stephsbooktalk's Reviews (915)

Mini Audiobook Review: *I do not rate NF books*

"What made a great spy wasn't gadgets; what a great saboteur wasn't bombs. It was cleverness, cunning, an ability to believe in the power of small acts of rebellion.

I first came across this book while I was working at the library and thought "oh this sounds like it would be interesting". And I have to say this book was not for me. I probably should have DNF it but I was too stubborn for that.

It's not that I don't think the writing was terrible or anything like that. I could tell that the author did a lot of research and it was written brilliantly. But just the material and how much history was in this (yes I did know this going into it) and it was just something I was not interested in. I thought I would be but it ended up boring me.

So I think if you are a history buff and especially history during the WWII this would be great for you!!!

Thank you so much to Hambright PR & Angela Casella for the complimentary copy of the ebook!

This book is out now.

This was my first Angela Casella book and I was drawn to all the tropes for this and thought this was definitely up my alley! What I didn't realize is that I was also getting a little mystery with my romance.

Claire and Declan meet on a plane and when they think they won't survive (bad turbulence) and in the rush of the moment, Declan decides to kiss Claire. Turns out to be the best kiss of their life and guess what, they do end up surviving their plane ride. Claire learned that her biological dad, Dick Ricci, died and left her property in a town called Marshall outside of Asheville and Declan lives next door.

I will say that I didn't think there was chemistry between the two at first but as the book went on it was becoming more believable. They were so attracted to one another and Claire was very into Declan.

"Fuck me."
"I'm trying to. I've been trying to."

One thing I thought was unique with this story compared to other contemporary romances I read is the openness of drug usage and growing. Their relationship and attraction grew the more they spent time with another building trust. Declan had a not so clean past and was scared that it would scare Claire away. When his reveal came, Claire did the opposite of run away but embraced Declan and loved him anyways.

Claire has so many changes in such a short time - she learns about her bio dad's death, this inheritance, Declan and a half sister, Nicole! Claire's relationship with her sister was fun to watch! Nicole was a hoot and I was so happy at how positive their relationship ended up being. And the ending - so sweet!

As I mentioned there is a mystery that takes place - did someone kill Claire's dad or was it truly an accident? Claire, Declan, Nicole and Damien all work together to figure out what truly happened with Dick. When everything hits the fan, I was not expecting all the action that took place!

I paired my reading with the audiobook and thought both narrators Ada Sinclair and Tyler Donne did a good job with their characters! Both were new narrators to me and I would listen to their narrations again.

This book is the first of a series and the next one will star Claire's best friend Lainey!

4.5 - Thank you so much to Gallery Books for the gifted copy of the book (physical and ebook)!
Thank you so much to Simon Audio & Libro FM for the complimentary audiobook!

I am kicking myself for not reading this sooner. I had such a great time with reading this one. I had no idea what to expect but this book is a mix of a cozy mystery, romance (very minimal), humor all balled up under 300 pages.

We all have gone on bad dates but what if suddenly your bad dates all end up dying? That is the predicament that Gwen finds herself in. When I thought I knew where the story was going, it changed and new theories floated through my brain. I can't say too much about what happens but I do love that we get to see what happened on each of the dates to make them "bad". I also had to chuckle about how Gwen had to explain to the police how bad dating is out there (which I do not miss those days but the quote below still rang true in my early 20s).

I felt bad for Gwen in a sense because as a reader we didn't know if she was an unreliable narrator or if she was really put in this horrible position. We see her wheels turning and trying to figure out what is happening and who would do this. Now was some of it far fetched, yes but not as much as you would think but when you are trying to figure out who is ruining your life and murdering people, you have a right to be a little unhinged.

I paired my reading with the audiobook and thought Georgia Maguire did a fabulous job! Sometimes I struggle with British narrators but I had no issues with this (also could be because of story itself). I thought her tone with the humor and snark was great.

Check this book out if you are looking for a cozy mystery with fun dialogue and a whirlwind ending!

Thank you so much to Forever for an advance copy of this!

This book is out Jan 14th, 2025.

I know it's about a week into the new year but did I already find my favorite book of the year? It's quite possible. I was highly invested in this book from start to finish. I absolutely loved both our FMC and the MMC. And you all know how much I love a celebrity romance.

The book starts off with one of the ultimate meet cutes (or in Mason's case, his worst nightmare): getting stuck in the elevator. Once they are unstuck and go on their merry way, their paths crossed later that night and they decided to have a one night stand. This did end up being an open door romance but I initially got sad because we did not get the full picture of their hook up. They thought they would not see each other again but guess what, they did.

I love their relationship and how much it grows throughout the book. Sawyer talks about her loneliness and found such a friendship with Mason. And Mason was so gone for her and wanted to be there for her in any way he could. I love that they each had their own trials going on in the book which they were able to have one another to lean on through it. Sawyer was struggling with writer's block and feeling the pressure of putting out a quality new book. Mason is starting a production company with his best friend and decided to leave the hit show that he was in for 6 years.

As I mentioned this book is open door and WHEWWWW!!! I remember seeing a review thanking the author for the tights scene and I would also sign off on that thank you. Their flirtatious banter was *chef's kiss* Every moment we got of them together just made me smile so much!

This is a debut book and I'm very excited to see what this author does in the future. I also can't wait to revisit this book via the audiobook.

I highlighted so many sections due to the swoon worthy dialogue between Mason and Sawyer. Their banter was top notch. Here are some of my favorite moments:

Thank you so much to Love Notes PR & Brittanee Nicole for the complimentary copy of this ebook!

This book is out now & can be found on KU.

I started this journey with Hockey Boy and looks like I won't be turning back anytime soon! If you have been following my reviews, you know that I loveeeeed Hockey Boy and then Trouble I struggled with but let me tell you, this one brought me right back in.

"There's a hockey stick for Bray, a boxing glove because you're my fighter [Josie], and a ballet shoe for my ballerina, Ava. They're all wrapped up in a red bow for Scarlett. I got it over my lung because I need you to breathe."

I was obsessed with this book from start to finish. I really love Aiden in Hockey Boy but I'm sorry Tyler is now my favorite guy of this series. This man has that bad boy edge with a heart of gold. He knows he is hot and he know she could get any girl but he becomes smitten with sweet Ava a ballerina he meets at his gym. Ava does not fall for his bad boy image and through a series of mishaps makes a villain out of him. But turns out, he is not a villain at all.

As I mentioned Tyler has a heart of gold, he is a young guy who decided to take on the responsibility of becoming a dad to 3 kids who need a parental figure in their life. To increase his chances of obtaining full rights to the kids, Ava generously proposed to Tyler to become his wife. They danced around the dynamic of being married but not actually being together. But that did not last very long because of their attraction to one another and Ava seeing this other side of Tyler. It was so heartwarming to see how quickly Ava took on the mother role for these 3 kids. She already had a connection with Josie but adding in her sister Scarlett and Brayden was not an issue. Their dynamic as a family of 5 was just beautiful!

"Fuck, I love when you talk married to me."
"You're ridiculous."

Now onto the ooey gooey stuff! The two of them are so incredibly hot together!!! I love how Brittanee crafts her intimacy scenes. If you are not blushing by the time you are done reading, then I don't know what you are expecting! They were always attracted to one another and it just escalated until they finally decided to act on it. Tyler's love for Ava was just the SWEETEST. I love seeing how Ava's wall towards Tyler would start to crumbling and she would let him in. Gah!

I think Brittanee does a great job integrated the other characters from this series as well as from Revenge Games. I love being able to catch up with the crew! It's never too much or too little and always works well with the storyline.

I cannot wait for the next book in the series!!

If you are looking for your next hockey book to indulge in, check this out! It could be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading the others because they are fun and will enhanced the side characters.

Thank you so much to Harper Audio for the complimentary audio!

I am so proud of my fellow bookstagrammer turned author Meg Jones becoming a traditional publish author!! If you do not follow her, go do it!

I really enjoyed her first book Invisible String and when I heard she was pivoting to not only a sports romance but a tennis romance - sign me up! I love that she did not do the expected hockey or baseball romance which trust me I love them but we don't see this sport that often.

This book is told from dual POV - Scottie Sinclair & Nico Kotas. Scottie had gone through a lot over the course of this book. She starts off the book losing her career, her reputation, her relationship with her father (who is a tennis legend) but for some reason her former coach knows she isn't done. Then you have Nico who is recovering from an injury and nearing the end of his career. They are forced to work together as double partners in Wimbledon so a lot of the book takes place during their training time.

I love the relationship between Scottie and Nico. As I mentioned they were forced to spend a lot time together and it was rough in the beginning but overtime as it does, the layers started to peel. I love their little game of her taking his hat until he eventually just gave up fighting her on it. I loveee towards the end when he began to become very protective of Scottie and truly had no idea what she went through on a daily basis with the media. I am glad she was able to open up to him about what happened to her 2 years ago and why her relationship with her dad is estranged.

If you know anything about Meg's writing and her page (*cough* dicktionary*cough*), she can bring the spice! The tension between these two and how the force proximity push them together. It was just all so good! *chef's kiss*

The book is narrated by Mary Jane Wells and Patrick Zeller. Both narrators are new to me and I will admit it did take me a minute to get used to their voices. There was nothing wrong with their voices but to me they came off older than what the ages of the characters were. But once I got over that, it was breeze and I just was invested in their dynamic during their POV while listening.

I did some digging after I finished and saw that we are getting 2 more books in this universe. I am HIGHLY interested in how Dylan's book will be. She was not painted in a good light in this book and I was angry on Scottie's behalf so I'm very anxious to see how Jones will make me like her because I know she will - ha!

If you are looking for your next sports romance that is enemies to lovers with spice & even some mean girl energy - give this one a read!

PS - Meg creates playlists for her books and they are always fantastic!!! And each chapter is a song title.

Mini Audiobook Review: **I do not rate Non Fiction books**

I first saw this book one night while working at the library and thought it would be a fun one to dive into. Anyone who knows me on a personal level, knows my love for pop culture and music runs deep. So I knew I would enjoy this. 

I did read this book primarily via audio but I did check the book out from the library just to see how it was formatted compared to the audio. The audiobook was narrated by a handful of narrators:  Alison Fensterstock, Ann Powers, Janina Edwards, Hillary Huber, Maggi-Meg Reed, Chanté McCormick, Inés del Castillo. What made this really neat was that the audiobook has the actual sound recordings of the artist which matches the interviews in the book. 

What made this really neat is that it focused on women musicians of ALL genres. And if you are dreading to learn or read about X artist, don't worry, each tidbit on the musicians are in small dosage and then they move on to the next. I think they did a wonderful job covering all the different female musicians from the early 1900s to current artists. 

If you love music, this is one to have on your shelf and its just full of knowledge on these female artists. 

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for a copy of this book!
Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the complimentary audio!

This book is out now.

This is my second book from Cale Dietrich and it was such a DELIGHT! And I really mean a delight. Cale was a co writer on one of my all time favorites, If This Gets Out so I knew that I already enjoyed his writing style.  

Jamie turns 17 and learns that he is heir to the throne in a European country called Mitanor. I love how his family was open to him about his birth mother and then when learning of this news also learns about his father. I was waiting for Jamie to be upset or to have such a negative reaction but that was not the case. When he does meet his father King Alexander, it was nothing but opened arms and warm welcomes. So who is the lucky fellow who wins over Jamie's heart? None other than Prince Erik of Sunstad. 

See King Alexander thought that Jamie needed someone his own age to help guide Jamie on how to be a royal. But Jamie also wonders if his father paired them together because they both are openly gay so there was that extra comfort. Their relationship was just the cutest and I love seeing their friendship blossom! It was really obvious that their feelings for each other was more than just friendship. There were a bunch of obstacles that was getting in the way of them having an actual relationship. I am glad they were able to work through those challenges to be able to give us that HEA. 

