mrsalwaysreading's Reviews (624)

Love on the Brain
By Ali Hazelwood
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Three words: STAR. WARS. REFERENCES. 

We all know VI is superior to IV but I’ll let her have it because I’m a nerd at heart. 

Ok. Yes. I gave Ali Hazelwood another try. 

And this one was far and away better than The Bride. 

Romance. 
He-falls-first. 
Coworkers. 

Couple of spicy chapters. 

Bonus: Bee is a doctor in the neuropsych field working on a brain mapping tech with NASA, a niche field of study that my daughter is in college studying! 

Love in the Time of Serial Killers

By Alicia Thompson

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is about a woman who is getting ready to defend her dissertation for her doctorate on serial killers, while helping her brother and processing the loss of their father. 

She is neurodivergent, and the book spends a lot of time letting her random thoughts drone on. 

When there is a break in her awkwardness, she hooks up with the hot guy who lives next door to her dad’s house - after determining that he isn’t a serial killer. 

Eventually there is a grand romantic gesture and a happily ever after. 

These cutesy romance books just aren’t for me. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this book and I feel kind of bad for only giving it three stars. It’s just not for me, and once again I am kicking myself for not reading the synopsis before diving into another February – read – a – book – with – a – pink – cover - or - Love - in - the - title. 

Our Perfect Family

By Nicola Marsh

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pub date: 2/25/25

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced audiobook. All opinions are my own. 

This Thriller is about the drama and sinister skeletons in the closets of the Yates family. 

There are 3 parallel POVs: mom, dad, and daughter. All 3 offer glimpses of secrets, past and current. 

All the drama converges on one fateful night when all the lies are exposed.  

This was a quick and easy listen. I enjoyed it. 

This book was published in January this year and it might be the last book I put on my TBR last year. 

I understand how MLMs work. I’ve been involved in a couple direct-sales businesses in the past. My experiences were positive and NOT predatory. 

This book was a humorous take on a deadly small-town pyramid scheme. While it started a little slow, the sprinkling of side effects from the products these women were slinging, and two murders made the plot more entertaining. 

Some of it was a little outlandish - everything figured out by one broke, overwhelmed woman who took a peek behind the veil. But it felt like I could have just as easily been watching it unfold on a made-for-tv documentary. 

March of Crimes

By 

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Pub Date: February 25, 2025

Thank you NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for the advanced audio copy of this book. All opinions are my own. 

A very PG whodunnit mystery set in a small Minnesota town. No innuendos. No cussing.  

Schitts-Creek vibes. 

Read if: you are looking for a clean, witty whodunnit mystery with no shocking twists and zero loose ends. 

My Funny Demon Valentine 

By Aurora Asher

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I do not like insta-love. 

I had a hard time enjoying this book. 

It was slightly below average for a paranormal romance. Just boring. No thrill factor. 

If it wasn’t for the book club, it wouldn’t ever be one I would pick on my own to read. 

And Education in Malice

By S.T. Gibson

⭐️⭐️

What did I just read? Will I never learn to read the synopsis first?

This was disappointing. Muddled.

1960’s deep woods Massachusetts girl’s school setting for this academic-rivals to vampire-lovers ‘Carmilla’ retelling. 

I couldn’t connect to the characters. I wasn’t entertained by the plot. The back-and-forth POVs were too similar.

The whole thing just felt like the diary of a young woman struggling with her sexual identity. 

Not only was the content unappealing, but the writing made it hard to want to finish. 

14 Ways To Die

By Vincent Ralph

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

A YA Thriller about a daughter who is searching for answers in the case of her mother’s murder by a serial killer. 

She takes her cause to social media and gets more than she bargained for. 

This book was a fast-paced easy read. 

The beginning was intriguing, the middle felt a little chaotic and got a little bogged down, but the ending was too tidy. 

The Bonus

By T.L. Swan

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Another pink-cover book off my physical TBR for February. 

It wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad. 

Boss/PA hook up on her last day as employee. She moves out of state. 2 months later she finds out she’s pregnant. 

Fast forward 6 years and he finally learns about his twins. 

Drama and spice and more drama. And spice. 

Happily ever after. 

Close Your Eyes And Count To 10

By Lisa Unger

Pub date: February 25, 2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for my advanced copy. 

All opinions are my own.

The premise is simple: a game of hide-and-seek in an abandoned hotel on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean. Winner gets $1M.

The players: a pro wilderness explorer, a young influencer and a mom trying to prove her grit. 

The problem: there is no money, the company is bankrupt and the shareholders are theives, murderers, and backstabbers. And as the game begins, the storm of the season rolls in and makes the simple game a life-and-death fight for survival. 

On an alternate timeline, a woman is missing from the last round of extreme hide-and-seek. 

This book has all the makings of a NYT best seller. The peek behind the curtain, so to speak, of the influencer and gaming cultures made for a plot line that was consistent through all the back stories. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I appreciate that not everything was figured out, but for the most part karma came due.