ARC Book Review: A Promise Kept by A.N. Horton

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Rating: ★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 330 pages
Author: A.N. Horton
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 22nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

How far would you go to keep a promise?

When twelve-year-old Oliver Ainsworth promised his life to Avery Hastings, she never believed him. After years apart, through war and tragedy, it seems even more likely that he’s forgotten her entirely. And she’s moved on as well.

Haunted by their parents’ gruesome murder and the overbearing debt they’d left behind, Avery and her sister both sell themselves into different trades to make their livings, to pay back the murderer before he comes for them too. As for Oliver? The war came for him just like it came for every other young boy in their village. Or so Avery thinks.

Until her employment with a wealthy family in France forces their two worlds to collide once more and she learns there’s far more to the boy she knew than she could have ever imagined.

Bound by a contract neither of them ever signed, they must come together again after years apart, after being worlds away, after becoming different people. A contract which states that they are overdue for their own wedding. But, after a lengthy engagement, when Oliver gives Avery the chance to opt out… will she even want to?

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

ACCURACY ISSUES.

I struggled with this one from the beginning y’all. The bones were good. And I liked the characters enough.

Buuuuut. The historical inaccuracies were bugging me. The writing style seemed much more modern than it should have been and there were glaring plot holes. The time jumps that skipped over crucial details left me confused when certain things happened. One of them being that the FMC catches a knife out of the air when thrown at the love interest. This and other aspects made no sense to me. Other style and plot choices had me skimming to get to the rest of the book too.

I’m going to leave this as it is. This was an unfortunate miss for me.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: fade to black
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: murder, prostitution, near death experiences

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Book Review: Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Regency Romance
Length: 286 pages
Author: Julianne Donaldson
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Release Date: September 9th, 2013
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Kate Worthington knows her heart and she knows she will never marry. Her plan is to travel to India instead—if only to find peace for her restless spirit and to escape the family she abhors. But Kate’s meddlesome mother has other plans. She makes a bargain with Kate: India, yes, but only after Kate has secured—and rejected—three marriage proposals.

Kate journeys to the stately manor of Blackmoore determined to fulfill her end of the bargain and enlists the help of her dearest childhood friend, Henry Delafield. But when it comes to matters of love, bargains are meaningless and plans are changeable. There on the wild lands of Blackmoore, Kate must face the truth that has kept her heart captive. Will the proposal she is determined to reject actually be the one thing that will set her heart free?

Set in Northern England in 1820, Blackmoore is a Regency romance that tells the story of a young woman struggling to learn how to follow her heart. It is Wuthering Heights meets Little Women with a delicious must-read twist.

THE ANGST.

The first time I read this it cemented itself in my mind as one of the best romances I have come across. And rereading it 8 years later? YUP. There’s a reason it has this much hype behind it. The friends to lovers angst is off the charts. The romantic tension and clear loving bond between Henry and Kate is next level and warms the heart and sets the soul on fire.

I love Kate’s journey. She is trying to step out of her Mother (and sister’s) shadow of scandal to forge her own path. The journey is complicated and she makes a poor decision here and there, but she doesn’t lose the true sight of who she is. ENTER HENRY. Who, you can tell, has loved her from the time they were childhood friends. The way he takes care and looks out for Kate is one of the best parts of the book.

AND THE ENDING? I forgot how emotional it all is and gosh dang my book is full of tabs and highlights because I am smitten with these two. This remains a forever favorite and this reread cemented that fact.

Overall audience notes:

  • Regency Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: emotionally manipulative mother

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ARC Book Review: In a Not So Perfect World by Neely Tubati Alexander

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Rating: ★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Neely Tubati Alexander
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: March 19th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A delightful Caribbean-set romp about an ambitious designer of apocalyptic video games with a strategy for (almost) everything who discovers what happens when her best-laid plans go off course…

Sloane Cooper is up for her dream job as a designer for a top video game company. During the interview, though, she somehow promises the all-male panel that she’ll remain single and fully dedicated to the work. It’s actually fine—after her last boyfriend cheated on her, she vowed to focus on her career anyway.

Enter Charlie, aka Hot Neighbor Guy, a near-stranger who shocks her with the offer of an all-inclusive trip to a Turks and Caicos resort. The catch? Charlie originally planned the trip with his ex, and asks Sloane to pose as his new girlfriend to make his old flame come running back. Against her better judgment, Sloane says yes; she can use the time away to develop a game design that will dazzle the Catapult team and get her a job offer.

Despite sparks flying in paradise, the trip can’t lead to more. As their connection deepens, Sloane is reminded that she can’t fall for Charlie and get knocked off her professional path. Besides, he’s trying to win back his true love. Can Sloane figure out a way to move past heartbreak, land the job of her dreams, and avoid catching feelings? The zombie apocalypse would be easier to solve—at least she’s prepared for that.

Thank you Emi Battaglia Public Relations for the ARC.

NOPE.

I tried really hard to find an enjoyment level in this one but I just could not connect from the beginning. While I liked the initial idea of the spontaneous trip with plenty of forced proximity to find some feelings, this was left with me wanting a whole lot more than I was given.

There were so many random scenes that I don’t feel like they truly helped the story move along. Random side tangents and way too many drunken kisses that wasn’t allowing for true connection. Both Charlie and Sloane had some small, good banter moments, but also spent way too much time arguing for no reason.

I was excited about the gaming content and instead received a sleaze-ball group of men who were so very stereotyped that it made me frustrated. It’s many men, but it’s not all men and I wish it wasn’t entirely forced. This did not have the intended effect on me. There were GLARING red flags from the beginning that honestly would have stopped the book after three chapters.

I will consider this my last book by this author.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 2-3 brief open; low explicit
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: mentions of cheating, sexism in the workplace

Book Review: In the Orbit of You by Ashley Schumacher

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Rating: ★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Ashley Schumacher
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: March 19th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In the Orbit of You is a YA story of enduring love from acclaimed author Ashley Schumacher, where a personality test reunites two friends and makes them second guess their careful plans.

It’s been years since Nova Evans last saw Sam. She was too young then to understand why he had to move away―and what it had to do with the cuts and bruises he got from home and never wanted to talk about. All she knew is that they promised to find each other when they were older, something she thought was impossible thanks to her and her mom moving around constantly. Until she bumps into Sam in her new school, and realizes he has clearly forgotten their childhood promise.

Sam Jordan has a plan for his accept his college football scholarship, date his girlfriend Abigail, and―most importantly―hide how much he wants to do something, anything other than The Plan™ his parents and coaches have set before him. It doesn’t matter if sometimes he finds himself thinking about the new girl he met in the cafeteria, a girl who reminds him of a past that hurts to remember.

When a school-wide personality test reveals Nova and Sam to be each others’ top matches―not only that, but a match of 99%, the highest in the school―they begin to remember why they were such close friends, all those years ago. As well as the myriad of reasons this new-yet-familiar, magnetic, sparkling thing between them will never, ever work out.

In the Orbit of You is a story about the enduring and changing nature of friendship, of the strange struggle between who you are and who you want to be, and finding your voice after trauma.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the free final copy.

WHYYYYY.

I thought this was going to be a solid four star. I’ve read a previous book by this author and enjoyed it. But then two critical scenes happened that glossed this book into 300 pages of gray area, emotional, turned physical cheating. And I just can’t don’t like those kind of stories. I know high school kids make mistakes, but the way it was handled and processed frustrated me a lot.

At the heart of the story was a soft second chance romance from two young people who were each other’s closest friend when they were little. I had such hope for the direction of this story. There were soft moments of remembrance and some insightful reconnection. Everything feels shadowed by the treatment and ignorance towards the girlfriend. Abigail deserved better.

Feeling flustered by this one y’all. I would love to try Schumacher’s next book and crossing my fingers the dynamic is better.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low-moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: house fire, mentions of child abuse

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