sarahsbookstack's Reviews (2.55k)

What a beautiful and heartwarming story that will tug at your heartstrings! 

Julie becomes an instant mother to twins Lucy and Mikey when her brother and sister in law die in an accident.  She gave them her eggs to help them conceive and she's named guardian over them. She goes through the many struggles many new parents go through with even more struggles with Mikey's nightmares and Lucy's tantrums and just trying to give all their new world their best shot.

The way she just loves these kids like they are her own and how committed she is to giving them the best care is wonderful. When the "father", Grant, shows up to give his support.. He's welcomed with an openess that's a bit surprising but what a great fit he is!

I enjoyed being along for this ride but one thing bugged me- Maude is a child of divorce and hates going from one house to the next every other week, so she wanted to fake her own death to get away from this? Girl, this happens... No one leaps to " I need to fake my own death!"

I really enjoyed Frankie and their arc. Frankie didn't know what to call themself -girl, boy, non-binary, etc but I liked to see them figure it out. I felt they really had a reason to want to join Maude in the faking of their own death ...I mean someone is sabotaging and trying to murder you!? Yeah, I'd want to get away too... Not that I would go to this extreme but...

It was a fast paced ride and I'm glad I read it. 

This was a fun little read that never got too heavy on anything. Riley suddenly inherits a house (and finds out she's a witch) from an aunt she didn't know she had. With the help of a friendly ghost butler, Plover and two new friends Alice and Caroline.. Riley helps ghosts cross over and leave the object they are stuck with.

There's also a librarian, Edison, that she starts a relationship with. I felt that the relationship just started way too fast, like one kiss and then they're dating? The relationship had started more gradually I would have bought it more.

The ending is a bit cryptic for who is trying to prevent Riley from continuing her family legacy and I hope book two is a bit more exciting. I would love to have more focus on the ghosts. But I do like the little coven that Riley, Alice, and Caroline make!

This was a good Romeo and Juliet-esque type story. Blue and Enzo were in love at 17 but their families became enemies and they were torn from each other. Blue comes back 10 years later with a young son in tow because she's running away from an abusive marriage.

I really like the way that a some of the town people never blamed Blue's family for what happened to her mother but sad that there were still people that could not stand her coming back. I like the fairy garden and what is said in  the messages that they get through the fairy garden like "You are the entire ocean in a drop". Second chances grow out of Blue and Enzo seeing each other again. They were able to solve the mystery as to why their families were so at war and what really happened years back. The ending lessons were beautiful.

Grace is an amazing woman to behold and a true strength to get family. After learning of her husband's shocking secret (learned in the first chapter and can be a trigger for some but I feel to give it away would be a spoiler) she does what she must to keep going for her family. It's so heartbreaking.

She has to make many difficult decisions like giving her young children to others to raise while she works as a live-in maid.

She is not always seen and heard as a mixed race woman but the way she demands to be seen and heard is truly inspiring but also, just what a mother would do to protect her own.

I thought this book was just darling!
Emilie is used to planning her day. But when she is forced to relive Valentine's Day over and over, she has to adjust. While learning to adjust her day to try and get out of the loop, she will learn that every choice has a consequence. Until she finally figures "I just need to do what I WANT and not what's EXPECTED of me" is where she finds a way to be happy for herself. The choices that she makes might just be the undoing of everything.

I loved her DONC (day of no consequence) day with Nick...a guy who's her lab partner in chemistry but who doesn't ever talk to her. I love that she feels she can open up to him. He is dealing with some grief (loss of a loved one) and he confides in her. They get close fast and of course get torn apart when the loop ends but not for long. The way back to her is so sweet!

I read this book in a day, it's that good !

Oh what a great start to a Detective series.

Van Reed grew up in a nightmarish place, but after she was able to be taken away from that place.. Became a cold case detective. She is put on as lead to a 1980s mystery where 3 girls went into the woods near their home and only one came out.... One who had no recollection of what happened.

Van was so nuanced and flawed and holds a VERY big secret and she was just this interesting specimen of a human.  Harry, her counterpart is also interesting.

The ending is a shocker in a lot of ways. The villain of the story was creepy and had a bit of a "gag reflex" quality to me.
There are endings to the cold case but also there are things that are left open to pave way for book 2 and I can't wait to see what's next for these two MCs!

This book felt more juvenile for most of the book than I was expecting. I did like the fact that this book is a bit of "what was going through Sleeping Beauty's mind while she was asleep?" and what true motivation might the Villain have in making her sleep.

A lot of the book was a bit sluggish with the first person view from our Princess. I don't think any of the characters were fully developed enough for me to really enjoy this. But I did read this book pretty fast (probably because of the juvenile ness) . 

I really didn't get why Peregrine (when we last saw him) did what he did. I never bought that he wanted a relationship with the Princess.

I love this "like at first sight but butt heads a lot" tension going in between Melissa and Jamie. I laughed when they were "mad" at each other and then turned works laughing again at how she brightens when Sammy comes near. The little friendship (and like an adult sister) they develop is so cute. Sammy is a great kid. 

There are some hard themes (a mother's severe post partum depression and leaving her daughter) and Melissa feeling like her mom is just a slave to her stepdad and is trapped in a not great marriage. But the author handles these with sensitivity.

I admit that at the start I did not like Teddy. I thought she was selfish and didn't respect her grandma as much as she should with as much as her grandma has done! But she grew on me. When she becomes the Angel of Death fully I felt for her. It just seems so scary.

I really like Sam. He's just so unassuming and just always there when you need him. I would love a bodyguard like him.

It was crazy what Leviathan was used for and how the demons got a hold of it is crazy. Lady Lenuta was the worst sort of demon. I'm so glad she got her comeuppance in the way she did. 

The way this ended made my head go 🤯 And I'm just excited to see you where that goes from there in the next book