Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: July 2024

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

IT’S HOT OUT THERE. And I am back on to having zero two stars for the month! BLESS.

Favorites this month:

  • Summer Romance
  • Reckless
  • Winning Winnie’s Hand
  • The Offer
  • Colton Gentry’s Third Act
  • Lady of Conscience
  • The Spy Coast
  • Play Along
  • Until Next Summer
  • Past Present Future
  • The Summer of Yes
  • Rebel Summer
  • Love the Way You Lie
  • Love How You Love Me
  • The Ex Vows
  • House of Thorns
  • The Curse of Sins (The Curse of Saints #2) by Kate Dramisis
  • Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan
  • [ARC] Illusion of Stars by Sarah Marie Page
  • Redemption (Infinity Blade #2) by Brandon Sanderson
  • Beautifully Broken Spirit (Sutter Lake #3) by Catherine Cowles
  • Reckless (The Powerless Trilogy #2) by Lauren Roberts
  • Winning Winnie’s Hand (Men of the Isles #1) by Deborah M. Hathaway
  • [ARC] The Offer (Scoops #3) by K. Sinko
  • Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zentner
  • [ARC] Lady of Conscience (Somerset Stories #5) by Mimi Matthews
  • The Spy Coast (The Martini Club #1) by Tess Gerritsen
  • [ARC] Gilded Wicked Mirrors (Wicked Mirrors #1) by Hazel St. Lewis
  • [ARC] Iron Rose by Abigail O’Bryan
  • [ALC] The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord
  • Summer Tease (Falling for Summer) by Martha Keyes
  • A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
  • Play Along (Windy City #4) by Liz Tomforde
  • Until Next Summer by Ali Brady
  • Past Present Future (Rowan and Neil #2) by Rachel Lynn Solomon
  • The Rose in the Shadows (House of Hyrax #1) by Arcadia Rayne
  • The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh
  • [ARC] The Breaker of Stars (The Curse of Ophelia #3.5) by Nicole Platania
  • [ALC] A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
  • [ARC] The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava
  • The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa
  • [ARC] Ash & Feather (Flame & Sparrow #2) by S.M. Gaither
  • [ARC] Rebel Summer (Falling for Summer) by Cindy Steel
  • The Hanging City by Charlie N. Holmberg
  • Outshine (House of Oak #5) by Nichole Van
  • Love the Way You Lie (Boys of Riverside #1) by Gracie Graham
  • Love How You Love Me (Boys of Riverside #2) by Gracie Graham
  • The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce
  • The Hollywood Assisant by May Cobb
  • [ARC] House of Thorns by Isabel Strychacz
  • [ARC] The Monstrous Kind by Lydia Gregovic
  • Poison in Their Hearts (Castles in Their Bones #3) by Laura Sebastian
  • Asking for a Friend by Kara H.L. Chen
  • One Happy Summer (Falling for Summer) by Becky Monson
  • Sleep Like Death by Kalynn Bayron
  • The Viscount and the Vicar’s Daughter by Mimi Matthews

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

ARC Book Review: Lady of Conscience (Somerset Stories #5) by Mimi Matthews

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 230 pages
Author: Mimi Matthews
Publisher: Perfectly Proper Press
Release Date: July 30th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A Victorian bluestocking with a passion for lost causes attracts the unwilling attention of a frost-hearted viscount during her tumultuous debut season in Bath in USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews’s fifth book in her acclaimed Somerset Stories series.

West Country beauty Hannah Heywood may be quiet with fashionable strangers, but when it comes to animals in need, she has no trouble finding her voice. Newly arrived in Bath for her very first season, all she desires is to find one like-minded gentleman. A man of warmth and compassion, as sensitive to animals as he is to people. But if such a man exists, he dare not approach her. Not with the tall, blond, and menacing Viscount St. Clare standing in the way.

James Beresford, Viscount St. Clare has often been described as a sentient block of ice. A man so cold and dispassionate, he would never suit a young lady of Hannah’s disposition. And she would certainly never suit him. Focused on repairing his family’s infamous reputation, James requires a diamond of the first water. The daughter of a duke or a marquess, at least, not a simple country girl with a passion for four-legged creatures.

And yet, there’s something about conscience-driven young Hannah that draws James, first to Bath, and then into one increasingly hare-brained scheme after another. She confounds him at every turn, subverting his expectations and threatening to do what no lady has succeeded in doing before—thawing his ice-cold heart.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

OH SO SWEET.

This was a short book that packed such a sweet punch. I loved Hannah and James’ love story!! It had a Pride and Prejudice vibe that I was smitten with and I loved seeing James grow over the book and he realized how blinded he’d been holding too much control in his life. James letting himself loosen was EVERYTHING. He’s easily one of my favorites.

I adored Hannah and how strong she felt in her convictions. I loved that she didn’t settle and waited for that love match she wanted. It was wonderful seeing a more shy character too and how that played into the plot. There’s a lot of cute animals and allllll the family member sightings you could want. Another fantastic read from Mimi Matthews!

Overall audience notes:

  • Regency Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Content Warnings: physical altercation

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

ARC Book Review: Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Mystery
Length: 384 pages
Author: Karen M. McManus
Publisher: Penguin Books
Release Date: August 1st, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The newest mystery from the author One of Us Is Lying, the Queen of thrillers, Karen M. McManus! When mother-daughter grifters set out on their final job, the heist gets deadly and dangerously personal.

For all of Kat’s life, it’s just been her and her mother, Jamie—except for the forty-eight hours when Jamie was married and Kat had a stepbrother, Liam. That all ended in an epic divorce, and Kat and Liam haven’t spoken since.

Now Jamie is a jewel thief trying to go straight, but she has one last job—at billionaire Ross Sutherland’s birthday party. And Kat has figured out a way to tag along. What Kat doesn’t know, though, is that there are two surprise guests at the dazzling Sutherland compound that weekend. The last two people she wants to run into. Liam and his father—a serial scammer who has his sights set on Ross Sutherland’s youngest daughter.

Kat and Liam are on a collision course to disaster, and when a Sutherland dies, they realize they might actually be in the killer’s crosshairs themselves. Somehow Kat and Liam are the new targets, and they can’t trust anyone—except each other.

Or can they? Because if there’s one thing both Kat and Liam know, it’s how to lie. They learned from the best.

Thank you GetUnderlined for the gifted ARC.

TWISTY.

I enjoyed this one a lot! I’ve been up and down with McManus books, but this was a hit. I liked the premise and was curious to watch things unfold. I really liked the two main characters and how they handled everything and worked together. There’s even a small sub-plot romance that was sweet too.

A little slow of a start to feeling very engaged with what was going to happen next. The second half was filled with some good twists and I really enjoyed how it ended too. It’s entertaining and kept my attention.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Mystery
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: gun violence, murder, stealing, domestic abuse (recounted), brief scene of attempted suicide

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Heart of the Raven Prince (Entangled with Fae #2) by Tessonja Odette

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 506 pages
Author: Tessonja Odette
Publisher: Crystal Moon Press
Release Date: August 13th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A Cinderella Retelling

A playboy prince in want of a decoy bride.
A servant girl desperate for a disguise…

Raven shifter Prince Franco is every social climbing debutante’s dream. He’s handsome, heir to the Lunar Court throne, and deliciously single. Every young woman wants to bed him, wed him, or steal a moment of his time. Except, of course, for Ember Montgomery.

Half fae Ember craves freedom from her conniving stepfamily. As if they weren’t enough to deal with, a chance encounter with the arrogant Prince Franco leaves her humiliated and in a fiery rage. Nothing could convince her the prince is anything but a rake. But when the opportunity to evade her scheming stepmother falls into her lap, she’ll pay the price—even if it means impersonating the prince’s newest flame…

To prove himself a worthy heir, Prince Franco must marry a princess. But after far too many unsatisfying trysts, he’s given up on love. With the social season in full swing, and bringing with it a horde of husband-hungry socialites, he’ll do anything to delay the pressures of both marriage and the crown. And what better solution than an alliance with a desperate servant girl glamoured as his false future bride?

Locked in a bargain, Ember must pose as a princess until midnight at the full moon ball. Until then, all she has to do is wear the glamour, pretend to court the prince, and above all else, not fall in love. But when feelings emerge on both sides, she starts to wonder if there’s more to their contrived courtship than either of them planned…

Can Ember and Franco find love when the masks come off? Or will illusions and lies prove stronger than their hearts?

UNDERWHELMING.

I’ve had this sitting on my TBR for a long time and I should have just taken it off. I am underwhelmed and maybe a little bitter I spent my time on this one.

Initially everything was FINE. But the further the book went the more I saw that the opportunities were there but the execution was not. Plot points throughout just didn’t click. And the amalgamation of them all left me unsatisfied. I didn’t MIND the main characters, Ember and Franco, but I also needed for from them.

The Cinderella retelling aspects were clearly identified and it was kind of interesting to see how it was reimagined. I think some more deviation would have helped rather than leaning so hard into the familiar story. I wanted that new feeling.

Things felt out of place and I won’t be continuing this series.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance Retelling
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 2 open door; moderate explicit
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: abusive stepmother, physical altercations and near death experiences, loss of a father

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph