Month: November 2026

Review of Owl Hallows’ Eve by Leanne Leeds

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Synopsis:
A Halloween festival in a town full of mediums.
A medium dead in the corn maze.
And a debt to the god of the dead that just came due.

Astra Arden has avoided Cassandra—hard to feel welcome when the mayor blames you for her son’s death. But when the town’s ghosts go silent and Hades calls in her mother’s old favor, avoiding it stops being an option. Someone in Cassandra is keeping a soul that belongs to the Underworld, and the Arden sisters have until the festival ends to bring it home.

Then a medium turns up dead under a sign in her own handwriting, the town closes ranks, and the mayor bans Astra from the grounds. Now she’s solving a murder from the couch above a gas station—in a town that won’t talk, hunting a soul in a town that talks to nothing else.

And midnight is coming either way.

Review:
“My sister had more faith in her father’s good nature than three thousand years of literature did, and I kind of loved her grumpy gothic butt for it.” (Page 104)

I absolutely loved this book. Astra has come so far from where she started out; she has friends and family that she relies on and communicates with. She is learning to be better in the roles she hasn’t had before, such as wife, and at being a sister who is present but not smothering or acting in a more parent role. This book focused on something important from earlier in the series; the star cards. While perhaps we have become too accustomed to the intervention and appearance of Gods/Goddesses in the lives of the Ardens, given the lineage of the sisters, it was great to see how connected (or not) the rest of the pantheon really is with the family. This book really helped put the timeline of Astra’s return home in perspective with how grown up and mature Ayla has become, and how she does have a life and identity outside of the family. I loved this mystery, and I honestly hadn’t seen what had happened coming at all! There were a lot of twists and turns, confusion, and ultimately, a conclusion that makes the next book need to be available immediately!

Cliffhanger warning, but the book was phenomenal!

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of Owl the Small Things by Leanne Leeds

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Synopsis:
Astra Arden just wants one quiet week at home.

After a locked-island murder investigation that left the whole team running on coffee fumes and borrowed sleep, she’s earned it. But the moment she walks through the door, she discovers Aunt Gwennie has been secretly dating Detective Briggs—and before Astra can process that, things around the house start going wrong.

Small things, at first.

A shelf collapses when no one’s near it. The garden gate swings shut on Briggs’s fingers. A batch of Gwennie’s famous snickerdoodles tastes like soap. Arden House has always had a personality, but this feels personal.

Then the small things stop being small.

Someone—or something—has Briggs in its sights. And with the human detective dodging hexes he can’t see, Astra has to figure out who’s targeting him and why before the small things turn deadly.

But the deeper Astra digs, the more she realizes the threat isn’t coming from outside. It’s coming from inside the family — from a ghost who can’t let go and a house that takes sides.

Welcome back to Arden House. The snickerdoodles are fresh, the owl is judging you, and the walls have opinions.


Review:
“Interrogation and sisterhood share exactly one technique, and it’s this one. Patience.” (Page 20)

“He’s going to keep coming back either way. He’s got that energy. He’s like if a casserole wouldn’t take no for an answer.” (Page 23)

This series has been doing a great job of shifting focus from having only Astra as the star of the show to showcasing other people in the family. This time, both Althea and Ayla played pivotal roles in figuring out exactly what is going on. Briggs is a good man so it’s great that the family comes together to support him, and while it seemed like the answer to what was happening might have been obvious, it was slightly different than what was expected. As usual, a quick, fun, light, clean read by Leanne Leeds.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯

Review of The Dark Lord’s Guide to Honeymooning (and Other Acts of Tyranny) by Tiffany Hunt

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Synopsis:
Kazimir and Arabella embark on a honeymoon where the only thing more dangerous than their enemies are their growing feelings for each other in this deliciously wicked and riotously funny second book in the Guides to Villainy and Love romantasy series that’s Assistant to the Villain meets Dreadful.

Step Four: Take her on a honeymoon.
Step Five: Learn to co-villain effectively.
Step Six: Try not to get possessed by ancient evil.

Now bound by marriage and the formidable power of the Heirloom, Dark Lord Kazimir Blackrose and his Dark Lady Arabella are the realm’s most feared and chaotic power couple. And after years of scheming, Kazimir is poised to conquer Solandris. But when the Alchemist calls in a debt, Kaz is forced to postpone his reign of terror or face consequences even he can’t escape.

Arabella declares it the perfect opportunity for the honeymoon she was never promised. But their villainous getaway soon devolves into mayhem involving mass kidnappings, uncomfortable truths about Kazimir’s demonic past, and a talented pastry chef with heroic blood who won’t stop baking scones.

As if that weren’t enough, Kazimir’s mind is also filling with whispers not his own, while Arabella secretly tries to recover her stolen memories. But the greatest threat may be those three dangerous little words that could shatter their carefully constructed walls…and unleash an evil that destroys them all.

This sexy and side-splittingly funny fantasy romance is perfect for readers who love: villains who stay deliciously wicked (but are catastrophically in love); a powerful heroine carving out her place in the world; touch them and die; plotting world domination; sizzling spice and wickedly amusing banter; dark humor; found family of villains; and a honeymoon phase with assassination attempts.


Review:
“Stupid, arrogant, emotionally stunted villain,” I muttered. (Page 268)

This book continued much in the vein of the first in that it was hard to put down and there was always more that needed to be learned. Unfortunately this book also suffered a bit from Kaz and Arabella being a bit too inside their heads and not communicating. They had gained a great rapport but it fell apart so easily, and neither was willing to speak up for the majority of the book. I absolutely adore Sebastian, and all of the secondary characters that we really got to see shine and have a bit more knowledge and backstory on.

The ending was an absolute cliffhanger so be prepared!

I would highly recommend this series to people who love enemies to lovers, the villain gets the girl, found family, fantasy (dragons!) and delicious banter.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