Mini Reviews Wrap Up September 2026

Posted September 30, 2026 by Lynn in Wrap Ups and Mini Reviews / 0 Comments

Here at Chapter Break, we don’t always write a full review of every book we read. Well, now we decided to do these monthly wrap-up posts with roundups of our reviews this month and mini-reviews to fill in the gaps. Enjoy!

Mini Book Reviews

Julie’s Mini Reviews:

Carl's Doomsday Scenario: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario: This series is fun, just fun and funny and also too real-life serious but also just fun. Book 2 is full of quests that are crazy and chaotic and I did find it lulling for me a bit. I liked the way they schemed in this book and how fiercely they protected each other. Princess Donut is queen, that is all.

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City Book 1)

Crescent City book 1: Well. The first part of the book is such a SLOG. Holy infodump, Batman. Why was it so uncomfortable and unenjoyable? But the second part? WOWZA, the plot really takes off and gets so exciting. Our FMC is a half human/fae with secrets who is devastated by the murder of her best friend. Suddenly, she gets pulled into the investigation to solve the mystery, and she has to work with an angel. MMC: He starts out stuffy, and his motives are unclear. He also has some secrets that turn the plot sideways. But the way he pines for the FMC once he falls for her is *chef’s kiss*. Plot twists, danger, betrayals, sleuthing, sacrifice, love, the power of friendship, and people who choose you. Bryce is pretty awesome, and with each twist we learn more about her friend and what she was into. By the end of the book, she really comes into her own, grabs her power by the horns, as you say, and handles it like the badass we need her to be. I did the graphic audio, and it was very well done. Just, why did the book have to be molasses-slow at the start? Don’t send the witch hunt at me, but I feel this about a lot of SJM books. I end up enjoying them by the end of the book, but I suffer through the first part.

The Wrath Of A Soul : A Dark Fantasy of Angels, Demons, and a Soul Fight for her freedom | Book 3 of 4 (The Soul Trials)

The Wrath of a Soul: Following Mary’s journey and watching her go from strong and mentally determined to strong and physically ruthless is quite something. Book 2 ended with a huge blow, and book 3 is where Mary recovers and channels her rage into a rescue and revenge quest. While much of this book is spent training and hiding, it has great moments with fun characters, plus lots of emotional damage and growth. Valerio is encouraging Mary to enter her villain era, while Azel is still waiting to save her soul. Who will prevail? I don’t know, but the ending face-off with the friend-turned-enemy was fabulous. Mary is a badass, that is all. And of course, it ends with another cliffhanger. Gotta know how it ends! Thank you to K. Loral and Lumos Booktours for the ebook.

The Bone Altar Bride (The Blood Oath Cycle) The Bone Altar Bride is a novella with gothic vibes and an ongoing curse. The curse demands a bride be sacrificed every 13 years to keep the peace and prosperity for the village. Our FMC gets chosen (giving some Hunger Games vibes, as her first reaction was that it wasn’t her sister’s name that was called), and off she goes to find out what happens to the brides. There, she meets the former king, turned monster by the curse, and they have this… connection? She’s stubborn AF and demands to help break the curse, refusing to be consumed by it. The first part was very interesting, and I enjoyed the writing style, which gave us the details of this curse. But that’s when it kind of lost me. The curse felt more mental than physical. The “trials” kept coming in waves of pain for the king and threats to the FMC. But by pure strong will and choice, they fought back. It felt repetitive during this night of trials, with the god of the curse resisting and sending more pain their way. The language here was intense, but it didn’t really land for me. I know it’s a novella, but the romance felt sudden and almost instalove from the start. Perhaps the intensity of their shared experience brought love with it. I didn’t quite understand the ending. They off and leave to live their own lives, but was the curse fully broken, and is the village safe? I expect not, since this is an upcoming series about the sister. I did enjoy this read overall, but I only connected with the characters and their choices on a surface level. Also, the names! Why are so many of the names similar? Mira and Mara for important characters seemed like an interesting choice. Thanks to DS Book Promotions for the chance to read this arc.

Hunger & Harmony (The Ivory Duet Book 1)

Hunger & Harmony is a cute vampire/human rockstar/assistant grumpy/sunshine romance with a prophecy on top. Cadence (interestingly named, since she has no musical abilities but seems drawn to music and can hear notes) is the FMC, trying to get out from under her parents’ control. She’s been controlled by very strict parents – no music, not even listening. Of course, she rebels. So her best friend helps her forge her way into an internship with a touring rock band made up of vampires. Oh, and the lead is the vampire king with siren magic in his voice. What could go wrong? I thought at first the character had a form of synesthesia, but that was never brought up. They’re drawn to each other in a strange way, and she can feel his ghostly touch when he’s across the room. I definitely enjoyed the gothic vibes in the beginning – the tour bus and the vamp cities they stopped at. The pure chaos of stopping in regular human towns and getting attacked by hunters drove the plot into some urgency. Somewhere in the middle, it started to feel choppy to me. Their hot/cold was whiplashey at times. I understood her fascination with him, his alluring persona, vampiric perfection, and voice that affected everyone around her in a weird way, but not her. What I didn’t understand was his side of it. First, he’s rude to her, calling her a “juice box,” and then suddenly, out of the blue, he’s being super sweet and adorable. Out of seemingly the blue, he starts being nice to her after several very rude encounters, and suddenly we’re in cuddle territory? I suppose if we had his POV, maybe it would help us understand more. It’s gotta be more than just the prophecy taking over. The FMC is kept completely in the dark about her bloodline by her parents, and her very best friend who got her this gig starts acting weird around her too. Her family kept music completely out of her life, which, of course, drew her more to it and brought out who she is. It wasn’t until the epilogue that I finally got all the pieces to make sense of what happened. The lies and withholding of information were frustrating not just for the FMC, but for the reader too. Plus the girly cries so dang much over everything. But the book picked back up for me when we got to the prophecy part of the plot, and all the conspiracy and destruction was occurring. I enjoyed the choice vs. destiny/control plot point, and I liked how she finally got her big-girl panties on and took her life into her own hands. I enjoyed the side characters, especially Ez. I would love a spin-off book for him to get an HEA. I’m certainly curious about book 2 and impressed that this is only a duology. Good read overall. Thanks to Iris Influencer Society for the chance to ARC read this book.

Lynn’s Mini Reviews:

Home for the Homicides: A Holly & Mark Mystery (The Holly & Mark Mystery Series, 1)

HOME FOR THE HOMICIDES: As a huge Finlay Donovan fan, I saw this book on NetGalley and jumped at the chance to read it. And I am glad that I did. It’s hilarious! This one is for those fans of Hallmark mystery movies who want more snark and more spice. Highly recommended for Hallmark fans who are looking for just a little bit more.

Mystery and solving the mystery: The set-up for this story is that two investigators from the Big City are sent to the small town of Christmas (yes, that’s the town name) to dig into the death of a tourist. But the crime needs to be solved in 12 days to keep the Christmas town parties on track. (Oh, and apparently no one is supposed to use curse words in town. All the euphemisms are used, like fudge and holy gingerbread.) Hijinks ensue. Mark and Holly are our investigators, vying against each other for a promotion. There are multiple suspects throughout the novel. I didn’t see the real killer coming at all! Excellent plotting and misdirection to the other suspects.

Romance: Mark and Holly are like gas and fire. They have a volatile historical relationship. But this is because they like each other and don’t want to admit it. I am here for it. The two are constantly bickering and flirting at the same time. Solving the murder is the main plot here. But the relationship between Mark and Holly runs a pretty close second. There are some very spicy scenes between these two.

Overall vibes: Hil. Ar. Ious. Snarky. All the witty banter. Innuendo that would make a regular Hallmark movie blush. We even have an elf editor who inserts their own snarky comments when needed. This book caught my attention from the prologue and kept it the majority of the time I was reading it. Here’s a fun blurb to grab your attention:

A special float, complete with five candy-striped stripper poles, is heading their way. AC/DC blares from a pair of giant speakers.

My only real criticism is that the inner monologues of Holly and Mark both become repetitious. Both have a running monologue of how much they really like each other. But neither is willing to say those thoughts to the other person.

Thanks to authors Elle Cosimano and Hannah Morrissey and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 3

THE DUNGEON ANARCHIST’S COOKBOOK: I found book 2 in this series to be side-quest-y. Book 3 really heads back into the dungeon with danger and peril and monsters around every corner. Lots more gore and death. A LOT of gore. Book 3 adds more information into Carl’s and Donut’s history and the overall lore of the the dungeon. And a lot of the info I see on the internet is starting to make sense. (Sometimes, it’s not great to only be on book 3 when everyone else is finished with book 8!) My main comments for this book – Jeff Hays is audio narrator royalty! I’ve been watching so many clips on YouTube of his narration. Prepotente! Can’t wait to read and listen to more of this series. No notes. Loved it.

Something Wilder

SOMETHING WILDER: Not the typical romance that I was expecting. More like what not to do while hiking in the desert and hunting for treasure with a side of re-kindled romance. I enjoyed the puzzle-solving and adventure aspect of this novel. And have ZERO interest in any kind of desert hijinks. That sounds dangerous. And hard pass on no bathrooms and living on protein bars. The romance between Lily and Leo is palpable. This is the second-chance romance that feels real. Some steamy scenes. Not much comedy, if you are thinking this is a rom-com. Lily’s daddy issues become tiresome after a while. It’s crucial to the story. But Duke (Lily’s father) was not a great father. Why do we have to rehash that, repeatedly? I liked this one ok, but not scream from the rafters great.

A Grave Robbery (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery)

A GRAVE ROBBERY: Whoops. I’ve almost finished another whole book and forgot to review this one. Go me. But also it’s book 9 in the series. How much can I really even say? This time around we learn about the Anatomical Venus, which is a bit wild to me. I guess medical students need to learn from something! A lion tamarin is added to the menagerie of dogs. Stoker and Veronica dress as Samson and Delilah in a tableau vivant – which is freaking hilarious with all the women admiring Stoker. What stands out, though, is a very impassioned speech by Stoker. I felt that scene in my whole body. And is partly the reason I continue to read this series. Well, that and the banter and adventures.

The Spellshop

THE SPELLSHOP: I’m marking this as DNF – or maybe I’ll finish it later. It’s not you; it’s me. Cozy fantasy is not my thing. The premise was fun. But there is just not much happening to keep my interest. My library book was set to return, and I wasn’t motivated to renew it.

Moriarty: The Great Chaos

MORIARTY: The Great Chaos: I am not really feeling this one. I love the narration and the full cast, with the addition of Ben Kingsley and Joanne Froggatt. But the story did not grab my attention. Lots of globetrotting – Rome, India, Japan. Holmes continues to be the villain. But Moriarty is also starting to go down the villain road. The Young Sherlock episodes were a lot more interesting.

Hollywood, Ending

HOLLYWOOD, ENDING: You had me at John Green and Julia Whelan’s narration. I also liked the male narrator, Zachary Chastain. Vibes only. I liked this one. It’s more of an intellectual character study than a big plot-forward book. A lot more emotions than I was expecting. Actors can emote! Hollywood sounds horrible, especially publicists and press junkets. Kai and Juniper are well-developed and interesting characters. We see their growth into more-rounded characters throughout the novel. I also really enjoyed the interview between Green and the two narrators at the end.

Books we reviewed in full this month:

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We are linking up our monthly wrap up posts with Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight (we now co-host her monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up) and The Sunday Post (hosted by The Caffeinated Reviewer).