The Wahl Papers

Aces Wild: A Heist by Amanda DeWitt - 5/5 - Queer Ace Contemporary YA Heist

I've been wanting to read Aces Wild by Amanda DeWitt for several years now. At first I was waiting for my library to get it on Libby, which they didn't. Then I joined the Queer Liberation Library (it's free!). It had lots of queer books available! I got myself on the waiting list pretty quickly, but the hold period was many months. Got to read another book by DeWitt while waiting, despite Aces Wild being how I discovered her. I was made aware of her through a meme of ace characters named Georgia. While that did leave me with the false impression that this book's Georgia would be the main character, it was a small price to pay for such an awesome book.

Jack Shannon has his junior year of high school ended 1 week early when his mother, C.E.O. of a casino, is arrested. He flies back to Las Vegas from boarding school to the rest of his dysfunctional family. His oldest sister takes on the role of pseudo-mother. She wants Jack to have a life without worrying about the casino. She gives him the only card not to have been closed and tells him to invite some friends to keep him distracted. Jack is a stubborn kid and wants to get back at the person who sold his mother out. So he invites his online friends he met through being asexual to join him in a heist. Will the group survive finally meeting in person and will their heist succeed? 

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Wren Martin Ruins It All by Amanda DeWitt - 4.5/5 - MLM Contemporary YA Ace RomCom

This is a review I accidentally skipped posting. It was originally dated August 21st, 2025.

I discovered Amanda DeWitt through a tumblr post with ace book recs a few years ago. It was recommending Aces Wild: A Heist to me. It's taken a long time for my library to get that book, so I haven't read it yet. I am impressed that it has a long wait list as well! Proves that ace books are wanted! In the meantime, Wren Ruins It All, the book I am reviewing today, came to me a lot quicker. Still a waiting list for this one, though! As you can guess, this was my first time reading an Amanda DeWitt book, even if I wanted to for quite some time. I absolutely loved this one and I remain excited for when I do get to read Aces Wild.

Wren is annoyed that his school puts so much focus on the Valentine's Day Dance instead of anything that could actually benefit from the school budget. It's also annoying to him that it's allosexual-focused.  Now that he's the school president, he's going to put a stop to the dance! His plans are dashed when a popular social media app, Buddy, ends up sponsoring it. He may now have the budget he needs to help the rest of the school and the app at least claims not to be for romance and hook ups, but now there's two new problems. 1, the dance is much bigger and more involved than before. 2, Wren has to work closely with Leo, the vice-president… whom he hates. Being asexual, Wren has decided it's better for him not to attempt romance, but this whole ordeal has led to him falling for two guys. Will he be able to figure out what he wants for his future without causing too much pain?

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Roll for Love by M. K. England - 4.5/5 - WLW Nerdy YA Contemporary RomCom

Admittedly, I don't remember putting M. K. England's Roll for Love on my Libby T.B.R., but as I was scrolling through recently, I spotted it was available. I certainly get why I added it! I love reading about queer people falling in love while playing Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) or other table top role playing games (see The No Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall). England did not let me down. They threw in country life, mental health, and carpentry as well. Bonus: Natalie Naudus is one of the narrators. We stan!

Roll for Love takes place during Harper's senior year of high school. After her grandfather died, he left his country property to Harper's mother. They used to spend summers there, but it had been 5 years. Returning, Harper is reunited with a community, a barn, and a girl she's dearly missed. This girl, Ollie, was her first crush. Little did she know that Ollie had felt the same way. As the year progresses, the two of them must figure out their futures. Harper is up against her mother's wishes and Ollie is up against her fear of coming out as bisexual in a small town. Their best escape from all the stress, which is their D&D game, starts having some "reality bleed". Their characters fall in love, but are they falling in love too?

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Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos - 4/5 - Queer Cozy Fantasy Romance

The cover of Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos's Homegrown Magic caught my eye while scrolling on Instagram one day. I've read one of Pacton's books before, The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly, and have been following her since. She was so sweet, she sent me book art! The cover for Homegrown Magic is deliciously cottagecore. It's green, it has a cat, there are potion bottles, flowers, and strawberries! Plus, the two main characters are presented like cameo pendants. Lisa Perrin did an amazing job! I had not known about Podos before spotting this cover. Given how great From Dust, a Flame also was, I'm quite grateful! 

In Homegrown Magic Margot Greenwillow is a skilled garden witch with her parents' baggage hanging over her. Her grandmother, Fern, was a famous garden witch, one that a community, Bloomfield, built up around. Despite Fern being down-to-earth, Margot's parents got into high society and then wracked up debts. They indebted themselves to the Clauneck family, a family of bankers with capitalistic control over the kingdom. After Fern died, they promised Margot could make a potion that would give everyone magic. When a few years have passed and the deadline is approaching, Yael Clauneck stumbles into Margot's life. They were childhood friends, but Yael has been busy in the capital disappointing their parents and being a flirt. The Clauneck heir ran away hoping for adventure but got the seeds for romance and self-discovery instead. 

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I've officially posted mine to my blog!

From Dust, a Flame by Rebecca Podos - 5/5 - Jewish Mythology, Queer YA Romantasy

I noticed Rebecca Podos on Instagram when I saw a picture of the Home Grown Magic cover, although I did read this first. Podos writes about queer Jews, my niche! Now, I don't read a lot of Y.A. romantasy, which this review's book, From Dust, a Flame looked like from the cover. Still, I read the description and wanted to give it a chance. I shared a name with the main character and it was clearly about family! When I optioned it to my mom for a 2-person book club and she said yes, I knew I'd be reading it. 

From Dust, a Flame begins with Hannah's 17th birthday. She looks in the mirror to find that her eyes have changed to look cat-like. Her mother gives her a hamsa then leaves Hannah and her brother, Gabe, to find a specialist healer. Hannah and Gabe have not been raised Jewish or with any of the stories of their family's past. When their mom doesn't come back, it's up to them to figure out what happened and come home to the family their mom chose to be estranged from. When they meet Ari, they get more questions, but also some answers. Diving into the world of Jewish mysticism is their only way to come out the other side.

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Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield - 5/5 - YA Queer & Jewish Time Loop RomCom

One day, not too long ago, one of my best friends sent me a book suggestion. They hadn't read it yet, but knew that I needed to. In fact, they pitched it to me by saying they wouldn't be surprised if I had written it. Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield (not me!) is a queer Jewish time loop novel starring two differently disabled teens, one with green hair and one fat. And this is just what I knew about before reading the book! I am a sucker for time loop stories and do plan to write one. I also clearly love when people like me are represented in fiction. Even better when it's a love story!

Time and Time Again picks up over 20 loops into Phoebe Mendel's time looping. She's been living the same boring and mildly disappointing day. Wake up at her mom's place for Dusty Springfield and blueberry pancakes, get passed by ex-friend Jess on the way to her dad's house, play scrabble, get an I.B.S. flare up from chicken parmesan. This changes when Jess hits Phoebe with their car when Phoebe wasn't paying attention. Jess is now stuck with Phoebe in the loops. While Phoebe's approach was to keep doing the same things while researching time loops in her free time, Jess was ready to cause some chaos. Why not take advantage of the impermanence they've both been gifted? Maybe they'll find something a bit more permanent between them along the way.

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Too Bright To See by Kyle Lukoff - 5/5 - Supernatural Middle Grade Trans Novella

I was in need of a queer novella. Something to keep me occupied while I waited for my next book to come on Libby. It had to be queer because it was Pride Month! That's when I discovered Too Bright To See by Kyle Lukoff. The description was very appealing; a middle grade book about ghosts and being trans. I had to start it as soon as I found it! The story is emotional but wholesome, exactly what I needed with today's political environment. 

Too Bright To See takes place in the summer before Bug starts middle school. Unfortunately, Bug's uncle Roderick has just died. The two were very close and often bonded over understanding the ways in which their house is haunted. The hauntings were always mild things like doors opening on their own, cold spots, creaking stairs. That was until after Roderick died. Now Bug is being targeted. The only person that believes Bug is Moira. They've been best friends for years, but with middle school looming, things might change for them. Moira wants to reinvent herself, to be a cool girl who knows about makeup. Bug doesn't want to do this, something about being a girl doesn't feel real.

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Summer Girls by Jennifer Dugan - 5/5 - WLW Contemporary YA RomCom

After giving Jennifer Dugan a second chance last year, I'm committed to reading all of her books. With the success of Some Girls Do, I was under the impression that a lot of other folks were committed to reading all of them as well. How did I end up with Summer Girls so fast? There was a waiting list, but it has been continuously short. If you're into bi rep, sapphic love, or enemies-to-lovers, you'd be missing out if you don't read this novel. If you've been waiting for summer, now is the time!

