4.5 stars

INCREDIBLY CHARMING.

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I was swept away by this book y’all! It was my first by this author and will not be my last. I loved how swoony this was and the 50’s lifestyle nonsense that came into play. I thought it was done in good humor and not overly in your face. It made the whole plot clever and sweet.

Jack was the best. Goodness gracious, he’s one of the those fantastic love interests that you can’t get enough of. He was kind hearted and loveable and really looked out for Cassidy and WANTED to be with her, and that’s my favorite kind of vibe. This also had my favorite level of heat with low, slow burn spice.

There was one small issue I had with the third act conflict that made me cranky. I just couldn’t follow the thought process. But I will say the reunion and communication (at last) that came later was wonderful.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Romance
- Language: low-moderate
- Romance: 1-2 open; low explicit 

4.5 stars

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

SO CLEVER.

I absolutely loved this whole entire concept. It was insanely clever and I was busting up laughing within the first few chapters. The dry wit and humor was played well.

I really adored Clementine. The anxiety rep was great and I felt connected to the ups and downs and feeling “boring” and finding where you want to be. Wow did that hit home on many levels of my soul.

The romance with Alaric was sweet. It’s the best kind of slow burn. I was looking for a little bit *more* in the first half, but I adored the way things progressed in the second half. And I found the ending to have a lot of great themes and endearing moments to both characters and what they wanted out of life and how they found a way to do that together.

There’s some cute small town antics and I loved the little oceanside area. This was another wonderful book by Mitchell and I am just easily charmed by the sweetness with a touch of magic her books provide.

Overall audience notes:
- Magical Realism Contemporary Romance
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses 

 MEH.

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That’s how this book made me feel. And honestly even sitting here writing this review after just finishing the book I don’t have a lot to say? It kind of went in one ear and out the other without ever engaging me.

The general idea and story line were interesting. I liked the underwater dystopian aspects and the diving was cool too.

What I didn’t like was the main character. I found her constantly frustrating. Every time I thought we were moving steps forward she flung herself backwards and I was exhausted by the end of it to where I just didn’t care what happens.

Overall audience notes:
- YA Fantasy Dystopian
- Language: moderate
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: moderate 

Thank you Courtney Millecam and Book of Matches Media for the gifted copy & eARC.

WHERE IS BOOK THREE.

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This was incredible! There is absolutely no second book syndrome here. I thought everything was taken to the next level. The writing, the characters, the story, all of it.

I adored seeing all of the subtle allusions to Alice in Wonderland. It was so cleverly accomplished and had all of the elements I love in a retelling while still being a completely different story. I loved Alice and seeing her character growth throughout the book. She found her voice and deep dived into how strong she can be in the face of multiple trials.

And the side characters!! I’m especially partial to Ches. I loved his friendship with Alice. I feel like often with competition style plots the story can get bogged down in all of the different games, and this was not the case here. I loved how the sub-plots and the larger story kept moving forward. I loved the nods to where this series is going next.

Seriously an incredible read. I love so many things about this series!

Overall audience notes:
- YA Historical Fantasy
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: moderate 

A LOT OF LYING.

This felt way too condensed. To even add in a third act breakup in a 70 page novella? After one day? And everyone was lying?

So many things did not work for me in this one. I’d say this is my least favorite of the bunch. 

 This felt like it was missing A LOT to actually make the story work.
The flashback chapters weren't that helpful either. 

Eh, no.

 3.5 stars

LOST ME.

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There was nothing inherently WRONG with this book, it just lost me in the middle so much that I don’t think I ever recovered. The initial premise was intriguing, and then everything felt…predictable. I could map this out and with nothing holding it up otherwise things started to drag.

The main character finally gets around to doing something. There’s a cute little slow burn romance. A found family and an evil queen. A lot of the hallmark moments you see in young adult fantasy. I thought the audio narrator did a fantastic job though.

Will I read more by this author? I’m not sure yet.

Overall audience notes:
- YA Fantasy
- Language: none-low
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: high 

 Thank you to the publisher for an eARC.

IT WAS GOOD.

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That’s how I generally feel every time I finish a Finlay book. Yes, I had a good time, but it’s also still missing something. Maybe better romantic development? I think I’m still getting hung up on the deliberate lying.

But this was fun. I liked the change of location and the way this was laid out. I loved seeing things all come together for the final showdown. There was a lot of good humor and enjoyment and I did like many of the Finlay moments we got. The complicated situations really went haywire here and I will say I was actually surprised by one big turning point.

An amusing installment, but kind of wondering where it’s going to go from here? What’s the end game? Will the things I’m looking for finally happen? I don’t know, this is where I start to struggle with cozy-type mystery series like this.

Overall audience notes:
- Mystery
- Language: low
- Romance: fade to black
- Violence: moderate-high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: gun violence, murder, kidnapping 

Thank you Catherine Cowles for the ALC!

WORTH THE WAIT.

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Ohhhh I have been anxiously waiting for this final book for the Lost & Found series and I loved it, PER USUAL. It had all of my favorite hallmark Catherine Cowles moments and had me in a chokehold all day (yes, I listened to this in one day, I can’t be stopped — second note: these books are FABULOUS on audio). My favorite part of these books is the gasp, or I KNEW IT, that flies out of my mouth every time we get to that big reveal.

I loved the slow burn progression of Lawson and Hallie. Watching that soul mate type of bond cement between them was everrrrrrything. Gosh I loved it. And I am such a sucker for any and all protective hero types. And I got MULTIPLE scenes in that vein which made me a very happy reader.

The sub plots were touching and heartfelt and I loved how those wove back in to the main romance. I am in love with this entire family, all of these characters and I loved seeing everyone again.

Overall audience notes:
- Romantic Suspense
- Language: moderate strong
- Romance: 2-3 brief open door
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: active serial killer, torture, near death experiences, weapons and gun violence, physical altercations