Publisher: Harlequin

Recent Reads: No Exit, Stay Awake, and Anon Pls

Posted January 9, 2023 / Bite-Sized Reviews, Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Recent Reads: No Exit, Stay Awake, and Anon Pls

I’ve read a few books at the end of last year (that didn’t really involve the holiday season) and just wanted to share some quick thoughts, so we’re here today with mini reviews (part two!). NO EXIT was a wild ride. Lots of people have recommended it for a super addicting thriller that you can’t put down, which is exactly what I needed at the time, so I finally decided to give it a go. I picked it up from BOTM and hopefully will be able to watch the movie soon to finish up the overall ~experience.~ As I was reading I kept wondering how it was possible that this book could go on and on based on the promise – I had no idea what could possibly happen…and I really just kept reading until I found out. I think I expected something else in some ways? But it was overall quite a thrilling read. Like many others, I won’t share any details to spoil it. Just know that there are more twists and turns than you could imagine possible. Very creepy, good book to read in the dead of winter! I didn’t realize when I first added this book to my TBR that Megan Goldin wrote one of my recent fave mystery books (THE NIGHT SWIM). Such a pleasant surprise that her second book STAY AWAKE was just as fun of a read. The premise was unlike any other mystery/suspense book I’ve read before. The main character has amnesia where […]

Blog Tour Review: Killing Time

Posted March 11, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Blog Tour Review: Killing Time

More purchase links: Bookshop.org // B&N // Amazon Books-a-Million // IndieBound // Google Play // Kobo // Apple Books Book Review KILLING TIME immediately sparked my interest – any time a mystery/thriller includes a true crime podcast element, I’m there. I’m also always excited to read books set in Connecticut. This one ticks both of those boxes. I didn’t realize right away that there’s a “past” and “present” back-and-forth throughout the story too, which was really intriguing. I kept wondering how the two timelines would connect. I have to admit that I didn’t love the main character, Natalie. She was kind of frustrating to read about because she dove headfirst into things without thinking. She definitely ignored red flags all over the place. Her mom was arguably even worse to read about. She was extremely strict. I assumed from the beginning that this connected to her past that we were reading about in alternating chapters, but it didn’t make it any easier to read. It made it harder to stay focused on reading and it took me longer to read than I hoped. The setting and references to Connecticut places were definitely some of my favorite parts of this. The ending of the story was pretty fast-paced after a major THING happens and I was intrigued to see what would happen. It was hard to put down – I was super tired and literally fell asleep with my Kindle in my hands because I didn’t want to stop reading. About the Author Brenna Ehrlich is […]

Blog Tour Review: Love at First Spite

Posted January 7, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Blog Tour Review: Love at First Spite

More links: BookShop.org // Harlequin // Books-A-Million Powell’s // Signed Copies through Third Place Books Book Review Dani moved to Seattle for her fiance, only to find him cheating on her with the realtor of the house they just bought together… the one that he did not include her on the paperwork for, despite their agreement. She quickly learns that Sam is not who she thought he was and is happy to cut her losses on him. When she finds that realtor getting comfortable in the house as she gathers her things, she wonders how she can make his life as miserable as he’s made hers. The small vacant lot next to the house is the answer: she decides to build a vacation home with her cousin, Mia, and new landlord, Iris to spite him. Noisy construction, blocking his view of the water, and a potential revolving door of guests at the Airbnb… all to piss off Sam. She partners with the mysterious, grumpy architect, Wyatt, at her firm to get the project off the ground. The two start falling for each other as Dani struggles to keep the nature of the project secret from him. This book was extremely addicting, especially toward the beginning. I was eager to keep reading and see how Wyatt would slowly open up to Dani. I thought they had some good chemistry, although not necessarily right off the bat – certainly no “love at first sight” here. Wyatt is grumpy and standoffish at work so it was nice […]

Blog Tour Review: Sleigh Bells Ring

Posted December 13, 2021 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Blog Tour Review: Sleigh Bells Ring

Buy Links: BookShop.org // Harlequin // Barnes & Noble // Amazon // Books-A-Million // Powell’s Review I’ve been reading RaeAnne Thayne’s books for years now and was excited to sign up for this tour! She always writes fun and cheery holiday stories with adorable small town settings. This book was no exception for the most part – instead of a small town with an adorable main street, this takes place on a sprawling ranch in Wyoming. It was very festive with lots of decorating and Christmas cheer, especially through the eyes of a couple of children. SLEIGH BELLS RING centers around Annie, the caretaker of the ranch, and her brother’s children. The owners of the ranch, including her childhood crush Tate, come in for Christmas and she is working as the de facto chef and host to all of them for one final Christmas before they sell it. I was expecting to only read their two POVs but Tate’s sister, Brie, ends up as a main character after the first 20% of the book or so. I immediately knew where her perspective was heading and I was intrigued to see what would happen for her. She wasn’t spoken about very favorably in the beginning of the story so I was curious to see what her reasons would be, or where her head was at during the story. I enjoyed the setting and the family feels in this one. However, I think the writing was a bit repetitive. The characters had the same […]

Holiday Reviews: Christmas at Holiday House and Christmas at Fireside Cabins

Posted December 25, 2020 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments
Holiday Reviews: Christmas at Holiday House and Christmas at Fireside Cabins

Story I’ve enjoyed RaeAnne Thayne’s novels over the past few years. She tends to write great small town romances that verge on too cheesy and wholesome. Well, this one definitely got further into that territory and I was a little put off by it. There were a lot of repetitive thoughts or conversations that made me roll my eyes. Backing up a bit, this one centers around Abigail and her son Christopher. They move to Silver Bells for a few weeks to help out her friend’s grandma before they plan to move from Arizona to Texas for a fresh start. She’s hoping to move on from her husband’s tragic death with a new city and life for her son. While in Silver Bells, she finds a growing attraction to her friend Lucy’s brother, Ethan, who manages the family’s fancy hotel chain. The story also kind of weirdly and randomly has Lucy’s point of view a few times where she wrestles with her feelings for her brother’s best friend. While I appreciated their story, it was kind of weird because the book had three points of view that weren’t split evenly. It was very much Abigail’s story with some pops of Ethan and even less pops of Lucy. It didn’t make a ton of sense to me. Wintery Setting & Holiday Feels Silver Bells was a super cute town and the Holiday House setting was even better. She ends up helping to decorate the mansion with a dozen Christmas trees and […]

Review Round Up | Summer at Lake Haven, Today Tonight Tomorrow, and Then She Was Gone

Posted October 14, 2020 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments
Review Round Up | Summer at Lake Haven, Today Tonight Tomorrow, and Then She Was Gone

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’m always thrilled to return to Haven Point! I started this one and then realized there was a prequel novella about the leading man’s sister that should be read first, so I paused and finished that up quickly. Ian is in town for his sister Gemma’s wedding. He rents a house next to Samantha and she’s immediately smitten with his two cute kids. The kids, in turn, are smitten with the puppies she’s temporarily taking care of! Ian and Samantha get off on the wrong foot but they grow to be friends (and then more) throughout the story, of course. I’ll be honest – they were super dry and boring. Their conversations were repetitive and offered too much information about Ian’s research on salmon (yup). I was always a bit tired of them talking, which isn’t what you need from main characters you’re supposed to be rooting for in a romance! As always, the charming Haven Point setting won major points for me. The two of them were on Lake Haven and went hiking to see some waterfalls, which led to some nice scenery descriptions. The rest of the town and the Helping Hands group were always excellent too. I won’t spoil the ending, but it was […]

Blog Tour: The Sea Glass Cottage

Posted March 27, 2020 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Blog Tour: The Sea Glass Cottage

More Purchase Links: Harlequin // Indiebound // Books-a-Million Target // Walmart // Google // iBooks // Kobo Review I’ve adored reading the Haven Point series by RaeAnne Thayne over the past several years; I get so excited when I see a new installment announced. I thought it would be fun to branch out and explore other stories by her. THE SEA GLASS COTTAGE was the perfect way for me to do so! I didn’t realize the setting of Sanctuary Bay was used in her other novels as well – I would totally have read those first. Either way, this works nicely as a standalone novel. The story centers around Juliet, her daughter Olivia, and her granddaughter Caitlin. There’s also a POV from Cooper, a childhood friend of Caitlin’s late mother. The three women are trying to live in the same house as Juliet recovers from surgery. Olivia comes down to help her mother and work at the family’s garden center in the interim. Caitlin is fifteen and has lived with Juliet since her mother’s passing when she was a kid. The relationships are strained between the three women for various reasons, primarily based in past issues. I enjoyed all of the characters reconnecting and the town had a few great side characters, like Henry, Melody, and Jake. I have to say that most of the characters had some pretty sad backstories, which was challenging and sometimes a bit of a downer to read. I say this primarily because of the current virus […]

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.

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 […]