shanaepraystoo's Reviews (925)

I Thee Wed

4.0

lighthearted medium-paced

I am still new to Ayelle Burke's catalog. After reading King and Sir, I really fell for her writing style and decided to read more of her books. I Thee Wed was a recommended read and it definitely lives up to the hype. The book is a medium-paced read with some drama and a little bit of spice. I enjoyed the characters and the story a lot. The marriage of convenience trope mixed with the enemies to lovers trope worked perfectly, too.

Content Warnings

Truce of the Matter

Charity Shane'

3.25

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Truce of the Matter by Charity Shane' is a medium-paced emotional read with well developed characters and some pretty heavy themes. The main characters are relatable and likable. I recommend it.

Content Warnings

P+B: The Teachers of Hardwood High

Nina High

DID NOT FINISH: 70%

While I've thoroughly enjoyed every book in The Teachers of Hardwood series, there was something about "P+B" that felt different. I couldn't connect with the FMC Bentley and the MMC Priest was kind of bland. The internal dialogue was repetitive and failed to truly advance the story to me. Though there was a significant age gap between the characters, the dialogue was the same. At no point in time did I get the feeling that Priest was more advanced than Bentley in any way. I also was not sold on the instalove between the two characters. It seemed very irresponsible for Bentley to get involved with a co-worker her first year as a teacher...not even her first year - her first month! Things I did like:

Priest's commitment to the students, even though he was presented as a failure to his brother, to previous students, and to his head coach who was younger than him.
Bentley's chickens.
The depiction of Bentley as an eco-activist. I think I would've taken her character more seriously if she were a science teacher, too.

Unfortunately, P+B: The Teachers of Hardwood isn't as strong of a story as X+E or B+J: The Teachers of Hardwood. And at 70% in, I was not invested in the story enough to see it through to the end. It is my understanding that the series continues with a story about Ebony Calloway, a character who makes a brief appearance in P+B. I wish Nina High would get rid of the Pat Collins character and I hope to see characters from the previous books be more integral in this series.

Content Warnings

Living by the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible

Howard G. Hendricks, William D. Hendricks

5.0

challenging informative

Three months later and I've finally finished Living By the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible. It was a long and strenuous road with me reading and re-reading passages, pulling out my Bible and commentaries, journaling, highlighting, and running through post-its like they're free. And I cannot wait to do it again. I plan to read Living By the Book... yearly because it's full of helpful information, it's easy to read, and I think it is a life changing body of work. I'm an old Christian, been in the church for 19 years. But, I have never studied the Bible and I've never done it consistently. When that fact hit me like a ton of bricks, I was extremely ashamed! Following Christ for nearly 20 years and all I have is, "God is good all the time and all the time God is good." I couldn't tell you a parable, give you a character study, or even explain to you why I think the Bible is relevant today. I decide to change that for myself in 2025, so I bought this book. My Bible study has already improved and I'm excited about being who God called me to be through the study of His word.

If you're a new Christian or inexperienced like me, I highly recommend this book. I don't know how you can truly study and learn the Word of God without it

The Bottom Line

Tobie Carter

DID NOT FINISH: 0%

DNF'd @ 30%.

I'm not sure what it is but I don't like any of the characters in this book. I absolutely cannot stand how flighty the FMC is - she should be the exact opposite given her career path and connections. The MMC's battle with self-confidence is interesting, but at 30% in the author hasn't even really touched his healing journey. And I don't understand a thing about finance - doesn't seem like the author does either. Add in the fact that these characters read like they're white...I guess they are but they're supposed to be mixed and just no. There are so many great books coming out this month and I want to pay attention to those. I think The Bottom Line will put me into a reading slump. Nope. Not taking that chance.

The Promise

Love Belvin

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I wish I could rate The Promise higher than 5 stars. Love Belvin gives us the perfect ending to The Prism series. Complex, dark, dynamic, and emotionally charged, The Promise gave me so much joy - reading this book I was transported to a whole new world. Every single time I read a book from Love Belvin, I walk away a different person, a better person. If you like romance novels that are layered, thought provoking, and emotionally stimulating, then I always recommend a series from Love Belvin, but I definitely recommend Prism because the series is full of relatable characters, great dialogue, and there are additional plots, outside of the love story between the MMC and FMC, that grasp your attention, too. It's a must read!

Content Warnings

Relationship Road Map: Step-by-Step Directions to Finding Your Spouse

Stephen Chandler

3.0

informative medium-paced

It took me a really long time to listen to Relationship Road Map: Step-by-Step Directions to Finding Your Spouse despite its fairly short length. I don't typically read relationship books, so it was a bit of a challenge for me. I had to step out of my comfort zone. As a member of Pastor Stephen Chandler's church, Union Church, I find his preaching solid and sound, so I was willing to take a chance and read his book. Relationship Road Map is insightful, easy to follow and full of practical advice for any Christian single. I also really appreciate that the book isn't geared to women only, which is how many relationship books go. This book, however, has information that is useful to men and women and there are even chapters specifically for men. Now that I've finished the book, am I going to put all of Pastor Chandler's advice into practice? Ummm...baby steps? But I do believe that if I took his advice seriously, got super involved in church, and put myself out on the dating scene, I could be married in 18 to 24 months. If that's a goal of yours and you're a Christian, I highly recommend the book. The audiobooks is really good, too, as it is read by Pastor Chandler and has great production quality.

Grace

Love Belvin

5.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Ohmygoodness!!! What is up with Ashira and Jas? I can't take this back and forth (I'm lying, I've already downloaded the third book in the series). These two have thoroughly stressed me out. Love Belvin is such a great writer because I've been on this emotional rollercoaster with Ashira as if I'm in love with the MMC Jas. After 27 hours and 58 minutes of listening, I'm no closer to the confirmation of their relationship than I was at the very beginning. The angst is strong with this one...it might be the most angsty Love Belvin book in her catalog. Whew. The characters are further developed in book 2 and the story is unfolding at an enjoyable pace. The kernels of information about Ashira and Jas, especially their respective families, help the story come to life. Ugh. I cannot say enough good things about this book. I am so excited for book 3, which I'll probably read after listening to books 1 and 2.

Content Warnings

Mercy

Love Belvin

5.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I'm convinced that there is nothing Love Belvin cannot write about. Every single one of her book series, which oftentimes contain as many as three 400+ page books, has the most dynamic characters and well-written stories. Reading Mercy, I was immediately sucked into the story. I wanted to know more about the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook and will definitely be buying print copies, so that I can read it. I highly recommend Mercy to anyone who likes slow burns with complex characters. This is such an entertaining read.

Content Warnings

Power Over Me

Kimberly Brown

3.0

dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Power Over Me by Kimberly Brown is a solid 3-star read. Though fairly short, Power Over Me is a very challenging story with some really dark elements and themes, which make it a sad and tense read. There is lots of character development for the FMC, Nuri, who is one of the saddest FMC's I've ever read before. I recommend Power Over Me to anyone who enjoys fast paced romance novels with challenging characters. If you prefer something more lighthearted, stay away from this one.

Content Warnings

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