Source: Publisher

Blog Tour: The Boyfriend Candidate

Posted May 15, 2023 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Review I had only read IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE before starting this book and really loved it, so naturally I’ve added all of Ashley Winstead’s books to my TBR regardless of genre. I love when authors are able to write both excellent romances and excellent thrillers… not much more I could ask for! 😉 Needless to say, I was excited for the opportunity to read THE BOYFRIEND CANDIDATE! The story centers around school librarian Alexis and her quest to ditch her boring girl persona for one night… and how she ends up in scandalous paparazzi photos with a young hot-shot Texas gubernatorial candidate Logan. His campaign quickly pivots to let everyone know that that the two are actually together and my beloved fake dating trope begins – just long enough to get Logan through the election. It was really interesting to get a peek behind the curtain of how politicians have to work on their image, determine their platform, and deal with other politicians, union leaders, and the public. It didn’t go into a ton of detail but just enough to make the book feel realistic. Alexis quickly impacted his campaign to integrate not just stopping the education budget cuts, but increasing the budget throughout the state. Logan and Alexis had a lot of chemistry and the typical “oh no, they couldn’t possibly be actually into me” vibes were strong. I loved watching them integrate into each other’s lives in a natural way where you could actually see […]

ARC Review: Return to Hummingbird Way

Posted April 20, 2023 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

This series has been so lovely – I seriously love Reese Ryan’s writing style and how she set up the picturesque town of Holly Grove Island. This book is the second in this companion series and another winner! The first book featured Dexter and Dakota as they embarked on their second chance romance; this one follows Dakota’s best friend Sinclair and Dexter’s best friend Garrett. Mild spoiler for book one, but Dexter and Dakota are heavily featured in this book as they’re planning their wedding. Naturally Sin and Rett are the MOH and Best Man so they’re tasked with pulling off their wedding planning in short order while also working on a joint bachelor/bachelorette party. (Sidenote: if you’re someone who loves when the first couple in a companion series makes an appearance in the next book, you’ll love this one – Dex and Dakota were major characters throughout the story, so you can see their friendships and relationship develop throughout still.) On top of that, they’re both working on redoing Rett’s grandmother’s house to prepare for sale. Sinclair and Rett are both realtors with construction and/or interior design skills so they collaborate on the fixer upper. The only problem? These two don’t really get along. They butted heads in high school, managed to have a quick one night stand years ago, and have generally avoided each other ever since. Rett is back in town to help his family and decides to stick around to work on these projects, but he’s […]

ARC Review: Yours Truly

Posted April 5, 2023 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I’m not exaggerating when I say that I think Abby Jimenez writes the BEST romance out there right now. I’ve enjoyed (even loved!) all of her books and truthfully, I think each one is better than the last. THE FRIEND ZONE was a book I really loved when I read it but those feelings faded a bit over time for a few reasons. And her books have only gone up from there (for the most part). In order of release, they went 3.5 stars, 4 stars, 5 stars, 4.5 stars, and 5 stars again for me. I’ll backtrack and chat about the plot and then get into the gushing. The story follows PART OF YOUR WORLD’s heroine’s best friend Briana. She’s hitting her divorce finalization date after her husband cheated on her and feels like she’s just going through the motions. A new ER doctor, Jacob, joins the hospital she works at and the two do NOT get off on the right foot. Jacob secretly finds out he is a match for her brother as a kidney donor, they start writing letters (which started as an apology letter), and the rest is history. I would categorize this as enemies-to-fake-dating-to-lovers, which was very fun. It’s light on the enemies part but still. I loved watching them fake date (Jacob needed a girlfriend for his brother’s wedding festivities… did I mention his brother was marrying Jacob’s ex? And they got together three months after she and Jacob broke up?) and see their […]

ARC Reviews: Off the Map and The Good Luck Cafe

Posted March 27, 2023 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

`These books were two of my most anticipated contemporary romance reads for this year. They’ve also been sitting on my Kindle for MONTHS and I can’t believe I didn’t read them much earlier than their pub date! Man, this year has flown by. OFF THE MAP is the third (and I believe final?) book in this companion series about the Beck sisters. I’ve loooooved this series so far and am happy to report that I really enjoyed this one! It’s my least favorite of the bunch but still very steamy and swoony and wanderlusty. We follow Anna’s best friend, Carla (so not really a Beck sister), as she is heading to *spoiler for book one* Anna’s wedding in Keane’s home of Ireland. Keane’s brother, Eamon (who we met in the first book) is due to pick her up and bring her to the wedding. Sparks fly between them right away and the night quickly gets away from them in the bar… and then Keane’s apartment. Carla has been traveling most of her life and avoiding her dad’s dementia diagnosis, and Eamon is dying to break out of his routine and do the same kind of thing. You’d think that would make things easier for them but it doesn’t, of course! The two of them take some detours on the way to the wedding and really enjoy each other’s company. They have really great chemistry and I actually like how quickly they hooked up. It was more unique for a romance […]

ARC Review: Missing Clarissa

Posted March 8, 2023 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I was beyond excited for this book – I was really hoping for the second-coming of the GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE books. I wanted a true crime podcast and best friends solving the case of a missing girl. I love all that stuff! Unfortunately, MISSING CLARISSA was a disappointing and predictable read, despite being an overall enjoyable ride. Cam and her best friend Blair come from a town with an infamous missing girl case – Clarissa Campbell. She was the popular cheerleader who left a party in the woods, never to be seen again. The two girls decide to focus on this case for their journalism class project and create a podcast about it. I loved this setup and the fact that both Blair and Cam had no experience in solving mysteries or making podcasts. The story went through the actual moments they had to figure out logistically where to even start. I didn’t mind reading about Blair and Cam but they (especially Cam) made very stupid decisions a lot of the time, especially toward the end. It was terrible to read about Blair’s shitty boyfriend. I didn’t mind Cam’s romantic arc but she was still frustrating. The writing was pretty good – I can’t figure out if it was the characters that annoyed me because they were annoying or if the writing made them more annoying lol. Their internal dialogue was a little cringe-worthy but again not sure if that has to do with the author’s writing or just the characters […]

ARC Review: Behind the Scenes

Posted March 1, 2023 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I adored SATISFACTION GUARANTEED and was excited for another book by Stetz-Waters! This story centers around Rose and Ash, who meet at a random pug event (Rose has two pugs) outside of Ash’s office building in Portland. Rose is a business consultant and Ash is a disgraced filmmaker who has a bad reputation for “ruining” her ex-wife’s movie (clearly there is more to the story there!). When Rose is contacted by Ash’s friend and colleague to help her get on track and stop trying to do it all by herself for her new movie, the two begin working together. I really enjoyed both of the jobs the MCs had in this story. I love any book set around Hollywood or movie-making and it was fun to read about Ash’s world… minus all the shitty things that happened to her. Ash had a ton of trauma from her ex-wife and an accident she was in, which was unpacked throughout the book. The same could be said of Rose, who hasn’t been on an airplane for 18 years due to her parents dying in a plane crash. She basically had to raise and take care of her sisters, which was a really sweet part of the story. Rose didn’t really take risks because she wanted to be stable and secure enough to support her family. (Sidenote: Rose was a business consultant for manufacturing companies but never set foot in a factory… this would definitely never fly in real life haha. I work […]

Review Roundup | Begin Again, The Housemaid, and Kill Joy

Posted February 10, 2023 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

It’s been well-established that I’ll read everything Emma Lord writes, even if YA is lower on my list overall these days. I’ve never been disappointed by one of her books (even the ones that maybe don’t sound like my favorite premise) – and luckily BEGIN AGAIN was no exception to this rule! To be fair, it was probably my “least favorite” of her books (which seems dumb with a 4+ star rating)… but I don’t fully know why. I liked that this was a slice of life story set in college (let’s make a petition to get more YA books set during that time period) and the characters were really enjoyable. I liked that there was a solid mix of new friendships taking off, romantic relationships and crushes, and tons of family feels. The whole premise was good but the ~love triangle~ vibes were a bit drawn out IMO. My jaw dropped at a very unexpected twist that made for some intrigue for a few chapters, but I kind of with the dual love interest situation was wrapped up earlier. The main character, Andie, and her friends had their ups, downs, and flaws, which were all well-explored. I really liked that there wasn’t any major drama and miscommunication – the vast majority of the time, all of the characters said how they felt (within reason) and forgave each other for certain issues. It was definitely refreshing to read! I’m now craving a very fancy bagel and ridiculous flavored cream cheese. Whew, […]

Review Roundup | Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, Tomorrow x3, and Lost in the Moment and Found

Posted February 2, 2023 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 2 Comments

This series has become truly one of my all-time favorites. It reminds me a lot of the time I read EVELYN HUGO and needed like a million more books just like it, but couldn’t find them. I wrote a whole post about it haha. There’s just some magical quality in Cosimano’s writing and these characters that gets me every time. I’ll be honest, I was nervous about this one a little bit. I’m not a big police gal and wasn’t jazzed up about reading about a ton of cops and a citizens police training program. I definitely didn’t love that aspect overall but it was kind of fun creating that “summer camp” or “college dorm” vibe where everyone is in one place during the story. This story did a good job of wrapping up some loose ends from the first two books while opening the door for future installments. Parts of the initial mystery seemed to be solved enough for the reader to finally get a bit of closure (and not drag the same questions out into book four), but there are lingering threads to keep it moving. Finlay and Vero were just as funny and interesting to read about as they always are. This is the kind of series I’d keep reading forever and ever, with the main characters solving whatever mystery comes up next. This is technically my least favorite book of the three but a four-star book I didn’t want to stop listening to? Can’t go wrong. Man, […]

Review Round Up | The Villa, The Stolen Heir, and Lunar Love

Posted January 23, 2023 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 2 Comments

I’ve been following Rachel Hawkins for years – from her YA work to today’s adult mystery/suspense fiction – and she remains a lowkey favorite of mine. This book sealed the deal for me and she is still cemented as an auto-buy author. Some early reviews are a bit mixed but I actually liked both timelines: one takes place in the 70s during the original murder and the other is present day with two best friends staying at the villa. The book was very tense throughout, where you know something bad is going to happen in at least one timeline but probably both. I really loved the ending: it totally surprised me. It’s not really a true mystery or thriller but more of a suspense novel, which is definitely still a fun ride. I couldn’t put it down and was always so curious to see what would happen next. The mashup of comps at the bottom of the synopsis (“Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein”) all feel accurate based on m limited knowledge of those three. I would say my own personal comparison is like a much darker version of Daisy Jones and the Six haha. I love Holly Black and her writing so much. There’s truly nothing better than falling back into a familiar world, especially when you thought your time with it was over! THE STOLEN HEIR kicks […]

Holiday Reviews: Once Upon a December and One Last Gift

Posted December 31, 2022 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

Story This was such an odd reading experience. So many things came to me as I was reading that annoyed me or confused me that I actually had to keep track in a note on my phone… I don’t ever do that anymore! Before I get too far into the details, I’ll chat about the story concept itself… which was actually the best part! Astra has a holiday weekend with her three best girl friends each winter and they usually shop around this little winter market. Each year it’s come to town, she’s encountered Jack (working at the kringle bakery) and he always seems familiar. The market itself (Julemarked) is actually magical and travels around the world every December, popping up in a new location. He’s remembered her over the years and always waits for the market to land back in Milwaukee. They age differently in the Julemarked because they’re really only “alive” for a month each year. In any case, all that backstory to say that this was a unique story. When Astra finally remembers him and slowly starts to gain memories of the market back, the two start to fall for each other. Everything about Astra irritated me: the way she bent over backwards for her ex husband about her dog, answering his calls, and even hemming his pants. She talked constantly how he essentially forced her into abandoning her friends for the few years they were together and how she never wants to do it again (yet […]