katvou's reviews
498 reviews

Urban fantasy with mysteries and magic.

I liked how the FMC, Iris, was a bit older. She was smart and accomplished, working at Harvard as an art history professor.

The concept was interesting, with Iris trying to discover the secrets of an old, magical family heirloom that somehow connected her to an unknown, mysterious man.

The crystals were an interesting idea and I would love to learn more about them.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about this book. I personally liked the beginning and the ending of the book, but felt like there were some unnecessary, slower parts in the middle that almost made me DNF the book. Art is an interesting subject, but the excessive details about art pulled me out of the story.

Also, the marketing as wicked and spicy romantasy, which they seem to have changed after I signed up to read the book (my copy still says “A Wicked Spicy Romantasy Series” on the cover) unfortunately did the book a disservice. From the marketing, I was personally expecting a completely different style of book. This felt more like a slow burn, contemporary romance with some mysterious and magical elements mixed with cowboy romance (cowboy meets city girl) and maybe one or two spicy scenes, definitely not “wicked and spicy”.

Thank you, R&R Book Tours & author Blair M. Shadows for the ARC. Receiving ARC didn’t affect my opinion of the book.

This is one of those books where 5 stars is just not enough, and I would rate it higher if it was possible. All Nova’s books are absolutely amazing and I love all of them, but this one was just on a whole other level.

The story of Reign & Lena is heartbreaking but at the same time so beautiful and healing. I have no words to describe how much this book impacted me. I was crying, laughing, and then crying some more. Truly made me go through all the emotions. After reading the last chapter I just wanted to start reading it again.

The writing was captivating and beautiful. The descriptive writing style made me truly feel for the characters, their guilt and grief but also the friendships with funny banter and love between them. It also made me feel like I was in the middle of the action with them. Loved all the little details of Reign & Lena’s relationship, like how he remembered her coffee order, the nickname, how he noticed all the little details about her. And of course, I loved how they helped each other heal and go through their traumatic experiences together.

The epilogue and ending with that cliffhanger was pure evil and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!


I had the honor and pleasure to both BETA & ARC read this book. Thank you so much Nova!
BETA & ARC reading didn’t affect my opinion of the book and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.


“What the hell does progress even mean when everything else is falling apart?”
“You know, for someone who doesn’t want to be fixed, you sure spend a lot of time breaking yourself.”
“It was our spot, and now it feels like the only place I can fucking breathe.”
“It’s love. It’s loss. It’s missing him so much it feels like someone reached inside me and tore out a part of my soul.”
“For the first time in what feels like forever, I feel something other than grief. Hope.”
“Parties are great until you’re in one you can’t fucking escape.”
“If you’re gonna be with me, you need to take me as I am. This mess, this… broken thing.”

Cute and funny comic book about the joys of being a dog owner. Loved the illustrations and as a dog owner I found a lot of these relatable (yes, my phone is filled with dog pics and my dog’s social life is way more interesting than mine).

I received an ARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review. Receiving ARC didn’t affect my opinion of the book.

Interesting, dark YA fantasy with supernatural elements, mysteries, secrets, and murders.

The FMC, Arabel Spade, is an outsider in her hometown because of her supernatural abilities. But her abilities come in handy when she’s helping to solve a string of mysterious murders.

The pacing of the book was fast but never rushed, and the writing was captivating. The  friends-to-lovers storyline between Arabel and Eli was well written, and there were some really cute moments between them.

If you enjoy mysterious, supernatural, dark YA fantasy with coming-of-age themes, great characters, and interesting, well written storyline, I highly recommend checking this book out!

I received an ARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review. Receiving ARC didn’t affect my opinion of the book.

“Sometimes I wonder if it was my greatest misfortune that I didn’t remain dead.”

“I pushed him away. Because I was too scared to live. Because I was too scared to die.”

“How do you help the dead?”

“How many more times are you going to dance with the dead?”

The premise and concept of the book were intriguing, and I loved its moody, mystical vibes. In my opinion the idea of overcoming death and addiction had a lot of potential, but I personally felt that the storyline was lacking.

I didn’t like the FMC, Lovely Timms. I think that her storyline had great potential, with her past struggles with death and addiction, but I feel like her storyline was rushed and lacked any real character development.

The side characters seemed interesting and I wish there would have been more information about them. 

The ending left me really confused and with a lot of questions. I don’t think I will continue with this series.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. Receiving ARC didn’t affect my opinion of the book and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.

“Boss Daddy has a nice ring to it.”
“They’re playing us in my favorite game… the mental game. And I’m about to go all in.”
“You’re all sick little fucks aren’t you?”
“If you’re nice enough to question if it’s right or wrong, then you’re a good person in my book.”


Second book in the High Stakes syndicate series, picks up right where the previous book, Playing For the Dark ended.

Shorter read compared to the first book but not any less eventful. There was a lot happening both with the plot and the relationships between the characters.

Ellie continued to be a strong FMC, even though she went through some traumatic events with Nash. I enjoyed the relationship development in this book and enjoyed seeing different sides of the characters.

The book is told in multiple POVs and I think that the multi-POV storytelling worked great for the plot, and helped to highlight what the different characters were feeling and going through.

Some family secrets were revealed and there were multiple plot twists I didn’t see coming. I couldn’t put this book down.



I received an ARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review. Receiving ARC didn’t affect my opinion of the book.

“You broke into my goddamn apartment while I was streaming. Pretty much naked, I might add. What the hell did you expect?”

“Just help me explore. Nothing else. No feelings, just fun.”

“You can try to run from me all you want, Ragazza Dolce. I have your blood coating my cock now. You’re stuck with me in this life and every life after this.”

Getting into the story honestly took me a while, and at the beginning I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish reading this or not. But I decided to give this book a chance and in my opinion the story got better after about 100 pages.

The FMC, Ellie, was sassy and fierce, and I loved how confident she was with her sexuality. I would have liked to see more relationship development between her and Cello. I personally felt like their relationship development was really rushed, compared to Nash & Zamir. The spice between all of them was spicing though.

Not a bad book, but not my favorite either. If you enjoy fast-paced mafia romances with a little bit of sports added to the mix and lots of spice you’ll probably enjoy this one.

Two fast-paced short stories. The first is connected to Caution Tape, and the second one, 27 Minutes, is its own story, not connected to Caution Tape.

I liked the writing style, and now I need to move Caution Tape higher on my tbr.

“I hate that I have to do this to survive. And I hate how fucking good it feels.”
“I’ve never felt more alone than in these moments.”
“Right now, all I see is a liar, and I’ve had enough of those to last a lifetime.”
“Do you believe that? That everyone has a monster inside them?”


An interesting and unique Beauty and the Beast retelling where the cursed FMC, Bella, is both the Beauty and the Beast.

Fast paced and easy to read. Couldn’t put the book down. 

Loved the slow burn between Bella and Gabriel. Bella’s internal struggle with what she had to do because of her curse, her loneliness, and her attempts to break the curse were heartbreaking.



I received an ARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review. Receiving ARC didn’t affect my opinion of the book.

“I am not a damsel in distress. The last thing I want is some guy swooping in, thinking he’s the answer to my problems.”
“This is exactly why I shouldn’t make important life decisions while drinking boxed wine.”
“This was—I was imagining this. I was trapped in a fucking nightmare. “


Amazing first book in a series. Modern day Camelot / King Arthur retelling 

The blurb of this book immediately caught my interest. The whole idea of the Quest, secrets, betrayal, etc. sounded amazing, and this book was everything I hoped for and more!

Arthurian retellings are some of my favorites, and I loved how this one blended the legends with modern-day life

I’m a sucker for good banter, and Quinn and her knight Landon truly delivered. Their chemistry and banter were amazing, and I loved the “teach me” moments between them.

Overall, the characters were well written and intriguing. I can’t wait to learn more about Landon, Max, and Kingston.

The writing was captivating and kept me hooked. I can’t wait to read what happens next!


I received an ARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review. Receiving ARC didn’t affect my opinion of the book.