The High Court Mountain by AK Munford

cw: sexual content, violence

tags: Fae, Witches, Spice, Romance, LGBTQ Characters, Complex Characters

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Thirteen years fleeing witch hunters and the looming threat of death. Nineteen-year-old Remy knows she is possibly the last red witch alive, and she is determined to stay that way. The Northern Court King has slaughtered her home court and placed a bounty on red witch heads.

When four fae warriors enter her tavern refuge, Remy tries to flee, but her magic isn’t strong enough to stop a fae prince on a mission. The handsome Prince Hale of the Eastern Kingdom wants to stop a war with the Northern Court before his kingdom befalls the same fate as Remy’s. He needs a red witch and Remy may be the only person alive who can help him. Can she really trust Prince Hale? Can her fallen court be resurrected from the evil clutches of the Northern Court King? For the chance to save herself, her people, and help defeat the Northern King, Remy must put her faith in Hale and his companions on a dangerous quest to find lost relics.

This story has GREAT worldbuilding, found family, and twists and turns that I couldn't predict. It has Sarah J Maas and Leigh Bardugo vibes as far as storytelling goes so if those authors work for you then this book would too. I loved it and can't wait for the next books in the series! 

The Spanish Love Deception

cw: sexual content, eating disorder, sexism

tags: enemies to lovers, fake dating, rivals, slowburn, spice

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A wedding. A trip to Spain. The most infuriating man. And three days of pretending. Or in other words, a plan that will never work.

Catalina Martín, finally, not single. Her family is happy to announce that she will bring her American boyfriend to her sister's wedding. Everyone is invited to come and witness the most magical event of the year.

That would certainly be tomorrow's headline in the local newspaper of the small Spanish town I came from. Or the epitaph on my tombstone, seeing the turn my life had taken in the span of a phone call.

Four weeks wasn't a lot of time to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic-from NYC and all the way to Spain-for a wedding. Let alone, someone eager to play along my charade. But that didn't mean I was desperate enough to bring the 6'4 blue eyed pain in my ass standing before me.

Aaron Blackford. The man whose main occupation was making my blood boil had just offered himself to be my date. Right after inserting his nose in my business, calling me delusional, and calling himself my best option. See? Outrageous. Aggravating. Blood boiling. And much to my total despair, also right. Which left me with a surly and extra large dilemma in my hands. Was it worth the suffering to bring my colleague and bane of my existence as my fake boyfriend to my sister's wedding? Or was I better off coming clean and facing the consequences of my panic induced lie?

Like my abuela would say, que dios nos pille confesados.

So this story is like The Hating Game but in my opinion it's better. My major complaint with hating game is that it had a lot of ableist language. This doesn't, but there are a few moments where I think it was a little fatphobic which sucks. Overall the characters were super cute though and I liked the dynamics between the characters. Aaron was wonderful and I loved him and Catalina was a little silly at times, but I really enjoyed her character too. I'd absolutely read again!

The Vanishing Girl by Laura Thalassa

cw: sexual content, jealousy, miscarriage in a background character, violence

tags: dystopian government, superpowers, soulmates, forced proximity, mild spice

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Each night after Ember Pierce falls asleep, she disappears. She can teleport anywhere in the world: London, Paris, her crush’s bedroom, or wherever her dreams lead her. Ten minutes is all she gets, and once time’s up, she returns to her bed. It’s a secret she’s successfully kept for the last five years. But now someone knows.

A week after her eighteenth birthday, when frustratingly handsome Caden Hawthorne kidnaps her, delivers her to the government, and then disappears before her eyes, Ember realizes two things: One, she is not alone. And two, people like her—teleporters—are being used as weapons.

Forced into a quasi-military training camp for teleporters, Ember discovers she has been paired—perhaps for life—with Caden, the boy who got her into this mess in the first place. Now, she has to work with him on a series of teleporting missions, each one riskier than the last. But Caden just might hold the key to Ember’s escape plan, if she can survive her missions without losing her heart…or her life.

This has Sense8 vibes or maybe just X-men vibes? Idk. It was really way better than I was expecting it to be when I was recommended it. I haven't read the second book yet, but the end was such a twist idk how they are going to recover from it (but I'm sure they will). If you love like one completely devoted character and one less sure then this will be a great one for you. I personally love that dynamic.