Tag: berkley

ARC Book Review: Night for Day by Roselle Lim

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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

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ARC Book Review: Bride by Ali Hazelwood

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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

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

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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

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ARC Book Review: Recipe for a Charmed Life by Rachel Linden

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Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 384 pages
Author: Rachel Linden
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: January 9th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

After a day of unrivaled disappointments, a promising young chef finds every bite of food suddenly tastes bitter. To save her career, she travels to the Pacific Northwest to reconnect with her estranged mom, and discovers a family legacy she never suspected in this delicious novel from the bestselling author of The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie.

American chef Georgia May Jackson has one goal—to run her own restaurant in Paris. After a grueling decade working in Parisian kitchens, she is on the cusp of success. But in one disastrous night, Georgia loses her sous-chef position, her French boyfriend, and her sense of taste! Renowned for her refined palate and daring use of bold flavors to create remarkable dishes, Georgia is devastated to discover her culinary gift has simply…vanished.

When she receives a surprising invitation from her estranged mother, Georgia flees to a small island near Seattle hoping the visit will help her regain her spark in the kitchen. There she tentatively reconnects with her mom, a free-spirited hippie eager to make up for her past mistakes. But there’s something about the enigmatic island Georgia just can’t piece together. Good luck charms keep appearing in the oddest places. Her neighbor is a puzzlingly antagonist (and annoyingly handsome) oyster farmer. And her mom keeps hinting at a mysterious family legacy.

With the clock ticking and time running out to win her dream job in Paris, Georgia begins to unravel some astonishing secrets that make her wonder if the true recipe for a charmed life might look—and taste—very different than she ever imagined.

Thank you Berkley for my gifted copy.

DIDN’T QUITE CLICK.

Well folks, this one let me down a bit. Started off well and I was interested, and then things never picked up. It kind of felt one note throughout and I was waiting to feel INVESTED and that point never hit for me.

The cooking content was good, I love a book that makes me hungry. I liked the setting and there were aspects of the romance that I enjoyed too. It’s a slow burn with a dash of banter and forced proximity.

All of the family drama and secrets started to bug me too. I was tired of hearing I can’t tell you yet, OHMYGOSHJUSTTELLME. It felt added in to stretch out the book and I felt annoyed by this.

I liked that that Georgia had some growth and found where she wanted to be. I love a good full circle moment and this had the ones I was after.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Fiction + romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: cheating boyfriend, a mother with drug abuse issues, parental abandonment, driving under the influence causing a car crash

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