Book Review: A Peculiar Combination (Electra McDonnell #1) by Ashley Weaver

September 8, 2025August 20, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Fiction Mystery
Length: 304 pages
Author: Ashley Weaver
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Release Date: May 25th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The first in the Electra McDonnell series from Edgar-nominated author Ashley Weaver, set in England during World War II, A Peculiar Combination is a delightful mystery filled with spies, murder, romance, and the author’s signature wit.

Electra McDonnell has always known that the way she and her family earn their living is slightly outside of the law. Breaking into the homes of the rich and picking the locks on their safes may not be condoned by British law enforcement, but World War II is in full swing, Ellie’s cousins Colm and Toby are off fighting against Hitler, and Uncle Mick’s more honorable business as a locksmith can’t pay the bills any more.

So when Uncle Mick receives a tip about a safe full of jewels in the empty house of a wealthy family, he and Ellie can’t resist. All goes as planned–until the pair are caught redhanded. Ellie expects them to be taken straight to prison, but instead they are delivered to a large townhouse, where government official Major Ramsey is waiting with an offer: either Ellie agrees to help him break into a safe and retrieve blueprints that will be critical to the British war effort, before they can be delivered to a German spy, or he turns her over to the police.

Ellie doesn’t care for the Major’s imperious manner, but she has no choice, and besides, she’s eager to do her bit for king and country. She may be a thief, but she’s no coward. When she and the Major break into the house in question, they find instead the purported German spy dead on the floor, the safe already open and empty. Soon, Ellie and Major Ramsey are forced to put aside their differences to unmask the double-agent, as they try to stop allied plans falling into German hands.

WELL WELL WELL.

It always takes me a minute to decide about picking up a WW2 story because I have just read A LOT of them. But this was a true mix up in historical fiction and I was hooked on the mystery and slow bur romance. THAT KISSING SCENE THOUGH. Clearly I can’t get it out of my head.

I loved the set up of the plot. I loved that Ellie was a part time thief who got to use her strengths for other deeds. I loved that Major Ramsey was a no nonsense kind of man but you could see that soft spot growing for Ellie. This banter was on point and I laughed out loud multiple times with the well placed moments.

There is a great amount of action and twists. I didn’t know how all the pieces would come together and I binged this audiobook in a day (loved the audio too). I will absolutely be continuing this series!!

Overall audience notes:

Historical Fiction + Mystery
Romance: Heated kisses
Violence: moderate
Content Warnings: WW2 setting, gun violence, murder, kidnapping, near death experiences

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Book Review: The Floating World (The Floating World #1) by Axie Oh

September 7, 2025September 7, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★.5
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 368 pages
Author: Axie Oh
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Release Date: April 29th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From Axie Oh, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in this romantic fantasy reimagining the Korean legend of Celestial Maidens.

Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.

Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.

Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from—and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn’t realize she’s the girl that he—and a hundred other swords-for-hire—is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined…

WAS IT JUST ME?

I don’t know if it was just me & my mood or if other’s kind of struggled with this one? I’ve read many Axie Oh books and this one fell a bit flat for me. It mostly felt like it went in one ear and out the other. Nothing was compelling enough to glue me to the story. I think that having dual POV but not two narrators made the audiobook hard too because I had a hard time knowing who’s POV I was in sometimes. I might need to eyeball read for the next book.

The whole concept of a floating city was cool and I did like the world building. It kind of reminded me of Our Violent Delights (of which I loooove) with the medical/demon moments. The romance is more on the subtle side but I did like both of the main characters.

I will read book two because I do want to see where things will go. I’m hopeful for the sequel.

Overall audience notes:

YA Fantasy + Romance
Language: low
Romance: kisses
Violence: moderate
Content warnings: blood/gore depiction, human medical experimentation

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Book Review: Wild and Wrangled (Rebel Blue Ranch #4) by Lyla Sage

September 7, 2025April 22, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Lyla Sage
Publisher: Dial Press
Release Date: April 15th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She’s the one that got away. He’s the one that never let her go.

From the bestselling author of Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled, the next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, a small town romance in which past lovers get a second chance to rediscover what they lost.

Camille Ashwood had always loved a plan. Her latest was her best yet. She was going to get married so she could secure her daughter’s future, get her overbearing parents off her back, and finally start building her own life in small town Meadowlark, Wyoming. Easy, right?

But when her groom doesn’t show up to the wedding, Cam’s life is turned upside down—she doesn’t even have a place to live. That is, until she finds out the house she’s loved since high school is available to rent. There’s only one problem: the neighbor.

Dusty Tucker has spent nearly all of his adult life running. Running from what, though? More like who: Cam Ashwood. But ever since he returned home last year, the girl who was his first, well, everything has become a woman seemingly determined to keep him at arm’s length. And he was okay with that—at least, that’s what he kept telling himself. She was getting married, after all. But now she’s single and living next door. Dusty wants to show her that they can be friends, and that he can stay put.

Despite her best attempts to stay far away from Dusty Tucker, Cam realizes that being close to him is like slipping on her favorite jeans. Easy. Comfortable. That is until past wounds start to open and feelings—both old and new—wreak havoc. Nearly ten years after they first met, Dusty and Cam begin to wonder if their first love can also be their last. And this time, will it be forever?

I AM BEREFT.

OH how I wanted to love this final book in the Rebel Blue ranch series. And there were many good pieces too it!! But gosh dang it, some things made me throw my phone too.

The good is all about this family. I love this whole ranch, seeing all of my favorite characters, having the hard conversations and the loving ones too. There’s a lot of healing I feel when I read those scenes. And I did like some pieces of the romance too. I can admit to that.

Our dear FMC, Cam drove me up a wall. I felt that the inner monologue about her parent issues and other such things were on a constant loop and made the story feel lacking in the plot. Some of the flashbacks with Dusty were really sweet which made me all the more nervous to find out what caused the initial rupture. AND LO AND BEHOLD. It made me cranky, so very cranky. I think this third act is about as bad as miscommunication (honestly it falls under the umbrella).

Not all I was hoping for, but I still look forward to future Sage books.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: moderate
Romance: 3-4 open door
Violence: low
Content warnings: emotionally manipulative parents

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ARC Book Review: Darkness Births the Stars by Sarah Lee Wohn

September 6, 2025August 27, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★.75
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 700 pages
Author: Sarah Lee Wohn
Publisher: Self published
Release Date: September 3rd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Their forbidden love tore the world apart.
Now two broken gods might be the only ones able to heal it.

Haunted by his past and the evil forces he commanded, Noctis, once the God of Darkness, cannot forget Rada, the former Goddess of Light—and the queen who ruled at his brother’s side. Condemned to mortality, thought dead to the whole world, Noctis craves one last meeting …

Stripped of her magic and exiled for treason, Rada has built an idyllic new life on a farm at the edges of the realm. But her peace is shattered one stormy night when Noctis—the enemy who caused her downfall, the lover she betrayed in turn—appears at her door, wounded and desperate.

When a sinister attack reveals the powers of Chaos are stirring once more, Noctis’s dark past begins to unravel. As desire and duty entwine, Rada faces an impossible choice. Can she become the ally of the man who broke her heart to save everything she holds dear?

Inspired by Nordic mythology, this first book in a series follows star-crossed lovers, their fall from grace and their quest for redemption. Sizzling, tension-filled romance, high-stakes magical battles, and morally-grey characters make this the perfect read for fans of Gild, The Cruel Prince and When the Moon Hatched.

Are you prepared to touch the Darkness?

Thank you to the author and MTMC Tours for the gifted copy.

I KIND OF WANT BOOK TWO.

I was really into this for probably the first 30-40%. The length hadn’t started to show and the story was interesting! But then I started to see some cracks.

There is no way this needed to be 750 pages. Some condensing would have made the plot move steadier and still allowed for the same growth and arcs. And something that tends to bug me is when flashback chapters are used to add spice. It flirts with that line I have about needing plot > spice if the flashbacks aren’t truly adding much to the story. NOW there were some scenes that absolutely did add more world system set up. It wasn’t a total lost cause.

The MC’s were probably my favorite of the book. I enjoyed Noctis and Rada the most. Especially Noctis with his brooding ways and self sacrificing nature when it comes to anything involving Rada. I love villainous love interests and he plays the part expertly.

While it was a bit of a slog to get to the last quarter I think the book started to shine again. I enjoyed the ending and the hinted set-up for the next book (I definitely thought this was a standalone so you’ve been warned!!). No big cliffhanger at least.

For a debut, it was good. I genuinely could see the effort and care for the story, even with my hang-ups. I’m curious about book two and how this will spiral the plot.

Overall audience notes: