the_cover_contessa's Reviews (1.75k)

Thank you to Montlake 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.
I loved a short and sweet novella and this one filled that void. Was it the best love story I've ever read? No. But was it fun? Sure!
Evelyn Davis has been away from her hometown for 10 years, running away from her mistakes. When she's called back for their annual Kiss Lottery, she answers that call figuring the content will be good for her social media platform. But she secretly hopes to reconnect with her BFF, Beckett Whitfield who made her the villain in his most recent book, and find out just why he did it. Despite the time and distance, neither has forgotten the other, and their connection brings them closer the more time they spend together in their home town. Will the connection lead to a second chance for their love?
Evelyn was a likeable enough character. I could see where people would connect with her. She was a bit whiny for my taste. I did feel badly she really didn't have any family to speak of and how hard that would be to come back home and not have anyone on her side. There was a lot of her telling us about her past, though we did get a few flashbacks, as well. But I needed more showing of her story. Beckett was not as developed, in my opinion. I needed a bit more from his character. It's been 10 years and he's still pining? and she never knew? I just don't feel that being a real thing. I needed more about him and who he is. Plus their age didn't really vibe with their persona on the page. They felt much younger than almost 30 year olds. Overall, the character development was lacking for me. As was the chemistry. They kind of fall back into each other but I never really felt the build I needed to have it happen. And the sex scene was just not my cup of tea.
This story was great for a quick, romantic Valentine's day read. Very predictable and just a bit cheesey. The author did a nice enough job building the world and wrapping up the story in the short span of the story. It could have used a bit more character development as I didn't feel much connection or empathy for either main character. I could definitely see this as a full length novel and think the development would have been better had it been such. If you're a lover of Hallmark stories, this one will definitely fill that slot. This is my first time reading this author and I can see she has great bones for romance books. I would definitely pick up her other books and give them a try.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an egalley of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Doesn't ever girl want to live inside her most favorite fantasy books? I know I do. Given the chance to experience this with a character, I jumped right on it. I really enjoyed The Breakup Tour so my expectations for this book were pretty high.
Jennifer Worth lives her life without taking risks. She works in publishing, but doesn't pursue her dream of writing. She lives for fantasy book boyfriends, but is too afraid to put herself out there to find love. When she gets the chance to spend a week immersed in her favorite fantasy story, she's surprised to find her rival, Scott Daniels, is also attending the same event. 
This book had so much potential to draw me in and make me feel all the feels of what living in a fantasy story is like. The plot has a fun vibe: let's immerse ourselves in a fantasy based experience and live like our favorite characters. It had a renaissance fair flare to it. Unfortunately, it did not live up to that hype. While the story itself is cute, enemies to lovers and all that, it completely missed the mark. I wanted to fall in love with Jennifer and her nemesis Scott. I wanted to watch their sparks fly despite their "hatred" of each other hoping it would ignite their chemistry. But I didn't see any of it. What I got was a slow paced story with a lot of references to a fake fantasy that I felt zero connection with and a couple who have no chemistry to speak of. Jennifer is grumpy, then she's happy, then she's sad, then she's anxious. And, while one can certainly experience all those things, none of those characteristics helped me understand her or see her develop into something more. As for Scott, he's obviously into Jennifer but deigns to act as if he's at the experience for other reasons. Without his point of view, it was hard to get a read on him. I didn't like him or dislike him, I just had no connection with him and didn't feel like I needed to root for him to end up with Jennifer. His character was flat and barely developed beyond what we see in the first few chapters of the book.
Overall, I just wanted more from this book. Given my love of the previous book read by these authors,  I was also expecting it. The premise was something I thought for sure I'd love, and it was, but the execution was not what I needed it to be.  It just didn't quite pull together in the way I would have liked. If you're looking for a cute story with not much substance to the romance, this may appeal to you. 

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this egalley to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I'm all about fantasy books that are stand alone. They are hard to find and always peak my interest. I'm always curious how the author will build the world and then wrap it up in only one book. While this book has some fantastical elements, it really teeters on the border of fantasy and magical realism.
The book is told in alternating chapters of historical events between the characters and modern day. It's a love story strewn across time.
