The Collection

Book Reviews

Explore our full library of honest reviews and literary recommendations.

First Lie Wins

First Lie Wins

Ashely Elston

In the realm of storytelling, every now and then, a book emerges wielding a narrator so specific and wildly entertaining that all one wants to do is shut out the…

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Hate Me Under the Mistletoe

Hate Me Under the Mistletoe

Kelly Jamieson

Look, I’m all in for a good time. Who doesn’t adore a fun holiday romance? But this one, while sporadically amusing and occasionally sizzling, dissipates into the realm of insubstantiality…

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The Frozen River

The Frozen River

Ariel Lawhon

Ariel Lawhon’s latest work is my favorite book of 2023. This whopper of a novel delicately peels back the layers of history to reveal the intricate struggles and enduring resilience…

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Protecting You & Fighting for Us

Protecting You & Fighting for Us

Claire Kingsley

The Bailey Brothers series, by the prolific self-published author Kingsley, comes highly recommended by some of our readers. Curious what the fuss was about, I decided to give the series…

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Return to Monte Carlo

Return to Monte Carlo

Cate C. Wells

Cate C. Wells’ latest offering, Return to Monte Carlo, attempts to revisit the sizzling romance novels of the 1980s, but instead, sinks into a morass of missed chances, icky sex…

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After That Night

After That Night

Karin Slaughter

Looking for a light, fun read? Karin Slaughter’s latest addition to the GBI Special Agent Will Trent and Dr. Sara Linton series is not it. This book, the 11th installment…

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Starling House

Starling House

Alix E. Harrow

Alix Harrow’s latest offering, Starling House, transports readers to the heart of Eden, Kentucky, a town wrestling with the ghosts of its past—racism, environmental decay, and the decline of coal…

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Tom Lake

Tom Lake

Ann Patchett

Set in the crucible of Spring 2020, as the pandemic’s grip tightened, Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake is a marvel. The narrative takes place over a few weeks on a family…

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The Rebel King

The Rebel King

Gina L. Maxwell

The Rebel King is the second in Maxwell’s Deviant Kings series and, like the first, it features a fae king with a penchant for wink-wink kink. Its hero, Tiernan Verran,…

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Not That Duke

Not That Duke

Eloisa James

Not That Duke begins with this author’s note: There’s no need to have read The Reluctant Countess, but if you have, you’ll notice that Part 1 of Not That Duke takes…

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Fortune Favors the Viscount

Fortune Favors the Viscount

Caroline Linden

Caroline Linden is one of my favorite historical romance novelists. Her Scandalous series is one of my favorites in the genre–Love and Other Scandals is flat out fabulous–and I’ve enjoyed…

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Rebel at Heart

Rebel at Heart

Zoe York

Rebel at Heart is my first Zoe York book–I can see why other AAR reviewers have so enjoyed her work. Very sexy, nicely funny, and with leads you’d like to…

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