What Our Community Writers Read In February 2025

Writing about megastar Evelyn Hugo wasn’t on Monique Grant’s bingo card. Evelyn, one of the most famous actresses of Old Hollywood, was most famous for having seven husbands, and she never did interviews.

When she finds herself with the opportunity of a lifetime, she decides to use it to her advantage. Evelyn led a life of fame, fortune, love, and loss, and she’s ready to tell the world her biggest secret…but only after her death. As she hears Evelyn’s story, Monique finds herself captivated by the life of one of the biggest stars in history.

A story about ambition, sacrifice, and identity, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, was an unexpected favorite read. Evelyn is messy and complicated and completely unapologetic about the life she’s lived and the people she hurt to get her to where she wanted to be, including herself.

The story’s center focuses less on Evelyn’s seven marriages and more on the struggles the LGBTQ+ community has faced over the last 60 to 70 years. Well written and full of twists, the story keeps you guessing until the very last page.

Set at a boarding school near a dark forest, Andrew is looking forward to the return to normal after a long summer. Normal being him, his twin sister Dove, and their best friend Thomas against the world. Together the world makes sense; separated, Andrew is adrift.

Andrew writes dark fairy tales, Thomas brings them to life with his art, and Dove makes sure they do enough schoolwork to get by. But this year is anything but normal, starting with the unexplained blood on Thomas’ sleeve, Dove’s avoidance act, and the literal monsters that seem to be coming out of the forest.

I loved this creepy and dark atmospheric tale. We stay in Andrew’s POV for the entire story, and there is just the right amount of macabre and whimsy. I loved getting drawn into Andrew and Thomas’s world of dark fairy tales and seeing how their nightmares played out. The boarding school setting and characters were all really well done, and I am really looking forward to reading more by this author.

Meet Guy Montag, fireman extraordinaire, except he starts fires. In a world more concerned with fast cars and television, anything considered dangerous gets burned. Montag and his fellow firefighters set fire to books and to the houses of the people holding onto them.

One night after work, Montag’s young neighbor begins a conversation with him, which gets him thinking. And then when an old woman would rather be burned with her books, Montag finally opens up a book and begins on a whole new path of discovery.

I loved this book. How it deals with totalitarianism, free thinking, and what we can learn from books makes for a beautiful, powerful, and difficult story. This book reminds me that books will always hold power and that to read is to learn empathy and gain knowledge.

Calla has just lost her husband, and there are whispers that say she murdered him. With no time to grieve, her advisors press the law of her land upon her: marry or lose her crown. Brokenhearted, Calla reinstates the old trials and calls for suitors to enter so she may choose her new husband.

Matthias, general and close friend of Calla’s late husband, is sent to compete and to investigate the rumors. If she did kill her husband, he must kill her. Can they keep their hearts from falling as they keep coming toe to toe?

The second standalone story in an interconnected series, this book is everything you want in a fantasy romance. It’s gritty, dark, and steamy. It has a great use of the grumpy/sunshine trope as you watch poor, grieving Calla do everything in her power to cope with all her losses and accusations.

Let me tell you, sarcastic Matthias is the comedic relief everyone needs. He also sees Calla in her hurts and gives her the empowerment she needs to stay strong for herself and her kingdom.

Book 2 of the Out Series follows Sarah and Caleb, high school sweethearts trying to save their marriage. In an attempt to rekindle their love for each other, the two go on a couples retreat with other couples and learn things about themselves along the way. Told in a dual timeline, we also see Sarah and Caleb meet and fall in love when they were younger. We also see Sarah’s relationship with her mom, her best friend Win, and Win’s mom June.

I didn’t think I would love this book as much as I loved Out On A Limb, but it ended up being a six-star read for me. Sarah and Caleb are wonderful characters, and I related to both characters on a personal level. Told with wit and heart, this story and the characters go into human connection and what it means to find your forever person at a young age. This book has become my favorite reads of the year so far.

Twin sisters Seelie and Isolde are on the run, trying to scrape together a living by picking pockets, never staying in one place too long. They hope to return home one day, but first they need one big win. When they get a clue to the whereabouts of a fabled hoard, it could set them up for life; but along the way they have to contend with rival treasure hunters, enchanters pursuing them, fairy tricks, and Seelie’s own untamed magic, which is proving to be a bigger blessing—and hindrance—than she ever could have imagined. Because Seelie is a Changeling, and she’s only just starting to discover what she’s capable of.

This story was inspired by the old belief that autistic children were Changelings—fairy children who looked human but did not act quite human. The author herself is autistic, so I was confident from the start that this would be good autism representation—and of course, while every person has their own unique experiences and traits, I felt like Housman portrayed her MC Seelie with nuance, compassion, and honesty. Seelie Graygrove is not just an autistic character in a fantasy story; she is the hero!

Electric Idol by Katee Robert is a retelling of Psyche and Eros set in modern-day Olympus and book #2 in the Dark Olympus series.

Psyche Dimitriou, being the good and kindhearted person that she is, decides to help patch Eros Ambrosia up at a party, with paparazzi lurking around. Maybe not her best move in this bloodthirsty game of life, but she really can't complain when certain circumstances land her in a marriage (bed) with Eros, son of her Mother’s enemy.

Eros wasn’t expecting to marry the woman his mother had ordered him to remove from Olympus, but he can’t help but feel drawn to her. Chaos follows them off the altar and into their marriage of convenience to deliver a gripping read.

Between Electric Idol and Neon Gods (book #1), I have to say that I absolutely loved this one much more. The spice was exquisite, and so was the plot, but the fact that Aphrodite was the extremely jealous and possessive mother-in-law? Perfection.

I loved the “unwanted” chemistry between Eros and Psyche, how each of them only wanted to worship the other and felt that they themselves weren’t worthy of being worshiped… I need them in my life so badly.