Tag: romance

books, reviews

Book Review: Lisa Doyle is Absolutely Fine – Mo Fanning

ramblingmads

Lisa Doyle is fine. Absolutely fine.

At least, that’s the story she’s been telling herself.

Her best friend is getting married. Everyone around her seems to have a partner, a plan, and a life that makes sense. Lisa, meanwhile, has four glasses of wine in her, a talent for making bad situations worse, and a growing sense that she is being left behind.

So she does what any sensible woman in a crisis would do. She announces that she’s engaged.

There is only one problem.

Brian does not exist.

Now Lisa needs a fiancé before the wedding, her actor flatmate is far too willing to get involved, and the real Brian, who is very much married and very much her boss, is starting to look at her in ways that suggest this lie may have got seriously out of hand.

Warm, witty, and painfully recognisable, Lisa Doyle is Absolutely Fine is a grown-up romantic comedy about love, pressure, friendship, and the exhausting performance of holding everything together when you’re quietly falling apart.

Perfect for readers of Mhairi McFarlane, Beth O’Leary, and Marian Keyes.

Amazon

About the author

Mo Fanning’s contemporary fiction blends wit, emotional honesty, and a strong sense of place, often exploring love, friendship, and the pressure to have life neatly figured out. Based in the West Midlands, he writes character-driven stories for readers who like their romance funny, thoughtful, and grounded in real life.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book, I felt for Lisa, one too many glasses of wine, a bout of feeling a bit shit and she’s conjured up a fiancè who doesn’t exist. Disaster!

Cue her flatmate (who happens to be an actor) donning a fake beard and glasses in order to convince everyone that he’s real and she’s not completely nuts. Only it all falls apart after the mean girl from school (now a mean woman) tries to blackmail her, leading to Lisa needing to tell everyone the truth.

In deciding to come clean, Lisa also has to have it out with her boss, Brian, whose evil soon to be ex-wife is trying to get her sacked, and well, there might be something between her and Brian if he can save her job and get rid of the ex-wife (not like that – there are no murders here, except of fake fiancés).

It’s funny, a bit sad, Lisa has been a bit shut off emotionally and didn’t think anyone really cared but her friends and family are actually pretty good people and love her. So I have hope for Lisa, and when you’ve read this, you will too!

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for reading and reviewing, but all opinions remain my own.

books

Book Blitz: Scarlet Wards – Sorcha Reagh

ramblingmads

We’re thrilled to share an amazing book rec with you all today! Scarlet Wars by Sorcha Reagh is now available and we’re gifting one lucky reader a paperback editions of books one and two of The Sapere Series.

Read all three books on Kindle Unlimited now!

Scarlet Wars (The Sapere Series Book 3)

Author: Sorcha Reagh

Release Date: June 5th
Genre: Epic Dark Romantasy

TROPES

● Forbidden Love
● No more hidden world.
● “Mine.”
● Touch Him and Burn to a Crisp
● Touch Her and Lose some Limbs
● Forced Proximity
● Only One Boathouse
● Hand Necklaces
● Grief Rep
● Who Did This to You?
● He Falls First
● Secrets & Plot Twists
● Last Naming
● Slow Burn
● Badass FMC
● “Fuck It.” (With a Twist.)
● Fist Clench
● Dirty Talk
● feminine rage
● Yes sir vs good girl

The secret is out.

Magi no longer hide in the shadows, and the world is breaking fast.

Fear spreads. Alliances shatter.

Magi choose sides as humans prepare for war, and the spark holding the match at the edge has a name: Emma Thompson.

She’s powerful. Watched. Feared.

Hunted for reasons she doesn’t understand, Emma’s life fractures, leaving her with more grief, and more trauma than she ever believed she could survive.
In the wreckage, she’s forced to choose: a new bond to endure what’s coming, or the love her heart refuses to deny.
Her choice will either save the people she loves…or ignite the impending war.

Scarlet Wars, the third book in the Sapere Series, is a gripping romantasy filled with rising war, forbidden love, and impossible choices—where magic stands exposed and love defies every rule.

Amazon

The Crafty Bookstore




● Cover artist @jaquelinekropmanns.coverdesign
● Jess Rollins @rollinsreadsbooks for art on Silver Tiers and Scarlet Wars + James’s Skindo CT & Emma’s Skindo in ST + NSFW in SW
● Courtney Hicks (illustrator) @courtney.e.hicks Cerulean Truth James and Emma character art + full scene CT
● Katarina @_KatArtDesigns_  James, Emma, Caden and Group Scarlet Wars
● @bombitart_by_sasha.volodarska  James and Caden Ch 61 Scarlet Wars

TRIGGER WARNINGS:

• Abduction
• Abuse
• Alcohol
• Blackmail
• Blood
• Blood loss
• Death of children (mentioned)
• Death or dying
• Decapitations
• Experiments on people
• Exploding body parts
• Forced egg harvesting
• Forced pregnancies: Not our FMC. (Yet?)
• Gore
• Grief
• Gun violence
• Jealousy
• Killings
• Massacres & mass murder
• Masturbation
• Mind-rape (on page)
• Panic attacks:
• Physical assault
• PTSD/Trauma
• Sexual assault (not between MCs)
• Sexually explicit language
• Sleep disorders
• Strangulation
• Torture
• Violence
• War

🔥PAPERBACK COPIES OF CERULEAN TRUTH & SILVER TIERS (INTL GIVEAWAY)🔥Head over to Instagram to enter!

IG: @sorchareagh @rrbooktours

TIKTOK: @sorcha.reagh.auth @rrbooktours

books

Cover Reveal: An Arc of Ash – Hailey Jade

ramblingmads

We’re pleased to share the blurb and cover for An Arc of Ash, a dark academia romantasy by Hailey Jade!



An Arc of Ash (An Arc of Ash Book One)

Expected Release Date: January 11, 2027

Genre: Gothic Dark Academia Romantasy

Tropes:
Obsession
Rivals to lovers
They make each other worse
Morally grey MMC
Ambitious FMC
Deadly trials
Gothic dark academia
Magic academy
Slow burn
Sassy talking cat



When Ashlyn arrives at Delghara she has nothing but ambition and a desperate determination to prove herself. The Dominion’s elite magic wielders hold positions of immense power and influence, and Ash intends to claim a place among them. But first, she has to survive an institution that erodes loyalty, normalises sacrifice, and turns students into weapons.

Then she meets Xave Gable.

He’s brilliant, ruthless, and impossible to shake once he’s decided something is worth his attention. He’s also the first person to recognise the hunger lurking beneath her controlled exterior and seems intent on seeing just how deep it goes.

As deadly trials claim lives around them and Delghara’s secrets begin to surface, rivalry gives way to fascination, then fascination gives way to obsession.

And obsession has a way of demanding more than anyone intended to give.

An Arc of Ash is a dark academia romantasy featuring deadly trials, forbidden magic, buried secrets, a dangerously ambitious heroine, and a slow-burn romance built on rivalry, obsession, and the terrifying experience of being truly seen.


Triggers:
Violence
Gore
Character Death
Self-inflicted Injury
Psychological Themes
Pre-Order Link: https://mybook.to/z86x


IG: @haileyjadeauthor @rrbooktours

TIKTOK: @rrbooktours

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Once Upon a Midnight Walk – Tetyana Walker

ramblingmads

Welcome to the book tour for Once Upon a Midnight Walk by Tetyana Walker!

Once Upon a Midnight Walk

Release Date: April 24, 2026

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

  • Strong and cunning heroine
  • Forced partnership
  • Slow burn romance
  • Enemies to lovers
  • “Who did this to you”
  • A LOT of bickering & yearning
  • Angst and tension with historical romance undertones

In a kingdom where the sun never sets, and only men are born with magic, Agnes Peregreene had to grow up entirely too soon.

After her mother’s death, Agnes devoted her life to caring for her younger sister. Bound by a vow she refused to break, she ensured no price was too great for Solomia’s well-being. But when Solomia is betrothed to a known wife-killer, Agnes is forced to confront the reality of her own powerlessness.

Before Agnes can find a way to save her sister, she is handed a death sentence of her own.

Desperate to buy time, she strikes a frantic bargain with the Aclanian king—she will venture into Nocturna, the realm of ever-night, and retrieve a long-lost talisman in exchange for her life and her sister’s freedom.

Lost in a realm unlike any other, Agnes must rely on her cunning mind to survive. Determined to return home successful, she sets on a path of discovery, unraveling secrets that a mysterious and wealthy man named Odeon Nox has spent years trying to keep buried.

Secrets that come with a price neither one of them is prepared to pay.

Step into this standalone fantasy romance, set between a realm of sunlight and castles and a world of night and cities rivaling 1920s New York.

Every choice has a price, and every heart hides a secret.

For fans of Jane Austen, Sarah J. Maas and V.E Schwab

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

 

BOOK TOUR ORGANIZED BY:

R&R BOOK TOURS

 

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Cast Off – Enola M. Douglas

ramblingmads

Welcome to the ARC tour for Cast Off by Enola M. Douglas – Available July 10th!

Cast Off (Jewels of the Nine Kingdoms Book 2)
Expected Release Date: July 10, 2026
Genre: Romantasy/ Why Choose

• Arranged marriage
• Omegaverse
• Royalty
• Court Intrigue
• Forced Proximity
• Found Family
• Healer FMC / Warrior MMC
• Mutual pining
• Slow Burn
• Hurt/Comfort
• Touch her & Di3
• Second Chances
• Grovelling
• Chronic Pain/Disability Rep
• Interracial Marriage

An arranged marriage.
A fragile alliance.
A love neither thought possible.

Omega Princess JingYi of Xûen-Sarai has always lived in the shadows—unseen, unwanted, valued only for her skill as a healer. When she’s sent to marry a powerful Alpha lord in a distant kingdom, she sees it as an escape. A chance to reclaim her dignity.

Alpha Lord Alexander Wulfbane expects a flawless bride to restore his disgraced House—but the Omega who arrives is nothing like he imagined. The moment their eyes meet, disappointment lingers, and their fragile alliance begins to fray.

But beyond the cold marriage bed and strained diplomacy, a darker plot is brewing. Across the realm, Omegas are vanishing—and whispers of a forbidden substance threaten to destabilize the Nine Kingdoms. To survive, JingYi and Alexander must become more than a political match.

She’s not the bride he wants.
And she never asks him to be her hero.
But when the storm comes, they’ll have to choose—
stand together or be swept away.

Cast Off can be read as a standalone—but for the fullest plunge into the Nine Kingdoms, start with WHISKED AWAY. It’s the gateway that sets up the world, politics, and payoffs you’ll feel even harder in Book Two.

Note: Cast Off is an Omegaverse fantasy romance. It is Book Two in Jewels of the Nine Kingdoms—a series of interconnected stories, each following different main characters or pairings, all bound by a shared world and a central conflict. This book can be read on its own—but Whisked Away (Book 1) offers deeper context and emotional resonance within the overarching plot.

PRE-ORDER ON AMAZON

 

TRIGGER WARNINGS:

• Emotional & physical abuse
• Gaslighting & societal control
• Human trafficking
• Death of parents
• Grief
• Descriptions of torture & execution
• Medical trauma, coercion, and bodily autonomy violations
• Physical & psychological trauma
• Heat/Rut dynamics
• Attempted rape (past event, non-graphic)
• Pregnancy & birth scenes (side characters, not FMC)

 

BOOK TOUR ORGANIZED BY:

R&R BOOK TOURS

 

books

Cover Reveal: The Unraveling – Beronika Keres

ramblingmads

Title: The Unraveling

Author: Beronika Keres

Release date: October 2, 2026

Pre-order

Genre: Gothic vampire horror, romantic tragedy

Cover artist

Vampires do not get sick.

Thirty years ago, that was the promise Dr. Victor Todd made when he gifted Isla Davis the antidote to mortality, trading her terminal human life for an undying eternity at his side. But when Isla wakes disoriented and bloody beside a corpse she doesn’t recognize, their Victorian home becomes the stage for a claustrophobic nightmare.

Isla’s preserved body is now wracked by the violent return of human frailty. Her mind, once a fortress, is crumbling—weeks as Victor’s patient and decades as his wife collapsing into a fractured, bleeding present. And for the first time in over a century, Dr. Victor Todd has become a patient too.

Trapped in the maze of their own unraveling, as their memories slip through their fingers and the clock they thought they’d conquered begins to tick once more, Isla and Victor are left to face a devastating truth:

Eternity is fading one agonizing heartbeat at a time.

Tropes:

  • Gothic & Medical Horror
  • Romantic Tragedy
  • Victorian Vampire Doctor
  • Amnesia & Memory Loss
  • Doctor x Patient
  • Established Couple
  • Found Family

Triggers:

  • Graphic depictions of body horror, medical distress, violence, death and dying
  • Grief
  • Terminal Illness and Cancer

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Silver Thread – Kate Lord Brown

ramblingmads

THREE CITIES. TWO WOMEN. A STORY OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS . . .

London, 1875. Bel has secured a design job at the newly opened Liberty store, where Japonisme is all the rage. When Hiro, a fellow designer, travels with her to Tokyo to source silks and inspiration, little does she know it will be the start of an unforgettable love story.

Paris, 1985. Mira, a recently qualified art curator, is hired to catalogue the contents of an apartment which has been closed for decades. As she works through the treasures it reveals, she longs to discover what happened to famed designer Isobel Bright – and why her apartment has been locked for so many years. . .

Crossing oceans, cultures, and timelines, this is a sweeping story of a patient and everlasting love – and the moments that tie people together forever.

Kate Lord Brown was a finalist in ITV’s The People’s Author contest, and her novel The Perfume Garden, which has been published in nine languages, was shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year 2014. In 2020 she was highly commended in the RNA Elizabeth Goudge Trophy.

Kate has also written editorial, reviews and regular columns for Traveller, Conde Nast, Good Housekeeping, Writers’ News, Arts Business, Gulf Times, Woman, the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Express and others. She wrote the first book club column in the Middle East for two years, introducing a host of writers to the region through the pages of Ahlan! After many years living overseas, she has returned to the wild and beautiful southwest of England, where she grew up.

My thoughts: This was a fantastic read about a pioneer in fashion, sadly fictional, who created her own fashion house in Paris and every time things went sour, somehow found a way to rise again.

It’s also a beautiful story about love, a love that spans the globe and decades, hidden away in the apartments and ateliers of Paris and the quiet life of a silk merchant in Japan. Brought to the light by a researcher years later, who wants to solve the mystery of Isobel Bright and her disappearance from the fashion world.

Just a lovely read, bringing to life the development of fashion and the truly delightful bond between Bel and Hiro, who even though they both marry others, and spend decades apart, never stop loving one another and communicate in letters and fabric, shipped between Japan and France.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Of Fate and Fury – Amy Woodruff

ramblingmads

We’re celebrating the release of Of Fate and Fury by Amy Woodruff!

If you need to catch up on the Blood and Curses series… book one, Of Kingdom and Curses is available on KU!

Of Fate and Fury (Blood and Curses Book Two)

Release Date: June 2, 2026

Genre: Romantasy

  • Cursed romance
  • Powerful artifacts
  • Found family
  • Memory magic
  • Star-crossed love
  • “I’d burn the world for you” energy

Escaping Elyria was only the beginning. Some curses never truly break.

Bridget Adams has returned to the human world—alive, but changed. Her memories of Elyria remain intact, though they shouldn’t. Haunted by visions she can’t explain and the ache of missing Cade, she begins to fear the price of magic is her sanity. Then a familiar face appears, shattering everything she thought she knew about herself… and about Cade.

In Elyria, Cassia watches her brother unravel, uncertain whether Bridget survived the crossing. With the reluctant help of the man she once loved, she begins to awaken powers buried deep within her… powers that could alter the fate of the kingdom. But with Quinn still missing and the stolen Bloodstone in her possession, the fragile peace holding their world together is close to breaking.

Because the Bloodstone is more than a relic. It’s the key to freeing Vega from her prison in Iegorus, and it’s bound to Bridget and Cade by a curse centuries in the making. With war brewing and magic demanding a price, Bridget and Cassia must face their destinies — or see everything they love consumed by a fate they’ve both been trying to outrun.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

 

BOOK TOUR ORGANIZED BY:

R&R BOOK TOURS

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Grace – Nicole Sallak Anderson

ramblingmads

<strong>It’s time for Grace’s side of the story!</strong>

<p style=”text-align: center;”><img class=”aligncenter wp-image-74373″ src=”https://rrbooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/919sUL9ETcL._SL1500_.jpg&#8221; alt=”” width=”500″ height=”800″ /></p>

<strong>Grace (Justice &amp; Grace #2)</strong>

<strong>Release Date: May 25, 2026</strong>

<strong>Genre: Contemporary Romance</strong>

Thirty years ago, Justice Sloan abandoned Grace Watson, pregnant and in a time of need. After a lifetime apart, Justice re-enters Grace’s life, determined to meet his son Tyler. While her young adult children launch their own lives and her parents grow old, Grace discovers that love writes truth with crooked lines, and only the refiner’s fire can bring broken hearts to union.

Grace is an intergenerational story about a family as they navigate Chicago in the 2020s with all its ups and downs—from betrayal and redemption to birth and death—and discover in the end, the only thing that matters is love.

<em><strong>“On family trials and redemptive love, Sallak Anderson delivers characters who will live rent-free in your head.”</strong></em>

<strong>~Lindy Vogel, founder @swearyparentsmedia</strong>

<a href=”https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D122XMYJ?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_29T57WN7NS4VFM1EAVF8&amp;ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_29T57WN7NS4VFM1EAVF8&amp;social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_29T57WN7NS4VFM1EAVF8&amp;bestFormat=true&#8221; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”><strong>AVAILABLE ON AMAZON</strong></a>

&nbsp;

<strong>Trigger warnings: some foul language, a few sex scenes but not graphic, suicide.</strong>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<strong>BOOK TOUR ORGANIZED BY:</strong>

<img class=”size-full wp-image-74370 alignnone” src=”https://rrbooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/RRBookTours-Button-.png&#8221; alt=”” width=”257″ height=”185″ />

<strong><a href=”http://rrbooktours.com&#8221; target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>R&amp;R BOOK TOURS</a></strong>

&nbsp;

books

Book Blitz: The Ninth Realm – Julia Silverwood

ramblingmads

We’re thrilled to announce that the first book in The Norse Realms Saga is now available! Get The Ninth Realm by Julia Silverwood today!

The Ninth Realm (The Norse Realms Saga Book 1)

Release Date: May 21

Genre: Norse Romantasy

Cover Designer: @trifbookdesign

Character Artist: @lulybot

  • Lethal trials
  • Ruthless gods
  • Norse legends
  • Companion beasts
  • Star-crossed romance
  • Forbidden love
  • Bonded mates
  • Political intrigue
  • Mythological creatures
  • Forced proximity

A high-stakes romantasy where The Hunger Games meets Norse mythology, packed with deadly trials, dangerous intrigue, and a slow-burn romance where your greatest enemy may be your only ally.

Nine realms. One bond. No escape.

For ten thousand years, a Keeper has stood between Earth and the chaos of the Norse realms, holding back cunning gods, legendary creatures, and beautifully wicked fae. But Saga knows nothing of this until her dying father calls her home to Iceland and leaves her his title, his secrets, and a fate she can’t refuse.

She discovers she’s bound by magic to Kalen, a mysterious fae who despises her fragile humanity because when she dies, so does he. So when the Norse gods resurrect the Tournament of Realms, a brutal contest where champions fight for the role of Keeper, Saga must obey the call, and Kalen becomes wholly infested.

To survive the trials, Saga must master her fighting skills and tether with her companion beast while navigating the intrigue of the gods. Yet her greatest challenge may be resisting Kalen, who could either save her heart or shatter the world she’s fighting for because desire is as lethal as the gods’ games.

A must-read for readers who love plot twists, dangerous trials, Norse legends, companion beasts, and star-crossed romance. Perfect for fans of Demi Winters and Danielle Jensen.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON & OTHER FINE RETAILERS

 

Content Warnings:

  • On-page death
  • Battle violence and gore
  • Death of a parent
  • 1 spicy scene

 

 

BOOK BLITZ ORGANIZED BY:

R&R BOOK TOURS