This review is #SFW but the book contains mature themes.

Spoiler Free Review

Medium Used: 75% hardcover, 25% audiobook.

Ratings out of 5

Sweetness Level:
🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫 (5/5)

Steam Level:¹
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (5/5)

Spice Quality:¹
🔥🔥🔥🔥 (4/5)

Spice Quantity:¹
🔥🔥🔥 (3/5)

MMC (Warrior) Likability:
🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️ (5/5)

FMC (Princess) Likability:
👸🏻👸🏻👸🏻👸🏻👸🏻 (5/5)

MMC (Assasin) Likability:
🥷🥷🥷🥷🥷 (5/5)

Plot Engagement:
💥💥💥💥 (4/5)

Overall Rating:
💜💜💜💜💜 (5/5)

^{1 I use Steam to refer to the tension, yearning, and/or build up to the Spice i.e. sexual intimacy}

Warrior Princess Assassin is a high fantasy polyamorous romance that tells the story of Princess Marjoriana (Jory) of Astranza, her betrothed King Kyronan (Ky) of Incendar, and her childhood friend turned Assassin of the Astranzanian Hunter’s Guild (Asher) as Astranza and Incendar attempt to cement an alliance through marriage against their common enemy Draegonis.

An exquisite blend of slow-burn romance, political intrigue, and sword-clashing action every page left me wanting more. Cover to cover this book took me under 60 hours to finish. Every time I had to put it down for work, sleep, or parenting I could not wait to pick it back up. It rotates perspective between the three titular characters and had me equally invested in each of them – something that many romances with only two main characters struggle to accomplish.

The best thing about Warrior Princess Assassin is its conviction. It is proud to be a capital R romance that does not shy away from classic tropes (e.g. marriage of convenience) while simultaneously subverting the mainstream of the genre with its base premise (i.e. bisexual polyamory). It is by far my favorite of the eight books I have read so far in 2026 and comes in as number eight on my top ten list of favorite romance books of all time.^{sorry Headliners by Lucy Parker which now falls off my top 10 list}

What I liked about this book
* A real slow-burn. With yearning and tension that goes in all directions.
* Asher and Ky are both masculine, emotionally intelligent, caring, and unapologetic bisexual. Their bisexuality is not fetishized and their emotional relationship has its own stakes and journey separate from their relationships with Jory.
* It’s less than 400 pages (sometimes I feel like the fantasy genre has abandoned brevity).

What I did not like about this book
* I found myself left with a fair amount of questions about the world (in particular about its history). Perhaps this is the trade-off with brevity.

This Book Reminded Me of:

• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, for being a capital R Romance in a fantasy setting.
  
• Mindf*ck by S.T. Abby for being a book I read in the beginning of the year that had no business being as good as it was based on the premise.
  
  

Who should read this book?

Everyone this book fucking slaps.

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This review refers to the murder mystery, knife violence, gun violence, and 19th century homophobia that are in the book.

#SFW

Medium Used: 40% audiobook via Hoopla | 60% ebook via Kindle

Ratings out of 5

Overall Rating:
💜💜💜💜 (4/5)

Sweetness Level:
🍫🍫🍫 (3/5)

Spice Heat Level:
💧 (0/5)

Slow Burn Steamy Tension Quality: 🥵🥵🥵 (3/5)

FMC Likability:
👗👗👗👗👗(5/5)

MMC Likability:
🎩🎩🎩🎩 (4/5)

Plot Engagement:
🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️ (4/5)

At least 1 bad dad (pass/fail):
💯 (pass)

BONUS audiobook narration:🔉🔉🔉

Spoiler Free Review

Murder at the Seven Dials is the first book in the Bow Street Duchess Mystery series. It (presumably) begins a slow burn romance between Audrey Sinclair, the Duchess of Fournier and a Bow Street Detective, Hugh Marsden. Their paths cross when Mr. Marsden finds Her Grace's husband, The Duke of Fournier covered in the blood of a murdered opera singer Ms. Lovejoy.

This is a fun read, an intriguing mystery, and cute start of a love story. I appreciated that its pace and brevity. I loved the subtlety of the paranormal fantasy that is woven into this story. Her Grace has a gift that allows her to see other's memories when she touches objects or people. A gift that she considers a curse and keeps a secret. For me, this 'light' fantasy in an otherwise grounded world was novel. I am interested to see if the paranormal aspects of the world will grow at all as the fantasy continues.

The unique circumstances surrounding the meet (not so) cute of Her Grace and Mr. Marsden and their differences in station made their growth in admiration for each other both humorous and endearing. I look forward to seeing where this series goes. Consider me hooked.
What I liked about this book
* Minor Spoiler for a reveal in the first 10% of the story >!The plutonic love between the Duke and Duchess was really interesting to me. I love the dynamic of a married woman as an FMC that loves her husband, who loves her, but only as friends.!< * I am a sucker for sass and witty banter. There is plenty in here.
* The way Audrey and Hugh have unique strengths as investigators that both compliment and conflict with each other. For example, Hugh is more careful about how he approaches things but he is also often too slow or too presumptive and misses things. Audrey can be rash but is a fast learner and her decisive action makes sure opportunities are not missed. * Audrey Sinclair is up there with Nevada Baylor and Olive Smith in heroines that just do it for me.

What I did not like about this book
* At first I was listening to this book because it was available on Hoopla and an ebook version wasn't available on Hoopla or Libby. I found it difficult to keep the various aristocrats and Nobility straight in the audiobook version. Which made it hard to follow the mystery.

Spoilers Review

This Book Reminded Me of:

• Hidden Legacy by Ilona Andrews, fast pace mystery with a strong woman lead
  
  

Who should read this book?

I think fans of slow burn romantic mysteries will enjoy this one. I described it to my wife as regency Veronica Mars vibes but with a splash of paranormal.

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Bonus Gush Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe Volume 1

Apparently Rachel Smythe wrote the Greek Mythology romantic comedy graphic novel I didn’t know I needed but now cannot imagine life without.

I read it in as close to 1 sitting you can have with gremlins running about on Boxing Day. The artwork is beautiful, the dialogue is witty, and the comedy lands in the way I imagine Homer’s better lines landed a few thousand years ago. So good and I cannot believe I’ve never seen this mentioned here or on any of the sister.

💜💜💜💜💜 (5/5)

Big shout out to the librarian who said it was her favorite series when I checked this out. I will be asking you for more recs next time I see you at the library.

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#Books #CaraDevlin #RomanceBooks #HistoricalRomance #RegencyRomance #MysteryRomance #BowStreetDuchess

Content Warning: These books and this review include references to gun violence and car crashes.
This review is: #SFW

Medium Used:
* 80% paperback 20% audiobook via Hoopla {White Hot by Ilona Andrews}
* 100% paperback {Wildfire by Ilona Andrews}

Ratings out of 5

Overall Rating:
💜💜💜💜💜 (5/5) ¹

Sweetness Level:
🍫🍫🍫🍫 (4/5)

Steam Quality Level:
🔥🔥🔥🔥 (4/5)

Steam Quantity Level:
🌶️🌶️🌶️ (3/5)

FMC Likability:
🕵️🕵️🕵️🕵️🕵️ (5/5)

MMC Likability:
🐉🐉🐉🐉 (4/5)

Plot Engagement:
🔍🔍🔍🔍🔍(5/5)

At least 1 bad dad (pass/fail):
0️⃣ (fail)

BONUS audiobook narration:🔉🔉🔉🔉🔉

^{1 the rating I gave book 1 {Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews} was a 4/5 in 2022. I did not revisit it as part of reading the sequels.}

Spoiler Free Review of the first trilogy in the Hidden Legacy Series

Each book in Ilona Andrews' The Hidden Legacy series is an action/adventure mystery set in an alternative history modern day Houston. The first three books are told from the perspectives of Nevada Baylor, a mid twenties private investigator. In Nevada's world the most important part of the genetic lottery is magical prowess. The resulting society is a caste system based on the magical strengths of each family.

Nevada and her family get by in this society by keeping their heads down and their rare magics hidden. Nevada is the primary bread winner and does her best to follow a strict code in her work as a private investigator. Work that is widely aided by the fact that she is a human lie detector – an incredibly rare and feared form of magic.

In book one Nevada's work drags her into the world of Houston's upper elite. Here she encounters one of the most powerful mages in the world Connor 'Mad' Rogan. A war hero, telekinetic, billionaire who is a crazed paranoid asshole.

The first trilogy in Hidden Legacy is exactly the slow burn I prefer in a serialized romance story. Connor and Nevada's love develops over the three series with time passing on page. They face multiple external conflicts together that forces them to see the good and the bad in each other. It does not deliver the meltiest gush or the sweatiest spice but the raw chemistry (with plenty of sassing) that develops over the series places them among my favorite book couples.

At the end of the day, the number one thing that sets this series apart (particularly book 2 and book 3) is the quality of the plot, action, and humor. I did not want to put White Hot nor Wildfire down. Plenty of time is set aside to establish side characters and Nevada's relationships with them. The individual mysteries/client jobs Nevada works gives each book its own beginning, middle, and end but the trilogy also fits together as an overarching story.

** What I love about this trilogy**
* The side characters are all interesting and loveable in unique ways. Each character adds something to the world.
* The sass between Nevada and Connor is excellent through the whole series. They feel right for each other in so many ways.
* Action, mystery, sappy sweet scenes, and steamy tension with an unrushed payoff.

What I do not like about this trilogy
* Book 1 starts off with a bit of some odd vibes (see spoilers).
* The series shifts to other member's of Nevada's family after book 3. I haven't read anything but the transition Novella yet but I kind of love Nevada and am sad to have the story move on.
* There is an excessive amount of car violence / crashes. It does not bother me but I know people who this would be a massive deal breaker for who I'd otherwise like to recommend this series to.

Spoilers Review

This Book Reminded Me of:

• Veronica Mars
  
• {Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews} – same authors w/ similar action packed serial romance vibes.
  
  

Who should read this book?

I think most romance fans who like contemporary sci-fi/fantasy settings with lots of action will love this trilogy.

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There are rare reads for every romance fan when they pick up the right book at the right time. When they see so much of themselves in the book's story that the fiction stops being escapism and starts being therapeutic. When this happens, it is hard for the romance reader to do anything but love that book. It's why I love Roll for Romance.

Medium Used: ~20% eBook, 80% Paperback

Ratings out of 5

Overall Rating: 💜💜💜💜💜

Sweetness Level: 🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫

Steam Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥¹

FMC Likability: 👩‍🎨✨👩‍🎨✨

MMC Likability: 🍺🪕🍺🪕

Plot Engagement: 🖌️🎲☕🗡️

At least 1 bad dad (pass/fail): 0️⃣

Spoiler Free Review

Roll for Romance is a Contemporary Romantic Comedy (CRC) set in Heller, TX – a fictional small-town in the hill country². In a way, it is also a Romantasy set in a generic D&D³ setting. The protagonist of the CRC narrative is Sadie Brooks, a New York City based marketing consultant. When Sadie unexpectedly loses her job she decides to spend the summer living with her best friend in Heller, where Sadie joins a D&D campaign. In the D&D campaign Sadie role plays Jaylie, the protagonist of the Romantasy narrative.⁴

Noah Walker, brewer and bartender at Heller's newest hot spot alchemist, is one of the other players to join the D&D campaign. Noah's character, Loren, is a charismatic lute plucking elf (with a bit of an ego if we are being honest).⁵

I am a big fan of CRCs. I am also a big fan of D&D and Romantasy. When I saw this debut novel was coming out, I felt like it was a book being written for me. I was expecting it to be a cute and campy read. It is cute as hell (and campy) but it is so much more. It encapsulates the pain associated with “success” in the American corporate rat race and simultaneously romanticizes the small-town American charm that I believe is eroding away.⁶ If you like D&D, CRCs, and sometimes ask yourself why you chose a successful career over creative fulfillment, then my advice is to put Roll for Romance at the very top of your to-be-read pile.

What I liked about this book

• The romantic pacing is outstanding. I have never read a slow burn that captures falling in love so holistically.⁷

• Noah's personality radiates positive nerdy-mountain-boy masculinity. He has a bunch of aspects of some of the best friends I have ever had. He's deserving of Sadie.⁸

• The D&D narrative encapsulates what I love about TTRPGs³ and the absurdity of D&D lore and tropes. Lenora Wood's passion for the game will be clear to anyone who reads it.^9,10

• Even though this story is told from the Sadie/Jaylie perspective, by the end I understood Noah/Loren just as much.¹¹

• I normally don't comment much on covers and I know “cartoon romcom” covers are hated by some but I think this is one of the most beautiful covers on my book shelf.

What I did not like about this book

• Noah is, like most MMCs, amongst the top 15% of tallest men in the world. This is offset a little bit by Loren not being taller than Jaylie.

• I would have loved this book even more if it were 30-50 pages longer to add a bit more depth (especially early on) to the D&D narrative. Overall, I love Lenora Woods' this format and hope she writes more books like this. This criticism is likely only a reflection on me being a man who loves CRCs and D&D so much.

Spoilers Review

Note: Roll for Romance contains explicit sexual scenes between consenting adults but i have chosen to keep this review #SFW.

This Book Reminded Me of

• The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood for its the slow burn and payoff.
  
• The vibe of my favorite Actual Play podcast, Not Another D&D Podcast, and its after-show, The Short Rest, which are hosted by Brian Murphy, Emily Axford, Jake Hurwitz and Caldwell Tanner.
  

Who should read this book?

If you like CRCs and D&D I cannot reccomend this book enough. If you are in your late 20s or beyond and often wonder if the juice is worth the squeeze you'll probably find something to like here. If your a Fantasy Romance fan interested in giving contemporary romance a try (or vice versa) this might be a good way to “take a small bite to see if its for you”.

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¹ The quantity of spice in Roll for Romance is low. I realize that spice/steam level sometimes means an objective measure of the frequency and explicitness of sexy time scenes (i.e. smut). My “Steam Heat Level” ratings have always been about my subjective opinion on the quality of the both the sexual tension (e.g. yearning, angst) and sexual payoff. From now on, in my reviews, I am going to use the following to help distinguish these two related but different aspects of romance books. Spice = smut, because spice feels hot once it touches your tongue; Steam = smut + tension, because steam feels hot if you're close to it. Conveniently, this will not make my romance.io spice ratings contradict with my written reviews when cross published there.

² An hour or so outside of Austin.

³ D&D (or DnD) is an acronym for Dungeons and Dragons, the most popular and well known Table Top Role Playing Game or TTRPG. D&D at its core is a form of collaborative improvised story telling that utilizes dice rolling and other table top game elements. In D&D most players role-play and control a single character called a player character. The player-charters are the protagonists of the story being told (usually allies). One player is the dungeon (game) master or “DM” (“GM”) and controls the rest of the world (other characters, wild animals, weather, etc.).

⁴ I interrupted the Romantasy narrative as Sadie's imagination of the world being built in the D&D campaign so the prespective never really switches from Sadie's 1st person even though the writing shifts to third-person limited in the Romantasy narrative. The CRC frame narrative is probably 60-70% of the total narrative. The Romantasy narrative is on the extreme-end of the narrative-play side of the 'actual-play to narrative-play spectrum'. Which is a nerdy way of saying all game mechanics take place “off-screen”.

⁵ Yes D&D fans...the MMC is a horny bard...and I'm here for it.

⁶ I grew up in a small town. Most of my adult life has been spent in cities working in large corporations.

⁷ To put this differently, I felt the growth of emotional connection and friendship between Noah and Sadie (and as extensions of them Loren and Jaylie) was in harmony with the sexual tension.

⁸ In contrast to the MMC in my last review 🙄.

⁹ As a DM, I imagine Lenora Woods is blessing at every table she sits at.

¹⁰ If you're expecting perfect representation of forgotten realms canon and 5e mechanics and will go complain somewhere if the wrong spell component is described for the casting of lightning bolt don't ^{(Also, why are you like this?)}

¹¹ I love The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood but one of the only things I do not like about it is the lack of dual perspective. If it delivered Adam's feelings through Olive's perspective to the level Roll for Romance does with Noah/Loren through Sadie/Jaylie it would probably still be my top CRC read this year.

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