morganthebee's Reviews (489)

Freedom is, despite its incongruous cover, a romantic suspense full of mystery and intrigue, and a good bit of spice, told from the dual perspectives of protagonists Bertie and Fran. I really enjoyed the storyline, it was engaging and I felt emotionally invested in Bertie and Fran, and in wanting to know what happened to Fran's husband Will. I appreciated that nothing in Freedom seemed so outside the realm of possibility that it was unbelievable, and the characters were realistic. There aren't a ton of side characters here, but Sarge in particular is well written and well rounded. I ended up getting so invested that I stayed up way past my bedtime just so I could find out how it ended, which was a satisfying conclusion to me.

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

Woooo this one is spicy, and it is some good spice, so yes to that. I haven’t read the first book in this particular series, but it’s not necessary for Hate to Love You as it stands just fine on its own. I enjoyed the enemies to lovers theme between Ryleigh and Wrenn, the chemistry between them is top notch. I did find myself wanting more interaction with the friends and the ending was super abrupt, but the heart of the story was fun and engaging.

I read an ARC so I’m not factoring grammatical or editing issues into my review, but I do hope the final release has at least one more pass through a good proofreader.

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

The Ocean Binman is a surprisingly deep and well developed novella, although I suppose it shouldn’t be that surprising coming from the author of The Flying Kite. The story takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth and revolves around Blue, an ocean binman (or trash collector for my fellow Americans) with an acerbic wit who just wants to be left alone to do her job, have a few beers, and smoke her pipe in peace. Instead she finds herself in the midst of a string of mishaps, while slowly opening herself up in ways she wasn’t expecting.

The cast of characters are wonderfully varied, between the residents of the Down Below and the denizens of the Up Above. The story is inventive and well-paced, never dragging or straying too far, while giving us insight into this new world through Blue’s eyes. My only complaint, if it can even be called one, is that I wanted more, but I’m hopeful that this is the start of a series that will lead us further into this dystopian Earth. Jasmin Joachims really demonstrates her chops across genres here, and she has fast become a must read author for me.

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

A sapphic steampunk retelling of Cinderella that made me teary? More than once? Yes, girl, yes. This was a sweet, fairly low angst, low spice retelling that was cute and inventive. It sticks close enough to the inspiration material that it makes sense as a retelling, but it veers enough that its imagination makes it a distinct new story. El and Meena are both great characters, as was IoN, and I appreciated that there was more nuance to the stepmother and stepsisters than there was in the original story. Overall a really enjoyable read.

I received a free ARC from somewhere (sorry, I can’t seem to find where and I didn’t put it in my notes), but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.

 The Dead and the Dark is a slow paced, creepy paranormal story set in the small, secretive town of Snakebite, Oregon, with a bit of teenage sapphic romance thrown in. I really enjoyed the slow pace and thought it felt just right for the story, and the twists were interesting. Ashley and Logan, whose perspectives we're seeing the story from, are both interesting and fairly well rounded, although to me the other characters were more one dimensional.

I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Ashley coming to terms with her attraction to Logan, and the resolution happened more quickly than I would have liked given the overall pace of the story. Overall this is a really strong debut from Courtney Gould, and I'll definitely look into her newer books.

Keep This Off the Record is a hilarious, somewhat dual romance, with quirky supporting characters and a lot of chutzpah. I really liked both sets of romantic interests with Freya and Abby, and Will and Naomi. Becca (Abby's sister) and Riley bring a mountain of levity to the story. We get Abby and Freya's discovery of their feelings thanks to some sneakiness by their friends, but it's fade-to-black here so don't go in expecting a lot of spice. 

Naomi and Will's drama is the biggest part of the plot, and sometimes it overshadows the main romance. I also wanted way more of the internal struggles that Abby and Freya were going through, and more direct interactions between them in the interim between their enemies to lovers statuses. It felt like the story went too quickly from hating each other to being head over heels. But overall it's light and fun, with most of the more serious drama tempered with a big dose of crazy humor, and worth the read.

Reaching Eddie is a steamy modern-day sapphic retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. If you don't know that story and how many weird, unbelievable, crazy twists and turns it has this story may not make much sense, but it's actually a bit less kooky than the classic. Reaching Eddie has great characters, stays (for the most part) true to the original, where it diverges makes sense in a modern setting, and is really well written. Oh, and the steamy bits are...quite steamy. I think that if I didn't know the story of Jane Eyre and all of this crazy was thrown together in one book I might have given it a lower rating, but I do, so I'm giving it a solid 4.75, rounded to 5 on other sites.

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