lisaluvsliterature's Reviews (4.19k)

I did ask the publisher if I could get an advanced review copy of this because I have enjoyed this author’s books in the past. I also was in the mood for a good horror story, and the books I’ve read by her in the past worked for me in that way. This is basically a Baba Yaga story, and I guess if I’d realized that, I might not have requested it, with my past experiences with that type of story. I did finish it in the end, so yay me for pushing through instead of DNFing like normally I would.

It definitely has some horror in it, the woods, the Count and the castle she ends up living in. There the family is keeping their father’s corpse sitting in the dining room until a magician/magical person that lives with them can supposedly bring him back to life. The people in the family that Valla thinks might actually be on her side may not be, and those she is unsure of trusting in the end may come through. There are all kinds of creatures as well that are grotesque and horrifying. Not to mention things the Count does as a “gift” for his bride, and even things we learn later when she is fighting back that were done, definitely all count as horror.

For me there was so much of the fantasy world in it, all the long descriptions, the things that take me out of the story. I get it, those are what you get in this type of story. But it makes it so slow for me to get through. Very slow for me to read, so much so that I was ready to take a nap after forcing myself to get through to the very end.

All that said, if you enjoy that kind of fantasy world, that kind of descriptive horror story, this is probably a book for you. And you might enjoy it so much more than I did!

Between the 3rd person POV and the fact that I'm not the hugest fan of rock star/musician romances, I just couldn't get into it.

I love this author, but just could not get into this story.  

I honestly don’t feel that Meghan Quinn can do any story wrong these days. They always surprise me and I can say this one was perfection. Yes we have all the tropes we’ve seen before: one bed, fake marriage, best friend’s brother, forced proximity, etc. But Quinn takes them and makes them more. Sure I knew that the whole fake marriage thing had to come out at some point, and I could see all the ways it was going to happen and the drama it would create. However, when it did come out it was nothing like you usually see, totally not the way I saw it coming out. And it did not create that usual drama for drama’s sake that I tend to dislike so much.

First the story starts off perfectly, getting to know Scottie as she starts her new job. As someone who has always been single, never married, I kind of got the feeling out of place with everyone being married. But of course Scottie’s reasons for feeling that way turn out to be much different than mine. But wow, her claiming to be married in that situation is crazy! When she comes in to tell her friend Mika and Denise, then Mika has the solution with his brother Wilder.

Wilder is so funny. A millionaire, sold an app, and now is just exploring the things he wants to. Like improv. Of course all of his talk about that, “just say yes”, makes me think about the time Penny was trying to teach Sheldon about acting on The Big Bang Theory. And boy does Wilder say yes to any and every opening that comes up in first the marriage counseling session, followed by the camp that they end up going to, with all of Scottie’s hated co-workers.

You could honestly call the camp, and their cabin, a separate character in the story! The sex cabin, as they call it, comes with all kinds of toys and other sensual accessories, artwork, etc. Turns out the other campers, Scottie’s co-workers, have attended the camp before and it is the cabin everyone wants. Scottie and Wilder are able to push forward and win the competitions, winning prizes some of the other campers really wanted and making some mad. But to keep up their fake marriage ruse, they have to fight and argue. And oh my gosh, the fighting, so hilarious the things they say and come up with. But it turns out that both of them have actual past experiences or issues that seem to come up in the arguing. And Sanders, Scottie’s boss’ husband, also the marriage counselor, helps them figure these things out.

Of course while Scottie has her reasons that make a lot of sense, Wilder’s reasons seem a little less solid, and it is easy to see why Scottie is afraid he could hurt her if he doesn’t figure them out. Even when he is showing her how he feels and doing all the things that should show her he means it. It is easy to understand why she feels like once they get back to the “real world” away from the isolated camp vibe perfect for exploring that he might decide he doesn’t really feel as strongly as he seems to. And when they’re made up marriage comes out, like I said at the beginning of my review, it is done so unusually from other stories like this that I really was intent on reading and seeing where the author was going to take the story from there.

The bucket list they made was fun once they got back to NYC. And as much as I love going to the movies, I’ve never actually done the M&M’s in the popcorn trick, so now I want to try that. Oh, and the two have their love of Nerd gummi clusters, which I’ve developed a bit myself since my niece and nephew introduced me to them earlier this year.

As I said, I loved this story, I think Meghan Quinn has created a perfect romance, with lots of work, nothing is too easy which is so realistic in my opinion. And oh my gosh, the steamy bits? Towards the last third of the book! I was fanning myself! So much love for this book!

The first book in this new series, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, came out last year and I was eager to read about Gio’s sister getting her own HEA. Luca was a total sweetie with a fun banter game. There was the usual thing you get in a story where the love interest is on a team with a brother. Gio has told all his teammates that his sister Nova is off limits. And of course he’s told her to stay away from them as well. 

The match on the dating app starts the whole relationship with some fun back and forth and a first meet up that is a NON date. At the Rainforest Cafe. Do they still have those? Those were always fun to take kids to back when they had them here. A second date starts at a grocery store with an “accidental” meet-up, followed by going back and cooking at Nova’s place.

So most of this is keeping the romance a secret, which means both from her brother, but also obviously from everyone because if a picture got out to the press, of course her brother would find out. This would also be a he falls first story, as he is the first one to say it and really is ready to show it and tell her brother and get it out in the open. It is understandable why Nova is unsure about going further based on her past relationships, as well as what happened to her and Gio’s parents. There was a little bit about Luca’s family in the story too, so it is also easy to see why he is at first a little hesitant, even if he gets over it pretty quickly. 

Like pretty much every other story by this author, once the story gets steamy, we get a lot of that, almost always just right there on the page, so if that’s not your thing, this might not be for you. I’m also noticing that this latest series has completely different types of guys than her earlier series had. I mean I guess when you look at the series title from before, D-bag, you kind of get that, lol. And while I do love a guy like this, I also have a little trouble with this many guys being softies and not at all like you’d expect the ego of a pro-hockey player/athlete to be? It’s almost a little too easy for me? I also would have liked a little more of Luca’s background maybe? I don’t know if I missed it maybe, but I’d have loved some more on him like we got from Gio and Nova’s side. 

I am really enjoying this series though, love this hockey team and am very excited to see Nova’s best friend Poppy’s story coming in book 3!

I think I was in a bit of a reading slump when I first picked this up, so while it took me a minute to get into, once I had some time to sit and read, it was definitely making me laugh out loud at times. Once I got into it I was hooked thought. I loved the banter between Ava and Finn. I love the reverse grumpy-sunshine type of trope, where the man is the sunshine. Maybe because at times I am definitely the grumpy person? I don’t know. But Finn was adorable. Both of them had their attachment and commitment issues, both family related really as opposed to too much relationship causes.

Finn gives away more about his family dynamics early on in the story and it is easy to see why he does things the way he does. Ava’s reasons get shared a little later, but oh once they do, I was definitely in tears at those points of the book. Finn’s friends are fun, the add to the parts of the story that they are in, although I feel like the story gives us more time with Ava and her friends and family. But we do get parts of the story from both of their POVs.

Finn’s bucket list was a blast and I love the way he would add things as he heard about them. I definitely loved the whole spend the night in the natural history museum activity they did. I keep hearing about those and wish I lived in Chicago or New York so I could go do one of those! Ava’s outlook on working at the coffee shop was hilarious, and there was one thought she had that resonated so much with me. Because when I worked at the bookstore, and even occasionally as a librarian, when people come interrupt me doing one part of my job, I’ll get irritated, but then I have to remind myself it is actually all part of my job.

“How dare they, a customer, approach me, an employee, requesting the service I am paid to provide?”

I had a lot of giggles with this one, like I said, the banter was perfection.

“You know, dicks are objectively kind of hideous, but yours could be a lot worse.”

“I’m really gonna miss that way with words.”

I’ve also learned about a lot of places that maybe I’ll go to London to visit some day! I mean I have a sister living in Scotland, I should be able to do that too! I think this is a first book for this author, but I hope I get the chance to read more!

I wasn’t able to read the first book in this series yet, although I wanted to because I really enjoy this author’s books! So when I was able to fit this one in, I jumped at the chance to read it. First of all, a town with wild guinea pigs? Um, how do I get there? I love those little animals!

Then we have our couple, the banter between them was so much fun, so many times I giggled aloud as I was reading. Since I didn’t read the first book, I guess I might have missed more about what happened to make Natalie dislike or be mad with Miles. I mean it was basically explained that he not only left and never contacted her even after she reached out, but that he supposedly took credit for something of hers. That’s how we start the story. But Natalie didn’t quite see things clearly, she worried the people in the town would not want her if she continued to be a burden as she felt she’d been since her parents died and she ended up kind of stuck in town. So she wants to date the mayor’s son, who everyone thinks she saved, but she knows it wasn’t really her, and we don’t find out more about that till about 3/4 of the way though.

Then there’s Miles who seems like the type of guy that just isn’t going to be around. He even says he doesn’t stick around. But we can totally see how much he is interested in Natalie, and how much she grows on him as they spend more time together. The things he does for her, how he cares for her, and is there when she needs someone. As angry as she is at him, she is still able to open up to him in ways that she isn’t able to do with other people very easily. So when he asks for her help with what he is back in town for, she asks him to help her get the date with the mayor’s son, something her shyness just doesn’t seem to let her get done on her own.

Of course the more time they spend together the more they realize how they feel about each other. As you would expect. And of course the town really does love Natalie. Another sweet love story, with a bit of spice from Piper Sheldon.