Nevermore Bookstore by. Kerrigan Bryne and Cynthia St. Aubin | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Nevermore Bookstore (Townsend Harbor, #1)

Author: Kerrigan Byrne & Cynthia St. Aubin

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 363

Publication Date: 3/28/23

Publisher: Oliver Heber Books

Categories: Romance, Contemporary, Mystery, Dark Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Oliver Heber Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Cadence “Cady” Bloomquist knows two things for sure: First, shelving books at her shop, Nevermore Bookstore, totally counts as cardio. Second, staying late every Thursday night to take a certain mysterious customer’s order is not the same as waiting by the phone for some man.

Until.

Until the calls with the man who identifies himself only as “Fox” last for hours, and become the highlight of her week. Which leaves her to wonder, if his jagged velvet voice can kindle her fire over the phone, what sort of alchemy might it inspire if they met in person?

There’s nothing Roman Fawkes wants more than the brilliant, beautiful bookstore owner, but Roman Fawkes knows it can never happen. Secreted in his mountain hideaway high above sleepy little Townsend Harbor, his hermit’s existence shields him–and those around him–from the pain of his past.

Until.

Until one of their weekly calls is interrupted by a break-in, and Fawkes is powerless to protect the woman who has become his one link to the world. Orchestrating a trap for the fool who dared harm her, Fawkes finds himself not just ensnared, but beguiled by her. Now so close to Cady, he discovers she’s fallen for “Fox”, and yet he’s unable to reveal her heart’s desire is closer than she thinks.

Can Fawkes resist the temptation to get between Cady’s covers, knowing they’ll never have a happily ever after?

Content Warning: PTSD, torture scenes in a memory

What caught my eye for this book was the cover and title. I’d say this is one of those instances where the cover made me think this would be a rom-com. Here’s what I thought:

+ Yes there are fun, light-hearted moments in this book but that’s mostly with Cady. She has ankylosing spondylitis and suffers from the pain of it but despite that she’s a sunshine girl. Cady is positive and living life. Whereas her romantic interest, Fox, is the opposite. Grumpy? YES. But with so much baggage, trauma, and suffers from major PTSD. His character threw me off in the beginning and I was wondering if this was a paranormal romance and he was a werewolf or something! Boy, was I wrong, but Fox is almost feral in this book. But opposites attract in this one and there is no shortage of chemistry between them.

+ I love the small town and how Cady runs a bookstore. She and Fox actually bond because of their love of books. But I love Cady’s friends Gemma, Myrtle, and Vee, they were all so funny together.

+ The romance between Cady and Fox was really heart melting after all the kinks they had to iron out. And it was a lot – it’s heavy, because of Fox’s PTSD. But I like that Cady fought to keep this guy, there is something beautiful about fighting for love. I like that these two people, strangers over the phone really, are each fighting their own battles and in the end decide they want to fight together. Also their sex scenes are steamy and hot!

~ This is a dark romance because Fox goes through some bad stuff and he dreams about it. I really couldn’t figure him out in the first part of the book, I couldn’t understand what the deal was with him. He’s a hermit in the woods, he seems like he’s on the verge of going out of his head – hence why I thought maybe he was a werewolf and this was a paranormal romance! There isn’t anything wrong with him dealing with PTSD, I just wasn’t expecting how hard he would deal with it. I really felt for him.

~ Because of the way they meet, and Fox is basically some guy in the woods – when he does come to be around Cady to protect her, it comes off a little suspect, like he’s stalking her. He doesn’t disclose who he is because he’s not good for her, but he sticks around a few days to make sure she is okay. He even watches her through binoculars so if that bothers you then this story isn’t for you.

~ The mystery part in this book I think didn’t flow as well for me? I was invested in Cady and Fox and the mystery of who HE is. But some things were happening at the bookstore that I felt like wasn’t something pushed to the forefront of the story. So by the time it’s dealt with at the end, it’s just some loose end that needs to be tied up and it is taken care of nicely.

Tropes: small town, sunshine girl/grumpy broken guy

Why you should read it:

set in a small town, at a bookstore owned by a sunshine girl with an autoimmune disease
fun secondary characters – Cady’s best friends
Cady and Fox’s romance – and how they try to help themselves and one another by the end of the book

Why you might not want to read it:

it’s darker than the cartoonish cover lets on! I liked the spotlight on Fox’s PTSD but it’s not a light-hearted read – I think it was trying to toe the line between light-hearted and dark. It worked for me but may not work for everyone.

My Thoughts:

After the initial rocky start of the book (mostly because Fox), I think I fell in love with Cady and Fox – especially when the truth comes out. Cady’s life in her small town, her book store and her close knit friends was perfect for her and her personality. Fox fit his surroundings also, because he really was on the edge of giving up, and he was going to give up in the woods but I didn’t know that until later. So like Cady, I didn’t understand him, until he let his guard down. But I loved the two of them together and glad they have a happy ending. The story is like a balance between light-hearted and dark romance and I enjoyed it. It looks like this is going to be a series so I hope the next love story is Gemma’s or Ethan’s? I look forward to reading more from this duo.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon

Play the Fool by. Lina Chern | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Play the Fool

Author: Lina Chern

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 3/28/23

Publisher: Bantam

Categories: Mystery, Contemporary, Fiction

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Bantam for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A cynical tarot card reader seeks to uncover the truth about her friend’s mysterious death in this delightfully clever whodunit.

For Katie True, a keen gut and quick wit are just tools of the trade. After a failed attempt at adulting in Chicago, she’s back in the suburbs living a bit too close to her overbearing parents, jumping from one dead-end job to the next, and flipping through her tarot deck for guidance. Then along comes Marley.

Mysterious, worldly, and comfortable in her own skin, Marley takes a job at the mall where Katie peddles Russian tchotchkes. The two just get each other. Marley doesn’t try to fix Katie’s life or pretend to be someone she’s not, and Katie thinks that with Marley’s friendship she just might make it through this rough patch after all. So one day, having been encouraged by Marley to practice soothsaying, Katie reads tarot for someone who stumbles into her shop. But when she sneaks a glance at his phone, she finds more than just clairvoyant intel. She finds a photo. Of Marley. With a gunshot wound to the head.

The bottom falls out of Katie’s world. Her best friend is dead? Who killed her? She quickly realizes there are some things her tarot cards can’t foresee, and she must put her razor-sharp instincts to the ultimate test. But the truth has deadly consequences, and Katie’s recklessness lands her in the crossfire of a threat she never saw coming. Now Katie must use her street smarts and her inner Strength card to solve Marley’s murder–or risk losing everything.

Content Warning: violence

I’m not a big fan of mystery books – it’s usually a hit or miss for me because if the story is slow and drags I will lose interest fast. But I wanted to take a chance on this one because of the cool cover and the whole tarot card reading. Here is what I thought:

+ I was pleasantly surprised with how much this story captured my attention. Katie is an under achiever and so good at it but I didn’t really feel sorry for her because she was quirky, she still tried to live on her own even if it was a dump, she loves her brother a lot (I love Owen!) and I love their connection and she was genuinely nice to people even if she sort of knew how to lie to them when card reading.

+ I like when Katie tries to find her friend’s killer and befriends a cop who has a past – he’s hard to read which is not normal for her, but I like their friendship a lot. Is there a romance brewing between them? I don’t know because it stays in the friend zone but I like that they get to know each other and have great banter. They need one another but the romance and feelings are not the focus in this book.

+ I enjoyed the twists in the story. I went along for the ride and was really interested to know how Marley (the dead friend) died and how everything fit in the puzzle. I was entertained until the very end!

~ Katie is kind of lost, she goes from job to job and she is a tarot reader but the story only has her do one major reading. I kind of wanted to see her do more because I find tarot reading fascinating and just wanted to see more of it in the story. I liked how she read people in her mind upon meeting them though.

~ Katie herself isn’t a cop but after the “bad guys” first start following her and warning her – I would have thought they (Jaime and the cops) would be more vigilant about protecting her. Also I was wondering why if the bad guys were so bad, they just didn’t kidnap Katie and rip that necklace off her. She wore on her person for awhile – so I thought those guys showed a lot of restraint and was expecting them to do worse to her.

