3.5 stars out of 5 I had mixed feelings about this collection. Romantic Realms: Hearts at War is an anthology of 10 clean, enemies-to-lovers, romantic fantasy, longish-short stories, no steamy scenes here. I’ll review each of the stories in the order I finished reading them, so if you plan to read the entire review, strap in, and apologies, because this is going to be long! Hehe. “Faerie Boots: Beyond the Faerie Wall,” by Michelle Helen Fritz A woman finds out her cat is really a faerie. This story had some really good descriptions and expressions. I cracked up a few times at some of the nicknames Emerlyn invented for Alaric! Their speech was a little dated, though. I get that the language was deliberately aged to fit a certain historical period, but sometimes that led to flowery speech, and dialogue that came out a little unnatural. Still, I was charmed by the idea of a cat/faerie. “Fatal Hearts,” by Evelina Griggs Two otherworldly assassins must team up to take down a final boss.
A massive thank you to Story Flow Solutions and Ms Janay Harden for sharing this e-ARC with me. This review contains my honest opinions. 3 ½ stars out of 5 The artist in me was so charged when I saw the cover art for this book, and I knew I had to read it. It only took some of the first chapter to figure out why the cover art was so stunning. Make Me Over by Janay Harden features Josie Scott, a young Black woman unable to hold down a job, understandably frustrated in a gritty Philadelphia that’ll keep moving on even if she doesn’t. However, her talent with the makeup brush soon draws a lot of eyes, and before long Josie must venture into the unknown, drawing on her wits, memories, and the encouragement of her close-knit circle to navigate the world of work, a strained relationship with a parent, and a love shadowed by crime. Going in without having read the blurb I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m glad I took the dive. What I liked Janay Harden knows how to build her characters!