book blogger – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 220 pages
Author: Cara Bastone
Publisher: Audible Originals
Release Date: October 20th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Paint your toes. Pick up the wrong coffee and bagel order. Drive from Brooklyn to Jersey in traffic so slow you want to tear your hair out. It’s amazing all the useless things I can accomplish while on hold for three hours with customer service. Three hours when I should be getting the Date-in-a-Box website ready to launch at the big business expo in a few days. Except my shiny new website is glitching, and my inner rage-monster is ready to scorch some earth…when he finally picks up. Not the robot voice I expected but a real live human named Cal. He’s surprisingly helpful and really knows his stuff, even if he’s a little awkward…in an adorable way.

And suddenly I’m flirting with him? And I think he’s flirting back.

And suddenly it’s been hours, and we’re still on the phone talking and ordering each other takeout while he troubleshoots my website.

And suddenly we’re exchanging numbers and sending texts and DMs every day, leaving voice mails (who even does that anymore?!).

And suddenly I’m wondering if it’s possible for two people to fall in love at first talk.

Because I’m falling…hard.

THAT WAS CUTE.

Another good read in this series. I read the “second” book first, but these could easily be read in any order and you won’t miss a thing. I did love Sweet Talk more than Call Me Maybe, but both had amazing narration and the production was top notch. Definitely grab these on audio if you can!

This was such a spontaneous, never would have thought of, meet-cute. A customer service call? Who knew! I liked that stretch of reality of these two getting to know each other over the hours spent diagnosing website issues. It was sweet, and I found myself laughing and smiling with Vera and Cal.

I didn’t love Vera as much as I would have liked. I ended up really being here for the quiet and kind nature of Cal. This was without a doubt, an opposites attract scenario. There’s a few minor plot hole and connection issues that sometimes come with the territory of a short read. Not really pressing issues as this was a nice, lighthearted, heart melting read.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: little
Romance: kisses

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Book Review

Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: November 2021

November 30, 2021November 29, 2021 GoodeyReads

Birthday month was a success! Lots of great reads, and plenty of holiday books too.

Favorites of the Month (there were a lot!): When You Get the Chance, The Fastest Way to Fall, Echoes and Empires, The Hating Game, The Flight Girls, Aurora’s End, A Cross-Country Christmas, The Song of the Marked, The Off-Limits Rule, The Inadequate Heir, A Twist of the Blade, and Cytonic

Least Favorites: Jade Fire Gold, What Are Friends For?, Lovelight Farms, and A Convenient Christmas

[ARC] When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord
[Novella] ReDawn: Skyward Flight (Skyward #2.2) by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson
Jade Fire Gold by June C.L. Tan
The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams
[ARC] Echoes and Empires (Echoes and Empires #1) by Morgan Rhodes
The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time #2) by Robert Jordan
[Reread] The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
The Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar
Gilded (Gilded #1) by Marissa Meyer
What Are Friends For? (Love in Fenton County #1) by Sarah Sutton
[ARC] A Song Among the Silence (The Rhythmist Cycle #1) by Julie Janis
Aurora’s End (The Aurora Cycle #3) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
A Cross-Country Christmas by Courtney Walsh
The Song of the Marked (Shadows and Crowns #1) by S.M. Gaither
[ARC] The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison
Vespertine (Vespertine #1) by Margaret Rogerson
One Way or Another by Kara McDowell
[ARC] Edgewood by Kristin Ciccarelli
[Reread] The Off-Limits Rule (It Happened in Nashville #1) by Sarah Adams
The Inadequate Heir (The Bridge Kingdom #3) by Danielle L. Jensen
Duke, Actually (A Princess for Christmas #2) by Jenny Holiday
[Novella] A Holiday by Gaslight by Mimi Mathews
A Twist of the Blade (Shadows and Crowns #2) by S.M. Gaither
A Convenient Christmas (Isn’t It Sweet #1) by Jody Holford
[ARC] Beyond the Lavender Fields by Arlem Hawks
[Novella] Christmas in Love by Karen Thornell
The Burning God (The Poppy War #3) by R.F. Kuang
Cytonic (Skyward #3) by Brandon Sanderson
A Very Grumpy Christmas by Jerica MacMillan
These Broken Stars (Starbound #1) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
[Novella] Merry Hearts (Poplar Falls #4.5) by Amber Kelly

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Book Review

Book Review: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

October 9, 2020June 24, 2020 GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult dystopia + romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Kim Liggett
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: October 8th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

WELL THAT WAS INTERESTING.

What a unique book y’all. And yet…not? I did a buddy read for this book and we both were finding so many tidbits from other books in here that combined to form a whole new novel. It was definitely something different.

I liked how quick it was to read. I would look down and be astonished at how many pages had already flown by. The Grace Year keeps you involved and wanting to know what happens next. I had so many questions throughout it that kept me on my toes. Who was going to die? Why did this happen? Wait, is that what I think it is? Ah, I love a book that makes me question.

This was also a very odd world-system. I would have loved to know if this county’s system was more broad than just this small area, but I was creeped out by the system anyways. Sending the girls off because they have “magic,” was so barbaric I could barely handle it.

One aspect I really didn’t like that caused the 4 star rating was the love story. For someone SO INCREDIBLY ADAMANT they didn’t want to be married or committed in anyway to fall for someone else was a bit unbelievable. The way it was written made it seem like a shorter time period than it really was which also rushed the process. Tierney’s relationship could have used a lot more development, or flat out cutting this piece out.

I liked how everything ended. Michael was a saint and I can’t believe the compassion and forgiveness he had for what Tierney did (which was another piece of the book I didn’t love). Michael did everything for her and I was grateful to see them begin to work things out. I also loved that the usurper was close to home. It made the theme of this book clear, women need to support women and not tear each other down.

Overall audience notes:

Young adult dystopia + romance
Language: none
Romance: very little detail fade to black scene, some kisses
Violence: murder, lightning strikes, punishments in the form of removing fingers/ear/toes/hair, poison, knives

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Book Review

Book Review: Confess by Colleen Hoover

March 25, 2020January 30, 2020 GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: New adult contemporary romance
Length: 306 pages
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: March 10th, 2015
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Auburn Reed is determined to rebuild her shattered life and she has no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to become deeply attracted to the studio’s enigmatic artist, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is hiding a huge secret. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything Auburn loves most, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it—but can she do it?

COHO FOREVER.

I can’t think of a book by Colleen Hoover that doesn’t leave me emotionally distraught but also handing out 5 stars like it’s a meteor shower. I LOVE HER BOOKS. This a back list title of hers I happened to see at a used bookstore and I snatched it so fast and read it even quicker.

The way this romance is written in short time period, and yet feels like the best slow burn makes this book. I love being taken on a journey with these characters and feeling the intensity of their choices and situations.

I can never imagine how more tragic these stories can get until it happens. And yet, it never feels dramatic. There’s such a sense of real life and knowing these characters that make me love this story. Everything feels authentic and honest and I mesmerizingly read this in one sitting because I needed Auburn to have a happy ending at last.

Owen is another enigmatic and swoon worthy romantic interest. He’s filled with such longing for his own happy ending and struggling to cope with his own past. Auburn was intensely brave and an incredibly strong woman. Their connection and drive on their own was amazing, put them together and it’s dynamite.

I feel like I’m struggling to put this review into something fully legible. I JUST LOVE COHO BOOKS. The power and rawness of each story captures me and forces me to think. The ability to create these situations and not make it feel cheesy is the reason I love to read her books. This was another winner.

Overall audience notes:

New adult contemporary romance
Language: throughout
Romance: a mildly detailed scene, a FTB scene
Violence: discussion of car wreck
Trigger warnings: arrest for possession, pain pill addiction, an abusive relationship (physical, emotional, manipulative and sexual), attempted sexual assault