sarahsbookstack's Reviews (2.55k)

This book, while a little long for my tastes, was emotional at the very center of what it was showing. Emotional abuse can take as much of a toll on a person as physical. 

Lili and Ben meet one day in a garden in London. They spend the day together and have a great connection, but Ben is leaving for 6 months to New Zealand for work. So they agreed to meet a year later....

5 years down the road, they meet again. But Lili doesn't know how she got to Scotland or even who she is. With very little to go in, they call her Alice and try to get her back to England...Ben by her side. There will be flickers of memory from before and it's not always good.

It was so hard to read the parts with Lili and Justin as you can slowly see his controlling nature of Lili become scary. On the flip side with Ben, he is sweet and helpful and everything that Justin is not. I really liked Ben.. There are mistakes made but he tries to do right by helping Lili/Alice find out who she is.

I thought this was back on par with books 1 & 2.

I really like Cassandra and Apollo who both care for one another but don't do anything about it because he's the boss and she is the employee.
But a house party at a new individual's place in Olympus puts them pretending to be in a relationship to figure out what is really going on (per Zeus instructions) and what danger is in their city.

Their dynamic together is fire 

Well I probably like the first one a bit better but this one was good. Hunter is such a sweet guy. He's a very devoted father but he could have put more work into not being as devoted to his ex-wife. She had moved on, she had a new husband he should be the one that she was always relying on. Hunter did what he thought was right even though he was still in love with Merritt.

Merritt was a big shot in New York until her boyfriend cheated on her and took her job. So when she runs away after losing them, to Oakley Island, she runs into Hunter as he is the contractor at her grandmother's beach house. I don't think Merritt is as uptight as her sisters describe her as. She acclimates to life on the island super well.

I like that this was the second chance and that their second chance developed really nicely. I really like how Isabelle, Hunter's daughter, was a central figure. She was so sweet and so precocious at 8 years old! I like how this takes place with a little overlap of Eloise's story.

Right from the get go, I was laughing! This is a great indicator that I will just LOVE a book! Age gap is something I don't read a lot of but 11 years of age difference isn't too bad (I honestly don't know when I would definitely say no that's too much for me) . Eloise has so many mishaps and Jake is almost always needing to rescue her.

Jake knows he shouldn't get involved with Eloise... She's younger than him, but he can't stop thinking about her from the moment he meets (again..but she doesn't remember) her. 

Eloise felt she was pushed into her grandmother's house renovation by her sisters, but when the grumpy but hot neighbor Jake is around.. She can't complain too much!

From a pelican roosting in the house and very interesting townspeople to awkward but hilarious situations, I was just rooting for these two! 

The kisses when they finally happen are sweet and intoxicating. The tension is so sweet and delicious too! (Clean read)

It was great to see Susan and her father back in action... This time, the murder of a young woman with ties to their family. Madison was killed and it's up to Susan to sort through the clues to find out who did it.

I liked to see the reluctance that Susan had in letting her father be involved in this one. He's retired, it's a new case and not a cold case, and he was friends with Madison's grandparents. I liked how this wasn't just a story to find a murderer but that it brought up a whole other issue that gets the FBI involved.

I was surprised at what the ending of this story was. I didn't even lean that way in my thinking. This was well done and a fast read!

This was a continuation of Calla and Jonah's story that I immediately jumped into after reading book 1. 

Here we get to see Calla as she adjusts to the Alaskan wild as her and Jonah settle in a house. It's a lot to get used to. She has an overbearing woman (unspoken town council leader Muriel) who teaches her all she needs to survive. A VERY grumpy neighbor in Roy (and hilarity) who won't ever accept help or kindness but eventually has a grudgingly respect Calla.

There are moments when I felt that Calla might run like her mom, away from Jonah, because she can't handle living where she is but she actually grows stronger braving this wilderness.

I loved that this was way more than a romance but it was a chance for an estranged father and daughter to connect before the unthinkable happens.

Calla hears her father Wren, that she hasn't seen since she was 2, is dying of cancer and she's urged to come back to Alaska to get to know him before he starts treatment.

Jonah has worked as a bush pilot for Calla's father and as he picks her up to bring her on her last leg of the journey from Canada, they don't get off to a great start.

I loved to see the relationship of Calla and Wren develop. It's rocky but it becomes beautiful. They get over the hurdles of the years they weren't together and learn about each other's here and now.

The grumpy side of Jonah was kind of fun. It took a bit to get used to Calla but I warmed up to her. 

This book was EVERYTHING!  Fake dating and enemies to lovers between two (they feel they are) broken people, (social anxiety) mental health talk, written letters, and a whole lot of heart.

Brianna and Jacob have been dealt bad hands. 
Bri- A divorce from a cheating husband, trying to find a donor for her brother that has kidney failure, and the possibility of losing a job she has earned.
Jacob- His ex girlfriend and his brother engaged to be married, a new job to not have to work with her, being called Dr. Death on the first day of the new job, and severe social anxiety that people mistake for his being a jerk.

The way Bri really helps Jacob manage social things in a way that no one else has is very heartwarming. She can center him and she knows quickly how to give him an out when needed. Jacob is just the sweetest! 

The last little bit of this book had me SOBBING!
I think this book of Abby's shot into my second place slot!

First of all I thought that Sadie and Jack were just the cutest. Starting out as landlord/roommate, then turning into friends, and then turning into more!

Sadie oh man she's a character. She blurts out things that sometimes are just silly and sometimes they're cringe-worthy. Jack is this kind of mystery. We find out he lost his parents and you assume that they had life insurance that he has to set him up but we just don't know how much exactly that is and why Jack doesn't work outside of the home. 

I really like the way that Jack really was cheering her on in her dream of owning a flower shop. He never complains about everything that's in the house and he quickly learns Sadie's quirks.

I really like that they had these text chains going throughout the book and it made for a really quick read. I was almost expecting to have no type of conflict at the end and they did throw something in there that seemed kind of not very well placed to me.

I read this book in a matter of hours! It's a big one but doesn't feel that way.
I just love sisters and Hannah and Libby are great. They both have their insecurities (who doesn't?!) but they are there for one another in every way. Through their parents divorce, through trying to keep their Grandmother's company afloat and through a unique 12 week challenge to try and get the business of a woman that can help them.

I love what they find out about themselves through this challenge of "crushing their comfort zones" and what they really and truly want out of life/from each other.

The side characters of Josh, Adam, and Great Scott were wonderful additions. I didn't always vibe with Josh and how he acted but in ways, I got him. Adam was just awesome. Scott had me laughing and rolling my eyes at the same time, though I want him in my life 🤣