I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

I honestly don’t know where to start. Up to this point, every book by Debbie Mason I’ve really enjoyed. I enjoy the small town setting, the life-like characters and their banter, and the romance. Each of her couples are unique, playing off each other’s strengths and the chemistry is usually off the charts. However I felt like all of that was lacking in Sugarplum Way.

Julia is one of my favorite female characters in Harmony Harbor so I was really excited to see her story. I mean she’s a bookaholic, how could I not love and identify with her?! Introverted, quirky, and shy, Julia is me on the pages. She’s great with kids, get her around adults and she clams up….yep that pretty much sounds like a description of me. She also happens to be a romance writer who uses a pseudonym. I loved this twist with Julia’s character. It added layers to her. Guilt from her fiancé’s death haunts her, and while she may be ready to move on with her life, she isn’t ready to leave him behind yet either.

Aiden Gallagher is my favorite brother. I’ve been looking forward to his story as much as I was looking forward to Julia’s. To pair them together, I thought would be gold. Not quite the case. Aiden is really struggling. His ex is keeping his daughter from him and trying to manipulate him into another marriage. He resists but is miserable without his daughter. On top of that he has a temper and as a police officer this keeps him in hot water. I felt really bad for Aiden but also I couldn’t understand how blind he was to what was right in front of him.

Now onto the plot/romance of the book. As I said earlier, pairing Aiden and Julia should have been perfect. However it didn’t play out that way. In the previous books of the series, you could feel the tension and chemistry between the characters. There was none of that between Aiden and Julia. Also it felt overdone. The plot, the twists, the romance….it was like deja vu. I’ve read this story before. In fact a similar situation happens in one of Mason’s Christmas, Colorado books. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, it’s just it was much better the first time.

Overall, Sugarplum Way was just okay for me. While I enjoyed some aspects, specifically Aiden reading some of Julia’s work, I didn’t enjoy the romance or the weird plot twist at the end. That just wasn’t necessary…just saying. Would I recommend it? Yeah, just because I didn’t love it doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy some parts of it. Will I read more of the series? Absolutely. I still love the small town setting and the quirky characters that come with it.

This review is hard to write because while I really enjoyed Wanted by Betsy Schow, I was also really lost through the first half or longer of the book. Wanted picks up not long after the end of [b:Spelled|24380140|Spelled (The Storymakers, #1)|Betsy Schow|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420756368s/24380140.jpg|43962998] and is told entirely from Rexi’s perspective which is part of the reason I was thrown. To be honest this wasn’t my first attempt at reading it. I tried to read the book prior to it’s release last year, but was so lost I gave up. This year I bought the audio and listened and I’m so glad that I did!

Rexi is not an easy character to like. Her betrayal of Dorthea in the first book, her resentment towards her situation, and her woe-is-me attitude really grated my nerves. Not only that, but it seems as if she hasn’t learned her lesson. She is willing to do whatever it takes to be free of the fire opal that is tied to her life spark. I find it interesting that despite everything that has happened to her up to this point, she still doesn’t trust her new friends, which leads her to betraying them yet again.

I think my biggest issue with the book is how little I remember from [b:Spelled|24380140|Spelled (The Storymakers, #1)|Betsy Schow|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420756368s/24380140.jpg|43962998]. I could have really benefitted from a little recap. I was so lost at the beginning and it didn’t help that the narrator was the mean girl from the first book. Then throw in a different setting such as the Sherwood Forest and Camelot instead of Oz and I was really lost. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the Camelot mythology being included in the story, but it didn’t mesh with Dorthea’s Emerald Kingdom at all.

So at the end of the first book, Blanc is released from her prison, but still has her bindings in place so she cannot access all her magic. And we know that Rexi is being haunted by Morte, basically he’s the Grimm Reaper. Rexi died six times in the first book, every time Dorothea brought her back. I thought it was odd and couldn’t have imagined how she felt. Then this book opens with her dying again and we get to see it from her POV. I was a little horrified that each time she died Morte forced her to cut away a piece of her life line, losing a memory and in the process getting more of Dorothea’s memories and feelings. You can guess how bad that will end.

Overall I powered through Wanted listening to it in one sitting and I’m glad I did. While I was confused at the beginning, I found myself falling back into the story and remembering the characters and some of their hi-jinx from the previous book. However, I didn’t love Rexi, at least not at first. I will admit that by the end I enjoyed her character more than I ever did Dorthea. I would recommend to those that enjoyed the first book to give this book a chance and stick with it til the half way mark. If you can make it past that the story picks up and feels more familiar. Plus that ending!!! I immediately went and started reading the next book because I needed to know what happened. And let me tell you it’s worth the confusion of this book.

Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell is the second book in Disney’s A Twisted Tale series. Each book in the series takes a beloved fairy tale and asks one “what if” question. This one is about Sleeping Beauty and asks the question “what if sleeping beauty didn’t wake up?” Personally I love these. They are cleverly written and take a realistic approach to the fantasy….well as realistic as you can get when fairies are involved.

Aurora is an interesting character. She doesn’t know she’s asleep. Instead she believes she is living under Maleficent’s rule and Maleficent is the good fairy. Her parents never wanted her and sent her to live with the fairies in the woods until Maleficent found her and brought her back to the castle. She trusts her, even loves her to an extent. But she is trapped within the castle walls and she longs to be free. Aurora also can’t reconcile her memories of things (specifically animals) that shouldn’t exist. As she begins to question everything she knows as truth, more memories confuse her and she flees finding her prince in the woods.

I enjoyed the twists and turns in this story. Nothing could be trusted as fact, and everything could be turned against you. Honestly this made for a very confusing read, but that also was the best part of it. I liked not knowing what was going to happen and I loved being kept on my toes for the entire read. Even though I’ve had an eARC of this book, I decided to purchase an audiobook and I’m glad I did. The narrator is fantastic and put the right emphasis on things that if I was reading I may not have caught.

Overall Once Upon a Dream was an enjoyable read. I liked the twist on the classic Sleeping Beauty story. But I think I loved Aurora. Despite her confusion, she was a force to be reckoned with and she came to terms with her life throughout the story. I would definitely recommend this for the younger teens and anyone who enjoys fairy tales.

I received an eARC of this book from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Perfection….I don’t know another word that best describes my experience reading Siobhan Davis's The Lost Savior. I make no secret my love for sci-fi and this book is the start of an amazing sci-fi series. At least I’m 99.999% sure it will be amazing. The Lost Savior hooked me during the first chapter and I could not sit it down. I devoured it and then promptly skimmed through a second time to catch more details.

Victoria King, Tori to her friends, is the main character and most of the story is told from her perspective. Tori is an athletic, confident teen in love who has her entire life planned out ahead of her when a life-threatening encounter with someone who can only be described as alien changes everything Tori knows about herself. Now she’s changing: running faster, healing overnight, hearing voices in her head. Seriously she’s freaked and wouldn’t you be?! She feels like she doesn’t fit into her skin anymore and is no longer the person she thought she was. It’s a scary situation for her and only made worse when four new guys arrive at her high school.

Dane, Maddox, Cooper, and Beckett cause a stir in Tori’s little community and bring upheaval to her life. I personally liked them all. I felt that Siobhan Davis did a good job introducing this reverse harem without it feeling dirty. Does that make sense? Each of the boys are unique and fully fleshed out, yet rely on one another to act as a whole unit. I loved this aspect of their characters. My favorite is probably Maddox because he is the muscle of the group, yet very bright and intuitive to Tori’s needs without being intrusive.

The plot revolves around Tori and her learning about her origin and powers. When the guys reveal who they are and why they are there, Tori fights it and I can’t blame her. She has a life and they are turning it on its head. What was right and good in Tori’s life no longer is and she feels helpless to stop it. I loved the alien element to the story. Sci-fi is one of my favorite genres and I love that Siobhan Davis is getting back to it. The world-building is only beginning in this book, but I have high hopes for the future of this series.

The only issue I took with this story was the added drama between Tori and her boyfriend. I felt it off from her character and it made me dislike her and him. Tori lies to him and strings him along while she grows closer to the new guys, and I felt it cheapened what the author was trying to convey about their relationship. This extra drama caused my eyes to roll once or twice.

Overall I loved The Lost Savior and after that ending I don’t know how I will be able to wait for book two. I’m curious to see where the story will go and hope for more world-building and aliens in the future. Full of action, drama, a little steamy romance, I cannot wait to see where Siobhan Davis will take me next. I highly recommend this book for those that enjoy science fiction, aliens, action, and romance.

I received an eARC of this book via Edelweiss. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Hunted by Meagan Spooner is a fantastic retelling of the beloved classic Beauty and the Beast. I devoured this book, listening to it in one day. I didn’t want to sit it down for even a minute. Thankfully with audiobooks you don’t have to sit it down, you can just take your speaker with you everywhere.

Yeva, our Beauty, is the youngest daughter to a wealthy merchantman in her town. Despite having everything she could ever want, Yeva longs for the forest and hunting with her father as she did when she was a child. When a business venture goes bad, she gets her wish. Losing everything they own, Yeva and her family move to her father’s hunting cabin. In the forest, Yeva still feels lonely, despite having her two elder sisters with her. She misses town, she misses her father who refuses to allow her to hunt, and she misses her would be suitor. When her father doesn’t return with his hunting dog, Yeva sets out to find him and so the story really begins.

I liked Yeva and disliked her, if that’s even possible. She was a greatly flawed character and yet she overcame those flaws making you like her. I think this quote really sums her up quite nicely:

She wept because she did not know what she wanted, and because she wanted everything.

Yeva longs for more, always more and each time she receives what she wanted, she isn’t happy and wants something else. I think the author did an amazing job in conveying that longing. It was easy to feel it, and as a reader, want it with Yeva and mourn when it doesn’t make her happy. The question quickly becomes what will make her happy.

The Beast was a conundrum for me, yet instantly I fell for him. He was just as flawed as Yeva and longing to break his curse no matter the cost. I loved how the author mixed his original tale with the Russian fairy tales The Firebird and Ivan. Not only did this help to solidify the setting of the Russian woods in winter but Yeva’s upbringing. I found it fascinating to view the Beast through Yeva’s eyes and as the reader realize how she slowly fell for him.

However if you are looking for romance, look elsewhere. This book does not focus on romance at all. Yeva is the heroine of the story and doesn’t need the Beast to save her. Instead she is saving him. She’s looking for what will make her happy. At first it’s hunting, then revenge, and ultimately finding the Beast. Yet none of these make her happy. Instead she learns a valuable lesson about living in the moment instead of always looking ahead.

Overall, I loved Hunted. I didn’t want to sit it down and I’m already making plans to read through it again at some point. Beauty and her Beast felt real while reading and you want them to live happily ever after in the end. I think that is the mark of a great story. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys fairy tale retellings with strong heroines and medieval Russian settings.

I received an eARC of this book from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

What an end to a pulse-pounding series! Annihilation by Michelle Bryan is the final book in the New Bloods Trilogy and I have to say I’m sad to see it end. I love this series so much! Picking up just a few weeks after the end of [b:Ascension|37839304|Ascension (New Bloods Trilogy #2)|Michelle Bryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1515234038s/37839304.jpg|47242808], Tara is training like she never has before. Learning to use her New Blood abilities Tara is ready to put an end to the Prezedant’s rule once and for all.

I loved Tara in this book! She has come so far as a character since [b:Awaken|37839321|Awaken (New Bloods, #1)|Michelle Bryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1515234266s/37839321.jpg|40206664]. In the first book, Tara was determined to find her family and return to the sand lands. Now she’s determined to protect her family and friends no matter the cost. She was untrusting of outsiders and now she’s become a symbol of hope. She is still unconfident and I find that endearing. After everything she has done and survived, she still doubts herself and her abilities. It’s learning to trust her friends that helps to build her confidence. This gradual progression is done wonderfully thought out the series and I loved seeing it culminate here.

Jax ♥︎ Oh Jax! Before I started this book, I decided to reread the previous two and I have to say I’d forgotten just how antagonistic he was towards Tara in the beginning. But it is so easy to recognize his antagonism for what it is: a crush. He would follow her to the ends of the earth and I love how easy that is to pick up for the reader yet so hard for Tara to see. He pushes her and makes her a better person. Isn’t that what we all want in our significant other and friends?

Then there’s Max, the Prezedant. I honestly loved how he is portrayed. He was the big bad throughout the series, never really encountered until the end of the last book. And now he is present, the ever-looming threat above Tara and her friends. He creates a rather intriguing sense of impending doom just at the mention of his name. But he is just a man, albeit a powerful man. I loved how he is brought into the story and such a big driving force of the plot.

The plot of the book is actually fairly simple: kill the prezedant. The playing out of the plot however takes Tara and her friends all over her small corner of the world. I loved it! I loved the answers to all the questions that have been plaguing me since the series began: what happened to the world? what/who created New Bloods? how did the prezedant come into power? It’s all answered and I was left with no questions by the end. I wanted more but that’s just because I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to these characters.

Overall I loved Annihilation. I wasn’t ready to see these characters’ ending but it is fantastic and well done. Michelle Bryan has created an unputdownable story in her New Bloods Trilogy. Tara and Jax, Finn, Ben, Tater, all of them have become so dear that I read with bated breath afraid at every turn of the page that I’d be forced to say goodbye. It was perfection! I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoy YA dystopias, however if you haven’t started the series, it is a must that you read these in order. Otherwise you will be lost. Start with [b:Awaken|37839321|Awaken (New Bloods, #1)|Michelle Bryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1515234266s/37839321.jpg|40206664], continue with [b:Ascension|37839304|Ascension (New Bloods Trilogy #2)|Michelle Bryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1515234038s/37839304.jpg|47242808], and finish with Annihilation. It will not disappoint!

I received an eARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

I had the pleasure of beta reading Ascension by Michelle Bryan back in April and I have been dying to share my thoughts with you all since! Ascension picks up just a few weeks after the events of [b:Awaken|25970470|Awaken (New Bloods, #1)|Michelle Bryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437767114s/25970470.jpg|40206664]. Tara is trying to learn more about her powers, Jax is gone, and Ben has been taken to the Prezedant’s city.

Please note that if you have not read book one of this series there may be minor spoilers in this review.

Tara is still one of my favorite heroines. She’s determined, fiercely loyal, and brave. She loves her little family: Mack (new character that I love, more on him in a minute), Tater, Finn, and Jax. AND she will get her other family back: Ben and the kids. Her fault is that she is so focused on finding Ben and the kids that she misses the bigger conflict and what her new blood status will mean to the Prezedant. Tara has no regard for her own safety and risks her life many times to save those she loves.

What I love about this series is the side characters. Michelle Bryan is awesome in that she’s created a great set of secondary characters that are fully developed and compliment the story and Tara. Mack was introduced near the end of [b:Awaken|25970470|Awaken (New Bloods, #1)|Michelle Bryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437767114s/25970470.jpg|40206664] and I fell in love with him! He’s a general for the Prezedant but also works within the rebellion, feeding them information and helping prisoners escape when he can. Now he’s training Tara to fight and I love it! Jax….*swoon* He’s perfectly annoying and unavailable and everything that would drive any girl of the same age crazy. I easily picked up on his feelings for Tara during the first book, but the author delves into it more this time and yes I most definitely swooned!

My biggest complaint during the first book was that there wasn’t a lot of world-building. While the author did create a magnificent dystopian world for our characters, there wasn’t much information about how that world was created. Michelle answered those questions in this book AND it was well worth the wait! I love the background to how society became so underdeveloped, how the new bloods were created, and how the Prezedant seems to never age. Those questions are answered in such detail and it adds SO much to the story that I’m on pins and needles waiting for the conclusion!

Overall I enjoyed this addition to the New Bloods Trilogy. I love Tara, I LOVED the little triangle the author sets up among Tara, Ben, and Jax, AND I adore the series arch. I can’t wait to read more and find out what all Tara is capable of. If you enjoy young adult, science fiction, dystopians, than this series is for you!

I received an eARC of this book via I am a Reader. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Love, love, love this book!! #Starstruck by Sariah Wilson is the first book in a new contemporary romance series called #Lovestruck and the first of this author I’ve read. Don’t worry, I’ll be correcting that very soon 😀 This book had it all: drama, swoony moments, sweet (and some steamy) kisses, and the best book boyfriend ever!

An innocent tweet turns Zoe Miller’s life upside down. An extreme introvert, Zoe is happy to be the wallflower. Nearing the end of college, she is working hard to attain her dream of working for a local nonprofit. Then the tweet happens. She answers her childhood’s crushes tweet with “You’ve done better,” this is in reference to his new movie. However she never expects a reply. The reply throws her for a loop and puts her on cloud nine. Yet the introverted Zoe has zero self-confidence. I love Zoe. She is me if I hadn’t been married at her age. I like her determination and how she hasn’t quite let go of her childhood fantasy and how she fangirls. It’s kind of perfect!

And Chase, the super star Zoe fangirls over, is a perfectly flawed character who I fell in love with. He is very down to earth, and Zoe realizes fairly quickly how lonely he must be as a movie star. When Chase isn’t filming, he is pretty much sequestered in his home. Why? Because he can’t go anywhere in public without being mobbed. It’s heartbreaking and it puts a lot of stress on him. I loved how well he handles it all though, how he falls for Zoe, and how kind he is, not just to her but everyone he comes in contact with.

I thought this was a really cute, fun romance. Seriously I had a dopey grin on my face through most of the book. I couldn’t help it. It was just so sweet and swoonworthy. Zoe and Chase’s relationship builds naturally and slowly. They take the time to get to know one another, but the chemistry is instant and off the charts. The obstacles they encounter along the way are true to form, even if a bit predictable.

