Series Report: Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

Ghostbusters, but make it fashion!

Seriously, everybody, this trilogy is so much fun and the covers are actually representative of the contents. Eleanor is a society lady who goes to balls but she also gets tangled up in the occult. She discovers that she's a necromancer and teams up with the Spirit Hunters, who fight the living dead. Or at least the dead who have been risen by another corrupt necromancer set on gaining more power and wealth. Eleanor has to learn how to control her powers while not being corrupted by them along the way. Of course, there's also a romance, but...it doesn't turn out how you think! I was shocked! It's been a long time since I was genuinely surprised by a series ending.

There's ghosts, zombies, MUMMIES, black magic, seances, kissing, sword fights, explosions, airships, demons, betrayal, and lots and lots of excitement! And pretty dresses. Duh.

Series Report: Gemma Doyle by Libba Bray

This series has been on my TBR since 2011, and I just now got to it. And I'm glad that I did! I actually adored the first book! It's like if Mean Girls and the Craft had a baby and then that baby was raised by Sylvia Brown. Basically, it's full of weird magic, a creepy school, and teenage girls who go from enemies to best friends.

The friendship between Gemma and the other girls was actually my favorite part. It was so surprising. I was fully expecting Gemma to stay an outcast, or have the other girls take advantage of her magical abilities. But these girls genuinely become friends and nothing can come between them. Not even death. It's by no means perfect, sunshine, and rainbows. But these girls stick together and save the magical realm together.

The series does go downhill as it goes on. The second book was still fully enjoyable, but the third book was unnecessarily long and unsatisfying. I do think this series could have been one 800+ epic book and have been fantastic. There's just a lot of filler and back-and-forth in the sequels.

However, the one real down point of the series is the period-typical racism against Romani people and Indian people. It might be historically accurate, but...still. Ew.

If you like magical girls, creepy boarding schools, and unlikely friendship, I'd recommend this one.

Series Report: Oak Fast Fated Mates by Rebel Carter

Oak Fast Fated Mates is a super quick and cute Paranormal Romance series. Each of the books is novella length, so I finished the first three books in one day, at just under 400 pages. Now I must wait patiently for the rest of them. This series is set in Oak Fast, Alaska, a small town where humans and magical folk live in harmony. The local college even offers a seminar for the humans so that they can learn about their magical neighbors. Based on the title, I'm sure you can guess that all of the books use the "fated mates" trope. This one is quite hit or miss for me, but it worked for these novellas. While magic pushes these couples together, the final binding must be consensual. These could probably be classified as Rom-Coms, but the humor is wasted on me. I've made no secret of the fact that humor in books simply doesn't work for me. But those of you who can process humor properly will likely get a chuckle out of these books. 
Barista and the Bear focuses on a witch and her bear. She's a Luna has a human and her wolf. Fairy Suited is a fairy and his ex-wolf.

Series Report: Book of Love (1-5) by Meara Platt

First, I love these covers. They're so colorful and pretty.  There are three more books, which came out this year, but I haven't read those yet. Which is probably a good thing, because this is not a series I'd recommend binging. I read these five back to back and I think I would have enjoyed them more if I had spread them out. They're just TOO similar, so it was almost like reading the same book five times. It was a good book, but it didn't need to be repeated that many times so close together.

This series is all about a book that explains how men and women fall in love. It's very scientific. Each woman in this friend/family group read it and pass it around so they can each find their true love. Of course, each of them need to test the information out so they choose a man that they trust, not intending to actually fall in love with him. We all know how that goes. Especially when you read it five times in a row.

It's a very cute series and I do recommend, but just one book at a time.

Series Report: Unfinished Fairy Tales by Aya Ling

This series is a re-imagining of Cinderella. Kat gets sucked into the fairy tale's book and is placed into the life of one of the evil stepsisters. She can only return home if she finishes the story, so she has to help Cinderella get to the ball and marry the prince. Or so she thinks. At least in the first book. The other books are what come after "happily ever after." I didn't enjoy those books as much, but they were still cute. If you like fairy tales, you'll likely enjoy this series.

Series Report: Romancing the Page by Laura Ambrose

I read this series for the #Sapphicathon. With that said, obviously these are F/F romances. They're also all about bookish ladies! They're authors, editors, etc who fall in love with other bookish ladies. Each couple has their own issue to overcome: second chance, boss/employee, agoraphobia, and revenge! They're all novella length, so it's a quick, bingable series if ladies loving ladies and books are your thing.

Series Report: Onyx by J.S. Lee

This is the spin-off series to H3RO, but you don't need to read that one first. Although I'd highly recommend it. Now, we're following Kate, who is Holly's photographer friend. She gets hired to go on tour with K-Pop sensation Onyx and take pictures, obviously. It's lust at first sight! Yes, this is another "Reverse Harem" romance, but it's quite different than the previous one. At first, it's just a lot of sex, but as they spend more time together, they all start to fall in love.

The relationship dynamics in this series are much more complicated than the previous series, despite having the same number of players. Some of the guys might be interested in each other as well, which leads to numerous threesomes and foursomes! It's a good ol' time!

I didn't love this series quite as much as H3RO, but the third book was a solid 5-star. The rest are 4, except for the last one which was a 3. And that's only because it totally focuses on my least favorite Romance trope, so I'd still recommend this series whole heartedly since our tastes vary.

Series Report: H3RO by J.S. Lee

 

I read this series for #AsianReadathon and OMG! Five stars across the board! I did not see that coming at all. I know absolutely nothing about K-Pop and I'd never read a "Reverse Harem" Romance before, so I was going in with really no expectations. I was immediately hooked!

This is all about Holly, a Korean-American, whose father has just reappeared in her life and wants her to work for him at Atlantis Entertainment in Seoul. Holly doesn't know the first thing about managing a boyband and wasn't that familiar with K-Pop either. But then she meets her six guys. They're super hot and all hers! From there she has to get them a #1 single and not get caught in a dating scandal that could end their careers.

Of course, the romance is a huge part of this series but it's not all these books have going for them. It's also about Holly's strained relationship with her father and half-brother. Each of the members of H3RO also have their own things going on and then there's working on their new album and music video, but it's never too much. I think there's just the right amount of each element to keep the story flowing and engaging.

It was fun, sexy, and dramatic! Yes, Holly has sex with all six members, but there's no multi-somes. Just one on one with each guy. Unlike the spinoff series...

Series Report: Gold Sky by Rebel Carter

 

If you're looking for diverse Historical Fiction, this series is for you! It's set in the Montana Territory frontier town known as Gold Sky. It's a place where all kinds of people can live without judgement. The romances and sweet and sometimes steamy, but always happy-making! They're pretty low drama reads. Not that the couples/triads don't face challenges, because they do, but it always felt real.

Heart and Hand: Julie is a mail order bride who gets TWO husbands! She's black, they're white.

Hearth and Home: Julian (Julie's twin) is a mail order husband to Violet! She's Mexican.

Honor and Desire: Seylah is Julie's oldest daughter who falls for her childhood friend.

Three to Love: Florence sets out to find two husbands just like her parents. Ansel and Brendan were already a couple.

Leather and Lace: Two women out in the frontier!

If you know of any similar books or series, please let me know!