Lia Anshar's Honest Pages

  Title: Unexpectedly Bookish by Elise Kennedy, Rachel Dane (Narrator), Grayson Owen (Narrator) Format: Audiobook Genre: Contemporary Romance Published: September 5, 2026 Rating: 4.5 ⭐ Thank you to the author, Elise Kennedy, and NetGalley for this gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review. Reed and Pearl are total opposites. While Reed has golden retriever energy, Pearl has a dark vibe with piercings and tattoos. They can barely stand each other in person; unknowingly, they've been chatting online this whole time.  It’s such a fun, messy, perfect little setup, and I absolutely ate it up! Beyond being super entertaining, these characters really got to me. Both Reed and Pearl are figuring out who they are, what parts of themselves they’re scared to show, and that they don’t have to hide their messy sides to be loved. The autism and plus-sized representation is also well done. It just made them feel even more real and easy to relate to. And the audiobook, I totally loved it, j...

  Title: Breakaway Bet by Lisa Suzanne Genre: Contemporary Romance Published: October 22, 2026 Rating: 4.0 ⭐ Thank you to Valentine PR and the author, Lisa Suzanne, for this gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review. I’d never read anything by Lisa Suzanne before, but as soon as I heard this one was a marriage of convenience romance, I was hooked right away! Apparently, it’s the final book in the series, so probably not the ideal place to start, but I’m honestly so glad I picked it up anyway and didn't have a problem following the story. This book was just really fun. I felt giddy all the time while reading it! Cash and Ivy were so cute together. The connection felt instant, but it grew into something so much deeper once they really got to know each other. I loved watching things go from that silly little bet to them actually falling so hard in love that the thought of losing each other completely messed with their heads.  Overall, such a lovely read. If you’re looking for ...

  Title: Laplace's Witch by Keigo Higashino Genre: Mystery, Japanese Literature Published: October 13, 2026 Rating: 4.0 ⭐ Thank you to Avocado House and NetGalley for this gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review. I didn’t expect this book to be so science-heavy! It’s built around Laplace’s Demon theory by Pierre-Simon de Laplace: if someone (the demon) knows the precise location and momentum of every particle in the universe, their past and future values for any given time are entailed and can be calculated from the laws of classical mechanics. In other words, the person can predict the future in a scientific way. So, basically, this is what this book is about. The story starts with a body found in a hot-spring town, dead from hydrogen sulfide poisoning. Geochemist Shusuke Aoe gets called in to look into it. Everyone writes it off as an accident, but something just doesn’t sit right. While he’s there, he meets a young woman looking for her missing friend, and she calls he...

  Title: Exit 8 by Genki Kawamura Genre: Horror, Thriller Published: April 16, 2026 Rating: 5.0 ⭐  Blurb: From the award-winning film director and New York Times bestselling author of If Cats Disappeared from the World, a surreal novelization of his hit film Exit 8, adapting the indie horror game of the same name. A path with no beginning, no end. A man with a life-changing decision to make finds himself trapped in a seemingly infinite corridor in a Tokyo subway station. Each time he passes through the sterile, quiet hallway, he discovers himself back at its beginning, walking past the same doors, the same posters, and disturbingly, the same people, as he did the previous time. He soon discovers that in order to reach the elusive "Exit 8", he must look more closely at his surroundings, and notice the tunnel's bizarre anomalies. Spot one, and he must turn back. Spot none, and he can proceed. Make it to eight, and he'll be free. Make a mistake, and he must st...

  Title: The Murder Party by Cindy R.X. He Genre: YA Mystery, Thriller Published: October 13, 2026 Rating: 4.5 ⭐ Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and Colored Pages Book Tours for allowing me to be part of this book tour.  After her older sister, Lily, is killed at a secret party that connects to a Murder Club that Lily was in, June isn't convinced it was just an accident. The police close the case, and the school shuts down the club, but June still has too many questions about her sister's death. Determined to find out what really happened, she starts digging into the lives of its members. And when she discovers secrets the club members would rather keep hidden, she decides to bring the Murder Club back. Only this time, she's playing to catch a killer.  I really liked the Murder Club concept! It's such an interesting setup for a murder mystery, and I loved how June used the games as part of her investigation. The mystery was definitely my favorite part. There were so many ...

  Title: Sincerely, Your Murderer by Ravena Guron Genre: YA Mystery, Thriller Published: October 13, 2026 Rating: 4.5 ⭐ Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and Colored Pages Book Tours for allowing me to be part of this book tour. Kay is seventeen when she leaves her hometown behind after her friend Ivy passes away. When her parents go on holiday without her, she suddenly has to move back in with her cousin. Her homecoming doesn’t go smoothly at all, though. The very first thing she finds waiting on her bed is a strange, anonymous letter. It lays out a scary countdown. Something bad will happen each day, from Tuesday to Monday. Now Kay has just one week to work out who’s threatening her before time runs out. I honestly didn’t have big expectations when I picked this book up, but I ended up liking it more than I thought I would, and I found myself getting more and more invested the further I read. It quite reminded me of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder with its small-town atmosphere and fe...

  Title: The Little Shop of Gentle Magics Genre: Fantasy, Romance Available: October 20, 2026 Rating: 3.75 ⭐ Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for this gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review. The story is about Meg MacIntosh, who comes from a long line of kitchen witches, but she doesn’t seem to have the same magical abilities as the women around her. After her marriage falls apart, she moves to a tiny Scottish town and opens a cozy teashop. As she settles into her new life, she meets Arthur, a man who sees her like no one else, and suddenly everything changes. One day, Meg’s magic finally awakens in ways no one expected.  I picked up this book expecting a cozy, witchy fantasy, but apparently, it’s more of a romance. The romance develops pretty quickly, and there are some unexpected moments that had me thinking, “Are you sure about this?”  But above all, I enjoyed the chemistry between Meg and Arthur. There’s also a found family aspect to the story, which ...

  Title: Conveniently in Bloom Genre: Contemporary Romance Format: Audiobook Published: August 17, 2026 Rating: 5.0 ⭐ Thank you to Elise Kennedy for this gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review. Lily Parker has no intention of staying in Fairwick Falls for long. She’s already planning to leave town when an accident puts her in physical therapy plus she somehow forgot to get health insurance, so she ends up moving in with her longtime crush, Nash Donnelly. Meanwhile, Nash has his own problem. He needs a wife to keep his position as the bank president and stop his brother from using an old family bylaw to take control of the bank. Apparently, the solution to both their problems is getting married.  I really enjoyed Lily and Nash together. Nash is such a great hero. He's sweet, dependable, and absolutely gone for Lily, while Lily is lively and free-spirited. On the outside, they have opposite personalities, but they work so well together. There’s a lot of silly banter and als...

  Title: Mistletoe All the Way by Lauren Blakely Genre: Contemporary Romance Published: October 6, 2026 Rating: 4.5 ⭐ Thank you to Atria Books and Lauren Blakely for this gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review. Noah is a veterinarian who isn’t exactly a fan of Christmas, but when his grandfather decides to retire and leave the family farm to either Noah or his cousin, Stephen, Noah has no choice but to play along. Enter Eloise, a sunshine and Christmas lover, who is determined to make Noah the next Mr. Holiday and hopefully give her career a boost in the process.  The romance is cute, and while the story definitely embraces the cheesy Christmas love story, I think that’s exactly what makes it fun. I really enjoyed the contrast between Noah and Eloise. Eloise is full of energy, optimism, and Christmas spirit, while Noah is much quieter and a bit grumpy. This opposite personality makes their banter so much fun!  The story also has plenty going on besides the romance. ...

  Title: Mrs. Levengood's Corner Bakery by Corinne Fox Genre: Contemporary Romance Published: October 1, 2026 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)  Thank you to the author, Corinne Fox, for this gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed how easy it was to get into this book. It’s one of those books that pulls you in without making you work too hard to understand what’s going on. I had spent hours completely immersed in Charlie’s story.  Charlie has pretty much given up on love after losing several people close to her. She’s convinced that the women in her family are cursed to lose the men they love, so romance is definitely not something she wants to dive into. Until Hank, her childhood best friend and almost-first love, comes back into her life after fifteen years.  Then a terrible accident happens and makes the “curse” feel all too real, leaving her to choose between keeping Hank safe or finally risking her heart to find out the truth about whether love was ever...