Overall I loved #Starstruck! Have I said that too much? I devoured the book, finishing it in one night and not regretting one bit the 4am bedtime in doing so. While this isn’t a squeaky clean read (there are some innuendos, talk of sex, but no language), it is a fantastic read. I’d highly recommend this one to anyone that enjoys contemporary romance.

I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Should’ve Been You by Nicole McLaughlin is a sweet, contemporary romance about childhood crushes turning into more. The third book in the Man Enough novella series, each novella focuses on a different couple. If you haven’t read the previous books in the series, it’s okay. These can be read as standalone novels. I had not read the previous books and found that I wasn’t lost and it was easy to read. I really enjoyed it!

The story revolves around Jase and Becca. Jase has returned home, starting a cattle ranch after being in the service. I like Jace. He’s dependable, loyal, and a little vulnerable. Becca has attempted to move on from her childhood crush. He chose her sister over her as a friend and she respects it. She’s insecure when it comes to her sister and understandably so. Yet she’s also confident in her job and her boyfriend whom she expects a proposal from. I like Becca too but she makes some choices I don’t like or agree with.

So the premise is that Jase and Becca have grown up together, but a misunderstanding has them each thinking the other doesn’t like them. This is kind of like a second chance for them. Becca’s home for the holidays and Jace is back to living next door. When he walks in on her making breakfast one morning, he decides it’s time to put the past in the past. They are both adults now after all. Usually I like these second chance / childhood sweetheart romances and it’s true of this one, however I did drop it a star.

This story pits Hanna and Becca (twin sisters) against one another over Jase. Hanna is the best friend and also the cause of the misunderstanding. The story explores their insecurities over one another and the resentment it causes. Personally I didn’t care for this aspect of the story. Aren’t twins supposed to have a special bond and why would you do what Hanna does to two people you care about? And then there’s the fact that Becca has a guy in her life already. I loathe cheating y’all!

Overall, Should’ve Been You is as its name suggests. It was an okay read for me. Definitely not a favorite! I liked Becca and Jase, but I hated the circumstances they were in and the drama that followed. I felt that this story would have been served better as a full-length novel instead of a novella. The plot and romance were rushed, not giving enough time to really fall for the two characters. If you enjoy contemporary romance, I’d give it a read. You may think differently than me.

Y’all I can’t even begin to describe how much I loved Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. I fell into this story and didn’t come up for air until it was over. It was everything I’ve come to love about fantasy. There was action, intrigue, mythology, and romance all tied together neatly to create a magnificent story.

Lazlo Strange is an orphan raised by monks who escaped to the library to work as a young teen. Lazlo is a dreamer. He pictures the world around him differently. He believes in fairy tales. And he is inherently good. I don’t think there is a single bad thing about him. He’s meek yet strong, he’s kind and fair, he’s everything you would want in a leading character. Even his perfectly flawed features are endearing. But it’s his yearning for knowledge and willingness to believe in the extraordinary that sets him apart from the other characters and truly endeared him to me.

Sarai is Godspawn and not even supposed to be alive. If you are going to feel for any character it will be her. She broke my heart. Her hatred and understanding, her willingness to forgive an atrocity she will never forget makes her a character worth championing. She is the product of evil and yet she is not evil, not even a little bit. My heart broke over and over for this character as she fights those she loves and comes to terms with her feelings over the humans.

But what really made this book was the writing! I’m not one that typically enjoys so much detail and prose, however it was vital to this book. It helped to build the world to the point I felt I was living in it. And the dreams!!! Oh my word those dreams were fantastic. Reality blurs a bit when you read this book and it was perfection. Utter perfection! The world-building, the mystery, Gods and Monsters, and some instalove (but honestly it didn’t bother me because I shipped them so hard already!) made for a perfect read.

Overall I loved Strange the Dreamer. I loved his reality and his dreams, his love for fairy tales and his belief in magic. It was just the fantasy read I needed. The vivid imagery put me on the streets with Lazlo and in the citadel with Sarai, I flew among the stars and caught the moon. I felt moth wings on my cheeks and smelled the sulfur of explosions. Y’all that isn’t possible except with a phenomenal writer which Laini Taylor is. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys fantasy, a little romance, and magical worlds.

Note: I alternated listening to this book and reading it. I absolutely loved the narrator: Steve West. This is the first I’ve heard of his and that accent *fans self* I’ll be listening to more of his soon 😉 Because of the detailed beginning, I’m glad I listened. I think I wouldn’t have been able to make it through the book otherwise. Not because it isn’t good but because I would’ve been distracted trying to read all those details on my own. BUT listening to Steve West read it to me I was able to picture the setting in my mind.