ALC Book Review: The Rule Book by Sarah Adams

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Sports Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Sarah Adams
Publisher: Dell
Release Date: April 2nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

College sweethearts meet again years later, in this highly anticipated romance and companion story to the viral TikTok sensation The Cheat Sheet.

Nora Mackenzie’s entire career lies in the hands of famous NFL tight end Derek Pender who also happens to be her extremely hot college ex-boyfriend. Nora didn’t end things as gracefully as she could have back then, and now it’s come back to haunt her. Derek is her first client as an official full-time sports agent and he’s holding a grudge.

Derek has set his sights on a little friendly revenge. If Nora Mackenzie, the first girl to ever break his heart, wants to be his agent, oh he’ll let her be his agent. The plan is make Nora’s life absolutely miserable. But if Derek knows anything about the woman he once loved—she won’t quit easily.

Instead of giving in, Nora starts a scheme of her own. But then a wild night in Vegas leads to Nora and Derek in bed the next morning married. With their rule book out the window, could this new relationship be the thing to save their careers?

Thank you to PRHAudio for the free audiobook.

HELD UP.

Honestly y’all. I was nervous about this one. But honestly, I loved it. It had all of the charm and swoon that I love and adore in Sarah Adams books. I laughed out loud multiple times at the well placed jokes and banter between Nora and Derek. The set-up worked really well and I loved seeing both of them pursue their separate passions while finding a way to reconnect.

My tiny quip is that I just didn’t understand the reason for breaking up in the first place. One small conversation could have changed the entire trajectory (which is an issue I often have in second chance romance books and it’s a me thing, BUT STILL).

I loved the forced proximity moments and hot dang Derek has a heated way with words. This is my favorite level of heat and steam and I looooved the combination. The audiobook narrators did an amazing job. I really appreciate with dual POV having two narrators.

And I am OBSESSED with how much we got to see Derek’s friend group (including Nathan!!). I know a lot of focus is usually around great female friendships (which is awesome), I just loved that this one had Derek and his friends as a prominent aspect. I loved how they encouraged and pushed Derek to move forward and make things work with Bree.

Absolutely another hit for Sarah Adams. Her books bring me such joy.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Sports Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: one open door; low explicit
  • Violence: low

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ARC Book Review: The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Mystery/Thriller
Length: 448 pages
Author: Holly Jackson
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: April 2nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the author of the multimillion bestselling A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series and Five Survive comes a new true-crime fueled mystery thriller about a girl determined to uncover the shocking truth about her missing mother while filming a documentary on the unsolved case.

Lights. Camera. Lies.

18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.

But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.

Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And – could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .

From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.

Thank you GetUnderlined #GetUnderlinedPartner for the free book.

PRETTY TWISTED.

The first almost 100 pages of this is kind of a slog, prepare now, keep going, the book gets infinitely better. Once things got going though I found myself devouring the pages trying to figure out what had happened to Rachel Price. I found it full of good twists and turns. It’s that right level of corrupt without feeling like too much for me but also bringing all of the atmospheric vibes I love about a good thriller.

I loved that Bel landed in this gray zone about her choices and working to uncover the truth. I was absolutely following her into every snuck away moment and confrontation. She might come off as an unlikeable character, but I liked her plenty. I also really liked how messed up this family was. It worked for the plot and showcased a lot of morality choices that will leave you thoughts.

Holly Jackson is easily one of my favorite thriller authors and this was another great read for me. Unhealthy characters, an enigma of a plot and a few moments where my jaw was hanging open.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Thriller
  • Language: low-moderate
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate-high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, imprisonment

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Book Review: Nightbirds (Nightbirds #1) by Kate J. Armstrong

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 480 pages
Author: Kate J. Armstrong
Publisher: Penguin Teen
Release Date: February 28th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In a dazzling new fantasy world full of whispered secrets and political intrigue, the magic of women is outlawed but four girls with unusual powers have the ability to change it all.

