GREAT ROMANCE.

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I’d like to state in the beginning, this is the first book I’ve read from this author! I haven’t read any of the previous books in this series, but was told that would be okay. I was really specifically interested in this one which is why I wanted to pick it up.

And it was great! So quick to read (I love this about contemporaries) and filled with many fantastic things. I love how it approached relevant political topics without being too much. I was still able to enjoy the romance, but also I felt it was insightful towards topics I’m still continuing to learn about.

The romance was not subtle. This is neither here nor there, just something I noticed. Things started flourishing quickly and by the halfway point we had a full relationship! I actually kind of liked this difference, most rom-coms have the ending where the couple is official. Having Olivia and Max get together so quickly allowed for a lot of development between them as a couple as they navigated being an interracial couple in the political spotlight, working on careers, and finding where they fit into each other’s lives. Lots of romantic moments, and tough moments that made me fall in love with them. I was totally smitten with Max too, he was utterly adorable and so fluffy!!

Reading this really makes me want to tackle some other books in this series. I enjoyed the set-up and storyline of this one and would love to see more characters from previous books.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary romance
- Language: strong and fairly often
- Romance: kisses / make-outs; a handful of open door scenes, and some closed door

MANY GOOD THINGS.

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Grateful my library picked this one up, and that I happened to see it because I loved this! Definitely a great first book for a YA fantasy series. Definitely here for the sequel.

ASOWAR covered so many important topics. Police brutality, supremacy, slavery, corruption, and more. I love that no matter the genre, important and relevant topics can be addressed. This never took me out of the book but further brought to light topics I am continually learning about.

I liked this world-building and magic system. With a mix of some general YA tropes were many new things that made ASOWAR feel new. These main characters, Karina and Malik had flaws, and yet, I could clearly see the growth from them by the end of the book. I LOVE THAT. I love characters that feel real, experience a range of emotions, make mistakes, and strive to pick the best choice in a world where few of those are available.

The twists and turns occasionally took me by surprise, and even the ones that didn’t, were still interesting and progressed the story effectively. I loved the premise of this massive festival filled with all of these magical beings.

This was a great cast, a beautiful world, wonderful and engaging writing. I had a blast with this one and look forward to seeing how this story continues. I’d love to see more development of the romance, and further explore all of the world!

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult fantasy
- Language: very little
- Romance: kisses, closed door scene (with no lead-up detail)
- Violence: bloody/gory; physical, murder, assassination, magical, kidnapping
- Trigger warnings: mild self-harm ideation, anxiety and panic attacks, loss of loved ones, animal death

3.5 stars

KINDA OKAY?

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This may have covered some sensitive topics, but yet, everything felt simple and laid on way too thickly for met to fully enjoy it.

I had some issues with the writing style, some remarks made me cringe a bit and felt dated. The Southern vibe was fun and I liked the overall set-up. It’s easy to pick-up any book that involves dogs as an active side character.

I really liked Evie from the start. She was a solid main character who was really trying her best in multiple ways. I liked how she approached life, and was straight-forward in her choices. Jake was cute too. Wasn’t the greatest love interest I’ve read, but also not near the worst. He kind of floated somewhere in the middle. I liked how he continually sought out to bet there for Evie and to a partner she could count on.

Evie’s mother [the “villain” if you will], was laid on way too thick. Oh my goodness. She was excessive in every way possible and I spent more time rolling my eyes at her than anything else. That felt entirely forced and really distanced the sweet romance happening.

Some good here, some bad. Haven’t decided if I’ll read the sequel (with new characters).

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary romance
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses
- Trigger warnings: Evie and Jake’s daughter both have epilepsy and experience an episode (at different times) during the book; emotionally/verbally abusive parents; divorce

TOO EASY.

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That’s all I had to say when I was telling my Husband about my latest read. This entire book felt way too easy.

I also will state now, I frankly think that Erica Moore deserves better than Sawyer Bennet.

YUP I SAID IT.

He dumps her once, then does it AGAIN FOR THE SAME REASON, and the entire time Erica just keeps taking him back without really saying much. I’m still sitting here trying to figure out why. His reasons weren’t invalid, but I think a lot more communication would have prevented much of this book, which is much of the reason why I dropped my rating.

This book did have some cute moments. I would have loved more fluff. One kissing scene is not enough I declare! I liked the side characters (players and family) and thought they added well to the story.

My other gripe was that it had too much baseball? I know, as a sports lover, that was odd for me to pick-up on and actually be annoyed by. This is a SHORT book, I don’t need pages spent on the exact way Sawyer is pitching, or play by plays for every game he’s in. It just took up page time that I felt could have been better spent.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary sports romance
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses
- Trigger warnings: coping with the loss of a parent

MOSTLY CHARMING.

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This has been sitting on my TBR for YEARS. I can’t even remember who recommended it and why, but there it sat until I was reminded that it was there. I wasn’t wholly disappointed, so that’s fine.

The very first thought I had was this is like Outlander. We have a time-traveling woman fall in love with a man from 200 years prior. I couldn’t help but compare the two. There were some different aspects to the story though, which allowed me to enjoy this for what it was.

I thought the romance was cute, and I was enjoying the development of it. They had some charming banter, and even in insta-love world it wasn’t bad. What frustrated me was the amount of time skipping that happened. Weeks would go by between each chapter and apparently the couple was more in love! Yes, that does make sense, but I wanted to see those interactions!!?

It kind of cracked me up how easily James accepted Emme’s time traveling ways. He was a charming character though and I thought he was precious. The ending was cute and everything I thought it needed. I wish I had known prior that this is a STANDALONE that’s part of a series (different main character for each book). I know this would have helped me accept the timeline a lot more smoothly.

Overall audience notes:
- Historical fiction romance + time traveling
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses

UNIMPRESSED.

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We had a pretty good start then things just went downhill.

I liked the beginning. It was cute! Meeting at college, getting to know a new country and being truly on Rebecca’s own (without her twin). I honestly thought this would have been dragged out longer over the course of the book. Mostly because I was leaning towards that being that point of this romance. How they met, fell in-love, etc. What I got was…not what I was expecting.

About halfway is when things sunk, but I was far enough in that I decided to go ahead and finish it out. The Royal We could have easily been 100 pages (at least) shorter. There was an incredible amount of focus on the media. I understand that it plays a big role in all of their lives, but with how much it was discussed it got boring and repetitive. Not to mention the only characters I liked were Cilla and Gaz. And they were side characters.

Not to mention, with the way it ended, I think it as meant to be romantic and spontaneous. What it really portrayed was a relationship with a bunch of band-aids. There wasn’t enough of the romance with Nick and Rebecca having sincere and productive conversations about their difficulties.

I really just struggled with this one for a lot of reasons and I don’t want to continue listing them. This wasn’t the romantic normal girl turns princess trope I was hoping for.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary fiction + romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: kisses / make-outs; a lot of closed door scenes
- Trigger warnings: loss of a parent, and a parent suffering from mental health issues

SOME GOOD.

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I liked this book. I did, just some main character issues that were hard to continue to look past as the book went on.

Harley was so intensely selfish, the entire book. Everything she did hurt someone around her and she would acknowledge this, but then do nothing to work on changing and growing from her choices. Maybe by the end were some new insights from Harley. By then though, I was over her attitude and her treatment of others.

I did love the circus theme. It’s a small sub-genre I also enjoy. I like the setting and all of the magical acts and characters that come with it. Harley’s coworkers were fun and helped find her footing after she had ran off.

The romance was cute! I enjoyed the slow movement and how it didn’t overtake the story since this wasn’t a romance at its heart. Harley had to learn a lot while she was on her own and did at least get something out of it.