Why you should read it:

entertaining whodunit story about an under-achiever who gets caught in the middle of a bad situation
love Katie’s relationship with Owen and her growing friendship with Jamie
fun twist and turns

Why you might not want to read it:

I like it because it was fun for me but I’m not usually a mystery lover. Most mysteries that people love – I find boring, so my judgment of this book might be way off for someone who already loves reading mysteries. Basically – take my review with a grain of salt if you are a die-hard mystery fan.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this one more than I thought I would! I love Katie’s quirky, chaotic, messy character, even though her living conditions stressed me out. I love her relationship with her brother Owen and her growing relationship with Jamie, the cop with a traumatic past. And overall I had fun trying to guess who killed Marley and seeing where the story went – which was into a place I didn’t even expect. My minor issues with the book only came with me wanting more tarot reading in the story since Katie is a tarot reader. Other than that I thought for someone who doesn’t love mysteries, this was a fun read.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

In Nightfall by. Suzanne Young | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: In Nightfall

Author: Suzanne Young

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 3/28/23

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Paranormal

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Delacorte Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

In the quaint town of Nightfall, Oregon, it isn’t the dark you should be afraid of—it’s the girls. The Lost Boys meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this propulsive novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Treatment.

Theo and her brother, Marco, threw the biggest party of the year. And got caught. Their punishment? Leave Arizona to spend the summer with their grandmother in the rainy beachside town of Nightfall, Oregon—population 846 souls.

The small town is cute, when it’s not raining, but their grandmother is superstitious and strangely antisocial. Upon their arrival she lays out the one house rule: always be home before dark. But Theo and Marco are determined to make the most of their summer, and on their first day they meet the enigmatic Minnow and her friends. Beautiful and charismatic, the girls have a magnetic pull that Theo and her brother can’t resist.

But Minnow and her friends are far from what they appear.
And that one rule? Theo quickly realizes she should have listened to her grandmother. Because after dark, something emerges in Nightfall. And it doesn’t plan to let her leave.

Content Warning: underage drinking

I was definitely interested in this book because of the book cover and the synopsis. The Lost Boys meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Yes! Here’s what I thought:

+ I like the mysteriousness of the Oregon town, Nightfall. Something seems off to Theo but she doesn’t know what it is. I love the setting and I did like the addition of the paranormal podcasters which sets the tone for something spooky and amiss possibly going on in Nightfall.

+ I like the Theo and Marco sibling connection. I got a good sense of their family bond and the recent challenges in their broken family. And I like how Theo fights for Marco when things start to hit the fan.

+ The story moves quick and I thought it was an easy read.

~ Some issues I had with the story was that I wanted more action, wanted more danger, and wanted more tension. The villains didn’t come off super dangerous until the end climactic scene. I like my vamps to be dangerous – I want to be scared, but I wasn’t.

~ I didn’t get why Theo’s grandmother was so hostile and couldn’t help them out by telling them more about the town. If it’s to keep everything mysterious, it didn’t work, it just made me frustrated. She comes through in the end but honestly a little heads up on some of the things going in town would’ve been helpful to Theo and Marco.

Tropes: small town

Why you should read it:

set in a small town, a gender-bent The Lost Boys (vampires)
quick, easy read, lots of mystery and in the end some vampire slaying

Why you might not want to read it:

for me, I just wanted more from the story- more action, more danger

My Thoughts:

This was an okay read for me but I love the cover and the nods to The Lost Boys and Buffy. I just wish it had more spooky vibes and more danger but overall it was entertaining.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Lunar Love by. Lauren Kung Jessen | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Lunar Love

Author: Lauren Kung Jessen

Format: ebook (borrowed)

Pages: 336

Publication Date: 1/11/23

Categories: Romance, Contemporary

This sweet, enemies-to-lovers debut rom-com filled with Chinese astrology will undoubtedly prove to be a perfect match with readers of Helen Hoang, Jasmine Guillory, and Helena Hunting.

Always a matchmaker, never a match…

Olivia Huang Christenson is excited-slash-terrified to be taking over her grandmother’s matchmaking business. But when she learns that a new dating app has made her Pó Po’s traditional Chinese zodiac approach all about “animal attraction,” her emotions skew more toward furious-slash-outraged. Especially when L.A.’s most-eligible bachelor Bennett O’Brien is behind the app that could destroy her family’s legacy . . .

Liv knows better than to fall for any guy, let alone an infuriatingly handsome one who believes that traditions are meant to be broken. As the two businesses go head to head, Bennett and Liv make a deal: they’ll find a match for each other—and whoever falls in love loses. But Liv is dealing with someone who’s already adept at stealing business ideas . . . so what’s stopping him from stealing her heart too?

Content Warning: death of family member

I love this book cover and thought the concept for the story was cute. Here is what I thought:

+ I like Olivia and her connection to her family. It is evident there is so much love between her and her family who run a successful matchmaking company that uses the Chinese zodiac to make these matches.

+ I like how the matchmaking services in the book show the old school ways, which Olivia’s family is expert in and then the modern version of dating – with an app. Bennett’s way is more technologically advanced and also uses the Chinese zodiac but is missing the personal touch. Olivia thinks Bennet is encroaching on her family business but is there room for both of their companies in the matchmaking world?

+ I loved all the Chinese references from the food, the holidays and the zodiac.

~ Unfortunately I was bored midway into this story. The beginning started off well but for me it lost steam when Olivia was plotting Bennett’s downfall without knowing his intentions for his own company.

~ I was hoping for more sparks between Olivia and Bennett.

Tropes: rivals to lovers, slow burn, false pretenses

Why you should read it:

modern dating vs. old school matchmaking discussions
slow burn, rivals to lovers
love the Chinese cultural references with family, traditions, food and the zodiac

Why you might not want to read it:

I wanted more sparks between the MC’s

My Thoughts:

I don’t know if I just wasn’t in the right mood for this book but I thought it was just okay. But I think because I was in the mood for sparks and tension this one didn’t quite do it for me. I did like a lot of things about it though – Olivia’s family, her grandmother, the Chinese cultural references and I like the discussion about matchmaking. I think a lot of romance readers will enjoy this one!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon

Where Darkness Blooms by. Andrea Hannah | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️

Title: Where Darkness Blooms

Author: Andrea Hannah

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 2/21/23

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery, LGBT+, Horror, Magical Realism

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Andrea Hannah’s Where Darkness Blooms is a supernatural thriller about an eerie town where the sunflowers whisper secrets and the land hungers for blood.

The town of Bishop is known for exactly two things: recurring windstorms and an endless field of sunflowers that stretches farther than the eye can see. And women—missing women. So when three more women disappear one stormy night, no one in Bishop is surprised. The case is closed and their daughters are left in their dusty shared house with the shattered pieces of their lives. Until the wind kicks up a terrible secret at their mothers’ much-delayed memorial.

With secrets come the lies each of the girls is forced to confront. After caring for the other girls, Delilah would like to move on with her boyfriend, Bennett, but she can’t bear his touch. Whitney has already lost both her mother and her girlfriend, Eleanor, and now her only solace is an old weathervane that seems to whisper to her. Jude, Whitney’s twin sister, would rather ignore it all, but the wind kicks up her secret too: the summer fling she had with Delilah’s boyfriend. And more than anything, Bo wants answers and she wants them now. Something happened to their mothers and the townsfolk know what it was. She’s sure of it.

Bishop has always been a strange town. But what the girls don’t know is that Bishop was founded on blood—and now it craves theirs.

Content Warning: rape, violence

I wanted to read something creepy and look at this cover – it’s totally creepy. This is what I thought of the story:

+ I like the four different main characters. Four girls, who’s mothers are gone/missing or dead – the town assumes they are dead. So these four girls: Bo, Whitney, Jude and Delilah all live together and basically are trying to move on with their lives. They had distinct personalities and their lives are intertwined with certain events that culminated at a bon fire party. There is a big mystery in this story and these girls are the ones trying to figure out what is going on. I like the feminism theme in the story

+ The town of Bishop is strange. Women and girls go missing or end up dead every few months – but why? There is no “hospital” even though one of the girls had to be brought to one. There are the Harding boys who seem like they are the popular boys in school who can get whatever they want, but what they is to mess with these girls. There are these random storms or tornados but they are in a small town so that doesn’t seem totally mysterious…or is it? And what’s with the sunflowers?

~ A few things didn’t work for me – I was thrown into the story and left to figure things out. And it took me awhile to care about what was going on in this town. All I knew was that the boys were awful and two of the girls were in love with one of these awful boys, and that sucked. I knew right away this town was killing it’s women, but why? And why didn’t anyone else in town care about missing women?

~ I’ve read a few books similar to this but I don’t think I enjoyed the execution of this one. Everything is a big mystery but it didn’t creep me out as much as I wanted it to and it had all the potential to do so. I didn’t know what the connection was to the tornados, sunflowers and missing women and when the mystery is revealed I wasn’t super surprised. I wanted to know more about the town and get a better feel for the people, even the villains. I just wanted more from the story and I wanted to be spooked. Sunflower fields and a strange, small town with missing women has such a big potential to scare me, but this didn’t.

Why you should read it:

you like lite-horror and magical realism
the feminism message in the story

Why you might not want to read it:

didn’t scare me enough
slow start

My Thoughts:

This one didn’t work for me. I liked the concept and I like the creepy town, and the sunflowers fields, but it wasn’t as scary as I was expecting. I also feel like the story just didn’t flow easily. The bright spot for me in the story is the one about the girls working together to figure out why the women were going missing. The girls survive what is coming for them together, which is awesome, especially because it is such a dark story.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding by. Sajni Patel | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding

Author: Sajni Patel

Format: ebook (borrowed)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 4/19/22

Categories: Romance, Young Adult, Teens, Indian Wedding, Family, Coming of Age, Contemporary

A fresh, witty rom-com romp set against the backdrop of a high-profile music competition and a riotous Indian wedding

Zurika Damani is a naturally gifted violinist with a particular love for hip hop beats. But when you’re part of a big Indian family, everyone has expectations, and those certainly don’t include hip hop violin. After being rejected by Juilliard, Zuri’s last hope is a contest judged by a panel of top tier college scouts. The only problem? This coveted competition happens to take place during Zuri’s sister’s extravagant wedding week. And Zuri has already been warned, repeatedly, that she is not to miss a single moment.

In the midst of the chaos, Zuri’s mom is in matchmaking mode with the groom’s South African cousin Naveen—who just happens to be a cocky vocalist set on stealing Zuri’s spotlight at the scouting competition. Luckily Zuri has a crew of loud and loyal female cousins cheering her on. Now, all she has to do is to wow the judges for a top spot, evade getting caught by her parents, resist Naveen’s charms, and, oh yeah . . . not mess up her sister’s big fat Indian wedding. What could possibly go wrong?

Check out this book cover! It is so vibrant that it caught my eye and I had to borrow it. This is what I thought:

+ This is a coming of age book set around Zurika’s older sister’s wedding. Zurika is thinking about college, thinking about her love of music and trying not to disappoint her family.

+ I love that this is set around an Indian wedding! I love weddings and I love learning about other cultures and how they celebrate weddings. I could just picture the colors of the celebration and the food. I think it’s beautiful how an Indian wedding is centered around tradition and family.

+ Outside of Zurika’s coming of age challenges, this story is about family. Zurika has cousins who help her try to get to an audition and encourage her musical talents. Her parents and the elders of course want her to pursue law or medicine but eventually they let her make her own choices with the help of Zurika’s sisters standing up for her. I love that her family is complex and relatable. I love how much fun she has with her cousins!

+ The romance between Zurika and Naveen is super sweet! They go from strangers, to friends, to a little something more and it’s cute.

~ So the wedding celebrations take place in the span of one week, and so this is a bit of insta-like. I won’t say love because clearly it’s not there…yet.

Why you should read it:

you get to learn about Indian weddings and the fun they have with all the celebrations leading up to the actual wedding
a sweet romance
perfect for teens – Zurika is relatable

Why you might not want to read it:

I think it’s more geared towards teens – but it’s still a cute story

My Thoughts:

I think this is a cute story with some Indian wedding celebration fun and a sweet romance. I love that it centers around family and it’s got a beautiful book cover.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

First Quiver by. Beth C. Greenberg | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: First Quiver (#1)

Author: Beth C. Greenberg

Format: paperback (gifted)

Pages: 302

Publication Date: 1/25/21

Publisher: Isotopia Publishing

Categories: Contemporary, Romance, Greek Mythology, Humor, Series, LGBT+

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Beth C. Greenberg for giving me a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

Immortality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially for the 3,375-year-old virgin of Mount Olympus.

Day after day, the God of Love launches his arrows, then watches from the sidelines while everyone else has all the fun. On a mischievous whim, Cupid sends a love-tipped arrow into the wrong rump—and the gods sentence him to a taste of his own medicine.

Banished from the only home he’s ever known, Cupid plunges to Earth and lands in present-day Tarra, Indiana, where mortals go on about their daily routines, oblivious to the capricious gods stirring the pot from above. Delighted to discover his wings and pubescent pudge have been transformed into a magnificent human body, Cupid swiftly leaves his virginity behind.

But his carnal spree is cut short when he falls passionately in love for the first time in his immortal life, and he understands the full measure of his punishment: he must find the Right Love match for the mortal he desperately loves, and then he must let her go.

Caught between two worlds on a quest to fix Love, Cupid must survive the violent throes of his own coming of age and triumph over the powerful gods conspiring against him. Failure will not be tolerated; success will cost him everything.

First Quiver is an irreverent, contemporary twist on mythology and the struggle between duty and love, a battle as old as the gods themselves.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, First Quiver, but I like greek mythology so here’s what I thought:

+ This is a light-hearted, humorous and steamy story about Cupid falling from grace (onto Earth). Cupid is basically unleashed among humans and is learning about sex and trying to learn about love.

+ I thought it was interesting how it Cupid’s job as “cupid” to find the perfect love for the woman he’s now fallen in love with. What a conundrum! It was funny how Pan, his friend, was always trying to get Cupid back on track. I enjoyed all the greek mythology aspect of this book.

+ The supporting cast with the other fallen greek gods was interesting, especially Pan. Now Cupid may be losing his virginity to women, but what is this chemistry he has with his friend Pan? I was actually rooting for the two of them to get together! Cupid hooks up with women but there is an attraction and flirtation with Pan.

~ Story-wise I did like the humor but I wanted something more to happen. I know it’s a light-hearted read and it’s perfect for a quick reading experience. But I wanted to see what would happen with Cupid and Pan’s relationship. I wonder if the two of them hook up in the next book? This is a series so there is no full conclusion at the end of this first book – Cupid’s journey in love and lust continues in the next book

Why you should read it:

you want to read a light-hearted, humorous, steamy romance
you like greek mythology

Why you might not want to read it:

not into greek mythology or romance

My Thoughts:

If you are into greek mythology and want a light-hearted, steamy, romance book, definitely try this one!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon

Secretly Yours by. Tessa Bailey | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Secretly Yours (#1)

Author: Tessa Bailey

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 2/7/23

Publisher: Avon US

Categories: Contemporary, Romance, Series

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Avon US for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A steamy new rom-com about a starchy professor and the bubbly neighbor he clashes with at every turn…

Hallie Welch fell hard for Julian Vos at fourteen, after they almost kissed in the dark vineyards of his family’s winery. Now the prodigal hottie has returned to their small town. When Hallie is hired to revamp the gardens on the Vos estate, she wonders if she’ll finally get that smooch. But the grumpy professor isn’t the teenager she remembers and their polar opposite personalities clash spectacularly. One wine-fueled girls’ night later, Hallie can’t shake the sense that she did something reckless–and then she remembers the drunken secret admirer letter she left for Julian. Oh shit.

On sabbatical from his ivy league job, Julian plans to write a novel. But having Hallie gardening right outside his window is the ultimate distraction. She’s eccentric, chronically late, often literally covered in dirt–and so unbelievably beautiful, he can’t focus on anything else. Until he finds an anonymous letter sent by a woman from his past. Even as Julian wonders about this admirer, he’s sucked further into Hallie’s orbit. Like the flowers she plants all over town, Hallie is a burst of color in Julian’s gray-scale life. For a man who irons his socks and runs on tight schedules, her sunny chaotic energy makes zero sense. But there’s something so familiar about her… and her very presence is turning his world upside down.

Content Warning:

I’ve read two books from Tessa Bailey and loved them so when I saw this one I had to request it. Here’s what I thought:

+ This is an opposites attract story that has lots of sparks. Julian is a starchy, stuffy professor who lives by a schedule. And Hallie is everything he is not – she is messy, loves to be outside in the dirt, has three dogs, she’s a tornado. When these two come together, it’s full on attraction.

+ Speaking of attraction, the steam is hot in this one. I especially love when a grumpy, man who abides by order and schedules gets rocked off their center. They both lose control with one another which is fun, there’s some dirty talking and it’s exactly what I would expect in a romance written by this author.

+ I love the supporting case, especially Lavinia who is Hallie’s best friend. She’s funny and keeps it real! I thought Julian’s sister was an interesting character too and it seems like the next book in the series is about her.

+ This story is short, sweet and hot which is everything I want in my romance novels.

~ I love that this was a quick read at under 300 pages but I also do love when this author can really get into the characters and setting like she did with the Bellinger Sisters series. So if it had been just a tad bit longer with more details on the setting, and spending more time with the characters and building them up, then this would have been five stars.

~ The second chance romance part of the story had to do with the two in high school but he barely remembers her. And I wasn’t sure about the secret love letters – it was cute, but I didn’t see the point of them.

Tropes: opposites attract, grumpy x sunshine, small town setting, second chance romance

Why you should read it:

you want to read something short, hot and sweet
opposites attract trope and some dirty talking

Why you might not want to read it:

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this story because it was short, and sweet but with lots of hot moments. I also love a good opposites attract story, it’s one of my favorite tropes. But I didn’t see why the secret love letters were needed. Despite that I’m definitely interested in reading the next book in the series.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Hook, Line and Sinker by. Tessa Bailey | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It Happened One Summer by. Tessa Bailey | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just My Type by. Falon Ballard | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Just My Type

Author: Falon Ballard

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 2/6/23

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Categories: Contemporary, Romance, Second Chance Romance, Rivalry

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

To win the job of her dreams, a relationship-prone journalist needs to learn how to stay single in this heartwarming and hilarious new romantic comedy from the beloved author of Lease on Love.

Lana Parker has never been single for long. After a disastrous break-up with her high school boyfriend, Seth Carson, Lana’s bounced from long-term relationship to long-term relationship. She’s an expert girlfriend, even acting as the resident dating and relationship columnist for one of Los Angeles’s trendiest websites. But now, at the age of thirty, Lana suddenly finds herself single again, and she’s determined to stay that way, no matter how challenging.

That is, until her high school ex, Seth, now a journalist in his own right, takes an assignment at Lana’s site. Ready to put down roots after years of traveling and freelancing, Seth becomes not only Lana’s colleague but also her competitor. With their combative relationship history–and undeniable chemistry–they quickly find themselves pitted against each other in a battle of wits: writing an article series that goes against dating type. For Lana, that means writing about staying single and embracing it. For Seth, it’s learning to settle down and become boyfriend material. Whoever’s is most popular wins a highly coveted columnist spot that either could only dream of. But when the two square off against one another, it’s not only their careers on the line–it’s also their hearts.

Content Warning:

I read a book from this author last called Lease on Love and loved it. So I definitely wanted to try her next book, Just My Type. Here’s what I thought about the book:

+ This is a second chance romance for two people that were high school sweethearts and everything went wrong when Lana goes off to college. I thought the author did a great job of making me feel the connection between Lana and Seth, even though they are broken up. I kind of love how it was in the lines of the sentiment “if you love something, set it free, and if it comes back to you, it’s meant to be” – or something like that. That’s how I saw Lana and Seth’s relationship.

+ Lana is a fun character who has many friends and seems to make them easily. She doesn’t have the best relationship with her mother, which is why the break-up with Seth hurt so much – his family was like a family to her and not only did she lose him, but she lost them too. The great thing about Lana is she’s willing to do things the right way if she and Seth got back together and that meant therapy and really figuring out how to be in a relationship with herself before jumping into something serious again.

+ The supporting cast with Lana’s best friend and her co-workers brought the humor in this story. The competition between Lana and Seth has them making lists for one another and tasks they have to complete and I thought the tasks were fun.

+ I was rooting for Lana and Seth all throughout the book and hoping they could heal the past so they can have a future and they have the happy ending I hoped for.

~ Lana and Seth obviously have a messy past and it was frustrating at times when they had the hardest time communicating what they wanted to say. Both parties did the other wrong but there was also a feeling of them being meant to be throughout the story. I could totally relate to Lana – even though I’m not one to ever go back to my exes – but I can see how a high school love like theirs would be something worth pursuing again if the time is right. I just wish they could have told each other the truth of their feelings before things got so messy.

Tropes: exes to lovers, second chance romance, workplace romance, rivalry, competition

Why you should read it:

you enjoy second chance romances and exes to lovers tropes
Lana’s friends are funny and the competition was a fun aspect of the story
there is a happy ending

Why you might not want to read it:

not into exes getting back together

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this one a lot because Lana and her friends are a fun bunch. After learning about Lana and Seth’s past I was rooting for them until the very end. I love how they come to their happy ending! If you love second chance romances, definitely check this one out.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Lease on Love by. Falon Ballard | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cool for the Summer by. Dahlia Adler | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Cool for the Summer

Author: Rachel Gillig

Format: audiobook (borrowed)

Pages: 272

Publication Date: 5/10/21

Categories: Young Adult, New Adult, LGBT+, Romance, Coming of Age

Lara’s had eyes for exactly one person throughout her three years of high school: Chase Harding. He’s tall, strong, sweet, a football star, and frankly, stupid hot. Oh, and he’s talking to her now. On purpose and everything. Maybe…flirting, even? No, wait, he’s definitely flirting, which is pretty much the sum of everything Lara’s wanted out of life.

Except she’s haunted by a memory. A memory of a confusing, romantic, strangely perfect summer spent with a girl named Jasmine. A memory that becomes a confusing, disorienting present when Jasmine herself walks through the front doors of the school to see Lara and Chase chatting it up in front of the lockers.

Lara has everything she ever wanted: a tight-knit group of friends, a job that borders on cool, and Chase, the boy of her literal dreams. But if she’s finally got the guy, why can’t she stop thinking about the girl?

Cool for the Summer is a story of self-discovery and new love. It’s about the things we want and the things we need. And it’s about the people who will let us be who we are.

This is one of the books I’ve been waiting to read and I’m surprised I actually listened to the full thing as an audiobook (I usually cannot finish an audiobook) but this one was short, under 300 pages so this was definitely doable. This is what I thought:

+ I like how this is a coming of age story about Lara and her finally getting the crush of her dreams to look at her, popular boy, Chase – but yet harboring a secret summer affair with a girl, named Jasmine.

+ Apparently this has a Grease inspired vibe to it, but queer. I thought it was cute! “Summer lovin’, had me a blast!” Lara definitely had a blast with Jasmine and then she shows up up Lara’s high school and she has to figure out how she feels about both Chase and Jasmine. And I do like how it was okay for Lara to try to figure things out, even though if it got a bit messy, I like that as a character she was allowed to feel all her chaotic feelings about Jasmine and Chase. She’s a teenager, she’s not going to know herself overnight.

+ I do think this leans more towards new adult mostly because of Lara’s sexual experiences with both Jasmine and Chase. It’s not super graphic, but it does get hot and heavy.

~ I had to pay more attention to the story of course because it was an audiobook and maybe I missed some things but I think I got the gist of things. Lara is always in her feelings about Jasmine and Chase, so we are in her thoughts a lot. There’s a lot of angst. And at times I was impatient with her back and forth feelings but mostly because it was an audiobook. So that’s on me.

~ The flashbacks had me paying attention hard to this audiobook, because if I didn’t, I would think it was all in the present.

Why you should read it:

coming of age book about trying to figure things out, Lara trying to figure out if she likes girls, boys or both

Why you might not want to read it:

it’s one of those stories where a lot of things could be cleared up if the main characters would actually talk to one another

My Thoughts:

The best thing about this book for me was Lara’s coming of age story and trying to figure out who she is and who she likes and being okay with all of that, which is a great message for readers.