Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: March 2020

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Another month in the year finished!

I had a streak of four, five star books in a row and absolutely loved it.

Favorite this month: The Heiress Gets a Duke, THE SPANISH LOVE DECEPTION (GO READ IT PLEASE), Legendborn, Better Than the Movies, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, Glimpsed, The Songbook of Benny Lament, The Mask Falling, and People We Meet on Vacation
(like I said, many many good ones!!)

Least favorites: Sovereign Sacrifice, Home is Where You Are

  • Manor for Sale, Baron Included by Esther Hatch – (☆☆☆☆)
  • The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus #1) by Rick Riordan – (☆☆☆☆)
  • On Thin Icing (A Bakeshop Mystery #3) by Ellie Alexander – (☆☆☆)
  • Calamity (The Reckoners #3) by Brandon Sanderson – (☆☆☆☆)
  • 11 Paper Hearts by Kelsey Hartwell – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [ARC] The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba (The Cuba Saga #4) by Chanel Cleeton – (☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Red Tigress (Blood Heir Trilogy #2) by Amelie Wen Zhao – (☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • The Heiress Gets a Duke (The Gilded Age Heiresses #1) by Harper St.George – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [ARC] It’s Just Business (The Wedding Business #2) by Summer Dowell – (☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • Chain of Iron (The Last Hours #2) by Cassandra Calre – (☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • A Hand Me Down Heart (Texas General Cases of Romance #1) by Becki Willis – (☆☆☆)
  • The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • Legendborn (Legendborn #1) by Tracy Deonn – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • [ARC] Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • Written in My Own Heart’s Blood (Outlander #8) by Diana Gabaldon – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • Namesake (Fable #2) by Adrienne Young – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Sovereign Sacrifice (Air Awakens: Vortex Chronicles #4) by Elise Kova – (☆☆☆)
  • Blood Sworn (Ashlords #2) by Scott Reingten – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Glimpsed by G.F. Miller – (☆☆☆☆)
  • The Songbook of Benny Lament by Amy Harmon – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • The Mask Falling (The Bone Season #4) by Samantha Shannon – (☆☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • Dark of the West (Glass Alliance #1) by Joana Hathaway – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Home is Where You Are by Melissa Grace – (☆☆)
  • [ARC] People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • [Novella] How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (The Folk of the Air #3.5) by Holly Black – (☆☆☆☆)

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Book Review: Dawn till Dusk (Genesis Crystal Saga #1) by Tyfanny Hackett and Becky Moynihan

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Rating: ☆☆ 1/2
Audience: New adult urban fantasy romance
Length: 350 pages
Author: Tyffany Hackett and Becky Moynihan
Publisher: Feather Ink Publishing
Release Date: May 26th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Pain and hatred consume Tarik, the hot-headed Fae whose addiction to fighting shifters could be the death of him. Stuck in a city ruled by dragons, seeking vengeance is his only mission.

As a shifter, and the city’s Night Enforcer, Reagan’s job is to stop him. She quickly learns that trouble follows him at every turn, and keeping him alive leads her to make decisions that may have deadly consequences.

When a disastrous event forces these long-standing enemies to unravel a sinister plot, prejudice must be pushed aside. And lurking beneath the hatred is something neither of them are prepared for.

Discover Nathra City’s darkest secret in this enemies-to-lovers, NA Urban Fantasy Adventure Romance, perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas and Jennifer L Armentrout.

MISSING SOMETHING.

Picked up on a while from Kindle Unlimited.

Not a winner for me (but could be for you!). These are just my thoughts.

I liked where this was initially heading. New adult, fae, enemies to lovers, all a good mix that I’m generally a fan of. I had issues with the combination.

For new adult, this still felt very YA. Which isn’t bad, just not what I expected. With older characters, I felt like there should be an older vibe to it all, and had a hard time seeing through to that level. The writing style does seem to blend well between the two authors. I never noticed any glaring differences between the voices or different pieces written. The pacing was fine everywhere except the romance. It wasn’t isnta-love (yay), it didn’t line up though. I felt that they were both more rude and standoffish to each other then flipped randomly into being into each other. I was missing the sassy banter that I love.

The plot is good and intriguing. I have plenty of questions and enough was left open for the series to continue. The antagonist was definitely a prick that tried his best to put fear into those around him. I liked both main characters overall. They both had faults and strengths that you could see and find value in.

Overall audience notes:

  • New adult paranormal fantasy romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: murder, physical, torture, animal attacks
  • Trigger warnings: brief mention of someone being raped (a side character), loss of a loved on

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Book Review: A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles #1) by Amanda Bouchet

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 448 pages
Author: Amanda Bouchet
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: August 2nd, 2016
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

KINGDOMS WILL RISE AND FALL FOR HER…

“Cat” Catalia Fisa lives disguised as a soothsayer in a traveling circus. She is perfectly content avoiding the danger and destiny the Gods—and her homicidal mother—have saddled her with. That is, until Griffin, an ambitious warlord from the magic-deprived south, fixes her with his steely gaze and upsets her illusion of safety forever.

BUT NOT IF SHE CAN HELP IT

Griffin knows Cat is the Kingmaker, the woman who divines the truth through lies. He wants her as a powerful weapon for his newly conquered realm—until he realizes he wants her for much more than her magic. Cat fights him at every turn, but Griffin’s fairness, loyalty, and smoldering advances make him increasingly hard to resist and leave her wondering if life really does have to be short, and lived alone.

NOT SUBTLE.

That’s the biggest takeaway I got from this. And I am also realizing, I like things a lot more subtle.

Everything started off really well. I love the setting and environment. The mix of Greek gods and mythology is always fascinating to me and it’s no different here. I would have loved some more world-building because I occasionally got lost in the hierarchies of different realms.

I looooved this audio book narration though. Great changes between characters and I really fell into the sweeping way the narrator told the story.

The romance between Griffin and Cat was in your face from the beginning. I was hoping for a bit more will they/won’t they, but alas that was not the case. Within my personal tastes it was also verrrrry steamy and I found myself skipping sections to get back to the story. And I didn’t love Griffin by the end either. His intensity and what I felt was a lack of willingness to even hear Cat’s side of the story really rubbed me the wrong way. He was insistent about HIS wants and desires and I felt Cat getting neglected.

I don’t plan on picking up the next one. This was a difference in preferences for me so don’t let my review hold you back. It was great writing and the story is woven in there.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: everything from kisses to multiple very open door/descriptive scenes
  • Violence: murder, battles/skirmishes, physical altercations, magical attacks, creature attacks
  • Trigger warnings: abusive parents

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ARC Book Review: It’s Just Business (The Wedding Business #2) by Summer Dowell

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: TBD
Author: Summer Dowell
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: March 25th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

I despise him. I despise everything about this business-stealing man who has eyes the color of hot chocolate and a perfectly sun-kissed tan I can’t stop thinking about…Like I said, despise.

Having grown up with a mom who had more boyfriends than a flower has petals, I have zero fairy tale aspirations of true love. It doesn’t exist. But when a dreamy man with the perfect smile and a propensity for volunteering keeps running into me, I start to think maybe I was wrong all along.

That is until I realize he’s the scumbag that stole my flower shop right out from under me.

I know I should be the bigger person. Move on. But somehow, revenge seems the only answer. Pity, revenge seems to be showing me that Austin might actually be a good person instead of the villain I painted him to be.

In the end, it’s all just business though, isn’t it?”

A laugh-out-loud, enemies to lovers romance that is full of all the sarcasm and swoons!

Thank you to the author for an eARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own!

CUTE AND LIGHT.

This was a nice, light, fluffy read. I liked the fast pace and am legitimately considering a future career in floral design. I want to work with flowers all day like Haley.

Haley had me laughing often with how much junk food she eats. Wow I wish I could eat like her all the time. She’s a quirky character with a lot of charm. I loved her style and charm. Austin was a good love interest. He seemed to be a good match for Haley. I liked a lot of their banter, but had a hard time with some of their meet-ups. They didn’t seem organic. Some of the places they went seemed to be forcing an idea rather than letting things happen naturally.

This was an enemies to lovers book, but really light on the enemies. There wasn’t a huge amount of animosity over the workplace situation. I was hoping for a bit more angst, yet I guess that this could also be a plus. It’s a light-hearted read which also can hit really well at the right time. I wish some of the sabotaging didn’t continue on so long. Gratefully the ending seemed to satisfy that resolution with how both characters felt about what happened.

I thought this was sweet and definitely a pick-me-up type of read. And what I always love about this author’s books are the epilogues. Totally cheesy and I’m not even sorry about how much I love them.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses

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