The Nightbirds are Simta’s best kept secret. Teenage girls from the Great Houses with magic coursing through their veins, the Nightbirds have the unique ability to gift their magic to others with a kiss. Magic—especially the magic of women—is outlawed and the city’s religious sects would see them burned if discovered. But protected by the Great Houses, the Nightbirds are safe well-guarded treasures.

As this Season’s Nightbirds, Matilde, Aesa, and Sayer spend their nights bestowing their unique brands of magic to well-paying clients. Once their Season is through, they’re each meant to marry a Great House lord and become mothers to the next generation of Nightbirds before their powers fade away. But Matilde, Aesa, and Sayer have other plans. They know their lives as Nightbirds aren’t just temporary, but a complete lie and yearn for something more.

When they discover that there are other girls like them and that their magic is more than they were ever told, they see the carefully crafted Nightbird system for what it is: a way to keep them in their place, first as daughters and then as wives. Now they must make a choice—to stay in their gilded cage or to remake the city that put them there in the first place.

I LIKED IT.

I’ve been seeing this around a bit and decided to give it a go and, what do you know, it’s a solid YA fantasy. It’s got all of the hallmarks that I like in young adult books and still felt fresh enough to be a good story.

I liked this magic system and world building a lot. There’s a feminist vibe to it that I was here for and I enjoyed watching the four women come together to solve problems happening in their world. There’s definitely plenty of expansion for the next book and I’m curious how things will continue to unfurl. There’s a good complexity between religion, magic, society and more. And I SUPER loved the prohibition era take for the background of the plot.

On the romantic sides I wish there would have been more development. For a long book (nearly 500 pages) and with PLENTY of hints, tension, and flirtation, things never came to any kind of fruition. Hopefully this is a long game scenario that I’ll be happy to see in the next book.

I really liked the audiobook. I think it would have been amazing if there was a different narrator for each of the points of view, but I didn’t find it too confusing when views changed.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kiss
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: physical and magical altercations, loss of life, near death experiences, recounts of torture, poisoning

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Book Review: The Words We Lost (Fog Harbor #1) by Nicole Deese

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Fiction + Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Nicole Deese
Publisher: Bethany House Fiction
Release Date: April 11th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Three friends. Two broken promises. One missing manuscript.

As a senior acquisitions editor for Fog Harbor Books in San Francisco, Ingrid Erikson has rejected many a manuscript for lack of defined conflict and dramatic irony—two elements her current life possesses in spades. In the months following the death of her childhood best friend and international bestselling author Cecelia Campbell, Ingrid has not only lost her ability to escape into fiction due to a rare trauma response, but she’s also desperate to find the closure she’s convinced will come with Cecelia’s missing final manuscript.

After Ingrid jeopardizes her career, she fears her future will remain irrevocably broken. But then Joel Campbell—the man who shattered her belief in happily-ever-afters—offers her a sealed envelope from his late cousin, Cecelia, asking Joel and Ingrid to put their differences aside and retrieve a mysterious package in their coastal Washington hometown.

Honoring Cecelia’s last request will challenge their convictions and test their loyalties, but through it all, will Ingrid and Joel be brave enough to uncover a twice-in-a-lifetime love?

LOTS OF FEELS.

This was my first book by Nicole Deese and will not be my last! I enjoyed this one a lot and the audiobook was fantastic too.

There were so many good themes and explorations throughout. Grief, forgiveness, losing a loved one, second chance love, gosh it’s all here. I loved the coastal setting and felt transported to all the summer vibes that I didn’t know I needed. The flashback chapters were a nice edition because I loved seeing how close these friends were. I loved the complexity of emotions. The non-linear path that grief creates and to work through those moments.

Woven in were scenes of joy and love and friendship. I loved the balance and the steady pace of the story. It was a beautiful book.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a loved one (drowning, cancer), depictions of grief and depression

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