Thank you to Bethany House Publishers for the ARC of Calling on the Matchmaker by Jody Hedlund. All opinions are my own. 

This is my favorite Jody Hedlund book yet! Such an easy five star read. 

One of my best discoveries of 2023 was Jody Hedlund, and now I want everyone to read her books! If you haven’t read any, I definitely recommend starting with this one. It’s the first in a series and can be read as a standalone. 

This book is fun, charming, and sweet while also discussing harder topics like death and the treatment of immigrants in the 1800s. 

If you’re looking for a good historical romance without the spice, I would suggest you read this one. 

I am so excited to re-read this book in the future and the sequel coming out in 2024. 

 Thank you to Penguin Teen and PRH Audio for the gifted ARC and ALC. All opinions are my own. 

This is my new favorite Ali Hazelwood book! I’ve read all her other books, and The Love Hypothesis was my favorite until I read this amazing book. 

It had everything I loved about her other books but in a totally new setting (outside the STEM world). 

While I don’t really care about chess all that much, I found myself very interested in it within this book. The chess competitions were fascinating to me, and I never knew how much studying and training went into being a professional chess player. 

The romance was so good in this story! Nolan is such a unique love interest, and I loved how confident he was and that he didn’t care about other people’s opinions. 

Mallory was a good protagonist because she was interesting, selfless, and just an overall cool person. 

Since I’m not a huge fan of spice, I liked that this book was geared more to young adults (although the characters are 18 and 20). 

Mallory’s sisters were such a fun aspect of the story, and I loved all their text messages and banter. They really added a lot to the book. 

I loved this book so much that I was alternating between the audio and physical copy depending on where I was because I just didn’t want to put it down. 

I enjoyed reading both formats. If you’re interested in the audiobook, I definitely recommend it. Karissa Vacker was an excellent narrator and was able to differentiate the characters’ voices really well. 

Overall, I would highly recommend it! If you’re someone who’s avoided her books in the past due to spice level, then this is definitely a good option for you. 

 Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the eARC of What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez. All opinions are my own. 

YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK! 

This is a historical fiction book with magical elements sprinkled throughout. The fascinating world of 1800s Egypt made me so excited to read this book and kept my interested throughout the whole story. 

I also loved the bits of forbidden romance and can’t wait to see where that goes in book two. 

After finishing the ARC of this book, I immediately pre-ordered a copy for myself because I know I’ll definitely re-read it before book two comes out next year. 

One thing I really liked about this book was all of the plot twists and that I never knew who I could trust. It kept me on my toes and made me want to stay up late reading. 

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone that likes magical stories, ancient Egypt, and forbidden romances. 

Thank you to the author for my gifted eBook of Beachside Kisses with My Bodyguard by Kristin Canary. All opinions are my own. 

If you’re looking for a sweet and funny romance without any spice, then Beachside Kisses with My Bodyguard is the book for you! 

I loved how the author was able to create a unique story with the princess/bodyguard trope. It didn’t feel like the cliché royalty story that I’m used to seeing in Hallmark movies, so that was refreshing. The fake fiancé trope worked so well in this story too, and I loved the chemistry and pining between the characters. 

The idea of planning a secret wedding for a sibling was really sweet. I also loved the small-town beach setting and how welcoming the whole community was to the main characters. 

Overall, I would recommend this book and think that romance readers will really enjoy it and the books to come in the series. 

Too much lust

I didn’t like the characters & the plot was too unbelievable 

Shay is awful. The conflict made me DNF because I hated it that much.