Book Review: The Gate of the Feral Gods (Dungeon Crawler Carl #4) by Matt Dinniman

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Dystopian Sci-FI/LitRPG
Length: 590 pages
Author: Matt Dinniman
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: March 11th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.

You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent.

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.

It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked.

Here’s the thing. It’s never easy. Carl and his team can’t go it alone. Not this time. They must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can’t-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.

CURRENT FAV.

I think (after the first book) this is my current favorite of the series. There was something ultra magnetic about the story telling and maybe it’s just because I’ve gotten a few levels down in the dungeon and I’m more attached to all of the things happening. I felt like I had a better grasp of the characters and their personalities and I loved that I got some background on Carl too.

It’s another wild adventure of too many hard decisions, explosions, and trying to find the next path forward. I feel like a lot of the plot points were heightened and made me 100% invested in continuing the series (of which I was going to anyways, but the encouragement helps!).

I still highly recommend going the audiobook route for this series. I do think I would have less enjoyment eyeball reading because it’s not my typical genre and I can get bogged down in keeping up that way. The production is great.

Overall audience notes:

  • LitRPG / Dystopian Sci-Fi
  • Language: moderate+
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: high

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: I Wish He Would (Sweeter Than Fiction #4) by Amanda Schimmoeller

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★.25
Audience: Sports Romance
Length: 301 pages
Author: Amanda Schimmoeller
Publisher: ABS Publishing
Release Date: September 1st, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

I hit it out of the park in the friend department. The dating department? Not so much.

After a series of horrible first dates, I’m convinced it’s time to give up on my search for love. But when my best friends convince me to try out a list of twenty questions to fall in love, I decide to give it a shot.

I go on a date and test out the questionnaire, but it seems the only answers I get are the ones leading me back to my friend, Austin Bradford, who also happens to be the star shortstop for the Louisville Mustangs.

Despite all my desperate attempts to convince my best friends otherwise, I’ve had feelings for Austin since we met three years ago. Which also happened to be the same night he friendzoned me.

When I have to attend my cousin’s destination wedding—who, might I add, is marrying my jerk of an ex-boyfriend—Austin insists on going with me. I tell myself it will be fine, just a friendly vacation. Maybe I can even bury all my feelings for him on the beach.

Except, the time I spend with Austin has me questioning if the heated looks he’s sending my way are real, or if the Caribbean sun is making me hallucinate.

I wish he would give me a clear sign, because I refuse to put my heart on the line and risk our friendship without knowing if our love story will be a grand slam or a strikeout.

I Wish He Would is a friends-to-lovers baseball romcom with sizzling chemistry but no explicit content. It’s the fourth book in the Sweeter Than Fiction series, following four best friends finding love.

Thank you to the author for a gifted copy.

ADORED.

I think this is my new favorite of the series. I just had a blast reading it and flew right through it. I continue to enjoy this friend group and the way they show up for each other. It’s filled with kindness and saying the hard thing even when you don’t want to hear it.

I’m usually on a struggle bus when it comes to friends to lovers romances, and YAY, this was not the case here. I liked the realizations for Austin and Alyssa. It wasn’t riddled with miscommunication and focused on the intentional choices needed to see if their could be a romance relationship between them.

My small issue was some of the antagonists came off a little ridiculous in demeanor and such. But otherwise nothing major.

I loved that this had a dash of fake dating and baseball games mixed in with a destination wedding (+ a few of my favorite tropes popped up too!). I loved the baseball content!!! There were multiple swoony moments that had me gushing. The banter is fun and the whole lighter vibe of the book just feels right.

Overall audience notes:

  • Sports romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: none that I remember

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Chasing the Rush (Football and Feels #2) by Lauren Rowe

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★
Audience: Sports Romance
Length: 381 pages
Author: Lauren Rowe
Publisher: Kensington Books
Release Date: July 28th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Rudy  meets  Moneyball  in a sexy yet warm-hearted, second-chance football romance for fans of Sarah Adams, Tessa Bailey, Monica Murphy, Kristen Callihan, and Lucy Score, as the analytical, math-nerd, type-A daughter of a tough love coach is assigned to babysit the team’s adrenaline junkie pass rusher.

Chelsea Parker, 26, knows football, thanks to growing up with a football coach for a father and two linebackers for brothers. But Chelsea’s true passion has always been crunching numbers to predict statistical outcomes for everything from football to stocks to romance. Chelsea dreams of merging her two passions to become the first female head of analytics for an NFL team. But for now, she’s got to convince the powers-that-be at her father’s new team, the Mastodons, the worst in the NFL, to give her that entry-level position in the front office.

Luca Maguire, 26, a pass rusher and adrenaline junkie with a famous last name, knows this upcoming training camp with his new team, the Mastodons, will likely be his last, if he can’t get out of his own way long enough to make the cut. The dire nature of his circumstances is the only reason Luca didn’t quit on the spot when Coach Parker assigned his daughter, Chelsea, a statistics-loving, spreadsheet-making math nerd, as Luca’s “personal coach” for the duration of camp. More like his babysitter, if you ask Luca.

Well, okay, Luca didn’t quit for that reason and another the thing that happened seven years ago between Luca and Chelsea as strangers, when Luca’s college football team stayed at the same hotel as Chelsea’s mathletes squad. Luca would never admit this to Chelsea, especially not with her being Coach’s daughter and the newly assigned bane of his existence, but the truth is Luca hasn’t stopped thinking about that cute little mathlete who ditched his ass seven years ago, right before their clothes came off, ever since.

Thank you RB Media for the gifted audiobook.

YEAH, NO.

Unfortunately I think this was my first and last book form Lauren Rowe.

I struggled from the beginning. The awkward lust/innuendo + almost one night stand was not for me. But I felt obligated to keep going. And I will say it did get better. It did. I liked different bits and pieces yet nothing every came together well enough for me to give this more than two stars.

Chelsea came across as a nepotism hire. She genuinely didn’t have actual coaching experience yet was frustrated when nobody wanted to give her a chance. I understand that her big thing was stats + numbers, but Chelsea acted as if her word was law in regards to players getting better. I was turned off from this the entire book.

I skipped over the open door scenes, though based upon how cringy I found the innuendo, I think I would have not liked those whatsoever either.

DON’T EVEN get me started on the third act. “You have to set someone free to follow their dreams” NONSENSE. I’m so tired of that third act. COMMUNICATE PLEASE. Then there were odd time jumps before they finally got back together.

Well, the duet narration was great. No complaints about the audiobook production…just about everything else.

Overall audience notes:

  • Sports romance
  • Language: high
  • Romance: 4+ open door; moderate-high innuendo
  • Violence: mild

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Unending (The Unseelie Duology #2) by Ivelisse Housman

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Author: Ivelisse Housman
Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Release Date: September 23rd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this high-octane conclusion to the Unseelie duology, two sisters discover that the things that make them different can lend them more power than they ever imagined.

Isolde Graygrove has always put her changeling twin sister first. But ever since Seelie returned from the faerie realms with a newfound confidence in her magic and secrets she’s keeping even from her twin, Isolde can’t help but wonder: who is she, if not her sister’s protector?

Seelie knows there are some problems even magic can’t solve. Like the distance between her and Isolde, the terror of her growing and unfamiliar emotions for Raze, or the fact that the world’s last firedrake has imprinted on her like a baby duckling. Still, she can’t help but try.

When Seelie accidentally splinters the three realms, tangling the human and faerie worlds together into something new, the vicious faerie Gossamer is determined to take full advantage of the chaos unleashed. Seelie and Isolde will need to spill their secrets, decide who they can trust, and navigate the sinister glamour of the faerie courts to save humankind and fae alike.

GOOD CONCLUSION.

I liked this one! It was a good hidden gem for young adult fantasy. The multiple POV dynamic worked well and I felt as if things wrapped up well and it was satisfying to finish the audiobook.

The strong bond between these sisters was my favorite part. I love seeing such a tight relationship and how the ups and downs don’t damage the core of the connection. There was a bit of romance for both FMC’s and I thought it was sweet and didn’t overwhelm the plot (because this felt like it should be more FANTASY than ROMANCE). The twists were enjoyable and it was an easy read to move through.

I look forward to reading another book from this author.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: mild

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph