Tag: berkley

ALC Book Review: Christa Comes Out of Her Shell by Abbi Waxman

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fiction + Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Abbi Waxman
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: April 16th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Just when she thought she’d gotten far enough away . . . a life-changing phone call throws an antisocial scientist back into her least favorite place—the spotlight. A hilarious and insightful new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

After a tumultuous childhood, Christa Liddle has hidden away, both figuratively and literally. Happily studying sea snails in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Christa finds her tranquil existence thrown into chaos when her once-famous father—long thought dead after a plane crash—turns out to be alive, well, and ready to make amends. The world goes wild, fascinated by this real-life saga, pinning Christa and her family under the spotlight. As if that weren’t enough, her reunion with an old childhood friend reveals an intense physical attraction neither was expecting and both want to act on . . . if they can just keep a lid on it. When her father’s story starts to develop cracks, Christa fears she will lose herself, her potential relationship, and—most importantly—any chance of making it back to her snails before they forget her completely.

Thank you to Berkley (Berkley Partner) for the free book and PRH Audio (PRH Partner) for the free audiobook.

NEW FAV.

This book captivated me in all the best ways. I adored the plot and seeing Christa find her way through a lot of things thrown at her. This leans a little more fiction, but there’s definitely a romance present throughout.

And to go deeper into the romance, I loved the reconnection she had with Nate. They were starry eyed from the moment they found each other again. I loved the way Nate took care of Christa and also allowed her to be who she needed to be and where she needed to be. There was unconditional support and love woven throughout.

I also loved all of the dynamics between Christa and her Mom and sisters. It felt like an authentic family trying to move through some unimaginable happenings and looking for the best path together. There were fantastic conversations throughout and I loved the themes of forgiveness and healing.

The audiobook is stellar and I highly recommend that format. There are footnotes in the print copy that are added in flawlessly to the audio edition and I didn’t feel like the book was stilted in any way. They ended up being delightful anecdotes that made me laugh.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fiction + Romance
  • Language: moderate – strong
  • Romance: 1-2 open door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: sexual assault and non-consensual drugging (recounted), cheating/affair (side character)

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

ARC Book Review: Night for Day by Roselle Lim

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★☆
Audience: Magical Realism Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Roselle Lim
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: February 20th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Two people destined to be together, but to never see each other again, fight against the greatest odds in this powerful and moving fantasy novel by critically acclaimed author Roselle Lim.

Exes Ward Dunbar and Camille Buhay thought they would never see each other again. They had broken up to pursue their dream jobs on opposite sides of the country—her to New York City, and him to Los Angeles. But years later, they unexpectedly reconnect in London, where they are interviewing for similar jobs. The spark they feel when they meet again—the attraction comes back like muscle memory, and they are reminded of what they had lost. When Ward and Camille discover they both got the job working opposing shifts, they vow to give their relationship another try.

Ward starts the day shift and finds the immortal clientele unusual and dazzling. When he clocks out at the end of the day, he finds the door locked and himself trapped in the building. After a horrific first night shift contending with restless spirits and ghosts, Camille is also unable to escape. In their respective prisons, they discover that they’re able to talk to each other a few minutes before dawn. This fleeting encounter incites longing for each other, but their promise to be together feels impossible. Because they are caught in the middle of a war of the gods—and their choices will determine the outcome.

Thank you to Berkley for the gifted book and PRHAudio for the gifted audiobook!

WTHECK DID I JUST READ.

There’s no way I would have finished this if I didn’t have a review copy to get through, it was an absolute hot mess. And since I don’t have positives to say, we’ll keep this short.

My ONE positive: The audiobook narrators were fantastic. They nailed it, loved that there were two of them for the dual POV and that had me hanging on by a thread to this story.

Y’all. I don’t even know where to begin. This book was pure chaos. Nothing made sense and there seemed to be no rules to anything?? Things would happen and I was sitting there going, but HOWW???? The romance was meh, and the entire book was really awkwardly lusty? That’s not how you bring the heat at all.

And the ending made me want to throw my book. I hate books with this set-up. With all of the low reviews already on this, I should have known. I took one for the team here, I do not recommend reading this book.

Overall audience notes:

  • Magical realism fantasy romance?
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 1-2 open; with awkward misplaced innuendo throughout
  • Violence: low

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

ARC Book Review: Bride by Ali Hazelwood

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Paranormal Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: February 6th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis.

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again…

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was….

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she’s ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.

Thank you to Berkley for the eARC.

DEVOURED.

Good heavens. This was enthralling. I love Ali Hazelwood’s writing style and moving into urban/paranormal fantasy was an absolute hit for me. The well placed banter and jokes had me laughing out loud and the romance had be utterly swooning.

I loved the slow burn. It dragged out just as it should and kept me itching for more more more (don’t worry, there’s plenty of payoff). I adored Misery and Lowe. Misery was a great heroine who I loved seeing find her home. Lowe was the best grumpy Alpha that held me attention the moment he stepped on page. I LOVED this entire cast. Even the antagonists were fantastic. A truly well written group of characters who all brought this book to five stars.

The plot was engaging and I liked the world building. It’s very light, but just enough that you get a grasp of the different dynamics and politics between Were vs. Vampyre vs. Human. I love that it feels like there’s still plenty of places to explore (hello second book with a couple I can’t wait to read). There’s a nice level of suspense and that driven need to keep those pages flying.

I loved it so much. READ IT.

Overall audience notes:

  • Paranormal Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance 4+ open door
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: kidnapping, murder, mentions of loss of parents, parental abandonment

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: The Book That Wouldn’t Burn (The Library Trilogy #1) by Mark Lawrence

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Length: 576 pages
Author: Mark Lawrence
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: May 9th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A boy has lived his whole life trapped within a vast library, older than empires and larger than cities.

A girl has spent hers in a tiny settlement out on the Dust where nightmares stalk and no one goes.

The world has never even noticed them. That’s about to change.

Their stories spiral around each other, across worlds and time. This is a tale of truth and lies and hearts, and the blurring of one into another. A journey on which knowledge erodes certainty, and on which, though the pen may be mightier than the sword, blood will be spilled and cities burned.

I AM INTRIGUED.

I have never read a Mark Lawrence book (though I’ve always been meaning to do so) and I felt like this was a great introduction and a series I definitely want to continue with. I love books about books and this was very interesting. While a lot of the world building and magic system clicked for, I do feel like I was missing those last few pieces (and maybe that was me listening on audio issue) to fully grasp what was happening. There was SO MUCH time warping situations and I am notoriously baffled by those.

I did love the characters. It’s dual POV between Livira and Evar. I was smitten with these two. There’s a slow and subtle romance between them that crosses time and who doesn’t love a star crossed union? And I really enjoyed them on their own too. I love seeing that growth and exploration of self over a book. I am very curious about how this connection will continue to play out and grow in the future books.

This was a great fantasy series starter and a hidden gem to me that I’m glad I took a chance on. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: high

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph || TikTok