Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Amanda Lovelace ILLUSTRATOR: Raquel Travé GENRE: Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: August 25, 2026 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: The debut graphic novel offering by the prolific poet. A sugary-sweet Sapphic romance with Pride rep and some important themes. Stays true to the title by containing books, coffee, and a more than healthy side of adorable dragons. Episodic in structure, which makes it lack depth. Includes darker themes but they are just brushed upon. Might work better for younger readers. Was a bit too superficial for my taste, though. Plot Preview: In the scenic Sea Witch Cove, Luci runs Little Lighthouse Books, an indie bookstore, with her assistant August and her pet dragon for company. Next door to the bookstore is a coffee shop run by Aster, who also has a pet dragon. Luci has a secret crush on Aster, and this summer, those one-sided feelings are about to turn into a sweet relationship, cheered on by August and the dragons. The combination of author, that cozy ...

AUTHOR: Gabrielle Meyer SERIES: Dollar Princess, #3 GENRE: Historical Romance. PUBLICATION DATE: October 6, 2026 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical romance retelling the Hollywood musical ‘The Sound of Music’ by setting it in the Gilded era. Great characters, wonderful writing, excellent research, satisfying ending. Christian in approach, but never preachy. The third book of the Dollar Princess series, and can be read as a standalone though it continues from the earlier book. Much recommended. Plot Preview: 1886. When nineteen-year-old Addie is forced to leave her wealthy New York home and work as a governess in the house of George Stafford aka the Earl of Torrington, she isn't exactly looking forward to it. But when she finds his household lacking in joy, with his five children determined to drive away every governess in the hopes of getting more time with their father who has turned reclusive after the death of his wife, Addie is determined to bring happiness to them....

AUTHOR: Angela Bell NARRATOR: Beverley A. Crick SERIES: Daughters of Genius Society, #2 GENRE: Historical Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: July 7, 2026 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical fantasy with a lot of cozy tweeness and also some romance and mystery. Wonderful whimsical characters, good touch of humour, great vocabulary. Excellent representation of chronic pain. Strong Christian elements. Some clever automations and automatons. A bit light on the mystery but gripping nonetheless. Second of the series, but works as a standalone. If you liked the first book, you will enjoy this one as well. Definitely recommended. Plot Preview: 1895. England. Margaret Kingsley is restricted to her wheelchair thanks to her chronic pain. She still uses her time and expertise to work with the ‘Daughters of Genius Society’ (D.O.G.S.), a covert team of lady inspectors. While most of the inspectors work on the field, Margaret is happy to contribute from behind the curtain, until one case needs her...

AUTHOR: Stefany Valentine GENRE: YA Romance PUBLICATION DATE: January 14, 2025 RATING: 1 star. In a Nutshell: A YA “romantic dramedy” (Official label.) This didn’t work for me in any way: plot, writing, characters, agenda, realism, romance, drama. The only thing I liked other than the cover was the Taiwan rep. It hurts me to rant about a debut OwnVoices book, and I tried my best not to, but I just can’t recommend such a poorly written book that sends the wrong message to youngsters. Plot Preview: Seventeen-year-old Catie Carlson, a half-white half-Taiwanese girl, doesn’t remember much about her birth mother. Her parents divorced when she was just five and her father moved with her to the USA, and later remarried a white single mother. After his death two years ago, Catie feels like she has no family of her own, even though her adoptive mother – her father’s second wife – treats Catie with the same love as she does her own daughter. When Catie stumbles into an opportunity to learn Manda...

AUTHOR: Meg Shaffer GENRE: Fantasy-Romance PUBLICATION DATE: April 7, 2026 RATING: 1 star. In a Nutshell: A book-about-books fantasy featuring the titular book witch. After the super-interesting start, this absolutely didn’t go the way I expected it to. Too much of insta-love. OTT dialogues, absurd plot twists, and immature characters. I enjoyed this author’s first two novels but simply couldn’t connect with this one. This is an outlier review. Plot Preview: Despite her youth, twenty-five-year-old Rainy March has been a book witch for more than a decade. She follows all the rules of the profession seriously, including the one about ensuring that fictional characters and the real world do not intersect. But when she is sent on assignment into the book series starring the Duke of Chicago, her favourite book character, she forgets all the rules and ends up in a relationship with him. When this is discovered by the head witch, Rainy is forbidden from interacting with the fictional characte...

AUTHOR: Gabrielle Meyer SERIES: Timeless, #7 GENRE: Historical Romance. PUBLICATION DATE: May 5, 2026 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical fiction novel set during two timelines: the Gold Rush and the Golden Age of Hollywood. The latest novel from the incomparable Timeless series, and probably the one with the most number of surprises. Excellent plot, characters, writing, and historical research. Christian without being preachy. A bit slow and repetitive in the final quarter, but the ending is worth it. Much recommended! Works as a standalone but better to read in series order. Plot Preview:  Twenty-four-year-old Ally Adams lives two simultaneous lives. ( If you've read any of the Timeless books, you know how her time-crossing works. )  In 1849, wishing to restore her family’s lost comforts, Ally intends to capitalise on the Gold Rush and travels with her sick father and young half-sister to San Francisco, where she finds herself penniless and at the mercy of an ex-c...

AUTHOR: Gabrielle Meyer SERIES: Dollar Princess, #2 GENRE: Historical Romance PUBLICATION DATE: June 9, 2026 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical romance that is not just a historical romance. Retelling of the classic Hollywood musical ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’. Interesting characters, great historical feel, wonderful setting. Christian fiction. Slightly slow and repetitive in the second half. A nice option for fans of the genre and of the movie. The second book in the Dollar Princess series but can be read as a standalone. Plot Preview: 1884, England. Twenty-year-old American heiress Lily Parker is taken by surprise when the reclusive Duke of Severton, Ames Welby, proposes to her almost as soon as they meet. She knows that he is in desperate need of money to repair his ancestral home, and as she has wealth as well as an interest in leaving the crazy chaos of London, she accepts. What she doesn’t know is that life at Pickering Castle will be just as chaotic. Ames’ four ...

AUTHOR: Alix E. Harrow NARRATORS: Moira Quirk and Sid Sagar GENRE: Fantasy-Romance. PUBLICATION DATE: October 28, 2025 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A standalone adult fantasy with an accurate tagline: ‘A Legend. A Lie. A Love Story’. Exceptional idea. Interesting but somewhat flat characters. An overly complex execution. Repetitive because of the POV choice. I adored the concept but wish the execution had worked better for me. Not my favourite Harrow novel, though I can see it working better for some readers, especially those who want more romance than fantasy. Plot Preview: Owen Mallory, a cowardly ex-soldier and a historian, has always been fascinated by the legend of Sir Una Everlasting, Dominion’s greatest knight whose legend lives on as one of the bravest servers of queen and country. Not much is known about her actual life except for what’s written in the ballads. When Owen finds a book that claims to know Una’s actual story, he doesn’t realise how much of her story is a part ...

AUTHOR: Laura Steven NARRATOR: Sofia Oxenham GENRE: Fantasy-Romance. PUBLICATION DATE: February 27, 2025 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA Fantasy-Romance about a couple stuck in an endless loop of love and murder over thousands of years. Interesting story, but gets a bit tedious after a while. The time periods are nicely varied, but not explored much due to the restrictions of the plotline. The character development is almost non-existent. The reveal is disappointing. Might work better for YA readers as it does offer all the *feels* of young romance. Plot Preview: Evelyn remembers most of her lives, but not the earliest ones as they are hazy. However, one thing she knows for certain: in every life, Arden murders her just before her eighteenth birthday and that he too dies on the same day. Oh, and she also knows that she has strong romantic feelings for him despite his being her killer. ( Please picture middle-aged me rolling my eyes as I wrote this line. ) All these years, she ha...

AUTHOR: Ashley Poston NARRATOR: Brittany Pressley GENRE: Romance, Timeslip. PUBLICATION DATE: June 27, 2023 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary romance with a magical timeslip. Decent characters, plot, and writing. Interesting use of the timeslip but no explanations and many loopholes. Insta-love and rushed relationship. Too many attraction-related inner monologues for my liking. Too convenient in plotting. Not a light story, but has light moments. I liked it but wasn’t blown away by it like so many others were. ¯ \_(ツ)_/¯ Plot Preview: After her beloved late aunt Analea passes away, Clementine moves into her NY apartment that Analea willed to her. Though still grieving, she is focussed on her work as a book publicist, and has no time for relationships. However, one day, she bumps into a strange man in the apartment. He claims to have been given permission by Analea to use the house for a while. After a lot of confusion, Clementine realises that this is what her aunt had w...