Raiders of the Arcana

I have had a life-long fascination with archeology and ancient history, so when I discovered the Raiders of the Arcana series by Jacquelyn Benson I knew I had to read them. The series combines real history with swashbuckling adventure and a little romance in a way that's reminiscent (in all the best ways) of Indiana Jones or the 1999 cinematic masterpiece The Mummy.

Ellie, the heroine, is a staunch suffragette and crack historian, but due to the times (late 1890's) is not taken seriously in her profession by the men in power. She finally gets to go on the adventure of a lifetime when she accidentally pockets an artefact that is furiously sought by dangerous and powerful men.

She finds herself swept away to central America in a desperate attempt to protect an ancient, mythical city from falling into the clutches of looters. She hires Adam Bates, a rugged American surveyor, to guide her through the jungle. Along the way they discover that myth is a lot closer to fact than they've ever suspected and that objects of power, or arcana, are being hoarded by the powerful elite.

After barely escaping Central America with their lives, Ellie and Adam find themselves in Egypt in the company of Ellie's step brother (and Adam's best friend) Neil and Ellie's best friend Constance. They once again tangle with the group seeking arcana in the deserts of Egypt as both sides race to be the first ones to get their hands on the Staff of Moses, an object of immesurable power. But even after they protect the Staff, there's no rest for the intrepid adventurers, because Constance's grandmother, who is royalty from India, takes them all to India to search for another dangerous bit of arcana.

The main antagonist the group comes up against is an exceptionally dangerous man named Jacobs, who is one of the best villains I've read recently. He's willing to do whatever unsavory things it takes to get his job done, yet he's not the one-note villain he initally appears to be. With each encounter between the opposing sides, more layers get peeled off the incredibly dangerous antagonist. He's not exactly sympathetic, but as his motivations get uncovered he's easier to understand.

I love how Jacquelyn Benson weaves real historical facts in with wild adventures and a touch of magic without sugarcoating the bad parts of the history. Ellie and Constance are both strong willed woman who have to navigate a society designed to keep them beaten down. As the group travels the world they are eyewitnesses to the damages perpetuated by colonialism and the ideas of Western exceptionalism. I can't wait for book 4 because they'll be traveling to Korea and taking on Adam's awful father.

Holiday Horror Romance

Kass O'Shire and Emily Antoinette, being the madly talented writers they are, somehow managed to write a monster/stalker romance but make it feel super cozy. 😲

Ada is an agoraphobe living alone in a cabin in the woods and Seth is the monster that stalks her nightmares. As a dream spirit Seth is forced to become whatever Ada's subconcious mind dictates and ever since she was mugged he has been turned into a masked monster who torments her.

In an attempt to hopefully reverse the monstrous changes her subconscious has forced on him, Seth leaves the dream realm for the real world to try and being Ava some holiday cheer that will make her dreams happier. Unfortunately for poor Seth, everything he does just makes Ada more scared and consequently more vulnerable to someone even more terrifying than Seth.

There are definitely some heavy themes to the book (PTSD/anxiety, religious trauma, misogyny, etc) and Ada and Seth work through a lot to get their HEA. And I can't forget about Henry, Ava's adorable senior pupper, who knows better than Ava which men around her are good and which arent.

So if you're someone who loves to keep spooky season going into holiday season, He Sees You When You're Sleeping is the perfect read.

Sci-Fi Rom-Com

Every now and then I read a book that feels like a love letter to a lot of my elder millenial comfort media. Stardusted is one of those books. It's a sci-fi rom-com with callbacks to so many sci-fi shows/movies that have been formative experiences for so many of my generation, like the X-Files, Roswell, and Stargate.

It's all about Raven, or Rae as she's known to her friends, an anthropology major who is working at a tacky tropical themed restaurant/bar to pay her way through school. Thanks to solar flares, the electrical grid and technology have been acting up, leading some of Rae's coworkers to loudly speculate that aliens are to blame.

Rae, following in the footsteps of STEM inspiration Dana Scully, is deeply sceptical. So much so that when she has her very own close encounter after working a late shift she rationalizes it away as a ball lightning sighting, rather than a UFO sighting.

The encounter leaves her stranded on the side of the road with a broken down car. She's rescued by the hot, enigmatic bartender that she's been crushing on for months. And he's strangely not buying her excuses to explain away the UFO she refuses to admit to seeing.

Not too long after, though Rae has an encounter that's not so easily explained away. She's attacked a giant, freaky robot in the anthropology lab, blasted with energy from a strange crystal she picked up in the attack and now she's got weird, freaky symbols showing up on her skin. Weird, freaky symbols that reveal a shocking secret hidden by Skye, the hot bartender.

Suddenly Rae is faced with either putting her life in danger of more robot attacks or abandoning everything she's worked for and trusting Skye, a man she barely knows, to keep her safe as they search for a way to get rid of what's causing the symbols on her skin.

If you're a fan of late 90s/early 2000s sci-fi, rom-coms, sweet-but-mysterious MMCs and smart FMCs, you'll probably enjoy Stardusted too. It's book 1 in an in-progress series, so there's a minor cliffhanger at the end, but all that did for me was make me even more excited for the next chapter in Rae and Skye's adventure!

Statues Crumble

Statues Crumble is more than just a sapphic Medusa retelling. It's a story of two broken, brutalized women finding healing.

We all know Medusa's tragic story, but Statues Crumble tackles the mental toll it would have taken on her. And Evadne understands all too well, as she was sent to Medusa's Island as punishment for not "properly" grieving her abusive late husband. Her blindness, caused by an accident on the boat that brought her to the island, protects her from Medusa's curse.

Evadne, despite now living in darkness, is such a sunshiny character. She views the island as a fresh start and is thrilled to be alive and permanently away from all the people who helped further abuse on her for not mourning another abuser. On the other hand, Medusa is rather grumpy. She's spent centuries imprisoned on an island, being used as an executioner of the criminals dropped in her shores. She really doesn't know what to do with Evadne. She's never had another soul last more than a day around her.

The more time they spend together the more they fall for each other (which terrifies Medusa beyond reason). Evadne is so patient and kind and always waits for Medusa to be ready for the next bit of intimacy. Because Evadne knows what it's like to be touched without consent and she refuses to continue that cycle.

Thank you so much L.V. Brooks for the opportunity to advance read. 💚

Orc Cowboy Romance

Tusks and Saddles is, in all the best ways, like the love child of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, a Western romance and the movie Tremors.

It is two novellas about a couple of orc brothers, one a paladin and one a cleric, finding love with strong, take-no-prisoners women in the frontier town of Irongarde.

Lizzie Strong's part of the story follows Boone, the paladin orc, as he fills in for his best friend on a cattle drive. He's been in love with Willamina, his friend's older sister, for ages. And dodging rustlers and terrifying sand slithers while keeping 500 head of angry moo alive certainly has a way of bringing people together. Boone is the steadfast and loyal presence that the fiery, stubborn Will needs in her life.

Azalea Crowley's part of the story follows Welborn, the younger of the orc brothers. He's been tasked with going to Irongarde to help open the new temple to the god he worships. But when he gets there he finds out that the High Cleric in charge of the new temple has gone missing. He gets the help of the enigmatic and tough-as-nails Beatrix Eaves, a gunslinger to find the High Cleric, because Miss Eaves can't in good conscience let the naive cleric wander off into the wastes on his own.

Welborn is written as autistic and seems to be on the asexual spectrum, because he's never experienced attraction to another being before he meets Miss Eaves. Their romance is pretty fast burn, but it works well for the characters and with the pace of the story.

Tusks and Saddles was a lot of fun to read and the epilogue where the brothers finally reunite is perfect. I really enjoyed advance reading it and I hope there are more collaborations between the authors in the future.

Alien Reality TV

Alien Jeopardy is a hilarious sci-fi rom-com. This funny, spicy story centers around an earth woman, Ellison, and an alien, Ka-Rexsh.

Prior to the events of the story, earth is taken over by a race of aliens called the Roth. But even though there was a brutal invasion, once things settle down, life goes on as normally as it can afterwards. Ellison is stuck in a dead-end, terminally boring office job. After a particularly mind-numbing day, Ell and her friends gather at Ell's house for drinking, snacking and a sleepover. Before the night is over Ell finds herself (and her friends) being abducted to participate in an intergalactic reality show. Because of course the thing that aliens like best about earth culture is reality TV. 🤣

Ell is partnered with the winged and horned Ka-Rexsh in a competition called Mated and Afraid. The show is part dating show and part survival contest and the winners will be set up with a cushy new life on a colony planet. To survive (and hopefully win) Ell and Rex have to fight terrifying alien creatures, battle rugged terrain and complete various challenges all while fighting mating urges that keep growing stronger the more time they spend together.

Language and culture differences lead to some amusing misunderstandings (like Earth idioms not translating properly, causing much confusion) and halfway through the competition a plot twist throws all the rules out the metaphorical window.

If you like fast burn romance, doting, protective MMCs, FMCs who find themselves to be stronger than they believed and forced proximity, Alien Jeopardy delivers on all counts.

If Men In Black were a Rom-Com

Last year I read my first Mallory Marlowe book: Love and Other Conspiracies. I loved it so I jumped at the chance to advance read her upcoming book. I didn't think it was possible, but I love Love at First Sighting even more than Love and Other Conspiracies!

Love at First Sighting is like if Men in Black were a rom-com instead of an action comedy. El is an influencer who gets her very own Man in Black doing a bit of if government sanctioned stalking after she has a close encounter while out taking photos for her next promotion.

The Man In Black in question is Carter, who specifically requested the assignment because El's close encounter mirrors one he had 15 years prior.

El and Carter soon find themselves uncovering a real conspiracy while falling in love and discovering who they really want to be outside of government agency and influencer jobs.

I love how El was shown to be so much smarter than her curated influencer image. And Carter was a total cinnamon roll, who always wanted to see the best in everyone, whether they deserved it or not.

So if you love rom-coms, unexplained aerial phenomena, and Men in Black, give Love at First Sighting a chance when it releases on August 12, 2025.