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ARC Book Review: Of Gold and Shadows by Michelle Griep

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Michelle Griep
Publisher: Bethany House
Release Date: September 24th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In 1888 Victorian England, Ami Dalton navigates a clandestine dual life. By day, she strives to establish herself as a respected Egyptologist, overcoming the gender biases that permeate academia. But with a heart for rescuing black-market artifacts, she is most often disguised as her alter ego, the Shadow Broker. After eight years in India, Oxford’s most eligible bachelor, Edmund Price, has come out of the shadows to run for Parliament and is in search of an Egyptologist to value a newly acquired collection. Expecting a renowned Oxford professor, Edmund instead finds himself entangled with Ami, the professor’s determined daughter. As they delve into the treasures, their connection deepens, but trouble emerges when a golden griffin–rumored to bear the curse of Amentuk–surfaces and they’re left to wonder if the curse really is at play, or if something more nefarious is hiding among the shadows. . . . Award-winning author Michelle Griep weaves a tale of love, mystery, and intrigue set against the backdrop of the gaslit streets of Oxford, England.

Thank you Bethany House for the gifted copy.

THOUGHTS.

I think this was a good book overall and it does have its audience. I do think that the audience isn’t quite me. Some aspects didn’t work for me, but some did.

I liked most of the scenes involving the two main leads, Ami and Edmund. There’s a lot of moments for them to get to know each other and when a book only has one main kissing scene you want it to deliver and it does. I thought they had wonderful chemistry. I also thought the historical aspects were interesting too.

It is a standalone and wraps up most things well. There was one plot point that threw me off about closing part of the story, the rest was good though. The faith elements were fairly well woven in too. It is a more moderate theme throughout.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate
  • Content Warnings: physical altercations, murder, weapons violence

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Book Review: Slow Dance in Purgatory (Purgatory #1) by Amy Harmon

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Paranormal YA Romance
Length: 232 pages
Author: Amy Harmon
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: April 2nd, 2012
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Orphaned from the age of ten, 17-year-old Maggie finally finds a permanent home with her elderly aunt in a small Texas town. Working part-time at the local high school, she becomes enmeshed in a fifty-year-old unsolved mystery where nothing is as it seems. Who is the boy no one else can see? And what do you do when you fall in love with a ghost? This volatile and mismatched romance is doomed from its start, as Maggie struggles to hold on to yet another life destined to be taken from her. Secret love and hushed affections are constantly threatened by outside forces resulting in a terrifying race to stay alive.

‘Slow Dance in Purgatory’ captures the heart-ache of a love story where there can be no happy ending…

GHOSTLY.

I’m honestly a hard sell on paranormal ghost based romances and that was my biggest draw back here. Granted, I thought the way things worked out has me totally intrigued and I will be picking up the next book to see what happens.

It’s a very quick story (honestly thought it could have been one book??). I enjoyed both main characters and that we got dual POV. MY FAV. The dancing and little dates and intensely heated conversations were all great. There’s a lot to unpack throughout.

One of the side characters drove me up a wall and I wish we didn’t have any of his POV or commentary or anything else. It just came off naïve and silly and a page filler.

Otherwise, I’m loving getting the chance to work through Amy Harmon’s back list (I think this is her first released book too). It’s fun to see how writing styles have changed.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Paranormal Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: brief gun violence, losing a loved one, physical altercations, bullying

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ARC Book Review: A Sky Full of Dragons (The Wand Keepers #1) by Tiffany McDaniel

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: MG Fantasy
Length: 352 pages
Author: Tiffany McDaniel
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: September 24th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

