Author: bookafterbook

Publication: 27th June 2023 – Hodderscape

Words sting. Songs kill.

The Cruel Prince meets To Kill a Kingdom in this seductive YA fantasy debut, in which a siren must choose between protecting her family and following her heart in a prejudiced kingdom where her existence is illegal.

Saoirse Sorkova survives on secrets. As the last siren in her kingdom, she can sing any man to an early grave – but her very existence is illegal, and if her true identity were ever discovered, it would be her life on the line.

By day, Saoirse disguises herself as a fae, pretending to be the perfect soldier-in-training. By night, she satisfies her darker urges working as an assassin for dangerous mercenaries. And all the while, she keeps the biggest secret of all: that she is not always in control of her Siren powers, or her desire to kill.

Then a blackmailer threatens her sister, and Saoirse’s investigation takes her to the royal palace, and her most dangerous job yet: personal bodyguard to the Crown Prince.

Saoirse expects to despise Prince Hayes. But he is kind, thoughtful, and charming, and she finds herself increasingly drawn to him . . . until he tasks her with investigating a killer plaguing the kingdom. The problem: the killer is Saoirse.

Trapped by her deadly double life, Saoirse can’t leave the palace until she saves her sister . . . but who will save her from herself?

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Sirens, fae, witches, a morally gray heroine, and conspiracies. I loved Sing Me to Sleep!!!

Everyone knows that sirens were killed many years ago when a king created a barrier around his kingdom to protect it from its enemies. Now the fae have control, the witches have their magic, and the humans are servants. What they don’t know is that there is still a siren alive, hiding in plain sight, training to become a guard. Saoirse Sorkova is a siren with a thirst to kill. Beautiful and deadly, her song can persuade anyone, human or magic, to do her bidding. By night, she is a killer for hire, but she doesn’t know who pays her or who her victims are.

Graduating first in her class, Saoirse is chosen as a royal guard for the handsome, charming, and kind prince Hayes. She should refuse because the Palace is a dangerous place for her, but when someone threatens the person she loves most in the world, her sister Rain, and all clues lead to the Palace, she has no choice but to accept the job to find out who is after her family. Once inside the Palace, she discovers that her family may not be the only one in danger and there are much darker secrets to uncover.

Saoirse is a well-developed and fierce protagonist. All her life, she’s been hiding her true identity and her nature, trying to fight the call from the water to kill and destroy. Everything she does, the killing and accepting the job as a royal guard, is to protect her family, but, most of all, her younger sister Rain. She expected to hate prince Hayes, but she didn’t expect to find him funny, benevolent, and almost impossible to resist. 

There are twists, suspense, political intrigue, assassination attempts, blackmailing, betrayals, a fantastic world-building, with a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance filled with witty exchanges and desire that kept me immersed in the story. Sing Me to Sleep is a compelling and thrilling fantasy debut and I am already looking forward to its sequel.

A huge thank you to Hodderscape and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Gabi Burton grew up reading and writing in St. Louis, Missouri before moving to Maine where she graduated from Bowdoin College. She now works as a paralegal and author on the East Coast. When she’s not working, writing, or reading, she’s probably watching Netflix, scrolling Twitter, or finding beautiful places to walk – preferably near a body of water.

Publication: 6th July 2023 – Electric Monkey

There’s never a good time to find a dead body. But finding a dead body while you’re trying to kiss your crush?

Dead awkward.

All Kerry wants to do is stay at home with her rom-coms and strict retainer schedule. Instead, her BFF Annie has roped her into going to their first sixth-form party to investigate who’s cyberbullying Heather, the most popular girl in school.

On the cusp of kissing her dreamy crush, Scott, Kerry discovers the body of Heather’s second in command – suffocated with a menstrual cup. Within days, another student turns up dead, this time with a sanitary pad across the eyes. Now Annie and Kerry are officially on the case to stop the menstrual murderer . . . period.

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Incredibly funny, witty, and intriguing with the right amount of suspense, romance, and comedy, I loved Murder on a School Night and I laughed so much!

