Reviews written by Samantha Randolph

When Serendipity "Sara" Rodriguez sees her ex with his new girlfriend, she finds herself eager and ready to have fun with someone new. One spontaneous hook-up and several weeks later, she realizes that she may not have gotten Jack's number, but she did get something else from him: she's pregnant....

Mera: Tidebreaker is the first in DC's new DC Ink line, and with Aquaman's recent release, it's not surprise this was chosen to launch the line. Tidebreaker follows Mera, the later queen of Atlantis, as a 16-year old princess warrior, ready to fight for her people. When her father and...

Sandhya Menon's backlist is full of romantic, heartfelt stories, and THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT SWEETIE is no exception. Sweetie Nair is a fat athlete and ready to embark on project Sassy Sweetie so she can prove to herself and everyone around her what she is capable of. Ashish Patel (who readers...

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF TRUE follows Ruth Robb in the aftermath of her father's death, moving from New York to Atlanta in 1958. At first, Ruth is dazzled by the city, the debutante season, the people, and the fashion. But she quickly realizes that being Jewish and being accepted don't...

It's been a year since a team of knights, a mage, and a thief defeated a great evil. Hope sprung anew in the people, a king was healed, and a wedding had. But life didn't stop there, and not all was happy. Two of the team, Olsa and Kalanthe are...

Are You Ready To Hatch An Unusual Chicken? is a delightful follow-up to Kelly Jones's Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer. Just when Sophie thinks she might have a handle on her unusual chickens, new eggs come her way. It's up to her to hatch them safely- all while...

What I Loved: -The adorable Frankfurt- What this picture book does best is offer a truly adorable and humorous dog that picture book readers will love. The expressions and mannerisms are sure to remind readers of their own pets if they have any. -The illustrations-...

Top 4 Reasons to Grab BEYOND A DARKENED SHORE immediately: 1.) Historical fantasy worldbuilding: My biggest genre weakness is historical fantasy, and I wish there was so much more of it. Beyond a Darkened Shore goes way back to ancient Ireland and incorporates Irish mythology into...

Top 5 Reasons to Read Onyx and Ivory: 1.) The magic: Kate lives in a world where there are primarily two magic users: mages, who are respected and have a League of their own, and wilders, people with magic who are imprisoned and shunned. Kate is a...

Blue de la Cour enjoys her quiet life with her father, passing the days by working in the shop and secretly experimenting to turn metal into gold. When her father is murdered, her world is upended. Suddenly, a woman she barely knows is claiming custody of her, more and more...

All her life, Grace has been told the rules she must follow to survive: keep eyes down, keep mouth shut, etc. When she is taken to work in the Big House, she realizes more and more the reasoning behind those rules. One day, Grace learns her family will be even...

Top 5 Reasons to Grab CITY OF ISLANDS immediately: 1.) The World Building: CITY OF ISLANDS is set exactly as the title suggests: on a city of islands. Each island has its own character and design, and the focus on the ocean as such a central part...

Top 4 Reasons You Should Read AQUICORN COVE: 1.) The illustration- This is the third Katie O'Neill graphic novel I've read, and her art is simply gorgeous. The lines are soft with beautiful color schemes, and no one quite designs fantastical creatures like O'Neill. It is easy...

Reasons I Enjoyed this Book: 1.) The scary factor- Middle grade has seen some fantastic horror additions to the catalog recently from Tracey Baptiste's The Jumbies to Katherine Arden's Small Spaces. The Darkdeep adds to this growing list of fun-but-frightening novels. The premise of a mysterious cove and entity...

Though NAONDEL is the prequel to the first book in the Red Abbey Chronicles, MARESI, you do not have to have read MARESI to dive right in. Before the First Sisters of the Red Abbey had their title, they were each imprisoned in a harem. Some, like the first wife,...