For younger fans of Witchlings and Eva Evergreen comes a light-hearted and whimsical middle grade fantasy about a young girl who must save her witch aunt from an uncommonly voracious hat.Where dragons take flight, through the dark of the night. Where the fire ignites, you will find the light. Aunt Cauldroneyes is always looking into cauldrons. She’s found everything from giggling moons to troll nose rings, but when she looks inside a purple cauldron one stormy night, she finds a girl with blue freckles. The old witch raises the girl and names her Spella. They live in Hungry Snout Forest in a crooked house with doors enchanted to smell like chocolate. In the attic full of floating fabric and biting buttons, Aunt Cauldroneyes teaches Spella how to make magical hats for creatures like unicorns and dragons, giants and goblins. When Spella turns eight, she receives an invitation to Dragon’s Knob, a school for wand witchery and wizardry. But on the very night Spella is set to leave, a stranger appears with a growling hat that swallows Aunt Cauldroneyes and steals her away! To rescue her aunt, Spella must go up into a sky full of dragons and to her new school. With protesters outside the gates threatening the school’s academic freedom and a deepening mystery within the walls, Spella and her new friend Tolden are thrust into the mystery of her aunt’s disappearance and a long-buried secret hidden somewhere in the school.

Thank you Tiffany McDaniel for the gifted copy and Simon Audio for the ALC.

A SWEET GEM.

I absolutely adored this book. It had all of the things I kind of look out for when reading middle grade. It felt like a book I could read to my little’s and that we could all enjoy together and I loved that vibe the most.

The world is whimsical and FULL of magical creatures. I liked the little footnotes explaining each one. It better builds the world and all of the different aspects to the plot. I loved the general theme of appreciating and taking care of nature. It’s playful and imaginative.

I am intrigued by the beginnings of some found family moments within Spella’s journey through her new school. I happened to have listened to the audiobook and thought it was fantastic too. I absolutely will be continuing this series.

Overall audience notes:

  • Middle Grade Fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: low

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ALC Book Review: The Christmas You Found Me (Heart of the Wilderness #1) by Sarah Morgenthaler

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Holiday Romance
Length: 304 pages
Author: Sarah Morgenthaler
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: September 24th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Sarah Morgenthaler is back with a heart-mending contemporary romance featuring a single dad you’ll fall for; a satisfying slow burn love affair; found family you’ll root for; small town holiday magic; and all the quirky animals and snowy rustic scenes your heart desires.

Sienna Naples’s family has taken care of their wild Idaho land for generations and Sienna can’t imagine any other life. But at Christmastime, with her parents gone and her painful marriage finally over, it’s full of memories…and incredibly lonely. Until a tall, handsome stranger and a little girl walk into her life and suddenly the holidays are alive again.

When single father Guy Maple shows up as the result of an ad meant to be a joke, the handsome Montana construction worker isn’t joking. Money is tight this Christmas, and Guy’s four-year-old daughter Emma has stage-five chronic kidney disease. She needs a kidney transplant, but if Guy can’t prove that he can afford Emma’s anti-rejection medications, his daughter isn’t going to stay on the transplant list. Guy’s willing to do anything, including marrying a stranger, to keep her safe. It’s an impulsive marriage of convenience, and Sienna knows this isn’t real, no matter how much she adores Emma, how well Guy fits in to the ranching life—or how much light and laughter is coming into their lives as a result. But the more time she spends with her new family, the more she fears losing the fragile, feisty little girl and the kind, devoted, hard-working, incredibly attractive man who is her husband—but is it only in name?

Thank you Dreamscape Media for the ALC.

THE FEELS.

I easily hand off five stars to any book that makes me cry because it’s really hard to do so and this book earned those tears. I was a puddle finishing it and all of the emotions that came together (don’t worry, it’s a HEA!).

I loved these flawed characters leaning on each other through hard seasons of life. I was obsessed with Guy and his endearing qualities. A man who got up and did the hard things every single day. Who loved with such fierce loyalty. I loved everything about him and how well he balanced with Sienna. And I loved Sienna’s tenacity too. Her impulsivity to help someone in need became the best decision she ever made. The journey captured my attention and I couldn’t help but pick this book up because it continually draws you in.

The audiobook narration is AMAZING. I loved it. I loved how the narrator worked with Guy’s voice and how Emma’s voice wasn’t too childlike. I loved this soft romance set on a beautiful mountain filled back drop. It is filled with all the things I love and I am so thankful that Sarah Morgenthaler wrote another book. She is one of my favorites and this is a perfect holiday gem.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: fade to black
  • Violence: low
  • Content Warnings: a child with kidney failure (theme throughout), divorce, mentions of PPD (side character), emesis

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