The protagonist, Kerry, is a bit socially awkward, with a passion for Agatha Christie’s novels and investigative journalism, and she’d rather be at home watching a movie than attending a school party. On the other hand, her fierce best friend Annie, who shares Kerry’s passion for detective novels and is not ashamed to go to school on a Paw Patrol child bike, wants nothing more than to be friends with Les Populaires, who, as the name implies, are the most popular – and mean – kids in school. That’s why Kerry finds herself at a party, talking to Scott, the handsome new boy in school with adorable dimples, pretending to share his love for The Shining and about to have a romantic moment, when she stumbles into into the body of one of Les Populaires, apparently killed by a menstrual cup. The police declares it an accidental death, but when another student is found dead, this time with a sanitary pad on their eyes, it is clear that there is a killer on the loose and Kerry and Annie are determined to find them before they kill again.

The mystery is well-written, with quite a few unexpected twists and the right amount of suspense and hilarity. The friendship between Kerry and Annie is fantastic and relatable. Where Annie is loud, Kerry is more quiet, where Annie wants to be part of the popular crowd, Kerry would rather be left alone, but they always rely on each other and have each other’s back, even when they are at odds. And then, there is the romance. Scott is the new boy in town, he seems interested in Kerry, but the murders started right after his arrival and he seems to be hiding something. Could he have something to do with it?

With snappy dialogues, jaw-dropping surprises, and lots of comedy, Mean Girls meets Pretty Little Liars in this terrific feminist YA novel!

A huge thank you to Electric Monkey and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this fantastic novel.

Kate Weston is an ex-stand-up comedian and bookseller. Her first YA book, Diary of a Confused Feminist, was longlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Prize 2020 and nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Murder On A School Night is her third book for teenagers. In it, Weston brings together her hilarious feminist humour, a compelling storyline and incredibly relatable anti-heroines.

Publication: 27th June 2023 – Perfectly Proper Press

A chance meeting between the sheltered daughter and the forward-thinking son of rival Victorian families sparks a forbidden romance in USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews’s fourth book in her acclaimed Somerset Stories series.

Shy and stammering Meg Burton-Smythe has spent the whole of her life living on the fringes of local society. She’s more comfortable with her daydreams than she is with people. But when a dashing, golden-haired hero rides to her rescue one morning, she dares to hope that her dreams might finally come true. There’s only one problem: her handsome rescuer is the son of her father’s sworn enemy.

Ivo Beresford doesn’t believe in clinging to the past. Freshly returned from a lengthy grand tour, he’s looking to the future, eager to spearhead the building of a new railway extension in Somersetshire. But an unexpected encounter with Meg Burton-Smythe, the isolated only daughter of his parents’ oldest foe, sets the past and the future colliding.

Resolved to put ancient grudges to rest—at least where innocent young ladies are concerned—Ivo encourages lonely Meg to embark on a secret friendship. After all, what harm can a friendship do? It isn’t as though there’s any danger of the two of them falling in love…

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It’s publication day for one of my favourite novels and authors. I can’t recommend Mimi Matthew’s novels enough and the Somerset Stories is a beautifully-written, enchanting, and immersive series with a cast of exceptional characters.

Appointment in Bath is the amazing fourth book in the series, a Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending. Two rival families, living side by side. What happens when their two children become first friends and then something more?

The feud between the Beresfords and the Burton-Smythes goes back decades, since when they were children (I highly recommend reading Gentleman Jim!!!). Now, their own children are adults and after a fortuitous and adorable meeting, Ivo Beresford and Meg Burton-Smythes develop a friendship and start meeting in secret. 

Ivo is handsome and charming, kind and gentle. As a second son, Ivo has none of the responsibilities that fall on his older brother James, but he has business ambitions and wants to build something of his own. Meg’s father has always treated her more like a servant than a daughter. Shy, quiet, and mostly isolated from the world, Meg has a stutter that comes out whenever she is nervous and, following her mother’s death and her brother’s escape to Europe, she is the only one left to care for her father. Their friendship and slow-burn romance allow those two characters to grow and also their relationship with their families to develop.

Having had a few glimpses of Ivo and Meg’s story in Return to Satterthwaite Court, I was really looking forward to Appointment in Bath and I was thrilled to get an early copy which I read in one day. There are beautiful descriptions, wonderful characters, interesting and detailed historical facts, and a fantastic swoony and forbidden love story whose only fault is that it was too short. Also, I am excited that it sets the story for the next book in the series, which will see James Beresford, the strict heir determined to restore the family’s name, and Hannah Heywood, the timid daughter of a squire, fall in love. Highly recommended!!!!

USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews writes both historical nonfiction and award-winning Victorian romances. Her novels have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, and Shelf Awareness, and her articles have been featured on the Victorian Web, the Journal of Victorian Culture, and in syndication at BUST Magazine. In her other life, Mimi is an attorney. She resides in California with her family, which includes a retired Andalusian dressage horse, a Sheltie, and two Siamese cats.

To buy the book: https://www.mimimatthews.com/books/somerset-stories/appointment-in-bath/

Publication: 27th June 2023 – Orion

Beatrice Steele has none of the accomplishments of a true lady: she is terrible at needlework, has no musical ability, and her artwork is so bad it frightens people. Little does anyone know that Beatrice also harbours a dark secret: an obsession with the true crime cases she reads about in the newspaper.

For her family’s sake, she’s vowed to put this most unladylike obsession behind her. Eligible bachelor Edmund Croaksworth is set to attend the autumnal ball, and the Steele family hopes that her eldest sister Louisa will steal his heart. Their future depends on this match! Beatrice needs be on her best behaviour… though that’s made more difficult when a disgraced yet strangely alluring detective inexplicably shows up to the ball.

Just as Beatrice thinks she’s gotten away with it, Croaksworth drops dead in the middle of a minuet. As a storm rages outside, the evening descends into a frenzy as it becomes clear they are trapped with a killer. But maybe, just maybe, it’s Beatrice’s time to shine…

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A Pride and Prejudice and Emma retelling with murder: what more do you want? I had so much fun reading this novel. It is absurd, entertaining, and suspenseful and I couldn’t put it down.

The protagonist of the story, Beatrice Steele, has a secret. In a corner of her house, hidden from her family, she collects newspapers that feed her obsession for true crime and a well-known London detective to whom she regularly sends clues and ideas about his current cases. However, tonight is an important night as there is a ball to attend to and she must be on her best behaviour to improve her sister’s chances to attract the attention of eligible bachelor Edmund Croaksworth and so save her family’s future. When Edmund drops dead in the middle of a dance and a storm stops everyone from leaving or coming, Beatrice puts her detective skills to use and tries to figure out who is the killer with the help of a disgraced and grumpy detective.

A Most Agreeable Murder is a unique and unexpected novel. Starting from the weird setting of Swampshire, a village in the English countryside consisting of several mansions and one terrible swamp. And then there is the quirky and bizarre cast of characters. You will recognize characters from Jane Austen’s novels, who are represented in a more ridiculous and hilarious way. Beatrice Steele is the perfect Elizabeth Bennett, smart, witty, and curious by nature, while the grumpy detective is the perfect Mr. Darcy who refuses to dance at a ball.

A comedy of manners with Agatha Christie vibes, A Most Agreeable Murder is an enjoyable and delightful read that will make you laugh out loud and keep you on the edge of your seat at the same time!

A huge thank you to Orion and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Julia Seales is a writer and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. She earned an MFA in screenwriting from UCLA, and a BA in English from Vanderbilt University. She is a lifelong Anglophile with a passion for both murder mysteries and Jane Austen. Julia is originally from Kentucky, where she learned about manners (and bourbon).

Publication: 1st June 2023 – Rock the Boat

It’s not that Alice wants someone to die. It’s just that things were a lot more interesting when she and Iris were investigating a murder. Two months after Alice and Iris solved the murder of Brooke Donovan, Steve Anderson has become a semi-celebrity; Iris Adams and Cole Fielding are almost dating; and Alice Ogilvie is bored out of her brain. Reluctantly attending the school dance at Levy Castle, Alice sneaks away from the party to do some snooping while Iris gets close to Cole. But when she pushes open the door to what was once Charles Levy’s study, she quite literally falls onto her next case…

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They are back! After solving a murder that shocked Castle Cove a few months back, seventeen-year-old Iris and Alice are trying to lead a normal life and do the things that teenagers usually do, like attending a school dance. Except that murder seems to be following them. While Alice is exploring Levy Castle, where the dance is being held and where more than 50 years earlier young actress Mona Moody (accidentally?) died, she stumbles upon the scene of a brutal attack: Rebecca Kennedy and Helen Park had been fighting just a few minutes earlier, and now Rebecca is on the floor bleeding and unconscious while Helen is holding a bloodied letter opener. A weather alert makes it also difficult for emergencies to arrive, so Alice and Iris channel their inner Agatha Christie and get to work to figure out what happened.

I am a huge fan of this series. Iris and Alice use their knowledge of Agatha Christie’s novels and the methods of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot to solve the cases the police isn’t able to, often finding themselves in trouble with the law for trespassing on property or keeping evidence. In this case, they are not entirely convinced that Helen is the attacker and, as their investigation deepens, it seems to be linked to what happened to Mona Moody half a century earlier.

The story is told from the perspective of both Alice and Iris. These two characters couldn’t be more opposite, but they are linked by a very deep friendship. Alice comes from a wealthy and influential family. She has a strained relationship with her parents who have ignored her for most of her life and she’s been raised by her nanny Brenda. Once a member of the cool kids in school, following the events of the first book, The Agathas, she’s found new and more loyal friends with Iris and the Zoners. On the other hand, Iris comes from a financially struggling family and works after school. She lives with her mother after she sent her father to jail and she’s still haunted by her violent past. 

The Night In Question is a gripping and fun novel and I enjoyed seeing how the characters have evolved. I can’t wait for their next adventure!

A huge thank you to Rock the Boat and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Liz Lawson is the author of The Lucky Ones, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2020, and the New York Times bestselling YA thriller The Agathas which she co-wrote with NYT Bestselling author Kathleen Glasgow.  She lives outside of Washington DC with her family and two cats.

Kathleen Glasgow is the New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces and How to Make Friends with the Dark and has been published in 26 countries. She lives in Tucson, Arizona, where she works in an office by day and spins stories by night. You can find her on Twitter @kathglasgow, on Instagram as @misskathleenglasgow or on her website kathleenglasgowbooks.com.

Publication: 13th June 2023 – Sphere

From the author of tiktok sensations and global bestsellers The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain 

Rival physicists collide in a vortex of academic feuds and fake dating shenanigans in this delightfully STEMinist romcom.

The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people-pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs. 

Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig – until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and arrogant older brother of her favourite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And he’s the same Jack Smith who rules over the physics department at MIT, standing right between Elsie and her dream job. 

Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but… those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice? 

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Love, Theoretically is another fantastic STEM romance whose protagonist is Elsie, a theoretical physicist (which I am already familiar with thanks to my endless rewatching of the Big Bang Theory), who works as an adjunct professor at several Boston universities that don’t pay much and she shares a crappy apartment with her best friend Cece and her hedgehog. She’s turned to fake-dating to pay off her student loans and, beside a few idiots who tried to ask for more, so far, she can’t complain. Except when it comes to her current fake boyfriend, or better yet, his arrogant and handsome brother, Jack, who seems to see right through her. Things turn more complicated when Jack turns out to be an experimental physicist on the committee for a tenure position at MIT she’s interviewing for and also the same man who ruined the career of her mentor. Elsie is determined to get the job and fight against the man who is her enemy even though she finds him very attractive. How can she fall for the very same man she should despise?

Elsie is a brilliant character. Her weakness is – beside cheese – that she can’t never say no to people. She can’t say no to her mother when she wants her to play negotiator between her two brothers; she can’t say no to her mentor when he wants her to keep doing multiple jobs instead of trying to get the tenure position; she can’t say no to the many students who ask her for an extension with the most absurd excuses. She has the unique skill to read people and adapt to them so that she can win them over. However, Jack is the exception. She can’t understand him, can’t figure out what he is going to do next. Elsie is funny, smart, and determined, while Jack is probably my favorite of Ali Hazelwood’s men: behind that tough and grumpy exterior there is an adorable, honest, and reliable man. 

Ali Hazelwood never disappoints: the enemies-to-lovers trope, the witty banter and the sexy chemistry between Elsie and Jack, the women in STEM theme who have to deal with sexism in the workplace, nerdy and fantastic characters, and the rivalry between experimental and theoretical physicists… witty, immersive, and romantic, I read Love, Theoretically in one day!

A huge thank you to Sphere and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Ali Hazelwood is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain, as well as a writer of peer-reviewed articles about brain science, in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to the US to pursue a PhD in neuroscience. She recently became a professor, which absolutely terrifies her. When Ali is not at work, she can be found running, eating cake pops, or watching sci-fi movies with her two feline overlords (and her slightly-less-feline husband).

Publication: 8th June 2023 – Zaffre

Motherland meets Midsomer Murders in this fresh and funny mystery about a group of soon-to-be mums who turn detective when there’s a murder at their antenatal class.

For Alice and her partner Joe, moving to the sleepy Cotswold village of Penton is a chance to embrace country life and prepare for the birth of their unexpected first child. He can take up woodwork; maybe she’ll learn to make jam. But the rural idyll they’d hoped for doesn’t quite pan out when a dead body is discovered at their local antenatal class and they find themselves suspects in a murder investigation.

With a cloud of suspicion hanging over the heads of the whole group, Alice sets out to solve the mystery and clear her name, with the help of her troublesome dog, Helen. However, there are more secrets and tensions in the heart of Penton than first meet the eye. Between the discovery of a shady commune up in the woods, the unearthing of a mysterious death years earlier and the near-tragic poisoning of Helen, Alice is soon in way over her head.

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Today, I am thrilled to be on the blog tour for The Expectant Detectives, the fantastic debut novel by Kat Ailes.

Alice and Joe are expecting their first baby and they have decided to leave behind the chaos of London and move to the quiet town of Penton in the Cotswold Hills. With just a few weeks before the birth, they have just the time to organize their new house for the arrival of their baby and attend antenatal class. Alice hopes to bond with other future mothers and make a few friends, but what she gets is mopping the floor while one of them gives birth and being involved in a murder investigation.

This was quite an enjoyable and intriguing cozy mystery and I had so much fun reading it. There is a lot going on. A picturesque setting, a small community, an organic farm commune with a few secrets, gong baths (a meditation thing), and lots more. The author put together an eclectic cast of characters with little in common, except for pregnancy and murder. And it is the murder that allows Alice to bond with the other expectant mothers as, helped by three adorable and funny dogs (especially Alice’s dog, Helen, who was my favorite character in the entire novel!), they start their own investigation, first out of curiosity, and then to help one of their own under suspicion. 

The story is told from Alice’s perspective. She is funny, smart, and authentic. Her dry humour made me often laugh, and I found her approach to motherhood, her fears, and her doubts, relatable and honest. Initially, she starts snooping together with her new friend Poppy for fun – and to avoid unpacking all the boxes in her new house -, but then the investigation turns more serious and things hit closer to home when she starts suspecting that her partner Joe is hiding something.

I really liked The Expectant Detectives. I enjoyed the writing, the humour, the characters (especially the dogs), and the mystery where I figured out some of the things on my own, but I was mostly taken by surprise. Immersive, fun, and refreshing, The Expectant Detectives is a fantastic read!

A huge thank you to Tracy and Zaffre for inviting me to join the blog tour and providing me with a proof of the novel.

Follow the rest of the blog tour:

Kat Ailes‘ debut novel, The Expectant Detectives, was runner-up for the Comedy Women in Print Unpublished Prize 2021. She works as an editor and freelanced for several years to allow her to take a couple of belated gap years, including hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. She now lives in the Cotswolds with her lovely husband and son and her beautiful but foolish dog.

Publication: 8th June 2023 (eBook), 31st August 2023 (paperback) – One More Chapter

A Siren’s call… to murder

Former Met police officer Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker is working a trial period as an auxiliary Detective Sergeant with the Penstowan police force. But living and working alongside DCI Nathan Withers – while still trying to grow her catering company – brings its own challenges, especially when Jodie’s attention is quickly taken up by the suspicious drowning of a local fisherman.

While tourists and locals alike are falling under the spell of the annual mermaid festival with its captivating legends of Sirens luring fishermen to their deaths, Jodie and Nathan fear they may have found themselves in the middle of a very real – and very dangerous – turf war. As the casualties start to stack up, they must face the likelihood that something sinister has been going on under their noses for some time…

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Jodie Parker had promised her daughter and her mother that once she left the Met she was done with serious and dangerous policing working. However, working as an auxiliary DS with the Penstowan police means that she’s been called to help her boyfriend, DCI Nathan Withers, on a few cases, while also growing her own catering service. When, dressed as a mermaid for the annual local festival, she stumbles upon a body, she has no choice but to get involved in the investigation. The murdered man is a local fisherman who seemed to be involved in something suspicious and possibly illegal. When another local is found unconscious and tortured it is clear that the two cases are linked and Jodie and Nathan need to find out the truth before someone else gets hurt.

Jodie Parker is an interesting and well-developed character. She is trying to juggle two jobs, and trying not to disappoint her teenage daughter, her widowed mother, and her charming boyfriend. For twenty years she worked in the London Metropolitan Police, which she left to return to her place of birth, promising her daughter and mother that she was done with that life. However, that is easier said than done, especially when she is really good at her job (except for the boring paperwork side of the job) and she keeps finding herself involved in investigations.

The case she is now working is surrounded by the local legend of the mermaid which adds a spooky atmosphere to the event. The reality, however, is much more complex, practical, and full of twists.

A Cornish Seaside Murder is the sixth book in the Nosey Parker series, but it’s the first one I read so I can’t honestly tell you that it can be easily read as a stand-alone. It is entertaining, suspenseful, and engrossing, and I enjoyed it so much that I plan to read the other books in the series.

A huge thank you to One More Chapter and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Fiona Leitch is a novelist and screenwriter with a chequered past. She’s written for footballing and motoring magazines, childbirth videos and mail order catalogues; DJ’ed at illegal raves in London, been told off by a children’s TV presenter during a studio debate; and was the Australasian face of a series of TV commercials for a cleaning product. All of which has given her a thorough grounding in the ridiculous, and helped her to write funny stuff.

Publication: 25th May 2023 – Hodder & Stoughton

What if your new colleague is the one person who leaves you speechless?

Harper Jenkins has a way with words. As Celebrity Editor at a glossy magazine, she knows exactly how to get tight-lipped Hollywood stars talking, landing her exclusive stories and a great reputation.

There’s only one person who leaves her speechless – her arrogant colleague Ryan, who has been hired as the new Features Editor. Harper remembers Ryan from a decade ago, when they both interned together. Back then she had believed he was someone she could trust – but he betrayed her completely and they’ve never spoken since.

Thrown together again in a busy newsroom, Harper and Ryan clash on everything – he can’t bear how chaotic and messy she is while she declares him uptight and infuriating. But as the tension between them builds, who will get to have the last word?

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I have adored all Katy Birchall’s novels (she is one of my autobuy author, after all), but I think that The Last Word is my favorite so far. I fell in love with the story and the characters, and I stayed up late to finish reading it.

The protagonist of the novel is Harper Jenkins. A celebrity journalist, she is not only good with the written word. She can convince celebrities to open up to her like no other journalists can’t so that her articles are always exclusive. On the personal side, she’s never committed to anyone, not ever since she got her heart broken by the only guy she ever trusted. The problem is that now that same guy sits next to her at work as the new Features Editor, but she hasn’t forgotten his betrayal. Their arguments become the entertainment of the office as they fight for who has the last word, but what happens when the two of them spend more and more time together?

I loved the character of Harper. She is a workaholic with a strained relationship with her very dysfunctional family. She is messy and chaotic, and she is also genuine, loyal, and relatable. Her approach to celebrities as humans, making them feel comfortable and at ease (and, in one case, helping them give birth in the back seat of a car), makes her successful in a job she loves, but for which she must fight tooth and nail. Her relationship with Ryan is not only the very essence of the enemies-to-lovers trope, but also the opposite-attracts trope. Where Harper is loud and the dictionary definition of disorganized, Ryan is neat and tidy, quiet and reserved. He is adorable and kind and it is clear neither of them has moved on from what happened ten years earlier.

The Last Word is a witty, entertaining, sparkling, and addictive novel and I didn’t want it to end. I can’t recommend it enough as I wait for whatever the author writes next!

A huge thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Katy is the author of several young adult novels including The It Girl series, the Hotel Royale series and Morgan Charmley: Teen Witch. She is the co-author of the middle grade Lightning Girl series and Star Switch with Alesha Dixon, and the Find the Girl teen series with YouTube stars Lucy and Lydia Connell. Katy was proud to be the author of a retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma for the Awesomely Austen series, a collection of Austen’s novels retold for younger readers. She has also written a non-fiction book, How to be a Princess: Real-Life Fairy Tales for Modern Heroines.

Katy lives in London with her partner, Ben, and her rescue dog, Bono.

Publication: 6th September 2022 – Headline Eternal

Chaotic, messy and madly in love.

Lizzie Blake has made endless mistakes. Kitchen fires, pyramid schemes, you name it, she’s done it . . . and made a mess of it too.

One mistake she never makes? Risking anything more serious than a one-off hook-up. But after losing yet another bakery job due to her uncontrolled ADHD, she breaks her cardinal rule and has a two-night stand.

Once burned, twice shy, Rake has given up on relationships. And feelings. And any form of intimacy for that matter. Two nights with charming, chaotic Lizzie might have him lowering his guard, but then he’s heading back to Australia, far away from the surprising feelings that she seems to inspire. But when Lizzie realises she’s pregnant, Rake knows he’ll do anything to be in his child’s life, but emotional vulnerability is off the table.

Except everyone makes mistakes, and Lizzie and Rake might have just stumbled upon the best mistake of their lives.

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I don’t find it often in romantic comedies, but I love the trope boy-meets-girl, they have a one-night stand (with the intention of never seeing each other again), and suddenly they are expecting a baby and falling for each other. It’s entertaining and fun. Add the opposite-attract trope and you have an immersive, witty, and spicy novel that I enjoyed very much.

The two protagonists of this novel, Lizzie and Rake, are indeed different. She is chaotic, disorganized, and loud. He is quiet, neat, and tidy. They meet one night at a bar and they are instantly attracted to each other. After a weekend spent together, Lizzie goes back to her life and Rake goes home to Sidney, expecting never to meet again, until the lines on multiple pregnancy tests turn pink and Rake uproots his life to move to Philadelphia and be close to Lizzie and their future baby. Things will be far from easy as they adjust to living together, family and work drama, and, most importantly, trying to follow their rule of having a platonic, absolutely-no-sex, relationship.

What I love most about Mazey Eddings’s novels is her cast of fantastic characters that feel authentic and relatable. While Harper, from her debut novel A Brush with Love, remains my favorite of her characters, I loved Lizzie. Dealing with her ADHD, she feels too much, she says too much, and she uses baking (and sex) to filter her energy. She runs away from attachment and relationships (except for her three best friends), she changes jobs continuously, and she’s been told she is a disaster from a young age. And then she meets Rake, stable and workaholic, who didn’t expect to have his life completely changed by a woman he barely knows. Despite their differences, Rake and Lizzie are adorable as they get to know each other and pretend that they are not attracted to each other.

If you are looking for a fun, romantic, and well-written novel with fantastic characters and lots of spice then Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake is the one for you!

A huge thank you to Headline Eternal and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Mazey Eddings is a neurodiverse author, dentist, and (most importantly) stage mom to her cats, Yaya and Zadie. She can most often be found reading romance novels under her weighted blanket and asking her boyfriend to bring her snacks. She’s made it her personal mission in life to destigmatize mental health issues and write love stories for every brain. With roots in Ohio and North Carolina, she now calls Philadelphia home.

To learn more, visit: www.mazeyeddings.com
or follow Mazey on Instagram: @mazeyeddings.