When the World Tips Over by. Jandy Nelson | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: When the World Tips Over

Author: Jandy Nelson

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 528

Publication Date: 9/24/24

Publisher: Dial Books

Categories: Young Adult, Mental Health, Contemporary, Magical Realism, LGBT+, Family

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

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

An explosive new novel brimming with love, secrets, and enchantment

The Fall siblings live in hot Northern California wine country, where the sun pours out of the sky, and the devil winds blow so hard they whip the sense right out of your head.

Years ago, the Fall kids’ father mysteriously disappeared, cracking the family into pieces. Now Dizzy Fall, age twelve, bakes cakes, sees spirits, and wishes she were a heroine of a romance novel. Miles Fall, seventeen, brainiac, athlete, and dog-whisperer, is a raving beauty, but also lost, and desperate to meet the kind of guy he dreams of. And Wynton Fall, nineteen, who raises the temperature of a room just by entering it, is a virtuoso violinist set on a crash course for fame . . . or self-destruction.

Then an enigmatic rainbow-haired girl shows up, tipping the Falls’ world over. She might be an angel. Or a saint. Or an ordinary girl. Somehow, she is vital to each of them. But before anyone can figure out who she is, catastrophe strikes, leaving the Falls more broken than ever. And more desperate to be whole.

With road trips, rivalries, family curses, love stories within love stories within love stories, and sorrows and joys passed from generation to generation, this is the intricate, luminous tale of a family’s complicated past and present. And only in telling their stories can they hope to rewrite their futures.

Content Warning: family trauma, family secrets, parental abandonment, parental neglect, sexual assault, profanity

The last time I read a Jandy Nelson book was 10 years ago when she published I’ll Give You the Sun and I loved it. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one but I knew it would be emotional. Here are my thoughts:

Likes:

  • The characters are so unique! Dizzy, Miles and Wynton are siblings and dealing with their dad leaving them years ago in very different ways. Cassidy who is living the nomad life with her mother who has some mental health issues that she doesn’t quite understand. Each one of them has a different story to tell and a different journey. I like how real each one of them are.
  • I think the characters that stood out most to me in this book was Cassidy and Miles. Cassidy’s story is really touching, scary, but touching. Miles is the perfect son, but he’s hiding his true self, and he has a dog that he can communicate with mentally!
  • This story is made up of so many stories – but one emerges in the second half and it’s the story of Bernadette who is the mother of Dizzy and the two boys. It’s intense.
  • One thing this book does is make you feel all kinds of emotions – especially in the second half of the story when truths are exposed.

Dislikes:

  • It was hard for me to get into this story because there are so many characters, and also so many stories. Each character is telling their story and in their own way, then midway into the book there is the story about the Fall ancestors. It was a little too much for me and felt too long.
  • I struggled with the pacing. When it was Cassidy’s POV, I felt immersed and steady in the story but when it was the other POV’s I was thrown off and there are letters too. I think the whole story was choppy which kind of works because this story is a wild, emotional ride, but it was also frustrating.

Final Thoughts:

I had a hard time rating this book because I struggled in the first part of it but I pushed through and I found some of this story really raw and compelling, especially Cassidy’s. This book is emotional. It’s a book that’s hard to describe but has everything from romance, to magic, to family drama, trauma and secrets. I wish the pacing was better and it was a little long. I don’t think I loved it the way I loved I’ll Give You the Sun but it’s definitely a memorable story and I actually think this would be actually great as a tv series because the characters are so compelling. Overall, this is a compelling read.

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Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books by This Author:

I’ll Give You the Sun by. Jandy Nelson – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First Lines Fridays – Can You Guess What Book? | 9/13/24

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

“Six years ago, almost to the day, Truly first spotted Justin Gallagher in all his dreamy, sun-kissed, green-eyed glory and thought, I’m gonna marry that guy.”

⬇️

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⬇️

⬇️

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⬇️

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Can you guess what book it is?

Did you guess it? Have you read this one?

📖 ~ Yolanda

Nothing Like the Movies by. Lynn Painter | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Nothing Like the Movies (Better Than the Movies, #2)

Author: Lynn Painter

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 448

Publication Date: 9/24/24

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Sequel

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

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

In this highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling Better than the Movies, Wes and Liz struggle to balance their feelings for each other with the growing pains of being a college student.

For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process.

Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him.

Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only…Liz will have none of it. Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend…a guy friend.

Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good.

