REVIEW - The No Touch Roommate Rule (That Steamy Hockey Romance #2) by Lili Valente

The Book

Release Date: 26 September 2025

Goodreads Link

What to do when the sexy hockey player you've been avoiding suddenly becomes your roommate? Make "no touch" rules. Obviously.

I've spent months dodging Leo Parker's attempts to score a second date. Yes, he's gorgeous. Yes, he plays for the Louisiana Voodoo. Yes, he kisses like it's an Olympic sport. But he's also six years younger than I am and—plot twist—I used to babysit him when he was twelve.

But when a hurricane destroys my restaurant (and the storage closet I've been sleeping in), Parker swoops in with the perfect solution. Move in with him. Temporarily. With RULES:

• No sex
• Clothes stay ON in common areas
• Hugging, but only before 5pm

But living with Parker means watching him do everything without a shirt on. Hearing him moan over my cooking like it's foreplay. And discovering he's not just a pretty face—he's funny, generous, and seems to like me...just the way I am.

Soon we're roadtripping to food festivals, winning crawfish mating-call contests (don't ask), and breaking every rule. Repeatedly. I'm starting to think this sweet, sexy man might be My One.

There's just one problem: When it comes to men, I'm cursed. And a blast from the past is about to remind us why falling for each other might be the worst rule we've broken yet.

My Review     5 STARS

**My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

This is the second book in the series and we were introduced to Makena and Leo in book one and i really couldn't wait for their story.

With Makena being 6 years older than Leo she certainly had issues with the age gap at first.  Especially as she has not had the best luck with the men in her life.

Leo has had a crush on Makena since he was 13 and the crush is more now he is an adult.  However he knows that she has had some bad luck with the men in her life and is not scared of putting in the hard work to get what he wants, and he wants her bad!

I loved Leo's Nana, I would have loved a Nana like her for sure.

Both Leo and Makena manage to work through their issues and have a good amount of supportive friends and family between them, and with the introduction more of Charlotte and Nix we know who book three is going to be about and how they start their relationship.

Another great book in another great series.

REVIEW - Tower (Post-Apocalyptic Fairy Tales #1) by Claire Kent

The Book

Release Date: 26 September 2025

Goodreads Link

She needs a man to keep her alive in a world full of monsters.

He'll do.

Ever since the world fell apart, I've been like a princess trapped in a tower, looking down at our chaotic new reality from an upstairs window and never allowed to risk the dangers outside. Then my father dies, and there's no one left to keep me safe from selfish, violent men no longer restrained by social boundaries.

I need someone, and the leader of the local gang is my best choice.

Rough and intimidating, he's no prince. But Levi agrees to keep me safe, and I do my best to keep him happy. Maybe I want more than a transactional relationship, but the world after Impact doesn't allow for romantic daydreams.

Life is now a gritty fairy tale without a happily ever after.

My Review   4 STARS

**My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review****My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

This novella takes place within the Kindled series and is a fairy tale retelling of Repunsel in a post apocaliptic era.

Bailey's dad died last night and she knows that without him her chances of survival are low without a protector and she has seen Levi washing at the lake for ages and knows that deep down he is a good guy and that he is her best bet.  Taking a leap of faith she approaches him the next morning with her proposal and a way of it making him look better with his gang.

Levi accepts and her world instantly changes.  But what they don't expect are the feelings that grow between them and that ultimately make the pair stronger together.

I really enjoyed this retelling and wonder which fairy tale will be next on the agenda.

REVIEW - Poisoned Kingdom (Secrets of Dagome #1) by Olena Nikitin

The Book

Release Date: 9 September 2025

Goodreads Link

When the magic that creates life is a death sentence, her only chance to live is taming it… and the man it tried to claim.

As a poisoner, Roksana knows how to keep a secret—until the power she wields and the secrets she hides begin unravelling, forcing her to flee to the dwarven kingdom.

But the assassin’s mark on her skin isn’t easy to erase.

When she’s discovered by her former master, the price for his silence is brutally simple: kill the notorious War King.

Except… she already did.

Her target, however, refuses to die. Surviving by sheer tenacity—and the darkness her poison awakened—he sets out to hunt down the woman who dared to destroy him.

When his hands finally close around his assassin’s throat, the War King does the unthinkable—he lets her live… and makes her pay.

Thrusted into a world where loyalty is carved in blood and love is the deadliest illusion, two unwilling allies must join forces for a chance to survive—all while trying to ignore the treacherous fire threatening to undo them with every forbidden touch.

As more secrets come to light, Roksana faces an impossible choice.

Trust the man she tried to kill… or hide her power and let his kingdom burn.

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Perfect for fans of high-stakes fantasy with morally grey fmc, enemies-to-lovers romance and rich, Slavic-inspired world-building. This adult high fantasy delivers slow-burn tension, dark intrigue, and a hero torn between power and love.

For readers who crave the grit of The Witcher and the allure of Bardugo’s Six of Crows, reimagined for a mature audience.

Check content warnings in the “Look Inside” section.

My Review    5 STARS

**My thanks to the The Nerd Fam and author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

This is the first time that I have read by this writing duo and I was certainly impressed with the world building and the plot that the story had.

Roksana is a. poisoner and a mage, but a mage with talents that are dangerous as a vivimancer, they have been killed off in the past they are so dangerous.

Escaping from one of her former masters she finds herself fighting for survival and ends up poisoning the wrong man, only she doesn't know it at the time.

There are strong friendships, a romance between her and Rey where he wants her more first and will do what he can to have her.

I really enjoyed the flow of the story the building up of the relationship between Sana and Rey and the use of magic.  Sana certainly goes through her own trial and is a very strong character with a life that has anything but easy.

We are given some of the answers to questions that come up, but as with all good stories there enough crumbs outstanding that we find we want to read the next book to see what happens next.