Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ALC.

HOLY DRAGON.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

This book owns me. I am devastated. I will not recover. I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH.

Brief audio notes interlude: Love the narrator!! Would have loved a little more Teddy Hamilton (but maybe that’s coming in book two??) Any who, it was a fantastic listen and highly recommend that option!

BACK TO THE BOOK.

I don’t even know where to begin because I have been an incomprehensible mess since finishing. Flailing around about how incredible this book was. I LOVED the FMC, Violet. The way she exhibited strength outside the standard “muscles and weapons” nature was great. I thought she was clever and full of heart and just an all around get main character.

AND THE ROMANCE? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? A beautiful enemies to lovers slow burn that will have you absolutely BEGGING for more. I loved the build and the chemistry. Watching the sparks fly and ignite. There were some scenes towards the end that put me in an chokehold and this is why FANTASY ROMANCE IS THE BEST.

The plot is intriguing and opened up a whole can of worms that I can’t wait to see explored in the sequel. I enjoyed all of the betrayals, reveals, announcements, politicking and more. It was seamless and deserves all the hype it’s been given because it is WORTH IT.

DON’T MISS OUT.

Overall audience notes:
- Fantasy Romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: 2-3 open door
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: war themes, loss of loved ones, loss of life, physical and magical altercations, weapons violence, bullying 

I’m pretty sure this is my first Peter Pan retelling and it did not disappoint!! I had a great time reading this and absolutely loved the combination of fae and 1920’s London. Historical fantasies are a new favorite sub-genre of mine and this is one that must be read by all!

I really liked the main characters Evie and Charlie. Both out there doing their best and also making some mistakes. I enjoy seeing flawed characters and the ups and downs of progression throughout. Romantically, I loved the slow burn between them and thought it was all very sweet and I am rooting for them come book two!

There were many interesting plot twists and turns and I would be curious to see more of the fae lands in the next book. I didn’t always love the frenemies group that Charlie and Evie ran around with though. They just weren’t my favorite.

It’s a fantastic debut and series starter book. I liked the pacing and that I felt engaged to the story the entire time. The little historical tidbits like boxing, speakeasy’s, and more rounded out this book incredibly well.

I’m so curious what will happen next!!

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

LOVED THE MAGIC SYSTEM.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

This book was a great young adult fantasy series starter. I love Nicki Pau Preto’s previous series (Crown of Feathers) and I can see how Bonesmith will be setting up for its own epic tale.

I loved Wren as the FMC. She’s filled with strengths and flaws that we get to see play out over the book. I like when characters don’t always make the right choice and you get to see the repercussions and reparations made. There were a lot of good reveals as the ending pages concluded and it makes me all the more excited to see what book two holds.

The romance with Julian was a lot less angsty than I was thinking it would be, BUT it really grew on me and I thought it was sweet. There’s so much more to their dynamic and relationship in general that had me enjoying them from start to finish.

For the plot, consider me INTRIGUED. I love this magic system with all of the different smith’s and how those actions have played into the present situation. I think it’ll be really cool to see more of the smith’s in book two and how could I forget? ALL OF THE GHOSTS. The ghosts were their own compelling little side plot that was super interesting.

Really looking forward to the next book.

Overall audience notes:
- Young Adult Fantasy
- Language: a little strong
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: physical and magical altercations, blood depiction, near death experiences, loss of parents, war themes 

BARELY SURVIVED.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

I don’t really have a lot to say for this one, so it’ll be short and not that sweet.

I’ve heard that these middle books are a slog and that’s how I feel each time. How many more do I have to go?! This felt really rambling and not all that memorable. I spent a lot of time wondering where Rand was and what he was up too. I wish there was a better balance of character points of view. The random ones + the regular main characters + everything else just gets overly complicated FAST.

Character development was low, not much happened and I am ready to move on to the next book. Thank goodness for audiobooks I can speed up.

Overall audience notes:
- Fantasy
- Language: a little
- Romance: Closed door
- Violence: high 

Reread August 2023: Picked the audio up on Netgalley because I love this book and these narrators WERE AMAZING.

Thank you to the author for an eARC!

ABSOLUTELY LOVED.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

This book has my whole heart and is Leah Brunner’s best book yet.

I LOVED Mitch. I loved his grumpy nature and his cinnamon roll center. The positive mental health conversations and therapy discussions were amazing and one of my favorite aspects. I also loved Andie. She was a wonderful FMC who did her best to look for things to be grateful for and was just someone I really wanted to be friends with.

All of the hockey dynamics were woven just right and I couldn’t get enough. Alongside the games was the best cast of side characters and teammates. I love them all and I loved every time they popped up. I’m already excited for the next book.

Noah was one of the sweetest kids I’ve read. I loved him too (see a theme?). He added so much to the story and I loved his placed between Andie and Mitch.

