Book Review: The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

October 28, 2021May 22, 2021 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: May 18th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents–who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno–Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in. After all, her father’s never been around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before Juno was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close, but working constantly to stay afloat is hard…and lonely.

But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands. At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98% compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Pena. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Pena. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess–who is barely making ends meet–is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond” pairing that could make GeneticAlly a mint in stock prices, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist–and the science behind a soulmate–than she thought.

Funny, warm, and full of heart, The Soulmate Equation proves that the delicate balance between fate and choice can never be calculated.

A NEW FAV.

My love of CL books goes up and down. But I can easily say this is one of my top favorites of their books. I adored this one y’all. So if you’ve been hesitant too, I think this one is worth checking out.

I love the unique plot. I honestly don’t know how believable it is (genetics/romance/etc.) but that didn’t bother me one bit. I thought it would actually be pretty cool if something like the DNADuo was available. It was incredibly nerdy listening to Jess and River discuss statistics and genetics and I loved it. As someone who is allergic to math, I didn’t quite follow everything, but that doesn’t take away from the story.

River was such a cinnamon roll!! Oh goodness, just the sweetest. I love the dates he and Jess went on and the clear chemistry between them. Then his relationship with Jess’s daughter, Juno, was ADORABLE. I love a great single parent story and this one is it. I also thought Jess’s friendship with Fizzy was perfect. They were truly best friends and I couldn’t get enough of the support that went both ways between them. Fizzy was hilarious and brought such a great vibe to the book.

One aspect in most romances is that final conflict, which can bust a book or make a book. You can kind of assume what’s going to happen in this story, and even when it did I wanted to keep reading because I still HAD TO KNOW what was going to happen next. I thought the drama was a nice touch and that there was an honest conversation and acknowledgement of wrong doing in the end. I love how Jess and River came back together for their relationship, regardless of what had happened.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: kisses to open and closed door scenes (brief, this is a lower steam CL book)
Trigger/Content Warnings: a loved one with a substance abuse problem

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Book Review: Cake (Cake #1) by J. Bengtsson

October 25, 2021February 23, 2021 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 611 pages
Author: J. Bengtsson
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: May 14th, 2016
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Casey

I’ve met the perfect guy. Handsome, talented, and sarcastic as hell, Jake McKallister is everything I’ve ever dreamed of in a man.

There’s just one problem: Jake is everyone’s dream man.

But he sees me—an everyday college girl—and introduces me to a whole new world of music and tour buses and adoring fans. The more I fall for him, the more I realize that Jake might not be all he pretends to be.

I’ve finally found a man worth fighting for…but will he let me win?

Jake

Casey thinks she knows. She doesn’t know. No one knows—but me.
And I’m not talking. Ever.

HMM.

I feel mixed by this story.

There was a lot of trauma and exploration of working through those past issues (see trigger warnings for further explanation). There was a love story. Yet the two didn’t mix that well.

Love story wise, it was charming overall. I did like Jake and Casey together. Sweet meet-cute. Fun traveling, going through some tough times and coming out the other side. The rockstar and normal girl romance was something I hadn’t read recently so it was a nice switch-up.

I didn’t connect with the writing style. The jokes didn’t land well, and some commentary wasn’t appealing. I thought the characters seemed very surface level and trying too hard to be more than that.

I’m finding it hard to write out all the things I thought while reading this. I know it’s well loved, it just didn’t hit that place for me.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: strong throughout
Romance: kisses to open door scenes
Trigger/Content Warnings: child kidnapping, sexual assault and rape (mentions from the past); torture, PTSD, suicide ideation; near death embolism, a loved one in a coma

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Book Review: Kulti by Mariana Zapata

October 21, 2021July 4, 2021 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 570 pages
Author: Mariana Zapata
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: March 20th, 2015
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

“Trust me, I’ve wanted to punch you in the face a time or five.”

When the man you worshipped as a kid becomes your coach, it’s supposed to be the greatest thing in the world. Keywords: supposed to.

It didn’t take a week for 27-year-old Sal Casillas to wonder what she’d seen in the international soccer icon – why she’d ever had his posters on her wall or ever envisioned marrying him and having super-playing soccer babies.

Sal had long ago gotten over the worst non-break-up in the history of imaginary relationships with a man who hadn’t known she’d existed. So she isn’t prepared for this version of Reiner Kulti who shows up to her team’s season: a quiet, reclusive shadow of the explosive, passionate man he’d once been.

A NEW FAVORITE.

All Rhodes Lead Here and Kulti are officially my favorite MZ books.

THIS SOCCER ROMANCE WAS EVERYTHING.

I absolutely loved Sal. The focus was clearly on her and her soccer career. I adored her as a character and the type of person she was. Sal was loyal and kind with a temper. Enter in Reiner Kulti who is silent as stone and immovable in emotions. CHEMISTRY FLIES. I love how they went from barely acquittances, to actual friends, and THEN to a romantic relationship. It all felt so natural and hot dang was fantastic. I love MZ’s ability to make me swoon over every tiny hand hold or hug. Those soft moments when you realize that stone is actually clay and is forming a new bond right in front of your eyes.

You won’t even notice that this is 600 pages. The progression is flawless and the pacing is everything I love about a stellar slow burn. My heart was an absolute puddle in the last pages with confessions and acknowledgements of feelings. A PUDDLE. Wow does Rey know how to lay out some tender words when he wants too. His support for Sal was EVERYTHING.

I really loved this story. It was heavily focused on the soccer season and yet never felt like it was overshadowing the fact that this is a romance book. Both plots wove seamlessly and I am smitten. Not to mention, smitten with the side characters too. Sal’s Dad was a GEM. And made me laugh and smile along with her other friends. I have nothing but good things to say about this book and highly recommend for anyone looking for a sports romance to turn their heart to mush.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: some strong
Romance: kisses to open door scenes
Trigger/Content Warnings: slut-shaming

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Book Review: The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams

October 19, 2021August 18, 2021 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 300 pages
Author: Sarah Adams
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: August 17th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Is it ever too late to leave the friend-zone?

Hi, my name is Bree Camden, and I’m hopelessly in love with my best friend and star quarterback Nathan Donelson (so is half of America, judging by the tabloids and how much the guy dates). The first step is admitting, right? Except, I can never admit it to him because he clearly doesn’t see me that way, and the last thing I want is for things to get weird between us.

Nothing but good old-fashioned, no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive, platonic friendship for us! Everything is exactly how I like it! Yes. Good. (I’m not crying, I’m just peeling an onion.)

Our friendship is going swimmingly until I accidentally spill my beans to a reporter over too much tequila, and now the world seems to think me and Nathan belong together. Oh, and did I mention we have to date publicly for three weeks until after the Super Bowl because we signed a contract with…oops, forgot I can’t tell anyone about that!

Bottom line is, now my best friend is smudging all the lines and acting very un-platonic, and I’m just trying to keep my body from bursting into flames every time he touches me.

How am I going to make it through three weeks of fake dating Nathan without anything changing between us? Especially when it almost-sort-a-kinda seems like he’s fighting for a completely different outcome?

Send help.
XO Bree

ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE.

Y’all.

Sarah Adams has done it again. WHAT A GEM OF ADORABLE CUTENESS OVERLOAD.

Nathan was *everything*. I was in love with that cinnamon roll of a man and did not hate for a second that he was a NFL quarterback. All of the sweet things he did for Bree to show he cared. And WOW do I love a group of friends coming together to help and support each other. I loved all of his teammates and I found myself laughing multiple times because of all of the antics.

Bree was great too! I really liked her as the heroine and found her feisty and utterly loyal companion. Someone with so much strength and still filled with a soft heart. Watching both of these two dance around each other brought out all of the angst. Bree occasionally annoyed me because I felt like she was resisting Nathan too much, but it didn’t detract from my overall impressions.

Everything flowed beautifully. The writing, as always, amazing. The pace moved well, I’m pretty sure after the first two chapters I was already shouting KISS ALREADY. And that’s the kind of feelings I was all over for Nathan and Bree’s story.

I can’t leave this review without telling you THAT ENDING WAS PEFECT. The impeccable way that that rolled out. I sat there smiling at my book with tears in my eyes because I didn’t even know I needed that kind of movie-like closing. Every book of Adams becomes my new favorite.

Overall audience notes: