Tag: audiobook

Book Review: Thieves’ Gambit (Thieves’ Gambit #1) by Kayvion Lewis

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Mystery/Thriller
Length: 384 pages
Author: Kayvion Lewis
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen
Release Date: September 26th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Inheritance Games meets Ocean’s Eleven in this cinematic heist thriller where a cutthroat competition brings together the world’s best thieves and one thief is playing for the highest stakes of all: her mother’s life.

At only seventeen years old, Ross Quest is already a master thief, especially adept at escape plans. Until her plan to run away from her legendary family of thieves takes an unexpected turn, leaving her mother’s life hanging in the balance.

In a desperate bid, she enters the Thieves’ Gambit, a series of dangerous, international heists where killing the competition isn’t exactly off limits, but the grand prize is a wish for anything in the world–a wish that could save her mom. When she learns two of her competitors include her childhood nemesis and a handsome, smooth-talking guy who might also want to steal her heart, winning the Gambit becomes trickier than she imagined.

Ross tries her best to stick to the family creed: trust no one whose last name isn’t Quest. But with the stakes this high, Ross will have to decide who to con and who to trust before time runs out. After all, only one of them can win.

INTRIGUED.

This wasn’t initially on my radar but I’m so happy I picked it up! It was a great heist book that I really enjoyed seeing the unveiling and action and chaos as the gambit continued. I loved the main character and her commitment to helping her mom. The side characters were also wonderful and I liked the dynamics that played out as the game progressed.

There’s even a sweet little sub-plot romance that had me smiling and questioning all the motives. I absolutely LOVED the ending. There were so many good twists that I had no idea were coming and kept me guessing and racing towards the end. I’ll definitely be picking up the next book to see where this story continues!

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Thriller
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: parental abandonment, death of a parent, knife/gun violence, kidnapping

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Book Review: Lost and Lassoed (Rebel Blue Ranch #3) by Lyla Sage

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Lyla Sage
Publisher: Quercus
Release Date: November 5th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She thrives in chaos. He prefers routine. The only thing they have in common? How much they hate each other. From the author of Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled, the highly anticipated next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, a small town romance featuring enemies to lovers and forced proximity.

Teddy Andersen doesn’t have a plan. She’s never needed one before. She’s always been more of a go with the flow type of girl, but for some reason, the flow doesn’t seem to be going her way this time. Her favorite vintage suede jacket has a hole in it, her sewing machine is broken, and her best friend just got engaged. Suddenly, everything feels like it’s starting to change. Teddy’s used to being a leader, but now she feels like she’s getting left behind, wondering if the life she lives in the small town she loves is enough for her anymore.

Gus Ryder has a lot on his plate. He doesn’t know what’s taking care of his family’s 8,000 acre ranch, or parenting his spunky six-year-old daughter, who is staying with him for the summer. Gus has always been the dependable one, but when his workload starts to overwhelm him, he slips up, and he has to admit that he can’t manage everything on his own. He needs help. His little sister’s best friend, the woman he can’t stand, is not who he had in mind. But when no one else can step in, Teddy’s the only option he’s got. Teddy decides to use the summer to try and figure out what she wants out of life. Gus, on the other hand, starts to worry that he’ll never find what he needs. Tempers flare, tension builds, and for the first time ever, Gus and Teddy start to see each other in a different light. As new feelings start to simmer below the surface, they must decide whether or not to act on them. Can they keep things cool? Or will both of them get burned?

Thank you LibroFM for the gifted audiobook.

LOOOOOVED IT.

I am so happy I decided to pick up this series this year because it has my whole heart and soul now. I am obsessed with this whole family and can’t get enough. I loved how the enemies to lovers was executed here. You could FEEL all of the tension and the banter set the perfect edge.

The nanny x single dad trope made my heart burst. I loved all of the little tender moments and watching Teddy and Gus realize just how much love was already there. And even better, it fit into my plot > spice scale (which is totally arbitrary to my own thoughts, but if you know me this might make sense to you).

And the audiobook is top notch. I love dual POV so dang much. This entire series is worth the read.

Overall audience notes:

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

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Book Review: Beyond the Filigree Wall (Rivenwilde #1) by Melissa Wright

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 205 pages
Author: Melissa Wright
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: December 6th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A dark curse. A deadly secret. The ill-fated girl at the heart of both.

Antonetta Ostwind is about to get everything she’s ever wanted. If all goes to plan, she’ll end the fae, steal back what was stolen, and win the post she’s dreamed of since she was a girl.

There’s just one problem. His name is Gideon Alexander.

Gideon holds the key to her coveted post. He’s fantastic with a sword, looks amazing in uniform, and commands even the adoration of his great, beastly dog. He’s living the life Etta needs.

Gideon doesn’t believe Etta should have any of it. In fact, he’s planning to make sure she never does. And that’s a real problem, because if Etta can’t take her post as marshal, how can she have her vengeance and save the kingdom from the prince of the fae?

Slip into clean, slow-burn romance with a properly stabby heroine and the low commitment of a standalone series in this light regency fantasy romp for fans of Enchantment of Ravens and Little Thieves.

SOLID STANDALONE.

I needed something quick, fantasy and enjoyable and this hit all of those marks for me. It’s a 6-hour audiobook that brought some swoon, is in the sweet category and had some naughty fae causing chaos.

The main characters were great and I loved that it was dual POV. There’s not an over complicated plot and just enough happening that it works well within a short book. Definitely recommend for those wanted to mix things up and need a good slow burn.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate

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Book Review: A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Historical Fantasy Romance
Length: 360 pages
Author: June Hur
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: May 14th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

June Hur, bestselling author of The Red Palace, crafts a devastating and pulse-pounding tale that will feel all-too-relevant in today’s world, based on a true story from Korean history.

Hope is dangerous. Love is deadly.

1506, Joseon. The people suffer under the cruel reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan, powerless to stop him from commandeering their land for his recreational use, banning and burning books, and kidnapping and horrifically abusing women and girls as his personal playthings.

Seventeen-year-old Iseul has lived a sheltered, privileged life despite the kingdom’s turmoil. When her older sister, Suyeon, becomes the king’s latest prey, Iseul leaves the relative safety of her village, traveling through forbidden territory to reach the capital in hopes of stealing her sister back. But she soon discovers the king’s power is absolute, and to challenge his rule is to court certain death.

Prince Daehyun has lived his whole life in the terrifying shadow of his despicable half-brother, the king. Forced to watch King Yeonsan flaunt his predation through executions and rampant abuse of the common folk, Daehyun aches to find a way to dethrone his half-brother once and for all. When staging a coup, failure is fatal, and he’ll need help to pull it off—but there’s no way to know who he can trust.

When Iseul’s and Daehyun’s fates collide, their contempt for each other is transcended only by their mutual hate for the king. Armed with Iseul’s family connections and Daehyun’s royal access, they reluctantly join forces to launch the riskiest gamble the kingdom has ever seen:

Save her sister. Free the people. Destroy a tyrant.

UNDER RATED.

At present, I am the only person I know of who has read this book and I think y’all need to get on this too! It is a standalone young adult historical fiction/fantasy with some enemies to lovers/oh wait we both hate the same guy romance that I loved listening to.

Now this book does NOT shy away from the atrocities committed by the king in question. I learned a lot from this book and from the author’s note at the end about this point in time. I love when books broaden my knowledge of time periods I knew little of. I do think some of the historical aspects and characters got lost in the shuffle of trying to create this as a standalone but that was my only issue.

I loved that this was dual POV and that both characters were people you wanted to root for. There were so many scenes that gutted me and so many scenes that pulled at my heart. I loved the intensity and how things came together in the end. It’s a fantastic book.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Historical fiction / fantasy / romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: high
  • Content Warnings: mentions of rape and abuse, war themes, animal violence, sexual abuse, misogyny, kidnapping of women and girls, incent (mentioned), suicide (mentioned), infanticide (mentioned), panic attacks — the author does have a full trigger warning page at the beginning of the book; because I listened to the audiobook I might have missed something else to note here

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