Evelyn and Arden are fated to be together no matter when in history they meet. But they are also fated to die together over and over again by their 18th birthdays. In modern times, Evelyn finds herself fighting to stay alive to ensure her sister can be saved from the cancer she is enduring by a bone marrow transplant.
Overall, the story was nice. I liked the background the author chose to give with the chapters that take us back to other times in history. It gave a some good background as to why the characters interact with each other the way they do. However, I did find the back and forth a bit choppy and it slowed the pacing for me a bit. I also felt like we didn't spend enough time in those chapters to truly get a sense of the relationship between the two characters. I wanted to be immersed in this epic romance but I just didn't feel the chemistry between the two characters or invested in why their love story was important.
Did I connect with the characters? Not particularly. I found Evenly quite standoffish, no matter the time frame in which we met her. And Arden was just too mysterious and hard to figure out the entire book. I wanted to love them and their epic romance, but it never felt quite epic enough for me given their meetings over and over again across time.
The author did a fairly good job with the LBGTQ+ representation throughout the book. She chose to show it throughout history but what I would have liked to see is how it was truly represented at that time. Was it accepted? shunned? How did it effect the characters and how they lived their lives during all those times? It just seemed to me there should have been more of this rather than just scenes of the two characters interacting and showing their attachment to one another.
Overall, I enjoyed it enough but pushed a bit to get to the part where we find out the mystery of it all. The reveal comes quite late in the book and is not truly alluded to in any of the interactions between the characters to give the reader a sense of at least guessing what it was all about. I wish I had breadcrumbs along the way that would have kept me more interested in knowing what was actually going on. And the wrap up was just too easy for me. I wanted more from the deal that was made, more of the interaction with the evil we are introduced to, just more.

I do not think there is a book Borison will write that I will not love.
When I found out this book was about Beckett Porter, I gave a little squeal. I really needed Beckett to have his story. I knew behind that grumpy exterior there was so much more and boy was I right! And to make it a kind of second chance for him made it that much more special. And then I saw DUAL POV and I was sold. The entire time I was reading the first book I kept wanting dual POV and was really hoping Borison would get on board with that and she did!
Beckett had a hot and heavy two night stand while at a farm conference. He knew it was just a fling but he can't seem to get that girl off his mind. So when Evelyn St. James shows up at Lovelight Farms and happens to be that same girl, his life is thrown into a tail spin. He never expected to see her again and he certainly never expected the spark that was between them to flame into a fire.
FINALLY Beckett's reaction to Evie showing up on the farm makes so much sense! His grumpiness, his social isolation, and so many other things all clicked into place in this book. I absolutely adore him and all his quirks. I love his relationship with his family and how he cares for them despite his own issues. And his love of animals, ugh. That endeared him to me so much. Borison did such a great job addressing his anxiety and showing how it affected him and his relationships.
Evelyn really needed that break. Being in the public eye all the time was taking it's toll. She finds happy at Lovelight, and how can you not? Despite being famous, she fit right in with the Lovelight crew. I really enjoyed her character and her journey during this book. She was vibrant and fun and definitely the sunshine to Beckett's grumpy.
THE. SIDE. CHARACTERS! Ok, so we already know Stella and Luka from book one but now we are introduced to all of Beckett's family. I love his sisters and his DAD! Plus we see Layla again and I just know she'll get her story next!
The pacing kept me turning pages the whole time. I loved the slow build to happiness and the happily ever after the characters deserved. The romance was spot on and sexy!
This might just be my favorite of the series. Small town, grumpy sunshine, forced proximity, anxiety rep, dual POV, second chance romance, and so much more. I loved every second of this story and already I cannot wait to re-read it!

Thank you to Atria Books 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.
We all have our tropes we love, and those we hate. So what happens when an author decides to take all the romance tropes and throw then in one book? A lot of fun, that's what! This Hallmarkish story had me from page one. Not only is it fun, it's funny, and witty, and just full of that push and pull chemistry that reals me in and keeps me stuck on a story.
