stephsbooktalk's Reviews (915)

Mini Audiobook Review: I absolutely LOVED this book! I do not understand why the ratings are low for this one? I had read Neely's debut and I thought that was going to be a romance but ended up being more women's fiction so I thought maybe this one was going to be the same - it was not!

I just loved everything from start to end and all the fun in the middle! I love the progression of Sloane & Charlie's relationship. This isn't overly spicy but does have a few moments. I also love that Neely had Sloane work in a male dominated field as a video game creator and the struggle of being in the industry.

I ended up listening to this one in a day because I just was so into it (also had the help of little distraction at work). I thought the narrator, Jorjeana Marie did a fantastic job and was such an easy listen.

I feel like this could be a sleeper romance & I think romance readers would enjoy or if you are thinking about trying a romance, this is a great intro read.

This book just made me really happy & I hope others give it a try!

This was one of the first books I purchase when I was getting back into reading and it took me until now to read it. The story itself was so unique and also so scary. I am not sure if I would want to know that I have 24 hrs to live. I understand the positive of it - being able to say goodbye to love ones & somehow wrap your life in a short amount of time.

Though the title gave away the end there is still so much life throughout the pages. Mateo and Rufus needed each other and they didn't even know it until it was happening. I would love to see an alternate reality where they live and see how their relationship plays out.

Rufus lost so much already and his group of friends were everything. The moments between Mateo and his father were just so sweet.

I thought the narrators were absolutely fantastic especially the two male narrators - Michael Crouch & Robbie Daymond. They felt so believable to me as Mateo and Rufus.

This book is mostly about friendship and how much they are your family especially when you are a teenager.

The chapters were short and I felt like the book went really quick especially with the audio. I like at the end of the physical book there is chart of how everyone is connected (especially with the little tidbits of the side characters that we get from the 3rd narrator). I also thought it was cool that Silvera included a peek behind the curtains to his process with his journal notes.

This is not a romance but you know I have to mention my favorite micro trope - KARAOKE! I was pleasantly surprised that we got a karaoke moment in this book and you know I loved it!

I really enjoyed this one and I recommend it via audio!

Thank you so much to Mary Warren for the advance copy!

This book will be out May 3rd.

I am truly in my sports romance era and added this one to my list as we have Conner our captain, hockey star of the Magic. We briefly were introduced to the couple in Reclaiming Kate (LOVE) and as soon as read their appearance, I just knew that we were going to be in for a treat and boy were we.

If you are into insta love, then Conner McPhee is your golden retriever book boyfriend of your dreams! He is over the moon for Sasha as soon as he sees her but they do have a rough start to their relationship. Sasha was smitten with him but after some mishaps they just kept butting heads and we learn it is because Conner was trying not to fall for Sasha.

Sasha is such a smart, beautiful woman who is just tired of running away from the problems in her life. She was a successful plus size social media influencer and an overzealous fan turn stalker made her take this position far away to start fresh.

"Sasha, baby, nothing is going to happen to you. You're safe and I'll make sure you stay that way."

I love seeing how their relationship grew over the course of the book. Conner learns fairly early on in the book about this possible stalker who came back into Sasha's life. And he immediately took charge and wanted to protect her. In addition to watching the progression of their relationship, I also love seeing how much Sasha grew in this. She was a confident woman to begin with but seeing work in social media flourish and she's going to excel in her new role!

If you have read other books by Mary, I would say this one is different compared to the others as it does deal with a pretty graphic detail of violence from the hands of the stalker. The whole time you are waiting for this moment but it still doesn't prepare you for when it happens. I just felt so bad for Sasha and the guilt that Conner & Cash felt.

Once again Mary knocks it out of the park with their intimate scenes. They just came off as so hot on page and you could feel their chemistry and then love for one another. There was a moment approx 80% that really showcased their feelings for one another and it was the moment that they truly were in love.

We got to see glimmers of Cash in this book and even though we learn he is a playboy there are moments where you see another side of him. It makes me very excited to see how the relationship between him and Sasha's best friend Evie happens.

PS - When I saw this cover, my jaw dropped! I could not believe how gorgeous it was!! The artist knocked it out of the park!

Mini Audiobook Review: This audiobook was such an exciting listen! I thought the narrator Emily Ellet did a great job as the FMC. One of my favorite tropes in thrillers is when a book takes place within a short amount of time and even better if its a 24 hour period.  You are there with the mother and her children and her quick thinking on what to do while someone was in their house.  