Content Warning: death of parent, grief

I loved Better Than the Movies so when I saw that this was a sequel to it I was hesitant to read it because I loved the first one so much! Also it was so good I didn’t think it needed a sequel.

Wes and Liz left me so happy in the first book, but in this one it’s about them growing, struggling, being broken up, and trying to get back to what they were but with so many changes that have happened in to them – it’s kind of impossible to get that magic back.

I thought it was interesting to see how both Wes and Liz navigate college in a different state. Liz is doing really good for herself and embracing everything in college. But wow, I really felt for Wes. He went through so much and he did the hard work to try and get his life back on track. And it really made me sad that they weren’t together, after everything that happened in BTTM. It was too much reality for me! As for the second chance romance? I get the yearning for one another, of what it used to be, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Which makes me wish I didn’t pick up this sequel so I can keep the Wes and Liz from BTTM in my mind. I mean it’s evident Wes is always going to love Liz. But this is one where Liz has to take her time with finding her way back to him.

There is a lot of pop culture reference in this one, which I thought was fine in the previous book because it was movies. But this one used music to tie Wes and Liz together and I think it’s fun but at times maybe a little too much?

My Thoughts:

I think this one will be one of those books you either love or don’t think was necessary and I’m in definitely in the team that found this sequel unnecessary. Overall, it was interesting to see the characters grow and deal with life, but it was also sad, especially for Wes! I just miss the magic, fun and giddiness that the first book made me feel.

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Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Happily Never After by. Lynn Painter| Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Betting on You by. Lynn Painter | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Love Wager by. Lynn Painter | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Better Than the Movies | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

WWW Wednesday | 9/11/24

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

It was a busy weekend, and the week continues on – when is Fall break?? I need it, lol. But I did get some reading done surprisingly! Also I did my first beta-read for a book called A Desert of Bleeding Sands by. Lucia Damisa and it’s so good.

What are you currently reading?

Stranger Skies by. Pascale LaCelle – 1% – still no progress because I’m reading other things but I will be getting to this one very soon!

Zodiac Rising by. Katie Zhao – 12% – no progress

The Games Gods Play by. Abigail Owen – 9%

It’s Not Me, It’s You by. Alex Light – 11%

What have you just finished reading?

Deja Brew (Elemental Love, #3) by. Celestine Martin – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Wild Huntress by. Emily LLoyd-Jones – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What are you going to read next?

What are you reading right now?

Books That Provide a Much-Needed Escape   | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday 9/10/24

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Please check out her website for more TTT topics!

This week’s topic is:

Books That Provide a Much-Needed Escape

A Novel Love Story by. Ashley Poston – this is a whole escape into a fictional town! Getting lost in a book – literally!

What’s on your TTT?

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Top Ten Tuesday Topics:

SEPTEMBER~~
September 3: Books Involving Food (That are Not Cookbooks) (Submitted by Cathy @ WhatCathyReadNext and Hopewell’s Public Library of Life)
September 10: Books That Provide a Much-Needed Escape (bonus points if you tell us why!)
September 17: Ten Characters Authors Surprisingly Redeemed (which characters did you not like at first, but grew to love by the end of the book?) (submitted by Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse)
September 24: Books on My Fall 2024 To-Read List

OCTOBER~~
October 1: Books I Read/Avoided Because of the Hype (and did you make the right choice?)
October 8: Bookish Brags (or Confessions!) (what are you proud of or… not-so proud of in your bookish life?) (submitted by Lydia @ https://lydiaschoch.com)
October 15: Books I Was Assigned to Read in School (These can be books you loved or hated. Or just tolerated. Bonus points if you give us a tiny review of your thoughts!)
October 22: How My Reading Habits Have Changed Over Time (submitted by Lydia @ https://lydiaschoch.com)
October 29: Halloween Freebie

New Book Releases This Week | 9/10/24

Happy book birthday to these new releases! Check out this list today:

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by. T.J. Klune

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is the hugely anticipated sequel to TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea, one of the best-loved and best-selling fantasy novels of the past decade. Featuring gorgeous orange sprayed edges!

A magical house. A secret past. A summons that could change everything.

Arthur Parnassus lives a good life built on the ashes of a bad one.

He’s the master of a strange orphanage on a distant and peculiar island, and he hopes to soon be the adoptive father to the six dangerous and magical children who live there.

