sarahsbookstack's Reviews (2.55k)

I really liked this book with all the banter between the MCs! 

Mel is a girl surrounded by rich and famous friends but still seems down to earth. She meets Braden one night at a club and after they decide to become "friends with benefits", she discovers he works for her estranged bio dad.

Braden is a sweetheart. He had some tough losses he had to deal with while young.  When Mel is injured, he becomes a really good friend.

I like the redemption that Mel's dad goes through in her eyes though it's a tough thing to deal with. I love her 2 little half sisters and how they helped in their own cute way to lead the way for her and get dad to mend a relationship that wasn't ever there.

This book is a spin off from a character in a series that I haven't read but would love to go back and read!

Ryen and Misha have been pen pals for years but then Misha stops writing and Ryen is left to wonder why. Then a new guy comes to school- Masen. He pushes Ryen and she starts to fall for him.

There were a lot of steamy scenes and it was a bit uncomfortable because they are in high school and none of the characters were likeable. I get to get to the end this to set why and what Masen has planned.

Beautiful historical tale of 3 very different women (all who were real)- Samantha, a young white woman sent to live with her brother when she refused to marry the man her father picked for her. Day Sets- a Dakota Indian woman that has to deal with her white husband's legal wife while he sends their daughter, Mary, to learn from a white school. Harriet- a Black slave girl who yearns to be freed.

This was well researched and I learned a lot. I felt deeply for each of the women and their different hardships. It's a shame how Blacks and Indians were treated/are treated. It flows really well and is a fast, engaging read.

This is only my second Wiggs book but she sure knows how to make a beach read that also pulls at your heartstrings!

I absolutely loved the character of Nikki! She was bold to tell the truth about her friend Mark. Even at the cost of everything she worked for just because of what people with money and power could do in this small town. I felt for her when she had to come back to this town after the tragedy she goes through. 

I like the fact that Guy (her dad) tried harder the second time around with Nikki's half sister. I love the project Guy and Nikki undertake together to preserve the legacy left to him. I'm so glad that even when another incident the rich try to cover up that Nikki still speaks up and this time... Things are done for the better.

I wanted to read this book because it deals with the little known part of the end of WW1 with the Czechoslovak Legion and their work to secure an independent country of their own- Czechoslovakia. My sister in law is Czech so I wanted to learn a little of their history through this.

I liked the research that the author was able to do and while history doesn't offer the full extent, the author was able to weave fiction in it smoothly from what I could tell when I read.

I like the story of Nadia and Filip. Filip married Nadia to protect her when her whole family was executed. He was so patient with her learning the harsh life she was protected from as an aristocrat. They survive so much horror and utter  savageness of winters together and apart. I cried many times near the end with losses of life of characters that I came to love. 

While not perfect, this job has GREAT movie references and great found family aspects!

Leah witnesses a break up accidentally and then months later gets roped into helping "makeover" Eli to win Victoria back (the couple she witnesses break up). I really hated that part honestly, no one should change into someone they aren't just to make someone else happy.

Eli was way too over the moon by a woman her hardly knew (when pressed about why he loved her.. It's all about looks and how she made him laugh but it never went deeper). I loved watching Eli and Leah connect though once he realized that she liked him for him and not who he thought he should be.

I really like the talk of foster families in this as Leah was a foster kid. 

Mean girls on an island. I read through this quickly but I really hated the way all these characters acted. The bullying of Poppy from the beginning of school to destroying her chances of going to art school (SUPER cruel what happens) was super hard to read.

I do like the "locked" mystery scenario. Putting it on an isolated island is just downright creepy. I was a bit surprised at what the ending brought but also a bit nah that we didn't get a full closer (a character had certain thoughts and we didn't get to see what they included). So it was a bit too open ended for my liking. 

Really good but so very complicated also!

I still think Bree is such an amazing and powerful character even though she's still trying to control her powers. She doesn't take crap from anybody, not even her long dead ancestors.

As Bree is struggling to accept her fate as King Scion, she is determined to go through the rite to then go find Nick. But this does not go quite as she thought it would and she has to run. She has by her side though her friends Alice, Sel (oh SEL 😍) and William.

I miss Nick but I love that Bree is able to "blood walk" as Arthur but can bring Nick to her in it as themselves. I laughed every time Bree and Sel argued! I mean, you know it's going to break sometime into some passion!

I love that she was able to connect with her ancestors in the place where they died and the protections they are put in place there.

The ending! The last 10% of it, my jaw was hanging on the floor! I'm very upset about a couple of things and I can't wait for more to resolve some things.

Absolute delight!
As soon as I heard this was based a bit on While You Were Sleeping (my absolute fav romcom movie!) I was all in! I so fell in love with Mack and Poppy.

While I could clearly see that inspiration (a scene where M drops something and P bends to pick it up at the same time and they collide heads, it reminds me of the scene in the movie on the ice) this was a uniquely put together novel workout relaying on that movie much.

I definitely wouldn't have been like Poppy, moving across the country for a guy I've dated for 2 months and then who promptly leaves on a golf tour but I love that he got her a place to stay and a job. Glad that Mack was not a creepy landlord (IYKYK). How could a guy like that, who is so caring and kind, have almost a whole town turn on him without getting the full story? I was so mad at his ex!

I love Poppy's dedication to her sisters, Rose and Noli. I loved the small town feel of this place and the reason they called it Cashmere Cove. So much to love about (P+M) and laugh about (the zoo scene especially 🤣) that I think most romcoms lovers will fly through this!

A lovely beach read at the end of WW2 with some sprinklings of our MC working at a plane factory while men went to fight in the war.

Most of the book shows us Hazel after her work in the factories and making her way to Laguna Beach, a city full of artists. While there she finds her own dream thanks to her own tenacity and spirit. While not resorting to marriage and family immediately because "that's what is expected", she helps a famous and scandalized painter (Hanson Radcliff) and works to solve the mystery of why he's surrounded by scandal.

I love how she grew to care for Hanson even though he was mostly cantankerous. It felt to me to be a true, albeit interesting, friendship.

One of my favorite parts is the "living art" , The Festival of Arts Pageant of the Masters, is a real thing you can see every year. It reminded me of when they did it in Gilmore Girls 😃