morganthebee's reviews
475 reviews

The Lost Captain, the second installment in J.A. Gaudio's Black Hole Saga, wasn't quite as impressive to me as the first, but it was close. We pick up right where we left off, but from Annie's perspective: Sarah has sacrificed herself to save her ship and crew, and Annie, along with Sarah's twin Max, father the Fleet Admiral, and all the soldiers who looked up to her, are dealing with the loss. Max, however, refuses to believe that Sarah is dead, and Annie can't bear to think that she's lost the love of her life forever, so the two plan a daring and potentially deadly expedition to try to find and save her. 

I'm not going to say much more than that about the details as it would likely spoil things, but the plot, worldbuilding, and new characters, especially Sofie, are fabulously imaginative and interesting. There's a lot of depth and emotion to the characters, and a hint of spice (it's there but closed door). I wasn't quite as impressed with the writing this time around—although to be fair, that may have been cleaned up by the time of release. Regardless, it's still a strong story and I'm definitely in for the next book! 

I received a free ARC from Booksprout, but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.

Head Over Heels is the second book in Cassidy Langue's Delmont series and while it could be read as a standalone I wouldn't recommend it here. This one focuses on Josie, who's been in unrequited love with her BFF (Mel from the first book) for years, and Florence, who runs Delmont Hospital. The two are both looking for companionship, and when Josie finds Florence's profile on a dating app they decide to meet up, and the two have instant chemistry.

The story is a mix of fake dating, insta-love (but weirdly slow burn at the same time), with a bit of an age gap, and there's a heavy dose of family mystery/intrigue. There is spice, although less than the previous book and it starts further into the story. I wasn't super impressed by the part of the plot connected with the fake dating, which was a shame because I love a good fake dating story, but the family mystery was interesting if a bit predictable at times.

Head Over Heels was more enjoyable to me than Cast Aside was. I think the plot is better, the characters are stronger and don't have the immaturity I felt in the first book, and the story was just more interesting overall. I definitely plan to continue with the series, assuming (and it's a pretty good assumption) that there will be more.

I received a free ARC from BookSirens, but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.

A Hunger Soft and Wild is a fabulous debut novel from Moira Darling. It's a dual POV romance between vampire Aria and mercenary Roan. with a bit of spice late in the game. It jumps into the action right away, then takes us on a slow ride through Aria's healing as the two begin to open up and trust each other, then brings us back into the fray as they run from the vampire enforcers determined to bring Aria back to the clan.

The writing style was right up my alley: flowy and flowery, descriptive and a bit poetic, without being over the top or feeling pretentious, and the editing was super clean, especially for an independently published debut (I usually expect to see more than the handful of errors I did).

I really loved Aria's character, how this "monster" vampire is so caring and gentle. Roan, so prickly on the outside, opened up to Aria and their relationship and desire to protect each other was quite sweet. There aren't many side characters in this story, but I enjoyed Roan's acquaintance/nemesis. I do wish there had been a bit more delving into Aria's past and her clan, and if there was anything more I wanted it was a little more worldbuilding, but it really is a wonderful and well-written story.

I received a free ARC from the author, but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.

Love, Unexpected is the final book in the Lighthouse Lovers series, and it wraps things up nicely. The previous books cover the months leading up to Alana's wedding day from the perspective of her friends, and this one takes us from the wedding day forward. 

Of course, things don't go as expected when Alana becomes a runaway bride, escaping to a home that's being remodeled on her family's property. It's there where she meets Harmony, single mom and sexy contractor who is working on the home. Like the other books in the series, the two quickly develop an attraction to each other and things progress from there.

The story itself felt a little disjoined to me, more so than the previous books, and the ending—despite multiple epilogues updating us on where each of the couples are—felt abrupt to me. I wanted to see this one wrap up a bit more before getting to the point of epilogues, but it was a satisfying end to the series regardless.

I received a free ARC from BookSirens, but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.

To Be Loved is the third book in the Lighthouse Lovers series, and a bit more serious than the others. Norah, widowed but (unbeknownst to almost anyone else) pregnant through IVF with her husband's baby, is rooming for the summer with Gemma, a traveling nurse and her best friend's college roommate. The two develop a friendship and very quickly start crushing on each other, but Norah is confused by her feelings and is still struggling with grief over the loss of her husband.

Both of the women are really lovely, and Gemma is so gentle with and understanding of Norah. If only we could all find someone like her. I did find this installment to be a bit more dependent on having read the previous books, and there were some grammatical errors that will hopefully be fixed, but overall I really enjoyed it.

I received a free ARC from BookSirens, but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.