This week’s reading mood? Strong women carrying entire plots on their backs… and men making choices that had me yelling out loud.

Let’s start with Burn the Sea because I am fully in my historical fantasy era right now.

I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about Abbakka Chowta, and now I’m sitting here like… how did I not already know about this woman?? A queen fighting the Portuguese in the 1500s?? Immediately obsessed.

Tewari blends real history with fantasy elements like half-man, half-snake tyrants (yes, really), and somehow it all works. The political tension, the stakes, the way Abbakka has to constantly prove herself in a world that underestimates her… it just hit.

Also: the men in this book?? Some of them need to take a deep breath and reevaluate. Respectfully.

I cannot wait to talk to Mona Tewari on May 1 because there is so much to unpack.

Blind Date Agreement was such a fun shift in tone.

If you’ve read Cunsolo before, you already know the vibe: high school drama on the surface, but with real issues layered underneath. And the blind date premise? It just kept getting better the more chaotic (in a fun way) the dates became.

But what surprised me most were the side characters. They absolutely carried some of the emotional weight of the story for me. And the ending? Way more grounded and realistic than I expected, which I appreciated.

Okay but let’s talk about Victim or Villain.

I picked this up for the audiobook because anything Teddy Hamilton narrates, I’m listening. No questions asked.

But Gwen Kane?? She’s the reason you stay.

A woman who escaped an abusive marriage, rebuilding her life on a ranch, trying to figure out who she is now… and then everything gets complicated. Fast. Add in a hot vet and a situation that keeps escalating, and you’ve got a romantic suspense that is tense, fast-paced, and very easy to binge.

Morally gray women will always win for me.

Now Blood Bound.

This is the one that made me go, okay… romantasy is back.

You’ve got dragons, witches, talking animal familiars (with actual personalities), layered history, and twists that kept me fully engaged. But the real highlight? The dual POV between two women who are not romantically involved and don’t exist to compete with each other.

It gave me that Aelin and Manon energy where they’re powerful, complex, on different sides, but there’s still this underlying respect. I loved that dynamic so much.

The romance was cute, maybe a little fast for me, but honestly? The female relationships were the heart of this story.

I do wish we got a bit more depth in certain parts of the worldbuilding, and the ending felt a little rushed with everything it tried to wrap up… but overall this was just a really fun, engaging read that pulled me right back into the genre.

Break Room is one of those books I almost wish was longer… which is wild because it’s just over 100 pages.

It’s a translated novel that quietly gets under your skin. The author’s note alone had me sitting there like… oh. Oh no.

It really digs into workplace dynamics, assumptions, and how we perceive the people around us. Like, do we actually know our coworkers? Or are we just filling in the gaps with our own biases?

Uncomfortable in a way that feels very intentional.

South of Somewhere was my in-person book club pick, and this one felt very close to home. Literally.

It’s set in my area, and I kept recognizing locations which made the reading experience so fun. But beyond that, it’s a clean romance with a faith element that takes its time exploring recovery and healing in a way that felt honest.

It’s quieter than some of the other books I read this week, but it stuck with me.

And then there’s Dark Is When the Devil Comes.

I don’t even know how to explain this reading experience other than: I was yelling. The entire time.

The atmosphere is so creepy, the twists just keep coming, and at no point did I feel grounded in what was real and what wasn’t. Which I think is exactly the point.

But also? This book reinforced a very important life rule for me:
Do not get in the car.

Ever.

If you’ve read any of these, I need your thoughts immediately. And if not… what was the best book you've read recently?