Tag: audiobook

Book Review: Back to You (San Diego Marines #1) by Jess Mastorakos

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Rating: ★★☆
Audience: NA Contemporary Romance
Length: 362 pages
Author: Jess Mastorakos
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: September, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Biggest mistake I’ve ever made? Kissing my best friend.

I’ve never been a relationship guy. Sure, I have Ellie—my best friend since middle school who’s been by my side through the good and the very bad—but with girls who aren’t Ellie? One date is enough.

Then when I get back from boot camp, one kiss changes everything. But also, nothing’s changed. Ellie still wants to settle down with a picket fence and kids, and she knows I don’t.

And now there’s heat when she looks at me in my new uniform. It makes me wonder if I didn’t want that kind of life, or if I didn’t want it with anyone but her.

But I’ve made one mistake after another with Ellie, so now I have to convince her that it’s okay to want me too.

Back to You is a sweet romance told from alternating POVs, set in the world of The San Diego Marines. Each book can be read as a standalone but are fun to read in order.

BOO.

I just didn’t love this one at all. I went in with hope and came out wondering if I’d give this author another go.

Most of the story just involved drama. Drama over here, drama over there. Not actually building the plot or developing the characters just DRAMA. It was kind of like a formulaic hallmark movie, but not the kind you enjoy reading.

Things got off to a fine start. I liked the friends to lovers idea and the kiss scenes were great too.

I wanted to love this and wish it had worked out better for me. I don’t want to sit here and bash though so I’ll leave this as strike in the miss column and move on to the next.

Overall audience notes:

  • New Adult Contemporary Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a parent recounted

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Book Review: Promised by Leah Garriott

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Regency Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Leah Garriott
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Release Date: February 18th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Margaret Brinton keeps her promises, and the one she is most determined to keep is the promise to protect her heart.

Warwickshire, England, 1812

Fooled by love once before, Margaret vows never to be played the fool again. To keep her vow, she attends a notorious matchmaking party intent on securing the perfect marital match: a union of convenience to someone who could never affect her heart. She discovers a man who exceeds all her hopes in the handsome and obliging rake Mr. Northam.

There’s only one problem. His meddling cousin, Lord Williams, won’t leave Margaret alone. Condescending and high-handed, Lord Williams lectures and insults her. When she refuses to give heed to his counsel, he single-handedly ruins Margaret’s chances for making a good match—to his cousin or anyone else. With no reason to remain at the party, Margaret returns home to discover her father has promised her hand in marriage—to Lord Williams.

Under no condition will Margaret consent to marrying such an odious man. Yet as Lord Williams inserts himself into her everyday life, interrupting her family games and following her on morning walks, winning the good opinion of her siblings and proving himself intelligent and even kind, Margaret is forced to realize that Lord Williams is exactly the type of man she’d hoped to marry before she’d learned how much love hurt. When paths diverge and her time with Lord Williams ends, Margaret is faced with her ultimate choice: keep the promises that protect her or break free of them for one more chance at love. Either way, she fears her heart will lose.

GREAT.

I love just coming across an enjoyable read. Maybe not shout out at the rooftops worthy, but one I would easily recommend should you need a regency romance in your life (answer: you do).

This romance was super swoony and sweet. I liked how Margaret and Gregory came together. There was heated banter, some absolutely perfect regency scenes and a ball. Who doesn’t love a ball?! I thought this had a great build up and definitely had some enemies to lovers vibes.

Margaret took some time to catch on to the prospect of falling in love, but Gregory was there to woo her. I liked that the surrounding plot fit the romantic story well and the dash of a love triangle didn’t bug me.

Overall audience notes:

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

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Book Review: Regrets Only by Kieran Scott

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Mystery/Thriller
Length: 336 pages
Author: Kieran Scott
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: January 10th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In a fast-paced new novel in the vein of Big Little Lies, a single mom goes undercover to investigate a host of disturbing secrets held by the leaders of a local suburban parent-school association, including embezzlement, bribery, adultery, and murder—by the bestselling author of Wish You Were Gone.

Paige Lancaster, single mom and prodigal daughter, has returned to the East Coast from her prestigious, well-paid job in Los Angeles, writing for the smartest detective series on television. Something terrible happened to her back in Hollywood. Okay, two terrible things, one featuring a misplaced tire iron—and now she’s broke, homeless, and living with her widowed mother and eight-year-old daughter, Izzy, in her Connecticut hometown.

Paige needs to buckle down and find a new writing gig but first, she meets the movers and shakers of Izzy’s school’s Parent Booster Association, run by the intimidatingly gorgeous Ainsley Anderson, who just happens to be married to Paige’s old high school flame, John.

Then she shows up at the annual Parents and Pinot fundraiser, held at Ainsley and John’s dazzling mansion in the toniest part of town, where she’s caught in a compromising position with John, accidentally destroys the guest bathroom, overhears an incriminating conversation, and discovers that her purse has gone missing. And later that night, Ainsley turns up dead at the bottom of her own driveway.

Did she fall? Or was she pushed?

Paige may have only written about detectives, but she is convinced she can handle a little undercover sleuthing. After all, it’ll give her an excuse to spend more time with John. Still, she can’t help but wonder: could he be capable of murder? Or could one of the PBA members have planned a dastardly crime to reach the top? But the most important question of all: will Paige ever get her life back on track?

Thank you to Book Club Favorites and Simon & Schuster for the gifted copy.

BRING THE DRAMA.

You can sometimes easily know what you’re getting into from a book by the summary. In this case, I knew allllll the momma drama was coming my way and by leaning right into it, I enjoyed this one! It was a fantastic audiobook with multiple narrators that brought out another dimension to the story.

I liked the murder mystery the most. I honestly didn’t know who committed what and kept pointing my finger at the wrong person. It’s super fast paced and a compulsive kind of read that has a bit of an edge too.

Character wise, I didn’t love or hate anyone. I feel like they all played their roles well and each brought a little bit of something to the story. I like seeing things from multiple angles and Regrets Only brought that dynamic for me.

Not my usual genre, but definitely a nice switch up.

Overall audience notes:

  • Mystery/Thriller
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: fade to black
  • Violence: murder, gun violence, physical altercations

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Book Review: Upgrade by Blake Crouch

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Sci-Fi
Length: 352 pages
Author: Blake Crouch
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: July 12th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep.

But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most—in whole new ways.

The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked. And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy.

Worse still, what’s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large—at a terrifying cost.

Because of his new abilities, Logan’s the one person in the world capable of stopping what’s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he’ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human.

And even as he’s fighting, he can’t help wondering: what if humanity’s only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution?

Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man’s thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity—and our boundless potential. 

NOTHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT.

I like a good Crouch book. Dark Matter is still my absolute fav, and I did like this more than recursion. I think something is missing from the middle? The first half was intense and mysterious. I liked the main character diving in deep to what was happening to him and finding corrupted family is always a good twist. Then I thought with the time jump it left a gap in the middle of slowing down to build back up to the wild ending.

This is definitely an eery read. Which did play into my anxiety a lot (not the book’s fault, since I didn’t read the synopsis, but I mention it for others!). It’s very realistic future and wow that always makes me feel filled with dread. It did make for a very good setting though that I liked a lot in regards to all of the genetic mutation discussions.

The ending did bring some feels. I wasn’t expecting to feel that attached and while it had notes of sadness, I liked the acceptance and hopefulness of it all too. It wasn’t some knock out, why did I read this, kind of ending. It was a satisfying conclusion to this type of read and I liked that it was a quick audiobook.

Overall audience notes:

  • Sci-Fi
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: genetic mutations without consent, gun violence, loss of a sibling, murder, quarantines

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