MMM.

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I go up and down with Kasie West books (big winners for me are P.S. I Like You and Sunkissed). This unfortunately fell deep in to the miss category.

The whole premise of the book is based off of a silly miscommunication between two friends who moved away from each other. That’s it. That’s the story. OH WAIT, alongside that is a sub plot about a parent choosing to hide information from her children (that, I understood to some degree, but didn’t love the way this went about). Both of these were red flags in my final opinions.

I did like the road trip antics. Those are fun, traveling in massive RV’s, eating by campfire, meet new friends. All good stuff. And there were some cute romance scenes too! Once both Norah and Skyler stopped acting ridiculous it was great. I thought they handled their relationship so much better after, ya know, COMMUNICATING.

We’ll see what the next West story holds.

Overall audience notes:
- YA Contemporary Romance
- Language: very little
- Romance: kisses
- Trigger/Content Warnings: a parent with cancer 

A quick novella. Too much focus on them sleeping together. Sweet otherwise.

ALMOST FOUR STARS.

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I was really on my way to super enjoying this. I LOVED the setting and cultural aspects. Easily one of my favorite parts of this book. I felt the world come alive with the language, food and cityscape descriptions. There was great writing involved in much of that and the audiobook helped create that tenfold.

Zarela was a main character who I liked as a YA heroine lead. She truly was just trying to do her best in a rough situation. I liked her tenacity to hold on to her family’s legacy and the willingness to learn new things and make tough choices to see everything through. The romance between her and Arturo had the best kind of banter. A bit of enemies to lovers that grew into something more. I do think the steam went a bit past YA levels, but it was still relatively low overall.

What threw me was the villain. I can get behind a lot of background antagonist stories. This one was fine, I’ve seen it before, but what got me was his obsession with claiming Zarela? I don’t want to spoil so I can’t really say much more, it just didn’t click for me.

I’d say this is a pretty solid fantasy for a standalone (which are hard for me to be pleased by). A fast paced read that covers a lot. I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention there’s DRAGONS and flamenco dancing. Lots of incredible things, just a few meh.

Overall audience notes:
- YA Fantasy Romance
- Language: a little
- Romance: brief/vague open door
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents, kidnapping, animal death and cruelty, murder, misogyny, grief/loss depiction 

Oh, Duke, he might be my newest love interest fav.

I LOVE that he fell first (always a winner) and was so open about it?? What is that?! THE BEST THAT’S WHAT. He pushed Diana to open her eyes and heart to things she thought weren’t ever going to be apart of her life. I loved their chemistry from the get-go. That banter was fire and it was the perfect sentiment of rivals and angst without being true enemies or anything.

What I realize I do struggle with is when a romance book seems to center on a different characters life than the main couple. A lot of this book was turned to Diana’s friend Lucy and her love story. I wish that would have been much more minimalized because it took me out a few times when I just wanted Duke and Diana to have their moments.

All in all, this was a great start to a new series. I love this family and all of the different siblings. I can’t wait for more stories from them. Regency/Historical romances are such a nice break from other genres I read and I found them incredibly enjoyable. Martha Keyes is a reliable author in this category to bring the swoon and heart to any story.

 

This was a read for any young athlete who’s had to give up a sport sooner than they were prepared for (hi, it’s me). I felt those opening scenes with every fiber of m athletic soul and the rest of the book carried a beautiful story I couldn’t get enough of.

The romance was absolutely the SWEETEST YA friends to lovers. Oh my goodness it was too much to handle. I loved Caroline and Alex. When Alex offered to hep Caroline find a new sport/activity she could possibly enjoy and sincerely took the time to show her the ropes? SMITTEN doesn’t even begin to cover it. This is exactly the kind of love story I want to see in young adult lit.

What was my favorite aspect was the COMMUNICATION. Multiple times things came up in the plot where it could have gone two ways. One being a major miscommunication that would lead to hurt feelings and drama, and the other a conversation to alleviate all of those issues. Time and again Caroline truly thought through how she felt, how she thought others would feel and chose to have a conversation rather than let things fizzle in a bad way. I LOVED IT SO MUCH.

I could spend a long time gushing about this read. It’s appropriate for younger audiences and older alike. I think there’s so much here and it really sang to my heart and I hope you give it a chance too.

 

OH yes, I have found a new fantasy series to read!!!!!

This was so good y’all. I have been struggling to find a good book that kept my attention the whole way through and this was that breakthrough. I was into it from the start and loved the path it took.

My only small tidbit is the first part could have been shortened just a bit. I did love that there was actual time for Tisaanah to learn the language, more about her power, and the area she was in. It just felt a little too long initially. But yay for a character who didn’t wake up one day and master everything. We love progression!

MAX. I will protect that man at ALL COSTS. Oh my goodness. He was easily my favorite character and I was stoked when his POV showed up. I am smitten with this multi-layered man who desperately needs a hug. The romance plot between Max and Tisaanah was the perfect kind of slow burn. I loved getting to watch a true connection build between them and it was the SWEETEST. Which was much needed with the themes of the rest of the plot.

It’s a hard read with tough subjects and the pain kept coming. I appreciate that it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger. Though I easily was thinking, GIVE ME THE NEXT BOOK. Stay tuned.

 

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW.

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Fair warning: this series does not have an end date.

AND I AM IN TURMOIL.

There’s not even news on the next book?!

Anyways, actual book review information.

Another enjoyable installment. I liked most of the direction for the characters here and how the plot continually thickened around many aspects. My mind is pulled in so many directions while reading this series and yet, I am easily able to move through each segment and remember what’s happening and who’s doing what. I love the readability of these books and how much the audio is a game changer for them as well.

Karigan kind of at least, caught a few breaks this go around. I love seeing her continual development as a character and I am here to follow her wherever she goes. I don’t know how I feel about the romance sub plot though?! I’m more conflicted than I was after reading Mirrorsight. It’s a very tangled web that fits the nature of the book, but leaves me wanting a bit more.

I have truly enjoyed reading this hidden nook series in the fantasy genre. I highly recommend if you’re looking for something off the beaten path with multi-POV, high action and intense situations.

Overall audience notes:
- Fantasy
- Language: very little
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: PTSD (for torture), loss of life, war themes and battles, poisoning, near death experiences, emotional infidelity 

IT WAS OKAY.

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Don’t let the hype fool you, this is only alright (says me so you could feel different of course).

I think the concept is really interesting. I liked the underwater/Atlantis vibes but wish everything was set in a full fantasy world. I found myself confused by the “historical fiction”ish aspects? Like what year was this set in? Were certain plot aspects correct? I don’t know, I got lost in that nonsense.

Amare, our MC, was full of sarcasm. And while it was charming for a bit, things began to fall flat when it kept happening. Quip after quip gets old fast. Her new friend group was fine, I was once again confused by some of the dynamics *shrugs*.

Now, the love story plot. It’s a love triangle, between brothers. If I’m going to read a love triangle, I gotta say, that’s my least favorite version. It was utterly predictable and I felt no connection to any of the romantic aspects. Much of the plot is stuffed with tropes that don’t have any new spins on them.

I found it to be a really quick read at least. And I didn’t have trouble moving through it. I’m kind of curious to read book two? I think I’ll wait it out a bit though.

Overall audience notes:
- YA Fantasy Romance
- Language: a little
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: mild
- Trigger/Content Warnings: physical altercations, explosions, loss of loved ones, near death experiences 

BETTER THAN THE FIRST.

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Ohhh I loved this so much more y’all. New favorite of these brother books (because we get a third one right??!).

Zander never game up on Imani and I LOVE A MAN WHO FALLS FIRST. Probably my biggest highlight because I was full on smitten with everything he was doing to woo Imani.

I really liked a lot of the conversations throughout about growing up, stability, loss, and more. While I about found myself frustrated with the conflict, the conversations after were much more needed than I realized and I liked the switch up in the drama that usually plays out in these scenarios.

There were small tidbits throughout the plot I didn’t jive with. Nothing to go on about, but it drew me out enough to lower my rating. It was still much more enchanting than book one to me and I’m glad I took a chance on picking it up.

Fast paced and full of sweet moments (and a small dash of steam), I would easily recommend this as a good summertime romance read.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: one open door
- Violence: low
- Trigger/Content Warnings: PTSD, grief depiction, childbirth, loss of parents recounted 

ANOTHER WINNER.

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Joanna Barker can do no wrong in my bookish opinion. I have sincerely enjoyed the three books (so far) that I have read by her. I love the way she crafts a story. There’s FANTASTIC banter that makes me all giddy and swoony, deep kisses that have my heart squeezing.

There’s also really solid character development. One of the biggest things I look for in a read. I loved Julianna’s growth and exploration of her self as she came to terms with her past and the options being opened for her now. It wasn’t an overnight solution and the progress made had me loving her all the more.

Enter in our heartthrob William Rowley. From a bit of a disaster meet-cute (at least to Julianna) to rousing confessions of love, I was hooked on him from the get-go. I loved how he gently teased her and taught her new things. Being a safe space to land, even if it took Julianna time to realize it.

The only thing that made me a little cranky was part of the final conflict. I think it would have been easily solved another way and I just didn’t like that it was dragged out. The last scenes were super sweet so props to bringing it back for me. That little complaint is no reason not to pick up this great regency.

Overall audience notes:
- Regency Romance
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: low
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents (off page, discussed), grief depiction