Monthly Archives: December 2025
Review: Careless by Carrie Ann Ryan
Careless
Carrie Ann Ryan
Ashford Creek Series, Book 0.5
102 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 10, 2025
On my 21st birthday, I know there’s only one wish I’m making when I blow out my candles.
A chance with him.
Only I’m his best friend’s little sister, so that means I’m beyond off limits.
And did I mention he’s older?
I’m ready to be seen as my own person and to take the next step.
But I know it can’t be with him.
Yet when I’m backed in a corner, there’s only one person I can call for help.
Him.
Careless is the prequel to the Ashford Creek series. Learn how Callum Ashford and Felicity Carter fall into a careless mistake before their full story in Legacy.
4 Stars
Carrie Ann Ryan just delivered an amazing set up for her new Ashford Creek series with Careless.
Felicity is home from college celebrating her 21st birthday. Celebrating with her family and college friends and a bit too much. Alcohol makes for a fun evening but the next night turns very drastically. When what should’ve been a friendly date turns to something very different. The first person she calls is not her brother but his best friend.
Callum is totally the person that you want to have on your side. He’s an amazing big brother who stepped up and took care of his siblings, an extremely loyal friend and protector. When his best friend asked him to check on his little sister after a hard night of drinking, there was no way he could say no. Even though he may have had some alternative reasons for saying yes. When she calls him in a panic asking for help he couldn’t move fast enough to save her. Callum has had a hard life and even though his heart may want more he pushes her away.
Talk about a set up. Carrie Ann Ryan hits hard and fast with this prequel to what I’m sure will be an emotionally charged story. Careless is the perfect set up for what’s to come.
Cover Reveal: Blood King by Natalie Kane
♦️♦️ Blood King Cover Reveal ♦️♦️
Blood King, book two in the Kings of Vegas series, releases on April 2, 2026.
Photographer: Michelle Lancaster
Cover Design: Hang Le
Narrators: TBA
Blurb & Tropes will be announced at a later date.
Review: You Can Scream by Rebecca Zanetti
You Can Scream
Rebecca Zanetti
Laurel Snow Series, Book 5
320 pages, Paperback
First published December 16, 2025
Mountains of Washington State in New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti’s heart-pounding series about an FBI profiler and her equally brilliant sister on the wrong side of the law.
Laurel’s family was never simple—but her half-sister, Abigail, a brilliant, unpredictable psychopath, just made it lethal. Accused of murdering their father, a man she always called a monster, Abigail claims self-defense. As the trial unfolds and long-buried family secrets explode into headlines across Washington State, Laurel’s hard-won privacy is shattered. And the nightmare is just beginning.
Even as Abigail’s trial consumes public attention, new dangers close in as the murder of a prominent scientist and the illegal poaching of a rare Pacific plant point to something insidious. Laurel turns to Washington Fish and Wildlife captain Huck Rivers, her partner in work and life, for help. But the deeper they dig, the more the case seems to echo the chaos unraveling Laurel’s world.
With danger tightening around her, Laurel faces an impossible choice: trust Abigail in one crucial, treacherous alliance, or risk losing everything. Her career, her relationships, even her life hang in the balance. The clock is ticking—and if the threat breaks loose, nothing will be fast enough to stop it.
4.5 Stars
Rebecca Zanetti kept me on the edge of my seat with the fifth installment of the Laurel Snow series You Can Scream.
Laurel Snow has earned the reputation of an excellent FBI profiler. She is an extremely intelligent woman who can peace things together, unlike anyone else. With You Can Scream things are hitting very close to home for Laurel. She and fish & wildlife detective Huck River, or navigating through some personal devastation, Laurel’s half sister is accused of murdering their father and her FBI partner becomes a suspect. Laurel’s got a lot on her mind and in her hands. The twist and turns come from every direction and just when they think they have it figured out something else happens to twist it once again.
You Can Scream is a psychological suspense story with a romantic element. Rebecca Zanetti keeps the reader on their toes throughout the entire book. I have personally found this series quite addicting. Ms. Zanetti keeps the series fresh and going with every book. Life would not have gotten in the way I could have very easily read this book in one sitting. And when I wasn’t reading it, I was definitely thinking about it.
Review: Where You Belong by Kristen Proby
Where You Belong
Kristen Proby
The Blackwells of Montana Series, Book 5
355 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication December 11, 2025
From New York Times bestselling author Kristen Proby comes the final installment of the Blackwells of Montana series, Where You Belong, a small-town, second-chance romance set in Bitterroot Valley!
Brooks
Fifteen years ago, I’d planned a romantic proposal, but that was the day Juliet walked out of my life and never looked back. I never wanted to see her again and decided that love wasn’t for me. But now, Juliet has returned to Bitterroot Valley and opened a restaurant. Catching glimpses of her around town makes my heart ache. I want to hate her. I wish she’d do what she does best and go away.
Instead, I find myself wanting to be near her. Helping her. Touching her perfect skin. I don’t want to love her. I don’t want to need her.
Juliet
Coming home to Bitterroot Valley might have been a mistake. Just because I grew up here doesn’t mean I belong here. Honestly, I’ve never felt like I belong anywhere. But once I was finally free from the man who lied and controlled me, I knew I needed to be in Montana. My new restaurant, Sage & Citrus, is a big hit, and I’m making friends. But more importantly, Brooks is here.
I know he doesn’t want me, but having him nearby is a balm to my jagged heart. The more I see him, the more I’m reminded that Brooks Blackwell is my soulmate. But has too much time passed? Or will we finally get our happily ever after?
5 Stars
Where You Belong is the wonderful conclusion to the Blackwells of Montana series. This is one of those bittersweet stories. Bitter because our time in Bitterroot Valley is coming to an end but yet it’s the story that I personally have been waiting for. Kristen Proby did absolutely amazing with Juliet and Brooks’s story.
Brooks is that gruff and brooding guy. 15 years ago, his world was shaking upside down. He thought he had it all figured out. He had the love of his life, a plan and a lot of dreams. Unfortunately, all of that came to an abrupt stop when the woman he thought he was going to share his life with decided to help a friend instead of staying. Present day, Brooks owns a garage. He has an amazing soft spot for his niece and nephew, and his an extremely loyal brother. The person who has haunted his dreams for over a decade has returned to town. Once again, Brooks has had his world shaken. Living in a small town is impossible for them to avoid one another, which has emotions all over the place. Brooks being the man that he is can only take so much and once he opened the door there was no turning back.
Juliet made a decision that changed her life 15 years ago. She walked away from the man she loved to go and help a friend who was on the edge. Little did she know that that decision would truly change her world. Over the course of 15 years, Juliet got married, was lied to and manipulated and had to deal with the fallout of her husband dying. Her ex uses trauma from her past as manipulation that he knew would hold her in place. She decided to start over at home. Returning to Bitterroot Valley was not an easy decision. Knowing what she walked away from all those years ago, the feelings that still lingered and it being a small town there is no avoiding the man that she loved. Still loves. Brooks made it very clear that he wanted nothing to do with her, yeah, begins to make subtle changes that maybe he doesn’t hate her quite so much.
Where You Belong is five star plus fantastic. I absolutely devoured this story. Kristen Proby gives us an emotional, passionate, and oh my goodness grab a fan hotter than hot story. That is a fantastic conclusion to the Blackwells of Montana series. I love the fact that Brooks and Juliet never stopped, loving each other. Brooks, swoon! The things this man does and has done, would have any woman melting into a puddle. He had every right to be hurt, but in the end, he knew she was the one for him. I love how Jules’ heart would pound whenever focus was around. The two never fell out of love with one another. It took time. There were challenges and a whole family of people rooting for the two of them. Kristen Proby created something extremely special with the Blackwells of Montana series. I absolutely loved living in this small town for a while.
Review: We Are Yours by M. Robinson
We Are Yours
M. Robinson
We Are Yours Book 1
440 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 26, 2025
From Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling Author M. Robinson comes an angsty, forced proximity love triangle where secrets test brotherly bonds and music brings them together, only to have destiny threaten to tear them apart.
I’ve loved two men in all my life.
Two extremely different men.
Where Julius and I blossomed from a loving friendship, Kraven and I stemmed from nothing
but hatred. A very thin line exists between love and hate, and I crossed it with both.
I fell in love with each of them at different times, in different ways, and with different words
and actions. Cause and effect has always been our problem.
This isn’t just a love triangle between the two men I love.
It’s worse.
Because misery is the only certainty when you”re in love with two brothers.
And now I’m faced with the impossible choice. Though nothing could’ve prepared me for the devastation when they both declared, “We are yours.”
Then, all in one breath, they begged…
“Now… say you’re mine.”
4 Stars
Looking for an angsty, love triangle? Well, my reading friends look no further. Author M. Robinson delivers just that with the raw and emotional We Are Yours.
I’m gonna try to do this without giving away any of the story, considering this is the first book of a duet. I know that sometimes it is easier said than done, but I’m gonna try and focus on my feelings towards the book as opposed to what’s happening in the book.
First of all, we definitely get all the fields. If you do not like angst in your romances, this one might not be for you. However, if you do, grab your box of tissues, get a drink and settle in. This is a story of three people who have already been dealt a pretty bad hand. Each carrying emotional baggage that affects them. A story of when no one else was there for them. They had music. Music as an escape. There is a fine line between love and hate, and the Author very much puts us right in the center of it.
I felt, I cried. The betrayal and the passion bleed through the pages that you can’t help but feeling everything the story has to offer. I have to say this is a very intense story and we do have debt cliffhanger at the end, but it is well worth it. And I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Coffee Books Life 