Genre: Contemporary

January Adult Contemporary | ARC Reviews: You Were There Too and Mermaid Inn

Posted January 22, 2020 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments
January Adult Contemporary | ARC Reviews: You Were There Too and Mermaid Inn

I really enjoyed Oakley’s sophomore novel but STILL have managed to skip her debut. Regardless, I knew I needed this one. It reminded me of an adult version of my YA favorite Dreamology, where the main character has recurring dreams with a man/boy and then finds that they actually exist in real life… and they’ve been dreaming about her too. Mia has been dreaming of Oliver for years and discovers he’s also been dreaming of her too. They don’t share/live out the same dreams at the same time but they do have similar ones sometimes. This was a heavy book (major trigger warning for miscarriage and infertility) – definitely heavier than I expected – but very impactful. The first line of the synopsis says “heart-wrenching” but I didn’t expect this level of it for some reason. I really enjoyed the rare pops of chapters we got from other points of view (Harrison, Whitney, etc.). It added a little something different to the story. I did enjoy reading Mia’s point of view though. I felt her struggle and knew there was really no easy solution to her problems. The book just felt so REAL and raw, following the ebbs and flows of her relationship(s) in a way I could understand and empathize with. Like I said though: it made for a pretty hard read, and not every decision she made was perfect or logical. I didn’t agree with everything she did or said along the way. I’m a huge fan of […]

Blog Tour: The Little Bookshop on the Siene

Posted January 3, 2020 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Blog Tour: The Little Bookshop on the Siene

Buy Links: Harlequin | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble Books-A-Million | Target | Walmart | Google | iBooks | Kobo Excerpt About Rebecca Raisin Author Website | Twitter: @JaxandWillsMum | Facebook: @RebeccaRaisinAuthor Instagram: @RebeccaRaisinWrites | Goodreads Rebecca Raisin is the author of several novels, including the beloved Little Paris series and the Gingerbread Café trilogy, and her short stories have been published in various anthologies and fiction magazines.

Holiday Reviews: Snowfall on Cedar Trail and Christmas at Silver Falls

Posted December 27, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Holiday Reviews: Snowfall on Cedar Trail and Christmas at Silver Falls

Story I’m always so excited to head back into Sweetwater Springs! As I’ve said a hundred times before, it’s one of my favorite small town settings for a companion series. I always find Annie Rains’ books to be sweet and steamy at the same time – never too cheesy! The story follows Tuck’s sister Halona, who owns the town flower shop, and her son Theo. He’s been struggling with selective mutism since his father died. The leading man is Alex, the chief of police, and Tuck’s best friend. The two have had chemistry since they grew up together. There were heavy plot points throughout the story that affected the main romance quite a bit (and other things – more on that in the next section). Theo was so adorable and usually I don’t love kids in books that much. The progression of Alex and Halona’s relationship was sweet and seeing his interactions with her son made it that much better. Wintery Setting & Holiday Feels Sweetwater Springs is a petty magical place during the holiday season! I loved reading about the town’s traditions and decorations. I think the heavier plot points in the story, like Halona’s history with Ted and Alex trying to solve his father’s murder, really took a lot away from the warm and fuzzy Christmas feels I’m used to in books like this. Overall This was a really lovely romance. I do wish there were a bit more Christmassy feels but the nature of their story, with […]

Holiday Reviews: The White Christmas Inn and Royal Holiday

Posted December 25, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Holiday Reviews: The White Christmas Inn and Royal Holiday

Story I really enjoyed this one, even more than I had hoped! The story is kind of a “slice of life” that takes place at a Vermont inn during the few days around Christmas. There were a lot of characters but I think there wasn’t TOO much detail about each of them, which ended up being a good thing. I was able to really just enjoy peeking in through the windows of this inn during the story. There was just enough backstory to feel invested in each of them. Molly, a writer of children’s books, comes to the inn in the hopes she’ll be able to finish her next book. She meets Marcus and his two girls and quickly falls for the small family. Hannah, who was set to get married at the inn over the holiday period, is sent reeling when her fiance calls it off. She luckily has her parents and maid of honor with her, as well as a reunion with her childhood friend Luke, to get her thought the heartbreak. Jeanne and Tim are the owners of the inn and struggling, both in their marriage and with the business itself. I loved reading about everyone’s different stories and the smaller side characters who come into play, like the grumpy British traveler and empty-nesters staying there too. Again, writing all of this further emphasizes how many characters and plotlines there are in such a short book, but it was really a nice quick snapshot of everyone’s lives […]

Blog Tour: Coming Home for Christmas

Posted December 21, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Blog Tour: Coming Home for Christmas

Purchase Links: Harlequin || Indiebound || Amazon || Barnes & Noble Books-A-Million || Target || Walmart || Kobo || iBooks || Google I have adored the Haven Point series for multiple years now and this is a highly anticipated installment for me. It follows Luke, whose wife disappeared seven years earlier, and his quest to get her back. He knew, of course, that he didn’t do anything terrible to her, but that didn’t exactly matter to other people in the town. Everyone assumed something terrible had happened and he was responsible. The other option is that Elizabeth walked away from her family on purpose. When Elizabeth ends up being found without her memories, we’re intended to learn what happened to her and fall for this family coming back together again. I adored Luke through his cameos in other books in this series and was so eager to see his own book, as I mentioned. He was known to be a kind man (again, despite some people assuming the worst about him and his wife’s whereabouts), so being in his head was something I was looking forward to. It took a while to get used to Elizabeth and not be frustrated about her internal thoughts. I didn’t sympathize with her right off the bat but it was pretty clear that some terrible things happened to her. I knew I would forgive her eventually 😉 It took more than two-thirds of the book before this felt Christmassy enough for me, but it was really sweet to see […]

Blog Tour: A Wedding in December

Posted December 11, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Blog Tour: A Wedding in December

Purchase Links: Harlequin || Indiebound || Amazon || Barnes & Noble Books-A-Million || Target || Walmart || Kobo || iBooks || Google I can’t lie: for the past few years I’ve generally avoided most books about weddings and/or being a bridesmaid. I’ve been in too many weddings recently ($$$) and was genuinely tired of thinking about them! It sucked though, frankly, because I usually would love reading about weddings and wedding/event planners! I’m glad that I have a few less weddings on my plate now… minus the planning of my own… so I was excited to dive into this holiday-centered one! This book is centered around Rosie’s wedding in Aspen, Colorado, and her family flying in from their home country of England. A lot of things could go wrong, as her parents are living separately and on the brink of divorce while her sister Katie thinks Rosie is making a mistake. Meanwhile, Rosie herself is having second thoughts about this whirlwind romance and Christmas Eve wedding. The three women were frustrating to read about at times, as they were singularly focused on specific things and it got a bit repetitive to read. Nick, the father, was my FAVORITE. Aspen was such a perfect setting for this story! I was a little sad, like Rosie’s mother was, at the beginning of the novel when she was discussing Christmas in their English cottage. Now THAT sounded like a book I wanted to read! However, like I said, Aspen is such a great snowy setting for a book […]

ARC Reviews: Mooncakes and The Bromance Book Club

Posted November 11, 2019 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment
ARC Reviews: Mooncakes and The Bromance Book Club

I had really high hopes going into MOONCAKES – it looked like a very cute, inclusive love story with a good amount of witchy magic and Halloween feels. I planned to read it ON Halloween but got sidetracked with finishing some other books for the end of the month, so I read it over the course of one night (the next day). I received an egalley for review but ended up purchasing the paperback after my review copy expired (whoops!). This graphic novel is about Nova, a hearing-impaired witch, who lives with her two grandmothers. Her parents passed away but do appear in the story. When a wolf is discovered in the nearby woods, Nova goes to investigate. It turns out to be her childhood friend, Tam, a non-binary werewolf. The two, along with the Nanas, work to remove a demon from their town. Lots of family feels and little touches of side-stories that I’d love to read more about. An old flame reignites between Nova and Tam and it’s THE CUTEST. I love childhood-BFFs-to-more storylines. I have to say, a higher rating could very well have happened here but I seriously struggle with rating graphic novels. I know that they’re just as good as reading a novel, obviously, but I personally rush through them. It’s like I have a timer in my head saying I NEED to finish a comic in one sitting, just because I know I can. I blaze through them and it results in lessened enjoyment. […]

Blog Tour | Excerpt and Q&A – Meant to Be Yours

Posted November 4, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Blog Tour | Excerpt and Q&A – Meant to Be Yours

Friends, I’m excited to highlight the latest release in the Happily, Inc series by Susan Mallery! This is exactly my kind of book. It’s a companion series focused around a “destination wedding town founded on a fairytale.” Like, if that doesn’t sound like a Lauren-book, I don’t know what does. It’s no secret I love small town companion series, especially when there’s a fun theme of the town and series. The Happily Inc website states that it all started when the owner of the local bank made up a tall-tale about the town helping people fall in love. It caught people’s attention nationally and thus became a hot wedding destination. The seven daughters of the original banker got married, had a lot of kids, and now this book series focuses on each of them finding their forever loves. Y’all, this website is ADORABLE. It has photos of what the townspeople look like, maps of the town, and more. Because I’m a completest about series, I plan to read the whole Happily Inc series in order. Today, I’m highlighting book number five: Meant to Be Yours. Check out the Q&A with Susan Mallery and an excerpt below! Meant to be Yours – Happily Inc Purchase links: Harlequin | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble Books-A-Million | Target | Walmart | Google | iBooks | Kobo About the Author SUSAN MALLERY is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women’s lives—family, friendship, romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally […]

ARC Reviews: Deadly Little Scandals and Twice in a Blue Moon

Posted October 28, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
ARC Reviews: Deadly Little Scandals and Twice in a Blue Moon

I have loved every Jennifer Lynn Barnes book I’ve read, even including the ones that were not necessarily up my alley synopsis-wise. I still have to read THE NATURALS series and I can’t wait to be blown away by those too! In any case, I was sure to read this one relatively quickly to continue the story I loved so much. I didn’t remember that much from the first book but Barnes did a good job of recapping without overdoing it or feeling like an actual recap. I think the biggest issue with these books, which became even more of a problem in this one compared to the first, is that there are SO many characters. I could never keep anyone straight! The book, like the first one, also has chapters in the present and small flash-forward chapters that you’re working up to timeline-wise. This book additionally had some chapters set 25 years in the past, with the parents of all of the main characters. I was constantly trying to remember who was who. On top of the amount of characters, there are so many secrets around everyone’s parentage and family lineage too. Just when you think you’ve figured out who gave birth to someone or is related to someone else, everything changes again. I can’t say much more without being spoilery so I’ll just try to leave it at that. Overall though, this made it challenging to follow the story. There were a lot of big reveals though. I […]

ARC Reviews: She’s the Worst and Love on Lexington Avenue

Posted October 4, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
ARC Reviews: She’s the Worst and Love on Lexington Avenue

I have to say, I was super excited about this one but a bit nervous too. I didn’t like Spieller’s debut that much and was nervous that I’d be disappointed here. Honestly, it was so cute and fun! I read it in one sitting on a Saturday morning when I was desperate to read a little more on the final day of the month; it was the perfect book to just read at once. April and Jenn were definitely “opposites” in most ways, with Jenn being the perfect sister that always helped their parents and got good grades. April was a bit younger and reckless, playing soccer instead of working at the family’s store. It was hard to read about how easily they grew apart, and the fact that it was honestly mostly their parents’ fault. I don’t want to dive too much into them because I HATED THEM SO MUCH but they were incredibly unreasonable. I have to say, they were some of my least favorite parents I’ve read about. April decides to give Jenn a tour of their memories around LA, where they live, and I won’t disclose Jenn’s secret, but it was a good idea for their sister day. They had a lot of issues to resolve within their relationship, as well as how they were impacted by their parents’ choice to open – and fight about – an antique store for years. There were other things touched upon, like Jenn’s feelings about college, her boyfriend, and […]