sarahsbookstack's Reviews (2.55k)

Enemies to lovers in Italy? Yes please!
What a romantic city, I loved hearing about how it looks there in Rome.

Violet and Marco, I adore their friendship! I like the idea of students of fashion going to Italy as interns & as part of a competition to win a NY job.

Violet and Matteo's meet up (more like crash into) was so funny. I liked that Violet really seemed to grow in Italy (even if it took her long to see). I like the contacts she made and friendships, but it was oh so fun watching her and Matteo. I really love banter and they did it well.  

The book flies by because it is just so fun! 

Heartbreaking and heart pounding YA historical fiction set in 1989 communist Romania .

Composed of short chapters (with very cool Romanian language chapter count headings) we follow young Cristian as he is pulled to spy (become an informer) on an American ambassador that his mom cleans for and reports back to the regime, but someone close to him is also an informer. He doesn't know who but it's warned to trust no one.

I felt throughout the story the plight of this people. I cheered those that stood against their country's Communism. I felt the fear the students rallied against and decided to stand up and fight for their freedom. 

Well researched and expertly woven fact and fiction made this a very insightful read.

Of all the people I never thought I'd like much out of Brandywood was Dan Klein. I'm so glad my opinion has changed! Dan is very misunderstood by the town and it's never been fair to him that everyone lumps him in as being just like his biological dad. They don't know the secrets he hides that just show how wrong they are.

Avery- I wish she had realized what a controlling jerk her fiance was before she ever agreed to marry him. No one should ever make you drop friends, change how you dress, and dictate what you like. I logged to see her slowly change back to the girl she was when she would visit Brandywood every summer. A free version of herself. 

I really liked the friendships (most likely to and some unlikely) that got repaired during this story. I'm glad that Avery and Dan got close again to right some wrongs.

I totally adore best friends to lovers and Gabe and Ryn were perfect!

They had a really great relationship. You could tell they both loved each other but it took a lot for them to bring those feelings to the surface and REALIZE they were there all along. I love the small town ladies society that keeps coming up with schemes for them to be together. It's not until outside forces (a Hollywood star's assistant that only really loves himself and an ex plus a college friend) vie for their attention does it really happen. 

I love that small towns seem to always have the best gossip run through cafes! I really liked what Ryn gave up for Gabe to succeed (no spoilers).

I loved that this book follows Gilles brother Max.

Max is a soldier who is ordered to shoot Armelle when she is harassing a priest who sent her father to his death. He refuses but an accident kills another soldier so he is imprisoned. Armelle was so grateful that she hatches a plan to get him out but it results in them going on the run.

This seems to be a premise for a lot of exciting things happening while on the run. While a few things do (hiding from soldiers and disguises) there just wasn't all the excitement that I expected. Not to say it wasn't good because I did enjoy the story and how much Max and Armelle came to rely, trust and like one another.

There is a part that made me cry because I felt so bad for Gilles who I loved from Beyond The Lavender Fields.

Friends to lovers is my ultimate favorite trope and this one was totally a refreshing and heart pounding read!

Chevy and Val. I highly enjoy their flirty friendship but oh my, when Chevy starts to really look at his feelings as falling for Val... It's another level. I found myself holding my breath in anticipation of where it was going.

I have never laughed so hard in a book in a long time. The bar scene and the "mistletoe" scene where practically the whole town is involved, the first real kiss 😍 were highlights. I loved the protectiveness Chevy had for Val even before feelings developed.

I'm so glad we got to see a lot of Lindy and Winnie and also a lot of Pat and James! They are all such great characters that I adore. There are bittersweet and tender moments and just made this whole book a win!

Cinderella meets the Gilded Age....this book was a fantastic and engaging one.

Eliza works as a ladies maid in England. She discovers after her mother dies, that her father is a very prominent and rich man in New York. 
She travels there but on the guise of being a niece, not a daughter.

She is met with a wonderful Grandmother and two..not happy to know her..half- sisters.
She learns a bit of her Father's business and is brought into society until an unimaginable tragedy sets off uncertainty and ill will. She must navigate an even more unexpected world.

I liked how kind Eliza was. Her personality was the same whatever her circumstances. She becomes dear friends with her ladies maid, Miriam and a driver of the family, Harry.  Harry helps her keep up her brilliant mind with lovely conversation and things turn to love with a few challenges that they will face head on.

Another great hit by Campbell!

I felt bad for Lori whose husband has been missing for 7 years with no clue as to what has happened. She's trying her best. A former investigative journalist, she's now turned novelist  and lives a nomadic type lifestyle. Stress currently in Wales when she gets info from a man she helped put in prison that he might know about her missing husband. But things quickly spiral and she doesn't get the answers she hired to hear.
 
This story is a tangle of lies and deceit. Friendships are put to the test. Danger keeps creeping closer as Lori investigates further. There are secrets that were kept hidden from Lori by people she had trusted for so long.

I figured out part of the mystery but wasn't sure exactly why and was surprised by many twists at the end. My heart stopped a bit in the second to last chapter!

Barclay is a star basketball player that's been holding onto a secret, he's gay. He decides to come out at a pep rally and fully expects support but finds almost none. So he quits the team when they don't support him and gets ostracized by most of his school.

But in his time out, he finds another purpose in getting support where he can to get an abominable man off the school board in favor of another, more understanding woman of all clubs and such that make a great school.

The people that stand by him are great. I really liked Zack though I wish Barclay had listened to him when he first reached out because he really did want to understand why Barclay came out the way he did. There are some characters that are absolutely deplorable in their actions and words about Barclay. 

 

This is a sweet and fun enemies to lovers read. 

Sadie and James were always in competition with each other in college. (Though some feelings are there because of a kiss that happened) When they went their separate ways, they thought they'd never see each other again.

But Lucy has been let go from her job and takes over her parents inn for a week. The same week that James comes to shoot a travel show in her town. 

Sadie ends up being a co-host for James while they are shooting. Everyone ends up loving her and wanting her to do it permanently. But as and James grow closer, Sadie doesn't see how this is possible.

It took a lot of this book for Sadie to grow and realize the potential within herself. James was so sweet and dreamy! But I loved their banter scenes together!