Paper Pages

  Every year I tell myself it can’t possibly be worse than the last, and yet somehow, it is. If 2024 felt like a sharp reminder of life’s challenges, 2025 was a constant wave of obstacles, testing me every single day. And yet, amidst the struggles, it was also a year full of surprises, both online and offline. From romance novels dominating social media feeds to debut authors breaking through, this year captured my attention in ways I didn’t expect. This post is going to be part personal reflection, part book wrap-up. I’ve never been one to shy away from sharing my struggles, online, on LinkedIn, or even in person, and this year it feels important to do so. So, let’s start with the personal growth, and then move into the books that shaped my 2025. I graduated with a law degree and became an unpaid secondary carer for my mother for almost five years. If anyone were to write an autobiography about my life, this period would likely be its greatest achievement. Even in her chronic ...

  First, I’d like to say welcome to my new Spotlight series, where I’ll be featuring authors who made me cancel plans, stay up far too late, and fall back in love with reading again and again. Today under the spotlight is Ana Huang who has been featured a lot on this blog, my Instagram and on my LinkedIn. You can find the link to all on my Contact page of this blog. I first discovered Ana Huang through King of Wrath , the opening novel in her King of Sins series, and I’m happy to report that I’ve never once looked back since. It started with falling head over heels for Dante and Vivian, then quickly turned into wanting even the smallest snippets of them in every book that followed. At the time, only King of Pride had been released, with King of Greed still teasing us from the sidelines, so naturally, I did what any devoted reader would do next. I took a journey to Washington, D.C., where I met Crumble & Bake , Thayer , and, most importantly, four best friends who each...

  I have some confessing to do........ By the end every year, it’s normal for everyone to reflect on all aspects of their life’s. For me, this includes reflecting on the books I read and more specifically the ratings I very publicity gave them. All justified at the time but now looking back, I can’t just not address them. So here I am, addressing my mistakes. To keep the naming and shaming to a minimum, I’ve decided to stick two only three books for each category. Keeping in trend with that, to chase away the melancholia early on in this post, let’s start with my Hero to Zeros. I will also link my original views so you can go and revisit that time of my life. The next few titles may come as a surprise, but this first one will probably be the most unexpected. The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas once held an extraordinary place in my reading life. I remember finishing it with the firm belief that no one else could possibly have experienced it the way I did. I was convinced...