Tag: Book Review

ARC Book Review: The Love Wager (Mr. Wrong Number #2) by Lynn Painter

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Lynn Painter
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: March 14th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Two people make a wager on who can find love first, not realizing what they should be betting on is each other, in this new romantic comedy by Lynn Painter, author of Mr. Wrong Number.

Hallie Piper is turning over a new leaf. After belly-crawling out of a hotel room (hello, rock bottom), she decides it’s time to become a full-on adult. She gets a new apartment, a new haircut, and a new wardrobe, but when she logs onto the dating app that she has determined will find her new love, she sees none other than Jack, the guy whose room she snuck out of.

After the joint agreement that they are absolutely not interested in each other, Jack and Hallie become partners in their respective searches for The One. They text each other about their dates, often scheduling them at the same restaurant so that if things don’t go well, the two of them can get tacos afterward.

Spoiler: they get a lot of tacos together.

Discouraged by the lack of prospects, Jack and Hallie make a wager to see who can find true love first, but when they agree to be fake dates for a weekend wedding, all bets are off. As they pretend to be a couple, lines become blurred and they each struggle to remember why the other was a bad idea to begin with.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the eARC.

ON FIRE.

That’s how this book made me feel. The banter was immaculate perfection and every single interaction made me giddy and weak in the knees. While I was initially hesitant from the one night stand starting point, I LOVE the way Lynn Painter turned this. One of the best strangers to friends to lovers book I have read to date.

Hallie is my favorite type of contemporary main character. A little rough around the edges but wholly understanding of who she is and being that person always. She was pure fun and light, while maintaining that sense of realness. JACK, stop right now, he was the swooniest and sweetest guy EVER. I loved how he just there. The texts, phone calls, showing up to help, traveling, you name it, Jack made an effort to be apart of Hallie’s life. I thought they had fantastic chemistry and I could feel the tension from miles away. The slow burn will absolutely put you in a chokehold. Everything was ramped up in harmony waiting for that final breaking point and ohhhh how I loved it.

There’s a small dash of miscommunication that surprisingly didn’t bug me all that much. It’s moved through pretty quickly and is overall reasonably dealt with. I actually thought it made those last few scenes even more rom-com magnificent.

THIS BOOK WAS JUST SO GOOD. READ IT.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: strong throughout
  • Romance: light innuendo; 2-3 brief scenes (low-medium explicit)
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: brief mentions of a loss of a loved one

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ARC Book Review: Betting on the Boy Next Door (Betting on Love #1) by Melanie Jacobson

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 308 pages
Author: Melanie Jacobson
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 7th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

I’m a nurse who wants to be a rock star—a secret I don’t even tell my best friends and roommates. So when one of them—Ruby—gets it into her head to find me a man, I can’t explain why I don’t have time for her matchmaking. Ruby turns it into a bet to make sure I go along with it. I say yes, but won’t matter. My ex taught me the most important thing about men: you can’t count on them.

When Ruby picks the worst possible guy for me, I know I’ve got this in the bag. Sure, our brand-new neighbor, Josh, is hot, but he’s the privileged scion of an Austin family whose money is so old, it’s dusty. Been there, done that, and I’m not going back.

The thing is, Josh isn’t easy to shake, especially not after he discovers my secret double-life. With the help of a fake dating scheme, a cursing parrot, and our late-night balcony talks, I’m starting to think he’s a risk worth taking—even when all the evidence says I better run.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

JUST WHAT I NEEDED.

I enjoyed this book so much. It turned out to be what I needed when it dropped in my inbox and I stayed up way too late to finish it because I was loving every page.

Josh and Ruby has great chemistry from the get-go. I looooved the banter. I found myself smiling and swooning and when a few fake dating antics got thrown in I was INVOLVED. Little heated glances, the small touches, leaning in to whisper in someone’s ear? GIMME ALL OF IT. This had a very natural flow to the relationship with some push and pull, but ultimately realizing a HEA is in front of you.

Even when I found myself a little frustrated with how Sami was allowing past issues to completely fuel her decisions in the present I did see a lot of growth. Sami allowed herself to be open about her fears, spoke to others and even did some big gestures of her own to show Josh she’s as invested as he is. Josh definitely fell first (my fav) and I adore a guy who shows up, regardless of what that means.

And I thought the plot was fun. I’m hit/miss on music themes and I thought this was wonderfully written. I wanted to see the best for Sami and loved her level headedness about following her dreams and making those happen. It’s a great book. It’s super swoony, it’s on the lighter side and it’s perfect for spring time.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a grandparent, multiple mentions of older people passing away (Sami works as a nurse at a care facility), brief mention of going to rehab, absent father

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Book Review: Obsidian Throne (The Lochlann Feuds #4) by Robin D. Mahle and Elle Madison

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 434 pages
Author: Robin D. Mahle and Elle Madison
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: December 26th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

No matter how I had tried to avoid it, there was no escaping what we had: The kind of love you went to war for.

And that’s exactly what I intended to do.

Obsidian Throne is the fourth and final book in the Lochlann Feuds Series. Don’t miss this stunning conclusion to Rowan’s story!

FINALLY FINISHED.

This series started out so promising and while the last book was good, I’m left feeling meh about everything as a whole. I think condensed to a trilogy would have been the biggest boost here, but it’s been a bunch of mixed thoughts and speed reading over here.

I liked that I got to see Evander and Rowan really work for their relationship. It’s nice when a book doesn’t throw a couple apart for the drama, but allows them to work within the plot for solutions. Rowan really held her own and I liked her tenacity and not backing down at slight provocations. Evander learned to be more open and to lean one someone allowing him moments of peace. This couple was truly a match. And that deserves all the praise.

The plot was better here. A bit more intrigue, some actual battle scenes, the story thickened with intent as the war for the throne ensued. I like that Theo made some appearances (and wasn’t a nuisance) and that we got to see some other side characters too.

I don’t think I loved this series because I needed more world building. That was the puzzle piece missing. I STILL don’t know why Rowan had fae blood and others didn’t and why that gave her miniscule power? Things like that just didn’t make sense and constantly took me out of the book.

Anyways, take what I say as you will. This might be a hit for you!

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: closed door (married couple)
  • Violence: medium
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life, branding, whipping, murder, near death experiences, war themes

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Book Review: A Duel With The Vampire Lord (Married to Magic #3) by Elise Kova

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 536 pages
Author: Elise Kova
Publisher: Silver Wing Press
Release Date: August 18th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

On the night of the blood moon, the Vampire Lord must die.

Floriane’s position as the forge maiden of Hunter’s Hamlet is one of reverence, for it is her skill that arms and protects the vampire hunters. She knows her place and is a faithful servant to the Master Hunter and her community… until the night of the blood moon. Until her brother is dying at the hands of the Vampire Lord Ruvan.

Wanting to defend her home at all costs, Floriane fights the vampire lord, ready to give her life if it means taking his. But Ruvan doesn’t want to take her life… he wants her.

Kidnapped and brought to the vampire castle, Floriane is now blood sworn to the vampire lord. She is bound in mind and body to her worst enemy. But Ruvan isn’t the fiend she thought he was. She learns the truth of the vampires: They are not mindless monsters, but a proud people, twisted and tortured by an ancient curse.

Ruvan believes that Floriane might be the key to ending his people’s suffering. All Floriane wants is to defend her home. Loyalties are tested and the lines between truth and lie, hate and passion, are blurred.

When her dagger is at his chest, will she be able to take the heart of the man who has claimed hers?

A darkly-reimagined Snow White meets inspiration from Beauty and the Beast in an epic fantasy world of hunters, vampires, and curses that run deeper than blood. This stand alone is complete with a “happily ever after” ending. It’s perfect for fantasy romance fans looking for just the right amount of steam and their next slow-burn and swoon worthy, enemies to lovers story.

GREW ON ME.

It’s no secret, vampire books and I don’t generally get along. But Elise Kova is one of the few authors who I would give a chance to and I truly did end up enjoying this one!

I really liked the exploration of vampire lore. This felt like a new discovery on the age old assumptions and it was interesting to see how Ruvan’s history and the curse played into the human’s perceptions of vampires as a whole. There’s a great dose a mystery that has to be unraveled and I liked the twists at the end as everything was revealed.

Pacing wise it lost me a bit in the middle. A standalone fantasy at 500+ pages means there’s plenty of substance, but some if it was lost on me. I thought the romance was moving alright, the wider plot was okay too. It really took the later half to bring me back in and I realized how much I did enjoyed Ruvan and Floriane together.

I loved the Floriane was a smithy. I always like different dynamics that aren’t commonly seen and this was one of them. She was tenacious and hard working. Filled with determination to get back to her brother and end the curse once for all.

Another good read for this series. Ultimately there really wasn’t any discourse for the previous books (only vague mentions), but I did see hints for what looks like TWO more books and I’m excited to continue!!

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: light
  • Romance: vague open door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life, murder, loss of loved ones, creature attacks, physical and magical attacks, small battle scenes

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