Book Review: The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce

October 6, 2024July 26, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Jessica Joyce
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 16th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Estranged exes must stick close together to save their best friend’s wedding after a string of disasters in this swoony and steamy second-chance romance.

Georgia Woodward lives by her lists, none more so than the one about her ex, Eli Mora. It’s full of the ironclad dos and don’ts they’ve been following since she returned to the Bay Area after their cataclysmic breakup five years ago.

With the wedding of their mutual best friend, Adam, looming, and them about to step into their roles as best woman and man, Georgia’s never needed it more. She refuses to threaten their tight-knit friend group with her messy—and still very present—feelings. The rules on that list will keep her cool, calm, and compartmentalized.

What’s not on her list? Eli arriving from New York with a new rule-breaking attitude or the all-inclusive venue burning to the ground, leaving the bride and groom in dire straits. Nor does she anticipate Adam asking her and Eli to help him make a miracle happen. Together.

As Georgia and Eli rush up to Napa Valley to pull off the perfect wedding, their old chemistry comes back in technicolor. Somewhere between cake tastings gone wrong, disastrous DJ auditions, and Eli’s heated attention, Georgia starts recognizing the man she fell in love with before. And if she lets herself break her rules, she might find what they’re building isn’t the something old that ruined them—it’s a chance at something new.

I LOVED IT.

This is one of my new favorite second chance romances. I loved the anxiety rep with Eli. That was easily some of the best moments for me.

I didn’t know how I would feel about the wedding antics but I think the side characters set the right vibe for all the shenanigans, and while they were ridiculous I started to love them too. I loved the subtle flashbacks and seeing the communication start to flow.

The banter and tension were fantastic. Gosh I was just smitten with Eli. And I loved seeing growth from Georgia too. And the paper rings??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: moderate
Romance: 3+ open door
Content Warnings: parental abandonment and divorced recounted, anxiety and panic attacks

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ARC Book Review: It’s Always Us (The Abandoned Brothers #3) by Stacy Williams

October 3, 2024September 14, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 476 pages
Author: Stacy Williams
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: October 7th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

What if you give your whole heart away? Do you ever really get it back?

Lex has just been going through the motions for years, trying to let go of the one man she can’t seem to forget. When she finds herself getting ready to take on a life she’s never wanted, she realizes she’s stuck in the same place she was at sixteen—heart stolen and fully belonging to another. Now, Lex is determined to move forward and finally face reality—life without him.

But when the past returns, making declarations she’d never thought she’d hear again, will Lex take a chance to finally go after what she’s always wanted?

Mark has been living the high life…at least, that’s what the media believes. Reality is, he’s spent the last eight years thinking of the one who promised to love him always. For Mark, time has passed and damage was done, but he just can’t convince himself that her devotion wasn’t real. When time is running out—or so he thinks—he takes a shot to find out once and for all if her words were honest and true.

When the fun-loving, professional quarterback makes his play, will he find that the hope he’s held onto is everything he needed it to be? What if it’s so much more than he ever could have imagined?

It’s Always Us is a touching love story that reminds us when all hope is lost…love lasts.

This story is part of a series but if you don’t mind a few spoilers, it can be read as a stand-alone.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

THE JOURNEY.

This book made me have to stare down some things I don’t generally like when I’m reading a romance book. But the pure chaos of this journey and the up and down roller coaster had me flipping page after page never able to guess where this story would turn next. And that had it’s own wonderful quality too.

I loved how much Mark and Lex showed that soul mate level quality of connection. How when you feel like you’re hitting the end of what you can handle, love finds a way. Love creates a path. Love finds a way to fight with you.

Both characters had a lot of walls they had to hit a few times over before they found a way around. I loved the supporting cast and how they helped Mark and Lex get through their journey’s. The ending came together so sweetly and squeezed my heart strings.

This book has been a long time coming for this series and I loved all the truths it held and the satisfying conclusion it was for the all three brothers.

Overall audience notes:

Sports Romance
Language: moderate
Romance: closed door
Violence: low

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: September 2024

October 1, 2024 GoodeyReads2 Comments

How did September get here???
I made it another month without having any books in the under three star (or least favorite) category and had plenty of great books to choose from!

