stephsbooktalk's Reviews (915)

Thank you so much to the author for gifting me an advance copy!

This book will be published on February 13, 2023.

This was my first Formula1 romance book and I absolutely loved it!! I thought the pacing of the book was really well done. I love how Ella was focused on her job and knew that mixing business with pleasure was not something she should entertained. I thought their banter back and forth was top notch and Blake had me swooning!

I love how protective he was of Ella and how worried he was for her. I was waiting for him to throw some punches at a certain individual and would've been all for violence in the name of love. I am not usually a fan of slow burns but this still gave me so much to keep me fed until they got together. I love having the two point of views and following them throughout the book.

"Time for the world to scream your name. Your favorite part."
"I'd rather it was your screaming my name, love, but this'll do for now."

I have read another book where the writer fell for the subject and I just love how intimate the process is and you really get to see how the characters learn to trust one another. They each had their own stuff going on while still focused on each other. I like how Blake encouraged Ella to follow her passion even if it might be scary.

If you are worried that you won't enjoy this because you don't follow F1, have no fear! I think Carly does a great job setting the scene and making it understandable for anyone to enjoy.

This was such a stellar debut from Carly and I am so excited for the next book in the series already!

Definitely check this out if you love a workplace romance, grumpy/sunshine & of course F1!

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

This will be published on Feb 27th, 2024.

This is a 3peat 5 star win for me! I already knew after reading Lease on Love that Falon would be an autobuy author for me but after loving Just My Type it solidified it. And then this one, just another absolute perfection!

"Don't deny yourself something beautiful because you're already thinking about what happens if it goes wrong."

I had reached out to the author when I blew through 50% of this in my first sitting advising that I know she wrote the book for her but I felt like she was writing it for me.  I already knew that Falon had a love for pop culture/Hollywood and this was where she threw her love for that in. Its been a hot minute since I read a celebrity romance so this definitely itch the scratch I didn't know I had. 

I absolutely love that this started with Oscar winner Emmy being a writer trying to cast her new rom com and she had to get over her self doubt and try acting again as the lead in the film. And after the original male lead had to back out of the film, the movie was replaced by action star Grayson West.

I will say the first 30% of the book Emmy was very immature and annoying towards having to work with Grayson. I think that was Ballard's point as we had to know how much Emmy disliked Grayson and how unhappy she was to have to work with him. And I love her journey throughout the book, removing those layers of distaste for Grayson. Or put two uncomfortable actors on a closed set for a love scene and that is when it allll changes for them!  Ballard knocked it out of the park with the spice in this. Definitely her most ambitious compared to the other two and I was so here for it!!!!

"You stayed."
"I stayed."

I just could not stop reading and absolutely fell in love with Emmy & Grayson's relationship. I don't really see too many one night stands or an on the call buddy (if you know what I mean) so that was refreshing to read. Plus I just knew that they would be so hot together given their history and chemistry. What also was refreshing to see is that we actually got to see them as a couple. I just love that they had that conversation about what was going to happen to them out in the real world. 

I love the relationship Emmy had with her mom and how she often turned to her when she needed that extra reassurance (as most do with their moms).  And with Emmy being a nepo baby, her mom could give her that insight on dealing with being in a public relationship and just relationships in general. 

I paired my reading with the audiobook and thought that the main narrator Rachel L Jacobs did a great job as both Emmy and Grayson! I love when there were text exchanges towards the end, it had both the female voice as well as the male narrator, Curt Bonnem (who was used during the mixed media parts). There were 2 other female narrators listed but I couldn't really tell who from who apart. 

I am finding it harder and hard to write reviews for books I love. And I just really loved this one. 

Definitely check this out if you love enemies to lovers, movie behind the scenes with a celeb romance! 

Mini Audiobook Review: I FINALLY READ MY FIRST ABBY BOOK AND IT WAS SO GOOD!
All the hype around the book was very much warranted. This book was selected by my husband as part of my 12 books from my shelf challenge because he is a fan of Stuntman Mike. I thought lets kick start the challenge with this one and I'm so glad I did!

I was about 2 hours into the audio when I realized that this was a second in a series and I reached out to romance reader friends to confirm that I was okay to continue. I can attest that you do not need to read the first book (Part of Your World) in order to read this. The characters from the first book play a small role in this one.

There was just something about the characters that drew me in and I love their journey throughout this book. I love that Briana was a divorcee as I feel like we do not see many divorcee in books and her process of working through the fall out from the divorce and building herself back up. I just love how Jacob and Briana connected by writing notes to one another and leaving them for one another at work. It was such an intimate connection.

Jacob was such a fabulous MMC. You could tell he just loved Briana so much and especially in that last little bit of the book. My heart broke for him (and for her) during the hotel part (iykyk). He just was so selfless and will forever be connected to Briana's family with him being her brother's kidney donor. They just worked so well together.

Yes, this does have the miscommunication trope but it made me want to scream at Briana because Jacob wanted to date her for real very early on but she just thought it wasn't possible for him to be into her. And that moment at the end (once again iykyk), just made my heart burst with his proclamation of love for her.

Zachary Webber is becoming my favorite male narrator and he was perfect as Jacob. I saw he does the narration for her other books so I will be swooning over his voice when I go back. Kyla Garcia was also great at Briana. She felt really believable to me

I am looking forward to going back and reading the first in the series and then work through her backlist.

Favorite Quote:
"There's a special peace in sleeping next to someone you love. When you slip into the dark holding them and wake up and they're still there and you know that everything that matters is just opening your eyes away."

Mini Audiobook Review: I have debated on how to rate this for the last couple of hours but I ended up giving it 3.75 because I was into the story and kept wanting to listen to see what happened.

"Did you think I would let him tell me when and how to touch you? Did you think that I would let him steal this last moment from me? When I would surrender only to you, take you in my hands, and burn with you before the end comes?"

The problem was I felt like the book was so LONG. So much had happened and yet nothing at all. Once again I loved Roman and Iris's relationship. Even though they were not together very long, the strong connection between the two is very apparent throughout the book even when they were apart. Of course the romance aspect was my favorite part but I also enjoyed seeing how Roman could get himself out of trouble. Even his relationship with Dacre was interesting and sometimes I would even forget that he was in fact evil.

I think if you enjoyed the first one, you will also enjoy this one! Also both narrators from the first book return for this one which was wonderful!

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

This book will be published on April 23rd.

Where do I even begin with this review? As many times before and even with her last book, how am I going to sum up in words how I feel about this book?!

I do not know how Emily Henry continues to write such perfect books. Whenever I think I found my favorite, she continues to prove me wrong. The swoon factor in this book was over the top & gave me all the ooey gooey feelings. This one climbed to the top and it is all because of two words: Miles Nowak.

"Miles's eyes and mine seek each other out, that quirk of his mouth my own personal lightning rod."

Miles Nowak and Daphne Vincent werre absolute perfection.
They were everything I wanted in a couple in a romance book. Their relationship started in a very weird situation and they were practically stranger and we see how their relationship and more importantly their friendship grows throughout the book. Even though they both were experiencing a break up, they both grieved their old relationships in different ways. I did love how Miles jumped in when Daphne decided to declare to her ex that they were dating. And then the ways they had to show off their fake relationship when they would be around their exes.

There were so many moments that I highlighted. I was kicking my feet and internally screaming so much while reading. I felt like Henry really made Miles super swoony compared to past love interests, "No, don't be self-conscious. It's so fucking cute." He just was always there for Daphne and really broker her out of her shell. Some of my favorite moments was when Miles was showing Daphne around Waning Bay and why it was such a great place. He just always knew what to do in the right moments. Even when there was a moment where he did something questionable, we learn it was in her best interest.

I feel like I should do a re-read of all her books every year she releases one so I can keep them all fresh to compare (even though they are all 5 star reads). I want to say this was her most romanctic book?? I definitely felt the romance in this compared to her other books. Of course there were other elements that were involved which was very important in the story but the romance edged it out 70-75% of the book. The parents in this book were not the best (with the exception to Daphne's mom living her life in Maryland). I like that they could relate to their parental trauma and how protective Miles was to Daphne and her relationship with her dad. There was an event that the whole book was leading up to and all the secondary characters really came through for Daphne.

I am definitely not giving this book enough credit but if you are an Emily Henry fan, you are absolutely going to devour this and love it! And if you don't, lie to me because I refuse to hear any slander about this book. But if you loved it, let's squeal together!

Also now what am I going to do until the next Emily book comes out?!

PS: The most popular word in the book "chortle"

Thank you so much to Putnam Group for the advance copy!
Thank you so much to PRH Audio for the complimentary audio!

This book will be published on January 30th.

I have been sitting on writing this review because I have no idea how to begin. This book was very different compared to other books I have read. Kiley's prior book Such a Fun Age was one of my first books I read when I started reading again as an adult and I loved that one.

I think the biggest thing was I was waiting for something HUGE to happen. Yes things occurred and it was climatic but it wasn't that jaw dropping for me. I don't read many books that are primarily character driven and now I understand what that means because this book definitely was that. I can't really articulate what it was that was missing but just something to really give it that umph. Either way I couldn't stop reading because I wanted to see what was going to happen to the characters.

I definitely was interested in each of the interviewee's backstory and that to me was my favorite part. Especially after I got to Kennedy's story - man oh man did I verbally gasp when I got to a certain part (those who know, know). I was also very interested in Millie and Agatha's relationship and could've used more. The dynamics between all of the girls was so interesting and just thought it could've been explored more.

I paired this book with the audio and thought the narrator Nicole Lewis did a fantastic job with all the different voices for the characters.

The book itself was well written and I thought Reid did a great job with setting the scene and really describing the characters.

I will continue to read her work because of how well Reid writes and the complexity of her characters.

If you are a fan of literary fiction, character driven book, college setting and a cast of characters - check this out!

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

This book will be published on February 13.

"...that's the thing about a fangirl. Be in it for life or keep walking, pal."

I have been a fan of Tessa's since first reading about the Bellinger sisters and I have been trying to chase the high of reading about them and FINALLY this reeled me back in. I was obsessed with this book right from the start. I am notorious for not reading blurbs for books so I only knew that it was about a overzealous heckling golf fan. I thought it was going to have her follow him from tournament to tournament and somehow along the travel they fall in love but nope this was so much better!

Tessa knows how to write grumpy male characters. Wells Whittaker gave me all the broodiness that I could want in a MMC. He came across incredibly hot and you knew deep down there was a teddy bear in there. Just the way he treated Josephine and was so protective of her just made me all ooey and gooey inside. He thought she was just this super fan of his but it was just so much more. Usually super protectiveness/touch her and die is not something that is in the rom com books but I loved it from him! I also love his relationship with her parents. He wasn't afraid to reach out to them and ask questions.

Josephine was such a great FMC. I thought Tessa wrote her incredibly well and was likeable throughout the whole book. I am not diabetic nor am I close with anyone who is but I thought the inclusion of having Josephine be a Type 1 was a clever way to incorporate his extra protectiveness of her. I love that she was able to prove them all wrong with her knowledge of golf and encouraged Wells to be the best golfer he is. What I loved that Tessa did was even though Josephine was a fangirl, those fangirl tendencies kind of went away early on when having that one on one time with Wells. It would have been annoying if we got internal monologues of possible unhinged behavior but it never came.

"You don't want games? Fine. I wasn't visiting anyone in Palm Beach. I came for you."

I love the chemistry between the two & anytime I was questioning an action that they were doing, somehow Tessa knew and gave me an answer. And if there is one thing Tessa knows how to do, she knows how to write an intimate scene and LORD so hot! Who knew shower & golf cart sex would be so gosh darn sexy! I love their banter and that she wasn't going to take any crap from him.

My biggest annoyance of this book and maybe I missed it while reading but her parents really upset me. I just didn't understand why they didn't check in with her more especially after the hurricane. I really felt bad for Josephine even though I know she wanted to be independent and act like everything was okay to them but she really needed them. So I was happy that by the end they stepped in and helped when she had a big opportunity to go to the Masters.

I just really loved this one so much & I am looking forward to the next book in the series coming out later this year. I thought Tessa did a great job introducing and setting up the next book starring Burgess & Tallulah.

You do not need to be a golf fan to enjoy this book but being a casual watching of golf made it really enjoyable for me!!

Mini Audiobook Review:  I have finally started my Bergman Brother series journey. Granted I don't know how long it will take me but we shall wait and see! I buddy read this with a friend and we felt similar in how we felt about the characters and just general thoughts. We were not super huge fan of Willa. We felt she was a little bratty. I did love her relationship with her mom. It was really beautiful.

My friend and I were both shocked at how quick her mom died. We both felt like.

I thought Ryder was a great MMC and the deaf representative made his character feel more believable. And I love his relationship to his family though my friend and I both felt his brother in law definitely crossed a line in conspiring to bring Willa and Ryder together.

I also know that Ryder had a crush on Willa prior to her really knowing who he is but I didn't like the insta love in this. It just felt like it was too quick.

There were things I really enjoyed about this book but my gosh the audio felt like it was taking forever to get through (in my case 4 days).

As I mentioned above I do not know how long it will take me to complete this as I am notoriously bad at keeping with series but I do want to see how the books progress. I have heard they only get better and some fan faves are yet to come.

Thank you so much to PRH Audio for the complimentary audio of this!

"I will never understand why men think that women work so hard to destroy them. In my experience it is usually the opposite."

There has been so much about this book out there and everything you may have read is true. This is such a wonderful book! I had already wanted to read this one but the extra push came when it was selected as a book club pick.

I am trying to focus on reading more historical fiction and I recommend this to anyone who wants to try to get into HF. This took place during the late 1700s, the struggles of being a woman and in the midst of all this there is also a trial and a murder.

The author did such a great job with painting a picture of this small town and the folks that are in it. Martha was the baddest woman I have come across in awhile. She is a real life hero who helps all the women in the town with their labors (which happens very often) and is so smart. I cannot imagine doing what she was doing during that time, with no modern medicine or any sort of technology. Majority of the men in this book (with the exception of Ephraim & her sons) were all absolutely horrible!!!!! I cannot imagine living during this time and makes me thankful in so many ways.

I do not want to talk about everything that happened in this book but I just loved it so much. And when you read this please make sure you read the author note as it has some valuable information pertaining to her writing the book and the history of the characters.

I paired my reading with the audio and Jane Oppenheimer was a brilliant narrator. I absolutely loved listening to her read and thought she was the perfect Martha. I think this would be a wonderful read without the audio, only the audio or even better with the pairing of the two.

I am looking forward to discussing this book with my book club friends!

If you do decide to read this, please make sure you review the content warnings as this has some pretty heavy topics.

Memorable Quotes:
"Every laboring woman suspects that she is, in fact, moments away from death. This is normal. And it does not offend me. A woman is never more vulnerbale than while in labor. Nor is she ever stronger."

"This knowledge is both a relief and a sadness - I have brought nine children into this world, after all, and only six are still living. Like all mothers, I have long since mastered the art of nursing joy at one breast and grief at the other."

"I did not take you for the kind of woman who would punish the innocent for the sins of the guilty."

"What your mother does not understand is that there are some losses in this life that we do not live long enough to fully grieve. And I'll not give her another one."

Mini Audiobook Review:  I had heard so many good things about this book and I know the sequel is coming out very soon so I wanted to make sure I read this.  

There were parts that I really enjoyed while listening to this but there was just so many point of views and it was hard to keep track of the stories via audio. I did have the character list up to reference. As much as I know it is important to showcase numerous point of views/storylines of the Native Communities; I just wish the number of characters were cut in half. The beginning was best with tracking the characters and then as it went on is when it was starting to get a little muddled. 
I will say the last quarter of the book where the climax of all the characters woven together was my favorite part despite how tragic it all was. 

I do recommend reading this but I wish I had the text (totally my fault because I was warned to have the physical book with).