Tag: Book Review

Book Review: First to Fall (Lost Story Bookshop #2) by Jenny B. Jones

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 427 pages
Author: Jenny B. Jones
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: January 31st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When I woke up this morning, I became aware of two things:
One, I felt hungover, and I knew I hadn’t had a drop of liquor.
And two, I was pretty sure I had accidentally married someone.

I, Olivia Sutton, have a Ten Year Plan. It’s air-tight and written in permanent ink. You know what’s not on the plan? Getting married to the man I used to love to hate. But when my sister’s pre-wedding trip goes horribly wrong, I find myself legally bound to my old nemesis, tech sensation Lachlan Hayes. Lachlan pitches a plan to temporarily stay married. It is absolutely insane? Yes. But it has the potential to fix so many problems for both of us—and create even bigger ones.

As secrets unravel between us, I discover there’s more to my nerd husband than arrogance and a party-boy reputation. Falling for this guy is definitely not on the Ten Year Plan, but living in the same house? Acting like I’ve given my heart to my husband? Public kisses that make me forget my name? When our fake marriage becomes all too real, Lachlan and I find ourselves crossing lines we swore we wouldn’t. It has me wondering if I can walk away from Lachlan when our time is up.
Or if I’ll be the first the fall.

Grab the second book in the hilariously swoony A Lost Story Bookshop series. Perfect for fans of closed-door romantic comedy.

THE FEELS.

I’ve been waiting for this book for a long time and it flat out DELIVERED. I loved it so much.

The main characters, Olivia and Lachlan had the best chemistry. I could feel the heat from miles away. Some fantastic banter intermixed with a bit of an enemies to lovers vibe AND THEN you throw in marriage of convenience?? SOLD. Perfect blend.

I love the slow build between them. The burn is long and low and really allowed both characters to come to turn with the past grievances and where they are now. I LOVED all of the tiny little moments. I was going to combust from the heat of the kissing scenes. Good heavens, closed door romances can still bring it the steam y’all.

It took Olivia a little longer than I hoped for to come around to her work issues BUT I liked how that ended up playing into the third act. Yes, there’s a third act conflict, and you might be surprised but it didn’t phase me much. I was here for the emotions, the need for growth and the separation that had to occur.

Loved this book. Read it.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: poor workplace situations (abuse of power), parental neglect

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Book Review: Terms and Conditions (Dreamland Billionaires #2) by Lauren Asher

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 496 pages
Author: Lauren Asher
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: February 24th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Declan
I’m destined to become the next CEO of my family’s media empire.
The only problem? My grandfather’s inheritance clause.
Fulfilling his dying wish of getting married and having an heir seemed impossible until my assistant volunteers for the job.
Our marriage was supposed to be the perfect solution to my biggest problem.
But the more we act in love for the public, the more unsure I feel about our contract.
Caring about Iris was never part of the deal.
Especially not when breaking her heart is inevitable.

Iris
My plan to marry Declan was simple in theory.
Move in together. Throw a wedding. Have a baby.
We set rules to prevent any kind of issues.
Ones that were never meant to be broken, no matter how much Declan tempts me.
But what happens when our fake relationship bleeds into our real one?
Falling in love was never an option.
At least not for me.

BETTER THAN THE FIRST.

Marriage of convenience owns me. Another book with this trope that I adored. And it was even better than the first one that left me wanting more in certain aspects.

I LOVED these two together. Declan is such a grumpy recluse but getting his POV you can slowly see those walls come down only for Iris (my favorite). I love a guy falling first, and falling hard scenario. It is the bees freaking knees. I love that his moves were much more subtle and focused on specific things Iris mentioned. Declan showed a willing heart that brought me to a puddle by the last grand gesture.

Iris putting Declan in his place over and over? The best. Strong female characters are kryptonite. I liked that she realized what her worth was and how to untie it from the pieces that were starting to pull her apart. There’s so many good moments here between the Kane brothers, Iris and her Mom and more.

I doooooo think this was a bit long. I started to notice in the second half how some of it was dragging. There were times that scenes carried on too long, or just didn’t seem necessary. A bit on condensing would have made this book ultimate gold.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: three open door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: physical altercations, parental abuse, asthma, anxiety attacks

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Book Review: A Wilderness of Stars by Shea Ernshaw

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Rating: ★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Author: Shea Ernshaw
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: November 29th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

An illness cursing the land forces a teen girl astronomer to venture across the wilderness in search of the stars’ message that will, hopefully, save them all.

If magic lives anywhere, it’s in the stars…

Vega has lived in the valley her whole life—forbidden by her mother to leave the safety of its borders because of the unknown threats waiting for her in the wilds beyond. But after her mother dies, and Vega sees the fabled twin stars in the sky, it’s an omen she can no longer ignore, forcing her to leave the protective boundaries of the valley. But the outside world turns out to be much more terrifying than Vega could have imagined. People are gravely sick—they lose their eyesight and their hearing, just before they lose their lives.

What Vega keeps to herself is that she is the Last Astronomer—a title carried from generation to generation—and she is the only one who carries the knowledge of the stars. Knowledge that could hold the key to the cure. And so when locals spot the tattoo on Vega’s neck in the shape of a constellation—the mark of an astronomer—chaos erupts as the threats her mother warned her about become all too real.

Fearing for her life, Vega is rescued by a girl named Cricket who leads her to Noah, a boy marked by his own mysterious tattoos. On the run from the men who are hunting her, Vega, Cricket, and Noah set out across the plains in search of the cure the stars speak of. But as the lines between friend and protector begin to blur, Vega must decide whether to safeguard the sacred knowledge of the astronomer. Or if she will risk everything to try to save them all.

Thank you to Book Club Favorites for the gifted copy.

WHAT?

Do y’all remember that scene from Friends when Joey is acting in a play and a spaceship ladder comes to take him away to safe the Earth (or something like that?). THAT IS HOW THIS BOOK FELT.

I was first very much confused by the time/era/or is this pure fantasy situation. I only barely grasped it at the end. It’s a slooowwww read. SLOW. And with a big lack of dialogue I spent most of my time skimming hoping some kind of action or anything of true note would take place.

Instead, our FMC spends the book running away from this one group of people out to catch her and make her help them survive. That’s it.

And then the ending????? I DON’T EVEN KNOW. At least I can say I was definitely shocked by how that unveiled itself and perturbed at how it ended.

Bleh, okay, I’m done.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy?? / Sci-Fi??
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: very vague open door
  • Violence: med-high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of loved ones, weapons violence, kidnapping

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Book Review: The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Fiction
Length: 435 pages
Author: Kate Quinn
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: March 29th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code returns with an unforgettable World War II tale of a quiet bookworm who becomes history’s deadliest female sniper. Based on a true story.

In 1937 in the snowbound city of Kiev (now known as Kyiv), wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son–but Hitler’s invasion of Ukraine and Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious girl to deadly sniper–a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour.

Still reeling from war wounds and devastated by loss, Mila finds herself isolated and lonely in the glittering world of Washington, DC–until an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and an even more unexpected connection with a silent fellow sniper offer the possibility of happiness. But when an old enemy from Mila’s past joins forces with a deadly new foe lurking in the shadows, Lady Death finds herself battling her own demons and enemy bullets in the deadliest duel of her life.

Based on a true story, The Diamond Eye is a haunting novel of heroism born of desperation, of a mother who became a soldier, of a woman who found her place in the world and changed the course of history forever.

WHOA.

Uh, why have I been apparently sleeping on Kate Quinn books?
WHY????????

This was incredible (also, audio is 1,000x the way to go here). I am hit/miss with historical fictions, I usually find the most enjoyment [reading wise] when they’re on a more unique focus and I found that here. A female Russian sniper with 300+ confirmed kills? TELL ME MORE.

What an stunning story. I was captivated from the get-go. It draws you in and every angle of this plot keeps things moving, keeps you guessing, keeps you wondering how in the world it’s going to end. I know some fictional liberties were taken, but they fit perfectly in with this novel. I love that Mila broke down barriers, and was stronger than I can ever imagine being. Her love for her son, and her country was palpable.

Many times my heart felt pulled right out of my chest. The middle of this book HURTS. The intricacies and pits of war are laid out in full view. I loved the complex nature of this dealings and seeing some of the war side in the United States with the Roosevelt’s. Even more so that the focus was on Eleanor and what part she played in Mila’s life (and vice versa). How a bonded female friendship was born from across two different nations.

This book was just something else. This experience was wholly encompassing and never let up. I LOVED it and will now be adding some Quinn backlist to my TBR.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical fiction
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: teenage pregnancy and marriage, war themes, gun violence, colonialism, antisemitism, racism, sexism, slut-shaming, attempted murder

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