the_cover_contessa's Reviews (1.75k)

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Trade, and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an audio review copy of this book to read and give my honest opinion. All opinions expressed here are my own.
Kosera lives in a walled city full of monsters. As a Witch, she's spent her days fighting them. But there's one monster she has not defeated, her ex The Zmey. Betrayed by a close friend, she loses her shadow, the source of her witch powers. To get her shadow back, she'll have to pair with a cop from the other side of the wall who is investigating the mysterious death of the smuggler who helped Kosera get to the other side of the wall. With time running out, can Kosera find her shadow and defeat her ultimate nemesis while ensuring those closest to her aren't the ones betraying her?
I love the idea of this book. Witches, monsters, and a walled city. It reminds me of so many fantasies I've read. But the twists are totally different from anything I've ever read before. I really enjoyed the world building and history behind it. I don't know much about Slavic folklore at all, so this was a great introduction. And the two cities the author builds out are perfect for showing the differences between poverty and privilege, a perfect commentary on so much of what we see in modern day society.
I enjoyed the characters in the book. Particularly Kosera and Asen. They are both developed well. I found it easy to connect with Kosera. Much more so than Asen. Their relationship is quite interesting. But if you're looking for romance, you're not really going to find it in this installment. There is attraction there and something brewing but it does not go anywhere further than Kosera admitting to it and a few chaste kisses. Each of them is packing a lot of trauma from the past which ultimately gets in the way of anything blooming between them during their time together. But this is not a romantasy, though I don't know what will happen in the future.
As for the narrator, I did enjoy her voice. I think she did a great job with the voices of the characters for the most part. Though I do feel like she could have had a bit more of a difference between a few of the characters to be able to tell them apart. Overall, I would listen to other books by her.
I will say, I've not really read anything like this book before. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The author gives a fast paced story full of rich plot and interesting characters. The details are vivid and paint an amazing picture. I'm excited to see where the story goes in the next book!

I want to thank BookSirens and Jennifer Murgia for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
What happens when a young lady climbs the Hollywood sign to make a wish and gets thrown into the past? She becomes a rising starlet, or at least looks just like her. And she finds herself embroiled in a mystery of who done it while filming a movie with the one and only James Dean. Grace just wants to get home to her family but she also wants to know what happened to Alice, the starlet whose place she seems to have taken. Will Grace solve the mystery? Who will help her along the way? And most of all, will she get back to her own time and see if her wish was granted?
Many years ago, I was a publicist for an author Name Jennifer Murgia. At the time, she would send me snippets and pieces of books she was working on. I remember reading a story about a young lady who traveled back in time. Who knew years later, I'd be reading the actual book as it's being published!
This was a fun book. I would say it's a mystery with some magical realism thrown in. I love the time travel idea but I also got an almost Wizard of Oz feeling with how the main character, Grace Brighton, was thrown back in time. 
This book gives a look into how movies of the past had some shadiness behind them. How women were truly treated as objects and really had no say about the parts they would get or what they might need to do to actually get them. 
I really enjoyed the twists and turns and mystery in this book. I loved that I really couldn't figure out the villains at first, though I had my thoughts. Murgia really knows how to make the characters seem suspect even when they may not even be! It was refreshing to have a who done it without knowing who did it until the end!
I enjoyed getting to know Grace. She was a bit naive but determined to really become self sufficient. Her experiences in the past help her become more confident and help her realize she needs to take charge of her own life and not worry about what others think she should be doing with her life. I would have liked to see a bit more interaction between her and her parents to really feel what she felt, rather than her telling us. Her interactions with Dalton were sweet. I liked the budding romance, as well.
Overall this was a fun read. What's not to like about a time travel mystery? The premise, the mystery, the starlets, the movies, the 1950s, all so much fun! If you're looking for a sweet quick time travel mystery read, open this one up and see what Murgia has created!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for supplying me with a copy of this book to read and give my honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.
Eileen Merriweather is an avid book reader turned professor of English. Her greatest love is meeting with her bookclub yearly in person to sit back, relax, and read some good books. When none of the members can make their yearly retreat, she decides to go alone. But on her way there she finds herself stranded in a small town with a broken down car. As she gets to know the town residents, she begins to realize she's stuck in the setting of her favorite author's love stories: Eloraton. She knows most of the characters but then finds there is one she cannot place. She's determined to figure out why this character was never on her radar and what her favorite author was planning to do with his love story.
I've recently discovered Poston's books and have really enjoyed the ones I've read. I was truly looking forward to this one. Who doesn't want to get stuck in the setting of their favorite love story from their favorite author? It sounded like a fun read, one I would enjoy and zip through in no time. And, while I did enjoy it for the most part, it was lacking what Poston's other stories have given me: hope and a feeling of magic.
Elsy is kind of a boring character. She is very self-deprecatory which just didn't hit me the right way. Even as she learns about herself throughout the book:,what she truly wants to do with her life, what kind of love she wants to find, and where she wants to be, I honestly didn't feel her growth. I wanted to love her but I just kind of liked her. She didn't present as anything truly interesting to me. She doesn't come across as strong or a woman who is willing to take control of her life, though she does talk about it. Her back story did help to solidify whey she thought the way she did about love. I did get a hint of her growth in the last few chapters, but not enough throughout the book to make me care.
Anders is a flat character, as well. The most I know about him are that he has "minty green eyes" and that he is grumpy and tight lipped. I wanted to swoon over the MMC but he didn't really give me that feeling. I felt like I was missing something from him. I get that his presence is supposed to be a bit mysterious, but there was nothing there to connect me to him and care about his story line. 
The romance was just ok. I didn't really feel the connection between Elsy and Anders. I needed more tension, more angst, more connection. Where was the chemistry? It felt a bit superficial and forced. How about some real banter, which the author tried but really didn't succeed to do in my opinion. And how many times can Elsy tell us she's not who he's meant to be with? There goes that self-deprecatory look at herself again. Nothing could convince me that these two were fated for each other.
I love the idea of a book within a book. But the magical realism did not come across in this one as it did in others I've read from her. I felt like it was really lacking that world building that helps you believe in the magic that's happening. It was slow and nothing truly gripped me.
My biggest complaint with this book is the repetitive descriptions How many times can Elsy tell us about Anders "minty green eyes." It was non-stop in ever chapter. Or how he smelled like black tea. And how golden his hair was. I get it, you like his eyes and hair and his smell is pleasant but it was no-stop. I felt like the editor truly missed this. It took me out of the story as it kept happening. It made me not care about Elsy or Anders. And it didn't help me to see any connection forming between the two main characters. 
I do realize this book was more about the journey rather than the destination but it really fell flat of endearing me to the characters and making me care about what would happen in the end. This was one of my most highly anticipated release of 2024 and I was more disappointed than not with this one.  I'm not giving up on this author, though, and will absolutely read books from her in the future.
2.5 stars rounded to 3

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Bramble Books for providing me with an audio galley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
In this follow up to Calamity, we are reacquainted with Cyn Khaw: a bounty hunter who goes by many names disguising herself as a private investigator who has spent her life hunting her cousin's killer. When she gets a chance to hunt the killer down, she's paired with the crew of the Calamity. But she's given an ultimatum by one of the family's: save her family and herself by turning in Micah, the ship's medic, or lose everything.
If you have not read the first book in this series, stop and go read it. Not only was it fabulous, but you will not understand many of the relationships in this book if you do not read that one first. This is definitely not a stand alone.
This is the first book I have reviewed in the audio format. I will saw I was skeptical at first; worried the narrator would be computer generated and I would have a hard time getting into the story. I was pleasantly surprised to be hearing Paige Reisenfeld's voice. This is my first audio by this narrator and I thoroughly enjoyed her. Her tone was perfect and she helped me to love the female main character and all her quirks.
Cynbaelline Khaw, aka Bella, aka Cyn goes by all the names trying to keep her true identity a secret. I remember her being introduced to us in the first book, though I didn't know it was her at the time. And once this was revealed, the story of her and Michah began to make much more sense. She's sassy and smart and is no stranger to being alone. She has spent her life in her own bubble, keeping her family at arms length and not allowing herself to be involved with anyone more than is necessary to her job. Cyn, to me, doesn't know her worth. And her character certainly develops around this in the book. She doesn't think she deserves to be loved or to have friends. She had to make some truly tough decisions in this book. And, while you initially believe she will only do what is good for herself, you find that's really not who she truly is. She has a big heart and that shines through as the book progresses.
Michah Arora is a character I know well from the first book in this series. I loved his character. He's smart and has a great head on his shoulders. He cares a lot about his crew; they are his friends and his found family since his exile.  He's super protective of those he loves. And he's got a sense of humor to him that shined for me in this book. He makes light of some more tense situations which helped to ease some of the more tense scenes in the book. I do wish I'd had more from him.
Speaking of romance, it's in the book, but it was not the main thing that drove the book. What drives this book is the off planet wonder of a different world, the challenge of finding people in such a large area of space, and the fight that ensues to ensure people are safe. The universe of this series is so large, reminding me of Star Trek or even Star Wars and all the planets and places that are visited in those worlds. The shining point of this book is the action and adventure it brings. Did I like the romance, sure, but it was definitely a very slow burn. And if you are looking for closed door, this is not that. The intimacy scenes are definitely a bit descriptive. But I enjoy that in my romances!
And the comedy aspect of this series is really what had me coming back and wanting to read this installment. Fay works it in so well to the story, just as she did with Calamity. Can I just say the ingenuity of creating a lizard that eats metal is genius! I absolutely adored that character and hope to see more of them in future books in this series.
Now, the ending has me a little worried as I would love to see more of Cyn and Micah in future books and the ending has me thinking that may not be possible. Though with Cyn's background, I think she could weasel her way into the next book (if there is one). 
If you're looking for a sci-fi space chases with mystery, romance, fight scenes, and found family, pick up this series and watch is unfold. As my second foray into the space romance genre, I can see it as one of my new favorites. I hope Fay continues the series as I'd love to see more of these space relationships unfurl.

Thank you to Hyperion Avenue 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.
Ren has been sheltered all her life but now she's branching out to go to college. But even with this new adventure, her parents insist she comes back to the homestead on weekends and won't let her tell anyone where she lives. It's been like this all her life and she never thought it was odd. Until she meets Fitz, and goes on a cross country adventure with him to investigate some DNA results she got from her class at school. Along the way she has many firsts, including finding herself attracted to Fitz. But her parents won't have any of it and find her only to drag her back home. But turns out there's more to her parents and her life than she could have ever imagined.
I love Christina Lauren and all their books. Of course I needed a chance to read this one and see what it was about. It's very different from their usual romance. If you're looking for a typical Lauren book, this won't be it. But it's a cute story. It's a reimagining of a modern day Rapunzel story. And it's dual POV, which I love in a romantic story.
Ren is oddly sheltered, having grown up home schooled with parents who insisted they be totally self-sufficient on their homestead. College is a totally different animal for her. One where she learns there's more to life than only what her parents have presented. She's a naive character but at the same time has fairly good instincts about people. I think this is what saves her character for me. Because while she's been sheltered all her life, she still managed to walk away with a good head on her shoulders.
Fitz is damaged goods. Or at least that's what he believes. He doesn't like to let anyone in and doesn't like for people to know about his past. He's determined to graduate and make something of himself, and seek revenge all at the same time. He didn't need Ren in his life to change how he feels about his plan, but there she is. And, while he comes across as locked up, he really just needed the right person in his life to help him open up and see what he can truly make of himself.
I kind of figured out the underlying plot line early on. Something never sat right for me with Ren's parents. They were odd and still insisting on sheltering her at the age of 22 seemed very off to me. The romance is definitely part of the story, but it's really not the main plot line. If you're looking for the usual spice that accompanies Lauren's books, you won't find it here. You'll find some light romance and attraction. But the book truly reads more like a YA book. The main plot is really Ren coming into herself and learning what she needs to do to be an independent woman.
If you're looking for a cute fast reading romantic adventure a la Disney style with a bit of a mysterious twist, jump into this one.