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Do you love a cute story about blushing leads and mutual pining with just a dash of misunderstanding? Miss Miyazen has got you covered! On the surface, Sakura and Sota would appear to have nothing in common. She's "proper," and he's a "troublemaker." But the truth is they're both just a couple of sweet kids trying to get to know each other. It's an incredibly charming and low drama romance. There's little plot to be seen so far, with the story being largely a set of vignettes about their ongoing attempts (and failures) at trying to get closer. Misunderstandings are in the cute range rather than the frustrating one, punctuated with clean and incredibly cute artwork. If you're looking for a cute high school romance that'll make you feel warm inside, give this one a go.

Thanks to NetGalley and Vertical Comics for a review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!

Timothy Badger and Benjamin Watson are back. This time, they've been hired for a simple job - protect a few Egyptian artifacts from going missing during a fancy party. But when one of the hosts turns up dead, it's up to them to discover if the killer is the curse of the mummy, or something closer to home. I was incredibly neutral about the first book, but it showed enough promise that I wanted to give the second one a go. Well, here we are a year later, and sure enough, that promise is fulfilled. This one reads a lot better! My biggest hangup with the first book was that it seemed very little detective work was happening. Our charming heroes were simply lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to overhear all the big reveals. This time around, they are fully in it - collecting clues, following leads, interviewing suspects, and unraveling the mystery by their own wits and deductions. They spend a lot of time discussing the "method," the manner in which Sherlock seems to magically conjure up solutions. It's always been a bit of sleight of hand in the canon: hidden clues, conclusions a reader couldn't possibly hope to obtain, and solutions featuring players hidden from view until the last minute. This book diverges from the Conan Doyle formula for the better, giving us all the same information our heroes get so we can solve along with the boys. The book also diverges from the canon by including a Very Victorian romance, replete with longing gazes, wistful sighs, and the constant reminder that these characters come from different classes. The historical setting is well-researched, with plenty of immersive details and flourishes. Overall it's a very strong historical mystery, and I look forward to the next one with great anticipation.

Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!

Damelas isn't a hero - he just plays one onstage. Scratch that, he's a bit player and he can barely even get that part right. But he and the ragtag band of actors he hangs out with are immediately sympathetic, very messy, and if you've ever seen a group of actors together, you'll recognize every player in the text here. Ostensibly a story about one man and his quest to not get skewered by a particularly vengeful duelist, the past layers (literally and figuratively) onto Damelas' world, tying the efforts of his small acting troupe into a much larger power struggle. There's a lot to keep up with, and the first half of the book takes a little bit of time to set up all the pieces before setting everything in motion. The back half moves at a much quicker pace, with some big reveals at the end that set up the rest of the series admirably. I've not read the original Greatcoats series, but this new series introduces the world without any confusion The world building is very strong from the getgo, with a heavy emphasis on the history and politics of the world. And oh, how much of it there is! If you like political machinations and surprise reveals punctuated with some really well-written swordplay, this one's for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Arcadia for a review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

If you like your heists with a side of ~drama~, this one's for you. We've got messy parental relationships, squabbling extended family, blackmail, and dash of a love triangle to round it all out. Olivia Owens used to live a life of luxury - full of money, and devoid of meaning. This all changes when her mother divorces her cheating father, and she's left hanging in in the void between them. Kicked out of her family home, and with a mother struggling to make end's meet, she decides to get revenge by stealing millions of dollars from her father, all in the middle of his wedding to his third wife. She cobbles together a group of skilled teens (and one out-of-luck teacher) for her crew, puts together a very serviceable plan, and gets to work. The crew members are all fun and well-written with strong personalities and reasons of their own to be in this caper. I always like the actor character, so Tom is my instant fave, but they're all great. So great that Olivia somehow winds up being the one with the least to go on. She describes herself as determined, but all flashbacks portray her as somewhat directionless, with no clear path to how she became who she is. She researches thoroughly, masterminds a plan, and then doesn't include any fallbacks or contingencies for the complications that inevitably arise. Her motivations never fully hit sympathetically relatable, or ruthlessly entertaining, hovering somewhere between the two. She spends a lot of time pretending to be the girl the tabloids expect her to be, and very little being herself. I can't tell who she really is at all. Maybe she can't either. The book ends as a fairly comfortable oneshot. The door's open just enough that a sequel could happen, but the ending is satisfying enough that it doesn't need more.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!

Make no mistake - this book is about the relationship, and it knows it. Celeste and Magnus are adults. Their last time together ended poorly, but the spark never left. In fact, it probably turned into a flame during the years apart. This thing is packed with sexual tension, steamy glances across the room, and plenty of spice. They steal gems and it's sexy. They roleplay (for the job, of course) and it's sexy. They have sex and that is also sexy. The whole thing is extremely sexy, and if you're looking for a steamy good time, look no further. Supporting cast are all varied and fun. Doris, the deceased mentor is somehow the strongest personality of them all, and her story shines through her letters and diary entries as our MCs navigate their current heists. The plot itself is straightforward and fast-paced; there are a handful of heists, all with minor complications and major payoffs, and all feeding into the relationship between Celeste and Magnus. It's also a standalone - no cliffhangers to worry about - but with just enough space that the other characters might get up to shenanigans at a later date.

Thanks to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!

My relationship with cozy mysteries is extremely neutral, but I decided to grab this one because I will always read a book where baking is magic. And to my delight, the magical baking is a pretty big part of the story, so I have not been led astray by the marketing. It's also a competent cozy mystery with a relatable heroine, a very sweet relationship with her mother, and a cute boy next door who may or may not hold a flame for our heroine (hmmmm). I most enjoyed how much Felicity's magic reflects her own identity as a child of the diaspora. Fortune cookies have a complicated history with Japanese roots, that eventually shift to Chinese American, and that lines up perfectly with Felecity's own struggle to embrace her own history and identity. Add to that a magical rabbit, and a mystery with plenty of red herrings to keep the reader guessing, and you have a fun start to a promising series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for a review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!

Chika feels out place in a way that she can't describe. The version of love that everyone assures her will show up someday seems unattainable - even undesirable. It's a struggle many ace people have been through - how do you define something by its lack? Especially in a world where sexual attraction and romance are considered as universal and as "normal" as breathing. But as Chika discovers, not all love is expressed sexually or romantically. Not everyone is wired to be that way, and that is, in fact, entirely normal. This isn't a story as much as it is a really well-illustrated exploration of asexuality and the ace gradient, with a cast of really fun characters. I appreciate that the story also covers the fact that there's no one way to be asexual, and that terms and words are only useful until they aren't. It's a very sweet coming-of-age one shot, that works as a great introduction to what it means to be ace.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for the review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!