The Slowest Goodbye by Stacey Nicole Douglas

This collection opens on a very clever poem about the Disney princeses and their princes and the way we can feel deeply desiring to be their fairytale girl and their heroine yet feeling you fall short to real life expectations that fantasy can set. Discovering feeling needed for things, not loved, desired, treated well and ultimately cherished. My Goodbye Was A Test, was a fantastic sad and relatable poem about losing connection before it could truly become something proper. There was also a poem about the habit of checking on your person you adored and loved online seeing them and how they know little insignificant things that make you, you and you hate that in hindsight having been so open and vulnerable for it to all fall apart. The title absolutely speaks for this collection and the poems show all the ways entangled lives do slowly come apart again.

being the red flag: POETIC ODYSSEY OF UNAPOLOGETIC CURIOSITY by Amol Srivastava

This poetry collection discusses the behaviour surrounding red flags, safety and warning signs in relationship's from a male perspective of feeling you are the red flag and owning that truth and honesty. Some stand out poems of this collection to me were: Uncertain Bonds, Beautiful Chaos, Enduring Seasons, Solitary Sorrows, all poems about the uncertainty of finding an enduring bond and lasting relationship and love. Space As Escape and Fragile Facade, about admiring from afar but respecting to not want to hurt them and keeping distance between you both instead. The poems tell such a story of the way self doubt and worth can really bleed into a relationship and make it feel too good to be true or that you're unworthy of a relationship or person in your life.

Bittersweet Psyche by by Olivia Wheeler

This collection focuses on the devastation of love and life we live through. Some stand out poems to me were: Loved, a simple poem about the simple enjoyable things and how distance isn't even a problem when loved right. Curves, how women can be objectified at face value for their bodies and not their character and person as a whole. Sunsets, was a beautiful poem about the joy of the day ending through memorable beauty. Hands, was a simple sensual poem of how touch can build and nurture connection between two people more than words can. A great collection of poems to make you see deeply into situations around you.

The Girl You Never Loved: A Woman's Story, Told in Poems by Roya Khalili

This was a great collection of poetry reflecting on how after a relationship runs it's course, how you feel reflecting on everything that happened. Some stand out poems of this collection were: Rain Poem, was gorgeous how tears and a cloudy mind of memories lingers like weather. If Only You Understood Poetry, about the beauty words have providing emotion and meaning from simple glances speaking. Wish, about wishing to forget someone after a breakup happens. The Woman I See In The Mirror, about being alone and solitary, yet craving another person and their perspective. Shadows Of Betrayal, was a clever poem using imagery of a person's face, mouth and eyes to convey love and pain, fake care and kindness. 'Hope is a slow poison' From the poem Inflamed, was such an impactful line about how hope can make you feel mad. A collection of deep thinking poetry.

Sweet Poison by Ariel Day

This newest collection by Ariel focuses on the power of love and lust being, as her title says, like a sweet poison. A couple of stand out poems to me were: Love Language, about craving being the one you love desires only. Invisible, about feeling smaller in the same place as you shrink to fit the life of the one you love to be kept in their life in any way at all. A collection to make you think and reflect on the way relationships can play out.

Holiday Encore by Raven

A story about past and present love and the emotions the festive season can stir, Alex and his young daughter, Lily, choosing to embrace the future no matter how scary the unknown seems making a new life as a trio than a duo despite past hurt. The story was told in a dual POV with us reader's as Alex's other half which meant we could slip into the story and feel more immersed in the emotions of how reuniting at the right time can work, a beautiful story of the way second chances and communication can work out right.

Holiday Overture by Raven

Alex and his young daughter, Lily, in the festive season reunite with his ex love and a second chance for them arises by pretending to be engaged to help his music shop business thrive in their village during a busy festive season. The story is split between Alex's POV and us readers slipping into his partner's perspective so we can imagine the depth of feelings and immersing ourselves into the story world alike in a play for deeper moving feeling of the story plot.

Kink by T.L. MacRae

A bold and open book discussing sex and sexual reclamation after abuse and rape survival and challenging the stereotypes sex as we age too. Love, was the deepest feeling poem to me of the collection easily, raw and honest perfectly encapsulating how a loving relationship and sexual relationship should be like.

When They Met by Luckkk K

This was a really short collection of poetry detailing how falling in love is hard, to keep trying and saying goodbye, can be too easy to do especially for fear or feeling scared of being hurt, a relatable collection of poetry for anyone who's been in love or lost love, even unrequited love, a really relatable read.

Where Time Stands Still: Poems of Secret Love and Timeless Longing by Alex Harlem

This was a beautiful poetry collection about the slow lust and desire becoming love and I honestly can't pick any stand out poems because the whole collection flowed in a poetic story like way from both his and her perspectives of falling.

Whispers In The Dark by Rosalie Johnson

This was a great atmospheric poetry collection, with emotive language around dolls, floorboards, staircases, fog, mist, graves, funerals, creepy phone lines, mirrors, clocks, candles, shadows, sounds etc. It was an atmospheric like poetry collection in a haunted house in the woods style poetry theme it's one of those books that with the right instrumental album on as a soundtrack like Peter Gundry, is so immersive especially with carnival language, eerie wind talking, costal observations and sleep themes too, everything is talking surrounding us.

Wilted Roses & Empty Pages by Amit Sati

This collection of poetry speaks deeply about the sadness built of solitude. Some stand out poems to me were: A Person, was a simple but effective poem listing how we are inspired and always will envision one person when writing poetry especially. Hopeless, was another poem about how one person can help inspire you to feel hopeful or hopeless with words and actions and the power of them to you. What A Wonderful World, was a brilliantly simple and ironic poem about how in this world we can hurt each other, so simply and cruelly, sadly. This was a beautiful collection of melancholy and relatable poetry.

READ THIS IF YOU’RE OVERTHINKING AGAIN: Late-Night Thoughts, Overthinking, and the Quiet Process of Letting Go by T.Euke

This was a great book almost like a friend holding up a mirror to your brain of a night-time, discussing how at night, overthinking, trying to understand how conversations and relationships suddenly and often quietly ended and how the cycle of thinking too much can loop us to doubt how we acted and how we can feel much more than the other person did it seems to us and that just being sad about how the situation unfolded is a simple fact of the matter of the situation you experienced and instead of spiralling into overthinking, this collection soothes those thoughts knowing so many of us can spiral into our thoughts before reaching a calm acceptance and realisation of our situations faced.

I'm Still Everywhere by T.Euke

This was a gorgeous picture book for children deealing with pet loss and the grief and heartbreak from the loss that is felt. Through simple lines to provide comfort and aid understanding of losing a pet the illustrations perfectly show how children may be feeling from the loss seeking comfort for example in toys and reflecting on memories.

Open Wounds & Healing Scars by Stacey Nicole Douglas

This poetry collection reads like a collection of thoughts collated into a diary style read of thoughts that occur following losing the one person you loved and cared for so deeply and the juxtaposition of loving and losing, feeling so happy and so sad because of that one person and the oddness of becoming stranger's again to each other, a collection I know so many of us can read and instantly relate to.

I AM CONFUSED: A collection of poetry and prose by Sofia Romulan

This collection focuses on all the ways little things we can hate before learning to love about ourselves can shape us and our thought's can hold us back despite feeling the feelings we feel, how words can be hard but actions still speak strongly and loudly of true intentions and the way it can as the title says, leave us feeling confused.

Ruins Called Home by Rithika Talluri

This poetry collection focuses on us, a body as homez with poems about the way growing up shapes us, to comply, the juxtaposition of being an emotional anchor to someone yet forgettable almost too. All the poems are numbered not titled, so a line from poem number 6: When I Become Enough Company, 'a quiet intelligence in being alone' Which really hit with me spending time alone solo, reading, listening to music or the radio especially to me makes me feel calm, no pressure, not performing or conforming to however anyone would want me to be, just instead accepting myself and my life for what it is and what makes me happy. One poem can can make you feel seen and accepted, poem number six was that poem for me.

Healing Poems for Quiet Nights: Gentle Words for the Lonely Hours, Letting Go, and Resting the Heart (Healing Poems Series) by Bryn Tandon

This poetry collection was one to make you feel seen when in real life you can feel invisible, there's always space within the words of a sentence to make you feel seen without it literally having eyes to see you with. Some stand out poems to me were: The Truth About Fine, about the easy answer often given over the emotional depth you crave someone to see and hold space for. People Pleaser, about being the one to help by being agreeable, feeling about the love you get is conditional to you only being agreeable and never saying no to anyone. The Wound, about the almost situations, potential, the hope, the pain of never being fully chosen and What They Took, was a poem all about the summary of what someone can take from you in a relationship but how they leave you changed, to not mistake certain actions or words again in other future situations and future relationships that will inevitably arise. Talk To Yourself, was a poem to me that echoes one of my favourite songs ever by Rain City Drive called, Talk To A Friend and mirrors the songs meaning in a complimentary way that poetry and lyrics you can often relate to life and situations. The Morning After and Beginning Again, were two poems about moving on for yourself and resetting your life for the better for you, through self love and acceptance to make yourself happier in life. A fantastic collection of poetry showing how self love can evolve and be healing and freeing for you to try.

To the Moon: Poems on Love, Heartbreak, Letting Go, and Finding Yourself by Tristen Miranda

This poetry collection focuses on the author calling their love, the moon and discusses the way they felt seen, loved, appreciated and how sad to face the relationship ending. Some stand out poems to me of this collection were: Never Erased You, about how distance parting you never feels finite despite the miles between. Moon Night, how by night choices seem to finite to try to change. Any Other Way, of how loneliness and solitude can lead you on an internal journey when inspired. A beautiful collection of poetry inspired by the moon, night and honesty.

Love In Pain by Broken Poet

Poetry literally as it is titled, detailing the reaction and thoughts from a guy struggling with grieving the relationship he was in and how it has changed him and his life after it ended. A very short collection, easy to read on a break and still made me think and relate to parts of the poems also good to read from a male poet their thoughts and feelings after a break-up too.