danadoesbooks's Reviews (954)

Thank you Love Book Tours for gifted ebook of The Christmas Party!  All opinions in this review are my own.

I was immediately drawn to The Christmas Party by the tagline "A family reunion.  A shocking secret.  A night to die for" and the isolated setting in the English countryside.

I liked that the story is told from multiple characters' points of view because you never know who to trust!  My only complaint is that because of this, when something significant would happen, you would read about it from each of the characters' perspectives and it got repetitive sometimes.

Overall, this is a quick holiday themed thriller with a closed door mystery!

Thank you to Minotaur and NetGalley for the ARC of The Trade Off.  All opinions in this review are my own.

I have held off writing my review of The Trade Off because I feel like I am still trying to process what I think about it.  I liked the newspaper is exposed for entrapping celebrities for headlines angle, but Jess's naivety were grating after awhile.  She took a job at The Globe, a tabloid, so it was hard to understand why she was so shocked by everything that was happening.  She used her morals to judge the other characters which got to be annoying after awhile.  The uneven pacing throughout the story didn't help her either.  However, I liked the reveal at the end and how everything came together.

Thank you Forever for the gifted copy of The Little Bookstore on Heart Lake Lane!  All opinions in this review are my own.

I absolutely loved Dreaming of a Heart Lake Christmas so I was really excited to read the sequel.  I can't believe it's possible but I loved The Little Bookstore on Heart Lake Lane even more!  

Not only does it mention my favorite graphic novel, The Prince and The Dressmaker by Jen Wang, but the romance reminds me of one of my favorite movies, You've Got Mail.  I'm not normally a fan of the single dad trope (especially when he is introduced as not believing graphic novels count as reading), but Evan quickly won me over.

I highly recommend if you like the unrequited crush second chance and secret pen pals tropes!

Thank you to Libro FM for the ALC of Hamlet Is Not Ok! All opinions in this review are my own.

So much happens in Hamlet Is Not Ok for such a short audiobook!  Selby is struggling to understand Shakespeare and when her tutor encourages her to read the play aloud, they are transported into the story.  After meeting Hamlet, Selby wants to try to help the characters in the play which causes disasterous consequences.

Hamlet Is Not Ok is a quick story full of adventure and humor but also deals with heavier topics like grief in a way that is accessible for teens.  It will also help them relate to the story of Hamlet more!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of Fatal Fudge Swirl!  All opinions in this review are my own.

Although Fatal Fudge Swirl is the third book in the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries, it was easy to pick up for the first book that I read.  This Halloween cozy mystery is perfect for a fall read!  I love that it is set in New England and partially set in an ice cream shop!  I can't wait to go back and read the other two books in the series!

Thank you Kensington and NetGalley for the eARC of All That Glitters Isn't Old!  All opinions in this review are my own.

I always look forward to reading a Whit and Whiskers mystery in the summer!  All That Glitters Isn't Old was a solid addition to the series.  The third installment starts off action-packed but does slow down until speeding up again in the final third or so.  I feel like this mystery required more background explanation than the previous two because of Goldie's history with Darren.  There was definitely more than enough drama surrounding Darren and I liked how Whit was always never quite sure about him.

If you like cozy mysteries with humor and drama, you need check out the Whit and Whiskers series!

Thank you Forever and NetGalley for the eARC of Skip to the End!  All opinions in this review are my own.

I was drawn to this book because of the concept.  Amy is able to see how her relationships will end as soon as she kisses them for the first time.  At her friend's wedding, Amy kisses three men and knows she has finally found the one!  The problem is she can't remember which ending belongs to which man.

While it was kind of easy to guess who Amy's mystery man was going to be, the concept was still so cool and was executed well.  Amy's friends are a lot of fun and it was entertaining to follow along as they try to solve Amy's mystery.  There was a scene with squid ink pasta that made me laugh out loud and earned me a funny look from my boyfriend as I tried to describe it to him.

I highly recommend if you are looking for a romance with a little bit of magic in it, some great laughs, and one that would make a fantastic movie!

I will be honest, I was not as excited to read Collided as I was to read the other books in the series based on the premise.  It ended up really surprising me, especially at the end.  I think I liked it because the final third or so concentrated on Liam's contract renewal and was more F1 focused than the Throttled, the first book in the series.

Since Collided happens at the same time Throttled does, there are parts from the first book that are seen through Sophie's and Liam's points of view.  I didn't love these overlapping sections since I had already read them in the first book, but they start to happen less frequently the more Sophie and Liam hang out alone.

Collided surprised me but I am really excited for Jax's book, Wrecked, since we only see small snippets of Elena in Collided!

Thank you Minotaur and NetGalley for the eARC of What the Neighbors Saw.  All opinions in this review are my own.

There will be spoilers in this review because I don't know how to explain why I didn't like this book without giving away one of the larger plot points at the end.  You have been warned.

Alexis and her husband decide to buy a crumbling house in an affluent neighbor.  All seems well until one of their neighbors is found murdered.  Between the stress of home renovations and the more and more horrifying actions of their neighbors, Alexis is struggling.

I thought the set up with Teddy's murder and the concerning actions of other neighbors kept you reading because you weren't quite sure who could be responsible for the murder.  While this was definitely slower paced than other thrillers, there was enough happening to keep the story (and suspicion) moving.

I was really enjoying this sinster domestic thriller (even though I was hating Alexis's husband more and more as the story went on) until the big reveal.  I appreciate how difficult it is to make an exciting twist in a thriller, but making one of the married couples half-siblings at 80% of the book seemed so far out of left field I thought Alexis's suspicions would be laughed at by the other character.  The last 20% flew through the explanation of how this happened and why this character was actually the murderer.  While it was supposed to draw comparisons between Alexis and this character, both their mothers had been put in a position by powerful men and resented their daughters for it, it just made the story completely abandon the first 80% of the story.

All this being said, What the Neighbors Saw is the author's first book and since I enjoyed such a large chunk of the story, I would be interested in reading her next book.  Hopefully it doesn't involve any incest plotlines.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the eARC of Widowland!  All opinions in this review are my own.

I downloaded Widowland when it was a Read Now book on NetGalley in honor of the newest book in the series being published.  I loved the concept of this book!  This speculative fiction novel explores the question: What if the former King Edward VIII had allied with Germany during WWII and returned to England in order to reclaim the throne from his brother King George VI?

I read most of Widowland in a very large chunk while on an overnight flight when I was supposed to be sleeping.  I think it says a lot for this book that despite being exhausted, I couldn't stop reading it! 

Widowland reminded me a lot of A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood so if you are a fan, I recommend checking this one out!  I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book!