sarahsbookstack's Reviews (2.55k)

I loved this book about sisters, forgiveness, and trust or lack of.

Zahra and Aurora are half sisters and they take a road trip to see their father who has cancer and has something important to tell them. Zahra has a lot of pain in her past that she still struggles with and this journey will make her face it head on. Aurora is needing to hide from a Hollywood scandal and wants this opportunity to get to know her sister more.

There are some new beginnings and some endings that come with hardship and to be on the ride with these MCs is beautiful. I enjoyed Elian and the phone message conversations he has with Zahra and that they were able to connect to each other with their pain and maybe help heal the hurts each carry. 

I don't know what it is but I just love a book with a fancy school and an un-alived person mystery to solve!

After a party in the woods on Halloween ends in tragedy, Ellie's involvement comes into question as she lied of her whereabouts to her parents. Rachel is the school councilor and Ben is a detective. 

What I thought was unique about this was that the two MCs are divorced and on both sides of the investigation so it gives a perspective that gives a lot of insight. There are some twists that threw me and my suspicions were way off base! But the outcome was a bit chilling as to how cruel a person could actually be.  

This took me a few days to read but not because it wasn't good, I just kept not having any time to sit and read. 

I liked going on Lina's journey with her. It's fraught with many hard topics... like alcoholism, war time, PTSD, Tourettes (Lina's son), attempted suicide..etc but I really felt the pain of everything. The writing is incredible. I loved that she had Eli by her side as a fellow former soldier. Lina was amazing as she finally let go of the demons controlling her.

I want an Irish Beckett 😍

Beckett is house swapping for the summer in Serendipity Springs and Keeley is a lifelong hometown girl who happens to be neighbors with Beckett.

I love how the building keeps locking these two in (or even out!) of places... each one funnier than the last. It was so sweet to learn all about the connection Beckett and Keeley have and how they go about learning about it. I love Beckett's siblings and Keeley's brother.  

I loved both Keeley's and Beckett's jobs and the parts that led to the outcome that Beckett gets in his professional life. But I just absolutely loved how easy and perfect the MCs relationship is. I fully admit to getting emotional like two or three times at the end.

 

While this was good, I wish that the characters were better fleshed out. Shelby and Miles are ex-stepsiblings, which in my mind, I don't like them falling for each other though it might be fine for other readers. 

I wish I felt more angst and tension between the two. I do like the devotion of Miles to his daughter, especially after what happened with her mom. 

I thought the ending was too abrupt. I think I'd be more intrigued to continue with getting to read about Abigail and Bash..I think they need to be together! 

The snark in this book is awesome. Ford and Rosie are the perfect sparring partners.

Ford finding out he's a dad to Cora is really special. He may not have felt like it, but I felt he took it so well and was just so sweet with her. Despite his being rich beyond compare, Ford is just so down to earth! I love the way he's so protective of all people in his life. His parents, especially his mom, made me laugh!

Rosie gives as good as she gets when it matters. The way she helps Cora, without any hesitation, is so kindhearted. The way she words her emails to Ford as they are working is hilarious. I loved that she gave him a bit of a wake up call to his privileges and power when something Ford did that he thought was helpful. 

I can't wait to read more of this world

This was my first read of these sisters but it was so fun and they were all great. I love a sisters dynamic. 

Dom and Maria were fun from the start (the first lines made me laugh out loud and scared people in my house). I can't believe how long they kept up their FWB before any real feelings came into play! I love how in Maria's daughter's (Isabella) life Dom was present for.  He was the perfect pseudo-dad to that precocious little girl. 

This was light-hearted and fun. I'm glad I got to read it and spent time with these characters. 

Melissa always writes compelling characters that you really come to care for over the course of the read. 

Birdie lives in the Sunny Pines retirement community and can't let go of her makes pay where she lost Allison and was left to raise her young son. The police claimed Allison took her life but Birdie always knew it had to be the work of the "Vampire Killer". 

With new found friends in the community, she gets people who believe her and want to help her find the truth... all while creepy things are happening around them 

The ending was a surprise to me and parts of it are sad but also I was glad for the ending for Birdie. I also really loved the love that Birdie and her friends showed to the struggling, young Everly. 

Phoebe and Jay work closely together to figure out the mystery "Smitten Kitten" letters that appear in Phoebe's mail slot at The Serendipity.

Phoebe is going to be opening the new museum of Serendipity Springs that was bequeathed (not really but it works!) to her by Jay's grandfather. When letters appear to Phoebe, she and Jay become involved in reading them and wanting to find out who these people are. The magic of course is helping them along the way. 

I understand Phoebe not wanting to get close to Jay but I love that even with her rules, it still lets them banter and tease and admire each other. Scenes like the rolling Belle ladder in the library, the cookie fight, and the "want to push you against the wall and make out with you" were fun. The realizing of who "Smitten Kitten" is and how it plays out will stick with me. 

Funny side note.. my son thought you said this like "muh-trim-ony" and now that's what I'm forever calling it

This was the first in this series that I've read but besides wishing I knew a bit more about some side characters, it can be read as a standalone.

Oh lan..I love Amie calling him Lord Grumpy because he grumps a lot. Amie is such a sweet character and she got a lot of stuff dumped on her in life that she's not deserving of. I loved to see her slower whittle away at lan's barriers and always pushing to break the "rules" they set for this marriage of convenience. I am so glad that Amie also was brave in getting lan and his father to clear the air about a misunderstanding between the two and really changed his Father in my eyes at the end for the better.