Tag Archives: Contributor Reviews

Hexy Beast (Sherwood Witches 3) by Avery Flynn-review tour

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Hexy Beast (Sherwood Witches 3) by Avery Flynn-review tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 8, 2026

As the eldest daughter of the magical Sherwood family, I’m supposed to have everything together. Well, joke’s on them—I, Effie Sherwood, am chaos incarnate, and you’ll never be able to guess my next move.

Like jumping on the back of Darius Aetos’ motorcycle. Not only is Darius grumpy, gruff, and hot, he’s also the head of the Aetos werewolf pack.

My spur of the moment decision has quickly become a much bigger commitment, because a pack elder is convinced this hunk of a man (or wolf, depending on the hour) is my fated mate.

Even though I’m a witch and he’s a werewolf, we’re stuck together until we can find our way out of the tricky pack politics. But under the light of the blue moon, it’s almost starting to feel like Darius doesn’t want to stay away from me. And I’m not sure if it’s my magic going haywire or the starlit skies, but I can’t imagine leaving his arms either.

••••••

REVIEW: Hexy Beast is pure Avery Flynn chaos in the best possible way, the kind of book that grabs you by the collar, throws you onto the back of a motorcycle, and refuses to let go until you’ve laughed, blushed, and maybe questioned a few of your life choices. 😜

Effie Sherwood is the eldest daughter of a powerful witch family who is supposed to have her life together, yet she is unapologetically a walking disaster.

Jumping onto the motorcycle of Darius Aetos, the buttoned up, grumpy head of a werewolf pack, is exactly the sort of impulsive decision that defines her, and it is also the moment everything starts spiraling in the most entertaining direction.

The fated mates twist lands with perfect timing. A pack elder decides these two are meant to be, and suddenly the witch and the werewolf are locked into pack politics neither of them asked for.

What should feel like an inconvenience instead becomes a forced proximity trope delight, where their differences crackle.

Darius is all structure and control, (and don’t forget those low growls….. ) Effie is magic that refuses to behave and a personality that delights in poking the bear, or in this case, the wolf.

Their banter is sharp and constant, the kind that makes you smile at the page even while the tension between them builds under every blue moon glance and accidental touch.

The tone light and spicy without ever letting the story feel too silly. The pack politics add just enough external pressure to keep the stakes real, while the chemistry between Effie and Darius crackles.

There is instalust they both try (and fail) to ignore, slowburning emotional pull that sneaks up on them, and enough magical mayhem and quirky side characters to make the world feel fun.

By the time the blue moon is high and neither of them wants to walk away, the romance made me smile, which is exactly how a good fated mates story should land.

If you loved the Sherwood Witches books for their humor, heat, and chaotic energy, this one delivers more of the same while giving the eldest sister her moment in the spotlight.

It is funny, steamy, and completely unconcerned with being quiet or sensible.

Sometimes love really is its own beast, and in Hexy Beast that beast is loud, messy, and impossible not to root for.

I absolutely loved it.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie B 🦋

USA Today bestselling romance author Avery Flynn has three slightly-wild children, loves a hockey-addicted husband and is desperately hoping someone invents the coffee IV drip.

She fell in love with romance while reading Johanna Lindsey’s Mallory books. It wasn’t long before Avery had read through all the romance offerings at her local library. Needing a romance fix, she turned to Harlequin’s four books a month home delivery service to ease the withdrawal symptoms. That worked for a short time, but it wasn’t long before the local book stores’ staffs knew her by name.

Avery was a reader before she was a writer and hopes to always be both. She loves to write about smartass alpha heroes who are as good with a quip as they are with their *ahem* other God-given talents. Her heroines are feisty, fierce and fantastic. Brainy and brave, these ladies know how to stand on their own two feet and knock the bad guys off theirs.

FOLLOW:  Website / Twitter / Pinterest,/ Facebook page/ Facebook profile /Goodreads / BookLikes.

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Savage Truce (Heart of Crime 1) by Michelle Heard-review tour

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Savage Truce (Heart of Crime 1) by Michelle Heard-review tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 8, 2026

I was born into Bratva royalty, but that never made me a princess. My entire life I’ve been mocked and ignored, and the only place I’ve ever felt like myself was at the theater, with a needle in my hand and beautiful fabrics around me.

That’s where I met him.

A stranger with a missing button, clear blue eyes, and a voice that made the world feel less cruel for one stolen night.We only exchanged our first names and talked the night away over warm coffees and pastries before my life came crashing down around me.

Years later, my grandfather is dead, the Bratva is at war, and I’m imprisoned because of my family. I’m broken, bruised, and forgotten until the new pakhan comes to inspect his prisoners.

Rodian Volkov.

The man I never forgot. Only now, he isn’t a stranger with gentle hands and friendly eyes.
He’s become savage just like the rest of the men who bend the knee to him.He’s now the monster I fear.

When he tells the Bratva he’s marrying me to bring peace, I’m too terrified to argue.
Because saying no to the pakhan is never an option.

•••••

REVIEW:  Savage Truce is book one in the Heart of Crime series by Michelle Heard.
Rodian Volkov 32 years old is the Underboss of the Bratva. Anastasia Donovan 20 years old, plus sized seamstress and daughter of mafia and mob parents.

Anastasia works at a seamstress in a theater company in the UK. She loves her job and her workshop – it’s peace and solace that she needs. The petite actresses are cruel and mean to her. For no other reason than she is plus sized. When attending to costumes on the final performance for the show she is working for. She glances out through the curtain and sees a man sitting in the front row dressed in a tailored black suit who happens to be devastatingly handsome. When the lead actress, Sofia, approaches her telling her that the man she is staring at is out of her league, but right up her alley. She tells Anastasia she is going to invite him backstage after the show. Returning to her station backstage –

Anastasia believes that Sofia is right. No man like that would ever look at her. When a stagehand approaches the handsome man, he refuses Sofia’s invitation, but as he stands and adjusts his coat a button falls to the floor. The stagehand darts forward and grabs the button, offering that the seamstress backstage could sew the button back on. The man accepts. When Rodian steps into the workshop backstage, he is immediately taken aback by the beautiful woman in front of him. Anastasia fixes his button and offers to make the jacket a better fit for him. He takes her up on her offer. When she is done, he asks if he can just stay and watch her work. She says yes. When she mentions that Sofia invited him back, he tells her he isn’t interested in Sofia – he is interested in her.

They spend an amazing night together, just talking and getting to know one another. They make plans for a date the next night at 7pm.But Anastasia doesn’t make it. Her mother shows up to return her to Russia because she is about to be 21. Rodian is heartbroken. He knew in his gut he wasn’t going to see her again. And he doesn’t for five years.

Anastasia has become a prisoner in her Grandfathers home.Because of her weight her grandfather wants nothing to do with her Anastasia and her mother are sent to their country home.Anastasia has basically become her mother’s maid. A prisoner in her own family home.But she clings to the memory of her one night with Rodian.

It’s taken Rodian five years to gather enough men to overtake Pakhan of the Bratva, Yegor Fedorov. When Rodian’s men raid the countryside home, Anastasia is shot in the leg trying to escape, and everyone still alive is forced into vehicles and taken to a factory. When someone says a new Pakhan is taking over, Anastasia knows what that means. Everyone in her family is as good as dead, including her.

But they don’t kill Anastasia, while she listens to everyone being killed around her, Rodian’s men make her cooks for them.Because she is too overweight to rape, and someone needs to cook for them. But they starve her and abuse her for a week before Rodian shows up and when he does, all hell breaks lose.

He had no idea that his Anastasia was Yegor Fedorov’s granddaughter. How did he not know that Yegor had a granddaughter – let alone Anastasia. But after five long years of searching, he found her. Abused and beaten by his own men.

Will she ever forgive him? Will he be able to show her how much she means to him?

This was a great start to a new series. A wonderful world built around Rodian and his family and friends. You know that Rodian is as deadly as they come, but the way he melts whenever Anastasia is near is absolutely wonderful. I read this book in one sitting – and I was so sad to see it end. Can’t wait for the next book in this series.

Highly recommend….

copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Erin K.

 

Michelle Heard is a Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling Author who loves creating stories her readers can get lost in. She resides in South Africa with her son where she’s always planning her next book to write, and trip to take.

Want to be up to date with what’s happening in my world? Sign up to receive the latest news on her alpha hero releases, sales, and great giveaways →http://eepurl.com/cUXM_P

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Fortress of Wind (Halls of Fire Sequel) by Christian Cura-review

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Fortress of Wind (Halls of Fire Sequel) by Christian Cura-review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 28, 2026

Princess Una did not want this battle. But war has come to her doorstep.

Princess Una and her autumn mage peers are on the cusp of graduation when Malsumi, the dark goddess unleashes her minions on the world. The remainder of their studies is derailed as the academy plunges them into a war they are not prepared to fight. The advance of Malsumi’s forces is inexorable; one city after another falling under her might. In the midst of it all, nations are displaced, the multitude fleeing into Dagrund. Among them are Tama and Liseli who retreated from the destruction of Califare. However, they are not settled there for long when Malsumi takes control of Tama’s body pulling her out of the refugee camp to join her forces. Thus, Liseli, her best friend, Giulia, and the loyal dragon Nazarria take it upon themselves to infiltrate enemy territory, rescue Tama, and break Malsumi’s power over her—or die trying.

•••••

REVIEW: Fortress of Wind pulls you straight into a world already cracking under the weight of an unstoppable dark goddess.

Princess Una and her fellow autumn mages stand on the edge of graduation, only to watch their academy and their carefully planned futures dissolve as Malsumi’s forces sweep across the land! It’s a dark time indeed!

Cities fall one after another, refugees pour into Dagrund, and among them are Tama and Liseli.

What begins as a story of young mages forced into war quickly narrows into something more desperate when Malsumi claims Tama’s body and drags her into the enemy ranks. (I’m assuming a possession of sorts! 🤷🏻‍♀️)

From that moment the story is all about Liseli, her friend Giulia, and Nazarria (a dragon)as they cross into hostile territory with one clear, terrifying purpose…..bring Tama back or die trying. 😮

What I liked most about the book was how the balance between battles and the search for their friend (it’s a fine balance that is done pretty well.)

The war never disappears, but nations displaced, academies turned into training grounds for unprepared fighters. I got the sense that for every victory Malsumi took, the more desperate it became. The clock is ticking …. Time is running out ….

I also like the link between the three friends, they weren’t going to allow their friend to remain with the enemy if they could help it.
Liseli’s determination is quiet and relentless. Giulia’s presence gives the mission its practical backbone, and the dragon Nazarria adds that power.

You feel the weight of every mile they travel and every risk they take, because the alternative is losing someone they love to a force that does not merely kill but consumes.

The world building is just enough and the pace is a steady one.

We have Autumn magic, the lingering trauma of fallen cities, and the cold efficiency of Malsumi’s control all sit together naturally.

There is a real sense that these characters are not chosen heroes who have always been destined for greatness, they are people who were nearly ready for ordinary lives and are instead forced to improvise under impossible pressure.

The story does not promise easy victories, and it does not soften the cost of resistance. There are casualties, there are loses, it’s not going to be easy.

In the end Fortress of Wind left me thinking about how ordinary bonds— If you like the best friends, found family, a dragon who chooses loyalty, then I think you’ll like this one.
And don’t forget our goddess of darkness.

It is a tense, emotionally charged story, and I’m thinking of going back to see what else this author has written.

Recommended if you love a Dystopian story.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie B 🦋

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Rhodes (Van Doren) by Crea Reitan-review tour

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Rhodes (Van Doren) by Crea Reitan-review tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 27, 2026

Every high school has a bully who has gone unpunished.

Walking the halls of my high school after two decades reminds me why I’ve blocked those years from my memory. The walls hold secrets but perhaps none as potent as the woods behind the school where a life ended too soon.

I wasn’t able to make a difference then. But I’m not a frightened kid anymore. Bullies no longer scare me. It’s time to deliver long overdue consequences to those who have never been held accountable for their actions.

With my pack of wolf dogs and this blindingly bright fake boyfriend at my side, nothing can go wrong.

•••••

REVIEW:Rhodes is a sharp, satisfying little novella that digs into the kind of unfinished business most of us would rather leave buried.

The premise alone had me hooked…. Rhodes now an adult has returns to the halls of his old high school, (school reunion) but he’s no longer that scared kid who once watched something terrible happen in the woods behind the building, and who has decided the people responsible have coasted long enough without consequences. (You need to read to find out what it was 🫣)

That quiet, simmering rage is what drives the whole story, and as usual this author handles it with the same unapologetic edge that runs through the rest of the Van Doren books. And I loved it.

Rhodes arrives with his pack of massive wolf dogs animals that feel less like pets and more like living extensions of his will, and don’t forget Bennett (a fake boyfriend who is clearly there to serve as both cover and complication. 😜)

The dogs are pure chaos in the best way….. they give the quieter moments a feral energy that keeps the tension from ever fully settling. The fake boyfriend setup, meanwhile, starts as pure practicality and slowly reveals itself as something warmer and far more interesting than either man planned, (they remind me a little of Loren/Oakley)

The novella moves quickly, balancing the darker undercurrents of past trauma and present day reckoning with the kind of charged chemistry we have come to expect.

There is heat, there is possessiveness, and there is that particular Van Doren brand of loyalty that borders on the unhinged.

Yet the story never loses sight of the story, a man who has carried guilt and helplessness for twenty years finally deciding he is strong enough to do something about it.

Because it sits inside the larger family web, there are familiar faces and the comfortable sense of an established world, but the book still works as a self contained story.

If you already enjoy the Van Dorens, especially the protective, slightly feral energy that surrounds them, this one will have you smiling.

I finished it wanting more time with Rhodes and his strange, devoted little family of dogs and chosen people, which is exactly the feeling a good novella should leave behind.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie B 🦋

Crea lives in upstate New York with her dog and husband. She has been writing since grade school, when her second grade teacher had her class keep writing journals. She has a habit of creating secondary, and often time tertiary, characters that take over her stories. All of her RH relationships end up being heavily polyamorous – meaning it’s not just all the men for one woman. There’s also some M/M action going on. When she can’t fall asleep at night, she thinks up new scenes for her characters to act out. This, of course, is how most of her meant-to-be-thrown-away characters tend to end up front and center – and utterly swoon-worthy! Don’t ask her how many book boyfriends she has…

When not writing, Crea is an avid reader. Her TBR pile is several hundred books high (don’t even look at her kindle wish list or the unread books on her tablet). Sometimes, she enjoys crafting; sometimes, exploring nature; sometimes, traveling. Mostly, she enjoys putting her characters on paper and breathing life into them. Oh, and sleeping. Crea loves to sleep!

Author Links:

Facebook Group / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Website /

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The Price of Uncreation (Faceless Chronicles 4) by Grant Pierce

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The Price of Uncreation (Faceless Chronicles 4) by Grant Pierce

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Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 1, 2026

When the Lightbringer unleashed the power of Uncreation, the heavens shuddered and answered with a storm of Celestial Fire.

From the ashes, the shapeshifter Valko emerged, unshackled and bent on summoning The Thousand Legion, a force composed of the most powerful greater fiends of the Abyss. Their destructive potential is unimaginable.
Valko seeks to spread the Scarlet Plague and ignite a war that will consume the hybrid races. Amid the carnage of countless vanquished souls, he will seize the power of Creation and Uncreation. No prophecy foretells salvation from his mad machinations.

Standing against him are the gorgon sisters, Azzlya and Nyssa. They must rally an unlikely band of a lich, a flesh golem, a mute skeleton warrior, a half-orc mercenary, and a human rogue. Together, they must unmask Valko, distribute the plague’s cure, and prevent a genocidal war.

The Legion is coming. Valko is its herald.

••••••

REVIEW:The Price of Uncreation is a dark fantasy that delivers a strong blend of apocalyptic stakes, unusual characters, and relentless danger.

The threat posed by Valko and the Thousand Legion feels genuinely overwhelming, while the Scarlet Plague adds an unsettling sense of urgency to the story.

I especially enjoyed the unlikely group of heroes. A lich, a flesh golem, a mute skeleton warrior, a half orc mercenary, and a human rogue make for an intriguing party, and their differences create plenty of potential for tension and unexpected loyalty. Azzlya and Nyssa also stand out as compelling figures as they struggle to unite this fractured group against an enemy who seems almost impossible to stop.

The story has a vivid, brutal atmosphere, with celestial fire, fiends, shapeshifters, and the dangerous forces of Creation and Uncreation adding a grand mythological scale.

At times, the large cast and complex mythology can feel overwhelming, but they also give the story a distinctive identity and makes the world feel much larger than the immediate conflict.

Overall, The Price of Uncreation is an entertaining dark fantasy adventure filled with monsters, magic, war, and desperate heroes.

It should appeal to those who enjoy grim fantasy, morally complicated characters, and stories where survival depends on enemies learning to fight together.

Not my usual read, but this author writes some really good stories (and it’s good to change my reading pattern once in a while.)

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie B

Social Media: Website / Facebook/ X (Twitter)/ Goodreads/ Amazon Author Page/ Bookbub

I have two master’s degrees, one in business and one in clinical psychology. Early in my career, I worked in forensic settings, including courts and prisons, and I received extensive training in working with victims of crime, particularly people dealing with PTSD, anxiety, and depression.

That background has deeply influenced the way I write fantasy. I’m fascinated by what people become under pressure, how trauma shapes choices, and how thin the line can be between empathy and cruelty. So while The Faceless Chronicles has demons, prophecy, shapeshifters, and war, I’m always most interested in the human cost beneath the story.

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Bring Them Home (Detective Amanda Steele 16) by Carolyn Arnold

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Bring Them Home (Detective Amanda Steele 16) by Carolyn Arnold-review tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 27, 2026

She’d never been this terrified but she refused to let it show, to give her captors more power. As she was led out of the van with her parents, she stifled a cry. Ahead of her was an old farm, surrounded by fields. There was no one for miles around. No one to hear the screams that would inevitably come.

When a seemingly ordinary family goes missing in plain sight, Detective Amanda Steele is called in to find them before it’s too late. The only evidence left behind is the mother’s abandoned car in a mall parking lot—her phone and purse on the front seat. But why would anyone target a loving mother, a dedicated father and elementary schoolteacher, and a teenage girl?

Amanda and Trent speak with friends and family but can’t unearth any reason the family would disappear on their own. Their darker suspicion is confirmed when they find CCTV footage of the mother and daughter being bundled into an unmarked black van, driven away at speed. They are looking at an abduction.

Soon human remains are discovered in a field outside of town, and Amanda uncovers a lead that could blow the investigation wide open. If she’s right, this case is linked to a woman who went missing ten years ago—and closer still, to someone within the police department. But can Amanda and Trent put all the pieces together in time to stop a twisted killer before more lives are lost?

••••••

REVIEW:I picked up Bring Them Home expecting another solid entry in Carolyn Arnold’s Detective Amanda Steele series, and it delivered exactly the kind of tense crime thriller I’ve come to like from her.

From the opening pages the sense of dread is immediate and personal…. an ordinary family vanishes in broad daylight, leaving behind little more than a mother’s abandoned car in a mall parking lot with her phone and purse still inside….. That simple, chilling image sets the tone for everything that follows.

Amanda and her partner Trent dig into the lives of the missing parents and their teenage daughter, only to confirm what their instincts already suggested, this was no voluntary disappearance!

CCTV catches the mother and daughter being forced into a black van, and the investigation shifts into higher gear.

When human remains turn up in a remote field, the case deepens and darkens, connecting to a decade old disappearance and, most unsettling of all, pointing toward someone inside the police department itself.

What I liked most was how the author keeps the focus tight on the procedural work without sacrificing the emotional weight of the family’s situation.

Amanda’s determination feels genuine, you sense the pressure she and Trent are under as the clock ticks and the possibility of more victims looms.

The farmhouse setting, isolated and surrounded by empty fields, becomes a recurring image that heightens the isolation and helplessness of the captives. The twists land with satisfying force, especially the way the older case folds into the present one, and the internal threat within the department adds a layer of paranoia that keeps the tension high right through the final pages.

This is the sixteenth book in the series, yet it stands comfortably on its own. (I’ve only read a couple of this series, and at some point I’m definitely going back.)

The pacing is relentless in the best way, once the abduction is confirmed I found myself reading far later than I intended, 😜 unwilling to put the book down until the pieces clicked into place.

If you enjoy police procedurals that balance solid investigative detail with genuine emotional stakes and the occasional gut punch twist, Bring Them Home is a great addition to the Amanda Steele series.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie B

 

Carolyn Arnold was born in a small Canadian town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower. As an international bestselling and award-winning author, she has several continuing fiction series, including her popular Detective Madison Knight series. She offers readers nearly three dozen published books in genres ranging from crime thrillers and hard-boiled mysteries to cozy mysteries and action adventures. She currently lives north of London, Ontario, with her husband and two beagles.

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Miss Wylde & The Wynd (Wynd Brothers 2) by Jane Charles-review

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Miss Wylde & The Wynd (Wynd Brothers 2) by Jane Charles-review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 22, 2026

A wayward spinster. A gentleman determined to set things right. An attraction too tempting to ignore.

Lord Damian Wynd had control of his world and his life. As the second born, it was his responsibility to manage the family import business, Trade Wynd. His days were spent on the docks overseeing the unloading of ships or in his offices not far away, which left Damian with little else in his life. An emptiness gnawed at him, but he had no time to determine the cause, let alone fill it. Nor was it as important as keeping order of all he supervised. However, his carefully balanced world is soon overturned when he spies a young woman sneaking away from one of their newly arrived ships.

Miss Georgiana Wylde had always had an adventurous soul, though limited in what she could pursue, grounded, intelligent, and knew what was expected of her. However, when her sister disappears in pursuit of an English rogue, Georgie must go after her before all is ruined, although she fears that it may be too late.

Damian’s first intention is to send Georgie back from whence she came, but her determination and fear for her sister pulls at something deep in his chest that might very well be his heart.

Georgiana had not expected that the most difficult and pragmatic gentleman in all of England would come to her aid. Further, she does not even like him, nor does he care for her. Yet, as their search takes them from the docks in Southampton throughout England and beyond, she finds herself coming to care, even love, the one gentleman who should be completely wrong for her.

•••••

REVIEW: Miss Wylde and the Wynd is the second book in Jane Charles’s The Wynd Brothers series, competent, slightly prickly people who would rather solve a practical problem than examine their feelings, until the practical problem forces them to do both.

Lord Damian Wynd is the second son who has made order his life. He runs the family import business with a focus that leaves little room for anything softer, and the emptiness he feels is something he simply schedules around rather than confronts.

When he spots Miss Georgiana Wylde slipping away from one of his newly arrived ships in Southampton, his first instinct is pure irritation.

She is chaos in a sensible gown, determined to chase after her sister who has run off with an English rogue, and she has no intention of being sent home quietly.

Damian’s carefully controlled world collides with Georgie’s stubborn sense of duty, and what begins as an attempt to remove an inconvenient woman from his docks turns into a joint search that carries them across England and beyond…..

I loved how the author lets their mutual dislike do the early work. Georgie finds Damian rigid and exasperating, he finds her reckless and far too willing to put herself in danger. Neither is wrong, and neither is entirely right. Their banter has an edge that never tips into cruelty, and the slow shift from reluctant allies to something warmer had me smiling.

Georgie’s adventurous spirit is constrained by the realities of her situation, she is a spinster with limited options and a sister whose reputation hangs in the balance, yet she never becomes passive. Damian’s pragmatism is tested by the very real fear and loyalty she carries, and watching that controlled exterior crack is one of the quieter pleasures of the book.

The journey itself keeps the story moving. There is travel, uncertainty, and the constant awareness that they may already be too late to save Georgie’s sister from ruin.

The stakes remain personal and grounded. Along the way the attraction neither of them wants becomes harder to ignore, and the emotional payoff lands because both characters have been forced to see past their first impressions.

What i liked was the sense that these two people are genuinely wrong for each other on paper and somehow right in practice. Damian’s need for order softens without disappearing, Georgie’s independence gains a partner rather than a handler. Their eventual understanding feels like the natural result of shared purpose and hard won respect rather than destiny or convenient coincidence.

If you enjoy Regency romances that favor character over grand spectacle, that let competent people be both flawed and capable, and that build affection out of friction instead of instant sparks, this one satisfies.

It stands well on its own while clearly belonging to a larger family of stories, and it left me curious about the rest of the Wynd brothers.

A solid, engaging read that shows both its heroine’s determination and its hero’s carefully maintained walls.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie B 🦋

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Traitors by Willa Hollis -review

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Traitors by Willa Hollis -review

 Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 20, 2026

She’s been lied to. So has the whole world.

Seraphine Austen, raised by the Ravellian rebels, has spent her life below, hidden in the shadows after a ruthless regime drove magic wielders and Nulls into hiding below ground. Above, Whitefall, a projected idealistic society, keeps peace and order by practicing law over lore. Gifted with dangerous power, Seraphine has never known independence, instead fiercely protected by her father, the Ravellian leader. Tired of hiding and burning with anger at the injustices above, she’s ready to step into the light and prove herself.

He carries the truth that could change everything.

Tark Lowell is the son of the regime itself. As the Commander of Whitefall’s military forces, he enforces order without mercy and is loyal without question. Burdened by duty and the weight of those he’s sworn to protect, the pressure of it all threatens to expose him.

When Tark captures Seraphine after a mission gone wrong, their meeting creates a chain of events neither anticipated. Ugly truths are exposed, and loyalties fracture, blurring the line between enemy and ally.

Surrounded by deception, Seraphine and Tark must decide whether trusting each other is the greatest risk or their only chance at survival—because how do you trust someone who’s betrayed the only world you’ve ever known?

We’re all traitors in the end.

•••••

REVIEW: Traitors arrives with a description that immediately pulls you into a world of shadows and carefully maintained illusions.

The setup is classic dystopian fantasy, on the surface magic users and Nulls driven underground by a polished, law obsessed society called Whitefall that projects an image of perfect order.

Seraphine Austen has spent her entire life protected, hidden, and essentially caged by her father’s protectiveness and the rebel cause that raised her. That simmering frustration, the hunger to step into the light and claim some agency of her own, is vey apparent. You can feel the weight of being the protected daughter of a revolutionary leader, gifted with power that makes her both valuable and dangerous, and still never fully free.

On the other side stands Tark Lowell, the Commander who enforces the very regime that keeps people like Seraphine in the dark. He is the loyal son of the system, carrying the burden of duty and the quiet knowledge that the peace he protects may be built on lies.

When their paths collide after a mission goes wrong, the story promises the kind of forced proximity and uneasy alliance that can either destroy both characters or remake them.

The blurb’s insistence that ugly truths will fracture loyalties and blur the line between enemy and ally is what makes the book feel promising rather than predictable. It is not simply “enemies to lovers” for the sake of tension, it is about two people who have been shaped by opposing myths of the same broken world, forced to decide whether the person standing in front of them is the greater threat or the only one who can see the truth.

What I liked and stays with me is the final line….. “We’re all traitors in the end.” It reframes the entire premise. Loyalty, in this world, is never pure. Everyone is betraying something…. a parent, a regime, a carefully constructed identity, or the version of history they were raised to believe. That moral grayness is the book’s real strength.

Seraphine’s rage at injustice and Tark’s quiet cracking under the weight of what he has sworn to uphold suggest characters who will not remain static. Their relationship, is less about easy romance and more about the dangerous act of choosing to trust someone who has already been trained to destroy everything the other person has ever known.

The tropes are there (prisoner and guard, forced proximity, the weight of family legacy).

Traitors has the potential to be one of those rare dystopian fantasies that lingers.

Highly recommended 👍🏻

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie B 🦋

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