cielosiluminado's Reviews (443)

these small town romance stories truly must be studied because why are they SO good!?!?

no well-written review can do this series justice. sweetness, drama, humor, angst all tied into one. it's just perfect.

layla dupree and caleb alvarez are two cinnamon rolls who need to be protected at all costs.

read if you like:
♡ dual pov
♡ small town
♡ sunshine x sunshine
♡ fake dating
♡ third act breakup

one of the best (best) friends-to-lovers books i've ever read. seriously, it's beautifully written.

b.k. borison has quickly become on of my favorite authors to read.

read if you like:
♡ holiday season
♡ (best) friends-to-lovers
♡ small town
♡ fake dating
♡ found family

my only complaint with this book is that, apart from the epilogue, it was written only in the fmc's pov. i would've loved to read about the mmc's thoughts and pov.

from the beginning, the atmosphere in the small town of inglewild felt calm, familiar. so whimsical and cozy.

now let's talk about estelle "stella / la la" bloom and luka peters-russo.

it all started because stella lied on an application. to save her christmas tree farm. fake date at a chance to win $100K. and in her mind, she hoped by fake dating her best friend, it'd also help her to get him "out of her system". two birds, one stone. oh, how wrong she was. it backfired, hard.

even though they were fake dating, the romantic vibe the two main characters immediately gave off was… *chefs kiss* the mutual pining, longing, lust and sexual tension.

the reason for how quickly and easily they slipped into fake lovers is because their friendship was already close, safe, wholesome… intense.

i loved how we got flashbacks of how they were always there for one another throughout the years – close to a decade!! – and how their friendship transformed and flourished into a romantic relationship. it made it all the more genuine. it made me root for them so hard.

i have no idea how they managed to keep each other in the friend zone for years when they were both so desperate for one another. especially when the whole town knew! literally, everyone knew, except themselves. sometimes i really wanted to freak out knock stella upside the head, or yell at her, to stop being silly and be honest about her feelings to luka and tell him the truth. it was so rewarding as a reader when he finally bit the bullet… and well the rest is history.

safe to say, i wanted to stay forever in the small town of inglewild. i loved the wacky, supportive community. not only did i adore stella and luka's love story in the end, but i also love the little family and trio that is stella, beckett, and layla of lovelight farms.

i'm so excited to read evelyn and beckett's story—In the Weeds—next.

i found my happy in beckett and evie's story.

i may have liked this book more than the first book. BUT! i really wish there was more... uhmph. the entire plot can be summarized as big ol' miscommunication. i wished there was more. that being said, it was still a very fun and cozy read.

i adored beckett porter and evelyn st. james so much. his grumpy to her sunshine was done so well.

their chemistry, tension and slow burn was crazy good, especially since they had already had a steamy two-night stand months prior.

the author depicted beckett's challenges with noise sensitivity and social anxiety with care and compassion. i loved how even though evie was wiling to help him navigate his challenges, he made the effort himself to work on them as well for himself.

i also really liked how even though evie struggled to redefine her vision of success and happiness because of extreme burnout – despite how long she worked in the content creation scene (~10 years) – she never gave up on finding her true happy and leaned on those closet to her.

also can i say how much i loved the residents of this small town?? they're all so funny and caring. my favorite scene was definitely the rowdy themed trivia night at the bar. it's safe to say, i love inglewild and their loud, but caring and charming, residents – i never wanted to leave!!

read if you like:
♡ dual pov
♡ small town
♡ grumpy x sunshine
♡ second chance (sorta)
♡ slow burn
♡ opposites attract
♡ mental health rep
♡ third act breakup

finished reading this novella at 2 am on christmas eve and i was too tired to write anything other than this was a quick, easy fun holiday read.

read if you like:
♡ dual pov
♡ billionaire romance
♡ holiday season
♡ brother's best friend
♡ small town

this book had desire, vulnerability, and detailed the complexities of love, which made it a compelling and heartwarming read. it had me laughing, crying, screaming, frustrated, angry, confused, swooning. it was fun.

the chemistry between them was electrifying from the start, and their initial arrangement of "no strings attached" was doomed from the start because of how attracted they were to each other from the start.

the character development for both leila and aiden was excellent to read and watch unfold. and their journey together was well paced, making their connection even more genuine and intense.

read if you like:
♡ college sports romance
♡ friends-with-benefits
♡ he falls first and harder
♡ boy obsessed
♡ black cat x golden retriever

i was entertained. despite how average it was.

p.s. take a shot every time you see the word "angel" or how much they say they won't catch feelings (but do)

read if you like:
♡ dual pov
♡ college romance
♡ opposites attract
♡ grumpy x sunshine
♡ she falls first
♡ he falls harder

tldr on the plot itself – nothing truly happened, yet everything happened. i really thought this book had potential as it sounded super fun. unfortunately, with the amount of cringy characters and cringe dialogue... it wasn't for me.

rosalie whitton, the fmc, annoyed me some much with her entitlement, naivety, and immaturity. she felt like an odd one out because she grew up as an extremely sheltered rich kid. and she was sick of it and definitely didn't want to conform to her future of being a country club wife with 2.5 kids.

so after a college party game of "never have i ever", where she's embarrassed she hasn't done anything, she seeks out the help of the bad boy – who she doesn't even know – by showing up to his house with a "dirty list" and asks him to take her virginity, listed amongst other stuff she hasn't experienced. she sees him as someone who's actually lived life, and begs him repeatedly to help her out. screams desperate. couldn't be me though, but i guess props to her for shamelessly begging like that. he agreed to give her "lessons", with stipulations of course, namely: (1) don't catch feelings and especially, (2) don't fall in love.

i also got very off vibes with the amount of times the fmc was called innocent and sweet and other childlike synonyms… she was 18. like we get it, she's inexperienced but still *bleh* i will say though that the "angel" nickname the mmc gave her was cute at first but was then so overused.

on another note, can i just say how much i hated the fmc's mother. i cannot believe that lame ass backstory and "redemption arc" that takes place that is supposed to make us sympathize with her mother. i'm not as forgiving as the fmc – because if my mother judged me for choosing to go to university, instead of getting married at 18 and procreating, i'd never forgive her. the fmc's mother not only did that, but she also tried marrying her off to someone 7 years older… ick.

sorry not sorry but the backstory of grayson carter livingston, the mmc, made me laugh. his parents hated him because they thought he was a drug addict. was he? you might ask. the answer is no. not only that, peers and faculty also thought he was a drug dealer after stupid rumors made the rounds around campus. oh but he does sell something but it turns out he sells… assignments. yes, the "bad boy" in this book sells fucking homework for a living. i couldn't stop laughing when i read that.

another wild thing we learn is that when the mmc was 13, he saw his paternal uncle – who he was very close to – overdose, and unfortunately die. that traumatized him, obviously, and for some dumbass reason, the mmc's father blamed him and calls him a murderer to this day. and then the mmc's mother… oh boy, she's also something else. she never defended her son and allowed that toxicity around the mmc. oh, but another PLOT TWIST! turns out the paternal uncle the mmc was close with was actually his biological father – as his mother had an affair but was married to the other brother. scandalous! also can't believe how the mmc forgave his mother easily after she never defended him when he was growing up.

rosalie and grayson separately were insufferable. together though, cringy but more tolerable. he was a bad boy with the best intentions, helping her step out of comfort zone, safely, to experience her firsts and make them memorable. i will admit their "lessons" were cute.

but honestly, the best parts in the book was the smut. it was definitely the best written. it wasn't dramatized, and seemed very realistic and genuine. it was hot and sweet.

this book was alright. it was cute sometimes, but oh so… wrong? or maybe i'm too judgmental of certain… life choices. safe to say this book was way overhyped.

read if you like:
♡ dual pov
♡ opposites attract
♡ age gap
♡ grumpy male character
♡ single mom

the book started off crazy. it taking place in alabama is so... it makes sense. so keep that in mind.

hadley reynolds accidentally got pregnant with her high school sweetheart, scott jameson, shortly after graduating high school. they had lucy. and then hadley and scott willingly got pregnant again , with eli, at 21 because she wanted her children to have the same father and be close in age... what in the alabama white people shit!?!

