bandherbooks's Reviews (3.65k)

Finally, a novel that lives up to the hype I've heard about it. A simply haunting, poetic, and dare I say gentle dystopian story that weaves between before and after a horrible flu hits the entire world. Various players, including a famous actor, his child, his ex-wives, a former paparazzo now EMT, and a child actress share narratives throughout as we follow a troupe of musicians and Shakespearean actors in their caravan of busted down vehicles pulled by horses.

Lovely. Nice to see that a dystopian future may include Shakespeare, music, and humanity (along with the other scarier aspects). Highly recommend.

The Traveling Symphony, because survival isn't enough.

So I think I read this in a not great mood. It was hard to get lost in a world of the rich, especially after falling so in love with Shupe's previous series which had a thread of social justice woven into the stories. Here, we have a rich heiress tennis player who must marry her childhood friend or be ruined (and ruining her engagement to a British Duke). Harrison Archer, our scoundrel, has been pining for Maddie forever, but after hearing her say something that devastated him at her coming out ball, he left to cat it up in Europe, but has now returned determined to make her his wife. Oh, and to ruin his family along the way.

Harrison reminded me a bit of Jay Gatsby, and not in a great way. There were a lot of loose threads and plot points, including a mystery about who is trying to throw Maddie off her tennis game, and ultimately this book read more soapy than romantic to me. The characters get married quite quickly in the early parts of the novel and the story swerves to focus on the revenge plot, and lies, to move forward.

That said when Harrison and Maddie are exploring their attraction to each and are on page falling in love, those scenes sent me. And the scenes were he's trying to seduce her. Wowser meowser.

Uneven, but I still devoured the whole thing because I'm an avowed Shupe fangirl.

Thank you to Avon for the ARC

Well, Elizabeth Hoyt saved me from yet another reading slump. December had some lackluster moments and this one just swept me away.

Our heroine is a lady in hiding, pretending to be simply a governess/companion for years as she hides from her past while also hiding her role as a "Wise Woman" in a secret order who exist to protect and aid women. Freya is thrilled and so angry that the man who betrayed her brother is also at a house party she is attending as part of her charges' debut and is determined to find out the info she's search for AND get her revenge.

But he's now a Duke, and he's super gorgeous, and he's also not recognizing Freya who last saw him as a young girl. But he might also not be as culpable for her brother's downfall, and the secret shames of the past mean they might have more in common now then ever before. Including some major sparks.

Unf this was so full of anger and hate and then deep passionate love. There was some things regarding his dead wife that I'm not sure on the rep of.

Thank you to Forever for the ARC!

Zoe Ferris, once a cutthroat corporate lawyer job defending a pharmaceutical company and now an unemployed lottery winner, thinks it is time to atone for all of the wrongs she did in her past life. She's even created a jar of her mistakes and sins, one she'll draw from to get started on her mission to make things right.

When she draws the name of one of the victims of her former employer, it brings Zoe smack dab into Aidan O'Leary, the brother of the man who died from an overdose in large part due to the the drug her company created.

Aidan, an EMT, is upset to see the cold lawyer who his parent's had to deal with to get the settlement money for his brother's death. The lawyer who helped put a price on his brother's life. But there's something about Zoe, even if she's passed out on his childhood home's front porch from nerves. Even if she's beautiful.

In Zoe, Aidan sees an oppotunity. She wants to make things right, gain his forgiveness? She can help him secure the property he wants to buy with the settlement money, the property he'll use to create a treatment camp for addicts. She can do that by pretending to be his fiancee, to impress and show the couple selling the land that he's a family man at heart, that he has his shit together, that he's wants this for the right reasons.

Zoe agrees, reluctantly, but also because she thinks it is the least she can do. As the weekends wear on, and Zoe and Aidan form a tentative friendship, a tentative attraction, the ghosts of the past continue to haunt them. Can they ever forget how they came to each other? Does Aidan truly want this camp, or is just something he feels he needs to do? Will Zoe ever forgive herself?

So utterly compelling, and such a lovely slow-burn with competely realistic feelings and problems. I fell in love with Kate Clayborn with Beginner's Luck, and Best of Luck was EVEN BETTER.

The audiobook is especially great, and I think Aidan may be my favorite book boyfriend of 2018. I imagined him as a Bearded-Chris-Evans EMT. Huzzah.

I have read this way more than the 2x Goodreads has me down for it, but whatever! It is my favorite contemporary romance of basically all time and wow I needed this re-listen as 2020 ended.

I DID IT. I finished a darn book. It took me forever, but it isn't the book's fault, it is life.

I was excited to read a Robin Covington, and this was a fun category romance featuring some digital sleuthing, tech, and revenge. The sparks and heat between curvy bombshell Tess and CEO/billionaire Adam were immediate and sexy. I just wasn't focusing on the subplot about Tess wanted to bring down Adam's adoptive father (lying/deceiving Adam in the process), and was more interested in her work to find Adam's siblings who I'm sure will get their own stories.

And then spoiler alert

Spoiler

after deciding to forgo a condom because Tess is on BC and they are both tested with no STDs, Tess still ends up pregnant, because she was taking antibiotics close to when this happened. I should have seen the baby plot coming but didn't, and meh, I just didn'dt dlove that part. Not my favorite

.

Sometimes, when you are in a big reading slump, you just need a romp between a Lady sword master, a Laird, and his second hand man, plus a tourney. The fact swords cross not only on the tournament field but also in the bed just makes this all the better.

Davidson knows how to bring heart and care to her characters, and this was just so much fun to read. Hits me right in the nostalgia for cartoon fox Robin Hood.

Thank you to the author for the ARC.

<3 Morality Chain
<3 Hate to love
<3 sick bed scene with cranky spoon feeding
<3 sexy bath tub time with voyeurism and self-pleasure
<3 He messes up and gifts her flowers (which she hates) and then figures it out and buys her AN ENTIRE LIBRARY

When a Rogue Meets His Match is the Elizabeth Hoyt I adore, a hero you *might* want to yeet into the sun at first but ultimately fall head over heels for, probably after you discover you too would rub a washcloth all over his chest.

I will say Gideon taking advantage of his position to wed the woman he's pined for was a bit oh boy, that's a lot, but ultimately I forgave him, and we also get over him wanting to murder her brother too.

Super fun, super hot. Highly recommend.

Renner Bastion, uptight CEO and recent-owner of the factory that keeps most of Hook, New Jersey employed, also seems to have acquired an unofficial body-guard. Frustrating, wise-ass, tattooed, and beautiful Milo Bautista seems out to make Renner's life a living hell, especially since Renner cannot and will not lust after one of his employees. No way.

Milo Bautista is entranced by the strict, cold, and sexy as all get out Renner. He's confused and irritated by his overprotective and lusty feelings for the man, not because he's confused about his recently discovered bisexuality, but because Milo thought he wanted to pursue a relationship with a different man.

What follows is sexy as hell M/M romance featuring two people who are absolutely perfect for each other, and just need to KISS ALREADY. I loved watching starchy Renner reluctantly teach Milo how to please a man, "reluctantly" yep. I loved the real dilemma preventing their HEA, and I most especially liked that this wasn't a tortured "I can't believe I have feelings for a man but I must have him anyway" angsty story. Milo is adorably cute, hot as hell, and alpha in the streets, beta in the sheets.

A bit of a May-December romance as well for those who are into that. Love Tessa Bailey!

I devoured this absolutely tender and sexy contemporary marriage of convenience romance from Zoe York, just like I would main character Isla's bake sale treats. I adore a marriage of convenience romance but they are so hard to pull off in a contemporary. I accepted the premise that the person selling the bakery for $1 wanted a married resident of Pine Harbour easily and it was the best ride.

I especially loved how Adam Kincaid respected Isla from the beginning. She was his commanding officer in the military and they had no romantic relationship at all during that time. She's older, he was under her command. It was strictly professional, and then after time and distance, they hooked up for a night but both agreeing it was just as friends. Isla's story of betrayal and hurt, and Adam's respect of her heart and feelings was so absolutely love to see, and then how they both slowly fell for each other as their marriage went on.

I don't want to say much more about the plot, but I did want to mention this is a great romance with no sudden third act breakup, there are rocky moments, but this fit the narrative of the story to perfection.

I'm adoring this spin-off series and cannot wait for more! Plus, there's a huge backlist of titles in the original Pine Harbor series if you need more while waiting!

Thank you to the author for the ARC!

I'd been hoarding this one for a long time, and I finally treated myself to it this weekend. I needed to have seen Hamilton to fully appreciate this story of a dressmaker and lady's maid/assistant/writer. SO MUCH YEARNING. I wish it was longer, but their romance was lovely. I need to read the rest of the stories from the original antho now.