Scales and Sensibility by Stephanie Burgis [Review]

Scales and Sensibility (Regency Dragons #1) by Stephanie Burgis
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: October 9, 2025

Regency Dragons
1. Scales and Sensibility - Paperback | Kindle
2. Claws and Contrivances

Stephanie Burgis
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Sensible, practical Elinor Tregarth really did plan to be the model poor relation when she moved into Hathergill Hall. She certainly never meant to kidnap her awful cousin Penelope's pet dragon. She never expected to fall in love with the shameless - but surprisingly sweet - fortune hunter who came to court Penelope. And she never dreamed that she would have to enter into an outrageous magical charade to save her younger sisters' futures.

However, even the most brilliant scholars of 1817 England still haven't ferreted out all the lurking secrets of rediscovered dragonkind...and even the most sensible of heroines can still make a reckless wish or two when she's pushed. Now Elinor will have to find out just how rash and resourceful she can be when she sets aside all common sense. Maybe, just maybe, she'll even be impractical enough to win her own true love and a happily ever after...with the unpredictable and dangerous "help" of the magical creature who has adopted her.

Thoughts on Scales and Sensibility: This book was really good and I absolutely enjoyed it, but MAN was I having a serious second hand stress reaction to the situation Elinor found herself in. I mean, between the potential discovery by SO MANY people and just the general jerkitude of her cousin and my worry over what would happen to the dragon she liberated, I was a mess. Which says it all, really.

Anywho. Elinor is grieving and kind and honest to a fault and she bites her tongue when her cousin treats her abominably (who then turns it around so it's all about how Penelope is treated terribly because she didn't get the things she thought she deserved) until Penelope goes one step too far. Now she's liberated her cousin's dragon (which was sorely needed because Penelope doesn't deserve a dragon AT ALL) and she's basically homeless. Then an errant wish comes true and now Elinor is heading back to Hathergill Hall wearing another woman's face with a man she admires probably more than she should considering they've just met.

Helping her cousin with her debut (as the other woman) wasn't on Elinor's to-do list, but a poor relation's gotta do what a poor relation's gotta do. Things get more complicated with the addition of new houseguests, some secrets that aren't as secret as one would hope, and another little wish that might put her aunt in danger.

Dragons, men who are willing to look beyond the surface, and a lady who is more than she believes herself to be. *thumbs up* despite the second hand stress it gave me.

Chimera for Christmas by Ursa Dax [Review]

Chimera for Christmas (Holiday Romances of Elora Station #1) by Ursa Dax
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: October 8, 2025

Holiday Romances of Elora Station
1. Chimera for Christmas - Paperback | Kindle
2. Alien Orc for Christmas

Related Series:
(find all the books in the series on the 1st book review)
Cowboy Colony Mail-Order Brides
1. Married to the Alien Cowboy

Ursa Dax
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

You're supposed to spend Christmas with the person you love most. But what if that person turns out to be the biggest, grumpiest alien you've ever met...?

SOPHIE
When you find out your boyfriend is cheating on you and you get laid off all in the same week, something's gotta give. I need a change, and a seasonal work contract aboard the bustling Elora Station is just the ticket. I'll spend the holidays on the glittering, festive commerce station, make a little money, and clear my head before returning to my colony planet life. It's a perfect plan.

One thing I'm not accounting for in that plan, though? My coworker. He's not human. In fact, he's one of the deadliest alien soldiers in the universe - a Chimera. Seven feet tall with black horns, heated yellow eyes, and an exceptionally grumpy disposition, I cannot for the life of me figure out why this genetically modified beast of a man is working in a tiny, human-owned coffee shop at Christmas time.

But there's more to X than meets the eye. And the longer I work with him, the more I grow to like him. Soon enough, his taciturn nature begins to charm me. Suddenly, his looks aren't quite so fearsome, but actually kind of... attractive?

As the holidays hurtle on and my work contract on Elora Station draws to a close, I realize that I don't want to go back to my old life in the colony.

And I don't want to leave X.

Can a regular human girl like me find a permanent place on Elora Station and in X's guarded alien heart before Christmas?

Thoughts on Chimera for Christmas: We briefly met Sophie in one of the CCMOB books and I was 100% onboard with seeing how she ended up with a grumbly Chimera as her honey. AND HERE WE ARE! Watching Sophie and X pretend they aren't into one another.

To be fair, Sophie's only on Elora Station for the holidays. Her position is very temporary and ends with the holiday season. After getting over her admittedly slight fear of X at their first meeting, she tried her hardest to pretend she only liked him as a coworker. Which is understandable because he's trying his level best to make sure he doesn't do anything inappropriate to her (although he REALLY wants to) and X is giving off zero interested vibes. Sure, those feelings are there and they both try not to read too much into the things the other does because life is complicated and they're only coworkers, RIGHT?

Well, with her position quickly coming to an end, Sophie throws caution to the wind and decides she can't leave the station without at least telling X she's interested. And then THINGS HAPPEN. Big things. In both a literal and figurative sense.

A little holiday cheer, a growly chimera who is a really sweet guy under all his glowers, and a human lady who ended up with a holiday season she'll never forget. *thumbs up*

The Goblin in the Sink Drain by Hailey Edwards [Review]

The Goblin in the Sink Drain (Groom & Doom #2) by Hailey Edwards
Format: ebook
Source: borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: November 2, 2025

Groom & Doom
1. The Vampire in the Potting Shed
2. The Goblin in the Sink Drain - Kindle
3. The Mermaid in the Shot Glass
4. The Pixie in the Pickle Jar

Hailey Edwards
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Everything Ana Sartori knows about herself, and her father, is a lie. Or so the Walsh clan would have her believe. Their claims are convincing, the details too vivid to dismiss outright, but she can’t imagine her father as the villain of her story.

Carmichael Sartori is a lot of things. Ruthless. Merciless. Pitiless. But alphas aren’t known for being pushovers. Ana knows pack law is brutal for a reason, and her father enforces the rules with tooth and claw to protect his people. Including her.

But the more time she spends with the Walsh clan, the wider her eyes open to the possibilities of what an alpha could be, what a pack should be, and it makes her wonder if the Walshes are right about other things. The only way for Ana to be certain is to face her father. She’ll have to throw herself to the wolves and hope she makes it out alive with her answers.

Thoughts on The Goblin in the Sink Drain: Ana had her life upended when Rian and the Walsh clan moved into town and now she's trying to sort the truth from the lies over everything she's been told about her mother, her father, and what she is. Frankly, it's a lot. She doesn't quite trust the man who raised her, but she also isn't mentally ready to walk away from the only life she's known. As brutal and awful and constricting as it was.

She's also hesitant about trading one prison (her father's pack) with another (Rian's clan). Except, Rian doesn't rule his clan with fear. He's laidback and receptive to ideas that aren't his own. He's sweet and a little awkward and it's possibly his awkwardness that endears him to Ana the most. Well, that and his occasional shirtless state. To be fair, Rian also gets a little flustered when Ana shows any skin, so they have that in common.

When some of her human friends are made into unwilling pawns in this supernatural standoff, Ana can't let them suffer when she can do something about it. Since she needs to talk to the man who raised her anyway, she agrees to go back to the pack to save them while trying to get answers to some of the questions the Walsh's have raised in her.

Let's just say it doesn't go well and leave it at that.

BUT...Ana does get some of those answers. And she gets to see Rian in all his dragon-y glory. And then she gets to participate in a rescue, which gives her a chance to experience things she'd never experienced before. She also gets to make a choice on who she wants to stand with and I like where this is going!

I must say, I'm enjoying Ana and Rian and their sweet, awkward romance. I'm here to see how it plays out!

Saving Mr. Norcross by Anna Hackett [Review]

Saving Mr. Norcross (Norcross Security #11) by Anna Hackett
Format: ebook
Source: borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: October 22, 2025

Norcross Security
1. The Investigator
2. The Troubleshooter
3. The Specialist
4. The Bodyguard
5. The Hacker
6. The Powerbroker
7. The Detective
8. The Medic
9. The Protector
10. Mr. & Mrs. Norcross
11. Saving Mr. Norcross - Kindle

Crossover (Treasure Hunter Security/Team 52/Norcross Security)
Mission: Uncovered

Related Series:
(Find all the reviews for the series under the 1st review)
Billionaire Heists
1. Stealing from Mr. Rich

Sentinel Security
1. Wolf

Team 52
1. Mission: Her Protection

Anna Hackett
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

She’ll stop at nothing to save him.

She didn’t think anything could scare her husband, the most dangerous man in San Francisco, but she’s found the one thing that terrifies him.

Fatherhood.

When Detective Brynn Norcross discovers she’s pregnant, she knows her overprotective husband needs time to adjust. When she’s injured on the job, Vander is tense, on edge, and distant.

She decides they both need a vacation. They head to Italy for some rest and relaxation.

But their vacation doesn’t quite go according to plan…

When Vander and his brother Rhys are abducted by the local mafia, all hell breaks loose.

There is no way Brynn can do nothing when the life of the man she loves is on the line. She’ll do whatever it takes to rescue him.

There is no way Vander wants his wife in danger, and he knows she’ll come for him. He’ll do whatever it takes to escape.
Oh, and he also plans to make the people responsible pay.

Thoughts on Saving Mr. Norcross: We're back with Vander and Brynn and HOO-BOY does Brynn have her work cut out for her as she tries to get Vander to unwind. I mean, he's already wound tight (and she loves him for that) so throwing her pregnancy into the mix has him on the sort of edge neither of them imagined. Let's just say Vander deals with things by internalizing A LOT and Brynn needs to get it through his extremely protective skull that together they have the skills to keep themselves and their baby safe from anyone who might be gunning for them.

Oh, yeah. There might be someone gunning for them. Well, for Vander, really. Frankly, Brynn WILL NOT put up with someone trying to hurt her man. No matter how competent (and terrifying) he is, she's willing to burn down the world to get him out of a dangerous situation.

So when Vander and Rhys get nabbed, Brynn formulates a plan, gathers allies (after maybe threatening them a little), puts Haven on coms, straps on some body armor, and sets out to save them. MEANWHILE, Vander absolutely knows that Brynn is going to do whatever she needs to do to get him out of this situation, so he's determined to get himself and his brother out before she has to put herself in danger.

A local tough who didn't do his homework (because I really don't think he would have grabbed Vander if he'd known who he was), an incursion into an enemy stronghold, a little explosion, a whole lot of heat (of the sexy variety), and two people who will absolutely run straight through anyone or thing that tries to keep them apart. GOOD TIMES all around!

RtP's Week in Review (03/08/26)

Reading the Paranormal's Week in Review

• Rock Hard Gargoyle by Maggie Mayhem [Review] - Gargoyle love!
• Running with the Werewolf by Laurie London [Review] - PNR!
• Kiss for My Kraken by Honey Phillips [Review] - Back in Fairhaven!~
• Sour Grapes by Karen MacInerney [Review] - Small town mystery!
• Scary in Love by Holly June Smith [Review] - Let the chasey-chase books begin!
• The Bookish Girl's Guide to Mating with a Werewolf by Lola Glass [Review] - Werewolf love!

Bookish Delights

• Books added to the pile
• None?!? Okay!
• Currently reading
• Longing for the Alien Lawman by Ursa Dax

The Bookish Girl's Guide to Mating with a Werewolf by Lola Glass [Review]

The Bookish Girl's Guide to Mating with a Werewolf (Mate Hunted #1) by Lola Glass
Format: ebook
Source: borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: October 7, 2025

Mate Hunted
1. The Bookish Girl's Guide to Mating with a Werewolf - Kindle
2. The Artsy Girl's Guide to Mating with a Werewolf
3. The Independent Girl's Guide to Mating with a Werewolf
4. The Friendly Girl's Guide to Mating with a Werewolf
5. The Logical Girl's Guide to Mating with a Werewolf
6. The Hungry Girl's Guide to Mating with a Werewolf

Lola Glass
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

I ran into a werewolf at a grocery store. The moment our eyes met, he decided I was his mate.

Now he's trapped in his furry form, threatening every other guy who so much as looks in my direction.

His friends try to convince me that I need to stay in his house until he goes human again, but I refuse.

So he shifts back.

And the giant of a man—er, wolfman—basically carries me away himself.

This werewolf is hunting me, and honestly?

I'm a very willing victim.

Thoughts on The Bookish Girl's Guide to Mating with a Werewolf: Some late-night werewolf romance binge reading (who hasn't done THAT before, amirite?!?) has Abby making the sleep-drunk decision to drive to a nearby town and look for her very own werewolf. Which doesn't seem unreasonable to me, really. I mean, read a werewolf romance, look for your very own werewolf. Perfect!

As it turns out, Abby absolutely does find herself a werewolf. He's big, hunky, and he's got his sights set on her. Which was actually something Abby hadn't counted on when she went looking. Now she has a werewolf in his wolfy form hanging out in her apartment, she's trying to convince her friends he's just a large dog, and maybe she might like this wolf more than she thought she would.

On Nico's end, he'd resigned himself to being alone. After all, he hasn't found a mate yet and he's one of the ferals. Then he runs into (kind of literally) Abby and now everything's changed. He has to convince the sexy professor he'd make a good mate, wrestle his instincts down when any other man looks at her, and try not to lose it when she wanders around with no pants on.

A group of rejected wolves, a book club, a rearranging of priorities, a werewolf who has eyes for no one but his lady, and a lady who had the right idea when she went looking for a werewolf of her own. *thumbs up*

Scary in Love by Holly June Smith [Review]

Scary in Love by Holly June Smith
Format: ebook
Source: borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: October 6, 2025

Purchase Links: Paperback | Kindle

Holly June Smith
| Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Jenna Laing has always been what the people of Crowmorne call 'a bit strange'. As a child, she was drawn to the spooky and the scary, and as an adult, she's no different.

When the mysterious and long abandoned Miller Mansion re-opens as a Halloween haunted house, Jenna buys tickets in a heartbeat, and invites a first date, hoping he'll share her love of horror and jumpscares.

Those hopes come crashing to the ground when he panics and runs off screaming, leaving her injured and in the hands of scare actor, Mason Miller.

Mason never expected to inherit a mansion, or the eye-watering bills that came along with it. His haunt is a quick way to make money, but Jenna might be the most unexpected surprise of all.

One look at her is all it takes to fall hard, then even harder when he discovers they share similar tastes both in and out of the bedroom.

And since Mason is an expert in designing experiences that make people feel something, this Halloween he'll guarantee Jenna finally has a man to match her freak.

Thoughts on Scary in Love: Okay. I liked this one. Jenna likes the thrill of being scared (to the point where it's a little bit of a turn on for her) and Mason is GREAT at setting up scary situations. You know, since he's running a haunt and all. They both like what they see when they first lay eyes on one another. They both wouldn't mind exploring if there's something more there than just a shared love of scary things.

It turns out there IS more there. Jenna enjoys the adrenaline rush of being frightened and Mason enjoys giving people what they want. Both in a literal and figurative sense. Setting up a personal haunt that ticks all Jenna's excitement boxes is a challenge Mason is 100% down for. He takes the time to delve into what she's into so he can push her boundaries without crossing any hard lines that might ruin a potential relationship before it begins.

Jenna is just into everything Mason. He's gentlemanly until he isn't. He makes sure she's comfortable with everything he wants to do to her. He pushes her in all the best ways and giving her what she craves satisfies something in him. So, you know, it's not just Jenna getting something good out of this arrangement.

A spooky house, a few thrills and chills, a dud of a first date, an adorable coffee shop encounter, a man who knows how to show a lady a good (spooky) time, and a lady who is willing to let go with a man she trusts. *thumbs up*