Tag: audiobook

Book Review: Seeing Other People by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Paranormal Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: December 9th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Two people haunted by their exes find that love isn’t dead in this heartfelt romance from the beloved authors of The Roughest Draft.

Morgan is being ghosted by her ex. No, really. It’s sad Zach died and became a ghost. But Morgan and Zach only ever went on the one date, and now she’s being haunted by him. Zach has no desire to spend eternity with Morgan, but he can’t recall his past and doesn’t know how to move on.

At a support group for humans and their haunters, Morgan and Zach run into Sawyer, whose fiancée-turned-ghost has started to fade. Unlike Morgan, Sawyer isn’t ready to part ways with his ghost. Although they face opposite issues, Morgan and Sawyer decide to work together to solve their problems.

As Morgan and Sawyer try to solve their paranormal conundrums together, they find something even more surprising—a tender, growing affection between them that threatens any unfinished business they’re seeking to close. The ghosts of their past might be there in spirit, but the connection between Morgan and Sawyer is as alive as anything they’ve ever felt.

SURPRISED IN THE BEST WAY.

I don’t usually read contemporary books that center around loss of a partner/spouse because my anxiety kicks into overdrive, but as someone who’s continually loved Emily & Austin’s books I wanted to give it a go. Y’ALL. This one gutted me in so many ways and was incredible. I loved it. You must read it too!!!!

I loved both of the MC’s. Struggling through their respective paths and coming together over the most unlikely of circumstances. There’s raw emotion and anger and grief and woven in-between those heavier moments are laughter, love, and the hope of the next day being just a little bit easier. Everything just worked for me in this book and I had the best time reading it.

The journey for the paranormal characters worked for me too. There’s this awful understanding that sometimes you’re not going to have all of the answers and sometimes you won’t have the closure you’re after but that things can still be okay. The loads of impactful moments here would take too long to write down.

It’s a beautiful story. Go read it!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Paranormal Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 2ish brief open
  • Violence: mild
  • Content warnings: depictions of grief and depression, loss of a loved one

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: The Robin and the Oak Throne (The Oak and the Holly Cycle #2) by K.A. Linde

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★.75
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 642 pages
Author: K.A. Linde
Publisher: Red Tower
Release Date: June 17th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The only thing worse than fearing a monster is falling for one…

Kierse McKenna just shattered the Monster Treaty. Again.

It wasn’t entirely her fault. The job was supposed to be steal a goblin-made bracelet off of the Queen of the Nymphs in her own palace. Trade the bracelet for a way to uncover the truth about her past. Except everything goes sideways.

And then he shows up to save her.

Graves—the warlock who ensnared her, betrayed her, and left her to fend for herself. He’s a villain. A monster draped in charm and shadows. And gods help her, he always knows exactly what she wants.

But Graves never does anything for free. He has a job for his favorite little thief. One that will pit her against the most powerful monsters in existence, including his mortal enemy, the Oak King.

An ancient artifact has been located, and only together can they hope to steal it. She just has to let him in.

But once she lets a monster in, he’s impossible to forget…and even harder to resist.

BEFUDDLED.

We’ll get to the good stuff first. I do think this book progressed well off of book one. I liked the expansion of the plot and world, getting to see more settings and characters, and the romance had good developmental moments too. I genuinely had a good time listening to this audiobook and the cliffhanger brings the damage.

BUT.

Y’all, there was like 8? Maybe more (idk I lost count)? open door scenes and that kept taking away from the story. They started to feel out of pocket and used to call the book *spicy*. Not to mention there was a k!nk involved that is not my cup of tea and I felt meh over it all.

This has turned me off of wanting to pick up book three if this is the way things will continue to progress.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: high
  • Romance; way too many scenes
  • Violence: high

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Beneath (Rebirth #1) by Ariel Sullivan

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Dystopian Romance
Length: 464 pages
Author: Ariel Sullivan
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: March 24th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Hundreds of years before the Illum ruled supreme, humanity risked everything to rebuild after a devastating war in this explosive dystopian romance and prequel to Conform.

Twenty-three-year-old Sasha Cadell knows time is running out in the underground city, filled with survivors of the nuclear fallout six years ago. She works in the Expansion Sector, trying to escape the memories of those she lost. Her bleak existence is upended when Tristian Hayes, a stunningly handsome, frustratingly determined commander of the Force, recruits her to join him and his elite team of soldiers as they embark on a secret mission to the surface.

Sasha is thrust into brutal training with stakes far beyond mere survival. The fate of the remaining humankind depends on their success—or failure. As she confronts her own demons, Sasha finds both allies and foes in the training program, as well as a sizzling attraction between her and Tristian that threatens the walls she’s built around her heart.

But under the surface, secrets and deception run as rampant as illnesses. And not everyone will survive the rise of a power more terrifying than anything they’ve ever known.

SO THIS WAS GOOD??

I liked this more than Conform y’all! It did not feel like a 16 hour audiobook. It flew by and was incredibly engaging.

The romance had a unique set up that I fell in love with. They are literally in each other’s orbit from the get-go and I think it allowed for all of this delicious push and pull tension and wondering when they were going to snap. I love these two and can’t wait for more of them.

And I’m hooked on the found family. The high action moments they go through together, trying to save each other, creating deep bonds. It’s all there and I love them all.

The twists and reveals were awesome. I was shocked in the best ways and I have many theories now. I had no idea there was a spin-off series coming and it was so worth it to pick it up!! I think you can get away with reading this book first before Conform as this is a prequel series starter and doesn’t involve those characters.

Overall audience notes:

  • Dystopian romance
  • Language: low-mild
  • Romance: 3-4ish open door
  • Violence: high
  • Content warnings: loss of life, blood/gore, injuries, physical altercations, weapons violence, mentions of war, epidemics

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: May 2026

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

What time is it?
SUMMERTIME.

  • Daggermouth (The Heart #1) by H.M. Wolfe
  • Beast Becomes Her by Crystal Seitz
  • [ALC] Seek the Traitor’s Son (The Burning Empire #1) by Veronica Roth
  • Into a Golden Era (Timeless #7) by Gabrielle Meyer
  • [ARC] Magic at Midnight by Courtney Millecam
  • Honey in Her Veins by Ruth McKell
  • [ARC] Rival Season (Hockey Boys of Loft 3B #2) by Rival Season
  • Release Me (Shatter Me: The New Republic #2) by Tahereh Mafi
  • [ARC] Stars, Stripes & Summer Nights by Celeste Dador
  • The Sea Spinner (Reign of Remnants #2) by Julie Johnson
  • Smoke in the Mirrors (Slanted London #2) by Jessica Scarlett
  • [ARC/ALC] Rebel Heiress (The Diamonds #3) by Amalie Howard
  • Annie Knows Everything by Rachel Wood
  • [Reread] Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas
  • [ARC] Little Miss Goody Two-Shoes by Shelbey Kendall
  • Beneath the Wreckage (Wrecked #5) by Catherine Cowles
  • [ARC] Every Beat After by Sara B. Larson
  • The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn
  • An Honorable Love (The Gentlemen’s Gamble) by Audra Wells
  • The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
  • [ARC/ALC] Shadow Reaper (Shadow Reaper #1) by Lynette Noni
  • Unsteady (The Undone #1) by Peyton Corinne
  • Cross Court (The Off Court #2) by Vai Denton
  • His Face is the Sun (Throne of Khetara #1) by Michelle Jabes Corpora
  • [ARC/ALC] Hard to Love (The Lost Girls #1) by Stacy Williams
  • [Novella] S’more of You (Summer Lovin’ Collection) by Tessa Bailey
  • [Novella] Girls Just Wanna Have Sun (Summer Lovin’ Collection) by Rachel Lacey
  • [Novella] One Hot Summer Wedding (Summer Lovin’ Collection) by Falon Ballard
  • [Novella] Save a Horse, Keep a Cowboy (Summer Lovin’ Collection) by Jessica Peterson
  • [Novella] Summer Staycation (Summer Lovin’ Collection) by Sarah Grunder Ruiz
  • [Novella] Summer Thaw (Summer Lovin’ Collection) by Rebecca Jenshak
  • The Gravewood (The Gravewood #1) by Kelly Andrew
  • [Reread] Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass #6) by Sarah J. Maas
  • Fever Dream (Emerald Lake #1) by Elsie Silver
  • Made for Mayhem (Mayhem Hockey Club #2) by Aimee Vance
  • The Roommate Rule by Georgie Stone
  • Fury Bound (The Wolves of Ruin #2) by Sable Sorensen
  • [ARC] Hopeless Necromantic (The Catseye Chronicles #1) by Shiloh Briar
  • Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph