morganthebee's Reviews (489)

Beneath Shifting Stars is Penny G. Cavanaugh's debut novel, and I stumbled into it when I saw a request for ARC readers for her "fantasy adventure novel." Figuring that was right up my alley I went for it, and I'm so glad I did. What a treat! The premise was interesting, the characters engaging, and I got sucked into the plot. The story wrapped itself up nicely while leaving some questions unanswered to be followed up in the next book. It's not a spicy story, but it didn't need to be to get the romance across and ultimately the story was about the adventure. 

I adored Mari, she was just the right mix of smart and sweet, naive and skeptical. Her kind and supportive cousin Zeph was a great side character, and I wanted more (so much more) of Queen Lyra, but Kalindi was definitely my favorite character. Actually, maybe Rih the skyweaver was, that bird was adorable (if a bit scary) so it's a close call. I'm not sure where the story will go from here, but I hope it brings all of them back and then some, and I'll definitely be back for it. 

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

I debated a bit about what I thought of The Vengeance and how I would rate it. It was well written, but I wanted more. I went into it anticipating book 1 in a vampire series, but came out wondering why it took so long to get to the point where we actually saw any vampires—or even knew they existed—although to be fair, if the cover didn’t literally say “The Vampires of Dumas” on it this wouldn’t have bothered me at all. I loved how cheeky and brash Morgane was, and Lisette was adorable, but I wanted more character development overall. I really loved the first third or so of the book and the conclusion was great, but the in-between was so busy and convoluted that it didn’t leave enough room to focus on the details or the development of Morgane and Lisette’s relationship. Overall I did enjoy it and will read the next book when it comes out, so I’m going with a hesitant 4-star rating. 

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

Love in Focus, a second chance romance by Lyla Lee, was a fabulous read. The story follows Gemma and Celeste, former college sweethearts. The chemistry between Celeste (who left the country 7 years ago, resulting in the end of their romance), and Gemma (fresh out of the relationship she jumped into after Celeste left), is so delicious. They both clearly still have feelings for each other, and the story has a fun and interesting plot. And, of course, there is a highly enjoyable spicy scene (or three) along the way.

The book is dual POV, but...also not? Out of forty-one chapters, thirty are in first person from Gemma's perspective, and the other eleven are shorter, third person views of Celeste. I think sometimes when you're reading a single POV story, you wonder what's going on in the other character's head (or at least I do), so to me it feels like we're getting Gemma's story with little glimpses of Celeste without it being truly dual POV. I know this might not be to everyone's tastes, but I found it really interesting.

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

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.