Birdie gets into a lot of trouble with her parents when she crashes her cheating boyfriend's car at a family event, especially thanks to it being while she was filming for social media. Her dad is exceedingly rich and doesn't care about the money aspect, but he worries that his daughter will turn out like her mother, a wannabe-Kardashian. He decides that she'll be spending the summer with him. No driving, no social media, and she must get a job. She's also being given a babysitter, Cass. Cass is a local girl and a lifeguard. She has a rule, "No Summer Girls". Birdie is the epitome of a "Summer Girl". Although this is true, they played with each other as kids, their dads are friends, and maybe Birdie isn't as much of a monster as her mother. Will the summer leave these girls crashing or might they settle each others' turbulent waters?

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No Vacancy by Tziporah Cohen - 5/5 - Jewish Contemporary Middle Grade

No Vacancy by Tziporah Cohen has been on my TBR list for a while. Sometimes I'll add a book just because it's Jewish and a genre I read and then totally forget the blurb by the time I decide to read it. It'll sit there for a long time, just gathering virtual dust. I was in need of a short book while I waited for my next one to come in on Libby. This one was only 4 hours! I thought about saying I wish I had read it sooner, but it's a summer read, so my timing was perfect. All this is to say that it was a sweet and interesting book that handles some tough topics with grace and touches of humor.

In No Vacancy, Miriam's family ends up taking over a run down motel because her father decides it's the best move after losing his job. When they get there, they find out that it's not just run down, it's failing. There's a diner next door, semi-famous for its grape pies, but its business has slowed alongside the motel. The granddaughter of the owners, Kate, befriends Miriam. They realize that a miracle is needed to turn things around. Miriam is Jewish and Kate is Catholic. Together they realize that they can create a miracle themselves -- one that will turn life around for the place and people that Miriam starts to warm up to. She has a lot to learn over the summer this book takes place, but perhaps she has some things to teach as well.

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The Ride of Her Life by Jennifer Dugan - 5/5 - New Adult WLW Contemporary Cowgirl RomCom

Based on the reactions I've gotten from mentioning I was reading The Ride of Her Life by Jennifer Dugan, I'd say this book is already a hit. It's been out for about a year, affording it plenty of time to have gained that attention. Not sure when I found out about this book, but I've enjoyed almost everything Dugan has written. It's a safe bet that if she's written a book, I'll have a good time with it. This city-girl x cowgirl romcom was indeed fantastic. I'll warn you now, though, it was not escapist. As gracefully as it can, and still within the comfort of a romcom, this book deals with some very real things. As long as you aren't looking to escape, continue onward to find out why this book is worth the read.

Molly's debt-riddled and low-income life is turned around when she inherits a horse farm from her estranged aunt. She doesn't know why her mom and aunt didn't talk to each other or why the farm would have been left to her, but she knows it will be the thing to get her life on track. Unfortunately there are a lot of things that need to be repaired if she wants to sell it for money. Additionally, there's a hot and grumpy ferrier named Shani who feels she should have gotten the farm. She doesn't trust Molly not to ruin the place and won't make it easy for the city-girl to let the place go. Molly had dreamed of being an event planner, but maybe this farm can be her new dream.

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Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler - 5/5 - Bisexual Contemporary Teen RomCom - Parallel Timelines

If you want to tag along for a Jewish/bi romance, Dahlia Adler is a great author to seek out! I discovered her work with Cool for the Summer, which I read back in 2022. Now I've finally read another book by her, Going Bicoastal. It's another summer story! While this may only be my second Adler book, I've kept my eyes on her bibliography. There are a number of enticing options, and I know from my experience, Adler's writing is addictive. 

Natalya Fox is faced with a choice for how to spend the summer before her senior year of high school. She was expecting to spend it at home in N.Y.C. with her father, but her mother has extended an invitation to stay with her in L.A.. Natalya doesn't have a close or positive relationship with her mother, so this could be their chance to patch things up. On the other hand, there's this cute redhead girl she'd miss out on flirting with if she left. Instead of making one choice, Natalya makes two, each in an alternative timeline. Both are filled with romance, adventure, and a few of the same revelations. In the end, the audience is left to decide which we like better. 

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