I need to address the third act too!!! It was PERFECT. Instead of a breakup that wouldn’t make sense it was more of a *take a breath* moment. I could rave all day just about this scene and the follow through. GAH THIS WHOLE BOOK WAS MAGNIFICENT.

Read and love it with me!!

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Sports Romance
- Language: very little
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: low
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents, scenes involving therapy, parental abandonment, an incarcerated parent, brief physical altercations, bullying 

I just didn't get a single thing out of this. It was literally a murder mystery dinner party. And that was it. I wish it had truly added to the series as a whole.

Thank you to the author for an ALC!

THE MUTUAL PINING.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

I thought the pining would destroy me. HOW DID IT NOT. Nash and Maddie were madly in love since children and it shows and I was just happy to be here and watch them realize it. There’s something really great about a childhood friends to lovers trope that brings all of that angst. Shouting at your book WHEN WILL YOU KISS.

This family is my favorite. There’s a lot of terrible people in this book, but the Hartley family is the sweetest and I love the unconditional support that helps brings Maddie back from the brink. I was obsessed with Nash’s protective hero streak and that Maddie was at last able to take some control of her life.

When the suspense ramps up it got even better. While I was expecting some level of it, the second round had me WORRIED. I love that this added an extra dose of me being on edge. I love how fast paced and well crafted each of these books are. Another great read, can’t wait for the next!!

Overall audience notes:
- Romantic Suspense
- Language: some strong
- Romance: 2 open door
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: attempted murder, domestic abuse, gun violence, murder, stalking, near death experiences 

GREW ON ME.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

Who knew I would have to wait SO LONG for these two to actually meet? And who I would kind of be into it? This is definitely very heavy on epistolary elements but as the pages went by I started to realize that I was invested in how adorable these two were. There was something magic about connecting through writing before Aaron and Ruby had a chance to meet.

I liked that this had it’s own vibe. It’s different than other romances I’ve read and I FELT for both of these characters. It’s a simple romance read without a lot of heavy plot dynamics. Aaron and Ruby fell in love in this precious way that I connected a lot with.

The ending was a little abrupt for me and I wish we could have seen a little bit more (and the rest is redacted for spoiler reasons). I’ve had this sitting on my TBR for so long and I’m glad I got to it! I wouldn’t call it my FAVORITE of MZ’s books but it is highly enjoyable and brought a smile to my face. Aaron is straight swoony with his words and I was melting many times over.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Romance
- Language: light, but strong
- Romance: one open door
- Violence: low
- Trigger/Content Warnings: discussion of deployment and some mentions of war themes, absent mother 

WOW.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

This was so good!! I picked this up in a backlist reading moment and I was enraptured by this story. This is my second book by Sowards and I am becoming very committed to everything she writes. I love her multiple POV style and how you get a bit of every angle of the unique historical settings her stories are about.

I loved the complexity of emotions and decisions. I felt like the whole cast was trying their best in an impossible situation. The ups and downs all felt true to the nature of the time and setting. It’s intense and hard and brought out a lot of emotions. I did not want to stop listening because I needed to know where things were going.

The bravery and resilience of everyone who defended their land was soul inspiring. As thousands of enemy soldiers drew closer the group inside found ways to work together and save what they could. It showcased heroes on every level and that even if you’re only stitching sand bags together, IT MATTERS. This was clearly intricately researched and I appreciated the effort and love that went into crafting this story.

Overall audience notes:
- Historical Fiction + Romance
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: war themes, loss of life, near death experiences, blood/gore depiction, murder 

ALL THE STARS FOR TREY.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

This book was a good time and the lighter escapism read I was hoping for when it landed on my kindle. I LOVE sports romances and was ecstatic a closed door author I adore wrote one.

For the football aspects, I thought there was a perfect blend of Trey’s life and practices, games and such, but never so much to take over the point of the story, the romance. Easily one of the highlightable features of the plot. I have been missing football and this helped quench that!

I LOVED TREY. He was the shining beacon throughout the entire book. I loved how nervous he got trying to talk to Whitney. I loved how hard he worked for their relationship and the truly genuine good soul he has. He’s got that big golden retriever energy that never gets old to me. I want to soak up that optimism he holds on to so well.

Whitney was where I ran into issues. I was surprised at her reasoning for breaking up with Trey and how poorly it came off for her character growth. I understand some of her side of the story but I wish Whitney herself had put more effort into the relationship or at least apologizing in general.

In the end though, I loved this book. I needed something quick and enjoyable that made me laugh and grin and OH EM GEE I FORGOT TO MENTION THE KISSING SCENES. Absolutely the hottest thing about this book. Perfectly executed closed door romance kisses are my kryptonite and I was begging for them to kiss and THEY SURE DANG DID.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Sports Romance
- Language: very little
- Romance: kisses
- Trigger/Content Warnings: absent parents, divorce (mentioned)