a_stylish_bookworm's Reviews (1.53k)

Always a bittersweet moment when a series comes to an end. This was the final installment of the 3 book series with Ava and Roman who both was not looking for love. 
What started as a one night stand, slow became more and I really like how Roman got Ava to break down her walls. They become friends with benefits and Ava felt it had to stop when she finds out that he is the best man of her cousins wedding. 
Roman was totally swoon worthy with his desire to take care of people he loves. He is so good with communication which is so opposite of Ava. 
I appreciated the family dynamics and Ava's growth in the story. I really love seeing Michelle and Jasmine and having a big role in this.

Thank you @avonbooks for a copy of the book.

Olivia has an estranged relationship with her family dad, a prolific horror writer. He wants to write a memoir and hires her. Olivia accepts the job because of her financial situation. 

I really enjoyed seeing the reunion of Olivia with her father and how this dug up the past of what happened with her now deceased uncle and aunt. The story started a bit slow for me but I was curious about what happened. 

Clark did a good job with the dual timeline and how the story was revealed. The story addressed so many complex relationships between parent and child, and competition between sibiljgs. I really enjoyed seeing Olivia's growth journey through the story. 

Thank you @bookmarked for a copy of this.

Thank you @prhaudio @putnambooks for a copy of the audiobook. 

I am big fan of Monaghan's writing and this one is no exception. Jane is determined to produce a love story and her project is deemed not marketable enough and needs a big name to draw in interest. She says that she knows Jack, a famous singer, and will have him do a song for her project. The only problem is that she hasn't spoken to him since she was a teenager. 

She just work with Dan, who see does not like. They end up going to Dan's home town in search for Jack who is performing there. I really started enjoying the story once Jane and Dan and back in Dan's family home. 

They go searching for Jack and it was such a fun adventure. At the same time, Jane is learning more about Dan and his family and falling for them. 

The story was fun and entertaining and Hillary Huber did a great job with the narration. I would have like to see Dan's POV in the story.

Thank you @prhaudio @ballantinebooks for a copy of The Last Ferry Out. 

This was an atmospheric slow burn mystery of what happened to Eszter on the small isolated island of Isla Colel. Abby goes to search for answers to understand what Eszter was doing on the island and the people she connected there.

The island is small and remote and Abby meets the group of ex-pats that befriended Eszter. The story is a very slow burn with multiple POVs and lots of hidden agendas. 

The island is a big part of the plot and it felt very ominous. I enjoyed the aspect of Abby dealing with her grief by connecting with these ex-pats. 

Dani Martineck, Imani Jade Powers, Natasha Soudek was a great cast of narrators and made following the POV easy.

This is the third book of the series and this can be read as a standalone. We have Jade, a high school teacher in a small town and is looking to get the head coach position for the football team. There is Franny, who is her rival at school who everyone loves. As it turns out, Franny loves football all too and wants the job. 

I enjoyed the book but the rival to lovers part was not my favorite. I thought that Jade was really mean and acted way too immature. The way they treated each other really turned me off and it did impact my liking of the story. 

You don't need to love football to read this but there is a lot about it. I did enjoy seeing Jade's friends making an appearance in the story. 

Thank you @youhadmeathea for a copy of the book.

I am addicted to this series!! Eddie Flynn is now representing Sofia who is accused on murdering her father and she is saying her sister, Alexandra, did it. This was such an interesting premise with both sister at the crime scene. The chapters are told in multiple POV as like the other books but this one has a "she" perspective who is the killer. 

Lots of wrenches thrown along the way to make you guess which sister is guilty. The story grabbed my attention with all the courtroom drama and how it played out. 

Thank you @atriabooks for a copy of this

I always love a thriller that has twists that you don't see coming. I really liked the idea of Nic and Jenna linking up to help each other find out what happened to their missing sisters. The book started a bit slow for me and once the story picked up, I was vested. 

I like the story of exploring how someone of higher economic means missing will garner more attention than someone that is of lesser means. I also really enjoyed the sisters' aspect and what you would do for them. 

Saskia Maarleveld, like always, did a great job with the narration. 

Thank you @randomhouse @prhaudio for a copy of the book.

A runaway bride, a broody billionaire and a small mountain town...I am intrigued. This is about Rosey who runs away on her wedding day and ends up in a small town in Colorado and meets Byron who befriends her and helps her out. 

Rosey and Byron are so great together. I love their instant attraction and keeping their boundaries. What I really appreciate is both of their growth journey. I always love small town setting with quirky characters. 

Jason Clarke and Samantha Brentmoor did a great job with the narration and brought the humor to life. 

Thank you @hambright_pr @authorlouisebay for a copy of the audiobook.

This title and the setting in Hawaii totally grabbed my attention. Tris and Rafe are coworkers that don't get along and Tris is frustrated with her engineering job that is male dominated. She and Rafe are chosen to do a 3 week retreat in Hawaii. 

Workplace romances are so fun especially with the addition of Rafe being the boss's son. I liked that the author drew on hers and others experiences in the workplace to make it relatable. It's so sad as well as I know these type of behavior still happens. 

The story is fun but I did find Tris seems to act a bit immature at parts. I would have liked to see Rafe and Tris develop a relationship rather than rely on lust. 

The story is narrated by Soneela Nankani and told in Tris' perspective. She did a great job with bringing the story to life but I always prefer a dual POV with romances. 

Thank you @hachetteaudio @readforeverpub for the audiobook.

DNF at 40%. The premise sounded interesting, it's
promoted as Legally Blonde and Jury Duty meets the Housewives franchise. I struggled with the story with Sydney's obsession with Margot and how she was selected when she already had a bias. 

There was a lot of internal dialogue and the wrong lyric thing get annoying for me. I couldn't get past these points to move on with the story. 

I do enjoy romances when it's dual POV. This was narrated by Cindy Kay and it was just Sydney's POV. 

Thank you @libro.fm for a copy of the audiobook.