred but then I realized I didn’t like reading long, detailed reviews from other people! And I don’t like writing them myself! Now that I’ve shortened my reviews it doesn’t feel like such a chore to write them… and I’m writing more. Imagine that!

How have your blogging/reviewing habits or style changed since you started reviewing books?

Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison | Book Review

Posted May 8, 2025 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 1 Comment

Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison
Series: Lovelight #3
Also in this series: In the Weeds, Business Casual
Published by Berkley on August 30, 2022
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Pages: 335
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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Layla Dupree has given up on love.

She’s waded through all of the fish in the sea, each one more disappointing than the last. Apparently owning the bakery at Inglewild’s most romantic destination does not help one’s love life—despite her best efforts. All she wants is a partner who gives her butterflies, not someone who ghosts her at dinner and leaves her with the check.

Good thing Caleb Alvarez has the perfect solution.

After saving Layla from another date gone bad, he has a simple proposition: One month of no-strings dating. He’ll do his best to renew her faith in men while she rates his dating game. It’s a win-win situation. All the benefits of dating, without the added pressure of feelings and unmet expectations.

But there’s one ingredient they haven’t considered. The chemistry between them is red hot and the urge to take things to the next level is more tempting than Layla’s double fudge mocha brownies.

Will the heat between them boil over? Or will it be another case of mixed signals?

Mixed Signals is a sweet and steamy small-town romance. Our story features a bashful man who can rock a Hawaiian shirt, a hopeful and dreamy bakery owner, enough sweets to give you a cavity, and your favorite Inglewild residents. Mixed Signals is a standalone romance and the third book in the Lovelight series, a collection of interconnected novels.

I know I’ve sung Lovelight’s praises for years now, and this book will be no different. I love this small town and all the people who live in it. I love B.K. Borison’s writing. I love the romances she gives us, the special moments, the swoons. She’s an auto-buy author for me for sure. In this book we have Layla the baker and Caleb, the guy who no substitute teaches because he was fired by the police department for being too sweet. lol. So you’ve got pastries as a love language and a golden retriever who will capture the moon for his beloved. What more could anyone want?

Ok, so we’ve got Layla. She’s been very unlucky in her dating life, which I can absolutely relate to. I can confidently say that there are not many people out there who have dated as many frogs as I have. Anyway, I felt for Layla. She’s so sweet and she deserves someone who will treat her right and love her with his entire soul. And that’s Caleb! He’s been in love with her forever, and he shows her by going to her bakery every morning to order a croissant just so he has the opportunity to talk to her. Are you melting yet? Of course, she has no clue because she’s been burned so many times that he heart is guarded behind a very thick wall. He runs into her one day after her most recent horrible date, and they commiserate about their awful dating lives. Caleb comes up with an idea to date each other for one month as a mutually beneficial, no-strings-attached partnership of sorts. He will show her how she deserves to be treated, and she will critique his dating abilities and offer suggestions for improvements (if she has any–and how could she??).

Caleb’s and Layla’s chemistry is off the charts. Maybe it’s easier to date someone when you’re not supposed to be emotionally invested in them, but they sink into this very sweet friendship very quickly. I loved their dates and their conversations. I loved watching Caleb fall more and more for Layla, and I loved watching Layla slowly let him start tearing down her walls. They are the sweetest couple, and they both value what they have because it’s something they’ve wanted for so long. I swooned and smiled and my eyes turned into hearts for them.

AHHHH this series. I will never not tell someone to read it. I am annoying about it. I am clearly crummy at book recommendations because I’ll tell you to read these no matter what you preferred genre is. Oh, you like sci-fi? Read the Lovelight books. You’re a mystery fan? Read the Lovelight books. You don’t like romance? Wellllllllllll you’ll love the Lovelight books. I know this is book #3, but I accidentally reviewed these out of order so I am still mourning the fact that the series is over. I read these in order and I recommend that you do, too. I always love catching up with previous couples and B.K.’s writing just gets better and better!