Format: eARC

Review Round Up | Last Seen, The Proposal, and This Lie Will Kill You

Posted January 18, 2019 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 1 Comment

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 books I’ve read or listened to recently. Sometimes they’re newer releases and sometimes they’re all backlist titles. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! I can’t believe this series is over… hopefully! The ending wasn’t exactly ambiguous but I suppose there’s always a chance Shepard continues the series multiple times a la Pretty Little Liars. Jokes aside, this was a REALLY strong end to this trilogy! The main issue I had throughout all of the books was that I was disconnected from the characters. I never warmed up to them or felt anything for them – didn’t care about the ships, was uninterested in any of their personal lives, etc. I’m not sure if, again, it’s because it was a mystery and I was on edge or not trusting anyone? But I just could never get on board with them. I think it’s an interesting twist when you know who the murderer/culprit is AND get to read from their point of view. Sometimes it can take a little bit of the fun out, but that was certainly not the case here. There were SO MANY twists and connections that were built throughout the whole trilogy that I never would have picked up on. Just because you knew the killer and what he was doing, definitely did not mean that you knew why he was doing it or how he picked his victims. […]

ARC Review: In Dog We Trust

Posted January 10, 2019 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment

When I arrived at the end of the Black Dog Bay series, I was not ready to leave that perfect setting. I loved the town and its characters, plus all of the quirky breakup-themed businesses there. I started to come to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t get to visit there again because the final book came out in 2016 without any word of follow-ups. I was randomly browsing Netgalley one day and saw IN DOG WE TRUST. I was excited to see a new title by Beth Kendrick in general, but was even mooooore excited to see that we’d be returning to my beloved Black Dog Bay for the story. I knew I wouldn’t be able to wait on this one and had to read it immediately. The premise of the book, from the synopsis, is that Jocelyn is put in charge of some purebred Labradors after their owner passes away, and is suddenly working and living in a beachfront mansion, instead of cleaning up after tourists in her business with her mom. The late dog owner’s son shows up, looking for his inheritence, and a legal battle (of sorts) ensues. So… this wasn’t exactly what I was looking for in my unexpected return to Black Dog Bay, my literal favorite book setting of all time. First, the romance was…bizarre. Without getting too far into spoilers, Jocelyn and Liam were essentially in a legal battle throughout the book, which led to a weird version of the “hate to […]

ARC Review: The Similars

Posted January 4, 2019 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Many thanks to Sourcebooks for sending over this free package of goodies and a finished copy of THE SIMILARS for me! Initial Excitement & Summary Clearly I was excited to read this one, because I decided to go for it back in early June! I was stuck in sort of a reading slump because I binge-read too many contemporaries in a row. Usually I need to mix in a few different genres throughout the month so I don’t fully burn out. I knew I needed something sci-fi or paranormal (because reading THE COMPLICATION at one point the previous month reset my burnout too). I loved the idea of clones coming to a school without a lot of explanation and learning why they were so special. It was set sort of in the near-future; everyone has fancy “phones” with digital assistants Storytelling, Setting, & Characters There’s actually a lot to unpack with this book and truthfully I’m not smart enough to do it! There were a lot of correlations to today’s society, where people who are “different” can be ostracized for all the wrong reasons. There are growing hate movements based on leadership today and a lot of that was reflected in this book through clone rights. It was fascinating but didn’t feel like a forced theme to make a bigger picture, if that makes sense? These messages didn’t take me out of the story at all. Hanover did a really great job of keeping me guessing and keeping me reading. […]

Holiday Reviews: Season of Wonder, Christmas on Mistletoe Lane, and It Started with Christmas

Posted December 24, 2018 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

Story ASK ME HOW PUMPED I AM FOR NEW HAVEN POINT BOOKS! (Very excited, obviously.) I love this town. I heard a few mixed things about this main character and the story as a whole, but I knew the small town Haven Point feels would make up for a lot. The lead, Diana, has two girls – one bratty teenager and one adorable six-year-old, and she moved everyone to Haven Point to hopefully run the town’s veterinary practice. She can’t resist her cop neighbor and he seemingly can’t resist her either, especially as he helps the aforementioned annoying teen daughter make up for some mistakes. This one was a bit repetitive with Dani’s internal dialogue, going back and forth all the time. She was an okay lead character but a little too hard to get to know. She was closed off to everyone, including the reader. Ruben was amazing though; the scenes with him and her kids were adorable. Mia was the cutest and Silver was a bratty teen that got better with time. I also think the big “reveal” about her ex-husband wasn’t as bad as expected? Maybe that’s terrible to say given the nature of it, but still – they built it up quite a bit. I definitely missed the cameos here too… not as many as I’d hoped because Dani refused to become a part of the town. I hope the next book, if there is one, features more of actual Haven Point and its residents. Wintry Setting […]

Blog Tour | Review & Author Interview: The Accidental Beauty Queen

Posted December 7, 2018 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

On Sale: December 4, 2018 Gallery Books | Trade Paperback Original Available for purchase here ISBN: 9781501197604 | $16.00 E-ISBN: 9781501197611 | $7.99 Audio-ISBN: 9781508283553 | $17.99 Review Once I learned that this author had written books and Hallmark movie adaptations, I was sold on this book. I also tend to love books that are billed as more “romantic comedies” as well, a la Sophie Kinsella. Another key point? The reference to Miss Congeniality. I’m so happy that this book lived up to my expectations! Charlotte and Ginny are twin sisters. The former is a children’s librarian and the latter is a beauty queen… until they have to secretly switch places. While Charlotte visits with Ginny in Florida for a pageant, Ginny suffers an allergic reaction that would otherwise derail her participation in the pageant. Much to Charlotte’s initial dismay, Ginny begs her to compete instead… and she agrees. It was interesting to see these two seemingly different sisters try to bond and essentially become the same person for a few days. It was even better to meet others in the competition and see how Charlotte’s biases toward them completely changed; she was able to see that her sister was right – they ARE about more than just outward appearances. The contestants are supportive and encouraging to each other, and there were a lot of sweet scenes along those lines. Of course, it wouldn’t be a rom-com without the romance element! It’s not exactly in the synopsis so I won’t spoil […]

ARC Review: The Reckoning of Noah Shaw

Posted November 29, 2018 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

I’ll admit that some of my low rating is partially my fault since I remember about 10% of the previous book, but I feel disenchanted overall by this whole series/world. This book had a lot of filler (going back and explaining more things that had happened in previous books) and a decent amount of interesting plot points otherwise. I don’t even really know what else to say because this was just the epitome of a “shrug emoji” to me lol. I think that it’s hard to review this series without giving too much away because the synopses always include very vague information. Basically, this one relied heavily on Goose and Noah going around and trying to get to the bottom of everything. As I mentioned, the story went back and forth a little between “before” and “after” certain events took place. This is usually fine, but the majority of the book was somewhat confusing. I didn’t really understand what was happening, where the story was headed, and what was really happening with the characters. I think the vague-ish writing style (not sure how else to describe it) and moving around a lot didn’t do this book any favors. I previously loved Noah but I was disconnected from him (and truly everyone else) in this story. Also, word of warning that I don’t think is a major spoiler: don’t expect to see a whole lotta Mara in this book. The end was intriguing, like the first book in this companion series, […]

ARC Review: Love a la Mode

Posted November 21, 2018 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

I’ve had ALL of the books by this author on my TBR foreeeever now and am excited that I finally read one! Her books all sound like adorable, fluffy contemporary romances with often unique premises. My Netgalley request for this one was approved so I finally had no excuse to keep putting her words off! I loved Henry from the first chapter. He was instantly so adorable and goofy as he struggled to talk with Rosie for the first time. I was impressed from the beginning that Strohm was able to provide so much context into his family life and background within the first few pages of the book, without feeling like an unnatural info-dump. We learn right away that his dad is a chef with his own restaurant and his mom isn’t the biggest fan of him continuing down that path. The second chapter is from Rosie’s point of view, where we learned about her four brothers and love of baking. The two of them were awkward around each other (not in an unreasonable or annoying way, IMO), which added to their charm. The school itself was amazing and the setting was incredibly vivid! I felt like I was in a French boarding school, just like with Anna and the French Kiss (but these two books are quite different otherwise). Obviously this school was even more intriguing because the kids were all aspiring chefs and OH MAN AM I HUNGRY AFTER THIS BOOK! Be prepared for that, folks. I […]

ARC Reviews: Little White Lies and The Geography of Letting Go

Posted October 22, 2018 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I loved THE FIXER duo so much (and it should be a trilogy — still something that makes me incredibly sad and bitter) and have been saving THE NATURALS series for when I’m desperate for more words by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I decided not to resist this one though… and I’m glad I didn’t wait! I read it during ARC August and was definitely what I needed to break the semi-slump I was in. I was just forcing myself to read (not because I wanted to read) and this book changed me for the month. It centers around Sawyer, a young mechanic who learns that her mom’s estranged family are filthy rich and only live 45 minutes away. When her grandmother shows up and offers her half a million dollars for college/life if she moves there and participates in the debutante season, she can’t resist the opportunity to find her biological father at the same time. She quickly falls in with her cousin, Lily, and her friend, Sadie-Grace… and unfortunately also with the evil Campbell. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this story, to be honest – I was kind of expecting something similar to the REBEL BELLE series with all of the ball gowns and southern traditions (minus the paranormal stuff). I did kind of get that, but there was a great mix of contemporary-mystery that Jennifer Lynn Barnes does so well. If you like her writing, I would have to recommend this book. It’s easy and addicting […]

ARC Review: The Last Wish of Sasha Cade

Posted October 3, 2018 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

I’m a sucker for SO many elements of this book, which is why it was immediately added to my TBR and requested on Netgalley. I love the cover, for starters, and the whole “following a list of tasks and for someone who has moved/passed away” premise is read-bait for me. It reminds me a lot of the movie PS I Love You, which is potentially where this fascination came from for me originally. When Rocki’s best friend Sasha passes away from cancer, she sends Rocki on a scavenger hunt of sorts to keep her memory alive and make sure Rocki doesn’t go off the deep end without her. She quickly learns about and meets Elijah, Sasha’s biological brother that wasn’t adopted along with her, and starts to complete these tasks with him. I liked Sasha and her memory, but it felt like she was perfect. I’m not trying to “speak ill of the [fictional] dead” but it was like she was this never wrong, always kind, completely flawless person, so it was a little hard to feel much for her. I felt for Rocki and absolutely cried multiple times in the beginning of the book when she passed away, but it wasn’t easy to connect with her. Rocki constantly viewed herself as “Sasha’s friend” instead of her own individual person, which also made HER hard to connect with. I had high hopes, though, that this hunt would allow her to find her individuality. Elijah was a bit mysterious at the beginning […]

Fantasy Football Buddy Read: Review and Giveaway for Intercepted

Posted September 26, 2018 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

As you definitely already know, I love football an absurd amount. It’s my favorite thing to think about, watch, and talk about with friends and family. I’m ridiculous in how much I love my team and how much a loss can ruin my day/week. My fantasy football ladies-and-“book bloggers”-only league, Game of Throws, was given the chance to buddy read this novel from Berkley. I also had an egalley for review on my own, but knew I wanted to read it at the same time as my gals. We all read it over the course of opening weekend of football, which is also around my birthday AND when I was in Charlotte to see the season opener for my team! It was absolutely perfect timing and got me into the football mood even more than before. I enjoyed this one overall! There were a few things that bugged me throughout, but they are all smallish complains. I think the writing style was very easy to read, but some dialogue and scenes felt forced, like they were trying too hard. The constant hashtags annoyed me (the MC explained that she “hashtags her life” in her head sometimes) and only got worse as the book went on. There was a lot happening in the second half of the book and there were a few different conflicts. There were issues with heckling and even assault, the other football wives, her ex-boyfriend and whoever he was dating at the time, AND obviously within the […]