morganthebee's Reviews (489)

Long Time Gone sucked me in so much that I finished the audiobook in a day. It’s told in two different timelines, with chapters alternating between the present, where Quinn and Hunter are searching for Quinn’s aunt while slowly getting to know and open up to each other, and the past leading up to the town’s cold case murder of Jessica Coldwater and the disappearance of Holly Prine. It was interesting, well written, and the plot was great, getting us there without telegraphing too much. I’m looking forward to more from this promising new author!

Let’s be real: Lady Venom Takes a Mistress isn’t a deep, highbrow novel with a complicated plot. It’s a dark and dirty erotic romance with a bit of plot thrown in. If I was reviewing this for the smut I’d give it a higher rating, if I was reviewing it for the story it’d be lower, so this is my compromise.

Ever since an accident left Nic’s younger brother with brain damage, the Robinson family has made a tradition of spending the month of December together. This has caused issues in Nic’s relationships, and she once again returns home from six hours away all alone.  Niamh, her brother’s best friend, has recently moved home from Ireland, where she’d been living for the last few years.

Each chapter in the book covers one day, starting with December 1 and continuing through December 25, and is told from Nic’s perspective. Although neither is wanting a relationship for different reasons, there’s instant attraction and chemistry between Nic and Niamh. There is a love rival and some self-sabotage that I didn’t particularly enjoy, but I loved the dynamics between Nicole and her siblings, Liam and Beth. Truly all of the characters are well written and distinct, each bringing a lot of personality to the story. Root’s humor (which I’m a big fan of) shines through, with a few healthy doses of solemnity and emotional moments, and Sleigh Bells Ring is definitely worth a read.

 

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

Becoming a Bi-con was a cute rockstar coming out story. I appreciated that, although it incudes a fake relationship trope as a vehicle for Savannah dealing with publicity surrounding her impending divorce and her decision to come out, Savannah is very much bi and owns it right from the start. I had some mixed feelings about Maya’s turnabout from hating Savannah to realizing her feelings. It was a bit abrupt and I would have liked to have seen more time given to that part of the story and allowing her to really get there.

I enjoyed the plot for the rest of the story, including the ex and his comeuppance and Savannah’s issues with her record label. I also liked the use of the gossip rag articles and reports from the company managing the scheme interspersed throughout, it was a fun way to relay information quickly without dumping or bogging down the character interactions. I did feel like it leaned a bit more toward a YA or NA writing style, so keep that in mind if that’s not your thing.

 

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

The Librarian’s Gargoyle is a fun sapphic romantasy with a bit of intrigue and adventure. It’s an historical setting, with patriarchal societal views and expectations, including arranged marriage. Viola, a librarian who just wants to be left alone to try to discover if magic is real and spend her time at her beloved library, is thrust into an engagement she absolutely doesn’t want and a library that she may be losing. Since she was a child, she’s taken comfort in the arms of a gargoyle she’s loving called Iggy, also known as Boudicca, sharing her secrets and regaling her with stories.

I quite enjoyed the story, both the development of Viola and Iggy/Boudicca’s relationship, the conflict between Viola and her family, and the magic. There’s a bit of spice, and some of it is unconventional. I mean, one of them is a gargoyle…who flies. I’ll leave it to your imagination, ooooooor you could just read it.

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

A Breathless Place left me breathless. I’d been meaning to read, or in this case listen to it for a while, but knowing that it centers around a character who is planning to end her own life I just hadn’t been in the right headspace until now. The story is so raw and complex, and it’s a heavy topic to be sure, but Harper Bliss is a phenomenal author who handles it with such care. She slowly breathes love and hope into it, leaving us with a beautiful and ultimately uplifting story, and Abby Craden’s narration of the audiobook is flawless.

Of Hoarfrost and Blood is an epic fantasy with magical Fae, sorcerers, and dragons. It also has a bit of mild romance thrown in, although that’s not the main focus of the book and honestly was my least favorite part of the story, to the point where I could have done without it completely.

The story is a first person account from the perspective of Ananya, later knows as Demerise, a Fae teenager betrayed and left reeling. She’s 15 for most of the book, turning 16 later in the story and then 26 after a 10-year time skip near the end. Because of her age the story sometimes reads as YA, but I don’t think it’s intended to be and there are a lot of very adult topics touched on. It’s well written, but some parts are tough and uncomfortable, so definitely check your triggers before reading this one if you’ve got them.

We move through different places and people, with the book divided into six parts, each relating to Demerise’s relationships and interactions with different characters, which was an interesting way to break up the story. I enjoyed most of the side characters and found them all interesting, even those without their own dedicated section, although it felt like some were there more for lip service and then thrown away. The book ends on a cliffhanger and I’ll definitely read the follow up to see where it goes from here, especially since it’s pretty clear that we’ll be getting the adult Demerise.

 

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