the_cover_contessa's Reviews (1.75k)

 Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for supplying me with an egalley of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Ian Chase endured a very public breakup that forced him to leave his home and his friends behind for 6 years. Finally back where he feels he's meant to be, he's surprised to find his childhood friend and local baking show sensation, Delilah Baker, all grown up and not at all the "kid" she once was. Delilah has been in love with Ian since she was a teen, but he'd never seen her that way. Now they have to work together to try and help Ian's reputation and increase her ratings by pretending to be romantically involved. But there's nothing pretend about their attraction or how they truly want each other without the other knowing. But Ian is keeping secrets about his past. Will their true romance gown down the drain when Lila learns of Ian's "sordid" past?
I have really enjoyed Ferguson's other books so I was excited to see her branch into a sports romance. It turns out it really doesn't matter what Ferguson writes, it's all fun and romance and sexy, spicy times that have a good plot to go along with it!
As with her other books, the pacing on this one is spot on. I would reluctantly put this one down only because, you know, a girl does need her beauty sleep. But I didn't want to because each chapter had me itching to see what happened next.
I love dual point of view for romance books. I feel it gives such a deeper connection to the characters. Makes them more real and believable. This is no exception. I'm glad to see we got to enter both Ian and Delilah's head spaces and learn what made them tick.
I was happy to see there was more to this plot than just sexy times. While I kind of figured out the twist that was Ian's secret, I still enjoyed watching it unfold. And what I loved most about this book was SPOILER no third act break up. This helped me love the characters that much more as they were able to communicate with one another and support one another through their hard times. While I know the third act trope is used in most romance books, it's always refreshing to have things be more realistic when it comes to character understanding one another.
Delilah was a delight. I really connected with her personality and I loved that she wasn't a willowy beauty but was more realistic in stature and body type. And her passion for baking was really fun as I love to bake. I also love to watch cooking shows, so that drew me right in. Ian, on the other hand, seemed a pretty standard type for a hockey player, though he's a ginger and I haven't seen that done a lot in the romance books I've read. He's fiercely protective of those he loves, which endeared me to him right away. His relationship with his father was taught with angst and power playing. I despised his father, as well anyone should with how he treated Ian. The side characters, Abby, Jack, Ava, and Ian's other teammates were loveable.
I will say I really liked the banter between Ian and Delilah. It helped to solidify their attraction. And the brother's best friend trope is always one that's interesting to see unfold. Plus fake dating never really works out to just be that, right? There's a bit of an age gap between Ian and Lilah, as well, but it's not huge, so I'm not sure the age gap trope truly applies here.
While most romance books sell themselves on excessive drama, I don't find that with Ferguson's books. Which makes me love her stories even more. I mean, there's some drama, how could there not be to make the plot somewhat interesting, but it's not this I want to throw the book across the room why did you rip my heart out drama I see in many other books of this genre.
My only issue with this book was the true connection between the FMC and MMC. They are childhood friends, so the past is there. But we don't really get the sense of how close they were. Sure, the characters allude to their past, but flashbacks would have been a great addition to understanding why they might go from friends to lovers. Plus I found the whole teenage obsession with Ian rolling over into her adulthood a little unrealistic. They haven't seen each other in years (seems like since she was a teen though the timeline was a bit confusing on that). And she's dated other guys. But why would she still be obsessed with Ian? I needed a better foundation for it.
Overall, I adored the book and will definitely continue to read anything Ferguson decides to write. I'm looking forward to Loch and Key for sure! 

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
The three kingdoms are at war. Meilin decides taking her father's place in the draft will ensure she can become more than just the wife of an abusive husband. Posing as a boy, she joins the army and quickly forms friendships, specifically with the prince. When she begins to have visions, she realizes she may be just like her mother, who went insane with a similar affliction. But through the visions she is offered power beyond her wildest dreams. While fighting to save her kingdom, she needs to decide who to trust.
I'll start by saying right before I read this book, I read another Mulan inspired book, that one YA. I was expecting some similarities between the two books but in all honesty, they were very much the same. As I read through this story, all I could think of was the one I had just finished from another author and how the similarities were almost too much of a coincidence. Yes, I understand the books are based on Mulan, but the characters, the story line, the magic, it all was the same. I'm not very familiar with Asian folklore. While I've seen Mulan, long ago, and know the basis of the story, I was interested to see how this author infused the story with her own ideas. I love the idea of a female role taking her power, I don't love the idea of her having to hide in order to do it. It makes me angry. But, that is the point of this story, is it not? To show how women have been treated over the course of time (they shall be seen not heard). 
Meilin is a strong female character. The author does a fabulous job of developing her into someone who is willing to put it all on the line to gain what she wants. And she's not willing to let anything stand in her way of doing so, slashing stereotypes as she goes. She does not rely on anyone to do things for her. She relies only on herself. Her friend/love interest, Sky, wasn't as well developed. Perhaps because we see him only from Meilin's point of view. I felt like I was missing a bit of his personality. I kind of wish the book was dual point of view, or at least third person omniscient for this reason, though I do understand that would have defeated the point of having the female character in the role she was put in. I wanted to see the relationships grown more, as well. The author, for me, only scratched the surface of them.
I'll address the romance a bit more here. I was expecting it. And I knew who it would be and where it would go for the most part but I honestly did not feel the connection or the growth of the romance. Did I see a friendship starting to build, sure. But overall I didn't see how it made the leap over the barrier of friendship to love interest. Especially given the nature of Meilin hiding that she is actually a woman. It was too easy for her to fall back into Sky's good graces given the level of her deceit. Also, there is a sort of love triangle that happens in this book. At first, I was unsure if I was truly seeing it as it was almost a Stockholm Syndrome type of relationship, but then at the end I saw I was right. Not sure where the author might take that in future books of this series. 
The story was interesting. I love fantasy and there are some great elements of that here. Magic, dragons, powers beyond understanding. I liked how the author built the world, though I almost felt I needed a bit more background. Since I don't know much about Asian folklore, I would have liked to see a bit of a deeper dive into the world building in order to understand it better. I needed a bit more depth. There were also so many instances where Meilin was just in trouble and then able to get out of it. It happened throughout the book. I had a hard time with the suspension of disbelief in many of these instances. it just seemed to easy for her to escape from the perils in which she was placed. At times it was very repetitive, which made it boring and made me want to skim more than read the story.
The pacing was ok for me, not too fast, not too slow. I wanted to pick the story back up but at the same time, if I let it sit for a bit, it wasn't calling my name. Plus, there was way more telling than showing, which definitely slowed the pace for me.
Overall I did enjoy the story and I'm intrigued to see where it goes in future books. I would recommend this to anyone who likes retellings or reimaginings.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Two former best friends find each other again at a summer camp where they spent their childhoods. When they learn the camp is being sold, they come together, along with other former campers and some new to the camp, to create an adult summer camp for one last hurrah. When the two friends learn it doesn't have to be the last summer, they do everything in their power to ensure the camp will live on for others to enjoy.
This book was a bit of nostalgia for me. Having gone to sleep away camp for many summers of my young life, I immediately connected with the main characters and understood their love of all things camp. It was so much fun to see things I used to do during the summers written on the page. It made my camp loving heart truly happy and brought me back to those carefree days where all you worried about was when you were going swimming, what was for dinner, and who was becoming romantically involved with who. It made me miss those days!
Jessie is a sweet character. She has built her life around the camp. Coming from a broken family who didn't show her as much love as she wanted, the camp was always her refuge. A found family for someone who needed to feel a part of something. Hillary, on the other hand, has molded her life to be as different from the person she was at camp as she could be. But there is hope in her coming back to camp. Hope that she can find herself again. Hope that she can realize who she was at camp and how that was her true self. 
The other characters in this book were just so much fun. And watching the friendships grow and blossom was really great. Each played an essential part in the plot and how it developed. Each had a distinct personality.
The romantic aspects of the book were nice, though a bit too convenient for me. But they were sweet and I liked watching them develop. I also enjoyed the fact that the author didn't make it just about the romance. It's very much about the plot but also about the rekindling of friendship and forgiveness.
I love the plot of having an adult camp. It makes me want to actually look around and see if this is a real thing. I would love the opportunity to go back to my sleep away camp and experience it all over again as an adult. I think that would be so much fun!
The author created so much atmosphere in this book. She took us on a roller coaster ride of emotions: love, grief, pain, happiness. Her descriptions of the camp, the camp activities, the relationships were all spot on. I felt like I was, once again, experiencing camp in all its glory. Right down to the pranks we would always pull on each other! It made me feel like I was right there, as a camper. And I remember the feeling of having to leave after the summer was over and the anticipation of the next summer not coming quite quickly enough!
If you have gone to sleep away camp or grew up in any sort of camp at all in the course of your life, you are sure to enjoy this title! "There's no place like camp." Though those who have not experienced camp are bound to love the friendships and romance in this book, as well. 

I want to thank Penguin Random House/Viking Books for Young Readers for supplying me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Ying dreams of becoming a member of the Engineers Guild, but she is female and that is unheard of. Grieving the death of her father, who had been a member of the guild, and wanting to avenge him, she disguises herself as her brother and enters the trials in the hopes of not only earning her place as an engineer but also in finding her father's murderer. But all the secrets contained in the guild begin to reveal themselves and she starts to understand her father's reasons for leaving. Her unlikely ally in Ye-Yang, one of the princes set to potentially take command in the future, proves more than just a mutual attraction and when she realizes she may have been betrayed she vows to keep her promise of avenging her father.
I don't know any Asian folklore at all. I was excited to read this one and also learn a bit about the culture along the way. I was pleasantly surprised to find this book contained a kind of fantasy/sci-fi aspect. But also a bit of a steampunk vibe, and I love steampunk. It was a unique twist.
The pacing of the book is well done. I found myself not wanting to put the book down and find out what happened next. I needed to know the conclusion to the story. The words flowed beautifully off the page.
What initially drew me to this book is the cover. It is absolutely gorgeous. I must have a finished copy on my shelf. But then I read the blurb and it was super intriguing. I have not read a lot of Asian based books so delving into this one was really intriguing for me.
The plot was reminiscent of Mulan. I'm not sure if that was the author's intention but it for sure had that feel to it. I love the idea of hidden identity. Of a woman infiltrating an all male career path and excelling at it. At the same time, the author imbued the story with friendships. I enjoyed watching Ying form bonds with her fellow contestants and how, even though she was female, she was able to have those friendships. The romance was done well so as not to overtake the overall plot of the story. I liked that it wasn't always in Ying's mind. I liked that she kept to her goal rather than pining over someone and letting that take over all her thoughts.
Ying is a naive character. Having been sheltered all her life, I was not surprised by this. She definitely came off younger than 18 years old for me. I can see how this was essential to the plot. To show things happening through her eyes as she learned more and more of what the real world is really like. At the same time, she's super smart and her scientist mind was fascinating. Her character is strong and relatable and very well devleloped. Her relationship with Ye-Kan was nice. I liked their bond a lot. They had a best friend vibe, though at times I felt like for Ye-Kan it was more than that. The romance with Ye-Yang, as I mentioned, was done well. He definitely had more invested in it than she did. There was not the angst I normally associate with young adult reads so I would have liked to see a bit more of that happening.
Without spoiling, I will say the ending was not what I expected. I honestly felt like there wasn't as much wrap up as I would have liked. I do see this is a first book in the series so, while the ending was not a cliff hanger, I do hope the author delves deeper in the second book of the series. I'd like to see a bit more world building happen.
Overall I really enjoyed this story and the journey of the heroine. If you're looking for a sci-fi fantasy filled with great characters, intriguing concepts, mystery, and a unique world, pick this one up!
3.5 stars rounded to 4

I think Louis might be my new book boyfriend!

This was cute!

Thank goodness that's over.