August 2026 reading wrap up

What an absolutely delightful way to start the month!

Stay for a Spell is apparently Amy Coombe’s debut novel, which seems unfathomable because this was one of the best debuts I’ve read in a long time.

On the surface, it’s wonderfully cosy and whimsical. There’s a curse, royalty, books, romance, some excellent banter, and a magic cat. (And we all know how much I love a magic cat.) But underneath all of that is a story about a woman who has spent her entire life being what everyone else needs her to be. And now needs to figure out who she wants to be.

Tandy has been raised as a royal people pleaser. Handshakes, balls, state dinners, expectations — she does what she’s told to do because that’s what she’s always done.

But breaking her curse requires her to stand up for herself and choose what her heart actually desires.

I loved that distinction in this story between true love and your heart’s desire. Because of course they can overlap, but they’re not necessarily the same thing.

I also adored how naturally inclusive the world felt. Princes are the first-born royal heirs regardless of gender. Lord Mayor is the title of an office rather than a gendered term. Queer relationships simply exist without the book stopping to congratulate itself for including them.

Stay for a Spell was cosy and funny and romantic, but underneath all the whimsy was a message I absolutely loved: sometimes the bravest thing you can do is admit what you actually want — and then choose to fight for it.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5/5)

I really enjoyed The Long Game. But, I also wanted more from it.

I am extremely invested in Shane and Ilya (mostly Ilya), and I think that’s actually part of the problem. See, I want them (Ilya) to get their (his) happy ending. And not in the punny way. The more time I spend reading this series, the less interested I am in reading the spicy scenes and the more I want to see the life they’re building around each other.

And there is a LOT of sex in this book.

That’s not a criticism — this is a Rachel Reid book, and I knew exactly what I was signing up for. But I also felt like some of that page time could have gone towards things I desperately wanted explored in greater depth. Like, why is Shane so… Shane-like.

I also want more discussion about Ilya’s depression. More about the impact of the summer hockey camps on the kids (with cameos from the other books). More about the fallout from the recording and the meeting with the NHL commissioner. And way more of Shane and Ilya figuring out what their actual future looked like.

I don’t just want a romance to just tell me these people get their happily ever after. I am here for unpacking the trauma and putting the suitcase into therapy. But I also require evidence-based data proving that they’re still happy five years later. This is why epilogues exist!

(And yes, I know they’re getting another book. But I’m just saying if Ilya is not deliriously wallowing in everything he’s ever wanted at the end of the series, I will come for someone.)

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

(The Game Changer series is a monthly side quest for The Romance Revelry Society’s book club where we read one book per month.)

I also did a Foxes reread because the second trilogy is almost complete. I originally read the All for the Game trilogy in 2019, and returning to it seven years later was (surprisingly, given the content of the books) enormously comforting.

Because these books are violent, traumatic and populated almost exclusively by people who need therapy. (Except maybe Renee and Wymack.) And I love them, scars and all.

One of the things that struck me most on this reread was how good Nora Sakavic is at writing characters who genuinely see each other. That doesn’t mean they agree with each other’s decisions. Quite frequently they think the people they love are making absolutely terrible choices. Like, all the time. Andrew is decidedly NOT HAPPY™ when Neil decides basically anything. He gives his argument with the stupidity highlighted, but ultimately he understands that it’s Neil’s decision, so he accepts the choice and just has his back.

Because love isn’t about controlling someone into making the choice you think is best for them. It’s about knowing who they are, understanding what they need from you and showing up accordingly. And Sakavic does this brillaintly.

The Foxes are a found family made up of severly damaged people who slowly create somewhere they all belong.

Seven years later, I still love this series with my whole heart. (And my original reviews still apply despite the word vomit.)

The Foxhole Court: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5/5)
The Raven King: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5/5)
The King’s Men: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5/5)

I’ll be honest… I didn’t expect to care very much about Jean Moreau. And that’s part of the reason why I put off reading this secondary trilogy. In my defence, I barely remembered him.

Which is one of the reasons rereading the original trilogy before starting The Sunshine Court turned out to be an excellent decision. Because this book broke me.

Jean has spent essentially his entire life being abused, controlled and taught that his existence belongs to other people. Watching him suddenly enter an environment where kindness and choice are possible is devastating because he doesn’t have the emotional framework to understand either of them.

And then there’s Jeremy. Jeremy is sunshine. The grumpy x sunshine trope may actually have been invented specifically so that one day these two characters could co-exist.

What I particularly loved was that Jeremy’s relative normality exposes just how profoundly abnormal Jean’s life has been. And being around Jeremy doesn’t magically fix Jean. He simply gives Jean the opportunity to experience a world where care is possible. And Jean has an enormous amount to learn about how to exist in that world.

I cried. Not cathartic crying. Just exceptionally sad bawling my eyes out.

A sign of things to come in this trilogy, I’m sure.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5/5)

I am going to be extremely careful here because there are many things I would like to yell about and almost all of them are spoilers.

What I can say is that I love being back in this world.

One of the recurring ideas throughout All for the Game is the struggle to be the person you want to be when other people have spent years telling you who you’re supposed to be. That theme continues beautifully here.

The more we learn about Jeremy, the more complicated he becomes. And Jean continues the incredibly difficult process of unlearning who he was told he is, and learning that he is allowed to have wants, boundaries and a life that belongs to him.

There’s a number of moments in books 4 and 5 where Jean wants to ignore the media commentary and speculation rather than publicly tell his story. Jeremy doesn’t necessarily agree with that decision, but instead of overruling him, he convinces the rest of the team to respect Jean’s choice.

That tiny distinction says so much about what support looks like in these books.

Also, there was comes a point in this book that I absolutely could not stop reading despite the fact it was extremely late (early?) and apparently sleep is less important than fictional sport. I’d stay up til 4am for these boys any time. No regrets.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5/5)

This was such a sweet historical romance.

There is excellent mutual pining, multifaceted characters and (miracle of miracles) a miscommunication trope that actually worked for me.

Because the misunderstanding was plausible. It wasn’t that they didn’t talk to each other. Both characters had enough information to reasonably believe they understood what the other person meant, while simultaneously being completely wrong.

THAT is how you do it.

I also really enjoyed the period language, particularly because language itself is so central to the story. The author’s note was delightful and added another layer to something I’d already been enjoying throughout the book.

My only real frustration was the ending.

By that point, I’d become invested not only in the main couple but in their wider families, and I wanted more resolution for everyone. Instead, the ending felt slightly too focused on getting the central romance across the finish line while leaving everyone else hanging out on a limb. A dangerous limb. About to fall from a very tall tree.

Apparently this is a standalone story, which means I cannot even confidently assume those stories are being saved for future books.

Which, honestly… rude. (Please note this did not affect my final rating, but I would love to see this turned into a series.)

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

Then I accidentally read four books about gargoyles, based on a Goodreads friend enjoying book one.

As one does.

I read Wicked Conjuring, Wicked Awakening, Wicked Devouring and Wicked Ascending in quick succession, which is probably the best way to read them because they feel less like four individual novels and more like one enormous story divided into four parts.

Initially, I was having a fantastic time.

The first two books are action-packed without becoming Fast & Furious: Gargoyle Drift. There was drama without the plot becoming unnecessarily convoluted, the spice initially felt well balanced against the story, and I was extremely engaged.

At one point I actually called it my Goldilocks series because everything felt just balanced and right.

Unfortunately, Goldilocks eventually left the building.

By book three, the dramatic cliffhangers were becoming repetitive, the characters weren’t developing as much as I wanted, and I was beginning to predict major plot developments well before they happened.

By the final book, I had guessed most of the big final-battle twists by about page 80. That’s… not ideal.

I was also increasingly distracted by proofreading errors (which I try not to judge but damn it pulls me out of a story), and felt the balance had tipped back towards too much spice and not enough story.

But there is something I genuinely liked about West’s character arc. She has spent years being mistreated by the people who are supposed to love her, and they taught her that she doesn’t deserve better than her current situation.

And then she meets the gargoyles. They don’t value her because of what she can eventually do or because of revelations about who she is. They see worth in her before they know any of that. Each of them appreciates a different part of her personality and, together, they help West learn that she is enough on her own.

I just wish the later books had given that personal growth as much attention as the plot and spice.

Wicked Conjuring: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)
Wicked Awakening: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)
Wicked Devouring: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)
Wicked Ascending: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

I had essentially abandoned Tessa Bailey’s books after The Au-Pair Affair. It wasn’t for me. (I had some power-ick issues with it.)

Then, several years later (aka last month), I saw Dream Girl Drama sitting on a library display and thought, fuck it. I’ve liked plenty of Tessa Bailey books before. Let’s give this another shot. And the result was… good.

The writing didn’t blow me away and I didn’t fall madly in love with the characters. (There could have still been a little bit of power ick in this if you read hard enough into it.) This is very much a three-star ‘good, not great’ read for me.

But there are parts of the romance construction that I thought were excellent.

Sig and Chloe have an extremely forbidden relationship (for reasons I remain somewhat unconvinced are actually that scandalous), but the important thing is that they believe they can’t be together (because literally no one else cares).

And the PINING.

Months pass. They become best friends. There are slightly-too-long hugs, hand brushes, longing looks and an extraordinary amount of I’m desperately in love with you but apparently I’ll settle for occasionally touching pinkies.

*chef’s kiss*

The central conflict is also established very early, which means Bailey doesn’t have to manufacture the traditional late-book breakup. Instead, because they were never really together, the obstacles keep escalating, and every time these poor idiots think things cannot possibly get worse, the floor drops out again.

It was probably extremely traumatic for them. I was having a great time.

And then Bailey gave me a plot twist I genuinely didn’t see coming, and a five-years-later epilogue!! Tessa Bailey understands the assignment.

⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

Technically, The Winged Game is a sports romantasy. And can I just say that I am so in love with the fact that now I can have a sports romance x fantasy book in my hands?! All of my favourite genres merging is the best gift ever.

But there’s so much happening around the romance part of the story that it almost feels like a murder-mystery as well. And honestly, this book could have felt like it was doing too much — but it really didn’t.

Taissa and Kion have an extremely slow-burn enemies-to-lovers relationship built on past trauma, misunderstandings, career- and livelihood-destroying accusations, and some very inaccurate assumptions about each other.

Meanwhile, there are two curses to unravel with barely any clues, a fractured team to bring back together, a murder (coma) mystery to solve, a magical sport to survive, and quite a lot of emotional baggage to work through.

I particularly enjoyed that the romance was allowed to develop slowly while all of this was happening around it. Taissa and Kion are actually remarkably similar people, and watching them gradually recognise that (and properly see the person underneath their assumptions) was far more satisfying than rushing them together. Even if I wanted to yell at the both for being idiots at times.

I had a great time with this book. It was super fun!

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

So, apparently writing Tessa Bailey off after one book I didn’t enjoy was a mistake. Dream Girl Drama reminded me of some of the things Bailey does particularly well. Pitcher Perfect amplified them.

At its heart, this is a romance about being loved versus feeling truly understood. With age appropriate characters and no power ick.

Skylar isn’t unloved. Her family and friends care deeply about her, but the way they express that love isn’t necessarily the way she needs to receive it. She’s spent a lot of time adapting and compromising around the people she loves.

Robbie sees her remarkably clearly. He pays attention to what she actually needs and then sets about supporting her — not by changing her dreams or telling her what she should want, but by helping her pursue them.

And that acceptance runs both ways as Skylar can see how Robbie is treated by his team (as a joke) and shows him how to stand up for himself.

These are two people who, for different reasons, don’t really believe that the kind of love they need is available to them. But slowly they create exactly that kind of love with each other.

It was heart-warming and tender and also made me cry approximately three times. I have a soft spot for people who are mistreated apparently.

This was the book that reminded me why I’ve enjoyed Tessa Bailey so much in the past.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

This was adorably sweet, and probably entirely forgettable (ask me in a month or two).

Two coworkers who don’t particularly like each other (I refuse to call them enemies) end up spending a week together at an immersive fantasy book experience. Surprisingly, being removed from their normal environment gives them the chance to actually get to know one another, break down abrriers, and *gasp* fall in love.

And really, that’s what the romance is about. Seeing another person properly, but also being honest enough with yourself to recognise what you actually want.

It was a genuinely sweet story.

I did think the writing and story felt surprisingly YA despite the characters being older, especially considering this is one of Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka’s adult romances. This meant that it kept it firmly in the “good” rather than “great” category for me. In saying that, I have read a number of their YA romances, and some of them are genuinely great.

But I enjoyed it. And sometimes that’s all I need from a book.

⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

I thought I’d read The Little Prince before. Having now read it in August, I’m convinced I hadn’t. I’ve owned my copy for many years, but absolutely none of the story felt familiar.

I picked it up partly because one of my MS Readathon goals was to ‘reread a childhood favourite’, and partly because Ash calls Embry his “Little Prince” in Sierra Simone’s New Camelot trilogy (which I read in July) and I wanted to remind myself of the reference.

Instead, I discovered a strange, sombre and deeply bittersweet little book that wasn’t remotely what I expected from a children’s classic. And to be honest, I was surprised that it was a children’s book, because it feels more like a fairytale for adults.

The character the Little Prince encounters these exaggerated versions of adulthood — the king, the businessman, the drunkard, the vain man — and observes them with this fascinating combination of clarity and almost naïve hopefulness. He sees people’s absurdities in a childlike distilled way, without being cynical about them. In fact, this simplified childlike stereotyping of seeing each person as one thing, one charicature, is the only childlike thing about the whole story.

But because there’s no cynicism, only a seeing and acceptance, there’s a deep capacity for love underneath that hope. All of which makes the Little Prince’s relationship with his flower particularly poignant. He can see her flaws, vanity and contradictions, while still understanding that loving her has made her uniquely important to him.

And, from this, I do understand Ash’s nickname for Embry a little better.

The ending is sad, but still hopeful. Very bittersweet. And very similar to how I felt towards the end of the New Camelot series.

FYI, I’m not giving The Little Prince a star rating. It’s not because I disliked it. Although, if I’m being completely honest, I’m not sure that I particularly enjoyed it either. It’s odd and sometimes nonsensical, but I understood what it was trying to say and found a lot of its observations genuinely affecting.

Mostly, though, I don’t think my usual rating system is particularly useful here. This is a short, philosophical children’s story, and trying to judge it on the same one-to-five-star scale I use for long-form fiction feels slightly ridiculous. But I’m glad I read it.

Of course, August wasn’t just a particularly unhinged reading month. It was the MS Readathon.

I started the month hoping to read around 15 books, and somehow finished 17, with a final page tally of 5,882.*

More importantly, all of those pages were read for something much bigger than my Goodreads goal.

Because with a fundarising goal of $1,000, I am delighted to say that I raised $1,862.

Thank you enormously to everyone who donated, shared my fundraising page, encouraged me or tolerated increasingly chaotic reading updates throughout the month on my socials. I appreciate you.

Every page has a purpose. 💙