Tag: Book Review

ARC Book Review: Appointment in Bath (Somerset Stories #4) by Mimi Matthews

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 288 pages
Author: Mimi Matthews
Publisher: Perfectly Proper Press
Release Date: June 27th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A chance meeting between the sheltered daughter and the forward-thinking son of rival Victorian families sparks a forbidden romance in USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews’s fourth book in her acclaimed Somerset Stories series.

Shy and stammering Meg Burton-Smythe has spent the whole of her life living on the fringes of local society. She’s more comfortable with her daydreams than she is with people. But when a dashing, golden-haired hero rides to her rescue one morning, she dares to hope that her dreams might finally come true. There’s only one problem: her handsome rescuer is the son of her father’s sworn enemy.

Ivo Beresford doesn’t believe in clinging to the past. Freshly returned from a lengthy grand tour, he’s looking to the future, eager to spearhead the building of a new railway extension in Somersetshire. But an unexpected encounter with Meg Burton-Smythe, the isolated only daughter of his parents’ oldest foe, sets the past and the future colliding.

Resolved to put ancient grudges to rest—at least where innocent young ladies are concerned—Ivo encourages lonely Meg to embark on a secret acquaintance. After all, what harm can a friendship do? It isn’t as though there’s any danger of the two of them falling in love…

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

I LOVE MEG.

She was the best part of this whole book. I LOVED her journey. She learned who she was, stood up for herself to those around her and just did the dang thing. I loved her character and she’s a new favorite.

And I’m obsessed with this whole series. I love that we get this second generation of stories now because I’m even more in love with the whole family. I adored Ivo as well. He went on a good journey too and I appreciated his sunshine energy. The balance of friendship to romance was well paced and you could feel the tension between these two, even though the romance is forbidden (you know you want to read it now).

I’m such a Mimi Matthews fan. Her books add this perfect level of edge to the historical genre without adding spice. There’s romantic ball scenes, horse rides through the countryside and secret meetings. I LOVED IT ALL.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low

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Book Review: The Surviving Trace (Surviving Time #1) by Calia Read

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Time Travel Romance
Length: 463 pages
Author: Calia Read
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: May 19th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Will is my fiancé. The shy man I met years ago in college. The person I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with.

This is the life I’ve always wanted until finding a picture of four men changes everything…

Etienne says he’s my husband and the year is 1912. He can’t stand the sight of me, but I don’t know why.

Oh, and he’s one of the men from the picture.

I’ve done the impossible and have become trapped in time and I know Etienne is my key to going home.

The more time I spend with Etienne, the further I fall for him, until I’m questioning which time I belong in and if the life I left behind is the one I truly desire.

All I know for certain is I need to survive time.

I need to survive love.

And I need to make it out on the other side alive.

I’M HOOKED.

I am hit or miss on the time-travel romance concept (hello Outlander, the best of them all). BUT. This one had me feeling all the things and I am hooked on finding out where it goes next.

The setting is one of my favorite aspects for its uniqueness. 1912 in Charleston, South Carolina? With swoony men with a southern drawl? LOVE IT. I like the bit of mystery that was added to it that helped paved the way for the fact that this is a trilogy.

I have some questions about the magic that causes the time-travel. I would love a bit more information of that and when Serene switched time periods I did find that it dragged a little.

BUT, the ending?? That was WILD and I have no idea where things go next. I look forward to unravelling the story and seeing what happens next.

Overall audience notes:

  • Time travel romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: multiple open door
  • Violence: med/high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: gun violence, loss of parents (recounted), physical altercations, infidelity

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Book Review: The Tarnished (The Blameless #2) by E.S. Christison

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: MG Fantasy
Length: 372 pages
Author: E.S. Christison
Publisher: Wildling Press
Release Date: November 22nd, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Princess Briana has escaped imprisonment and is on the run. Her beloved Predonia is in upheaval as the villainous Vaylec tightens his grip on the Blameless, tearing the kingdom apart in search of the girl who’s evaded him. To regain her people’s freedom, Brie must turn her back on her friends and her new home as she and her uncles race to uncover the secrets of Vaylec’s mysterious and growing power. There is no safety nor rest for the usurped heir to the throne, and Brie must dig deep inside herself for strength to take action as her world crumbles around her.

Thank you to the author for the gifted copy!

SOLID SEQUEL.

This was another enjoyable read for The Blameless series. And one of my favorite aspects is that it really is great for the middle grade/young YA audience. There’s some heavy themes but nothing overly gory/detailed and I really love the FMC.

Briana is committed to helping her kingdom and doing the hard things to get there. I love seeing her work and train to be the best person she can be. There’s mistakes made along the way and I love how sincere apologies are given and you can see the heart of those surrounding Bri.

I love all of the side characters and the big found family. Getting the point of view from the antagonist really amps things up too. Plenty of action, intrigue, what will happen next and some good fun moments to give the cast a breather. It’s a good series and I look forward to reading the next book.

Overall audience notes:

  • Middle grade fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of loved ones, small scale battle scenes, weapons and physical violence

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Book Review: Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Audrey Bellezza & Emily Harding
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: May 23rd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this witty and romantic debut novel, Jane Austen’s Emma meets the misadventures of Manhattan’s modern dating scene as two lifelong friends discover that, in the search for love, you sometimes don’t have to look any further than your own backyard.

Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her tight-knit Upper East Side neighborhood with very little to distress or vex her…that is, until her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and subsequent move downtown. Now, with her sister gone and all her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school grappling with an entirely new emotion: boredom. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio transplant with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a potential new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would get out of her way.

Handsome, smart, and successful, the only thing that frustrates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her shopping sprees between classes or her revolving door of ill-conceived hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on all the finer points of adulthood she’s so hell-bent on ignoring. But despite his gripes—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl next door is a woman now…one who he suddenly can’t get out of his head.

As Emma’s best laid plans collide with everyone from hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two friends slowly realize their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they discover that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises.

Thank you to Book Club Favorites for the gifted copy!

ENJOYABLE.

I admit that I have only read Emma once and haven’t seen a single adaptation. Therefore, I cannot speak to much about how closely it resembles the original. I noticed some things that I remember and it was fun to see those allusions.

The romance was really solid. I liked the slow burn, childhood friends to lovers vibes. There’s good banter and heat and I loved Knightley’s alpha side that popped up occasionally.

Emma wasn’t my favorite and drove me a bit wild, but I think that was supposed to be part of her charm and it didn’t ruin the story for me. I thought it was a quick audiobook that kept me engaged and was a contemporary romance I’d easily recommend to others.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 2-3 open door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a mother mentioned, attempted unwanted romantic advances

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