Romance writer Margot Bradley has made a terrible mistake. She's forgotten how to let love into her life. Tainted by years of disappointment from the men around her, she channels her disbelief in love into her books. But when someone finds her own personal document of happily never afters, she gets canceled by her audience. Forced to face this tumultuous time in her life, and love by her disabled sister too much to let the opportunity slip by, the sister books Margot into an Alaskan hunting lodge turned extreme hikers dream. Margot is such a great character. She's charming and witty but she also has this nerdish quality to her that makes her super endearing. And she has no idea the hold she can possess on someone. Her blinders for love or anything like it are fully in place, until she meets Forrest Wakefield and starts to realize all those tropes she's written about in her many romance novels really do come true. Cute, chiseled man? Check! Man who wants to care for her? Check? Close proximity vibe? Check! Enemies to lovers? Well, sort of!
Forrest has his own demons. He's been forced to give up his promising research career to care for his injured father and help him get back on his feet. The man is so selfless he has given up everything he's ever wanted to make sure those around him do not suffer. But he also carries around a mound of grief over his mother's death and this keeps him tethered to a life he truly does not want. Meeting Margot Bradley was not what he expected at his hunting lodge turned extreme hiker's paradise, but here she is jumping into his arms and throwing him off kilter. So for all the tropes of a perfect man, he is truly un perfect underneath, giving up his own happiness so that others don't have to do so. 
I don't know much about Alaska, except there's a lot of snow, ice, and cold. But what I do know is that it is beautiful. Lavine did a nice job creating a landscape that was at the same time inviting and frozen. I loved her descriptions and, despite me not loving the cold at all, she really did make me want to go to Alaska and check out what it may have to offer.
As the story unfolds, and Margot begins to write in another genre to see if she can fix her career, she finds herself drawn to Forrest over and over again. Lavine wrote their chemistry really well. Of course she inserts the love (lust) at first sight trope right from the very start. Though there is so much more to how the relationship between Forrest and Margot grows and changes, blossoms and sparks. The spicy scenes are just perfect enough to keep me wanting more. I loved the compatibility between the two characters despite their differences.
Lavine's pacing is spot on. The story flows well with a great amount of tension building and then bursting just at the right time. For those of you who are not fans, their is a "third act break up" but this story would not follow all the great tropes if it did not have that. I loved how Lavine truly built her story around almost every single romance trope you can think of. It made the book fun, if not a little predictable. But for me, I love a bit of predictability in my romance books. And her writing was very good. I enjoyed it. It wasn't full of the characters telling us what was going on, but truly showing us what was unfolding around them.
What probably hooked me the most in the book were Margot's letters from her sister. Each letter telling a story about their lives past, present, and future. It was like having another POV happening while you were only hearing from the FMC.
This book has it all: great tropes, firey chemistry between the two main characters, well developed FMC and MMC, fun and funny side characters. challenges, and growth and reflection. I'm definitely a Lavine fan and she will be on my auto-read author list for all her future books! 4.75 stars!

Thank you to Edelweiss and Canary Ink Press/Afterglow Books by Harlequin/Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing me with an egalley of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I really should learn to avoid TikTok influencer books. More often than not I am disappointed with them. But the blurb really caught my eye, the reviews seemed positive, and I love me a hockey romance. So I decided to give it a shot (no pun intended). To say I'm disappointed in the execution of this book is an understatement. It really did have great bones but there were so many things wrong with it.
The plot was typical of a hockey romance if a bit cliché. The hockey star takes a downfall and needs to build his career back up. He meets a manic pixie girl and they connect with a hot one night stand never thinking they'll see each other again. Of course their paths cross again and each time the hockey has a great game. So, of course, she's his lucky charm. But she has no intention of letting another relationship get in the way. Of course that pesky little thing called love gets in the way. While the pacing was pretty fast for this one, it was stunted in many places due to awkward dialogue and weird switches in POV.
The romance was ok. I would have liked to see a better development. I just didn't feel the chemistry between the FMC and MMC. They were so very different it was a wonder they connected at all. And, while I know opposites can attract, the author really needed to show this to us and it didn't happen. And the spicy scenes just were not done well. They were super rushed and awkward. I didn't feel any passion between the characters. The scenes made me cringe and were more clinical than emotional.
