Best Wishes from The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki - Book Review

Series: The Full Moon Coffee Shop #2 

Publication Date: 08th October 2025

Genre: Magic Realism, Cozy Japanese Fiction 

3.3 Stars 

One Liner: Hopeful and mellow 

Satomi has to choose between her career in Tokyo and her country-loving boyfriend, who plans to propose on Christmas. 

Satomi's sister-in-law, Junko, lives with her husband and toddler in a small town. When her estranged and abusive father is ill, Junko and her brother (who left after a big fight and stayed in no contact) return home to discover something about their parent. 

The story comes in the first-person POVs of Satomi, Junko, and Koyuki, with interludes by the cats. 

My Thoughts: 

The book should work as a standalone, though I’d recommend reading the first one as well if you are into astrology and a bit of philosophy. 

This book has the same mellow tone and vibe. The people are selected by the cats of the Full Moon Coffee Shop as the people they would help during Christmastime. 

Then, we get the stories of each of them in their first person. The characters are somewhat related, and one of them has a connection to someone from book one. 

Astrology is the major theme in this one, too, though the focus is on sun, moon, and rising signs (which should be easier to follow). Also, the author uses (and follows) Western astrology. There are a couple of horoscopes to visualize the details (very helpful). 

The names of the food and drinks served by the cats are delightful as ever. I am tempted to leave a couple of lemons in the moonlight and see if the juice will taste different, lol. 

However, I enjoyed the previous book more. The stories were more layered and deeper in that one. Here, we get a few glimpses of the internal conflicts, but the emotional depth is missing. The pacing also feels slower, which shouldn’t be the case since they are simpler! 

That said, the book should be a good read if you want something light and hopeful. Don’t miss the author’s note at the end. It is informative and heartfelt! 

To summarize, Best Wishes from The Full Moon Coffee Shop is a cozy little book about forgiving oneself, second chances, and learning to be happy. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Ballantine Books, for the eARC. 

#NetGalley #BestWishesFromTheFullMoonCoffeeShop

Time for You by Elizabeth Davis - Book Review

Publication Date: 23rd Sep 2025

Genre: Time Travel Romance 

3.5 Stars 

One Liner: Fast-paced and enjoyable 

Daphne Griffin is a first-year residency doctor in emergency medicine in Minnesota. One day, she rides her bike to the hospital and crashes into a man who appears in her path out of thin air. Though unbelievable, the man says he is Henry MacDonald from Edinburgh, Scotland, 1885. 

Henry is disoriented and wants to go home to his mother and two sisters. With no one to help him in the present, Daphne and her friends decide to give it a shot. As Henry lives with them, trying to adjust to 21st-century life, things get a bit complicated for him and Daphne. 

It would have been a great love story if Henry weren’t from 150 years ago! With the time running out, Henry has to decide if he wants to stay or leave. 

The story comes in Daphne's (more % and in the present timeline) and Henry’s (past timeline) third-person POVs. 

My Thoughts: 

The premise sounded cute, so I grabbed this one right away. It’s a short book too (288 pages), which seems to have affected the pacing and development of the romantic track. It’s a quick read, too, after the first couple of chapters. 

In a way, I like that it doesn’t take a lot of time for the characters to accept the possibility of time travel, though they are doctors and science-based and all that. There are things beyond science, and having an open mind is more important. 

The side characters add quite a bit of oomph and fun to the plot. They are fun people to read about. It certainly helps since the FMC doesn’t endear herself with her attitude in some chapters. 

However, I did like the exploration of a person working hard to make their dream career come true, only to realize it may not be what they wanted, and they are unsure of what to do next. It happens! 

The biggest issue is with the romance, which ends up on the fast track. This plotline might have worked better with a slow-burn romance despite the fast pace. Since the love declarations came a bit too early, it felt too surface-level. 

For almost 70% of the book, we get only the FMC’s POV. I thought it was a single POV book until the switch happened. While I like the idea behind this, I felt this rather reduced the reader’s ability to connect with the MMC sooner. 

Still, the book is enjoyable and a light read for those who want something simple and sweet. It should work well as a palate cleaner or a breather between heavy reads. 

To summarize, Time for You is an easy, fluffy read with romance between a contemporary doctor and a 19th-century man. And oh, the concept of time-travel is done well. We get just enough detail to understand how it works. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Montlake, for eARC. 

#NetGalley #TimeForYou

Twisted Crows by Will Canduri - Book Review

Twisted Crows by Will Canduri, Andrea Labinger (Translator), Megan Herzart (Illustrator) 

Publication Date: 15th June 2023

Genre: Short Stories 

3 Stars 

One Liner: An interesting mix 

Anthologies are fun to read for the variety they offer. This collection is translated from Spanish and has twenty-eight stories from different genres, themes, tenses, and POVs. We have historical, contemporary, dystopian, futuristic, horror, gothic, realistic, crime, mystery, etc. 

Some stories are in the second-person POV (is this a thing now?) and dialogue heavy. The length also varies, and that adds to its appeal. The translation is rather smooth and seamless (at least for me). The stories do read like they’ve been written in English. 

Given the number, I decided not to review them individually but made notes anyway, so I’m adding that part directly to the review. As with most anthologies, I liked some. However, I couldn’t even figure out a couple of stories, so that did dim the enjoyment. Also, I read the book for over a month (don’t go by the GR dates), so it may have affected my reading experience a little. 

Here we go: 

The Water I Spilled Yesterday- piano, visual artist, ghosts of the house, mental illness (?)  

Luis, Luisita and the Luisitos- short, adult-rated with a laugh-out-loud twist

Rot in Hell, Ramón!- missed bus, how life changes for someone else (what’s the connection)

The Legend of the Astronarda- sea, caption, pirate (no idea what it is)

The Mystery of the Bear’s Claw- detective mystery (kinda convoluted)  

Madame Lingerie- Casanova bid for madame; quirky maybe  

Crow Salad- set in the future and domestic violence (can we please try to make women more assertive, at least in the future. Imagine reading a story set in 2105 with a woman being subjected to domestic abuse. Give us some credit!) 

Luke Comes from the Future- The same as previous, with a questionnaire 

Barbarito Bond- a retired desk worker at the FBI, talks about his life; read it for the ending 

Desideratum- Oh, well, now that’s how you get things done (or maybe not)

Conversation of Tears- different POV, human emotions but not human; well done

Where is Jack Rickshaw?- A journalist struggling to bring or even invent news vanishes; why and how. Interesting  

Terror at Lake St. Clair- Spooky, horror-ish, twisted indeed

Mortimer’s Infidelity- What happens when a man confesses to his infidelity and his wife is (too) calm about it? Predictable 

Mima- fishermen family, dreams, aspirations, betrayal 

On the Shores of the Guatavita- Umm… something happens 

Feromondo- Archeology, old manuscript, secret, and then it’s gone

Olivia and Me- a beggar’s life 

An Afternoon in Cayapán- A wagon driver’s day in a teeny village on a hot summer noon 

Between Two Moons, Your Eyes- Moon’s POV peeking into a house?

Flight 1039- Empty flight for a person? Really?

Aleja Ventura- Life story of an 86yo. Peels off layers, one by one. Nothing is as it seems. 

Ludovico- A discussion between a psychopathic son and an estranged father? Or is it?

The Phantom’s Revenge- An invisible guy, second person POV, creepy but maybe surprising at the end 

Pocaterra- Commander, political thingy. Betrayal and revenge 

Lanky’s Helmet- gang wars, death, life; short and impactful 

Letters in the Darkness- A short detective story about a death in a hotel room. Lots of telling, but is fast-paced. 

Two Rocking Chairs- A story about a stubborn old man and his life. The ending is rather sweet and made me smile. 

As you can see, not many stories managed to wow me. This is a fairly mixed read (timepass types) but not something I’ll remember in the long run. 

To summarize, Twisted Crows is a varied collection of short stories that will appeal to a wide range of readers. Each reader will have different preferences, so you might like it better than I did. 

Thank you, NetGalley and BooksGoSoical, for the eARC. 

#NetGalley #TwistedCrows

All in for Christmas by Ginny Baird - Book Review

Publication Date: 09th Sep 2025

Genre: Contemporary Christmas Romance

3 Stars 

One Liner: Enjoyable, but the writing is stilted 

Paige Pierce is a practical person with a planner and a checklist for everything. She loves her job at the school, teaching English to high schoolers and helping them. Her latest project, Paws and Read, is aimed at helping struggling students become fluent readers. 

When Dean Burton, the man she loved and let go six years ago, joins her school as a physics teacher, Paige can’t help but wonder about what ifs. It is a week before Christmas, with a comet passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, and a magical advent calendar predicting the future. 

Paige wakes up in an alternate reality where she and Dean have been married for six years and have a cozy house, two kids, and an adorable dog. Paige is torn between the life she has and the life she could have had. However, she knows she has to choose soon. 

The story comes in Paige’s first-person POV. 

My Thoughts: 

The premise made it sound like a perfect Christmas read (I’m doing Christmas in August/ Sep, if you haven’t figured it out). 

The overall storyline is pretty decent, too. I quite liked the side characters (FMC’s mom, the principal, the mysterious woman, etc.). The kids are super-duper adorable, and so is Scout the dog (see him on the cover). 

The entire story comes in the FMC’s first-person POV. It did work for the plot, given the focus is on her and her choices, etc. 

However, the writing style didn’t help at all. The dialogues are stilted and weird. I guess the aim was to show the awkwardness of the scenes, but it didn’t come out right. Especially those (Ha. Ha. Ha). They grated on my nerves. And the use of (So.) as a single-word sentence. Ellipses should not be overdone, but they can and should be used when necessary.  

The pacing is on the slower side, which sometimes makes the story drag despite the series of events and activities that happen on the page. 

The romance is pretty much closed-door and non-descriptive. I don’t think it helped much, TBH. 

This is also a low angst piece, so things are resolved without much drama. I didn’t particularly like the choice made at the end. There was a better option, IMO.  

To summarize, All in for Christmas is an enjoyable cozy Christmas read about second chances, miracles, and hope. The beginning will need some patience, though. 

Thank you, NetGalley, IBPA, and Winter Wedding Press, for the eARC. 

#NetGalley #AllInForChristmas

Hyde & Seek by John A. Hoda - Book Review

Series: A Jekyll & Murphy Mystery #1

Publication Date: 11th Nov 2025 

Genre: Historical Mystery 

3.5 Stars 

One Liner: Slow but interesting

1888

Kind, gentle, quietly brilliant Dr. Jekyll created an alter ego, a dark and dangerous Mr. Hyde, and he isn’t even aware of this. Hyde hunts down criminals, but his actions go too far when he is wanted for murder. However, with his love interest potentially targeted by Jack the Ripper, Hyde has to use his exceptional investigating skills to save her. 

Meanwhile, Francine Murphy, a social reformer, has been working hard to identify Jack the Ripper. But as she gets close to the truth, she could become his next victim. 

The story comes in the first-person POVs of Dr. Jekyll, Hyde, Francine, and the mysterious serial killer. 

My Thoughts: 

I requested this book mainly to tick off a reading challenge prompt: a retelling of Jekyll & Hyde. 

The book uses the main characters from the original (J&H, the lawyer, the butler, the dead man, etc.). What it also does is introduce Jack the Ripper into the setting. So, we have a double retelling of sorts. 

The setting is wonderfully done. It is dark, stinky, and horrible, even when we explore the so-called richer parts/ people of London. The book presents the situation starkly, without any sugar coating. 

The themes are triggering, too, though not everything is mentioned in detail (no gratuitous graphic content). Some scenes are still a bit descriptive. These cannot be avoided since they establish the patterns and the killer. 

The jumps in POVs are neatly marked, which is helpful since we have four first-person voices. They are distinct to a good extent, so that’s a plus.  

The mystery, as such, is not that compelling. Yes, it has some intrigue, but I guessed the identity of the killer early and had to wait to see if I was right (I was). The slow and uneven pacing is a bit of a hindrance, as I didn’t really feel compelled to pick up the book when I stopped. 

This is the first book in the series and has a decent ending, though it leaves the overarching plot open to continue in book two. My ARC had an excerpt, but I wasn’t in the mood to read it. 

To summarize, Hyde & Seek is a dark and interesting historical mystery with famous fictional and real character(s). The book should work as a standalone. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Oliver Heber Books, for the eARC. 

#NetGalley 

***

TW: Pedophilia, child abuse, rape, assault, violence, bigotry, murder, stalking…