Tag: audiobook

Book Review: A Churn in the Virtual Society (Into the Churn #3.5) by Hayley Reese Chow

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Sci-Fi Romance Novella
Length: 238 pages
Author: Hayley Reese Chow
Publisher: Whimsical Publishing
Release Date: September 16th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Virtual Society is blowing up. (Figuratively.)

When Micah Belanger saw the word “disputed” pop up after her beloved Belethea Race Royale team won the biggest race in ’verse, all of VSoc heard her shriek. Add in four attempted murders, and she’s on a (virtual) warpath to set the record straight—as any true fangirl would.

Lowell Coppen, of The Royaler Review, is also concerned with the murderous rumors behind the latest BRR, especially with warnings of a system-wide war rippling through VSoc. Determined to shed light on the truth, Lowell, a self-proclaimed objective voice, forges a begrudging alliance with Belethea’s most manic fangirl. If their secret arrangement comes to light, it’ll ruin them both, but if they don’t get the story right, the lies could bring Belethea to its knees.

And falling in love isn’t helping at all.

Thank you to Whimsical Publishing for the gifted audiobook.

I’LL MISS THIS SERIES.

I have loved every book in this series from Hayley Reese Chow and have been excited to read this final installment (please make sure you have read all of the other books to understand everything in here!!).

I loved this look into Micah and Lowell’s lives and seeing the entire trilogy from their perspective in short bursts. There romance is really sweet and this was an easy read to listen and enjoy (I also thought the dash of sound effects were perfect for this type of book!).

I will definitely be reading whatever HRC writes next.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Sci-Fi Romance Novella
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: The Blonde Who Came in Form the Cold (Blonde Identity #2) by Ally Carter

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: Ally Carter
Publisher: Avon Books
Release Date: August 5th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Ten years ago, they joined the CIA.

Six years ago, he left the game.

Five years ago, they fell in love.

One year ago, she ran out into the cold with absolutely no intention of ever coming back.

And two minutes ago, they woke up, bloody and bruised and handcuffed together in the dark.

They don’t know where they are. They don’t know how they got there. And they have absolutely no idea who is after them or what this nameless, faceless villain wants.

The only thing that’s clear is that, after ten years of covers and chemistry, secrets and lies, these two rival spies have been sucked into their greatest mission yet, and now they’re going to have to team up to stay alive. (If they don’t kill each other first.)

Thank you to Avon Books for the ARC and LibroFM for the gifted audiobook.

OH I WAS OBSESSED.

OH MY GOSH THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD. Frankly that’s all you need. ALL THE DANG STARS GO PICK IT UP.

I am such a puddle for a man SO DOWN BAD. The MMC (who gets his own narration!!!!) was incredible. I love him. I love him. I love him. I could give you a list of scenes that had me swooning non-stop and obsessing over his every move. And I adored the FMC too. The banter was off the charts and you could feel their chemistry from the first moment. These flashbacks were AMAZING. I’m not a flashback chapter fan and appreciated that these only added and shaped the story.

It’s fast paced, full of action, heat, romance and allllll the things. I loved the audiobook. I loved the book. I LOVED IT ALL.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance Mystery
  • Language: low
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: moderate

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: The Grandest Game (The Grandest Game #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Mystery
Length: 384 pages
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Release Date: July 30th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Get caught up in the puzzles, games, danger, romance, and riches of this lush new chapter in the #1 bestselling Inheritance Games saga.

Seven tickets. An island of dreams. The chance of a lifetime.

Welcome to the Grandest Game, an annual competition run by billionaire Avery Grambs and the four infamous Hawthorne brothers, whose family fortune she inherited. Designed to give anyone a shot at fame and fortune, this year’s game requires one of seven golden tickets to enter. With millions on the line, those seven players will do whatever it takes to win.

Some of the players are in it for the money. Some for power. Some for reasons all their own. Every single one of them has secrets. Amidst it all is Grayson Hawthorne, tasked with a vital role in this year’s game. But as tensions rise and the mind-bending challenges push the players to their limits—physically, mentally, and emotionally—it soon becomes clear that not everyone is playing by the rules.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Lynn Barnes delivers a brand-new series in the world of The Inheritance Games, where fan-favorite and new characters collide in a game you’ll never forget.

Do you have what it takes to play?

AN INTERESTING SPIN-OFF.

I had a good time with this one and definitely recommend the audiobook. I love having multiple narrators for multiple characters. I enjoyed the original The Inheritance Games series and was excited to pick this up. I loved that there was still so much mystery and puzzling involved. I am eternally amazed at how Jennifer Lynn Barnes crafts all of the intricate details of the game.

The new POV’s and characters were good additions too. I didn’t have any issues with them and thought they brought new angles and personalities to the story. I want to see and learn more about them. And see the dashes of romance I got too.

There weren’t any moments that I found shocking or big twists that left me gasping, but I still like and enjoy these books a lot.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Mystery
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

ALC Book Review: We Met Like This by Kasie West

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 363 pages
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: Saturday Books
Release Date: September 16th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Beloved author Kasie West’s sparkling adult rom-com debut about a hopeless romantic falling for the one man she never expected

Can a swipe right turn into swept away?

Margot Hart is a hopeless romantic. That’s why she wants to be a literary agent—to help bring romance books to the world. It’s also why she hates dating apps with all her romance loving soul. She wants her own love story to be just as much fun as the books she reads—a mixed up coffee order, a mistaken identity. She’s not going to tell the story that she swiped right on future husband’s shirtless pic for the rest of her life.

The problem is that her most consistent relationship over the last several years is with Oliver, a guy she keeps rematching with on the apps. They’ve only been on one date and it was a disaster…well, until the make out session in the car before parting ways. But, she keeps reminding herself, a make out session does not a relationship make. And so there will not be a date two regardless of how witty their app banter is.

When Margot gets fired from her job on the same day she meets Oliver again, her life becomes a veritable shit show. Her dream career is dying right before her eyes, and Oliver thinks she’s interested in only one a repeat of the hot make out session they had three years ago so she can get him out of her system. And maybe that is all she wants from him, because she and Oliver are definitely not compatible—he doesn’t hit the snooze button, he runs five miles every morning, he reads nonfiction, and worst of all, she didn’t meet him in cute way! But in her scramble to keep her dream career alive, by opening her own agency, Oliver is there with his golden retriever energy, more steady and helpful than any man she’s ever dated. Just when she thinks she’s overcome her app bias, she realizes that maybe it’s not her who’s holding back, but him. And his reasons are more than she bargained for.

Kasie West’s romantic and sexy adult debut is full of witty banter, meet cutes gone awry and, ultimately, true love.

IT GOT BETTER.

I stand firm on the fact that this book could have (and should have) been started in different manner. I think it was unnecessary, but I digress. I’m grateful the rest of the book went much better.

There were a handful of nuanced things I didn’t like in this [adult] debut but I think the bones were there and I’d read another KW romance. I’ve loved her young adult books for years and this was a decent jump into another category.

I liked Oliver the most and thought he was charming with some good golden retriever energy. He kept showing up (in a good way) and proved to Margot a lot of things she was missing out on. And I loved the family dynamics too. They were complicated and had plenty of squabbling but I think it felt realistic and I enjoyed seeing that side of the story too.

Margot was fine. Occasionally frustrating, but in the end, she had a good arc and got to where she deserved to be. I did like her inner dialogue and the banter between her and Oliver.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 3ish open door
  • Violence: low

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph