Tag: berkley

Book Review

ARC Book Review: The Love Wager (Mr. Wrong Number #2) by Lynn Painter

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Lynn Painter
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: March 14th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Two people make a wager on who can find love first, not realizing what they should be betting on is each other, in this new romantic comedy by Lynn Painter, author of Mr. Wrong Number.

Hallie Piper is turning over a new leaf. After belly-crawling out of a hotel room (hello, rock bottom), she decides it’s time to become a full-on adult. She gets a new apartment, a new haircut, and a new wardrobe, but when she logs onto the dating app that she has determined will find her new love, she sees none other than Jack, the guy whose room she snuck out of.

After the joint agreement that they are absolutely not interested in each other, Jack and Hallie become partners in their respective searches for The One. They text each other about their dates, often scheduling them at the same restaurant so that if things don’t go well, the two of them can get tacos afterward.

Spoiler: they get a lot of tacos together.

Discouraged by the lack of prospects, Jack and Hallie make a wager to see who can find true love first, but when they agree to be fake dates for a weekend wedding, all bets are off. As they pretend to be a couple, lines become blurred and they each struggle to remember why the other was a bad idea to begin with.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the eARC.

ON FIRE.

That’s how this book made me feel. The banter was immaculate perfection and every single interaction made me giddy and weak in the knees. While I was initially hesitant from the one night stand starting point, I LOVE the way Lynn Painter turned this. One of the best strangers to friends to lovers book I have read to date.

Hallie is my favorite type of contemporary main character. A little rough around the edges but wholly understanding of who she is and being that person always. She was pure fun and light, while maintaining that sense of realness. JACK, stop right now, he was the swooniest and sweetest guy EVER. I loved how he just there. The texts, phone calls, showing up to help, traveling, you name it, Jack made an effort to be apart of Hallie’s life. I thought they had fantastic chemistry and I could feel the tension from miles away. The slow burn will absolutely put you in a chokehold. Everything was ramped up in harmony waiting for that final breaking point and ohhhh how I loved it.

There’s a small dash of miscommunication that surprisingly didn’t bug me all that much. It’s moved through pretty quickly and is overall reasonably dealt with. I actually thought it made those last few scenes even more rom-com magnificent.

THIS BOOK WAS JUST SO GOOD. READ IT.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: strong throughout
  • Romance: light innuendo; 2-3 brief scenes (low-medium explicit)
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: brief mentions of a loss of a loved one

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Book Review

Book Review: Four Aunties and a Wedding (Aunties #2) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Mystery
Length: 304 pages
Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: March 29th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Meddy Chan has been to countless weddings, but she never imagined how her own would turn out. Now the day has arrived, and she can’t wait to marry her college sweetheart, Nathan. Instead of having Ma and the aunts cater to her wedding, Meddy wants them to enjoy the day as guests. As a compromise, they find the perfect wedding vendors: a Chinese-Indonesian family-run company just like theirs. Meddy is hesitant at first, but she hits it off right away with the wedding photographer, Staphanie, who reminds Meddy of herself, down to the unfortunately misspelled name.

Meddy realizes that is where their similarities end, however, when she overhears Staphanie talking about taking out a target. Horrified, Meddy can’t believe Staphanie and her family aren’t just like her own, they are The Family–actual mafia, and they’re using Meddy’s wedding as a chance to conduct shady business. Her aunties and mother won’t let Meddy’s wedding ceremony become a murder scene–over their dead bodies–and will do whatever it takes to save her special day, even if it means taking on the mafia.

The aunties are back, fiercer than ever and ready to handle any catastrophe–even the mafia–in this delightful and hilarious sequel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, author of Dial A for Aunties.

SCATTERED.

Ohhhh sequels. I LOVED the first book in this series, and while I enjoyed this read, it’s not a favorite.

The wedding idea was fun. I liked seeing all of the Aunties and Meddy again. The setting was the perfect event for plenty of antics and hijinks. I laughed here and there at some of the wild things that were happening. But alongside that, I thought the theatrics were a bit over the top. A lot of it felt like filler to create a second full length book and I just wasn’t into it. I also reallllly missed Nathan too!! He’s BARELY in this and I thought he could have added a great counter balance to Meddy if he was allowed some more page time.

This was another great audiobook and I love the way it’s narrated. There’s some great lower key scenes where Meddy realizes and appreciates just how much her family is willing to do for her and I love the strength of the bond all of them have together. And when Nathan did make an appearance I love how he backed up Meddy as well. Really great familial connections and that’s the best part of this series.

Overall audience notes:

  • Cozy mystery
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: kidnapping, physical altercations

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Book Review

Book Review: The Belle of Belgrave Square (Belles of London #2) by Mimi Matthews

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Rating: ★★★★★
Genre: Historical Romance
Length: 406 pages
Author: Mimi Matthrews
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: October 11th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A London heiress rides out to the wilds of the English countryside to honor a marriage of convenience with a mysterious and reclusive stranger.

Tall, dark, and dour, the notorious Captain Jasper Blunt was once hailed a military hero, but tales abound of his bastard children and his haunted estate in Yorkshire. What he requires now is a rich wife to ornament his isolated ruin, and he has his sights set on the enchanting Julia Wychwood.

For Julia, an incurable romantic cursed with a crippling social anxiety, navigating a London ballroom is absolute torture. The only time Julia feels any degree of confidence is when she’s on her horse. Unfortunately, a young lady can’t spend the whole of her life in the saddle, so Julia makes an impetuous decision to take her future by the reins—she proposes to Captain Blunt.

In exchange for her dowry and her hand, Jasper must promise to grant her freedom to do as she pleases. To ride—and to read—as much as she likes without masculine interference. He readily agrees to her conditions, with one provision of his own: Julia is forbidden from going into the tower rooms of his estate and snooping around his affairs. But the more she learns of the beastly former hero, the more intrigued she becomes…

OH MY GOSH I LOVED THIS SO MUCH.

I don’t feel like I can accurately put into words how much I loved this book. One of those “no notes” situations where gosh dang I am in a book slump over it.

This is now one of my favorite regency romances and one of the best Beauty and the Beast retellings I have come across. Add in MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE and I am SOLD. The entire book was filled with alllllllll of the swoon. I was a puddle over Jasper and his story and how he wooed Julie. It has some instant attraction vibes that flat out worked beautifully. It may seem low angst but I felt everything dang feeling watching these two come together.

I wish I had a physical/digital copy (I read the audiobook) to highlight many passages. Matthews creates gorgeous stories that melt your soul and make you fall in love with the characters. I loved the way Julia stood up for herself and found two strong feet to stand out with the faith of Jasper behind her. And I loved that she was shy AND strong.

The plot with the children and family and friends pushed the main romantic plot line perfectly. I am in awe of this read. It was stunning. I’m writing this review right after finishing it and I really just want to yell at everyone TO GO READ IT NOW PLEASE.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: very vague fade to black / closed door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: physical, emotional, and psychologically abusive parents, grief, recounting war themes

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Book Review

Book Review: The Royals Next Door by Karina Halle

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: Karina Halle
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: August 31st, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

An ordinary summer goes royally awry when a prince and princess move next door, bringing their handsome bodyguard with them, from New York Times bestselling author Karina Halle.

Piper Evans: elementary school teacher by day–avid romance reader and anonymous podcaster by night. She lives a quiet, reclusive life, taking care of her mother, who struggles with mental illness, avoiding her regrettable ex, who bartends in town, and trying to make inroads in the tight-knit island community that still sees her, five years in, as an outsider.

And she’s happy with how things are–really–until British royals rent the property next to hers and their brooding bodyguard decides she’s a security threat. Piper quickly realizes that one person’s fairy tale is an ordinary woman’s nightmare as a media frenzy takes over the island and each run-in with Harrison Cole is hotter and more confusing than the last. But beneath Harrison’s no-nonsense exterior lies a soft heart, one that could tempt a woman who’s sworn off attachments into believing in white knights.

But when Piper finds herself smack in the middle of a royal scandal that rocks the island she’ll need more than Harrison’s strong arms to shield her–she’ll have to do a little rescuing herself. With careers, hearts, and friendships on the line, Piper and Harrison will have to decide what they’re willing to give up for a chance at their own happily ever after.

I LIKED THE ROMANCE.

Which is a positive because this is a contemporary romance. The surrounding plot ended up being meh.

We have the quirky heroine who’s a bit of a hot mess who somehow ends up living next to the fictional versions of Harry & Meghan. While I do like the idea of the royals being a part of this story, I think it played waaaaay too heavily into being clones. So much so the characters from the book aren’t even memorable. I wanted them to feel like their own people.

The romance was charming. I’m not I’ve ever read a body guard trope? So that was definitely new and fun for me! There was plenty of tension and I did think the chemistry was there. I could have used some more time with just them rather than sitting over at the royals house all of the time, but it is what it is. I do like how Piper and Harrison’s story wrapped up.

I just disconnected from this story a lot. Some subjects felt preachy, like the push for not hating romance novels. Which, I mean, I’m reading a ROMANCE NOVEL, so, clearly, not against them (nor am I in general in anyway, romance all day every day). There was this continual by-line that there’s no need to hate romance novels and it came up so often I was getting frustrated. Just give me the romance.

Anywho, I digress, the book was fine. I liked how quick of a read it was and the HEA. I needed more from the surrounding stories and characters (only her Mom had a true personality, everyone else was boring). I am curious what the next in this series will be like!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses to multiple open door
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: cheating recounted, anxiety, c-PTSD, a parent with multiple mental health disorders

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