Romance – Jill's Book Blog

Review: Lovely Recipe

Title: Lovely Recipe
Author: Mira Rose Nino
Genre: Graphic Novel, Young Adult, Romance
Publisher: Random House Graphic
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: February 3, 2026
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

In this savory and sweet sapphic YA Romance graphic novel, a klutzy high schooler strives to learn her grandma’s recipes and ends up falling for a no-nonsense classmate whose family owns a restaurant.

What does cooking have in common with falling in love? They’re both matters of chemistry!

It’s Sofia’s last year in high school. All her friends are getting ready to go to far away colleges, but she doesn’t know if that path is right for her. What Sofia does understand is that, ever since her grandma died, her mom has been distant. But maybe, if Sofia can learn how to make one of grandma’s most cherished recipes, she and her mom’s relationship can go back to the way it used to be. The only problem with that idea? Sofia is terrible at cooking.

Enter Anna Marie, Sofia’s super cute classmate who’s everything Sofia isn’t– driven, disciplined, and a gifted chef. Despite getting on each other’s nerves, Anna Marie starts teaching Sofia how to cook in exchange for her help around Anna Marie’s family’s restaurant. And soon enough, they discover that the sparks between them are more than just stovetop flames.

But can love blossom when Sofia’s and Anna Marie’s lives are changing so much? Or will the impending pressures that come with graduation break them apart?

Review:

This is such a cute graphic novel. Sofia wants to connect with her Italian heritage and learn how to cook her grandmother’s recipes. However, she can’t cook. She’s also dealing with her final year of high school and her friends moving on to different places. The romance in this story was sweet and slow. Sofia and Anna Marie were opposites in personality, but they had great chemistry.

Lovely Recipe is a cute YA graphic novel!

Thank you Penguin Teen Canada for providing a copy of this book.

Have you read Lovely Recipe? What did you think of it?

Review: Sparking Fire Out of Fate (Forging Silver Into Stars #3)

Title: Sparking Fire Out of Fate (Forging Silver Into Stars #3)
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Bloomsbury Books US
Source: Bookinfluencers.com
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: January 27, 2026
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Broken loyalties. Uncertain fates. Two kingdoms hanging in the balance. . . The exhilarating finale in bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer’s Forging Silver series will leave readers breathless!

Callyn has grown closer to Queen Lia Mara in Syhl Shallow, bonded by the secret magic they share. But their magic can stay hidden only so long, especially when a dangerous plot on the Queen’s life forces Callyn to work with the man who betrayed her.

In Emberfall, Tycho and Jax are struggling to rebuild their connection after months apart, complicated when they learn of Truthbringers causing trouble at the borders. Sent to investigate together, Jax and Tycho soon discover that the rebellious faction has formed a devil’s bargain with the magical scravers to destroy human magic once and for all.

When their missions bring them together, Tycho, Jax, and Callyn find themselves facing threats from all sides. With one last chance to save their magic and their kingdoms, they must work together, or lose everything.

War has erupted. Love is tested. And without sacrifice, magic could destroy everyone . . .

Review:

This book is a fantastic conclusion to the Forging Silver Into Stars trilogy. I didn’t want this series to end. I wasn’t sure if there was enough space in the book for everything to be wrapped up, but I loved the ending. It was a little open ended, so there could be more books in this world. I hope there will be another series because I love the characters and their world.

Sparking Fire Out of Fate is a great ending to the trilogy!

Thank you Bookinfluencers.com and Bloomsbury Books US for providing a copy of this book!

Other books in the series:

Forging Silver Into Stars
Carving Shadows Into Gold

Have you read Sparking Fire Out of Fate? What did you think of it?

Review: A Heart for Christmas

Title: A Heart for Christmas
Author: Sophie Jomain
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: September 30, 2025
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A teen reclaims her independence and opens her heart to Christmas with the help of a handsome ski instructor in this swoon-worthy young adult holiday romance told in a groundbreaking advent calendar format, with chapter-a-day reading making it a true slow-burn!

When eighteen-year-old April heads to the foothills of Mont Blanc in the Alps to spend her first Christmas at her father’s chalet, she’s hoping for a change. Ever since her heart operation two years ago, she’s lived as carefully as possible. Supervised exercise, green tea, rice cakes, focusing only on her studies. But now, she’s healthy and there’s a world out there that she’s missing.

When April’s ski instructor turns out to be her best friend’s older brother, Augustin, it feels like a sign. As Augustin encourages April to build up her strength, April feels drawn to him in ways she wasn’t expecting. Augustin is daring and gorgeous, and April doesn’t want to let her life pass her by any longer. But is her just-healed heart ready for a Christmas miracle?

With this book’s unique advent calendar format, each of the twenty-four chapters is sealed by its own perforated enclosure that readers can gently tear open—by hand or with the help of a ruler—to read a chapter a day in the weeks leading to Christmas!

Review:

This is an advent story, with 24 chapters. Each chapter is sealed so they can be opened and read in the 24 days leading up to Christmas. Each chapter ended in a way that made me want to keep reading. April had a heart transplant 3 years earlier so she had to protect her heart both literally and figuratively. This YA romance had a heartwarming holiday romance.

This is a great advent YA romance!

Thank you Simon and Schuster for providing a copy of this book.

Content warnings: heart transplant, hospital scenes, attempted suicide (mention), bullying (mentions)

Have you read A Heart for Christmas? What did you think of it?

Review: A Bedtime Story (Beauty Meets the Beast) (Fairy Tales From the Underworld #1)

Title: A Bedtime Story (Beauty Meets the Beast) (Fairy Tales From the Underworld #1)
Author: L.C. Moon
Genre: Romance
Publisher: BookBaby
Source: Bookinfluencers.com
Format: Paperback
Release Date: February 10, 2025
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A traumance. A tragedy. A love story.

Fairy tales weren’t always about finding true love with Prince Charming. Once upon a time, they were dark stories about innocence lost, seeking through veiled attempts to make sense of life’s unfathomable hardships. Unfit parents turned to evil stepmothers, kindly neighbors became fairy godmothers, while alluring but dangerous men were presented under the guise of the Big Bad Wolf. Through their trials, the heroes were forever changed. For better or worse.

It is a tale as old as time. Good girl meets bad boy; the pure faces the corrupt. Loosely inspired by classic tropes, Fairy Tales From the Underworld breathes new life into age-old motifs, casting them against the backdrop of modern times. Beasts and monsters no longer lurk in shadows but now inhabit our protagonists, who are plagued by the ceaseless whispers of their inner demons.

A Bedtime Story is not a romance, but a raw erotic tale chronicling the twisted love affair between two profoundly broken souls: the child of the moon and the child of the underworld. Their paths were never meant to cross… And yet, by a twist of fate, Beauty meets the Beast, plunging into a world of lies, deceit and debauchery, where her only salvation lies in the hands of her captor.

As Part I of the Fairy Tales From the Underworld saga, this first installment delves deeply into the psyche of its characters, offering a poignant exploration of the relentless pull between torment and passion in the aftermath of trauma.

(Please note, this book contains graphic sexual content and deals with heavy subject matter, suitable for readers 18+.)

Review:

This story is a dark romance. It loosely followed the Beauty and the Beast fairytale, but it had dark themes such as abuse and human trafficking. Kayne, the “beast,” didn’t have redeeming qualities like the Beast does in the usual fairytale. The ending deviated from the traditional ending as well. There were quite a few dark scenes, so check the content warnings before reading.

A Bedtime Story is a dark twist on Beauty and the Beast.

Thank you Bookinfluencers.com for providing a copy of this book as part of a sponsored campaign!

Content warnings: child abuse, human trafficking, murder, gun violence, rape, drug use, overdose

Have you read A Bedtime Story (Beauty Meets the Beast)? What did you think of it?

Review: Divided Heart

Title: Divided Heart
Author: K.M. Daughters
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Source: Publisher
Format: Ebook
Release Date: July 30, 2025
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Cassidy Finnegan, a widow, returns to her hometown Redbird, Illinois after inheriting a book store from her mother. Ty Martin, a celebrated gallery artist and a member of the fantastical Sisters of the Legend Binder family, has moved to a home a straight shot from Cassidy’s across Redbird Lake.
Cass meets Ty at his book signing at her store the same day that she is visited by the ghost of her dead husband, Sawyer, whom she met at Cozy Nook Books, too. It was love at first sight with Sawyer…and maybe with Ty.
When Sawyer visits Cassidy, their perfect love is rekindled. When she is with Ty, all she wants is the new love blossoming between them.
Ty learns he is the unwitting third in Cassidy’s spectral love-triangle. He has no problem competing with flesh and blood men. But the heaven-perfected spirit of her loving husband? Nothing in Ty’s realm of experience prepares him for that contest.
Cassie is forced to choose in order to mend her divided heart.

Review:

This is a cute cozy romance! I love books about bookstores. A lot of this book took place in Cassidy’s bookstore, where she met Ty. This book is part of a series but it can be read as a stand-alone. There was a supernatural twist at the end of the story which I wasn’t expecting, but it tied everything together.

Divided Heart is a short and sweet cozy romance!

Thank you The Wild Rose Press for providing a copy of this for a sponsored campaign.

Content warnings: death of spouse, death of parent, cancer

Have you read Divided Heart? What did you think of it?

Review: Eat Dessert First

Title: Eat Dessert First
Author: Michelle Paris
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Apprentice House
Source: Bookinfluencers.com
Format: Paperback
Release Date: May 7, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Can a plus-sized, big-hearted baker discover the recipe for happiness? Abbey Reilly has heard “you have such a pretty face” enough times to know that it’s code for “if only you’d lose weight.” Giving up her architectural career to care for her ailing mom and working in a bakery to make ends meet, she is convinced no one will ever find her attractive. So she’s stunned when a handsome regular customer not only shows interest but asks her on a date.Devastated when she learns her would-be beau is married, Abbey resigns herself to a lonely future. But the insecure woman can hardly believe her luck when she draws the attention of a dreamy guy at a bachelorette party… until his horrible ex plots revenge. Will Abbey claim the confidence she deserves and find a keeper who recognizes her true beauty?With light humor and loving insight, Michelle Paris weaves a delightful tale of learning to believe in yourself. Juggling elder parent care, tight finances, and hating the image in the mirror, Abbey Reilly will charm any reader fond of rooting for an underdog.Eat Dessert First is a heartwarming work of women’s fiction. If you like relatable heroines, chasing a dream, and finding hope and happiness, then you’ll adore Michelle Paris’ sweet story of fulfillment.

Review:

This is a great romance with a plus-size heroine! I could relate to Abbey’s struggles with her weight and finding a partner who liked her for herself. Abbey was the primary caregiver her mother who had dementia. I helped look after my grandmother who had Alzheimer’s for 9 years, so I could relate to that part of her life too. Abbey was a great baker, so I recommend having some yummy baked goods on hand while reading this book!

Eat Dessert First is a yummy romance!

Thank you Bookinfluencers.com for providing a copy of this book as part of a sponsored campaign!

Content warnings: bullying, dementia, death of parent, hospital scenes, broken bone

Have you read Eat Dessert First? What did you think of it?

Review: Cursed Princess Club, Vol. 2

Title: Cursed Princess Club, Vol. 2
Author: LambCat
Genre: Graphic Novel, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Webtoon Unscrolled
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: July 4, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Just because you’re cursed doesn’t mean you’re not special.

Gwendolyn, the youngest of the King’s three daughters, is living proof that princesses don’t always have it all. She isn’t like a typical fairy-tale princess, or other princesses in the Pastel Kingdom. Gwendolyn, with her big heart and love of baking, isn’t particularly attractive. Unlike her sisters who have woodland creatures do their hair and makeup, or have flowers blossom wherever they sleep, Gwendolyn is a bit…different. So when her father proposes marriage for her and her sisters to make an alliance with the Plaid Kingdom, it breaks Gwendolyn’s heart to hear that Prince Frederick thinks she’s “really ugly.” Overwhelmed and ashamed, she runs away into the forest and encounters the twisted world of the Cursed Princess Club, where her life will never be the same.

The Cursed Princess Club are a ragtag band of outcasts, misfits and cursed princesses who have created an incredible friendship circle. It is among these friends where Gwendolyn learns to embrace her uniqueness and find her people.

In this second book of the series, we learn low self esteem isn’t just for girls! Meet the Princels―princes who have shunned society not because of curses (although one has to wonder…) but because of their own insecurities about their physical appearance and their inability to find romantic partners. And then we have Prince Frederick, who starts to worry if he even deserves Gwen. Plus, you too can learn to be as pretty as a Cursed Princess!

Review:

This series is so fun! Gwen has joined the Cursed Princess Club because she is always treated differently from her traditionally beautiful sisters. Now, when Gwen looks in a mirror, she can’t see her face, so she has to figure out how to fix this problem. Even though there are some serious and emotional parts, with the way Gwen is bullied, there were many laugh out loud moments too!

Cursed Princess Club, Vol. 2 is a fun graphic novel!

Other books in the series:

Cursed Princess Club, Vol. 1
Cursed Princess Club, Vol. 3
Cursed Princess Club, Vol. 4

Have you read Cursed Princess Club, Vol. 2? What did you think of it?

Review: Boyfriends, Vol. 1

Title: Boyfriends, Vol. 1
Author: Refrainbow
Genre: Graphic Novel, LGBTQ, Romance
Publisher: Wattpad Books
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: November 21, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Boy meets boy . . . meets boy . . . meets boy!

Jock, Goth, Nerd, and Prep are all juniors in college. But studying is the last thing on their minds as they are mainly interested in getting a boyfriend. Or multiple boyfriends.

The first two to couple up are Goth (cool and sexy) and Nerd (bubbly and flirty). As their budding relationship deepens, they can’t deny their chemistry with Goth’s other friends, Jock (sweet and easygoing) and Prep (sensitive and anxious). Nerd suggests they try something totally brand new to all of a polyamorous relationship. Everyone’s game to try, because they all agree the only thing better than one cute boyfriend…is three cute boyfriends!

But the transition isn’t so smooth, as Jock and Prep have issues of their own to settle, and all four need to learn how to make their new polycule work. Through navigating the adventures of dating life, the boyfriends come to understand themselves and each other in new and profound ways.

Laugh-out-loud funny and always heartwarming, Boyfriends is filled to the brim with moments of pride big and small.

Collects episodes 1–55 of the delightful WEBTOON comic Boyfriends .

Review:

This was such a fun graphic novel! It follows four boys in college who like each other. They decide to have a polyamorous relationship with each other. It wasn’t until halfway through the book that I realized none of them had names. Instead, they each had a distinct style: Goth, Nerd, Jock, Prep. The four of them were so sweet to each other! I can’t wait to read the next book!

Boyfriends, Vol. 1 is a cute graphic novel!

Thank you Wattpad Books for sending me a copy of this book!

Other books in the series:

Boyfriends, Vol. 2
Boyfriends, Vol. 3

Have you read Boyfriends, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?

Review: Morgana and Oz, Vol. 2

Title: Morgana and Oz, Vol. 2
Author: Miyuli
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy
Publisher: Wattpad Books
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: March 25, 2025
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

This stunning series by debut author Miyuli, perfect for fans of both fantasy and romance, explores what happens when a struggling witch meets an angsty vampire—either love or war.

This stunning series by debut author Miyuli, perfect for fans of both fantasy and romance, explores what happens when a struggling witch meets an angsty vampire—either love or war.

Morgana Winterberry belongs to a long line of witches, while Oz belongs to the rival vampire clan. After a chance encounter…and maybe a few stray spells…these two need to find a way to work together, or risk all-out war between coven and clan.

Morgana is still trying to pick up the pieces after the explosive breakdown of peace negotiations between her family of witches and the Red Vampire clan.

With the vampires poisoned because of a curse put on the blood served by Morgana’s family, and Oz stuck as a cat thanks to a spell gone wrong, Morgana has a lot to fix. She’s determined to put things right, which leads her to a powerful witch doctor, and right into the vampires’ lair.

There are a number of dangerous secrets to untangle, because something strange is going on with Morgana’s powers, and someone in her family has been using dark magic.

Meanwhile, no one on either side is happy about a witch and a vampire getting closer…except maybe Morgana and Oz.

This volume collects episodes 20 – 39 of the hit fantasy WEBTOON series.

Review:

I was so excited for this sequel. I loved the first volume and this one didn’t disappoint. The dynamic between the witches and vampires is tense, but Morgana is so kind that she’s trying to mend their relationship. There was a flashback chapter to when Morgana was a child, which I found really sweet and emotional. This is such a great series! I can’t wait for the next one!

Morgana and Oz, Vol. 1 is an exciting fantasy graphic novel!

Thank you Wattpad Books for sending me a copy of this book!

Other books in the series:

Morgana and Oz, Vol. 1

Have you read Morgana and Oz, Vol. 2? What did you think of it?

Review: Dogsred, Vol. 1

Title: Dogsred, Vol. 1
Author: Satoru Noda
Genre: Manga, Young Adult
Publisher: Viz Media
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: March 18, 2025
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Ice hockey action from the creator of Golden Kamuy!

Rou once chased figure-skating glory. Now he chases redemption in the ice hockey rink.

After winning the national championship, 15-year-old figure skater Rou Shirakawa was on his way to the Olympics. But with his mother’s tragic death on his mind, he threw it all away in an outburst of rage. Banned from figure skating, he and his sister move to Hokkaido. When he meets some local kids at the skating pond, they convince him to be a stand-in player for their soon-to-be-disbanded hockey team. The team has never won a game, and they’re up against the local champs—but if they’ve got to go down, they want to score at least one goal before it’s all over. Rou hasn’t got a clue how to play ice hockey, but he sure knows how to skate!

Review:

In this manga, a promising young figure skater, Rou, gives up his future of skating at the Olympics after his mother passes away. Even though he doesn’t want to figure skate anymore because it reminds him of his mother, he still skates on his own and some kids talk him into playing hockey with them. I liked that Rou didn’t completely give up his passion of skating. He found a different way to skate in a new sport. There were some hints of what’s to come at the end of the story, of Rou possibly joining a hockey team.

Dogsred, Vol. 1 is a great start to this manga series!

Thank you Viz Media and Bookinfluencers.com for providing a copy of this book for a paid campaign!

Content warnings: death of parent (off page)

Have you read Dogsred, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?