Arthur works hard and loves with his whole heart so none of the children ever feel the neglect and pain that he once felt as an orphan on that very same island so long ago. He is not alone: joining him is the love of his life, Linus Baker, a former caseworker in the Department In Charge of Magical Youth. And there’s the island’s sprite, Zoe Chapelwhite, and her girlfriend, Mayor Helen Webb. Together, they will do anything to protect the children.

But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his dark past, he finds himself at the helm of a fight for the future that his family, and all magical people, deserve.

And when a new magical child hopes to join them on their island home—one who finds power in calling himself monster, a name that Arthur worked so hard to protect his children from—Arthur knows they’re at a breaking point: their family will either grow stronger than ever or fall apart.

Welcome back to Marsyas Island. This is Arthur’s story.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is a story of resistance, lovingly told, about the daunting experience of fighting for the life you want to live and doing the work to keep it.

Goodreads | Amazon

The Unfinished by. Cheryl Isaacs

In this debut YA horror novel by Cheryl Isaacs (Mohawk), small-town athlete Avery is haunted by the black water and Unfinished beings of Kanyen’kehá:ka stories and must turn to the culture she hasn’t felt connected to in order to save her town.

The black water has been waiting. Watching. Hungry for the souls it needs to survive.

When small-town athlete Avery’s morning run leads her to a strange pond in the middle of the forest, she awakens a horror the townspeople of Crook’s Falls have long forgotten.

Avery can smell the water, see it flooding everywhere; she thinks she’s losing her mind. And as the black water haunts Avery—taking a new form each time—people in town begin to go missing.

Though Avery had heard whispers of monsters from her Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) relatives, she’s never really connected to her Indigenous culture or understood the stories. But the Elders she has distanced herself from now may have the answers she needs.

When Key, her best friend and longtime crush, is the next to disappear, Avery is faced with a choice: listen to the Kanyen’kehá:ka and save the town but lose her friend forever…or listen to her heart and risk everything to get Key back.

In her stunning debut, Cheryl Isaacs pulls the reader down into an unsettling tale of monsters, mystery, and secrets that refuse to stay submerged.

Goodreads | Amazon

Vilest Things by. Chloe Gong

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Chloe Gong comes the thrilling sequel to Immortal Longings, inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra.

Calla Tuoleimi has succeeded in the impossible. Despite the odds, she has won San-Er’s bloody games and eliminated King Kasa, her tyrant uncle and the former ruler of Talin. She serves now as royal advisor to Kasa’s adopted son, August Shenzhi, who has risen to the throne.

Only Calla knows it isn’t really August.

Anton Makusa is still furious about Calla’s betrayal in the final round of the games. In an impossible feat, he took over August’s body to survive, and has no intention of giving up this newfound power. But when his first love, the beautiful, explosive Otta Avia, awakens from a years-long coma and reveals a secret that threatens the monarchy’s authority over Talin, chaos erupts. As tensions come to a boiling point, Calla and Anton must set their conflicts aside and head to the kingdom’s far reaches to prevent anarchy… even if their empire might be better off burning.

Goodreads | Amazon

Valley (The Glacian Trilogy, #3) by. Stacey McEwan

The final instalment in the bestselling Glacian Trilogy from TikTok darling Stacey McEwan sees the conclusion to Dawsyn Sabar’s epic romantasy quest to free her people… great for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Danielle L. Jensen and Raven Kennedy. With a contingent of hundreds, Dawsyn must lead her people home, but she has no way of knowing what will lie ahead, or what might follow behind…

“All things find a way back home.”

At the bottom of the Chasm, Dawsyn and her followers traipse through the darkness to find their long-awaited home. But there are whispers all around them and safety is never guaranteed. With her powers much depleted, and food supplies running low, will they even survive the journey?

Above, the Queen and the new King of Glacia still bay for Dawsyn’s blood, and they will not stop in their quest to destroy her. And with the help of someone Dawsyn thought her friend, they creep ever closer. Long-buried secrets will be revealed, hearts will be broken and a new day will dawn. Who will reign in this climactic conclusion to the epic Glacian Trilogy?

Goodreads | Amazon

Are you getting any new books this week? I really want to read Vilest Things by. Chloe Gong and hope I can get a copy of it soon!

Happy Reading!

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Goodreads Monday: Vilest Things by. Chloe Gong

Happy Monday!

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme where you chose a random book from your Goodreads TBR and show it off. This meme is hosted by Budget Tales Book Blog.

Title: Vilest Things (Flesh and False Gods, #2)

Author: Chloe Gong

Pages: 384

Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Publication Date: 9/10/24

Synopsis:

 

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Chloe Gong comes the thrilling sequel to Immortal Longings, inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra.

Calla Tuoleimi has succeeded in the impossible. Despite the odds, she has won San-Er’s bloody games and eliminated King Kasa, her tyrant uncle and the former ruler of Talin. She serves now as royal advisor to Kasa’s adopted son, August Shenzhi, who has risen to the throne.

Only Calla knows it isn’t really August.

Anton Makusa is still furious about Calla’s betrayal in the final round of the games. In an impossible feat, he took over August’s body to survive, and has no intention of giving up this newfound power. But when his first love, the beautiful, explosive Otta Avia, awakens from a years-long coma and reveals a secret that threatens the monarchy’s authority over Talin, chaos erupts. As tensions come to a boiling point, Calla and Anton must set their conflicts aside and head to the kingdom’s far reaches to prevent anarchy… even if their empire might be better off burning.

Do you have plans to read this book? Let me know in the comments below!

A Fire in the Sky by. Sophie Jordan | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: A Fire in the Sky

Author: Sophie Jordan

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 336

Publication Date: 9/24/24

Publisher: Avon

Categories: New Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Dragons

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

New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan returns to the high-stakes, sweeping world of dragons, romance, and drama first evoked in her bestselling young adult Firelight series, in a brand-new epic adult romantasy series.

Dragons are extinct. Witches are outcast. Magic is dying.

But human lust for power is immortal.

Dragon fire no longer blisters the skies over Penterra, but inside the lavish palace, life is still perilous…especially for Tamsyn. Raised in the glittering court alongside the princesses, it’s her duty to be punished for their misdeeds. Treated as part of the royal family but also as the lowliest servant, Tamsyn fits nowhere. Her only friend is Stig, Captain of the Guard…though sometimes she thinks he wants more than friendship.

When Fell, the Beast of the Borderlands, descends on her home, Tamsyn’s world becomes even more dangerous. To save the pampered princesses from a fate worse than death, she is commanded to don a veil and marry the brutal warrior. She agrees to the deception even though it means leaving Stig, and the only life she’s ever known, behind.

The wedding night begins with unexpected passion—and ends in near violence when her trickery is exposed. Rather than start a war, Fell accepts Tamsyn as his bride…but can he accept the dark secrets she harbors—secrets buried so deep even she doesn’t know they exist? For Tamsyn is more than a royal whipping girl, more than the false wife of a man who now sees her as his enemy. And when those secrets emerge, they will ignite a flame bright enough to burn the entire kingdom to the bone.

Magic is not dead…it is only sleeping. And it will take one ordinary girl with an extraordinary destiny to awaken it.

Content Warning: violence, death, abuse, whipping

I haven’t read a Sophie Jordan novel in years but I got asked to read this one so I was curious. I think I read one YA novel from her and a few historical romance books but like I said it’s been awhile.

Tamsyn is a whipping a girl. Yes, she is the girl who gets the punishment meant for the royal princesses. It’s an awful situation for her but because she’s an orphan, it is actually a better station than Tamsyn could have ever dreamed of, at least that’s what she thinks or is trained to believe. She’s a part of the royal family but also, not.

Fell, is a hardened, ruthless warlord who believes his hard work defending the borders deserves a price and what he wants is to marry one of the princesses. I think you can guess what happens in this story at least for the first part. The first half of the book is predictable but the second half had some interesting surprises!

I was definitely entertained by the steamy attraction (very instant attraction) between Tamsyn and Fell. There are a few spicy scenes between them. Unfortunately, I think that’s the only thing they had going for them as a couple – the physical chemistry, because I didn’t think there was enough time for their relationship to grow at all in this story. And although I read this book in one night, I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters. There is also someone in Tamsyn’s life from the royal court, Stig, who was a close friend and is in love with her. But, I wasn’t feeling Stig’s point of view in the story since she never really considers him or has any romantic feelings towards him. I would have rather had like more chapters devoted to Tamsyn and Fell getting to know one another.

I definitely liked the dragons but again, it comes mostly at the end of a story and sets things up for a sequel.

My Thoughts:

This story had me hooked even though I wasn’t connecting much to the characters. I was into the drama of the arranged marriage and wanted to see how that was going to turn out. The first half was predictable but I think the second half got me intrigued because that’s when the dragons are actually introduced. I think I may continue the series just because the ending was quite a cliffhanger and I want to learn more about the dragon shifters.

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Book Links:

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Weekly Wrap Up | 9/8/24

Aloha friends!

My son had his birthday lunch at his grandparents’ house last Sunday, and my daughter has been fighting a cold but she’s much, much better now. My son though had a few days this week he was nauseous, had a migraine and I don’t know if it’s just the heat we’ve been experiencing this week or a combination of that and the school work load he has now as a middle schooler. It’s so much more than elementary school and I think he’s starting to see how much more. At least my kids are 5 weeks away from Fall Break already! They are counting down to that.

Other than that it was a fairly mild week and now with their Sunday school back in session today we don’t really get a break. 😓 So here’s to Fall break lol…we are so looking forward to it!

Anyway, I hope all of you have a good week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

  • The Match by. Sarah Adams (audiobook)
  • Heir by. Sabaa Tahir
  • Fledgling by. S.K. Ali
  • Deja Brew by. Celestine Martin

Currently Reading:

  • Storm of Ink and Blood by. Nisha J. Tuli
  • The Games Gods Play by. Abigail Owen
  • Love & Lattes by. Beth Reekles
  • It’s Not Me, It’s You by. Alex Light
  • Wisteria by. Adalyn Grace

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Football is back! I caught the Chiefs/Ravens and the Eagles/Packers game.
  • The Breakfast Club (netflix) – it was on Netflix so I decided to reminisce!

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Fear the Flames by. Olivia Rose Darling | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Fear the Flames (#1)

Author: Olivia Rose Darling

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 9/17/24

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Categories: New Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Dragons, 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 Delacorte Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

An exiled princess teams up with the last man she thought she could trust in the start of a dazzling and unforgettable epic fantasy romance series.

As a child, Elowen Atarah was ripped away from her dragons and imprisoned by her father, King Garrick of Imirath. Years later, Elowen is now a woman determined to free her dragons. Having established a secret kingdom of her own called Aestilian, she’s ready to do what’s necessary to save her people and seek vengeance. Even if that means having to align herself with the Commander of Vareveth, Cayden Veles, the most feared and dangerous man in all the kingdoms of Ravaryn.

Cayden is ruthless, lethal, and secretive, promising to help Elowen if she will stand with him and all of Vareveth in the pending war against Imirath. Despite their contrasting motives, Elowen can’t ignore their undeniable attraction as they combine their efforts and plot to infiltrate the impenetrable castle of Imirath to steal back her dragons and seek revenge on their common enemy.

As the world tries to keep them apart, the pull between Elowen and Cayden becomes impossible to resist. Working together with their crew over clandestine schemes, the threat of war looms, making the imminent heist to free her dragons their most dangerous adventure yet. But for Elowen, her vengeance is a promise signed in blood, and she’ll stop at nothing to see that promise through.

An immersive fantasy filled with a sizzling reluctant-allies-to-lovers romance, a world to get lost in, dangerous quests, dragon bonds, and an entertaining band of characters to root for, Fear the Flames marks the stunning debut of Olivia Rose Darling.

Content Warning: violence, death

I thought this started off strong but I think it fizzled out for me in some parts. Here are my thoughts:

Likes:

  • It’s a romantasy. I love romance with my fantasy. It’s an enemies to lovers situation. Cayden is a Commander with a ruthless reputation and Elowen is a Queen of her own kingdom but she is hunted by her father. Cayden makes a deal with Elowen to help protect and get her dragons while she helps him by standing with Vareveth in the coming war.
  • The banter between Cayden and Elowen was entertaining. I liked their banter and of course they are attracted to one another. There are a few steamy parts.
  • Elowen is bonded to some dragons but have been separated them since she was a child. I was excited that this story had dragons.
  • Elowen’s relationship with her best friend was cute.

Dislikes:

  • Not enough dragons! It’s mostly at the end of this book.
  • I felt like I wasn’t invested enough in Elowen’s turmoil about her past, her present with leading her secret kingdom and then her bond with her dragons. I think because she’s such a strong character, it felt like everything was handled and she didn’t really need help. I just didn’t connect to her.
  • The story didn’t flow well for me.

My Thoughts:

I think this one was okay. I loved that this story had dragons but it’s really only a little glimpse of them. I did enjoy the romance aspects of the story but I do wish I connected more to the characters. Overall, if you like dragons and romantasy definitely give this one a try.

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Book Links:

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