stephsbooktalk's Reviews (915)

Thank you so much to Forever for the complimentary copy!
Thank you so much to Hachette Audio for the complimentary ALC!

This book is out now!

Ugh. I wanted to love this SO badly! On paper this is exactly the kind of book that I love but for some reason it just wasn't clicking for me the way I thought it would. And I thought pairing it with the audio which is narrated by Andrew Eiden and Stephanie Willing would help but it only help with making sure that I finished the book.

"Hollywood isn't really a place, after all. It's a universe. A universe I desperately want to belong to."

And maybe I missed it but it just seemed like one minute Emmy is put in the hot seat to admit who her celebrity crush is and next minute Jason was the crush and boom they are dating? I know Emmy was helping him with his social media image but it just didn't feel real? I was hoping for more of a built up? More flirting? Something to make me feel connected to the characters.

As I mentioned I paired my reading with the audio and sadly even with Andrew Eiden (Teddy Hamilton) doing the MMC's POV it did not help much. He made it at least somewhat enjoyable. I am unfamiliar with Stephanie Willing prior work but I would listen to her again. They truly saved me. I feel like I am making this sound like a really bad book. It's not. I wanted so bad for things to click for me but it just hadn't.

I would read this author again as this was a debut so it could possible be that first book jitters.

I recommend this if you like books with social media influencers and Hollywood!

Mini Audiobook Review: Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio for the complimentary ALC!
Thank you so much to St Martin's & Minotaur Books for the complimentary copy!

This book is out now!

We are back again in the Finlay Donovan universe with a fresh case! And I don't know what it is about these books but I just get sucked in. I love that we get to be back with these zany characters again.

Finlay's neighbor is out of jail and guess where she is staying - at Finlay's house! Finlay is not happy about having an extra roommate but my goodness their back and forth was funny. Ms. Haggerty was such a hoot! She was a stubborn woman set in her ways but at the same time she had the best interest at heart for Finlay and her family.

I felt like compared to some of the other books this one had more of a romance feel to it. No I would not consider this a romance but we did get to see the relationship between Finlay and Nick grow. I was happy to see that Finlay started to open up to Nick and was more honest about things that had happen. I'll be curious to see what happens with them in the next!

Even though Ms. Haggerty was a great side character, she will never take the place of Vero! Once again the dynamic duo of Finlay and Vero friendship took center stage. I just love their relationship and I am so glad that they have one another. We got to see more of Vero and Javier's relationship. Even needed him to help bail Finlay out of a particular situation.

Once again Angela Dawes is back with her sensational narrator. I will always laugh at how she brings Vero to life. I will never not think of Finlay when I hear her voice. She just embodies her so much! I just couldn't stop listening to the book.

We have 2 more books left in this series and just like with the others this one ends on a cliffhanger and I have to say I'm worried about my girl Vero.

Mini Book Review: Thank you so much to PRH Audio for the complimentary audio!

"But no one ever really dines alone, do they? Our thoughts share our meals with us. They keep us company whether we invite them to or not and are especially noisy when they are the only ones at our table. They chatter about all the things we cannot say aloud."

I am so torn on how I feel about this book! On one hand the premise and the writing was so incredibly beautiful but on the other hand I did find myself being confused. I usually am good with magical realism but some of this was too meta for me. And it wasn't even that the world building was high fantasy but there were a lot of moving pieces. But being able to jump into a puddle and transport to another world? Sign me up!

I loved Hana and Kei and their journey to find Hana's dad. They had such an insta crush on one another but we learn that Hana has a secret which would keep her and Kei from being together. I was in a buddy read and liked being able to ask questions and just share reactions with them. Majority of us really enjoyed it. It did start off on the slower side but then I was enthralled into the world.

I would love to see this adapted to screen - whether its live action or anime. The live action would be SO cool to see brought to life.

Another quote I really enjoyed: "Every hope deserves to sparkle in the sky. Even just for one night."

Mini Audiobook Review: Thank you so much to Bibiolifestyle for the gifted copy of the book! 
A thriller about a woman who commits murder while sleepwalking & then never wakes up? This was an interesting one!

This is told from multiple point of views. I mostly am interested in Ben (the forensic psychologist) and Emily (Anna’s mother) point of view as I felt they are the most important characters.

I also like that we got a sense of Anna’s personality and inside her brain with her journal entries. It all was very telling!

I was looking at other reviews and some have mentioned about feeling lost and I definitely can see how that happens. As I would feel like that especially with the different female narrators as they sound similar. I would reference the book to double check my understanding especially when it came to the twists. I did have to back up my listening to re-listen because I felt like I had missed something. 

I think some will really enjoy this but for me something just didn't mesh well. I am glad I read it though! Also I found it ironic that Dan Stevens was a narrator as my husband was watching a new tv show with him in it (but he had an American accent in it). 

Mini Audiobook Review: I finally am catching up on this series in preparation to seeing Brynne at an upcoming author event.  It's not like I did not like this one, but it didn't grab me the way that B&B grabbed me. I did like Lark and Lachlan together - his grumpiness and her charm, worked well together! And although there were some differences for a good portion of the book, in the end Lachlan was very protective of Lark and didn't want any harm to come to her. Just like with the last one there was some humor sprinkled in with some graphic killings. I love with the audiobook that we got to hear Lark singing!! As much as I love Samantha Brentmoor and Eric Nolan's narration I do wish we got different narrated for the new characters to help separate them more. Perhaps it's also my fault for listening to this and S&S back to back. 

Mini Audiobook Review: I'm going to keep this short because I know there are going to be so many amazing reviews on this book. But I absolutely LOVED this one! Everyone I know that has read this, loved it! I am kicking myself for only just reading it now. 

Bo is the ULTIMATE book boyfriend! 

Looking forward to reading Out of the Woods! 

 Mini Audiobook Review: As I mentioned in the Wild Love review, that was my first Elsie book and I was reading this specific series in preparation to see her at a local author event celebrating Book 3 of this series.

This one follows Rosie's brother West and his not so cute meeting with country singer Skyler Stone. Skyler is coming to Rose Hill to be out of the spotlight and to work with Ford. And what do you know, she is staying on West's property.

The dynamic between West and Skyler was so fun!! She just wants this normal life and that she gets in Wests' world. I didn't mention it in my prior review but I love the incorporation of children in the first book (Ford's daughter Cora) and in this West's children Ollie and Emmy shine! The way that Ollie opens up to Skyler was so lovely! I love Skyler just fit in so seamlessly with everyone in the town. She had gone through a lot with her parents and being a popular singer and she just needed time to find herself. I love seeing West and Skyler together! Also who knew this doting father had such a dirty mouth!

Just like with the prior, I did the audio of this and both Teddy Hamilton & Savannah Peachwood knocked it out of the park!! Between Silver's text and their narration, it made listening a breeze!

Looking forward to the next one! 

 Mini Audiobook Review: Somehow I made it this long without entering the world of Elsie Silver and now I don't think I can go back. I had heard such great things about her books from other readers and it wasn't until I purchased to see her at a local bookstore that really pushed me to read her books.

The event will be focusing on her Rose Hill series (though I'm sure she will discuss Chestnut Springs and I will have to pretend to know what they are talking about) and due to timing I wanted to make sure I read this one and the next in order to prepare me for the upcoming release of Wild Side.

Who doesn't love a billionaire brother best friend love story?! So if that is your jam, you definitely should give this one a read! Ford has had a crush on his best friend's little sister for as long as he can remember. Rosie moved on from her small town but circumstances brought her back to her hometown. Rosie becomes the nanny of Ford's daughter and that's where the fun begins!

The chemistry between Ford and Rosie felt so natural! Now a lot of that could be because of their history but even after not seeing one another for a bit, it was like no time has passed. Silver incorporated a lot of banter that just made the relationship between the two feel even more believable.

I had done the audio of this done by Vanessa Edwin and Zachary Webber. I thought the two of them did really well with their characters! Made me want to keep listening and as they are both pros at romances, they knew what they were doing. 

Thank you so much to the author, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Canary Street Press for an advance copy of this!

This book will be out on March 4th, 2025.

I became a fan of Alexandra Kiley after her debut Kilt Trip and could see the potential in her future. As much as I had enjoyed Kilt Trip, I did struggle while reading it. But this one, I was sucked in from the moment it started. I absolutely LOVE this book!

This one to me felt like a romance and it wasn't that the prior wasn't a romance, I felt it was more centered about the FMC's grief than her romantic love interest. Whereas this one, this former couple was forced to work together and be together on a multi day hike and the tension was brewing.

Also I love the use of the past timeline where we got to see how Brooke and Jack first met and then how their relationship became complicated when he became a teacher's assistant. There was something that caused the break up and altered the course of Brooke's life and the whole book we are leading up to finding out the moment.

Jack is *chef's kiss* a beautiful book boyfriend! He is flawed but also the most caring person. He was and still is head over heels for Brooke. He knows he had messed up in the past and wants to try to fix things. Brooke. Our beautiful Brooke. She is so strong and has so much resentment towards Jack about what had happened in the past. She wants to complete her hike and get the memoir she is ghostwriting for completed so she can start her next job. She does not want any complications with Jack but spending so much time together has reminded her what she loved about him. Even when Brooke was not so nice to Jack, they still had complimented each other so well! And Jack remember things about her just made him so incredibly swoooony aka the thunderstorm scene. "I've got you" - Gah!

I love how each of them (in the past & present) pushed one another to be a better version of themself and to go after what they truly want. And this book is a reminder to never settle and if you are unhappy, change what's making you unhappy. Also not to always play it safe! Brooke was playing it safe for too long and not truly living the life that she wanted to live because of the fear of failing due to incidents in her past.

There is also this beautiful subplot that I won't give away too much but it centers around Brooke's relationship with Jack's aunt, Mhairi her old writing professor who asked her to ghostwrite her memoir. I love hearing both of them tell stories about Mhairi and also Mhairi would provide life advice for Brooke especially towards the end of the book when Brooke didn't know which career path she wanted to go towards. And I'm pretty sure Mhairi purposely planted the seed to have them both go on this hike together to communicate their difference and possible rekindle their relationship.

I just couldn't stop reading. I wanted to know more about this couple and the journey and to find out what happened between them. I just loved Brooke and Jack so much!!!

This is a stand alone centered in the same universe as Kilt Trip. But I do not think you necessarily need to read Kilt Trip in order to understand the characters in this.

I recommend this if you are looking for a forced proximity, nature, Scotland setting and a second chance romance!

Very confused on the politics 

Was not as easy to follow like the first book