Baking with a Rockstar was just as sweet as it sounds! Honestly maybe even sweeter than I would typically expect from a rockstar related romance novel, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It was also a nice balance of sweet and heat that shouldn't be too much to keep anyone out of this kitchen.







My absolute favorite things:







1) The characters. Which ones, you ask. ALL. OF. THEM. Omg seriously, can this PLEASE be only the beginning of series set around this awesome group of characters? Most notably the entire Mitchell family. Shoot, you can even throw in a Grandma Hannah novella and I'll be there for that. The whole family is just so darn likeable, and better yet each member is incredibly intriguing, I would love to get a book devoted to each one of them! I want to explore what's going on between Mo and Gabe, I want to tour Dahlia's school for the arts, I need to find more out about Rose, hell I want to hang out with Hannah and her whole granny squad! And while all this is going on we can see more from the fast faves, Hudson and Charlie (and Mira too, of course!).







2) THE TWIST. Guys, I can't say what it is and that kills me in a way because it is soooooo good. It isn't all that often that I'm genuinely 100% surprised by a plot twist, but this one got me. It got me good. And it was EVERYTHING. It was honestly refreshing to have something that isn't exactly your run of the mill go-to romance tropes. I dig that in a big way.







So all in all lots of flavor in this charming little read. If you're looking for something fun and swoon-worthy with downright loveable characters and a surprise or two along the way then this is the story for you.







I won an ARC of this book from the author and this is my honest review.

"A girl doesn't fall in love with the devil and come away unscarred... "

Well I'm officially a goner, Karissa Laurel has done it again. I'm over the moon for Owen and Rikki. TEAM OWKI 4 LIFE.

Owen definitely brought the heat, but he was actually very sweet too. I appreciated how endlessly patient he was with Rikki. He was a take charge kinda guy but he always let Rikki set the pace and call the shots. It was refreshing. I feel like so often you see that Alpha male type be overbearing and constantly pushing against the emotional walls that the women construct. Not Owen. He was clear about his feelings and desires but totally content to prop a smouldering elbow against the wall with a smirk and let Rikki decide when she was going to let him in. Owen had his secrets though and they were searing.







Rikki was pretty awesome too. I respected her drive. She had goals and determination and when she set her sights to something she was going to make it happen. I think Rikki and Owen together is one hell of a force!







I absolutely LOVED the preternatural element in this novel. It's something I truly haven't read much about before and it had me totally captivated. That ending was equally awesome and torturous. Laurel turned up the heat to scorching and I need more. SO. MUCH. MORE. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

WICKED SAINTS BY EMILY A. DUNCAN Any book that is labeled for fans of Leigh Bardugo has a lot to live up to. I typically try not to get too hype when I see things like that, because as you know all too often they end up falling short. Well, my friends, I'm oh so happy to report that was not the case with Wicked Saints!
 
This book sucked me in from the very beginning, with magic, war, Gods, courtly shenanigans and compelling characters this was an unrelenting page-turner. Not for the faint of heart, there is (SO MUCH) bloodshed and betrayal, zealots and monsters, ZEALOUS MONSTERS...all alongside unlikely friendships, rebellion and romance. I'm officially hooked. I already pre-ordered a signed copy. I don't know how I'll possibly survive the wait for the next book....especially after that EXPLOSIVE ending.
 
Also, let it be said now, I'm team Malachiasz fo life.
 
 
I recieved an ARC of this book from St. Martin's Press via Netgalley and this is my honest review.

I loved being back in the world of the wardens! I was a fan of the original trilogy and grew to love Layla, Zayne, Roth (Bambi and Cayman too!). I shipped Layla and Roth HARD. But Zayne was such a good guy and I was so thrilled to hear we’d get more from him and maybe he’d find his match along the way too. Trinity was a welcome addition to the bunch. While I absolutely LOVED seeing Roth and Layla again, I was actually glad we started out in a new place getting to know Trinity before they made an appearance. I also thought it was great to see Zayne out of his typical element. It truly helped this story feel like something very new but also just enough comfortable familiarity that it didn’t lose any stride from the original books. It works out great for new readers that haven’t read the previous books first as well, of course I recommend doing so because they were great, but it wasn’t necessary to enjoy this story.


I really enjoyed all the new friends/frienemies/full blown enemies in this one. Armentrout always writes compelling characters and I can’t help but love them all, even the ones I want to kick in the shin repeatedly. Trinity and her makeshift family at the compound were awesome, and let’s not forget to mention Peanut! Even the dead are a barrel of laughs! Zayne feels even more real to me in a way now. Like him going through everything he has in the previous books has aged/hardened him in a way I find compelling.


I also want to say I found learning about Trinity’s Retinitis Pigmentosa very interesting. I really didn’t know much about this disorder except for the few things the author has shared publicly about it since this is a disorder she herself has. I really admired the way Trinity handled it and the way she worked harder than most to not have it negatively impact her life anymore than it absolutely must already. I think there was a heartbreaking, but also kind of beautiful, balance in the deterioration of her eyesight and the incredible amount of insight that she had, maybe because of it. I’m glad Armentrout shared this with her readers. I think it added something extra special to the story. I very much enjoyed reading this one and I can’t wait to see what happens next after that crazy/awesome/devastating ending!



I recieved an ARC of this book from Inkyard Press via Netgalley and this is my honest review.

HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS BY: ERIN A. CRAIG  
I'm so torn on my feelings about this book. On one hand, I really loved that this was a reimagining of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and I found the haunting more horror novel parts of this book to be brilliant! Unfortunately though there wasn't that many of them really. I thought that this area in particular is where this author shined. I found her darker scenes to be the most vivid. I truly hope she one day decides to write a horror novel, because I'd read the hell out of it.On the other hand I found this to be a slow read for me. More often than not I was just waiting to get to the next macabre scene because those were the ones I enjoyed the most. I think maybe the issue for me was that this story was being pulled into so many directions, a mystery, a romance, a thriller, etc. that it ultimately didn't fully accomplish any of them. It was as if the foundations were there but none were fully fleshed out and realized. The romance ended up feeling rushed, the mystery seemed to rise and then fall away and then rise again, and the thrilling parts were too few and far between. Sometimes compelling characters can help make up for this type of thing a bit, but I had a hard time connecting with any of them. Annaleigh more often than not thought about doing things rather than actually fully going for it. Ultimately House of Salt and Sorrows just ended up falling somewhere in the middle for me. I liked the roots individually, but as we went along they kinda grew tangled together, suffocating each from their full potential.I received an ARC of this book from Delacorte Press via Netgalley and this is my honest review.

This was a cute quick read. I hate to compare it to The Hating Game, but I loved that book so much I think I went into this one with really high expectations and that maybe made it hard for 99 Percent Mine to live up to all that. It was good but it didn't wow me like The Hating Game did.

A truly chilling page-turner! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time with this gritty thriller. LOVED IT!

AHHHH I have so many burning questions! I can definitely say Fortuna Sworn will leave you wanting more in a wonderful (MADDENING) way.

I really enjoyed Fortuna and her journey into the world of the Fae. She was a good leading lady, strong, smart, audacious and stubborn as all get out. My kinda gal! It's everyone else I'm so unsure of! Every time I thought I had one of them figured out I was thrown for a loop and the story went in another direction I wasn't expecting. The men in Fortuna's life are quite puzzling. I was hoping to get a little better of an understanding of at least a few of them by the end but alas I will have to wait until the next book.

The pace is pretty consistently steady which makes for a quicker read. I thought the Fae politics were brilliant! The trials were very interesting but I did feel like the end of them was rather anticlimactic, which was surprising as they seemed to start of really strong.

You'll find many familiar mythical beings in this one, and even a few unique ones! I liked that the author really made the familiar ones her own though. With some subtle and some larger tweaks.
All in all an enchanting start to a magical tale. I'm looking forward to more...and really figuring out these mysterious men!

I received an ARC of this book from the author and this is my honest review.