There were two timelines happening in the book - the past and the present. I honestly couldn't really tell you much about the past timeline as I was much more interested in the present. One moment from the past does play a role in the present without saying too much. 

It was such a rollercoaster from start to finish. 

Thank you so much to Forever for sending me an advance copy!

This book will be published on October 8th, 2024.

I think this is the first time that I have read an arc months and months in advance. And this was just such a fun time!!
I am not sure how to describe the writing style of this book but it felt different compared to other romances and other romances from Forever.

"Closing your eyes won't conceal you, sweet girl. I'll find you anyway."

I love the tension between the FMC, Phaedra and the MMC, Cosmin! This had a few of my favorite tropes: workplace romance, sports related and enemies to lovers! Phaedra was such a boss B who is also the daughter of the team owner but she had held her own as a race engineer. She is all about the business and takes such pride in what she does. She especially did not like Cosmin's playboy antics and the show he would give to the cameras. Cosmin comes across as this cocky,

Even though the romance was the primary focus of the book each character had their own side stories that were a focus. Phaedra's father had become ill and as the team owner there was also the business element of when he would eventually pass what would happen to the team. My heart broke for Phaedra as there was so much happening at once: this blossoming relationship with someone who she knew she shouldn't be with, losing her father, and another element the bruised relationship with her best friend Natalia.

Cosmin did not have the best upbringing and with that he was really close with his sister. And we learn over the course of the book about what happened when he was younger and then his sister also says her side of things as she is older than him. Even while dealing with his past & it blended into his present, he was also there for Phaedra.

I thought there was a good a balance of all the side items with the romance.

"I'd like to be friends."
"That's dangerous."
"So is racing. So is life."

I really love Phaedra and Cosmin as a couple. We learn fairly early on that Cosmin was smitten but even though he was into her, she would not give in. Their rocky relationship was putting a strain on their communication during the races which was not translating into podium wins. Once they let down their guard and their attraction to each other, that was when the magic happened. I understood Phaedra's hesitancy because of the work dynamic piece of it. They were so incredibly hot together. Phaedra kept trying to resist her feelings but Cosmin refuses to believe that their occasional hook ups were it. I love that Cosmin was Romanian as I feel like I do not see that nationality showcased in most romance and with that comes the language. I really hope this gets an audiobook because I would LOVE to hear how the male narrator says the Romanian phrases.

F1 is a growing trend in romances and I can see it continuing into 2025. And you bet I will be reading as many as I can get my hands on!

I am looking forward to the next book in the series as that one could be VERY interesting!

Mini Audiobook Review: 3.75
Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio for the complimentary audio!

This book is out NOW!

This is my 3rd Sally Hepworth and probably my favorite of them. There were so many layers to this and it kept you guessing until the very end. I think it good have been shortened a little bit as the middle dragged.

I had thought it was going to go one way but it ended up going another. We got a peek inside the past lives of these characters and learned what it was like growing up in the foster care system and how it shaped them for their future.

The narrator Jessica Clarke was great but I did find it challenging with her having to do all 3 point of views. I wish we would have gotten other narrators for all the girls. I think it would have helped to distinguish the characters more.

Overall I really enjoyed this!!

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press for an advance copy!
Thank you so much to MacMillan for the complimentary audio!

This book is out now.

When I first saw the cover of this book I was SO excited! It had a cute plus size female character and a broody male soccer player - what more could you ask for?! Welp, I learned I need to lower my expectations and not go by the cute cover because I had attempted to read this prior to the pub date and I got 10% in and had to pause to revisit at a later time. And now it is the later time.

I ended up waited to listen via audio and I will be honest and am not sure what about this book I found difficult to follow but it was hard to follow. I had my book next to me to reference and perhaps if I followed both at the same time I wouldn't have been as confused but just listening I was. The book came more together for me in the second half when they were pretending to fake date.

One trope that I am not a fan of was the when the female main character is so blind to how the male character feels about her when he has been very obvious on his feelings. Even UNTIL THE END she was still denying that he had feelings for her.

I will say though I have never read the author's prior books before but had heard she wrote really spicy books and I will say the spicy times were excellent. I thought all the scenes were well done and the way it was written just made it feel really sexy. THOUGH I will say for the one intimate moment, I was trying to imagine the logistics of it and it was very hard to picture what they were doing in the backseat of a car?

I thought the grand gesture at the end was really sweet but even still as I mentioned above the FMC still couldn't believe that he wanted her. He even alluded to something they talked about and I can confidently say that I had no idea when that was mentioned. Perhaps it just wasn't memorable to recall back.

There was nothing wrong with the audiobook narrator but perhaps because I was not expecting it to be a British narrator it threw me. And mix that with the chunky text, it just was not a good combine for me.

This didn't work for me but it may work for you!
I am glad I read this but I don't think I will be running to other books from the author anytime soon.

A very generous 3 star read.

Mini Audiobook Book: Thank you so much to Hachette books for a complimentary copy!

This book is out now.

I often tell people that I am not officially diagnosed with ADHD but anytime I read books with ADHD characters or if I read something on the good ol internet more and more I think I could be on the spectrum for it. I do not think I ever exhibited signs younger but as I got older I am noticing more and more things. So when the opportunity to get this book came, I knew I had to check it out. And yes I have spoke to my PCP regarding it.

This book is not a clinical book made my professionals but by someone's one experience. Some of the times I felt the stories from Emily's life was relevant to the book and other times I wasn't sure of the purpose.

There were small sections on hyper fixations, time blindness & emotional regulation that I felt were really relatable. Even some of the self assessment section was pretty jarring and really relatable. This paragraph is pretty much how I feel when I sit down with my laptop to work on book reviews or work on graphics: "How boring are we talking? If it's really boring, I can usually focus for a minute or two before I start opening new tabs. The weird thing is that sometimes I don't even know I'm doing it.I'll be all, "Okay. I'm going to sit down at my computer and finally knock out this story on the proper way to store bread." Then, all of a sudden, I'm on Amazon looking for a disco ball for my chicken coop or arguing with somebody's racist uncle on a Facebook comment thread.

Currently that took me 10 minutes to do because I took a detour on my phone. It just made me want to advocate for myself better and to get it confirmed just to know for myself.

I don't think I learned anything groundbreaking but if you want to learn more about adult ADHD from someone who has it while also learning about her private life then check this out!

**I do not rate NF books.**

I feel like people are going to come for me even though I did enjoy this book but compared to the other this was not a fave.

The whole meet cute between Emma and Justin was super cute and unique! I don't often read through the AITA but I do see them float around Twitter/Tik Tok in a blue moon. Justin was a great MMC and was such a GOOD man. He is tasked to take care of his younger siblings after we learn that his mom will be going to jail. It is not easy but he did as best as he could do. There was a swoony paragraph from his POV in Chap 46 that we wish from all partners.

The thorn in my side comes with the FMC Emma. I just was so annoyed with her through majority of the book. It wasn't until half way maybe the last 25% of the book where I could tolerate her. She just came across as unlikeable to me. I understood why she was the way she was but I still couldn't put it aside. I did love her best friend Maddy and would have loved to have seen a spin off or a novella centered around her and her relationship we later learn about.

"Why did you come?"
"Because you needed me, I will always come when you call."

I had to continue my reading of this series via audiobook because I absolutely love Zachary Webber's voice and it was a bonus that Christine Lakin played Emma. It was a perfect pairing of the two! This is the second book where there was dual narration happening which I LOVE! I hope we continue to see it more.

This did not make me emotional but I think others may find it emotional. Please check trigger warnings prior to reading. And after you read, don't forget to read the Author's note/Q&A.
You could technically read this as a stand alone BUT I think it would beneficial to read the others as a lot of the prior characters in the two books make appearances.

If you are a fan of Abby's prior books, you will probably love this! This book deals a lot with heavier themes that overtake some of the romance. I wish we got to see more of Emma and Justin together because when we did it was beautiful.

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

"Sister Agatha from school often said that the path to sin is a slippery slope. And deception is a sin, so that definitely, certainly, without a doubt made me a sinner. And if I were a sinner, was I just as bad as the men who were being attacked/ would that make me one of them?"

I was drawn to this book solely for the cover and also I wanted to expand my reading to include Gothic folklore. I paired my reading of the physical book with the audio and I really think that helped keeping my attention with the book.

There wasn't necessarily anything wrong with how the book was written but I did find some of that some of the names were hard to remember. The story was very unique and the last 25% really kept my attention. And it kind of was building until the end hit. There were some supernatural elements to this especially towards the end.

The language itself was easy to understand for the time being (which was one of my biggest worry).
I felt bad for Amara as she dealt with a lot throughout this book and it comes to no surprise that the men in this book were no good.

If you are looking for a gothic mystery based around folklore - check this out!