stephsbooktalk's Reviews (915)

Thank you so much to Penguin & Viking for an advance copy of this book!
Thank you so much to PRH Audio for a complimentary copy of the audio!

This book is out now.

Listen country music is all the rage right now! Yes, I'm aware that its always been popular but within the last couple months there has definitely been a spotlight on it. And I am sure when a certain blonde pop star re-releases her country debut, the genre will be buzzing. But that leads me to this gem of a book!

This was such an enjoyable YA read told in two timelines and two POVs. I thought the premise of this was interesting and I thought the chapters were really quick. The book kicks off with us learning the passing of country superstar Decklee Cassel after battling brain cancer. At her funeral there was going to be a time capsule reveal but instead a scavenger hunt was planned for fans to win a whopping $3 million dollars. Enter Darren Purchase who grew up in the same town where Decklee came from and grew up listening to her music. She knows all about Decklee and thinks she has what it takes to solve the scavenger hunt. She recruits her co worker Kendall who has a car on a roadtrip she'll never forget!

Decklee falls in love with her best friend/songwriter Mickenlee Hooper and the book goes through their love affair starting from 1963 until present. I am always fascinated to read stories about the start, during and end of a music career. My heart broke for them because they just wanted to be able to open but knew that Decklee could lose it all.

Darren is coming into her own self. She admits out loud that she likes girls all while falling for her co pilot Kendall. I won't spoil the ending but it felt very believable for the age. There was a moment between Kendall and Darren that really struck a chord with me. They are talking about wanting to leave their hometown - Darren doesn't want to feel stuck there and Kendall loves his town and will never leave. It just reminds me of all the people who I've gone to school who couldn't wait to leave and I just never understood it because my family were all here and I just love where I'm from.

The audio had two narrators for each of the ladies - Emily Lawrence and Allison Strong. I will admit in the beginning it was hard to tell the two narrators apart as they were just really similar but as the book went on, I was able to distinguish the two voices apart. This is easily digestable to consume in a day (which I did) via audio.

If you are looking for a quick queer YA romance with all the country music vibes - give this one a read!

Mini Audiobook Review: This book was SO incredibly beautiful!!!! As I was listening, I kept just saying wow. The format of the writing was very unique and the chapters are incredibly short. The Song of Achilles is one of my favorite books of all time and I don't know why but this book was giving me the same kind of feels. I am planning on doing a reread of it with the physical book (I did not have it at the time of listen).

Kirt Graves was the narrator and it made listening very easy. I likely could have finish this in a day if time allotted because it just read so quick.

"I was yours before we even met and I'll be yours until we die." I mean come ON! Who doesn't want to be spoken to like this?!

PS - Also how BEAUTIFUL is this cover?!

Mini Audiobook Review: I am going to keep this short, this was very underwhelming. I am not sure if it was because of me being distracted by work stuff or what it was but this was not a good time. 

I am not sure what it was about this that I disliked about this. I normally am okay with books centered around college but I just was not invested in any of the people or the relationships. I was very confused majority of the time while listening. 

I did like that we had not one but two mysteries in the book. But I only can remember the resolution of the 1. 

Karissa Vacker is a great narrator and I love her narrations but I feel bad that this was one she had to read. 

This book was not for me but perhaps check out other reviews to determine if this would be a book for you. 

Thank you so much to the Harlequin for the exclusive copy of this!

This book was originally released back in 2014 but will be re-released on July 9th.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am truly in my sports romance era. I gobbled this one up. I haven't read too many football romance (only the Alexa Martin series) but this one was just SO good!

"Doesn't noise hurt your head?"
"Your voice isn't noise. It's a song I want to hear over and over."

Drew *sigh* - if you are looking for a book boyfriend. Drew Baylor is the one for you. There is just something about him. I swooned the whole time from start to finish. He just was so enamoured with Anna. Anna was very resistant and Drew had not done anything to make her think differently but the reputation and him being who he was had her scared. They were just so incredible hot together. And their intimate scenes were so so good! OH and the fact that she wouldn't kiss him when they would hook up, who knew could be so hot.

One of my favorite chapters came later in the book (chap 36) where Anna is taking care of Drew. I just loved their vulnerable conversation and it was just a love fest of feelings. I was happy for Anna to own up to her mistakes in their relationship & the reasoning behind it - "I kept waiting for you to realize that you'd got it wrong. That I was the girl you were never supposed to see."

This was just a fun time from start to end. I just loved their dynamic. The banter between not only between Anna and Drew but the banter between each of their friend groups. I enjoyed when the scenes also included them! I loved George!!!

I paired my reading with the audio and the incredible Teddy Hamilton and new narrator to me Maxine Mitchell were so good as Drew and Anna. I really loved the tone and cadence of Maxine and what she brought to Anna. They both felt believable as characters.

I know there are more to the series and you betcha I will be checking them out! Especially because the next book MMC is Gray Grayson who made an impression in this book.

And with this re-release we get a bonus chapter that takes place after the book ends but before the epilogue!

I recommend this if you are looking for a college, steamy romance with dual POV!

Thank you so much to Gallery Books for an advance copy of this book!

This book will be published on June 4th, 2024.

"And your hobby-hopping is entertaining as hell. I just worry you're chasing something because you're afraid to stand still."
"Standing still is overrated."

A romance book about birding? It doesn't sound very hot but trust me IT IS!

You do not need to be a birder to enjoy this book. I know almost next to nothing about birds but just that there are a lot out there. And there was a lot about birds woven throughout the book but not enough where I felt it got annoying or too much. It actually made me want to listen more to the birds and my surroundings. The author did a lot of research for this and you could tell.

One thing I loved about this book is that both of our main characters are not spring chickens. They are both in their 40s trying to navigate casual hook up to what it's like dating in their 40s. The friendships for each of the MCs were great! I am not sure what the author has in store for her next book but I would love to see a book with Chris as the MMC.

"But what if it is a me thing, just a little? What if I'm not built to be the kind of person someone wants?"

I felt like I could relate to the quote above. It's been a long time since I was dating but I am sure those were feelings during that time but I find this really relatable when just meeting new people. Am I going to embarrass myself? Am I going to be too much? Who is going to want to be friends with me because I can be "too much"? It is always nice to find elements in the books that are about one thing but you interpret them into something else.

I will say the first 40% of this book was a little slow for me but once the flirting and the romance kicked in. The rest of the read was rather smooth. And it did get pretty spicy! More spicy than what I thought it was going to get. The romance between Celeste and John was a slow build but their quiet chemistry was very apparent early on. They really were ying & yang to one another. At one point Celeste thought that was why they wouldn't work, they were just too different but that's what made it work. She brought out his more outspoken side and he allowed her to be her.

I thought this was a great debut & I will keep my eye out for the author's next book!

I highly recommend if you love the outdoors, older MCs who fake date, love of birds & rediscovering yourself later in life!

Oh my aching heart! I knew going into this book that this was going to be different compared to Alison's other books. This book was filled with so many emotions!!!

This book is out now.

This was such a balance of romance and caretaking. I had thought this book was a road trip after a believe teacher had passed away but didn't realize that he was going along with them on the road trip. Their former teacher Joe's health is declining and ask them to drive them to his cottage in Maine from Washington.

I love road trips in books and I enjoyed the adventures that they got themselves into! My favorite was when they performed in a drag show (we got some karaoke!). Joe was truly the best character in the book!

I know that there was romance in the book between Logan and Rosemary but I just wanted more. Two former best friends who had a falling out then ended up working at the same school together and now being forced into a vehicle across the country. Their characters just didn't seem to be likable and I am surprised that they had feelings for each other? They were dealing with a lot of changes and things happening in each of their life that I felt like they needed to take care of those items before starting a relationship together.

I do wonder if this would've been better to be categorized as contemporary fiction with romance elements (obviously if you take out the intimate parts) and focus more on the grief & Joe himself. Those parts were more interesting to me rather than the relationship between the two FMCs.

I listened to this one via Libby and I thought both narrators Natalie Naudus and Jeremy Carlisle Parker were really good! Their tone was different just enough to be able to tell the difference between them. Luckily their characters were total opposites so you knew based off the perspective which character's view we were in.

This book does have some somber moments so please proceed with caution. It made me reflect on the future and how precious life can be.

Alison will always be an autoread author so I'm excited to see what she comes up with next!

PS - I also love where the title of the book came from! Won't spoil it but you'll know when the time comes.

2024 Reread: This is my 4th time reading this book and it still leaves me in awe. I wanted to reread this prior to the movie release but timing just didn't align. I am actually glad my reread came after the movie release. As much as I loved the movie it was not the book. I forgot how spicy this book was and how just intimate Hayes and Solene were.  

Will this be a yearly listen? Perhaps! I know she says that this is not based off Harry Styles but in my heart and mind it is so I likely will do another reread once he starts being active again. The movie & book made me miss him! 

Going to block out the next line as it could be potentially seen as a spoiler:

I am not sure if during my other readings of this I ever felt like Solene was the villain of this story. But listening this time, it really hit me that she always had one foot out the door and always knew that she was going to end it. It was just a matter of when it was going to happen. I couldn't even get through the last few pages because I didn't want to go through Hayes' heartbreak again.

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

This book will be published on May 14th, 2024.

I had first heard about this book when it made its round when it was a KU hit and kept it there in the back of mind. So when the opportunity came to read it, I knew it was finally the time.

"I forgot how much you feel like home."

WHEWWW this book was spicy!!!! There was a lot of sex! Aiden immediately fell for Summer when they met. He knew early on that she was his end game. Summer not so much. She was attracted to him but did not date hockey players (daddy issues). One thing I don't like in romances is when a character denies having feelings when clearly there is something there. In this case, Summer was finding every excuse not to be in a relationship but she could not resist Aiden. Slowly their friends with benefits relationship started to grow and turn into feelings.

Aiden Aiden Aiden. I am torn on how I feel about him. I do love his love and adoration for Summer but there was a moment in her room where Aiden gave me the ick and his possessive side came out (would not work in real life but it gets a pass in books). Overall though his love for Summer and his support in her career and mutually she understood his talent in hockey and wanted him to succeed. I am glad we got to see Summer attend his hockey games but a part of me wish there was a smidge more of it.

I love that this was dual POV and the epilogue was set in the far future so we really get a true finale to their relationship. It gave me similar vibes to Icebreaker in that way.

"You're missing the view"
"No, I'm not."

THis book was long and it probably could have been cut shorter but I thought it went by rather quickly. The chapters weren't terribly long but there still ended up being 52 chapters and an epilogue. Overall, it was just a fun time!

I paired my reading with the audio and I really enjoyed both of the narrators - Julia Knippen, Max Meyers. Max's voice was perfect for Aiden's swoony moments. And Julia brought the young flirty vibe of Summer. It made the time go by quick while listening to them.

I know this is part of a series so I'll be curious who will be spotlighted in the second book.
I likely will be checking it out when it comes out!

I recommend this book if you love collegiate romances, dual POV, banter with teammates, short chapters & lots of steam!

Thank you so much @BerkleyPub for having me on this tour & for the gifted copy of the book!
Thank you so much to @PRHAudio for the complimentary audio!

This book will be published on May 14, 2024.

I was drawn to this book as it had the Hollywood adjacent theme as our main character Harry works for recluse horror movie director Javier Castillo. This book is told from dual timelines and dual POVs with the present being told only from Harry's POV.

It is hard to describe what all was happening in this book without giving things away but the premise of the book focuses on Harry who cleans the house of Javier and started noticing that things weren't always what they seem. She starts to notice a costumes/props moving and hearing noises. And then after a death of an actress at the house, her fear and suspicions of the home began to accelerate.

The book just builds and builds until it all unfolds in the last couple of chapters. I won't say I was surprised by all the revelations but I also did not see some of it coming. But then the book just ended. I would love to have seen what ended up happening with Harry and Gabe.

I love the relationship between Harry and Gabe. She is all he has and I just love how Gabe really admires his mom.

I paired my reading with the audio and I thought the narrator Lisa Flanagan did such a great job as Harry and all the characters. She especially nailed down Harry's son Gabriel and his tween voice.

If you are looking to give horror a try, I think this would be a good intro to the genre. This wasn’t gory and just a little creepy.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for the advance copy!
Thank you so much to PRH Audio for the complimentary audio!

This book comes out on May 7th, 2024.

This is a 3peat for Carley Fortune! I absolutely loved this book and I think this is my favorite of all her books. I heard Carley say that she loved this book and loved writing this book and I feel like it comes across it while reading.

"You and me - we're very good at this, but we're more than this."

I really loved this book and I am not sure I can articulate all the reasons why I loved it.
I knew very early on while reading that this was going to be a favorite of mine. I was pulled in right from the start and wanted to keep going but I took my time to savor it as much as I could.

This book did such a beautiful job with setting up the landscape of Prince Edward Island. And made me want to visit! It also made me consider giving oysters another chance because of how much they talked about it and loved eating them.

The relationship between Lucy and Bridget was so special. They had such love for one another and Lucy knew she was taking a risk by having these clandestine meetings with Bridget's brother. Besides the romance relationship, I was so curious to know what was going on with Bridget. She had everyone drop what they were doing to cater to her needs in another province and then had them extend their stays because she just felt like she needed them all around. Which honestly was SO selfish of her and I am surprised most of the characters were lenient with her about it. Granted I know there were times when they would pressure her to explain what was happening but I would have just left after the weekend. And then when we found out what she wa hiding, I was kind of underwhelm by the announcement but it all made sense. And in the end they also get a HEA.

"Are you a fan of talking on the phone?"
"I'm a fan of listening to your voice."

Felix and Lucy. Gah I just love them so much!!! From their meeting at the restaurant and their constant pull to one another. I thought their chemistry was so strong and I was rooting for them to somehow make it work. And just like with all romances, I was curious to see how it would all work out. They tried so hard to sneak around over the years after their first meeting while Bridget was around and during the present time, they just couldn't hold back anymore. You could just tell that Felix was so in love with Lucy. He did it in the small ways which of course had me swooning. I was so happy when everything came out in the open because they could finally breathe and be happy.

I do wish we got insight into why Felix never would reach out to Lucy while they were away in all the times inbetween. Was it just too hard for him to talk to her & scared if he did, he couldn't stop? Was he just waiting for her to reach out?

Like I said in the beginning, I am not sure I am able to explain how I feel about this book but just know that I was hooked from the start, loved the relationship between the couple, loved the friendship between the friends & just loved how beautiful Carly made PEI!

I paired my reading with the audio and A.J. Bridel continues her streak of narrating Carley's work and she did such a great job with all the characters!! I thought her tone and inflections were so well done and made the listening experience really nice.

I am a fan of dual POV when it comes to romances but I did not miss it. I loved getting inside Lucy's brain. I am hoping that maybe we will get bonus content and Carley has a chapter from Felix's point of view.

I recommend this book if you are a fan of dual timelines, second chance, best friend's sibling set on Prince Edward Island!

PS - Do I need to read Anne of Green Gables now??