Short AF Book Review | The Lone Wolf Cafe | ARC Received By Netgalley

 Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "The Lone Wolf Cafe" by Sydney Wilder. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers to please keep that in mind!) 

"When a runaway werewolf gets a job at a reclusive witch's cafe, more than just tea ends up brewing in this cozy, sapphic Halloween romance.

Nettie Clarke has never known the world beyond Hollenboro, her tiny home island off the coast of Maine. So when she abruptly flees with few belongings, no money, and no idea where to go, things get complicated.

Mainly because she's a werewolf.

After arriving on the mainland, she comes across Wisteria Grove, a witch village hidden deep in the forest, and seeks shelter in a local cafe. There, she is confronted by the owner, Rowena Hawthorne, the town's surly and introverted herbalist. Impressed by Nettie's baking skills, Rowena makes her an work as the cafe's resident baker and pretend to be a witch, and she'll be paid enough to make it worth her time.

At first it seems like a great deal, and Nettie only plans to stay for a few weeks before taking off to see the rest of the world. But as the days pass, her baking skills grow, she befriends the local elementals, and she {reluctantly} finds Rowena attractive. All of which makes it harder for her to leave.

But as Nettie and Rowena's bond deepens, so does the danger, Nettie's safety is at stake if the village finds out she's a werewolf, and her ears and tail won't stop popping out hen she gets stressed. And Nettie isn't the only one with a secret to hide. Wisteria Grove is full of mysteries, all of which seem to trace back to Rowena. Despite warnings from the rest of the village, Nettie continues to fall for the herbalist witch, eager to discover the truth.

But the past has its claws sunk deep into Wisteria Grove, and Nettie will have to confront her own secrets - as well as Rowena's - to stay in the town she's grown to love.

The Lone Wolf Cafe is a mildly spicy sapphic Halloween romance between a witch and a werewolf. Perfect for fans of the cozy fantasy vibes of Can't Spell Treason Without Tea, Legends and Lattes, and The Spellshop who are looking for a spooky Halloween twist."

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So the reason I wanted to read this is because I actually follow the author on tiktok, and when she mentioned that this was very similar to Legends and Lattes but make it werewolves and witches I knew I wanted to read it. When I saw that it was on Netgalley I applied for it straight away! Friends, this was everything that I wanted from a cosy fantasy and more. First of all, the world building in this story was beautiful, I genuinely sat there feeling like I was in the places the author was describing. The author really took their time to describe every scent, sight, magic etc but did so in a way that wasn't too overly descriptive. This book was beautiful, and magical, and I genuinely feel like this would 100% be the perfect Halloween read. I loved the characters, and the magic system and almost every little thing about this story. The only one downside I had with this book, was it took a little longer than I'd of liked to get into the "good parts". However, once it was there, it was incredible. There was so much action, so many twists and turns I was just not expecting and it really had me on the edge of my seat towards the end. I was fully rooting for our main character and genuinely fell in love with both Nettie and Rowena. Heck, it was truly hard to not fall in love with all of the characters. I cannot wait for this to come out and will 100% be picking up a copy for my shelf. I am also excited to see the future books in the series and can't wait to see where their stories go.

I gave this book a 4/5 star rating!

This book comes out on the 9th September 2025!

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!

Short AF Book Review | I Can't Even Think Straight | ARC Received By Netgalley

Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "I Can't Even Think Straight" by Dean Atta. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers to please keep that in mind!) 

"Big decisions and messy relationships. It's all a part off life for Kai. A must - read queer coming of age story for fans of Sarah Crossan and Sex Education, written in verse by Stonewall - Award - winning, Carnegie - shortlisted author Dean Atta.

Kai is going into a new school year with some big decisions to when to come out as gay, what he wants to do in life and who he wants to date. Is it any wonder he can't think straight?

Best friends Matt and Kai make a promise to each other to stay in the closet. Matt isn't ready to come out, but Kai wants nothing more than to write his own story. He decides it's time to break his promise and show his true self to the world.

Now out and proud, Kai starts dating super - hot Obi, but it's far from smooth sailing. Is love closer to home than Kai realises?"

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So obviously the reason I wanted to read this was because I love queer storytelling. Honestly friends I did not know what I was going to think about this because I've never read a novel written in verse, and I've not read a lot of black MLM romance books. Honestly, I was blown away with this story. This is the first time I've ever read a book that wasn't a graphic novel in the Netgalley app because the send to kindle option did not do this book justice. Everything about the storytelling was visual down to the way the verses were set out and the drawings to accompany them. This story hit on so many important topics, and I would definitely look up the trigger warnings if you're going to read this book but it genuinely handled them in a way that was so beautiful and real. How emotive Kai was all throughout the book really made it easy to empathize with him and the other characters. I laughed through parts of this book, I cried through parts of this book, and I really loved the little references to Dean's other books (which I will 100% be picking up) throughout. I think this type of storytelling is so important and to be able to see more of it really makes my heart full. I would 100% recommend this to anyone and everyone who wants a beautiful queer story to read and I can't wait to read more of Dean's other literature.

I gave this book a 5/5 star rating on Goodreads.

This book comes out on the 29th May 2025!

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!

Short AF Book Review | Love In Focus | ARC Received By Netgalley

 Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "Love In Focus" by Lyla Lee. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers to please keep that in mind!) 

"When her seven - year long relationship suddenly falls apart, relationship advice columnist Gemma Cho is convinced that real love doesn't exist. As a bisexual woman who's had zero luck with both men and women, she's ready to give up on her own romantic prospects when she gets paired up with Celeste Min, a world - renowned photographer, on a highly visual, potentially career - saving piece on modern love.

Celeste is extremely talented, sexy, and gay, and would be the perfect collaborator and rebound for Gemma if it weren't for one major fact: she's Gemma's ex, the one that broke her hear tin college and moved to a whole another country before Gemma could even make sense of what went wrong between them. Despite working on a project together about what constitutes love and romance in the modern age, when it comes to their own affairs, both Gemma and Celeste are tripping over each other's feet... and into each other's arms.

Heightened by their shared love for love and the unmistakable sparks that still fly between them, Gemma and Celeste struggle to keep their relationship strictly professional. For the sake of her career, Gemma needs this piece to do well. And for the sake of what's left of her beaten up hopeless romantic heart, she wants to fall head over heels for Celeste again. But can she trust Celeste to feel the same this time around?

LOVE IN FOCUS is a second chance sapphic rom com that will appeal to fans of THE BOLD TYPE and DELILAH GREEN DOESN'T CARE."

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So the reason I wanted to read this is because I've been seeing the author advertise this all over booktok so when I saw it was an ARC on Netgalley I jumped at the chance to apply for it. Friends, I really enjoyed this book. I'm not gonna lie, before reading this I had DNF'd a different queer contemporary romance and started to think that maybe the genre was not for me... And then Lyla brought me right back. This book was such a fun read for me and I found myself giggling and kicking my feet throughout. I was shocked to see myself enjoying a book with so much open door romance in it as well as usually I'm not one for spice, but for this one all of the spice was perfect, and loving, and so real for the sapphic experience that even I found myself blushing and cheering it on. I really love found family and female friendship within books and this one sure did have a lot in there. I think this book also taught me how important it is to see POC represented in queer romances and how little we do actually see them within even modern main media. I will say, the only downside I had with this book was even though it was dual POV, which I love, I found the jumping in between first and third person depending on who it was a little confusing at times, but honestly once I got into it I eventually got the hang of it. I will 100% be buying myself a copy of this book when it comes out, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a cute, funny, second chance queer romance to get stuck into.

I gave this book a 4/5 star rating on Goodreads!

This book comes out on the 27th May 2025!

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!

Short AF Book Review | Ketchup On Everything

 Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "Ketchup On Everything" by Nathan Robinson. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers to please keep that in mind!) 

"For the past twenty years, Elliott Tather has been living a life of mourning that almost destroyed him. After losing everything he held dear and bound by a consuming sorrow, Tather travels the country attempting to fix a wrong that haunts his every waking and dreaming moment. But one evening after pulling into a roadside diner to settle down with a simple cup of coffee, the door opens and everything changes. Whatever you do, make sure you order Ketchup On Everything. From the author of 'Starers', 'Midway' and the short story collection of 'Devil Let Me Go' comes a troubling, heart wrenching tale of despair, loss and what might come afterwards."

So honestly friends, this was a re read for me. (Last time I read it was 10 years ago and I honestly couldn't remember anything). The reason I decided to re read it was because I recommended it to my friend who loves horror/splatterpunk and she said she enjoyed it and my goal this year is to read more indie authors so I picked it up. Friends, I'm not going to lie, I'm a little 50/50 on this one. I would not say this is a bad story at all, the premise was there, the twists and turns were twisting, there were a lot of good moments that genuinely had me on the edge of my seat for this book. I loved that we got to learn more about the main character which made it easier to empathise with him in such a short amount of time.  My problem however, was how long it took to get to the point. To say this book is only 118 pages it consists of only 3 longer chapters, one in the present, one in the past, and then one back in the present, and for me, the length of the first chapter was unnecessary. I'm not a girly who loves when authors are overly descriptive in non - fantasy settings and honestly, this could have been a shorter novella and still have been great. I also will say, I wish that this was set somewhere other than England, the diner and the motorhome really threw me for a loop because we do not have a lot of these in England (If any). Overall, I would recommend this to those who enjoy a good horror story. I just feel unfortunately, even though this story was good, it just wasn't one of my favourites.

I gave this book a 3/5 star rating on Goodreads

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!

Short AF Book Review | The Lost Sunday | ARC Received By Netgalley

 Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "The Lost Sunday" by Ileana Surducan. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"From creator Ileana Surducan (Nor's Holiday) comes The Lost Sunday - her Eisner Award - nominated, all - ages tale about the need for free time in the midst of our busy, everyday lives.

Nina lives in a dusty town haunted by the six angry wolves of the week - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Each day brings never - ending chores and drudgery. Legend speaks of a seventh day to rest - Sunday - but everybody knows an evil witch stole it and keeps it locked away. When Nina finally says enough is enough, she sets out on an ambitious quest for rest, but will she be able to vanquish the witch and bring back the lost Sunday?

Inspired by old folklore and fairy tales, this story shines a magical light on a present - day burnout and the importance of leisure. A great read for kids and adults alike!"

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So the reason I wanted to read this is as y'all know I love graphic novels and I saw this one from one of my favourite publishers (Oni Press) so I decided to apply for it. Friends, I'm so happy I got to read this one. First of all this is such a cute quick little read, I ended up reading it in one sitting because of how short it is and most of the storytelling being the imagery. The artwork throughout this is adorable and nostalgic and definitely gives off that fairytailesque vibe it's trying to portray. I loved every minute of the story and really resonate with needing to take a break rather than pushing myself too hard (which I think every single disabled person has felt at some point) and even though this wasn't directed towards disabled people, just people in general, it was such a nice reminder to have. I can't get enough of retellings and this was such a perfect one to add to my collection. I would genuinely recommend this story to everyone and anyone because it is 1000% something that everyone can relate do and I genuinely believe everyone deserves that little reminder that the book is trying to portray. I will definitely be picking myself a copy of this book when it comes out and possibly a copy for my brother so he can have it for my niece and nephews. 

I gave this book a 4/5 star rating on Goodreads.

This book is being released 17th June 2025!

What did you think of this book? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!