Harley, biracial, often felt disconnected with her cultures and a large family pulling her different ways. I really liked this diversity aspect and conversations she had with herself and others. I loved that by the end she had started to find herself and where she fit in and how she could feel like she was apart of her family.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult contemporary fiction
- Language: some mild
- Romance: kisses
- Trigger/Content warnings: some suicide ideation, and discussion of mental health (anxiety and depression)

NO SURPRISE, I LOVED THIS.

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I’m a Colleen Hoover fan for life, this is a fact.

Once again, I’m here with a broken heart, that has been stitched back together by the kind of soul-searching contemporary romance I didn’t know I was craving. This had the lows and highs and all the inbetween.

I adored these characters and felt for them in their struggles and trials. I won’t be able to ever understand the choices and reasons that they made them, and that really pulled on me. Desperation for hope and a step forward had me tearing up. I cared for everyone involved (even the side character) and just felt this entire book.

For Samson and Beyah to have a romance over the summer and for be to not even feel a *twinge* of insta-love is all I ever want in a faster-paced romance. They truly connected and came together in more ways than one. I loved their relationship, and even when it was making me frustrated, I understood, and that’s the important part.

The ending was beautiful and romantic, and I let out the biggest sigh and broke out in a huge smile. For 250 pages, this book will hit you hard, and make everything positive in the end.

Overall audience notes:
- New adult contemporary romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: kisses / make-outs; a few open door, mild-detailed scenes
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a parent, death by drug overdose, sexual assault and harassment (including that of a minor), extreme poverty

LATEST OBESSSION.

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Hello there, yes you. Have you read this yet? Are you reading trying to decide if you should? WELL I’M GOING TO TELL YOU THAT YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD.

It took months of convincing and seeing it around Bookstagram to finally read this. And I can’t believe I waited so long because I loved it!

The romance for this was perfectly choreographed. That first seen between Hawke and Poppy? Hot dang. I looooved the banter and heated moments. The quiet murmurings and clear intent. It had some ACOMAF and The Bridge Kingdom vibes and if you’ve ever read anything of mine, you know I love those books. This gets added to New Adult Fantasy Romance favorite list.

I only ever struggled a tiny bit with the world-building. It wasn’t until the second half when the rest of the story began unfolding that I really understood what was happening and where the pieces fit. I had been confused about all the different creatures, but can say I have grasped it all.

You can see the major reveal coming from awhile away, but that never detracted from the story. I actually liked how it was laid out and even though I knew it was coming it still dragged at my heart and made me excited to see what happened next. I have so many questions for the sequel!?

This was just a gem of a book that needs more love. Highly recommend if this is a favored genre of yours!!

Overall audience notes:
- New adult fantasy romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: kisses / make-outs; a few open door scenes, mildly detailed
- Violence: bloody, gory and definitely violent; battle scenes, physical, murder, assault
- Trigger warnings: sexual assault and harassment

A MIDDLE BOOK.

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First and foremost, I love this series. This book? A bit slow compared to the previous four.

I felt like it took until 600 pages before I was really wrapped up into it. While that’s clearly a long time to wait, It’s still just a book I can listen to and really get into. I like listening to the narrator. I love hearing the story and even when things aren’t as eventful, I enjoy being in the mundane-ness because I love Claire, Jamie, Roger and Bri.

There was a lot of random (to me) love scenes. I don’t inherently have a problem with them, I just personally like them to fit into the story rather than feel like they’re put their for page time. These felt more page time which is what took so long before the drama really started going down.

I liked what The Fiery Cross set up. Getting closer to the Revolutionary War is only going to increase many story lines and plots. There’s plenty of loose ends running around that I’m excited to get to the next book. Especially because one of my FAVORITE characters is back!!

For 1,000 pages I know I should [could?] have a lot more to say, but this series thrives off of keeping things as spoiler-free as possible. Since this is book 5 of 8 (or maybe more now!) I want to keep it brief.

Overall audience notes:
- Historical fiction / romance
- Language: some strong throughout
- Romance: open and closed door scenes throughout
- Violence: battles, physical, guns, hangings, animal attacks, snake bites, murder