ARC Book Review: Six Scorched Roses (Crowns of Nyaxia #1.5) by Carissa Broadbent

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance Novella
Length: 187 pages
Author: Carissa Broadbent
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 21st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Six roses. Six vials of blood. Six visits to a vampire who could be her salvation… or her damnation.

Lilith has been dying since the day she was born. But while she long ago came to terms with her own imminent death, the deaths of everyone she loves is an entirely different matter. As her town slowly withers in the clutches of a mysterious god-cursed illness, she takes matters into her own hands.

Desperate to find a cure, Lilith strikes a bargain with the only thing the gods hate even more than her village: a vampire, Vale. She offers him six roses in exchange for six vials of vampire blood–the one hope for her town’s salvation.

But when what begins as a simple transaction gradually becomes something more, Lilith is faced with a terrifying realization: It’s dangerous to wander into the clutches of a vampire… and in a place already suffering a god’s wrath, more dangerous still to fall in love with one.

Six Scorched Roses is a standalone fantasy romance novella set in the world of the Crowns of Nyaxia series, perfect for those who love dark, romantic tales with bite and fans of Sarah J. Maas or Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Thank you to Book of Matches Media and Carissa Broadbent for the eARC.

LOVE.

I devoured this real fast when it dropped in my inbox and I am not upset with my choices one bit. It’s an easy book to fly through and to get lost in. I love how romantic it was and how even with the quicker pacing, still felt natural and not rushed.

I adored Lilith. I felt like she tried to make the best choices she could and over the novella really found some new pathways forward. I loved the STEM vibes and the bloodwork that Lilith worked on to try to help her sister and town survive. Throw in some cranky gods dealing out punishments and I was sold.

The romance was so sweet!! I don’t know, this book is on the dark spectrum and yet, this romance was tender. It felt slow and moving as they went from strangers to friends to lovers. I love how Vale started to respond to Lilith and the back and forth grumpy/sunshine nature of their relationship.

Ending was fantastic. I am incredibly excited to see how these characters will interact with others in The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King.

**Note: This can be read as a standalone before the first book, but recommended to read it after The Serpent & the Wings of Night.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance Novella
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: open door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: attempted sexual assault, loss of loved ones, a disease endemic, physical and magical altercations, near death experiences

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Book Review: Complete (The Sweet Rom”Com” #3) by Kortney Keisel

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 315 pages
Author: Kortney Keisel
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 24th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Ben and I are just friends.

We’ve tried to be more, but it never works. There’s no chemistry between us.

At least that’s the story I tell everyone.

Truth is, I’m pining for Ben. HARD. Like Taylor Swift, You Belong With Me, hard. I don’t know what happened. Suddenly, his casual touch is fire, and his easy smile stops my heart.

But Ben has put me in the friend zone. Permanently. His supermodel girlfriend and him setting me up with a pro football player confirm this.

It’s time to bury these feelings. Lock them up. A famous pro athlete is exactly what I need to get over my infatuation. Except Ben isn’t making things easy. He’s leveled up his touching and flirting—all good stuff unless you’re trying to move on with your life.

So what’s a girl to do? Confess my feelings and risk losing my best friend? Or keep on pretending and end up with the wrong man?

Complete is a friends-to-lovers, laugh-out-loud love story that keeps the romance closed-door. It’s book three in The Sweet Rom “Com” Series but can be read as a standalone.

GOOD HEAVENS.

I am a puddle after this one y’all!! Let me era of friends to lovers romances commence. This is one of the best renditions of this trope I’ve read.

Ben was such flirty hot mess and I loved it. I actually burst out in true laughter multiple times (aka the yacht scene IYKYK). There were many genuinely funny scenes that are the reason I love this romcom genre. Keisel did an amazing job at creating a book filled with serious subjects combined with the happiness I need when I read. I loved seeing Ben work through his parent issues. He definitely needed shaken a bit to get the point across, but when that aha moment hit you here the chorus shouting, FINALLY.

I adored Brooke!! She was a fantastic FMC that was filled with love and hope and I want to be her friend. The subplot with Trey actually worked out better than I could have hoped for. I was nervous that he’d get tossed aside, and I love how Keisel handled that. Not to mention, I am so here for the jealousy. I realized that I do love some jealous aspects (on both sides) to really push those feelings, when you know they are just IN LOVE.

Clearly I loved this. It’s my new favorite Keisel book and makes me excited for whatever she has in store next.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: death of a parent mentioned, recounting of home life (with yelling and indifferent parents)

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Book Review: Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Viking Books
Release Date: June 16th, 2009
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

In her signature pitch-perfect style, Sarah Dessen explores the hearts of two lonely people learning to connect.

TEAM STEPMOM.

These were some tough parents to read about. A Dad who brought me to rage induced rants because of his lack of care for his wife and new baby. A Mom who was incredibly stubborn and seemed incapable of seeing other’s view points and was constantly passive aggressive. And they honestly brought the story down for me. I was expecting to see some growth from them (and for Auden to talk it out) but I don’t feel like that happened enough at the end to be satisfied.

I enjoyed the story overall. It’s very much classic/older YA and that’s part of it’s charm. I purely picked this up to watch the movie and am not upset that I did. I liked the friendships that Auden was able to develop. I especially loved her step-mom. Instead of being the usual trope of awfulness, she was a woman stuck in a rough post-partum situation and I liked that they leaned on one another (even if Auden wouldn’t recognize it).

The romance was very lackluster. Honestly it almost felt as if there wasn’t one? It’s a slow burn with little page time. I would have loved a lot more of Eli and how he could have better factored into the story.

A formulaic YA contemporary that is, ya know, perfectly fine.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: teacher/student relationship mentioned (side character), cheating, alcohol consumption, post-partum depression, loss of a friend (side character, but plays central role)

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ARC Book Review: You Wouldn’t Dare by Samantha Markum

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Rating: ★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Samantha Markum
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: March 28th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A rom com about trying to have the summer of your life before everything changes – only to realize change might be exactly what you need…

When Juniper Nash Abreheart kissed Graham Isham for the first time, she had no idea it would nearly be the end of their friendship.

More specifically, she had no idea that the terrible, unforgivable thing she did to keep their summer fling a secret wouldn’t just ruin their friendship, but also Graham’s entire life. Now, months since the fallout, Junie and Graham spend most of their time sidestepping conversational landmines on the journey back to normalcy.

Junie is sure the strangeness between her and Graham is her biggest problem – until her mom hires Tallulah, her boyfriend’s surly teenage daughter, to work at their family café, and then announces they’ll all be moving in together at the end of the summer. The only bright spot ahead is Junie’s dad’s upcoming visit, just in time for her community theater production. And then poor turnout soon threatens that.

But when Junie starts to realize the feelings she swore to take care of last summer have lingered, saving her production and managing her hostile relationship with Tallulah might be the least of her problems. Graham isn’t just off limits – their friendship has been mended to barely withstand a breeze, and the gale force of Junie’s feelings could be just what breaks them.

Samantha Markum’s You Wouldn’t Dare is about the risks and triumphs that come with being brave enough to take a chance at what you really want, including love.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an eARC.

*sigh*

I will still recommend Markum’s first book, This May End Badly. But unfortunately, I can’t recommend this one. It was the complete opposite of everything I loved about TMEB.

Junie spends over 3/4 of this book selfishly entitled, saying every wrong thing, being mean to her almost half sister AND the cute boy and I couldn’t take one more bit of it. I’m all for a character arc with growth, this ain’t it. She did one nice thing at the end and that was great and all, I guess.

The only true saving grace here was Graham. He was sweet and the steadfast kind of hero I loooove. Frankly I don’t know why he kept putting up with Junie.

And the play?? It did NOTHING for the plot other than help me move faster through the book because I skimmed right over these scenes. I did not care that Junie was in a play. Or that she dragged all of her friends into it. Or they had to recast someone. Or etc. etc. etc.

Alright I’ll stop. I hope to try Markum’s third book and that it is a redemption.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: heated make-outs
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: small scale injury, emotionally unavailable father, underage drinking and smoking, loss of a mother (off-page), near drowning

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