mrsalwaysreading's Reviews (624)

The Shadows Between Us

By Tricia Levenseller

(Book 1 in the series)

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a quick, easy read. 

Light on the fantasy elements and light on the spice but the story was entertaining and held my attention. 

I don’t know that I want to read book 2, but maybe it would be a good slump-breaker or hangover cure. 

This Girl’s A Killer

By Emma C. Wells

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fast-paced thriller about a female vigilante whose carefully orchestrated facade starts to unravel in a series of paranoid-enduced missteps. 

Quick read. Held my attention from the beginning. Entertaining. 

Preface: I was at home 24/7, nursing babies and recovering from surgeries from 2006-2010ish. So I watched my fair share of trashy reality tv before the real housewives became the staple. 

I read this book because I spent hours watching Girls Next Door while my babies used me for a cafeteria, jungle gym and nap spot. 

Holly talks a lot of crap for someone who benefitted immensely from the attention. Literally, Playboy, Hef, etc. are her one claim to fame the reason that thousands of people have read her book. 

I’m not going to rate her memoir because it’s her story, and that just seems cruel. 

I will not say that I enjoyed reading it. I rolled my eyes every time she pointed out how smart she was compared to everyone around her, and how everyone must have been out to get her because she is, and was, ‘perfect’. 

Her timeline was chaotic at best and she portrays herself in such a bizarre way. 

A Werewolf’s Guide To Seducing A Vampire

By Sarah Hawley

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

This was a cute little spicy fantasy romance. 

A Werewolf who has anxiety and a Vampire/Succubus hybrid who is bound to serve the holder of the plastic egg (or crystal, or whatever) fall in love. 

The romance is typical and fairly boring. The spice was pretty spicy. 

The side characters were pretty shallow but provided some comedic relief. 

Enemies With Benefits

By Roxie Noir

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I don’t really know why this one was loaded on my Kindle, but it looked like a good distraction from my Onyx Storm hangover. 

The FMC’s name is Violet… what are the odds? 

I love that this wasn’t just a childhood enemies to lovers story. I was very surprised with the lack of it-was-always-you. 

The banter was entertaining. 

The spice was so good. 

Quick easy read and I am appreciative. 

Slow Fire Burning

By Paula Hawkins

⭐️⭐️

This book took me way too long to get through. 

It was really slow going, there were a lot of diverging plot lines, characters and questions. 

Then all the things started happening in the final 20% of the book. It felt a little like whiplash. 

This one just really fell flat for me. It wasn’t engaging and I found myself chronically bored while reading it. 

NO SPOILERS

Onyx Storm

By Rebecca Yarros

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Empyrean Series book 3

This book had almost everything we were hoping for. 

Signets revealed. 

Epic battles. 

Dragons. 

Andarna snark. 

Some of the political drama was lackluster for me and probably could have been a little streamlined. 

I feel some type of way about reading it fast.  I wanted to KNOW WHAT HAPPENED but also savor it because you only get to read a book once for the first time. 

Birthday Girl

By Penelope Douglas

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Average. That’s how this book felt. 

The spice was mild for Penelope Douglas books. It was very vanilla and… average. 

Forced proximity, 18 year age gap, bf’s dad… 

And a happily ever after for all involved. 

Before the Epilogue, I was only going to give this book 4 stars. I can't tell you why or it would give the whole book away...

And on the heels of some great twists as this story bounces all over the place? YES. SO MUCH YES.

This book is 5-star worthy. Lisa Jewell writes epic thrillers that you can imagine being real. Or maybe they are real?

The timelines in this story feel disjointed in the beginning and you think you can piece together what is happening... and then the path diverts and you're left wondering what just happened.

The MC devolves in real time but you get a birds-eye view courtesy of flashbacks to see the whole of his evolution and it is such a wild ride.

This was a binge-worthy book that everyone who is a fan of thrillers needs to add to their TBR. Pre-order it now. Add to cart. Tell them I sent you.

Release date: 6/24/25 just in time for some epic summer reading!!

Thank you @netgalley and @atriabooks

@simonandschuster for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Jar of Hearts 

By Jennifer Hiller

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I don’t know how I feel about this book. 

Is it a thriller? Kinda. 

Is it stabby and weird? For sure. 

I read this book because I needed a book that started with the letter J for a January reading challenge. It was recommended. 

It took me about 5 hours to read and it completely consumed me. I NEEDED to know what happened. 

If you’re not stressed by stabby murders (there not a lot of gruesome details)  then I’d say give this one a shot. As of date of post, it’s still on KU.