There was a side storyline involving Jamie and his American friends and their journey with learning of his new life. As the reader, you could see the walls starting to crumble in the relationship between Jamie and his best friend Max. Things were changing rapidly and neither knew how to navigate this new world. I was glad to see that they were able to resolve their issues by having a conversation. 

I paired my reading with the audio and this audio had two fabulous narrators: Major Curda, Max Meyers. Max Meyers is a pro narrator and I have enjoyed all the books that I have listen to with them as narrator. They have a very distinctive tone (not a bad thing) and I know what I'm in for while listening. Major Curda is a new narrator to me but I would certainly listen to him narrate again in the future. Each narrator brought their characters to life and even made them sound vulnerable at times. 

This book just really made me smile and was just so darn enjoyable! 

If you are a fan of The Princess Diaries meets Red, White & Royal Blue, definitely give this one a read! 

Thank you so much to Harlequin Trade Publishing for a gifted copy of this book!

This book is out now!

**Please check the trigger warnings for this before reading**

This book was sent to me with a pack of tissues and a note advising how I would need these.
Okay so I did not need the tissues but I could see why it came with a warning. I thought the parts that were more emotional was thinking about getting older and thinking about my parents and more recently my grandmother dying of Parkinson's. Those pulled on my heartstrings a little more than the romance itself.

Though the synopsis tells you the gut wrenching decision that Evelyn and Joseph are deciding to end their lives in a years time. Don't worry you get all their reasons why and their reactions from the children once they tell them the news.

This book is told from two different timelines: The Present vs Past with multiple point of views. We get to see Evelyn and Joseph's love story and the complexities of a relationship and how marriage is work. We also get insight in on their life with their children and how their lives change of the news as well as events in their life shape who they are. I thought the chapters that dealt with Evelyn's relationship with her daughter Jane was very introspective. - a rebellious teen in the late 60s , you know she was in for a wild time!

I primarily listened to this via audio which had a full cast of narrators: Andi Arndt, Robert Fass, Ferdelle Capistrano, Katie Koster, Sean Patrick Hopkins. I will say I didn't notice that there were so many narrators as the voices must have sounded pretty similar between the characters. Even with not hearing the different voices, I was able to follow the story with no issue. There were times when the different point of views would change within a chapter (still staying within the same timeline though).

Other readers compared this book to likes such as The Notebook and Me Before You. I have not read either but if you have and loved them, then I would consider checking this one out as well!

Thank you so much to Berkley Pub for the copy of this book!
Thank you to PRH Audio for the complimentary audio!

This book is out now!

This is the exactly the type of fantasy I need in my life. I had heard that if you enjoyed Travis Baldree's books that you would enjoy this and I have to agree.

I will say this book kind of gave me The Wizard of Oz feel? Not sure if it's enough to say its a retelling but the vibes are very similar and I was here for it. You have Tao who travels city to city to do small fortunates and she meets Mash and Silt (both former thieves) along the way who join her and then eventually meet Kina, a baker. There's even a cat (Fidelitus) who they take care of on the travel. They meet a man who asks them to fulfil a quest. Just similar themes. There was a moment where Tao was separated from the rest of the group and they came to rescue her and it was just so sweet how they banded together to get to her (including the cat). They became each other's family.

I love the relationship between all the characters and how they were so determined to help Mash find his daughter. I was happy to see Tao re-establish her relationship with her mom after essentially running away.

I paired my reading with the audiobook which helps my comprehension so much especially while reading any sort of magical realism/fantasy. The narrator Phyllis Ho did a great job! Her tone was very calm and made the listening

If you are looking for a fantasy lite read with a cozy feel about a group of people traveling - give this one a try!

PS - They met a troll at a bridge! This was a very exciting encounter just because of it being stereotypical and I could picture it so vividly.