Tag: Book Review

Book Review: My Own Best Enemy (Apple Valley Love Stories #2) by Julie Christianson

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Rating: ★★☆ (2.5)
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 313 pages
Author: Julie Christianson
Publisher: Self published
Release Date: September 23rd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This isn’t a wedding. This is war …

I get it. We were in elementary school. Just a couple of kids on the playground. But after Nash Hendrix called me Enemy instead of Emily, his stupid nickname ruined my life.

Now our best friends are getting married, and they expect me to stand across the aisle from Nash the Ruiner without killing him?

Whatever. I can survive being maid of honor. It’s only for one weekend.

Until it’s not.

When I get roped into wedding planning at the same places Nash is fundraising, I’m ready to blow up our temporary truce.

All I wanted was to start over. New job. New permanently-single status.

But the more time we spend together, the more I feel like … not murdering him.

Is it possible Nash and I don’t hate each other?

No way. He’s still my enemy.

My big, dumb enemy.

My big, dumb, gorgeous, sweet-talking, dog-loving —

Emi, you’re doomed.

DIDN’T CLICK.

You know when you don’t get off on the right foot with a romance and then it just never clicks into place as you keep going? That’s basically what happened here.

My biggest issue was that the “enemies” aspect of my favorite trope wasn’t the strongest. I thought it was kind of a weak excuse for why Emi didn’t like Nash for 20+ years. To hold a petty grudge THAT long didn’t work. And I never recovered.

I spent most of my time wishing Emi had some growth sooner rather than later. Randomly kissing Nash and then deciding she was still angry with him sent me through whiplash. One of the few times I don’t think this trope worked in the most favorable way.

I’ll stop here, because my star rating indicates exactly how I felt about this one. I hope to try another book by this author because I adored book one, but we’ll see!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses

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Book Review: Bow Before the Elf Queen (The Elf Queen #1) by J.M. Kearl

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 598 pages
Author: J.M. Kearl
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: April 26th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In hiding all her life, Layala prepares for the day the wicked High Elf King Thane will come to steal her— his powerful mate. She trains to take her revenge for the wrongful execution of her parents, who died for her freedom.
Now that day has come, forcing her to come face-to-face with what she’s hidden from: a dangerous, dark-haired, warrior king determined to marry her.
After she’s shoved into a black carriage pulled by six ominous steeds, Layala makes plans to take her captors’ lives and free herself….but Thane has a secret that makes it impossible for Layala to slay him. She has an even darker truth that makes loving her forbidden, no matter how much Thane wants to touch.

Dare to dive into this whimsical and deeply romantic story inspired by Hades & Persephone, The Lord of the Rings, and a sprinkle of Norse mythology. A tale that will grip you from the first page and stay with you long after the last.

I’LL READ THE NEXT ONE.

I have sat on this one in my kindle unlimited library for a long time, and upon finding an audio version I flew through this!! I’m so glad I gave it a chance.

The romance set-up was everything I love about arranged marriage/enemies to lovers. There’s great banter, knife to the throat moments and all the swoon from Thane. I loved his persistent nature to show Layala exactly the kind of elf he is. It was also nice to see Layala show the ability to change her mind as new facts were laid before her. Too stubborn of a nature always bugs me and I love that this wasn’t the case here. I really liked her strength and resilience amidst a whole heap of drama.

What brought this to a four star for me was the third act conflict. I just couldn’t believe that Layala believed that about herself. It didn’t track well and made for unnecessary drama that rolled my eyes a bit.

I did like the surrounding plot and story. It keeps the pace moving well and there’s a heavy dose of action to keep you on your toes. I look forward to seeing where this book will go to next!

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: a vague to fade to black
  • Violence: med-high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: torture, murder, kidnapping, battle scenes

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Book Review: Call Me Maybe (Love Lines #1) by Cara Bastone

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 220 pages
Author: Cara Bastone
Publisher: Audible Originals
Release Date: October 20th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Paint your toes. Pick up the wrong coffee and bagel order. Drive from Brooklyn to Jersey in traffic so slow you want to tear your hair out. It’s amazing all the useless things I can accomplish while on hold for three hours with customer service. Three hours when I should be getting the Date-in-a-Box website ready to launch at the big business expo in a few days. Except my shiny new website is glitching, and my inner rage-monster is ready to scorch some earth…when he finally picks up. Not the robot voice I expected but a real live human named Cal. He’s surprisingly helpful and really knows his stuff, even if he’s a little awkward…in an adorable way.

And suddenly I’m flirting with him? And I think he’s flirting back.

And suddenly it’s been hours, and we’re still on the phone talking and ordering each other takeout while he troubleshoots my website.

And suddenly we’re exchanging numbers and sending texts and DMs every day, leaving voice mails (who even does that anymore?!).

And suddenly I’m wondering if it’s possible for two people to fall in love at first talk.

Because I’m falling…hard.

THAT WAS CUTE.

Another good read in this series. I read the “second” book first, but these could easily be read in any order and you won’t miss a thing. I did love Sweet Talk more than Call Me Maybe, but both had amazing narration and the production was top notch. Definitely grab these on audio if you can!

This was such a spontaneous, never would have thought of, meet-cute. A customer service call? Who knew! I liked that stretch of reality of these two getting to know each other over the hours spent diagnosing website issues. It was sweet, and I found myself laughing and smiling with Vera and Cal.

I didn’t love Vera as much as I would have liked. I ended up really being here for the quiet and kind nature of Cal. This was without a doubt, an opposites attract scenario. There’s a few minor plot hole and connection issues that sometimes come with the territory of a short read. Not really pressing issues as this was a nice, lighthearted, heart melting read.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: little
  • Romance: kisses

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Book Review: Darkwind (The Starchaser Saga #1) by Renee Dugan

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 442 pages
Author: Renee Dugan
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Middle Kingdom of Talheim has enjoyed peace for decades. But with the threat of war rising from the ruthless South, the dream of a quiet life is fading. And for the noble but naïve Princess Cistine, that means embarking on a dangerous quest to the Northern Kingdom, where she hopes to forge an alliance against their southern foes and save her people.

But when Cistine is captured by an outlaw and his band of cutthroat warriors, she finds a more deadly adventure than she bargained for – and a greater power within herself than she ever knew.

Swept up in the unpredictable tide of a tenuous and shadowy political climate, a ruthless land governed by the stars, and the unexpected revelations that come from her mysterious new companions, Cistine must learn how to fight, how to lead…and above all, how to trust herself.

If the young princess can’t be forged into a fighter, then her kingdom will fall.

HI, THIS IS MY NEW PERSONALITY.

Y’all. New fantasy obsession alert. I LOVED this!! Another Kindle Unlimited gem that has its hooks in me.

This is a slow build. And at times you do feel that slowness, but it has a necessity. I hate when things are slow and aren’t truly moving. In this case, we got to see some major character growth from Cistine and I looooved that. I enjoy seeing the development of skills rather than overnight they are fantastic at everything.

The plot is satisfying too. The world building is easy to follow and I like how the magic system is involved. I also absolutely loved that this had FOUND FAMILY. One of my favorite non-romantic tropes. This group grew on me and I am hopeful that we get to see there stories as the series progresses.

I can see that the romance will be a super slow burn. And I love those so doesn’t bother me one bit. I even like how it’s set-up right now (I don’t want to mention more because of spoilers). It’s just a true to life way of romance and I think this slow development will be EVERYTHING.

I can’t wait for more of this one. It was just what I was looking for when I picked it up and I’m genuinely excited to keep reading. Highly recommend for my fantasy friends!

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: mild
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: small battle scenes, torture, loss of loved ones, domestic abuse (recounted)

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