Book Review: Love Practically (The Penn-Leithss of Thistle Muir #1) by Nichole Van

March 23, 2022March 18, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 413 pages
Author: Nichole Van
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: March 23rd, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

As a young woman, Leah Penn-Leith fell hopelessly in love with Captain Fox Carnegie—the only irrational mark on her decidedly sensible life. Fox, unfortunately, did not return her regard.

Their story should have ended there. After all, Fox left for India. And Leah returned home to Scotland to rear her much younger brothers.

But twenty years later, Fox appears on Leah’s doorstep—older, scarred, and world-weary—proposing a marriage of convenience between them. He needs a mother for his young ward, and Leah, with her capable good sense, comes highly recommended. What woman could say No to such a proposal? Not Leah. Fox has always wreaked havoc on her ability to think rationally.

But after their marriage, Leah confronts the chaotic reality of Fox’s life. His castle, ten miles up a rugged Highland glen, is shambolic. His ward, Madeline, is a precocious handful. Fox’s time in India is shrouded in rumor and mystery. Worst of all, Fox himself is distant and broken, his personality as altered as his scarred body.

Throughout it all, Leah is left with two questions: What happens to a woman after her most-cherished fantasy comes true? And can a marriage, begun in practicality, transform into something deeper? Something like . . . love.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

BEAUTIFUL.

I love that moment when you feel deeply connected to a book. This was that read for me. This was the marriage of convenience trope taken to astronomical levels. Where two souls really did fight there way to be together amidst multiple hardships.

Leah and Fox were both main characters I loved. Also dual POV is always superior and I will not be accepting other opinions at this time. Getting to know both of their backgrounds and where they crossed brought all of the unrequited pining. Brought the slow burn of realizing a connection. Brought those all out moments, when the rain is pouring and you just need them to know you care. I couldn’t get enough of every interaction and even when I wanted to shake both characters, I understood. I knew where they were coming from and that ultimate resolution had my heart souring.

I somehow fell in love with a cat too? Playing a large roll in the side character cast he brought the house down, almost literally. I adored him and the spunky 5 year old who absolutely stole my heart. Sometimes kids rock the book in a way that’s aggravating, this was never the case here. Madeline was the best kind of soft addition this story needed.

There were great moments and conversations that I love seeing. Allowing for progression of not only the plot, but the characters. This novel is romantic, it’s heart-breaking, and soul-binding. I am completely in love with Van’s writing and how she brings a story to life.

Overall audience notes:

Historical romance
Language: very little
Romance: closed door (between a married couple)
Trigger/Content Warnings: alcoholism, PTSD, suicide, death from childbirth, stillborn

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Book Review: Rootbound by Tarah Dewitt

March 22, 2022February 13, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 410 pages
Author: Tarah Dewitt
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: December 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

You really can’t go home again.

Tait Logan is proud of the life she’s built for herself. Despite her world-shattering divorce, the absence of a pet, not having any genuine connections with other humans (apart from her sister Ava), and the fact that the remainder of her family is estranged from her life, she’s happy…Happy-adjacent, at least. She’s rebuilt herself through her photography; her dream career, the one thing she does still have.

So, when that career contracts her to do an assignment on her estranged family’s home, Logan Range – a now famous ranch functioning as the setting for a popular show – she’s left with no choice but to agree.

Thus, Tait is bound, on a reluctant course back to her roots, and to the family she feels abandoned by… to the family that, seemingly, has had no interest in a relationship with her since her parents’ divorce, when she was seven.

Henry Marcum has dedicated his life to the Logan family and to their ranch. He owes them for raising him, rescuing him, and for his life’s purpose and opportunities… He also owes them for every hardship he’s inadvertently brought their way. So, when Tait Logan shows up after 20 years of near total silence, he takes it upon himself to protect the people he knows and loves.

It’s a rocky start when Tait and Henry first collide; he is naturally wary of her intentions, and she is more than perturbed by their literal collision – which results in her broken camera, during her first night on location, no less.

There’s no shortage of shaky ground here in the mountains and valleys of Idaho. They’re thrown off balance time and time again by their growing feelings for one another, and by the story of the Logan family as it becomes increasingly less clear from their perspectives. As they confront the past, theirs naturally get brought to the foray. They’ll have to weigh their feelings against their experiences of heartbreak, and decide if the potential for disaster is worth the risk that accompanies love.

NOT TOO SHABBY.

I finished this book and didn’t know quite what to rate it. Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, but I leaned towards 4 and here we are.

What I did like were a lot of the conversations surrounding the main character, Tait, and moving past divorce and opening herself up for true love again. I still remember some of those conversations from this book and liked the passion and heartfelt emotions that come along with moving past something personally devstating.

Some of things that irked me were the complete lack of editor. I hope further books are looked over a bit more. It got better as the book went on, but an immense amount of grammatical and punctuation becomes very noticeable. I didn’t always love Henry’s POV either. It was occasionally cringy and I just didn’t love him as much as I wanted too. The spice is a bit past my comfort zone (but I know others love a bit more! I’d say a 3/5 flames).

I did like Tait and Henry together. I thought things got off pretty fast between them, but slowed down just enough that I was able to get on board with their relationship. At times, the family drama leaned a bit too much to the ridiculous side. I did like that Tait got to meet some of her estranged family and find healing through those decisions.

It was a good read and I look forward to the author’s next book.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: strong
Romance: 3 open door
Trigger/Content Warnings: divorce, infidelity, parental abandonment, loss of a parent

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Book Review: Stone Hearts (Poplar Falls #2) by Amber Kelly

March 21, 2022March 21, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 264 pages
Author: Amber Kelly
Publisher: Amber Kelly, LLC
Release Date: January 14th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A new friends-to-lovers small-town romance from Amber Kelly…When I returned to Poplar Falls six years ago, I’d given up on love.I’d made the mistake of marrying the sexy rebel right out of high school. He’d ended up in jail. I’d ended up pregnant. With a baby on the way, I decided to give up my wild, impulsive ways. All I wanted was a family and to watch my sweet son grow up, happy, and healthy.Then Myer Wilson keeps showing up in my life—and my son’s life.He’s the hometown football hero, who blew out his ankle his junior year and ended his career. I didn’t look twice at hot jocks in high school. But now that he’s taken over his family’s ranch, I can’t help but look even when I swore off men for good.But maybe he’ll finally be the one to help me let go of the past and find my second chance at love. Or maybe my past will come back to haunt me.

FAVORITE OF THE SERIES.

And I’m saying this because I’m writing this review after finishing all of the books, so this is verified information. FAVORITE.

I am apparently really here for the friends to lovers + single parent trope lately because I was smitten with everything this had to give in under 300 pages. I LOVE Dallas. I love her tenacity and strength in dealing with some crappy situations. I LOVE Myer. His steady presence and simply showing Dallas that’s he’s always there for her (and Beau) was the perfect love connection set-up.

There was no way I could put this down and I loved everything about it. I like how the conflict and resolution worked out. Beau is simply, dang adorable and made me smile more than once. There’s some spicy moments that fit well into their love story and we all know I love a slightly cheesy (yet omgee romantic) ending.

All of that is here.

Why do I find it so hard to review a book I LOVE?! It’s honestly easier for me to say READ THIS SMALL TOWN ROMANCE SERIES. Get caught up in Poplar Falls.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: some
Romance: kisses to brief open door
Trigger/Content Warnings: domestic violence, sexual assault

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Book Review: Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights #2) by Chloe Gong

March 20, 2022December 29, 2021 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Historical Fiction / Fantasy
Length: 494 pages
Author: Chloe Gong
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: November 16th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Shanghai is under siege in this captivating and searingly romantic sequel to These Violent Delights, which New York Times bestselling author Natasha Ngan calls “deliciously dark.”

The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution.

After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. One wrong move, and her cousin will step in to usurp her place as the Scarlet Gang’s heir. The only way to save the boy she loves from the wrath of the Scarlets is to have him want her dead for murdering his best friend in cold blood. If Juliette were actually guilty of the crime Roma believes she committed, his rejection might sting less.

Roma is still reeling from Marshall’s death, and his cousin Benedikt will barely speak to him. Roma knows it’s his fault for letting the ruthless Juliette back into his life, and he’s determined to set things right—even if that means killing the girl he hates and loves with equal measure.

Then a new monstrous danger emerges in the city, and though secrets keep them apart, Juliette must secure Roma’s cooperation if they are to end this threat once and for all. Shanghai is already at a boiling point: The Nationalists are marching in, whispers of civil war brew louder every day, and gangster rule faces complete annihilation. Roma and Juliette must put aside their differences to combat monsters and politics, but they aren’t prepared for the biggest threat of all: protecting their hearts from each other.

THIS WAS SPECTACULAR.

I can’t think of one bad thing to say about this book. I LOVED IT SO MUCH.

One of the few things I needed from book one was more romance, AND THIS DELIVERED. ROMA & JULIETTE FOREVER. I loooooooooved the development of their relationship in this one. Enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers. Oh it was the ultimate romance for me. It had everything I could ask for. I was even loving on all of the side character romances too. IT WAS ALL GOOD.

What also was amazing was just this entire storyline. The plot had a bit of everything. Politicking and action, gun-slinging and monsters, romance and swoooooon passionate confessions of love. The rotation of these throughout the multi-POV was executed so well.

The audio book was stellar and I think really sold this book for me. I couldn’t get enough and devoured it as quickly as possible. Not to mention that epilogue was *chef’s kiss*. The ending and everything after was exactly as it should be. I loved the turns on Romeo & Juliette and this duology is one of the top ones I’ve read in a long time.

Overall audience notes: