Book Review: Wild Card by Elsie Silver

🐾🐾🐾🐾 – Forbidden, complicated, and completely worth breaking the rules for.

Elsie Silver really looked at the final Rose Hill book and said, “How uncomfortable can I make this attraction?” because your ex-boyfriend’s dad is certainly one way to close out a series.

And somehow Wild Card completely sold me on it.

Nadia and Sebastian meet before either understands just how complicated their connection is going to become. There’s an immediate spark, followed by a missed opportunity, and then an entire year in which neither of them manages to forget the other.

Enter fate—and forced proximity.

Sebastian Rousseau is a grumpy fire pilot, a father trying to repair a fragile relationship with his son, and very aware that wanting Nadia is a line he absolutely should not cross.

Nadia knows it too.

That does precisely nothing to eliminate the attraction.

What makes this story work is that the taboo element isn’t brushed aside. Sebastian’s relationship with his son matters to him, and the potential consequences of acting on his feelings for Nadia create genuine conflict. There’s desire, but there’s also guilt, hesitation, family history, and the question of whether choosing your own happiness can sometimes hurt someone you love.

The mutual pining is brutal in the best possible way. These two are living under the same roof, desperately pretending they can ignore something neither has managed to forget for an entire year. Every look feels loaded. Every almost-moment adds another layer of tension.

But Sebastian is more than the forbidden older man fantasy. His storyline surrounding fatherhood, regret, and repairing relationships gives him vulnerability beneath all that gruff competence.

And Nadia refuses to simply become the source of conflict between father and son. She has her own feelings, boundaries, and choices to make.

As the final Rose Hill romance, Wild Card also carries the bittersweet feeling of knowing this is goodbye. Getting those final glimpses of the community and characters I’d grown attached to made finishing it surprisingly emotional.

Forbidden, messy, tender, and ridiculously hot, Wild Card took one of the riskiest premises in the series and turned it into a romance about longing, forgiveness, and deciding whether some rules are worth breaking.

Book Review: Wild Eyes by Elsie Silver

🐾🐾🐾🐾 – A flirty single dad, a runaway country star, and a family that feels like home.

I knew Wild Eyes was going to give me a completely different Rose Hill romance, but I wasn’t prepared for how much I would love Skylar, West, and the little family at the center of it.

Skylar Stone is used to everyone seeing the celebrity before they see the person. She arrives in Rose Hill after the pressures of her career and public scrutiny have become too much, and for once, she needs somewhere she can simply exist without performing for anyone.

Instead, she runs straight into Weston Belmont.

West is confident, shamelessly flirty, incredibly good with horses, and—most importantly—a devoted single dad. There’s no tortured pretending that he isn’t interested in Skylar. He likes her. He wants her. And watching that certainty slowly chip away at Skylar’s defenses was ridiculously satisfying.

But West’s kids completely changed the emotional tone of this book for me. Skylar doesn’t just fall for their dad; she develops her own relationship with them, and those moments made the possibility of her leaving Rose Hill feel so much bigger than simply walking away from a romance.

I also loved that Skylar’s journey isn’t about abandoning who she is. Music matters to her. Her career matters. But she’s spent so much time letting other people dictate what that career—and her life—should look like that Rose Hill gives her space to finally ask what she wants.

And West? The way he supports her without trying to control the outcome is exactly what she needs.

There’s plenty of heat between these two, but Wild Eyes ultimately felt incredibly soft to me. It’s about safety, belonging, family, and finding someone who gives you room to become more yourself rather than asking you to become someone else.

I loved Ford and Rosie, but West, Skylar, and those kids made Rose Hill feel like home.

Book Review: Pucking Strong by Emily Rath

🐾🐾🐾🐾 – Six years of yearning, one fake marriage, and feelings that were always real.

After years of loving Henrik Karlsson from afar, Teddy O’Connor finally gets the chance to be close to him. The catch? It takes a devastating family tragedy, a trip to Sweden, and one very unexpected marriage license to make it happen.

Compared with some of the gloriously chaotic relationships earlier in the Jacksonville Rays series, Pucking Strong feels softer and more emotionally grounded. Henrik is grieving the loss of his sister while suddenly becoming responsible for his injured young niece, and Teddy steps into their lives because they need him—even while knowing that being this close to the man he’s loved for years could break his heart.

The marriage-of-convenience setup is exactly the kind of romantic complication I love because Teddy’s feelings are anything but fake. Every moment that makes their marriage look more convincing also forces Teddy to confront how desperately he wishes it were real.

I really enjoyed the tenderness of this one. There’s still spice and hockey, but family, grief, caregiving, and emotional vulnerability are much more central to the story. Teddy and Henrik aren’t simply figuring out whether they want each other; they’re figuring out what their suddenly intertwined lives could become.

And after spending several books with the Jacksonville Rays, watching the larger found family rally around them makes this story feel even more satisfying.

A tender, yearning, slow-burning MM romance about discovering that sometimes the relationship you’ve spent years believing was impossible just needs a chance to become real.

Book Review: Pucking Wild by Emily Rath

🐾🐾🐾🐾 – Starting over looks pretty good when it comes with a younger hockey player.

After all the glorious chaos of Pucking Around, Pucking Wild gives us something different: a romance about a woman reclaiming her life and a younger man who makes her realize how much of herself she’s been holding back.

Tess Owens is running from the wreckage of her marriage when Ryan Langley unexpectedly becomes her roommate. He’s younger, charming, sweet, and exactly the kind of complication she absolutely does not need while trying to launch a business and fight for her independence.

Except Ryan isn’t interested in treating Tess like she needs to be rescued. He simply wants her—and watching Tess slowly believe she deserves the happiness and freedom he represents is what made their romance work for me.

I especially enjoyed the reverse age gap. Tess’s concerns about their age difference feel grounded in everything else happening in her life, while Ryan’s feelings for her aren’t treated like some temporary fascination. There’s something incredibly endearing about how completely this younger hockey player knows what he wants.

The romance is sexy and fun, but Tess’s personal journey gives the story its emotional center. She’s rebuilding after a relationship that left its mark, rediscovering herself, and learning that starting over doesn’t mean she failed the first time.

Pucking Wild still has all the spice and Jacksonville Rays energy I expected, but underneath it is a genuinely satisfying story about freedom, confidence, and choosing yourself.

Book Review: First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

🐾🐾🐾🐾 – Twisty, clever, and addictive—a cat-and-mouse thriller where no identity can be trusted.

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston is the kind of thriller that makes you question every name, every conversation, and every seemingly insignificant detail.

Evie Porter has built what looks like a perfectly ordinary life: a charming boyfriend, a beautiful home, and friends who believe they know exactly who she is. The problem? Evie Porter doesn’t exist.

Evie’s real life revolves around assignments from the mysterious Mr. Smith. She’s given an identity, a location, a target, and a job—and she becomes whoever she needs to be. This time, her target is Ryan Sumner. But the longer Evie stays in his life, the harder it becomes to separate the assignment from the future she’s beginning to imagine for herself.

I loved the premise of this one. There’s something especially fun about following a protagonist who is constantly lying while also trying to figure out who is lying to her. Evie is clever, calculating, adaptable, and morally complicated, which makes her incredibly entertaining to follow. You’re never quite sure how much of the situation she understands—or how far ahead she might already be.

The shifting timeline adds another layer to the mystery, gradually revealing Evie’s previous identities and assignments while giving you pieces of the larger puzzle surrounding Mr. Smith. Instead of relying entirely on one enormous twist, the story keeps changing what you think you know. Every new piece of information made me reconsider something I had already read.

What really worked for me was the cat-and-mouse element. Evie isn’t simply trying to uncover the truth; she’s also trying to protect the lies that have kept her alive. Watching her maneuver through increasingly dangerous situations while attempting to determine who she can trust kept the story moving quickly.

This is a smart, compulsively readable thriller filled with deception, secret identities, manipulation, and plenty of “wait…WHAT?” moments. If you love thrillers where practically everyone has an agenda and the protagonist is just as capable of playing the game as the people hunting her, First Lie Wins is absolutely worth picking up.

Book Review: Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak

🐾🐾🐾🐾 – One family. Seven days. A holiday they’ll never forget.

Seven Days of Us is the kind of novel that sneaks up on you — messy, intimate, and deeply human in a way that feels like eavesdropping on a real family in real time. Bond places the Birch family in the ultimate pressure cooker: seven full days of quarantine together during the holidays. No escape, no distractions, no pretending. It’s the perfect setup for long-buried tensions to leak through the cracks, and Bond makes every unraveling moment feel both painfully awkward and strangely comforting.

What I loved most is how she balances humor with emotional honesty. Each Birch has their own secrets, regrets, and desires simmering beneath the surface. Some are selfish, some heartbreaking, some just disastrously timed. As each revelation drops, you feel the ripple effect that happens when one person’s truth bumps into someone else’s defenses. It’s not a “big drama for drama’s sake” type of book; it’s a slow, layered portrait of a family relearning who they are to each other.

Bond’s writing shines in those quiet, observational details — the awkward silences, the wry internal monologues, the holiday rituals that feel more obligatory than festive. She understands how family can be both suffocating and a soft place to land, sometimes in the very same breath.

While not every character is instantly likable, every one of them is compelling. By the end, I found myself rooting for the Birches not to be perfect, but to simply show up for one another in the messy, real-life way that counts.

Emotional, tender, and surprisingly hopeful, Seven Days of Us is a holiday story for anyone who wants something more layered than lights-and-mistletoe magic — a story about forgiveness, timing, and how love can survive even the most claustrophobic Christmas.

Releasing 10 by Chloe Walsh

Releasing 10 is the kind of book that slides straight under your skin and refuses to let go. Chloe Walsh doesn’t just write characters — she writes whole human hearts with all their bruises, brilliance, and contradictions. Lizzie and Hugh’s story is tender, volatile, painfully honest, and so deeply human that it leaves you breathless.

Lizzie Young is a heroine who demands empathy without ever asking for it. Walsh’s portrayal of bipolar disorder is raw and unflinching — not romanticized, not diluted, but layered with lived-in truth. Lizzie’s world is chaotic, bright, terrifying, hilarious, heartbreaking… and so full of yearning. There’s a bravery in her softness that makes her unforgettable.

And then there’s Hugh Biggs. Good, steady, observant Hugh — the boy who listens more than he speaks and feels more than he shows. He’s the kind of character who holds the pages together when the story threatens to burst apart. His devotion isn’t naive; it’s intentional, hard-won, and beautifully flawed.

Their connection? Soul-deep. A spark that turns into a fire that turns into a home — even when life is determined to blow the walls apart. Walsh writes chemistry that doesn’t rely on spice (though the heat is there), but on the feeling that two people are destined to collide. Their relationship is equal parts comfort and catastrophe, tenderness and terror.

This book is heavy. It’s emotionally demanding. It’s not afraid to sit in the dark places — trauma, self-harm, violence, the weight of mental illness — yet the writing is filled with such compassion that you never feel abandoned in the shadows. Walsh gives you hope even when her characters feel hopeless.

By the end, you don’t just read Lizzie and Hugh’s love story.
You carry it.

Releasing 10 is devastating and beautiful and impossibly real — a story that breaks you open and then teaches you how to breathe again.

Redeeming 6 by Chloe Walsh

Where Saving 6 breaks you, Redeeming 6 begins the painstaking work of stitching you back together. Chloe Walsh lets Joey Lynch step fully into the light here — not because his pain disappears, but because he finally believes he deserves to fight for more.

This book is a masterclass in character healing. Joey’s journey isn’t easy or linear, and Walsh honors that reality with patience and grit. His progress feels fragile at times, like a breath you’re scared to release, but it’s also powerful — watching him choose himself, even shakily, is deeply moving.

Aoife shines even brighter in this installment. She’s not just Joey’s anchor; she’s a girl learning where to place her boundaries, how to love without losing herself, and how to stand with someone without carrying every one of their battles. Their relationship evolves from something tender and uncertain into something fierce and fiercely earned.

What elevates Redeeming 6 is its honesty. There are no magical cures, no easy apologies, no shortcuts. Healing takes work. Love takes courage. And redemption takes time. Walsh leans into all of that and delivers a finale that feels emotionally rich, grounded, and worthy of the pain it took to get there.

By the final chapters, the Lynch family, Aoife, and Joey feel like real people you’ve bled with. This book doesn’t just redeem Joey — it redeems every moment you spent aching for him.

And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman’s And When She Was Good is a slow-burn psychological thriller wrapped around the bones of a complex character study. At its center is Heloise, a suburban single mom with a secret life—she’s a high-end madam who’s carefully compartmentalized her past, her present, and her business. But when another woman in her line of work turns up dead, and whispers of Heloise’s long-buried past start to surface, the safe little world she’s curated begins to crack.

Lippman crafts a morally gray protagonist who is not only surviving but thriving on her own terms. Heloise is calculated, flawed, and fiercely protective of her son, which makes her both relatable and dangerous. As the story unravels, we’re pulled deeper into her tightly wound psyche—why she chose this life, what she’s endured, and how far she’s willing to go to protect what she’s built.

This book doesn’t sprint—it simmers. The tension creeps in like a rising tide, and the real thrills come from character revelations rather than explosive plot twists. Readers who love smart, character-driven suspense with shades of noir will find themselves turning pages late into the night.

Keeping 13 by Chloe Walsh

🐾🐾🐾🐾 – Love may have started the fire, but trust is what keeps the flame alive in this fiercely emotional sequel.

Keeping 13 picks up right where the emotional wreckage of Binding 13 left off—and somehow manages to raise the stakes even higher. Chloe Walsh deepens the intensity, the heartbreak, and the tenderness in this follow-up that’s not just a continuation—it’s an emotional reckoning.

Shannon and Johnny are both trying to find solid ground after everything that’s been broken, bruised, or ripped apart. But healing doesn’t come easy, especially when old trauma resurfaces and new challenges threaten to undo the fragile progress they’ve made. Johnny is fighting his own battles off the rugby field, and Shannon is forced to confront truths she’s kept buried for far too long.

This book is heavier, rawer, and more emotionally volatile than the first—but it’s also more rewarding. Every chapter feels like a step toward survival, toward something real, and the payoff is deeply satisfying. Walsh does a remarkable job portraying mental health, abuse, trauma, and unconditional love without sugarcoating the journey.

If Binding 13 broke your heart, Keeping 13 will help glue it back together—piece by painfully beautiful piece.

Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 Pawprints – A Haunting, Clever Thriller with a Gut-Punch of a Twist

Gillian McAllister delivers yet again with Just Another Missing Person, a suspenseful and emotionally layered thriller that starts with a familiar premise—a missing teenage girl—and unravels into something much more intricate.

Detective Julia is assigned to the case of a young woman who disappears without a trace. But from the start, things feel off. Surveillance footage doesn’t add up, witnesses go quiet, and Julia’s own past starts clawing at her heels. As the case deepens, so does Julia’s moral dilemma—what would you do to protect your family, even if it meant compromising your integrity?

McAllister masterfully blends police procedural with deep emotional stakes, crafting a narrative where every choice feels weighty and personal. The pacing is steady but suspenseful, leading to a mid-book twist that completely redefines what you thought you were reading. That pivot is where the novel truly shines.

Some sections could have used a bit more urgency, but the emotional payoff and ethical gray areas make this a standout. This isn’t just a thriller—it’s a story about motherhood, sacrifice, and the cost of doing the “right” thing.

A quote that lingers:
“We all make decisions we think we can live with—until we have to.”

For fans of layered mysteries that ask big questions, Just Another Missing Person will leave you thinking long after you’ve turned the final page.