You Have a Match is a young adult contemporary romance standalone by Emma Lord. This book was a super cute read that instantly transported me to summer time. I loved the summer camp setting, the friendships explored in You Have a Match we great and I loved all of the romances present as well. All in all this was a fun book. I didn't fall head over heels in love with it, but I did enjoy my time spent reading the story.

In You Have a Match we meet our main character, Abby who discovers she has a secret sister that she never knew anything about. I know you are totally thinking parent trap like I was, but here they are not twins and Abby (and her sister's parents) are still together. They are not divorced and they are only parents to Abby. So there is another element at play here as to just what went down between Abby's parents and the parents of her sister- Savannah (or Savvie). Abby and Savvie decide to attend the same summer camp so they can get to know each other. I liked that this story was just as much about friendships as it was summer romances, because I enjoyed watching Abby and Savvie get to know each other most of all. They are complete opposites, and though I found myself relating way more to Savvie than I did to Abby, I could appreciate their path to getting to know each other and getting along.

I think the main reason why my love of We Have a match didn't blossom into more was because I felt a disconnect with Abby. I couldn't relate to a lot of her actions. She goes about things in a very different way than I do (especially with school) so it was hard for me to feel a lot of sympathy for her. I could sympathize with the loss of her family member and with what happened with her best friend Leo, who I loved! All in all this was a fun book and is perfect for readers who like stories that are focused on the relationships of a group of characters, rather than just the main two characters. In We Have a Match we get to know (and get to see) what is happening with Abby, Savvie, Leo, and about 3 of their other camp friends. I appreciated all of their individual storylines very much! 

 

A Crown of Echoes is the first book in the New Adult fantasy romance series by the same name from author Brindi Quinn. I really enjoyed this book, and I can't wait to continue on with this series. January has been an odd reading month for me. I have either LOVED books or really didn't like them at all, so I was a little nervous when I first picked up A Crown of Echoes because I had such high hopes for this book. I loved everything a bout it's first impression- it has a beautiful cover, the summary sounds like a fantasy book that is right up my alley. And I am now happy to report that A Crown of Echoes falls into the love it category! This book was great, and I am super excited to continue on with the series!

In A Crown of Echoes we meet our main character, Queen Merrin who goes out in search of her friend, and Queen of a neighboring kingdom- Queen Beau. First of all, I loved seeing Queens that are friends with each other. What a nice change of pace. Merrin is the type of main character that I love! She is loyal and strong and delightful to read about. I loved seeing a free spirit as a queen. Merrin felt like a fresh and unique main character, and I can't wait to see what is in store for her in the next book! 

I also really enjoyed the romance in A Crown of Echoes between Merrin and Windley. The romance was just as vibrant and exciting as all of the characters present in the story, which is really saying something because Merrin is a life force all on her own! I'm very excited to learn more about the world, folklore and magic associated with the lands in the next books. It is super interesting and I feel like Brindi Quinn has so much more in store for us in the coming novels. If you are looking for a fast paced fantasy romance with vibrant characters, look no further than the Crown of Echoes series! I really enjoyed this book and need to read the sequel ASAP. 

 

Suddenly One Summer is the sixth book in the adult contemporary series called FBI/US attorney series by Julie James. This was the first book I have read in the series, but that is fine because I believe all of the books can be read as standalones. I know Suddenly One Summer acted well on it's own. I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, the writing was great and the plot felt fresh and kept us progressing throughout the story at a steady pace.

In Suddenly One Summer, we meet our main character, Victoria and her cocky neighbor Ford. I think fans of the series will be excited to see Ford get his own book, and after meeting him I can certainly understand why. He was so much fun! I liked him even more than I liked Victoria, which is saying something because I loved Victoria. Their romance sizzled off the page. I loved watching them volley back and forth over and over again. This book is the perfect pick me up if you are feeling bummed out, and now I am kicking myself for waiting so long to read it! I need to read more books by this author because I love her banter! If you are a fan of smart characters, great tension and witty banter, then you will love Suddenly One Summer. 

Desire is an adult mythology fantasy by author Cindy Jacks. I wanted to like this book so much. It has so many elements that are normally a smash hit for me. I love mythology books, especially when they feature a romance, and I love to see less popular gods as the main characters. That is exactly what Desire promised. It is told from the point of view of Bacchus, the deity of intoxication and ecstasy. Sounds awesome right? In theory yes, and I might have a different opinion of this book if it were longer, but it clocks in at just over 150 pages, and that was not enough time for me to form a connection with the characters. I finished the book because it was so short but I didn't really care about anything that happened to our main characters.

If you are a fan of fast paced novella length stories, then this might be a fun option to try. I enjoyed seeing this book through Bacchus' point of view, and I do love mythology based books, but it fell a little flat for me. Bacchus made a bigger impression on me than the female main character- Ariana but only slightly. It was an interesting read, but wasn't my favorite.

 

Dateable is a young adult contemporary romance by Natalie Decker. Dateable is a fun, quick and sweet read that I think would be great for YA readers of all ages that are looking for fluffy fun friends dating story. I enjoyed this book, but I found myself wishing that it were a little bit longer so I could get some more depth and detail with the characters and especially with the coding hobby of our main character. But if you are looking for a cute read that you can easily finish in a few hours, dateable might be the perfect book for you to pick up.

In Dateable, we meet our main character Keilah and her best friends Rdyer and Whitney. The way Keilah looks on the cover was giving me total Kailah from MTV's the Challenge vibes! (let me know if you agree!) but looks and name are where the similarities end, because out dateable Keilah is a super nerd. She loves reading and coding and I loved her. I was so excited to see that coding and creating an app was going to play such a big part of this book, that I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see more of the actual coding and behind the scenes of the app going on. But putting that aside, Dateable has a classic young adult storyline that is always a hit for me. Girl likes popular boy. Girl enlists her friends to get popular boy to notice her. Along the way, girl discovers she actually likes someone else. If that is a storyline you enjoy, then you will like Dateable.

This book was a lot of fun. I liked our main trio of characters, the romance was sweet, and the story hit the spot. It was shorter than I expected, coming in at under 200 pages. So there is not a lot of room for a deep dive into the details of the app, but it was an easy and lighthearted read that I finished in under 2 hours. Great if you are looking to devour a book in one night. Dateable was a sweet quick read that I enjoyed. 

 

Glint is the second book in the adult fantasy romance series, called The Plated Prisoner Series, by Raven Kennedy. The Plated Prisoner series is a dark reimaging of the story of King Midas and I was completely obsessed with it. Glint releases today, and both books are available on Kindle Unlimited, so you definitely need to check it out if you are a fan of dark adult fantasies. I liked Glint even more than the first book, and now that we have seen a hint of romance for our main character, I am even more excited to read the next book. I need it in my life right now!

Glint takes place immediately after the events of Gild, with Auren and the other royal Saddles captured by the fourth kingdom's soldiers. We know that King Midas will stop at nothing to get his favored back, and in Glint we finally learn why! I loved learning more about Auren. I didn't mention her ribbons in my review of book one, but they are fascinating. In the world of Orea some people have magic and some do not. In order to rule a kingdom the king or queen must possess magic, which is how Midas became king of the sixth kingdom. The ruling family has one child- a daughter, but she did not possess any magic, so she needed to marry someone who did. We assume that Auren has some magic of her own because in the first book she describes her ribbons to us. The are 12 sets of ribbons that grew on either side of her spine down her back. She can control each of the 24 ribbons just like she can control her own hands or legs, but we don't really see her use them too much in Gild. In Glint, I was very happy to see Auren became a little more confident with her ribbons, and more confident with herself in general. Watching her come into her own was a delight because she is abused in the first book. She felt more like her normal self in Glint, which is ironic because she spends almost all of the story as a prisoner of an enemy army.

And speaking of the enemy army, I really enjoyed getting to know some of the other saddles with Auren and some of the men and women in King Rot's (fourth kingdom) army, especially Commander Rip. As soon as I met Commander Rip in the first book, I knew I was going to love him, and to say I love him is a bit of an understatement. I looooveee him! I cannot wait to see where the romance is going to go and where the story is going to go, but I know one thing for sure. I am obsessed with this series. I have loved every single book I have read of Raven Kennedy, and the Plated Prisoner series is not exception. This book is magical. If you are a fan of dark fantasies featuring interesting magic with magnetic characters and fantastic writing, the Plated Prisoners is a must read series. Raven Kennedy has announced that it will be at least 4 books long, and I am already in DESPERATE need of book 3! Be warned though, this book has one humdinger of an ending-one I did not see coming at all!