despite everyone's concerns and disappointment, hadley was financially struggling to support herself and her family because scott was a useless bum with no job or further education prospects and played video games all day. meanwhile, hadley was being a full-time mom, working full-time at a nursing home, and a full-time nursing student. then scott  c h e a t s  on hadley with her cousin while little lucy was listening in from the living room.

when hadley leaves scott after the betrayal – which she should've done ages ago but i digress! – scott makes hadley's life hell by trying to manipulate her by using their own daughter. scott the bum – and his mother, because of course he's a mama's boy – would talk shit about hadley to lucy when hadley wasn't there, making lucy cry all the time. *sigh* i felt bad for poor lucy whenever she was around those horrible, manipulative relatives.

maybe this is a cultural difference but hadley's unwillingness to cuss – which everyone does – also bothered me. her saying "god bless america" gave me the ick every time. also, what kind of name is hadley?! okay, maybe i am too judgy.

now that i got that out of the way, let's meet elijah parker. the moody, broody, asshole neighbor who's covered in tattoos and owns a tattoo parlor. oh and he hates children too. they all meet when grocery shopping and he steals the last bag of chips from lucy by scaring her after hissing at her…? huh!? then he develops a disturbing kink "fascination" with hadley's nursing breasts and refers to them as her "leaking tits" to others. *bleh* he's a grown ass 30 year old man for fucks sake! and all he can seem to think about is funyuns and leaking tits.

eventually though, elijah apologizes and makes it up to hadley and her little family. we start seeing his character shift the moment he – while freaking out internally – helps hadley get to the hospital when her water broke in her car and she's about to give birth to eli.

by the way, everything i have written happens in like the first 20% of the book. fucking wild.

slowly but surely, elijah goes through major character development as he feels this pull towards hadley and her family and he wants to get to know them more. and vice versa. so he makes steps to try and better himself to not scare them away. basically he's an asshole to everyone except to hadley and her children.

their relationship progresses naturally and he falls for the family and the family fall for him. hadley and elijah's romantic relationship was not toxic at all. there are sweet moments throughout the book which was heartwarming after all the shit she has been through.

overall, normally i'm all about cute romance stories, but this one was seriously lacking something. sure there was some cute moments between the main characters, but what i liked the most was elijah's relationship with lucy. and she's 4 years old! they had more chemistry than elijah and hadley, who's relationship was more lusty than meaningful if i'm being honest. i also really didn't care for hadley. she made her own bed – i.e. two kids before 22 – and should lie in it instead of her "woe is me" attitude she projected onto everyone else.

tldr: elijah and lucy, and eli's, relationship truly made the book more bearable and didn't make me dnf. the epilogue was *chefs kiss*

i never knew how much i needed, and would love, to read a dark academia, gothic romance book until i read this one. i am wholly obsessed. you need to read it to understand what i'm talking about.

read this if you enjoy:
♥︎ dark academia
♥︎ gothic romance
♥︎ forbidden romance
♥︎ student x teacher
♥︎ preternatural, thriller, mystery
♥︎ betrayal & plot twist

the chemistry between mr. vad deverell and ms. corvina clemm was unmatched. their sexual tension?? AHHHH i adored them so much.

♥︎ favorite quotes ♥︎

vad will always be her Devil, her madness, her mountain. and corvina will always be his witch, his little crow, his castle. in this life, and hopefully every one that comes after.

this is the first book i've read by runyx and all the praise and hype her works get is warranted. she is a phenomenal storyteller.

this book had me swooning, twirling my hair, kicking my feet, and blushing the whole time.

read this if you like ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶
♡ fake dating
♡ hate-to-love
♡ hockey romance
♡ grumpy fmc / sunshine mmc
♡ boy obsessed
♡ he falls first
♡ no third act breakup

rory and hazel were perfect and i loved every second reading this.

he was so good and kind and patient with her. and she was also patient with him in return.

i am so looking forward to hayden and darcy's book. excited to see how their friends-to-lovers story play out.

cute novella that features:

♡ second chance romance
♡ holiday season
♡ small town
♡ high school sweethearts