Speaking of showing, that didn't happen in this book. There was so much telling. And there were weird medical terms used throughout that just took me right out of the story. Can such terms be used in books, of course, but it's how they were use that totally baffled me. They just seemed so random. Who mentions things like UTI, adenoids, apena, vascular, and trypanophobia would be understood by someone in the medical field (such as myself, since I'm a nurse) but the general public will not know what these things are. I also saw this with the hockey terms. I love me some hockey and it was obvious the author had some good knowledge in this area. But I don't know a lot of the terms. And neither did the FMC. A perfect way for the author to have explained some of the words she was using would have been to have the MMC teach the FMC these terms as it would have also helped the reader.
As for the characters, they were relatable for the most part but I feel like if you're putting a POC into the story there's a reason for it. There is racism alluded to, but we never see it or how it may have affected the character. Same with the LBGTQ representation. For the most part this was done well but I did see some stereotypes woven into the story, and not in any type of positive way. And the mental health that was addressed was a super important part of the MMC but it doesn't happen until about half way through the book. These aspects of the characters needed more exploration. I feel like using such designations in a book are usually done for a reason and I need them to be done well so I can understand the importance of them being included in the story. I feel like having this information and showing us why it is important would have helped me connect more with the characters as I really didn't feel this connection. Overall the main characters came across as flat for me.
I had issues with the FMC, Lucy, and her profession. She's an artist. But she wants to tattoo. But she has never tattooed before. She draws and paints, but not tattoos. She does all kinds of other things. There's no real understanding as to why she wants this profession. I feel like there needed to be more included for me to understand. It came across as not much research being done in this area.
While the book wasn't terrible and the bones are there for a great story, the execution was very lacking. I felt like it needs a lot more editing. I'm hoping the final version would be more tight where this is concerned. There were many times I wanted to DNF this book but I pushed in the hopes the story would take a turn for the better. But it never did. The book honestly left me with more questions than answers. The premise was good with a nice cast of diverse characters but the book itself just had too many issues for me to love it.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Storytide (Harper Collins) for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
You don't find a lot of stand alone fantasy books. I know it's hard to build a world and bring the story full circle in only one book. I have to say Hawk did a fairly good job with it. Though I could definitely see where this could have been at least two books, maybe more.
The world Hawk creates is unique and intoxicating. She builds the world easily without holes considering the time constraint of it being just one book. I would love to see more stories in this world even if they are novellas. I'd also love to see the other kingdoms. We had a glimpse of one outside of the main kingdom but not enough. It would be amazing to see a follow up with the characters in that world and see how they heal it! The magic system in this one is unique. It was nice to see the magic could manifest itself in anyone, not just those of a specific position. 
Elia was an interesting character. I honestly think she felt younger than her 18/19 years of age. This was mostly due to her recklessness. She is definitely an act before you think kind of character which bites her more times than not. But she's feisty, smart, and witty and that made me feel a kinship with her. I wish we would have seen her stretch her magical boundaries just a bit more. Her relationship with her sister and brothers was done very well. And her found family was also a great support. I really liked the interactions we did see with them. You can feel her love and protection for them. It would be fun to follow their stories, as well. 
Trys was not as fleshed out as I would have liked. I know that's harder when you only have one point of view, and with the fact that he spent a good amount of the book not being able to talk. I would have loved more background on him besides being told he is the 9th prince. His development was lacking for me though I did like him from what I was given.
I definitely felt an emotional attachment to theses characters. I enjoyed the romance, though it was a bit too insta-love for me and I would have liked to see the FMC and MMC spend just a bit more time together, learning each other, before they fell for each other. I think the fact that the book stands alone limited this a lot. It felt a bit rushed as the author only truly had a short time to bring them together.
I think the plot was interesting but it truly felt like totally different stories. One part takes place in Elia's homeland and the other in a dark battlefield. It made for a little of a disconnect in the story. This is where I feel like a duaology would have done this book justice. Because this was just one book, the pacing felt a bit rushed to me. I did love the different monsters Hawk presented to us, though. They were very interesting though I would have liked to see more of the lore attached to them so we could understand how they might fit into the magic system.
I am not sure I would classify this as a romantasy. Yes, there is a romantic aspect, but the plot truly focuses on something else and that overshadows the actual romance that is happening. 
Overall I really enjoyed this book. Hawk's writing was incredibly easy to read and her descriptiveness was great. I am looking forward to more stories from her in the future.