Series: Matchmaker Bay

ARC Reviews: Sandcastle Beach and Reunited on Dragonfly Lane

Posted February 3, 2021 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I think Jenny Holiday was my author of the year in 2020. I read three of her books, two of which are in this Matchmaker Bay trilogy, and all of them were wonderful. 4.5-5 stars across the board. Seriously, this series is perfect. I knew I had to start 2021 with a winner and this finale did not disappoint. I’m glad I still have another series to read by Holiday but I’ll miss this setting! Matchmaker Bay (actually called Moonflower Bay) is an adorable Canadian beach town… just the kind of small town romance-filled setting I love to read about. This book follows Maya and Law (Ben). I loved them both and definitely saw this romance coming from a mile away. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Holiday writes low-drama romances without a stupid miscommunication or something to ruin everything, which I SO appreciate. The two were basically enemies, always bickering, even if one of them didn’t know why they were fighting so much in the first place. This turned into a months-long friendship and then later romance. I’m really sad to leave this location behind! It’s very charming and that’s a major reason I’m not ready to go, but there are at least 3 new characters that totally could get their own books! Two women move to town in this installment and Maya’s brother also returns home. I would love to learn more about any combination of these people in more books 😉 Overall, this was yet […]

ARC Reviews: The Mall and Paradise Cove

Posted July 13, 2020 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment

This was so good and exactly what I needed, yet again. My reading mojo was really off for a few months in the beginning of the year, so I decided to read what was calling to me: THE MALL. I enjoyed the Jessica Darling series enough and was so curious to read more by Megan McCafferty. This book was exactly what I wanted it to be; it felt like all the best parts of the JD books. I was born in 1991 when this book takes place so others who were teens around this time may relate to the mall culture even more, but it still made me super nostalgic. It’s weird to classify this as “historical fiction” but hey, it’s not contemporary technically! I used to enjoy the mall when I was in middle school through some of high school, so I can definitely relate to all those feels overall. It made for a really fun read. I don’t want to say too much about the plot because the synopsis of the book is extremely limited to basically what happens in the first two chapters… This book is super focused on friendship with light romance and a whole lot of ~finding yourself~ without feeling cheesy. Cassie thought she had her summer and life all planned out, but everything goes to hell on her first day working at the mall after a six-week quarantine from having mono (a little too close to home when I was reading this in early […]

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

Posted January 22, 2020 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

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 […]