Tag: Book Review

Book Review: Heart of the Raven Prince (Entangled with Fae #2) by Tessonja Odette

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 506 pages
Author: Tessonja Odette
Publisher: Crystal Moon Press
Release Date: August 13th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A Cinderella Retelling

A playboy prince in want of a decoy bride.
A servant girl desperate for a disguise…

Raven shifter Prince Franco is every social climbing debutante’s dream. He’s handsome, heir to the Lunar Court throne, and deliciously single. Every young woman wants to bed him, wed him, or steal a moment of his time. Except, of course, for Ember Montgomery.

Half fae Ember craves freedom from her conniving stepfamily. As if they weren’t enough to deal with, a chance encounter with the arrogant Prince Franco leaves her humiliated and in a fiery rage. Nothing could convince her the prince is anything but a rake. But when the opportunity to evade her scheming stepmother falls into her lap, she’ll pay the price—even if it means impersonating the prince’s newest flame…

To prove himself a worthy heir, Prince Franco must marry a princess. But after far too many unsatisfying trysts, he’s given up on love. With the social season in full swing, and bringing with it a horde of husband-hungry socialites, he’ll do anything to delay the pressures of both marriage and the crown. And what better solution than an alliance with a desperate servant girl glamoured as his false future bride?

Locked in a bargain, Ember must pose as a princess until midnight at the full moon ball. Until then, all she has to do is wear the glamour, pretend to court the prince, and above all else, not fall in love. But when feelings emerge on both sides, she starts to wonder if there’s more to their contrived courtship than either of them planned…

Can Ember and Franco find love when the masks come off? Or will illusions and lies prove stronger than their hearts?

UNDERWHELMING.

I’ve had this sitting on my TBR for a long time and I should have just taken it off. I am underwhelmed and maybe a little bitter I spent my time on this one.

Initially everything was FINE. But the further the book went the more I saw that the opportunities were there but the execution was not. Plot points throughout just didn’t click. And the amalgamation of them all left me unsatisfied. I didn’t MIND the main characters, Ember and Franco, but I also needed for from them.

The Cinderella retelling aspects were clearly identified and it was kind of interesting to see how it was reimagined. I think some more deviation would have helped rather than leaning so hard into the familiar story. I wanted that new feeling.

Things felt out of place and I won’t be continuing this series.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance Retelling
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 2 open door; moderate explicit
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: abusive stepmother, physical altercations and near death experiences, loss of a father

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Beachy Keen (Falling for Summer) by Kasey Stockton

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 354 pages
Author: Kasey Stockton
Publisher: Golden Owl Press
Release Date: June 19th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He has it all, except the one thing money can’t buy: her heart.

When Cat Keene finds a medical bill with the horrendous words final notice stamped across the front, she learns two things: first, her uncle/the man who raised her is keeping things from her for the first time in her life. Second, they need money—and fast—or they’ll lose the only thing she has left of her parents: the bed & breakfast she runs with him.

Noah Belacourt is a billionaire with a newly acquired anxiety diagnosis and a one-way ticket to Sunset Harbor for the summer, courtesy of his company’s board of directors. Being on the island he grew up on for a forced sabbatical has a major perk when he runs into the girl he’s harbored a crush on since they were teens. She’s still the same old Cat, except now she’s in some major financial trouble. Noah wants to help her, but Cat is stubborn. She holds onto past biases about his family and takes some convincing.

When Cat agrees to work as Noah’s personal assistant for the summer, she doesn’t realize she’s signing up for a lot more than debt relief. Some of her preconceived notions about the Belacourt family begin to feel wrong. Noah proves that not all first impressions are reliable, forcing Cat to face the past—and to hope that things will end up just peachy keen after all.

Because the alternative is losing everything that matters to her, and she is not about to let that happen.

THIS WAS CUTE.

Ooooh boy do I love an anxiety rep cinnamon roll of a man. And Noah was all that and more. I loved seeing the anxiety in this book and it was well handled and well written. Gosh I feel that so deeply.

And the romance is cute! I liked the multiple opportunities for forced proximity moments and had a good with Noah being a billionaire. I think the setting is fantastic and I really love all of the summer vibes this series is bringing. There’s some wonderful growth moments for both characters and I loved the strong connection they formed together. And I always love a cute epilogue.

There’s a few small plot things that didn’t click for me but I am in no way upset I read this. I love a good sweet romance and this delivered.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Content Warnings: childhood bullying recounted, loss of parents (recounted), depictions of anxiety (including anxiety attacks)

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Seven Summers by Paige Toon

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 441 pages
Author: Seven Summers
Publisher: Random House UK
Release Date: December 2nd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Six summers to fall in love. One summer to change everything.

Liv and Finn meet six summers ago working in a bar on the rugged Cornish coastline, their futures full of promise. When a night of passion ends in devastating tragedy they are bound together inextricably. But Finn’s life is in LA with his band, and Liv’s is in Cornwall with her family—so they make a promise. Finn will return every year, and if they are single they will spend the summer together.

This summer Liv crosses paths with Tom—a mysterious new arrival in her hometown. As the wildflowers and heather come into bloom, they find themselves falling for one another. For the first time Liv can imagine a world where her heart isn’t broken every autumn. Now Liv must make an impossible choice. And when she discovers the shocking reason that Tom has left home, she’ll need to trust her heart even more.

GOOD HEAVENS.

Alright, I’m going to be honest. I usually HATE these kind of books. And I think this will be a polarizing kind of read. Luckily this hit me at a good time because I was obsessed with listening to it and threw five stars at it because I was IN MY FEELS.

I’m going to try to stay vague because I think this book will be better enjoyed going in as blind as you can (I hadn’t even read the synopsis, I just saw one friend’s five star review). I loved the high levels of angst and tension. The dual timeline really worked here and I was smitten with the romance. And even when frustrated, I was INVOLVED. I love when a book has me in a chokehold. It took turns I wasn’t expecting, but that I feel worked how for how life truly works out sometimes. There’s good discussion points and the love story has a forever quality to it.

This had great summer vibes too if you’re needing a summer romance to read. I flew through it and definitely plan to read future Paige Toon books.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low-moderate
  • Romance: 4+ fade to black
  • Violence: low
  • Content Warnings: loss of parents (car accident), loss of a spouse, depictions of grief

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Crossroads of Twilight (The Wheel of Time #10) by Robert Jordan

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 704 pages
Author: Robert Jordan
Publisher: Tor
Release Date: January 1st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In the tenth book of The Wheel of Time from the New York Times #1 bestselling author Robert Jordan, the world and the characters stand at a crossroads, and the world approaches twilight, when the power of the Shadow grows stronger.

Fleeing from Ebou Dar with the kidnapped Daughter of the Nine Moons, whom he is fated to marry, Mat Cauthon learns that he can neither keep her nor let her go, not in safety for either of them, for both the Shadow and the might of the Seanchan Empire are in deadly pursuit.

Perrin Aybara seeks to free his wife, Faile, a captive of the Shaido, but his only hope may be an alliance with the enemy. Can he remain true to his friend Rand and to himself? For his love of Faile, Perrin is willing to sell his soul.

At Tar Valon, Egwene al’Vere, the young Amyrlin of the rebel Aes Sedai, lays siege to the heart of Aes Sedai power, but she must win quickly, with as little bloodshed as possible, for unless the Aes Sedai are reunited, only the male Asha’man will remain to defend the world against the Dark One, and nothing can hold the Asha’man themselves back from total power except the Aes Sedai and a unified White Tower.

In Andor, Elayne Trakland fights for the Lion Throne that is hers by right, but enemies and Darkfriends surround her, plotting her destruction. If she fails, Andor may fall to the Shadow, and the Dragon Reborn with it.

Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn himself, has cleansed the Dark One’s taint from the male half of the True Source, and everything has changed. Yet nothing has, for only men who can channel believe that saidin is clean again, and a man who can channel is still hated and feared-even one prophesied to save the world. Now, Rand must gamble again, with himself at stake, and he cannot be sure which of his allies are really enemies.

NOTHING HAPPENED.

Imma keep this short because it’s a waste of energy to spend it on a book that already made me waste my time listening to it. I was told to skip this book and honestly I could have. I even looked up a YouTube recap to make sure I really didn’t miss anything and YUP. This is a “build” book that will slowly cause you to lose your mind.

Alright, that’s it.

I’m only reading this series to get to the Sanderson books and what a labor of author love this has been lol.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy
  • Language: some
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: moderate-high

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph