Month: August 2026

Devil Inside by Clay McLeod Chapman

Posted on August 27, 2026 by - Book Review

** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review **

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Mr. Chapman’s writing. He has this distinct formula where he journeys down a story, and no two novels have the same style. As a reader, it’s fascinating, and wildly entertaining. So, here we are with Devil Inside: a “horrormance” novel (a first for me) about death, obsession, possession, and the fuzzy lines between love and fear.

Jordan was a bike messenger who fought a losing battle with a car, and almost lost his life. Technically he did for a little bit, and the builds up the foundation of this tale.

Weird things are happening to Jordan, and he’s beginning to question his sanity a bit.

Then he meets Lilith, and Lilith is very very special.

Jordan and Lilith have a fling for an evening, and Lilith disappears in the morning. Jordan spends a fair amount of time hunting old haunts in the city, hopeful of running into Lilith again, but to no avail.

Then Lilith finds him, and she’s wearing a different face. Let’s just say things get a lot more interesting from there.

One of the things I love most about Mr. Chapman’s works is how he will immediately set up the scene, and then just run with it. Every novel establishes the pace relatively quickly, and Devil Inside is no different. The tempo starts out quick and frantic, and then falls into a steady pace. There is a lot of viewpoint switching in Devil Inside, but it never became confusing or tedious. Quite oppositely, seeing the cat and mouse games unfold as we learn more about both Jordan and Lilith adds an element to the plot that is quite enjoyable.

Devil Inside is a great dark and fluffy Summer read. It’s easy to approach, and fully envelops the reader in a little bit of devilish smut, and a whole lot of “What the hell is actually going on?”

Brother Brontë by Fernando A. Flores

Posted on August 12, 2026 by - Book Review

It’s 2038, and the industrial South Texas town of Three Rivers is a dystopian wasteland. The mayor, who also controls the Big Tex Fish Cannery rules with an iron fist: outlawing reading and forcing the town’s mothers into indentured servitude at the cannery.

In the middle of this, Prosperina and Neftalí try to scrape out an existence: hiding from gangs and police alike.

I’m not going to lie, this was a depressing book to get through. That’s not a negative thing, though. The world building and character development are top notch. You can feel the despair, and the glimmers of hope as our story builds and the various situations, both good and bad, unfold.

What hits so hard about Brother Brontë is plausible the reality could be: especially for that area of Texas.

This is a novel that makes you think a lot, and shows a human condition where despair and fear drive certain people, while others grasp at fragments of power regardless of consequence or previous relationships. Where abuse of power has a severe impact on a community dynamic and not giving up hope isn’t always always the path to success and/or freedom.

For me, the greatest message was the power of community, and how people who have absolutely nothing band together to help each other scrape out any existence they can.