Tag: contemporary romance

ARC Book Review: This May End Badly by Samantha Markum

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Samantha Markum
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: April 12th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Pranking mastermind Doe and her motley band of Weston girls are determined to win the century-long war against Winfield Academy before the clock ticks down on their senior year. But when their headmistress announces that The Weston School will merge with its rival the following year, their longtime feud spirals into chaos.

To protect the school that has been her safe haven since her parents’ divorce, Doe puts together a plan to prove once and for all that Winfield boys and Weston girls just don’t mix, starting with a direct hit at Three, Winfield’s boy king and her nemesis. In a desperate move to win, Doe strikes a bargain with Three’s cousin, Wells: If he fake dates her to get under Three’s skin, she’ll help him get back his rightful family heirloom from Three.

As the pranks escalate, so do her feelings for her fake boyfriend, and Doe spins lie after lie to keep up her end of the deal. But when a teacher long suspected of inappropriate behavior messes with a younger Weston girl, Doe has to decide what’s more important: winning a rivalry, or joining forces to protect something far more critical than a prank war legacy.

This May End Badly is a story about friendship, falling in love, and crossing pretty much every line presented to you—and how to atone when you do.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an eARC.

WORKED FOR ME!

Love a great young adult contemporary with some romance. This is definitely one of those reads!

The romance was so sweet!! I loved the fake dating (of course) and how clearly smitten these two were from the beginning, even if Doe didn’t realize it yet. Occasionally she was too concerned about the reasons they were fake dating, but that played into her character growth by the end. I adored Wells and Doe. I thought they were authentically teens, making some poor decisions and learning how to apologize and accept help. Doe was a wonderfully strong main character and one of the best parts of this book.

Some serious themes were also handled (see trigger warnings). While it didn’t seem to fit the original plot of the story, it did work to bring these two schools together. I think it could have benefitted from a bit more flow, but I love a good teamwork moment and This May End Badly accomplished that.

I liked the prank wars and competing schools. I adored Doe’s entire group of friends and all of the coming of age growth and conversations throughout. A really superb young adult novel you should check out too!

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: one fade to black + light innuendo
  • Violence: some pranks that cause minor harm
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: sexual harassment, grooming by a teacher

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 337 pages
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: August 5th, 2014
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.

Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.

SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT COMING.

This is my 13th (wild?!) CoHo book. You would think by now that I should be fully prepared to have my soul ripped in half, to cry a bit, and then have it knit back in the best way. Once again, I was NOT and so a puddle of tears I became.

I love how absolutely raw this was. On both sides there were so many emotions and stories to discover. I loved how the way Miles chapters were written. They conveyed a sense of what was most important to him and in telling his story of how he became who he is today. I love how Tate brought him out of his secluded space and helped him realize that he had the choice to move on. I even love how Rachel’s story played out too.

There was just so much LOVE here. Even if it was ugly. There’s such power in love and there were ample connections here that showed love in many forms and in many ways. This was painful as much as it was hopeful. I couldn’t put it down and it was another CoHo book I finished in a day.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses to open door scenes
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a child, car wreck, depictions of grief and depression

Instagram || Goodreads

Book Review: In the Penalty Box by Lynn Rush and Kelly Anne Blount

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary romance
Length: 364 pages
Author: Lynn Rush & Kelly Anne Blount
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: January 5th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Cutting Edge meets Friday Night Lights in a sizzling new hockey romance from bestselling authors Kelly Anne Blount and Lynn Rush.

Willow
Figure skating was supposed to be my whole world. But one unlucky injury and now I’m down…but I’m definitely not out. I just need to rehab—a boatload of rehab—and who’d have thought I could do it on the boys’ hockey team?

Of course, the infuriatingly hot captain of the team seems to think I’m nothing but sequins and twirls. What’s a girl to do but put him in his place? Game on.

Brodie
Hockey is my whole world. I’ve worked my tail off getting my team in a position to win the championships—hopefully in front of major college scouts, too—so what’s a guy to do when a figure skater ends up as our new goalie?

Of course, the distractingly sexy skater thinks I’m nothing but a testosterone-laced competitive streak. And surely she’s only biding her time to heal, then she’s gone. Game over.

ALERT: RAGING TEEN HORMONES

That’s about the only major thought that kept going through my head. This was a book that couldn’t decide what age group it actually wanted to be apart of. The dialogue, conversations, and inner monologues swayed from young YA and towards NA (new adult). It was weird. Really weird.

What I did like was the hockey story. I love a good sports novel and I LOVE that Willow got be the goalie for the boy’s team. That was awesome and really neat to see. I liked reading about the games and wondering who was going to win.

I also did enjoy Willow’s character progression. Ridiculous thoughts about Brodie aside, she made some great strides in figuring out what was best for her. I think she made the best decisions with the information she could and picked what she truly felt was going to make her happy in the long run.

The wild drama all over the place took me out of the story. I don’t mind a bit of drama, but sometimes it hits a line. This one rolled way past that point. Everything felt amped to try and create an emotional side, and I didn’t feel much of that. I wish I could have felt drawn to some of the inner story more, but it’s fine. This was a quick YA romance that had some good, some bad.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult sports romance
  • Language: some
  • Romance: kisses/make-outs
  • Violence: physical altercations
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: difficult sports injuries, sexism, misogyny, loss of a parent through car wreck, parent abandonment, parent incarceration, alcoholism

Instagram || Goodreads

Reading Wrap Up: March 2022

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

We’re just going to pretend that I didn’t forget about February’s wrap up and then was too exhausted to make it.

Trying to remedy that by starting March’s earlier!

FAVORITES:

  • All my rereads
  • Every Nichole Van book
  • The Unknown Beloved
  • A River Enchanted
  • Our Last Days in Barcelona
  • Sweet Right Here (A Lost Story Bookshop Novel #1) by Jenny B. Jones
  • [Reread] A Court of Wings and Ruin (ACOTAR #1) by Sarah J. Maas
  • Gallant by V.E. Schwab
  • [Reread/Novella] A Court of Frost and Starlight (ACOTAR #3.5) by Sarah J. Maas
  • [ARC] A Symphony of Stars (The Gods of Men #3) by Barbara Kloss
  • Romancing the Rake (Brotherhood of the Black Tartan #2) by Nichole Van
  • The Siren of Sussex (Belles of London #1) by Mimi Matthews
  • [Novella] Evershore (Skyward #3.1) by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson
  • [ARC] The Unknown Beloved by Amy Harmon
  • How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan
  • Loving a Lady (Brotherhood of the Black Tartan #3) by Nichole Van
  • Under Locke by Mariana Zapata
  • Daughter of the Deep (The Children of Lyr #1) by Lina C. Amarego
  • Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archives #2.5) by Brandon Sanderson
  • Fly with the Arrow (Bluebeard’s Secret #1) by Sarah K.L. Wilson
  • A River Enchanted (Elements of Cadence #1) by Rebecca Ross
  • Only A Monster (Monsters #1) by Vanessa Len
  • An Impossible Imposter (Veronica Speedwell #7) by Deanna Raybourn
  • Making the Marquess (Brotherhood of the Black Tartan #4) by Nichole Van
  • Just a Heartbeat Away (Forever Yours #1) by Cara Bastone
  • Remembering Jamie (Brotherhood of the Black Tartan #5) by Nichole Van
  • [Non-Fiction] Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alred Lansing
  • [Novella] Under One Roof (The STEMinist Novellas #1) by Ali Hazelwood
  • [ARC] Love Practically (The Penn-Leiths of Thistle Muir #1) by Nichole Van
  • The League of Gentlewomen Witches (Dangerous Damsels #2) by India Holton
  • [Novella] The Emperor’s Soul (Elantris) by Brandon Sanderson
  • [ARC] Our Last Days in Barcelona by Chanel Cleeton
  • Queen (Fae Games #3) by Karen Lynch
  • [ARC] Luck and Last Resorts (Love, Lists & Fancy Ships #2) by Sarah Grunder Ruiz
  • Crimson Reign (Blood Heir Trilogy #3) by Amie Wen Zhao
  • The Lady Tempts an Heir (The Gilded Age Heiresses #3) by Harper St. George
  • [ARC] The Rightful Bearer (The Maiden Ship #3) by Micheline Ryckman
  • [Novella] Stuck With You (The STEMinist Novellas #2) by Ali Hazelwood
  • Bride of the Shadow King (Bride of the Shadow King #2) by Sylvia Mercedes
  • [Reread] A Court of Silver Flames (ACOTAR #4) by Sarah J. Maas
  • Love Off-Limits (Some Kind of Love #3) by Jenny Proctor
  • [ARC] The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
  • The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgertons #2) by Julia Quinn
  • Seatmate (Love Lines #3) by Cara Bastone
  • [Reread] The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph