Member Reviews

If Discovery of Witches was a rom-com...Obsessed!!

If you need a spooky kooky read, a paranormal fantasy to laugh out loud too while curling up under a fuzzy blanket that sometimes makes your toes curl to... look no further!!

I LOVED Fangs for Nothing, and I cannot wait for the next book to come out in the Nevermore Murder Club and Smutty Book Coven (just the best name for a series). This series is tied to a previous series by Steffanie Holmes called the Nevermore Bookshop Mysteries. I had not read that series prior to this and will say it contains some minor spoilers for that series, and you can feel a little out of the loop if you haven't read the previous series but it is not necessary. I am absolutely going to go and read that previous series now while I wait in anticipation to the next book in TNMCASBC - i am going to need to figure out a shorter way to put that.

Winny was sarcastic yet bubbly, a rarely seen combination and Alaric a wonderful combination of vulnerable and strong. While I have limited knowledge of the particular mental illness covered in Fangs for Nothing I thought Steffanie did a wonderful empathetic portrayal of how it affects both loved ones and those with the disorder while also imbuing the story with hope for change.

Did I mention the vampire bitey spice?? the laught out loud elements, and the references throughout the story for smutty book lovers to smirk at?

Go read this

Fangs for Nothing is a book 1 that nicely wraps up Alaric and Winny's stories while leaving some loose threads to be wound into the next story...Which I believe will be Arabella and Gideon's story!!

* Vampire x Human
* Mental Illness Rep
* Happily For Now

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This completely delivered on the goofy, spooky, vampire romance, while also being an exceptionally fun read for the spooky/fall season. The characters have depth and are a joy to read about and I would recommend this to anyone who wants a goofy paranormal romance with serious topics mixed in. The side characters and their murder club/book coven made the book even better. I need to know what really happened though!! I cannot wait to read book 2.

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4 ⭐️
1🌶️
"I'm afraid if I open my mouth, I'll accuse him of being a vampire.
Or I'll leap on him and climb him like a haunted treehouse.
It's one or the other."

I didn’t know I needed a book where the undead have such... personality! The story had my heart bursting and breaking for all the right reasons.

Alaric won my heart immediately. He likes glitter and crafts for goodness sake!! His sarcastic banter had me cackling like a villain in my own evil lair.

The neurodiversity representation really was well done and appreciated by this neurospicy girl! I really fell in love with the world and think everyone should go for a visit. If you’re looking for a lighthearted vampire read that still has bite (pun intended), this one’s for you.

Curl up with this book, get yourself a cup of Reginald's hot chocolate and a membership at the Nevermore Murder Club & Smutty Book Coven.

Tropes:

⭐️Grumpy/Sunshine
⭐️Fake Dating/Marriage
⭐️One Bed
⭐️Vampire/Human
⭐️Murder Mystery
⭐️Neurodiversity Representation


Thank you to NetGalley and Steffanie Holmes for allowing me to have an ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review.

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This was an incredibly fun, although admittedly way too long, paranormal romance!

Fangs For Nothing follows FMC Winnie Preston, who is hired by the grumpy but very hot Lord Alaric Velarion to help him organize his mess of a manor before his mother comes to visit. What Winnie doesn't know is that Alaric is a vampire, and that her passionate demeanor is beginning to thaw Alaric's heart even as it irritates him to no end. However, things get complicated when Alaric's mother shows up with a prospective bride for her son, and a desperate Alaric asks Winnie to pretend to be his fiancée. But can their not-so-fake relationship survive the murder allegations some of the small town residents are lobbying at Alaric? And how long can he hide that he's a vampire?

Tropes:
- Vampire / human
- Grumpy / sunshine
- Fake engagement
- Small town
- Murder mystery

Again, this was very fun. It didn't take itself too seriously, which made the campy and cute nature of the story that much more enjoyable. The characters also have some depth to them, and the story does explore their flaws and their pasts. I was definitely rooting for them.

Overall, this delivered heavily on the vibes, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun and cozy yet sexy fall read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Bacchanalia House, and Steffanie Holmes for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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I knew that I would find this book entertaining based on the synopsis, but I enjoyed this book far more than I expected. I've gone straight back to Steffanie's first series to start at the beginning to read her other books. I really enjoy her writing style, her sense of humour, the way she writes characters, and their little quips. I've also recommended her to other people, who have also fed back that they've really been enjoying Steffanie's books. Keen to read more from this author in the future!

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Thanks to net galley and the author for providing the ARC
I liked absolutely everything about this novel
This was a slow burn with unique and really fun characters and there never was a moment i wasn't totally into this book
The bond between the FMC and the book club girls was just so good
I liked how both main characters got through their trauma and shared it with each other and came together Alaric and Winnie's chemistry was amazing
Overall i really really loved this book and am eagerly waiting for more to come in this series If you are a fan of fake dating, mystery Romance a grumpy hero who gives touch her and die vibes then you should definitely go for this

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I really really really enjoyed this book! The female MC is super relatable and loveable, I also love her name, Winnie is the best name for spooky reads!

Alaric is literally THE book boyfriend of the month! I love me a good vampire and a good vampire that changes for the female MC for the better and AHHHHH

Fair warning this is quite a long book, its 580 pages I think and it did take me a bit to get through!

Also the parts where she flashes back to her childhood and a lot of the moments with her mother made me really uncomfortable but that was the intent. Major warnings for hoarder behaviour, it freaked me out in parts and I usually don't have an affliction to them. There's also some serious rat scenes that freaked me out as well.

I LOVE the Nevermore Murder Club and Smutty Book Coven, I will 100% be reading the books that came in the first part of this series. The characters are so unique and QUOTH!? I NEED MORE OF QUOTH!

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I loved the Nevermore Bookshop Mystery Series and was excited to see that Steffanie Holmes was creating a new series in the same village as the Nevermore Bookshop. Fangs for Nothing does not disappoint. I was happy to see many of the same characters from the Nevermore Series make a comeback as well as introduce new characters. Alaric and Winnie were the perfect couple and some of the situations the two get into were very entertaining. Although there were many comedic aspects, this book also does bring up the difficult topic of hoarding and the effect it had on Winnie and her relationship with her mother.

I am excited to see what is next for Alaric and Winnie in book two.

Fangs for Nothing is out now.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bacchanalia House for the opportunity to review Fangs for Nothing. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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I really liked this book! The beggining was a bit slow, but it ended up making sense. So much happened that there was no dull moment. I also really liked that we had funny moments, emotional moments, romantic and spicy moments, thrilling moments too. That kept the story really interesting.

I absolutely LOVED the ladies from the Nevermore Murder Club & Smutty Book Coven and the found family vibes that acompanied them.

I really liked the romance between Winnie and her vampire, Lord Alaric Valerian. I just think that too often their respective baggages got in the way of their happiness - it was a little too pained for me.

I did not expect this ending - it was good, just different - open enough to leave me CRAVING the next book!

Overall it was a really great read! For the ones that liked My Roommate is a Vampire, this one has close vibes and is (personally) better!

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This is the first book in a new series — obviously — and it’s a fun one. The main character, Winnie, is cheerful without being annoying, open and friendly and determined to help her new client, Alaric, with his hoarding tendencies. Alaric is a tightly wound spring, uneasy at having his privacy violated by his mother’s upcoming ball, hosted at his house, and with the human skipping in. He’s also making no real effort to hide what he is from her while not flaunting what he is, exactly.

It makes perfect sense to me that a vampire who has lived over 600 years would have lots of clutter, and a plethora of hobbies. And it makes perfect sense that he’s very attached to some of these things, and would struggle with someone trying to help him get rid of some of them … and while I feel like this is handled adequately, I would have liked to have seen more than just the brief acknowledgement that Alaric has stuff.

As with most romances, the focus is on the main couple rather than the plot, but the plot was, for me, more interesting. While Winnie and Alaric are cute together, they go through so many up and downs, so many breakups or near breakups and disastrous misunderstandings that it got old, quick. The plot itself, with two people killed by vampires, is more complicated than it looks as it isn’t even solved by the end of the book and looks to be the thread that will pull the assorted side characters into book two.

The side characters are fine. Quirky woman book club! Suave vampire cad! They didn’t really have a chance to develop beyond the labels in this book, so hopefully the next one will give them a chance to grow. This book could have been better (for me, and in my opinion, of course) if it had picked an ending and stuck to it. Like with Winnie being unable to decide if she should run away and come back three times, or go ahead and do it a fourth, this book couldn’t settle on an ending. Instead it kept going and going and going, and then going some more.

It felt like the author wanted to wrap everything up in a bow, but then realized they had to set up the next book, and then had a time skip, and then wanted a few more scenes of Winnie and Alaric talking, and then some more scenes of the side characters, and then revealing a secret about one of the side characters, and then, and then, and then. And it’s a shame because the book could easily have been a four star if it hadn’t exhausted me.

The writing is good, the pace is decent, but the plotting is scattered and there are at least two too many breakups between the main couple. I wondered if they were meant to be comedic, but they didn’t seem written for laughs. Still, I’ll be looking for book two!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for granting me an ARC.

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"Fangs for Nothing" is an utterly charming paranormal romance that blends cozy mystery, supernatural elements, and delightful romantic tension. The story follows Winnie, a professional organizer hired to declutter the castle of the mysteriously reclusive (and ridiculously handsome) Lord Alaric Velarian before an important social function.
What begins as a simple organizing job quickly spirals into something far more intriguing when Winnie joins the local Nevermore Murder Club and Smutty Book Coven – a delightfully quirky book club run by a witch and a psychic who have a knack for solving local murders. When a mysterious death rocks the village, the book club members are quick to point fingers at the grumpy Lord Velarian, convinced he's a vampire. Winnie dismisses these supernatural suspicions... though she can't dismiss her growing attraction to her brooding client.
The author masterfully weaves multiple romantic tropes – instant attraction, fake dating, and forced proximity – into a story that sparkles with humor and heart. The chemistry between sunshine-personality Winnie and the grumpy Alaric crackles on every page, their slow-burn romance unfolding alongside personal growth and healing from past traumas. The dual perspective narrative allows readers to deeply connect with both characters, though Alaric's centuries-old backstory sometimes feels condensed given the large cast of supporting characters.
The world-building is rich and immersive, with the story incorporating various supernatural elements including vampires, witches, and shapeshifters. While the murder mystery drives the plot forward, it's the found family aspect and the warm, witty interactions between characters that truly make this book shine. The author has crafted a story that seamlessly connects to her broader universe, leaving readers eager to explore more of her works.
This cozy paranormal romance is perfect for fans of "Witch Please" by Ann Aguirre and "The Ex Hex" by Erin Sterling. Fair warning: the cliffhanger ending will leave you immediately reaching for book two. If you enjoy your romance with a side of mystery, a dash of magic, and a healthy serving of spice, "Fangs for Nothing" is absolutely worth sinking your teeth into.

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Fangs for Nothing is a cozy romance featuring Lord Alaric Valerian, a grumpy and reclusive vampire, and Winnie, a sunshine girl and professional organizer. Alaric, tasked with hosting a ball at his humble abode (read: castle), hires Winnie to help, leading to unexpected personal transformations for both characters.

The story is rich in romantic tropes—instant attraction, fake dating, and forced proximity to name a few—and is told from dual perspectives with a light, humorous style. The chemistry between Alaric and Winnie is engaging and realistic as they deal with their attraction and their personal traumas. However, the large cast of characters makes it hard to fully understand their backgrounds and relationships, specifically in regards to Alaric. (He is centuries old after all.)

Overall, the book's charm and humor had me reading it in one sitting, and the cliffhanger at the end made me want to pick up book two.
Would rec for anyone who likes cozy fantasy romances like Witch Please by Ann Aguirre and The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling.

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Gosh, where do I begin with this book....I LOVED it!

Winnie our amazing FMC is hired to help a client, the grumpy but handsome Lord Alaric Velarian, to declutter his home before an important function being hosted by his overbearing mother.

Winnie arrives a day early and visits the local book shop The Nevermore Book Shop and ends up being talked into attending the local Book Club, the Nevermore Murder Club and Smutty Book Coven, aptly named because its run by a "witch" and a "Psychic" and they have a reputation for solving the mysterious murders that happen around the village, and read the occasion Smutty book!

Shortly after Winnie arrives in the village, there's a murder, the book club have bets that the Grumpy lord Velarian as prime suspect, because he's a vampire, but Winnie doesn't believe them, because Vampires aren't real, right?! Plus he's really hot, and she really fancies him!

If you like -
* Touch her and Die
* Found Family
* Vampires
* Magic
* Witches
* Shapeshifters
* Slow burn romance
* Murder Mystery
* Spice - then this book is for you.

The story is well written and the character and world building is fab.

There's a lot of twist is the story, lots of little subplots around the other characters in the book, that tie into the books of the other series written by Steffanie Holmes, and I've now added the other books onto my TBR list!

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DNF'd at 44%
I really liked the first 10-15% of Fangs for Nothing. I thought the premise was cute and the characters interesting. A professional organizer, whose life has recently gone up in flames, is hired to go organize a vampire's castle because he's on the verge of becoming a hoarder. Such a cute concept. The FMC, Winnie, is endearing and I loved the moments she spent with her murder and smut book club. The story started to loose steam when we find out the vampires are forbidden from having a human as a companion... if you catch my drift. I don't think this plot point would have bothered me if one of the tropes wasn't "fake dating" ... specifically fake dating to get out of marrying the female vampire your mom bring unexpectedly to your castle. I really liked so much of the beginning of this book but after that a few other moments that had me scratching my head I decided to stop reading. I also wish the book had been a little shorter.

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This was a cute read, and I did grow fond of many of the characters. This book featured the grumpy/sunshine trope, and Alaric was also eccentric which made it all the more fun. I think overall, there was a lot going on and the book could have been shortened a bit. I liked the added storyline of the book club, but I felt like maybe it was almost out of place? I liked the book club member's characters and their interactions and their storyline in general, but I didn't think it was necessary in this book, specifically, if that makes sense. Overall, I think this was a unique read and it was perfect for spooky season!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bacchanalia House for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

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This book was so fun really also made me cry, Alaric and Winnie were indeed one of the best couples I've read, both had been hurt for different reasons but still they found a way to talk and solve things which is indeed important there's so much I want to say, the mystery involving the killings and they struggles they had.. I can't wait to see what's coming next

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⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5

🌶/5

Fangs for Nothing is a very entertaining read (just add a little *spice*) which I have been pitching to friends and co-workers as “a cozy mystery but make it a paranormal romance.” This first iteration of The Nevermore Murder Club and Smutty Book Coven is a delectable beginning to a series that was spurred from Steffanie Holmes’ other series, The Nevermore Bookshop Mysteries (which is also canon in Fangs for Nothing as a book series that one of the side characters wrote and experienced).

Winnie is a Professional Organizer with The Clutter Queens who has taken on a three-week job in the middle of the English countryside... in a castle! Little does Winnie know that the client she is taking on in Lord Alaric Valerian, the local grumpy and recluse vampire. After a meet-cute in the local pub where Alaric rescues Winnie (except they don’t know who they are to each other yet) from the local creep who was hitting on her, a body, the local creep, was discovered in the alley behind the pub that was “husked” or completely drained of blood. As Winnie gets settled into the village, she stumbles on the Nevermore Bookshop and the leaders of the book coven talking about the murder and the possibility of Alaric being the killer. Follow Winnie and Aleric on their journey of decluttering Alaric’s many centuries of hobby build up, pretending to be fiancés when Winnie’s ex-fiancé who ran off with her best friend shows up- and when Alaric’s mom shows up with a vampire princess she’s matching him up with, and doing their best to declutter their own minds. Oh, and did I mention that Winnie still has no idea that vampires exist?!

I honestly really enjoyed this book, even though it tends to fall into some of the basic fantasy and paranormal tropes; hence why I only took half a star off, the book was just that good. As soon as I told my library co-workers I was reading it, they were all hooked on the premise as well. After looking into seeing what other Steffanie Holmes books my library had, I stumbled on her website where I discovered that this series was a spin-off of another series that is mentioned in this book?! No need to read the original series first, but it might help with filling in some context.

I have to give props to Steffanie Holmes for her accurate depiction of a character with a visual impairment, which can get tricky sometimes if an author writes about a character that has traits that they themselves do not have, but Steffanie is also visually impaired so it was a good relief to find that out after doing my digging into her website.

I enjoyed the text blurbs at the beginning of most of the chapters because it gave good insight into where the character’s mindset is at, a little background into what is coming up, and their interpersonal relationships that you don’t see as much on page; this is also true about the book club chapters.

I have seen other reviews saying that there was a lot of repetitive exposition and monologuing that was unnecessary, but I believe that those times were critical in understanding the thought process of the characters. Both of the main characters are battling some mental illness and not having anyone to talk to about their personal lives and the problems they are having (sometimes for centuries), so since the book is written in first person, it makes sense that sometimes these characters would be spiraling and repeating things to try and talk themselves down off a ledge.

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Really liked the beginning but the one thing that brought this down for me was the third act breakup.

I was expecting the third act breakup to be her not wanting the become a vampire, which did happen, but what really got me was her saying he's a monster and that she didn't want to be a monster (expected but still don't like when that happens because like c'mon if you love him like you say you do then you don't think he's a monster).

I also did not like when she just assumed that he would turn her into a vampire and when she asked him, she never let him answer just assumed what it would be. This becomes a problem because that is not what he wants. He knows that she would not want to become a vampire and he didn't want her to do anything she didn't want to do. BUT SHE DOESN"T LET HIM SAY THAT.

Then after she leaves and tells him she does not want to be with him, he calls her and tells her he is moving to Italy. THEN she tells him that she loves him and doesn't want him to leave her and that she actually left because she wanted him to chase after her. NO. I do not like when people do that. If you tell someone you do not want to be with them, they should not be obligated to follow you and get you to change your mind, that's ridiculous.

Finally, she blamed him for having hundreds of pictures of her that he painted and not throwing them out because it made a mess. I find that rude and inconsiderate. He has been making art and collecting it for hundreds of years, she has been there for three weeks. Sorry girl but it's gonna take him longer than that to change the pattern. She also did nothing to appreciate his art, really just made it a whole thing and saying that he is a horrible person and just like her mother and how could he do that to her. It felt like she never really thought about him, and only really cared about herself.

Highly enjoyed the side characters. The book club was super cute and I really loved that there was a community in this book rather than just the main two characters. Was getting confused on who all the girls in the book club were because there were so many but I am interested in seeing what other books come out in the series.

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This was a fun little read that is perfect for the fall and Halloween season. It’s a binge worthy book with characters that perfectly compliment each other! Winnie and Alaric were a joy to read. The plot was even more interesting, I’d even say it was quite unique. The combination of the book club, Alaric hiding his vampire identity and then the accusations of being a murderer made it all very compelling. I’ll look out for this author now as I really enjoyed this, much to my surprise!

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Steffanie Holmes has a new super fan!!

I requested this book from NetGalley as it sounded like the kind of quirky, paranormal romance that I love and this book was everything I wanted and needed in my life!

I mean, a vampire hiring a professional organiser to help him clear out his closets?! How could you NOT?!

This book contains:
🧛🏻‍♂️ Brooding sexy vampire MC/love interest
💖 Sweet but empowered and relatable MC
🔥 CHEMISTRY AND SPARK THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
🌶️ Spice!
📖 A really fantastic narrative that kept you turning the pages!
📚 A smutty book coven that feels like found family from the first moment you meet them
🔪 Murder mystery!!
📦 Hoarding rep. I didn't know how much I needed/wanted to read about this

Since reading this I've already started on Steffanie's back catalogue and am now already at book 2 in the Nevermore series! 😅

I absolutely adored this! If you like paranormal romance that doesn't take itself too seriously this is a must read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the chance to read this ARC!

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