SO CLOSE.

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Okay. I legitimately loved a lot of this book. I read it in a day. Kept going back to it kind of enjoyed. I thought the premise was fun and unique. I liked the cosmetics and chemistry combination and it made for a lot of great dialogue and witty puns. The love interest, Marco? FIRE. He was a super swoony gem. Just the sweetest and I loved all of the fake dating aspects that arose too. And the kisses were perfectly fiery which sells me on a fantastic book too.

BUT BUT BUT

There’s only so much obliviousness I can take from a FMC. Her best friend having to tell her multiple times that Marco was in love with her, refusing to believe that Craig could be anything but a perfect angel and not ever learning how to accept a compliment bugged me. It was 90% through the book and all of this was still happening in one capacity or another.

If Anna had been even a little more self aware I would have bumped this higher.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Romance
- Language: none
- Romance: make-outs
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents (car wreck & complications from anorexia) 

I LIKED THIS!

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I honestly had no idea what I would think of this one and I consider it a solid young adult read. It leans towards the younger-middle YA range (not bad, just an observance) and I adored the audio production.

The unique core of the plot with the changeling identity really sold me on picking it up. There’s some standard fantasy tropes woven throughout but the characters (especially the main) brought everything up a notch. I liked the world building and magic system with all of the fae elements too. A good ragtag bunch where you’re never quite sure who to trust will keep the pages moving.

Rather than romance, this book focuses on the strong bond of sisters. And with alllll of it’s ups and downs (which is flat out RELATABLE). I liked that they argued, I liked that they disagreed, it all made for a realistic relationship that I loved reading about. Character growth is ever present and I look forward to seeing more of that in the next book.

Overall audience notes:
- YA Fantasy
- Language: none
- Romance: kiss/light flirting
- Violence: medium
- Content: autism rep, kidnapping, physical and magical violence, possession 

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

GREAT START.

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Renee Dugan is one of my new indie author fantasy finds and I am so excited to start a new series by her! I enjoyed this one a lot and look forward to future installments.

TDA is super fast paced and easy to move through. I thought the world building was handled well in the beginning to get a grasp of the dynamics and religious aspects that hold everything together. There’s a lot of differing opinions on how things should be done and I can’t wait to further see how those unravel and reshape.

I liked the dual POV main characters too. Sharek and Elynor both bring a plenty to the table and Dugan is known for creating amazing character arcs and I know these two are only in the beginning stages. I even see a hint at future romance??? Slow burns are my jam so I will wait it out!

Plot wise I wish a little more *something* occurred but that’s my only small complaint. It’s still engaging and I love the ease of Dugan’s writing.

Overall audience notes:
- Fantasy
- Language: very little
- Romance: none
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: murder, attempted murder, near death experiences, physical and magical altercations, loss of a parent, poisonings 

AN INTERESTING HOT MESS.

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I feel conflicted by this book (which is how I felt about book two in this series before coming back to this one).

One on side, we have a SUPER sweet grump x sunshine; boss x assistant; slow burn romance. I really liked the chemistry between Hayes and Tali. Fantastic banter and soooo many sub tropes in romances that I flat out adore. The protective alpha vibes totally worked for me and every time Hayes opened up more I was a puddle. Great hero.

Aaaaand the other side was this weird amalgamation of plot things that felt like it was trying too hard. Each side character had to have some intense thing happening in their lives, & I HATED how the Mom thing with Tali was handled. There’s quite a few off-color jokes that did not land well whatsoever and made me cringe. The addition of book stuff from what Tali was writing? And just stuff like that?

Hayes truly carries this entire book and is the only reason it held its four star status. I’m undecided on reading book three at this point as the wild plot seems to be a theme.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Romance
- Language: strong
- Romance: multiple open; med-high explicit + medium innuendo
- Violence: low
- Trigger/Content Warnings: cheating recounted, parent with alcoholism, suicide mentioned, death of a parent recounted 

GREAT AUDIOBOOK.

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Another solid read from Noelle Salazar!!

This was a book I easily flew through and loved the Dutch setting. It was another facet of WWII history that I knew little about and I liked understanding more of that glimpse through these pages.

I LOVE strong sibling relationships and Lien and Elif were that personified. They were able to lean on, look out for, and take care of each other amidst the worsening conditions. I liked following the rebel group and seeing the character development across the board. There were many times I audibly gasped wondering where the book was going to go next.

The writing style keeps you engaged and the characters will bring out the emotions. I look forward to whatever Salazar writes next!

Overall audience notes:
- Historical Fiction
- Language: very little
- Romance: closed door
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: WWII, loss of loved ones, murder, sexual assault and attempted rape 

BEAUTIFUL CONCLUSION.

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I can’t believe I finished this series!! It’s so satisfying to do so and I’m also going to miss all of these characters.

This cast was full of the found family love that I enjoy so much. I loved watching more arcs continue through them and to even see some characters get the ending they deserved too. I can’t talk a lot about it because I want everyone to go read this series and report back. But this group is easily one of my favorites of recent fantasy book memory.

If I was being a little nit picky I do wish one plot point was resolved a bit sooner. That’s just me and my romantic heart wanting more from that angle.

Otherwise, epic conclusion. Action packed and everything is wrapped up well. I was able to close the book on the story and I have loved the thousands of pages covered over all SEVEN of these books. I know the number may seem daunting, trust me it’s worth it!

Overall audience notes:
- Fantasy + Romance
- Language: a little
- Romance: closed door
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: battle themes, loss of loved ones, magical and physical attacks, weapons violence, near death experiences 

I thought the history aspects were interesting and liked learning more about something I've never heard about.

But I didn't love the author's execution in writing out the story. Skimmed quite a bit.

LOVED THE REP.

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This was my first Talia Hibbert book and I enjoyed it! It was a good young adult contemporary that brought a lot of things I love seeing in the genre.

The mental health rep was probably my favorite aspect. It was like being inside of my own mind and I appreciated seeing how these situations were handled and I love the kind responses and sincere friendships of loving who someone is as they are, without a need for change.

While occasionally frustrated with both characters I think that just stems from the age category. Mistakes are made, wrong things are said, BUT they are resolved and worked through and I realllllly love seeing that kind of work put into relationships (of all kinds).

Some of the plot set up with the camping, etc. was fine. I don’t feel like I was fully invested in those pieces. This was a heavily character driven story and that is my general sweet spot. I flew through this and thought the themes were right on point.

Overall audience notes:
- YA Contemporary Romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: make-outs
- Violence: low
- Trigger/Content Warnings: anxiety and OCD rep, parental abandonment 

WONDERFUL DEBUT.

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Ohhh my goodness I inhaled this book on the day it released. I could not put it down and now all I want is Lanza’s second book because this was a fantastic debut.

I LOVED all of the rep here and how both characters worked through and handled things. It wasn’t always linear and I love feeling the real and rawness of both of the main characters.

Henry was the sweetest cinnamon roll who was kind, genuine and there. Always there. My absolute favorite nuance. Lucy showed some beautiful character growth and I really appreciated the author’s note at the end that further made Lucy’s decisions clear.

There was a tender found family here too. I loved that Lucy got the chance to make true and lasting connections that she desperately needed (and deserved).

The whole book just kept me wrapped up in all the emotions. And the ending??? THE FEEEEEEELS. It was beautiful and everything and you definitely need to read this too.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Romance
- Language: a little
- Romance: a few vague, fade to black; low explicit
- Violence: low
- Trigger/Content Warnings: bullying, social anxiety and selective mutism, chronic illness (endometriosis), divorce, loss of a parent, grief depiction 

This was a short and sweet read. No drama, just a rekindling second chance romance. I enjoyed reading this in-between some big reads.