Tag: audiobook

Book Review: The Words We Lost (Fog Harbor #1) by Nicole Deese

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Fiction + Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Nicole Deese
Publisher: Bethany House Fiction
Release Date: April 11th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Three friends. Two broken promises. One missing manuscript.

As a senior acquisitions editor for Fog Harbor Books in San Francisco, Ingrid Erikson has rejected many a manuscript for lack of defined conflict and dramatic irony—two elements her current life possesses in spades. In the months following the death of her childhood best friend and international bestselling author Cecelia Campbell, Ingrid has not only lost her ability to escape into fiction due to a rare trauma response, but she’s also desperate to find the closure she’s convinced will come with Cecelia’s missing final manuscript.

After Ingrid jeopardizes her career, she fears her future will remain irrevocably broken. But then Joel Campbell—the man who shattered her belief in happily-ever-afters—offers her a sealed envelope from his late cousin, Cecelia, asking Joel and Ingrid to put their differences aside and retrieve a mysterious package in their coastal Washington hometown.

Honoring Cecelia’s last request will challenge their convictions and test their loyalties, but through it all, will Ingrid and Joel be brave enough to uncover a twice-in-a-lifetime love?

LOTS OF FEELS.

This was my first book by Nicole Deese and will not be my last! I enjoyed this one a lot and the audiobook was fantastic too.

There were so many good themes and explorations throughout. Grief, forgiveness, losing a loved one, second chance love, gosh it’s all here. I loved the coastal setting and felt transported to all the summer vibes that I didn’t know I needed. The flashback chapters were a nice edition because I loved seeing how close these friends were. I loved the complexity of emotions. The non-linear path that grief creates and to work through those moments.

Woven in were scenes of joy and love and friendship. I loved the balance and the steady pace of the story. It was a beautiful book.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a loved one (drowning, cancer), depictions of grief and depression

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Book Review: Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth #1) by Kristen Ciccarelli

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: NA Fantasy Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Kristen Ciccarelli
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: February 20th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A steamy game of cat and mouse between witch and witch-hunter, played out against a backdrop of opulence, secrets, and bloody history.

On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.

Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe – a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution – who she can’t help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Kristen Ciccarelli’s Heartless Hunter is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch…is falling in love.

MY NEW OBESSION.

This book absolutely blew me away. It was one of those books where from the first few chapters I could feel the five stars coming. I LOVE the world building and magic system and the whole vibe of this book is dark and moody and everything I love about fantasy romance.

And yes, the ROMANCE. ARE YOU KIDDING ME. I have a new micro trope unlocked after one scene. The push and pull and oh no we’re catching feelings-ness is exactly how enemies to lovers is supposed to play out. This is a true enemies situation filled with steam and heat and insane levels of tension.

I love that this was dual POV with both Gideon and Rune’s perspectives. Getting both sides of the story was exactly what this book needed. I love both of them. Flaws, strengths and all. I am obsession with their chemistry and there was one scene at the end that sent me y’all.

An absolute must read. I am so upset I have to wait for book two now.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Fantasy
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 1 brief/vague open; light innunedo
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: lots of blood content, physical and sexual abuse (off-page)

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Book Review: Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: A.B. Poranek
Publisher: McElderry Books
Release Date: February 27th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Raised in a small village near the spirit-wood, Liska Radost knows that Magic is monstrous, and its practitioners, monsters. After Liska unleashes her own powers with devastating consequences, she is caught by the demon warden of the wood – the Leszy – who offers her a bargain: one year of servitude in exchange for a wish.

Whisked away to his crumbling manor, Liska soon discovers the sinister roots of their bargain. And if she wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts of his past.

Those who enter the wood do not always return…

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Audio for the gifted audiobook.

SURPRISED.

I was hopeful this was would be a good read, and it turned out to be a great read. This gave me Bear and the Nightingale + Beauty and the Beast vibes and I loved it all the more for noticing those aspects. I loved all of the folklore and the whole aura of the book. It’s moody and atmospheric and everything I was after when I picked it up.

The slow burn romance worked well for me too. I loved the time they took to get to know each other and the subtle ways that their connection started to build. There’s a good haunting tale woven in with a bit of mystery that had me reading this as much as I could.

I think the ending stretched out just a little bit long but that’s the only thing I really noticed. I was here for the vibes on this one and it did not disappoint. Not to mention, I am absolutely obsessed with this cover. Oh! And it’s a standalone! A really fantastic standalone at that too.

Overall audience notes:

  • Upper YA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: moderate

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Book Review: Sir Andrew and the Authoress (Clairvoir Castle Romances #3) by Sally Britton

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Regency Romance
Length: 234 pages
Author: Sally Britton
Publisher: Pink Citrus Books
Release Date: April 9th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Lady Josephine, the duke’s eldest daughter, has a secret. When her brother’s horrid best friend discovers what she’s been hiding up in the castle tower, she has no choice but to take him into her confidence.

As the daughter of a duke, Lady Josephine has a long list of responsibilities, and an even longer list of things she must never do to dishonor the family name. Josephine knows exactly which side becoming an author falls upon, but she’s determined to try her hand at it anyway. For months she has worked on her novel in secret, writing chapter after chapter of intrigue and romance. Unfortunately for Josephine, her sworn enemy stumbles upon her secret.

Sir Andrew Wycomb’s close relationship to the Duke of Montfort’s family and heir gives him more than one advantage in life. His loyalty to the family is absolute, even if he finds at least one of its members an annoyance. He and Lady Josephine have never seen eye-to-eye. But when he discovers that she’s written a novel upon a subject she knows nothing about, he cannot help but sympathize with her dream. This creates an unlikely ceasefire between them.

But things at the castle are always changing, and when a determined suitor arrives to court Josephine, Andrew has to decide which secrets he’s going to keep. Especially when he discovers the one he’s kept even from himself – that perhaps he doesn’t find Josephine an annoyance at all. In fact, she is quite charming. The more time they spend together, the more he hopes she will realize they aren’t enemies, and they could be so much more…

SWEET.

Another gentle and sweet book from this series. I love how easy they are (and that’s a big compliment). Sometimes what you want is a tender romance that brings some good feels but doesn’t overwhelm you. This is that sunshine of a book.

I can’t remember the last time I read brother’s best friend in regency. I love the play on that here and how much forced proximity we got between Andrew and Josephine. They had snappy chemistry from the get-go (I’d say a dash of enemies to lovers) and I loved watching them slowly realize how much care actually lied between them.

Plot wise I think I was hoping for a little bit more. The reasons they were in the country made sense, but they didn’t seem to be that big of a deal too? I don’t know if that makes any sense, it was just the vibe I had reading.

I’m really enjoying this series and reading Sally Britton books. I’m turning into a big fan!

Overall audience notes:

  • Regency Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low

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