Book Review: Cursed Crowns (Twin Crowns #2) by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 512 pages
Author: Catherine Doyle & Katherine Webber
Publisher: Balzer + Bay
Release Date: May 9th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Twin queens Wren and Rose have claimed their crowns . . . but not everyone is happy about witches sitting on Eana’s throne.

Cool-headed Rose sets off on a Royal Tour to win over the doubters, but soon finds herself drawn to the Sunless Kingdom. Here secrets are revealed about those closest to her, and Rose finds her loyalties divided.

Meanwhile rebellious Wren steals away to the icy north to rescue their beloved grandmother, Banba. But when she accepts King Alarik’s deadly magical bargain in exchange for Banba’s freedom, the spell has unexpected – and far-reaching – consequences . . .

As an ancient curse begins to arise from the darkness, the sisters must come together and unite the crown. Their lives – and the future of Eana – depend on it.

Break the ice to free the curse,
Kill one twin to save another.

I LIKED IT.

I know that may not seem like much but I kind of tore book one down but still wanted to give this one a chance and thought the development was much better.

One of the things I love most is that these sisters actually work together. There’s care, love and taking care of one another. Rose and Wren don’t always see eye to eye but I appreciate that that strong sister bond is always holding them together.

The romances swooned it up a bit more too. I finally got on board with Rose and her leading man. There were some good twists there that I like for the future story too. Wren’s was good, and then left me head scratching by the end. I don’t know if the added love triangle was actually necessary, crossing my fingers it makes sense.

I liked the story more and the magic, world building, etc. The action is kicked up a notch and the plot thickens. I look forward to book three.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: implied closed door
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of loved ones, battle themes, reincarnation, kidnapping

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ALC Book Review: Icon and Inferno (Stars and Smoke #2) by Marie Lu

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: NA Romantic Suspense
Length: 320 pages
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Roaring Books Press
Release Date: June 11th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Spies meet romance meet popstars in this thrilling follow up to Stars and Smoke by bestselling author Marie Lu.

A year has passed since superstar Winter and secret agent Sydney Cossette went undercover – on a dangerous mission to bring down the baddest man in London.

Winter hasn’t stopped thinking about Sydney since, and she’s been trying not to think about him.

Family secrets and nasty newspapers has Winter desperate to re-enter the secret world. And it’s not long before he gets his chance.

Sydney is back, and this time the mission goes right to the heart of the United States of America. A rescue gone wrong, an assassination attempt – and the return of an old flame – puts Winter right back into the action . . . and into a country on the brink of chaos.

And when a murder accusation has Sydney on the run, suddenly it’s not just a life at stake, but all-out war.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

ALL THE ACTION.

Audiobook notes: I loved the audiobook. No complaints here! I think it honestly helped me enjoy the book more after digitally reading Stars and Smoke.

I think managed expectations from my thoughts on book one helped me here. I wasn’t as focused on the romance, even though I do think it played a bigger role in this book. I love the push and pull between Winter and Sydney. Mixed with a pop stars world, dangerous agents and explosive action and this made for a fun an entertaining story.

The twists were a little predictable, but not something that took anything away for me. I loved how intense many moments felt and wondering who was going to survive. I thought it ended at a logical and good conclusion. I would read another book in this world if one’s coming.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Romantic Suspense
  • Language: low
  • Romance: one vague-ish open door
  • Violence: moderate-high
  • Content Warnings: loss of life, gun violence, explosions

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Book Review: Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

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Rating: ★★★☆ (3.5)
Audience: Contemporary Mystery Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher
Publisher: Canary Street Press
Release Date: February 28th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Never stop…Never forget…Just remember.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Starts with Us joins forces with the New York Times bestselling author of The Wives. Together, they have created a gripping, twisty, romantic mystery unlike any other.

Charlie Wynwood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They’ve been in love since the age of fourteen. But as of this morning…they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love…every memory has vanished. Now Charlie and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why.

But the more they learn about the couple they used to be…the more they question why they were ever together to begin with. Forgetting is terrifying, but remembering may be worse.

HMM.

This is a book broken into three parts that makes me review feel like three parts.

I really enjoyed part one. It was interesting. I liked the suspense and the drama of it all. I felt on board with Charlie and Silas’s story and was very dang curious about what had happened. Since this wasn’t a sci-fi or fantasy novel what magical realism was playing a part?!

Part two started to slow things down and was a bit repetitive. We know they’ve lost a lot of their memory and things are a bit up and down. There’s some good romantic moments looking at journals and memories I enjoyed.

Then part three brought it all together, but still left me feeling unsatisfied. I wasn’t quite on board with the big reveal of what happened and why. I think it was supposed to make me feel uber romantic, and it did to a point, but I think I was expected more drama as well. There were some story lines that I didn’t find wrapped up well and now that I’m sitting here I’m poking more and more holes into the book.

Oh well, another book off my CoHo back list!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romantic Suspense
  • Language: a little strong
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: memory loss, amnesia, kidnapping, incarcerated father, gaslighting parent

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ALC Book Review: The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: Katherine Center
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: June 11th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies—good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates—The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!—it’s a break too big to pass up.

Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone—much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script—it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.

But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter—even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules—and comes true?

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the audiobook and St. Martin’s Press for the ebook.

THIS FILLED MY SOUL.

Audiobook thoughts: The narrator was incredible. I mostly listened to this and I looove the way Patti Murin brought Emma to life. I felt like I was a part of this story in all the best ways. Highly recommend listening to the audiobook!

I needed an automatic win kind of read and I just knew this would deliver, and it did that and so much more. Gosh I loved this book. It speaks to the soul of every lover of romance everywhere. The themes are woven in with care and love and EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK OKAY?

I adored Emma and Charlie. From the moment they met you could see the connection between them. I looooved the banter and humor. I laughed so many times and could not stop smiling. Even had some teary eyed moments because the story was as deep as it was light. The perfect combination of both was balanced throughout this book.

You know a romance is good when you love BOTH characters. And while there’s a good moment or two where you want to shake some one, it doesn’t matter because every thing felt authentic. The build up of decision making and past issues made the entire book feel real and a true nod to taking the lemons life gives you and squeezing out whatever lemonade you can.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: mentions of divorce, mentions of cancer, loss of a parent (recounted)

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