Book Review: Talk Santa to Me by Linda Urban

December 1, 2023November 30, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Holiday Fiction
Length: 280 pages
Author: Linda Urban
Publisher: Atheneum Books
Release Date: September 27th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A teen girl gets the perfect second try at a first kiss in this young adult romantic comedy.

Francie was born in a stable. Really. Granted, it was the deluxe model with the light-up star on the roof, one of the many Christmas items for sale at her family’s Hollydale Holiday Shop. Their holiday gift empire also includes the Santa School, which was founded by Francie’s beloved grandpa, who recently passed away.

Francie’s always loved working in the shop, but lately Aunt Carole has been changing everything with her ideas for too-slick, Hollywood-inspired Santas and horrible holiday-themed employee uniforms. Aunt Carole’s vision will ruin all the charm and nostalgia Francie loves about her family’s business…unless she does something about it.

But this winter is about more than preserving the magic of Christmas. Francie is saving up for a car and angling to kiss the cute boy who works at the tree lot next door—hopefully it will be good enough to wipe her fiasco of a first kiss from her memory.

As the weather outside gets more and more frightful, can Francie pull off the holiday of her dreams?

NOT FOR ME.

I think I’m calling it on trying to read YA contemporary holiday books. I have been let down a few too many times.

This book was short, and full of wanderings that didn’t help the plot at all. Which made the book boring and feel long. I didn’t need snippets about work uniforms or multiple pages of the letters begin written to kids (they weren’t different). I wanted more character growth, more relationships, and an overall better dynamic.

And if you thought this had romance, it really doesn’t. Francie kind of pines after someone for most of the book and then sometime after halfway they kissed. Very anticlimatic.

No point of continuing this review. I’ve moved on from this book.

Overall audience notes:

YA Contemporary Holiday Fiction
Language: a little
Romance: kisses
Trigger/Content Warning: loss of a loved one (recounted)

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ARC Book Review: The Binding Season (Fallow Creek #3) by Claudia Cain

November 30, 2023November 11, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Paranormal Horror / Romance
Length: 382 pages
Author: Claudia Cain
Publisher: Black Sheep Books
Release Date: November 30th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Cassandra Reilly has faced monsters and devastating losses. Now she’s overcome death itself, completing the rite to become the Witch of Fallow Creek.

It’s a shame it didn’t work.

Cass has survived the rite, but with an unexpected result: she can’t control her magic. Haunted by ghosts and struggling with her damaged family, she already has enough to deal with when a body is found in the woods, and the local Fae task her with tracking down the killer.

But this murder is more than it seems. Power never comes unchallenged, and not everyone is happy about the new Witch.

This challenge might be more than Cass can handle.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

NEW SERIES FAVORITE.

Y’ALL. THIS BOOK.

This is definitely my new favorite of the series and ohhhh my gosh I loved it so much. My favorite (of course) was how much romantic development I finally got! This slow burn was going to end me and YAYYYYYYYY. Basically my giddy little self this entire book. Merich must be protected at all costs.

I loved this edition and how we got to see a little more of the world and characters in the woods. While focusing on one issue I loved seeing the hints toward the final showdown coming in book four. The complex sibling dynamics are wonderful as always. I love how they protect each other and fight and love and all the things a tight knit family unit does.

This is as gruesome as always (and I’m not even a horror reader, THESE are my exception). The Binding Season is an hidden gem that I need more readers to get their hands on.

Overall audience notes:

Paranormal / Horror + Romance
Language: a little
Romance: kisses
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: mild body horror, near death experiences, blood/gore depiction

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Book Review: Iron Flame (The Empyrean #2) by Rebecca Yarros

November 30, 2023November 11, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 623 pages
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Publisher: Red Tower Books
Release Date: November 7th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED.

I loved this book.

I loved the depth of the characters, even the side players had so many layers to them. I liked seeing new sides, understanding decisions, and making new connections. While at times frustrating, heart squeezing, or sobbing, I loved feeling all the things as I binge listened.

This book slowed things down, but still brought plenty of action. I liked the slower pace and still getting to see a lot of aspects of Violet’s second year at Basgiath. Things felt more on edge and I felt like every page turn had me on pins and needles. And the DRAGONS. They are still one of my favorite aspects about this series and seeing even more of their internal politics and the BANTER between Tairn and Andarna sent me. They are my favorite.

I loved the complex romance too. Xaden and Violet have a lot to work through and everything is not easy going while in the midst of so many betrayals and war looming. I liked that things were hard, because I finally felt like I saw new sides to both of them. Xaden’s lines had me in a puddle practically every time he spoke.

The ending laid me out and I will be in panic mode until I get my hands on book three.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: strong
Romance: 3-4 open
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: torture, loss of life, war themes

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Book Review: A Billionaire Inventor for Christmas (Dexington Christmas Billionaires #1) by Dobi Daniels

November 29, 2023November 30, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Length: 204 pages
Author: Dobi Daniels
Publisher: Luxhaven Publishing
Release Date: June 15th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He might just be the Christmas gift she needs to heal.

Sarah Nash has no time for romance. She’d been emotionally scarred from her last relationship and has just managed to pay off the mountain of debts she was saddled with.

Now all she wants for Christmas is to rediscover Christmas joy—no love in the equation, and what better place than her hometown Dexington where she recalled spending the happiest times of her life. She is determined to stick with her plan and not even a chance encounter with Phillip—billionaire hospital heir and inventor, and the town’s most eligible bachelor—can change her mind.

Until she discovers he is the boy she kissed in high school.

Phillip Dexington is finally about to launch a new medical device after having his last invention stolen by his former girlfriend and sold to his archenemy. He’s determined that nothing must go wrong this time around—which means avoiding a relationship at all costs—and is content with spending Christmas with the children at the orphanage.

But when Phillip runs into Sarah Nash, the girl who stole his heart in high school, his world flips upside down. She’s only in town for Christmas, and the time before the launch party is Phillip’s only chance at determining if she is the one.

Will they open their hearts to the fullness of Christmas and give love a second chance, or will their trust issues rob them of a happily ever after?

This is a sweet/clean emotional scars Christmas medical billionaire romance with no cliffhangers and a guaranteed HEA.

TOO EASY.

This book started off fine, but since it was super short, it tanked quickly.

Everything was simultaneously too easy and too dramatic. There were true attempts at working through forgiveness and listening to someone’s story before making assumptions. All good things at the core, buuut, with no further conversation after it made those deeper moments feel shallow.

And things got dramatic. I can barely remember the exact details at this point because I already felt through with the book.

It wasn’t for me.

Overall audience notes: