I am so excited to tell you about four books today! If you’re looking at the image and the title, you’re probably confused about how we’re getting to four, but I also DNF’d an ARC, unfortunately. So the books we’ll be discussing today are Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter, a romantasy, Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst, a cozy fantasy with romance, The Grump Whisperer, a contemporary romance, and my DNF of Only Friends by Lydia San Andres, a contemporary romance. I received e-ARC copies of both Blood Bound and Only Friends, but read finished copies of each that I purchased for myself. And then I received ALCs of Sea of Charms and The Grump Whisperer via Netgalley. I also did have the e-ARC from 2024 of The Grump Whisperer as well that I hadn’t read quite yet… My bad. Anyway, Sea of Charms and the audiobook of The Grump Whisperer aren’t quite out yet, but the other two books are available for you whenever you would like to pick them up! So let’s talk about these books, shall we?
Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter
This new fantasy romance is super interesting because it follows two women from rival kingdoms who do not fall in love with one another. One sister has a romance and one sister has what I thought were hints of a romance, but who is to say, really? These two women wind up having to fight to the death for reasons that make approximately zero sense, but you’ll see if you decide to read it. Throughout the lead up to the event of their fight to the death, the two learn more about one another and that was arguably my favorite part of the book. Alternatively, it’s the talking animal companions. I love a talking animal, apparently.
Anyway, setting aside what this book is because despite having read it, I’m still not good at explaining, what I enjoyed about this book are that the relationships are really well done. The pacing wasn’t always 100% but the bones are so strong with this one that I can definitely see myself picking up book two when it comes out. I’m super intrigued by the end of this book and being able to glimpse where we might be headed in the next book. Also, there is a romance in this book, as I mentioned, and I am a sucker for a literal enemies because we have to be to lovers type of vibe so I was definitely intrigued by that. But I also hope to see that develop so much more in the future. Definitely an intriguing read and it did feel like it had some really unique elements, so that’s always nice to have!
Sea of Charms
by Sarah Beth Durst
This was my favorite of the three books we have so far in the Spellshop series because I really love the way this installment brought all three books together. I also really love the way this book took a couple of scenes from The Enchanted Greenhouse and expanded so dramatically upon them. I do not think you should read this book without having read the first two books, even though, yes, you probably could. Each of these books is pretty self-contained, but you would miss SO much. There are so many connections to the other two. Essentially, in this installment, Marin is like a delivery truck person except she’s a sailor with a sea serpent for a friend. Meanwhile, the capital of this empire is going through an uprising. Ultimately, she winds up bringing on a musician whom she’s been intrigued by onto her boat as they traverse the seas and there are many adventures.
My biggest complaint about the last two books has been the fact that I felt like the romance that resulted felt like it was happening because of a lack of options due to isolation. This book was so much more expansive and is arguably the reason that I preferred it compared to the other books. I really did love all of the different adventures and islands that we stopped at along the way. I loved meeting Marin’s parents. I love all of these flying cats. I think if you want a book that has a lot of whimsy paired with a woman who has self-isolated and needs to find her way back to allowing other people in, then this book is absolutely perfect for you.
I did really enjoy this book, but I do think that it could have been even cooler if it had leaned into some of the musical elements. On the other hand, I know a lot of people don’t like a lot of background noises or singing in their audiobooks, so this one is safe for you to read! But genuinely, I had such a good time with this one and it made me really excited about reading the next book, The Magical Cheese Emporium.
The Grump Whisperer
by Katy James
Morning Star Farms has been sold and the bills aren’t being paid, but the new owner is nowhere to be found. Bronwen, barn manager, discovers someone is living in the owner’s house and she goes to give that person the talk about how they have to take care of things because the horses deserve to be well treated. Hiding in his sister’s house is Ian Kingston and he’s hiding because he’s licking his wounds. I won’t explain because I don’t want to spoil the book for you, but both of them are actually licking their wounds in different ways.
The community in this book is definitely the best part, in my opinion. For me that’s basically always the best part of every small town book. Here the small town is really small, because it’s just the people in the barn. I think that may have been my complaint about the book, actually, is that while I love that community, we only see these people in one context. Alternatively, my complaint is my standard complaint: pacing. This book is soft in a way that’s really nice and I usually enjoy, but the problem was I didn’t feel anything compelling the plot forward. There’s a horse that Ian and Bronwen wind up working with who has some issues and for a bit I thought that was going to be what would keep the plot going. Somehow, it sort of faded out. However, even with my issues with the pacing, I do think I would try this series again. The only problem is that there’s still no news on book two. Technically this came out in 2024 and the audiobook is what is now being released, so it’s a little troubling that there isn’t any news.
Regarding the audiobook, I do think it’s well done. There’s only one narrator, Isabelle Turner, and I think she did a really good job.
DNF: Only Friends
by Lydia San Andres
I really like Lydia San Andres’ historical romances that I’ve read so I was really looking forward to Only Friends. Unfortunately, I did not have a good time with Only Friends and wound up DNF’ing a little over halfway through. I think this will work for someone who wants a book about a messy heroine who has a lot of creative energy that she winds up channeling toward the creation of an Only Fans situation with a handsome man she coincidentally runs into, Dashwood Bennett. I think the reason I didn’t gel with this is because it is a little too whimsical for me. As in, we’re sort of just floating through the book and lately I’ve been in need of structure. I also feel like it took a little too long to get to the point that we’re really going forward with the Only Fans ideas. Anyway, despite this book not working for me, I know that San Andres is great and this book is probably going to really work for other people!
Closing Thoughts
Have you read any of these books yet? I would love to know your thoughts! Are they on your tbr? Let me know!
xx
firewhiskeyreader 