Book Review: Where Oceans Burn (Where Oceans Burn #1) by Casey L. Bond

October 2, 2023October 16, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 467 pages
Author: Casey L. Bond
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: October 13th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

With these three virtues, we shall rise. With these three, we shall conquer.

Truth. Honor. Blood.

To my people, the sky-reigning Empyreans, Intention Day is sacred…

Truth…
To me, it’s the day my carefully crafted lie crumbles and my truth gives way to my ruin. The intense power surging through my veins is revealed, immediately coveted by those eager to exploit me for what they deem a greater good. If they have their way, the future I long for will be ripped away. But I am a warrior born to fly. To fight. Not to be caged and controlled.

The great scale of the goddess Neera has tipped out of my favor. The pans teeter between weighty punishment and deadly opportunity. My choices? Capture my most formidable enemy before next Intention Day, or forfeit my wings.

Honor…
But life’s loftiest plans are often a breath away from disaster, and tragedy strikes as unpredictably as a bolt of lightning. When I find myself at the mercy of my greatest enemy, the terror known as the Shark of the Sea, the monster who killed the person I loved most, I accept my fate. My death. But the Shark does not lash out in revenge for all I’ve done. He tells me his true name is Crest. And while he calls me a Scourge, he honors his orders to guard me.

Blood…
Forced together, Crest reveals that the truth only exists in the place between our perspectives and shares his hope to garner peace before the land is further soaked with the blood of sky and sea. The longer I am among his kind, the more I wonder if he might be right. Could an alliance be the salvation of both our peoples?

I am Elira, great Scourge of the Sky.
He is Crest, cunning Shark of the Sea.
Together… we could be unstoppable.

I HAVE THOUGHTS.

I feel really mixed on this one.

On one hand, the writing is excellent. But on the other, every scene was extended or explained just a touch too long making this book about 100 pages more than absolutely necessary. I liked the premise and set-up a lot. A good dose of enemies to lovers and righting wrongs and this is filled with plenty of reasons I pick up fantasy books like this.

I did think the Oracle/Seer angle took away from the story. It was causing a lot of telegraphing because of how often they were popping up. The gods then felt distant and not quite clicking with the main plot. There was little to no action for what should have been more interactive scenes between the two warring groups. I hope there’s a bit more intensity in the next read.

Elira and Crest have a nice super slow build happening. I appreciated a lot of the aspects of their relationship dynamic because of the way the story was put together. It’s realistic and not rushed so that alone makes me want to give book two a go.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: very little
Romance: kisses
Violence: med-high
Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of loved ones, war themes, loss of life, attempted murder, near drowning

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: September 2023

October 1, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

THE BER MONTHS HAVE ARRIVED. Now if I could just get the weather to cooperate. I only had one absolute dud of a book this month and plenty of great reads. A little slower for me as I read some BIG fantasy books.

Happy reading!

Favorites of September:

Reign
Emma Lion Vol. 3
ACOTAR Reread
Mrs. Nash’s Ashes
The Goddess Eye
Heat of the Everflame
A Little Magic
Once Upon a Broken Heart Reread
Can’t Help Falling
Heidi Lucy Loses Her Mind
ACOMAF Reread
Things We Left Behind
Her Radiant Curse
Faking the Fall
Two Twisted Crowns
Shadow and Silence
Blade Breaker

Least Favorites:

Main Character Energy

Reign (American Royals #4) by Katharine McGee
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (Vol. 3) by Beth Brower
Best Friends, Back Ups & Something More by Ranee S. Clark
Just a Football Star (Tate Brothers #2) by Deb Goodman
[Reread] A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1) by SJM
Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler
The Goddess Eye (The Blood and Water Saga #3) by Cassidy Clarke
Hold Back the River by Ashley Dill
Neve A Hero (Monsters #2) by Vanessa Len
The Fall Back Plan (Sweater Weather #2) by Melanie Jacobson
Savage Bred (The Royal Rose Chronicles #3) by Victoria McCombs
[ALC] The Ex-Mas Holidays by Zoe Allison
[ARC] Heat of the Everflame (Kindred’s Curse #3) by Penn Cole
Knife of Dreams (Wheel of Time #11) by Robert Jordan
A Little Magic by Lindsey Lanza
A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford
[Reread] Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart #1) by Stephanie Garber
[ARC] Welcome to Fae Cafe (High Court of the Coffee Bean #1) by Jennifer Kropf
Can’t Help Falling (Sweater Weather #3) by Courtney Walsh
The Curse of Saints (The Curse of Saints #1) by Kate Dramis
[ARC] Heidi Lucy Loses Her Mind (Happily Every Homicide #2) by Gracie Ruth Mitchell
[Reread] A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR #2) by Sarah J. Maas
Things We Left Behind (Knockemout #3) by Lucy Score
Codename Charming (Palace Insiders #2) by Lucy Parker
Her Radiant Curse by Elizabeth Lim
The Long Game (The Long Game #1) by Elena Armas
[ARC] Codes of Courage (Heirs of Falcon Point #1) by A.L. Sowards
Faking the Fall (Sweater Weather #4) by Julie Christianson
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs
[ARC] Two Twisted Crowns (The Shepherd King #2) by Rachel Gillig
[ALC] Silence and Shadow (Blood and Moonlight #2) by Erin Beaty
Main Character Energy by Jamie Varon
How Jenna Became My Dilemma (Famously in Love #2) by Kortney Keisel
Blade Breaker (Realm Breaker #2) by Victoria Aveyard
Easy as Pie (Sweater Weather #5) by Carina Taylor

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Book Review: Play Your Part by Kathryn Kincaid

October 1, 2023August 10, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Sports Romance
Length: 312 pages
Author: Kathryn Kincaid
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 3rd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Three months. Two enemies. One goal. Zero time for distractions.

Kennedy Cole’s life stalled one year ago after she tragically lost her mom. She abandoned her plans to finish college and quit working for her family’s professional hockey team, the Palmer City Wolves. She’s finally ready to move forward with Wolves star player Justin Ward at her side, but when he’s traded to another team, he hightails it out of town, leaving Kennedy behind.

Alexei Volkov is known for his hotheaded reputation, on-ice antics, and rivalry with Justin. After being fired by his last team, the Wolves offer Alexei a one-year contract to prove he can stay out of trouble. When a misleading photo of Kennedy and Alexei in a compromising position goes viral, his career is in jeopardy, along with the team’s public image.

Alexei wants nothing to do with the sassy brunette who got him into this mess. Kennedy would rather avoid the arrogant hockey player. But pretending to date each other can fix the negative press. The agreement was simple: three months together, with clearly outlined rules. But the more time Kennedy and Alexei spend together, the harder it becomes to fight the sizzling chemistry between them, making it difficult to know where pretense ends and reality begins.

Fans of Elle Kennedy, Mariana Zapata, and C.W. Farnsworth will enjoy this dual-POV steamy contemporary romance featuring enemies-to-lovers and fake-dating tropes.

AWESOME DEBUT.

I admit, I am easily influenced by one well created reel that shows up when I’m mindlessly scrolling. This one was an absolute winner.

The fake dating was a lot of fun and I liked the enemies to lovers vibes banter that happened between Alexei and Kennedy. I continually smirked at my screen because I just KNEW THEY WERE FALLING IN LOVE. And that’s the best feeling.

I looooved that this was a slow burn. Really getting to see that build before the spice came into play. Better yet, it happened to be in my spice comfort level and worked well into the story. I loved both of these characters. Battling pasts, finding common ground, and realizing that they may have met their match.

The only thing I didn’t love was that Kennedy’s ex came back into the picture when I didn’t think he was needed to bring in any more conflict. He can get gone.

Fantastic writing and story telling. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Highly recommend for my hockey romance lovers.

Overall audience notes:

Sports Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: two brief open; low explicit
Violence: low
Trigger/Content Warnings: brief hockey fights, loss of a mother (recounted)

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Book Review: Reign (American Royals #4) by Katharine McGee

September 30, 2023September 3, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: NA Dystopia Romance
Length: 415 pages
Author: Katharine MCGee
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: August 29th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A queen’s life hangs in the balance, and her siblings’ decisions—about what to do, and most of all, who to love—could change the course of history. Romance. Duty. Power…only one can triumph in this stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling American Royals series.

America’s royal family is in shambles. Queen Beatrice is in a coma and Princess Samantha has gone missing—from the look of things, she ran away with her boyfriend, Lord Marshall Davis. Which means that Prince Jefferson is currently on the throne. For some in America, it’s exactly what they wanted: a King ruling the country. And for Daphne Deighton, who has tricked Jefferson into dating her again, it’s the ultimate dream come true.

Surely this is all just temporary. Won’t Beatrice wake up and reclaim her rightful place? Samantha can’t really be gone…can she? And Prince Jefferson will never truly be over his childhood crush, Nina Gonzalez. Right?

For the Washington family, the stakes are higher than ever. Love might save the throne….if secrets don’t destroy everything first.

Thank you to PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook.

I AM SATISFIED.

I sincerely needed this to go a certain and specific way and I’m very happy it did. This is a series where you have to lean in and enjoy the drama. I love that it’s dramatic and I don’t know quite what’s going to happen next.

I really enjoyed everyone (BUT DAPHNE) storylines and where they ended up. There were some crucial endings and reconnections, starting over and moving on and I liked how that wrapped up. Character arcs kept being pulled in different directions and I was very much glued to my headphones waiting to know how it would end.

An enjoyable series with a unique flair. McGee has the addictive quality about her books that pull you in and I was very much attached to these characters. I loved the pacing and how well the plots were woven. There wasn’t one (EXCEPT DAPHNE) POV chapter that I didn’t enjoy reading.

Overall audience notes: