stephsbooktalk's Reviews (915)

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

This book is OUT NOW!

This book was never on my radar until I attended a zoom with a bunch of authors including Nicola Solvinic. And her talking about the book made me very intrigued!

"She knew what I was - my father's daughter - and she could no longer stand to look at me."

As with any thriller, it's hard to describe what all happens in this book because I think going in blind would be the best option! Anna Koray is a detective and keeps it a secret that her father was a serial killer. I thought her backstory was interesting and there was a part later in the book that was connected to her past that I was *hoping* we would get more. There was a few times where I did not know where the story was going to go or who did it. The string of killings that were similar to her dads has Anna going in a tailspin and things just started to snowball from there.

This book did seem to cover a bunch of tropes used microly within the thriller genre - true crime, paranormal, horror, unreliable narrator. And even with the different elements occurring, I did not find that it was too much or too little. The pacing throughout the book was good and kept me on edge the closer I got to the end.

One thing that I found difficult was that when it was a flashback, there was no indication that it was a flashback. It just sort of happened as you were reading. Sometimes there were page indicators but it was not always consistent. The flashbacks tapered off as the book went on so then it was okay.

I paired my reading with the audio & I thought the narrator Samantha Desz was fantastic. She was able to convey's Anna's vulnerability & complexness with such ease. It made the listening experience enjoyable and engaged.

I thought this was such a strong debut! And I'm anxious to see what other stories Nicola has for us.

Thank you so much to Harper Collins UK & NetGalley for the advance copy!

The ebook is available now!

F1 Romances have been my jam this year but this one is the first time I have read one that explored male/male and a teammate. And I absolutely loved it! The first half was a little bit slow but it helped build the tension between Harper and Kian.

It's hard to say who I loved most because I have such a soft spot for both of the men. Their personalities couldn't be more different and yet somehow it worked out. I love that Kian brought out this homebody side to Harper. Harper had a lot of past trauma that played into his relationships and here comes Kian who just bulldozed his way into his life. Harper tried to deny those strong feelings until it practically ate him up inside. Kian is at the top of his game but is ready for life to just slow down a bit. He has such guilt for missing out on time with his niece and nephew and more importantly time with his mother who is battling Parkinson and is nearing the end. He has rituals and things that calm him. Harper is young and still in his party stage which is not where Kian is.

"I try to slow down and just exist in the feeling of being enough. It's strange and unsettling. And also wonderful."

I love that we got both POVs as it helped to know what each character was thinking and feeling at the time it was happening. I did feel bad for Kian a few times because he just wanted Harper to be all in and it was just hard for Harper to do that. The 2nd half of the book it really all came together. Even when they had their little conflict, you knew that there was still so much love there. Kian had a lot going on and I was so happy to see that Harper stepped in and be his emotional support.

Overall this was such a fun time and you do not need to be an F1 follower to enjoy! I am curious if this would be a series because I would love to read a Johannes story.

PS - Who was driving the motor home?! That was my biggest question LOL

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press for an advance copy of this book!
Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio for the complimentary copy!

This book will be out June 11th.

This is my 3rd summer of reading a Katherine Center and this may be my favorite one of the three.
I just enjoyed the book from start to finish. The way that Katherine writes just always sucks me in. I really need to go back to read her backlist.

"I fell in love all the time. Just...nobody fell in love with me back. Fiction really kind of was all I had in the romance department."

I just loved the dynamic between Emma and Charlie. Emma was a talented writer who just needed the write opportunity to strike to hit. And the opportunity came from her former ex who manages a very famous screenwriter and he needs help reworking a romcom. But the catch, Charlie doesn't believe in love nor has never seen a romcom!

Even though I loved this book, I am so surprised how many reviews are saying how much they love Charlie. I felt like Charlie was unlikeable through majority of the book. We do find out why this was the case but it made it hard to like him. Day by day Emma just chewed away at Charlie's hard exterior. And while doing this he slowly began to warm up and a different side to Charlie began to shone through. He would do small gestures to show he was paying attention.

"I get it now."
"Get what?"
"Why we're rewriting this story."

A major storyline that is woven throughout the book is Emma's role as a caretaker to her dad. We learn what happened that caused his Ménière's disease and what her daily life is like taking care of him. She is entrusting her younger sister Sylvie (and her boyfriend) to take care of her dad while she is away in LA. I did feel bad because Emma had taken on the brunt of his care for the last 10 years and it was just something that she made her full responsibility. I really feel like she was so passionate about his care after feeling responsible for their mother's death. The climax came towards the end when things came to a head.

I paired my reading with the audio which was narrated by Patti Murin who is a top tier audiobook narrator. She truly knocks it out of the part each and every time! Her tone and cadence is always so pleasant to listen to. This one was no exception. I loved how she voiced all the characters!

I really enjoyed this but I know a lot of peers have had mixed reactions to this so please take in consideration my thoughts but also others as well.

Thank you so much to Berkley for the free copy of the book & ebook!

This book is out now.

Lord, I did not what I was getting myself into when I pushed play on this book. I thought I was going to get this sweet romance about a woman at a beach with a dog and instead I got a book about 3 women who have had 3 different versions of love.

I will break down my mini thoughts into the 3 point of views.

Joy - Joy is an older woman who has just never felt like she could just be herself. She was always striving to appease someone. She never fully was living for herself. We learn about Joy's upbringing and the toxic environment in her household. She was very close to her brother and would do anything for him. She was constantly changing her appearance and refuses to allow herself to age. She became friends with her tennant's mother and learned what it was like to have a real friend. I was so happy when Joy found what she was meant to do with her life.

Ellie - Just like with Joy, we see Ellie early on in her life as she is a young mother to 5 children with her husband Gerald whom she has been married to for 38 years. They have had a wonderful life together devoted to their children and to each other. She learns that her husband has been keeping a secret and it was so jarring that she had to leave her home and asked Joy if she could stay with her. Ellie's chapters are mostly her figuring out what she should do with her husband. I love the friendship that she and Joy begin to have as a result of this. They really were able to help each other out.

Lark - Lark is the star of the book being the focal point that connects to the two above. Lark rents a cottage on the property owned by Joy and is the daughter of Ellie. At the beginning of the book Lark is timid and not the most confident oncology doctor who tends to be overly emotional when she loses patients. She gets sent to emergency department and is not super thrilled about it. In hopes to get back into the oncology she agrees to fake date a surgeon Dr. Lorenzo Santini, whom is known as Dr. Satan. I appreciated Lark's tenacity to try to break Lorenzo and make him seem like a normal human. This is not your typical fake date as we learn over the course of the book. Lark's story of her first love truly broke my heart. I was not prepared for how sad I was going to be while reading. I truly enjoyed reading her parts despite the pain it brought me. I love the growth that we see in Lark. By the end of the book she is putting her skills as a doctor to use and she realized what she was truly made to do.

I listened to this one via Libby and I was so happy that we had three narrators for each POV: Susan Bennett, Christina Moore, Xe Sands. It helped distinguish each of the character's voices. They each brought out the personalities of the 3 women perfectly. Highly recommend via audio but reading with your eyes also is fine!

I feel like this book is going to sit with me for awhile after finishing. Even now a day later, I am finding myself still thinking about all 3 women and their stories and how we are all connected in this world.

If you are looking for a book that will put you through an emotional rollercoaster ride but still end with happy endings, give this book a read!

Mini Audiobook Review: This is my 2nd book by Amanda and I love her millennial mind and even though I haven't listened to her podcasts, I love the concept.

I love that this book opened up with a whole section dedicated to fandoms. The whole stan culture is so fascinating to see in real time and how it has changed from when I was a tween in the age before the internet to now. I could not imagine the Backstreet Boys vs NSYNC wars on the internet or what slander towards the pop princesses of the time would be said.

I also was interested in the section about social comparison. Social media has changed how a lot of us view ourselves and our achievements. We see our peers or strangers doing all these things that is deemed successful when for another the act of simply getting out of bed could be an achievement.

I felt that Montell made the topics pretty digestible and I am pretty sure if she read the phone book, I would listen to it. She is such a great narrator that it makes the listening experience so pleasant.

Note: I do not rate non fiction books.

I had heard so many good things about this book from various book friends that were fans of this author that I needed to read this.

This book is out now!

"How long is someone supposed to feel this way? How can a person possibly live like this, being fine one minute and the next feeling as if happiness is impossible? Like I'm grasping a concept I'll never understand again."

I thought this was such a cute book! Not my favorite young adult book I have read but I really enjoyed it. I thought the 2nd half was a lot stronger than the first half.

My heart broke for both Winnie and Case for different reasons.
Winnie had to grow up so fast. I know at 19 I could barely take care of myself and there she was taking care of her two younger siblings. Her father made me so incredible angry and there was no redemption arc. He may have decided to be a parent at the end but I wouldn't believe it until I saw some action. She did the best she could supporting her siblings and they were so supportive of her especially Garrett. I know she struggled with Jesse but in the end he turned out to make the right choice.
Case is grieving the loss of his best friend. A loss is a loss but I cannot imagine losing a best friend while I was still a teenager. I thought Case was incredibly vulnerable and was not afraid to show his grief. One of my favorite quotes from Case in talking about the loss, "I'm starting to wonder if maybe I never really wanted that dream. Maybe I only wanted whatever Walker wanted because, deep down, I knew his dreams were keeping the fight I him alive." I was glad that Case was able to honor his friend but also realize he needed to do things for himself.

The two together were so different but yet they were complementary to one another. I just loved their relationship and Case was so smitten with her. He just seemed like he would do anything for her and just needed that nudge from his best friend to make that connection. Walker saw something that he hadn't seen. My favorite moment was the trip to Headbanger's Ball.

I paired my reading with the audio. I am unsure how I feel about the male narrator - Tristan Wright. It was more that he sounded older than I was picturing Case. Where as Rachel Jacobs, had that young youthful, hopeful tone to her voice. Either way I liked them both enough that I would listen to other books by them.

Check this book out if you want to be in your feels, love for horses and daddy issues!

Thank you so much to Colored Pages Tour and Bramble Books for the advance copy of this book!
Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio for the complimentary audio!

This book will be published on June 11th.

The cover and title grabbed my attention right away. As a plus size woman, I try to read and promote books where there is a plus size character represented. And Aaliyah was such a great female protagonist!

"Just because a woman is fat doesn't mean she can't get a man. She just may not have found the man she wants. Automatically assuming that she doesn't have a man because she can't get one because of her weight is the problem."

Aaliyah's family has put so much pressure on her to not only be in a relationship but to marry and have a child by the time she turns 30. I honestly do not know how she held her ground but she did such a great job with her parents and her uncle (who truly was the villain in this story). She also has this shadow of older sister Aniyah who had everything right on paper. Aaliyah is constantly being compared and what I have learned as I am pushing 40 is that success comes in many ways. Unfortunately for the older generation, they only see success as one thing when in reality it's a multitudes of things. I just loved her love for herself and she knew what she wanted and was not going to settle.

The relationship Aaliyah has with her two girlfriends Jazmyn and Nina always made me laugh while reading. I love how honest they all were one another and the constant support they gave to each other. It loved the scenes when they would interact. The banter between the three and even when it would just be Aaliyah with one of the girls it always made me laugh. Here was one convo that made me laugh: "Deep down, I think you're a romantic." "Ew no. Romance is dead. I just want a handful of steady, reliable men to spend my time with."

The biggest relationship we see in this book is Aaliyah's relationship with Ahmad. He struck up this random friendship with Aaliyah after she went to his bar for her first blind date and we just got to see their relationship progress. Their banter was SO good and it felt like such a believable relationship between a bartender and a pateron. He was so sweet to Aaliyah and I loved the part when Ahmad took her out with his friends. When they finally do get together, it was so so hot! Allen really did an exceptional job with the spice.

I thought the pacing of the book for the most part was pretty good. The middle got to be a bit repetitive with the dates and having them fail. I was not familiar with Danielle's writing before but I will certainly be following her writing from now!

I did do majority of the reading with my eyes but I did receive the audio which I finished the book with. I thought the narrator Wesleigh Siobhan did a great job as Aaliyah! Her tone and cadence had this sweet quality about it. And then that quick she could change to a deep and broody voice for Ahmad.

Just want to also give a heads up that there are fatphobia/antifat comments made in this book from the family members as well as tasteless men so please proceed with caution.

I will end on a quote that particularly struck a chord with me: "Being fat, existing in my body and not being ashamed of who I am and how I look was only an act of confidence to people who view me as if something was wrong with me."

Thank you so much to Celadon for including me in their Read Together Initiative.

This book will be out June 25th, 2024.

When I first heard of this book and read the description, I knew right away that this book was going to be the one for me. It had all the elements that truly at my core is who I am: a millenial with a love for my teen years in the late 90s/early aughts and the love of pop music.

I thought this book captured that time period of 1999 to 2004 so perfectly. Obviously being a young adult during that time vs being a teenager at this time are very different. We were the first group of young people to grow up with the internet, the last generation to not have cell phones as a teen and now we are entering our midlife approaching 40. As someone who was knee deep into the pop princess, boy band, TRL culture, this was exactly what I needed to fill my soul.

Amber Young has this talent that is beyond her hometown. She has this big ambition and knows she is good but her mother plays along for a bit but ultimately stops supporting her. That is until she gets close to 18 years old and the idea of getting out of her small town grows more and more. After a series of events Amber meets fellow girl group member Gwen Morris.

The two girls relationship was interesting to follow over the years. Amber looked up to Gwen and in some ways was chasing her approval and was trying to make her proud. It came across as very frenemy and yet there was a LOT of love.

There was a moment that really irked me about Gwen. Blocking out the next section as it is spolierish but I felt it was important for me to note in my review:

We learn that Gwen has feelings & is dating privately her fellow dancer Tammy while publicly being linked with boy band member Wes. I felt that Gwen was a little dramatic in how she reacted to learning about Amber and Wes's relationship. Should Amber have told Gwen earlier? Sure but she left Amber's apologize and iced her out a long time that was unnecessary.

But in the end, I think they truly needed one another to survive the business.

"I think a good song is like an affair. It lingers long after it's over. You can't forget it, especially when you try to. It's the lover who stays in your head. Who drives you made."

Amber & her relationships to men. From the very beginning you knew that Amber craved that wanting and acceptance from men. As soon as she reconnected with Wes Kensington (they met as children on Star Search), those butterflies came fluttering through and she was smitten. I wanted to root for him. But like most men, they just let me down and Wes was no exception. For whatever reason Amber just was not "good" enough and there was a moment at the end that just made me angry at him. Just thinking about what he says to Amber makes me raise my fist to him. What I do wish we got to see more of was the intimacy relationship between Amber and Axel. Granted one could say that their time working on the album was them growing their intimacy. I would love to have seen it beyond where the book ended.

As a whole I just really enjoyed this book and it kept me engaged the whole time. I was anxious to see where Amber's story was going to go and with majority of pop performers when/how their fame fizzles. I thought it depicted what life was *likely* like for pop singers during that time (and honestly in any decade). The pressures from old men. the pressures from parents to be an "good influence" to kids, the pressure to stay thin, comparing yourself to your peers all are common challenges to being a female pop singer.

If you couldn't tell from this lengthy review (and will get longer when I review the audio), I really enjoyed this book! This may not be for everyone but those who like me were deep into the TRL & pop world maybe entertained like I was!

And if you made it to the end - thank you!

Thank you so much to Putnam for an advance copy of this book!
Thank you so much to PRH Audio for the complimentary audio!

This book will be out on June 4th.

Annabel is one of my queen of summer romances! Three years in a row we have been gifted with easy, breezy romances. This one is no exception and now I think it is my new fave. I will say I feel like this one is the heaviest in terms of theme compared to her other books.

This book had all the things you could want in a book: heartwarming moments, a woman coming into her own, great friendships and of course love.

"You've known me for one week Scooter. You don't know what I'm made for."
"I've known you a long time."

Ariel is my new favorite female protagonist! She is a mother of 3 kids and is a year into separation with her husband and while dealing with that she is still reeling with grief after her mother's death. So much had happen at once that Ariel just kind of lost herself in the process. Then a chance encounter at the dog park has her face to face with the handsome Ethan. She is the pillar in her family's life and I feel like she is a great friend to Frannie as well.

Ethan Ethan Ethan. Ethan had me swooooooning. He always has had a crush on Ali and the timing of them meeting was by chance as he doesn't normally visit his hometown. He just was so understanding of the chaos that was going on in Ali's life. He knew she had children and a not so nice ex. He treated her so tenderly. He joked that once they kissed she was no longer a frog. And it really is true. He brought so much life back into her life. Everyone around her even her teenage daughter could tell the difference since Ethan came into their life. And who knew skateboarding would help bring the two together!

The relationship between Ali and Phyllis just melted my heart. Grief played a role throughout the book. Ali really looked to Phyllis as that mom figure that she needed in her life. One of my favorite quotes that i definitely will take with me outside of the reading came from Phyllis, "Spring is always coming. It never doesn't come." There was a moment that made my eyes a little wet and my heart just felt a lot of things.

I paired my reading with the audio and as usual Kristen DiMercurio knocked it out of the park! I was able to complete this in one sitting because of how enjoyable of a listen it was! She embodied Ali and made her really come to life.

One thing I can always appreciate with Monaghan's book is that even though they are short. You get a complete story. She does not over do it or makes you feel underwhelmed. It is just the perfect amount.

I didn't want this story to end! I just thoroughly enjoyed it from start to end. If you were a fan of her prior work, I feel like you will definitely enjoy this one! And if you have not read any of Monaghan's prior works, I highly recommend checking them out. They are super bingeable and the perfect poolside read!

Thank you so much to Dreamscape for the copy of the audio!

This book is out now.

I am torn on how I feel about this book because I really enjoyed the first half of the book but then suddenly, I had no idea what was happening.

I thought the story of having the two sisters who obviously are hiding from something or had experience some sort of trauma. They are very different one Cassie is more of the mother figure of the two and Lenora is reserved & does not leave the house unless she has to.

I really enjoyed the mystery of the young girl going missing and finding out what happened to her. But as I mentioned somewhere in the middle, the 50-70% range was where they lost me. I am not sure if it was the flashbacks or the dual POVs but I just was not sure what was going on. And then suddenly we were in the present and the twists were happening.

I thought Imani Jade Powers did a good job with the narration and tackling both of the sisters. Her tone and cadence made it to be very easy listening.

Even though this ended up being just an okay read for me, I will give Marlee another try as this is her debut.