Seven Days in June review

 

Book: Seven Days in June

Author: Tia Williams

Pages: 336

Date(s) Read: June 7^th, 2026 to July 2^nd, 2026

Date Published: June 1^st, 2021

Rating: 4/5

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Characters: 5/5

Writing style: 5/5

Story: 4/5

Ending:  4/5

Cover: 5/5

Format: Hard Cover

Date Bought: January 7^th, 2025

Book Cost: $9.60

Review:

Seven Days in June is a deep and moving romance that is truly heartfelt.

 

In Seven Days in June romance erotica author Eva runs into literatures bad boy Shane. Their run in brings up old feelings from a shared past in their youth. As they become entangled again we also follow Eva as a teen during the time that leads up to those Seven Days in June she spent with Shane.

 

This book was such an emotional roller coaster. Its a lot like real love -- wonderful, messy, and chaotic. The chemistry between the two characters was off the charts. Eva and Shane together make disparate match of passion, chaos, and fire. There’s so much longing here too that’s reminiscent of older romance books.

 

Eva is really easy to identify with given her invisible disability.  She is lovable, talented, and does what she can to provide her daughter with a safe and well grounded life, the kind she never had growing up. Shane is a man trying to heal, I also found him easily relatable. He cant write now that he's sober and I understand the sentiment well because my best art is always done on Adderall. Without it I feel stuck in a rut. As we follow Shane we see him try to grapple with life as an writer who can't write while he mentors young people.

 

This book was a fascinating character study on both Shane and Eva. Both characters are so multifaceted. They truly feel like real people. If your looking for some depth in your romance then this is a book you can't miss.

The Poet Empress review

 

Book: The Poet Empress

Author: Shen Tao

Pages: 400

Date(s) Read: May 12^th, 2026 to July 2^nd, 2026

Date Published: January 20^th, 2026

Rating: 3/5

Genre: Asian Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 4/5

Story: 3/5

Ending:  4/5

Cover: 3/5

Format: Hard Cover

Date Bought: January 31^st, 2026

Book Cost: $23.12

Review:

The Poet Empress is a beautiful and moving story, but it is by no means a fun or enjoyable read.

 

In the Poet Empress a poor village girl named Wei becomes the bride to Terren, a true terror of a prince. As he tortures his bride, maims servants, and kills animals she learns to read so she can write the ultimate poem that will be able to kill him.

 

I found Wei desperately wanting, she didn't feel three dimensional at all. We never truly get to know her, her inner thoughts, her goals, her likes and dislikes. She is a shell of a person. Other characters such as Maro are similar. Terren, the villain, feels like the closest we get to knowing a character and even that lacks a kind of authenticity.

 

That being said it is a well written and beautiful story. The ending was lovely. This wasn't a bad book but I felt myself really wanting more out of it, especially after all the hype surrounding it.