Favorites this month:

Sunday Supper
The Key to Deceit
Heir
Words of Radiance (reread)
Guy’s Girl
Playing it Safe
It’s Always Us
The Christmas You Found Me
A Sky Full of Dragons
An Academy for Liars
An Improper Proposal
Locked in Pursuit
The Games Gods Play

Least favorites:

NONE!

[ARC] Sunday Supper by K. Sinko
The Girl with No Reflection by Keshe Chow
[ARC] Phantasma (Wicked Games #1) by Kaylie Smith
The Key To Deceit (Electra McDonnell #2) by Ashley Weaver
Little Monsters by Kara Thomas
The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas
The Champions by Kara Thomas
[ARC] Heir (Heir Duology #1) by Sabaa Tahir
All out of Love (Boys of Riverside #3) by Gracie Graham
[ARC] The Scarlet Throne (The False Goddess #1) by Amy Leow
[ARC] Of Gold and Shadows by Michelle Griep
[Reread] Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archives #2) by Brandon Sanderson
[ARC] Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood
Guy’s Girl by Emma Noyes
Playing it Safe (Electra McDonnell #3) by Ashley Weaver
[ARC] It’s Always Us (The Abandoned Brothers #3) by Stacy Williams
Loyally, Luke (Skymar #3) by Pepper Basham
[ALC] The Christmas You Found Me (Heart of the Wilderness #1) by Sarah Morgenthaler
Cole and Laila are Just Friends by Bethany Turner
A Dawn with the Wolf Knight (Married to Magic #5) by Elise Kova
[ALC] A Sky Full of Dragons (The Wand Keepers #1) by Tiffany McDaniel
[ARC] A Queen’s Game (A Queen’s Game #1) by Katharine McGee
An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
An Improper Proposal (Improper Agreements #4) by Audra Wells
The Shadow of the Gods (Bloodsworn Saga #1) by John Gwynne
Locked in Pursuit (Electra McDonnell #4) by Ashley Weaver
A Royal Promise (Royal Hearts #4) by Amanda Schimmoeller
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas
On a Flight to Sydney (Love Along the Way #1) by J.A. Forde
The Cheerleaders (The Cheerleaders #1) by Kara Thomas
One Last Thing (The Seddledowne #1) by Susan Henshaw
The Games Gods Play (The Crucible #1) by Abigail Owen
Unbearably Yours (It’s Always Been You #3) by Elodie Colliard
[ARC/ALC] The Courting of Bristol Keats (The Courting of Bristol Keats #1) by Mary E. Pearson
The Heart of the World (The Isles of the Gods #2) by Amie Kaufman
[ARC] Across the Star Kissed Sea by Arlem Hawks

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Book Review: One Happy Summer (Falling for Summer) by Becky Monson

September 22, 2024July 28, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 345 pages
Author: Becky Monson
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: July 24th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Running away from my disastrous career to an island off the Florida coast wasn’t part of my summer plans, but life hasn’t been cooperative lately, anyway. At least here, I can hide away and figure out how to untangle the mess I’ve gotten myself into.

One thing is certain: my A-list status and title of America’s Sweetheart are long gone, and they’re probably never coming back. I’ll just remain on this island until the worst of it blows over. Until the gossip magazines move on to another juicy topic. Until the paparazzi lose interest.

The problem is, I’m feeling pretty bored and lonely. Sneaking into town and grabbing a book to keep me occupied turns out not to be my best move. Because what I absolutely don’t need is Briggs Dalton, the man who runs the shop. He’s handsome and funny, and I can’t stop thinking about him.

Briggs believes that despite the chaos that is my life, I can still have a fun summer, and he’s determined to prove it to me.

Maybe, just maybe, this summer could turn out to be a happy one after all.

NOT QUITE CLICKING.

I wish I could put a finger on what exactly wasn’t working for me here but I will do my best to explain. There was something about the writing style that wasn’t working. The inner dialogue was kind of repetitive and the celebrity aspects of this weren’t my favorite. I am hard to please on that trope and this was clear for most of the book to be troublesome.

Also, the amount of references to Notting Hill (which I haven’t seen…) were wayyy to many. It felt odd to mention how similar their relationship was to the movie? And I feel like too many of the plot aspects were not tied up, I’m still thinking about a few holes to the story that needed filled.

There were some cute scenes. And I liked Briggs and Presley well enough. I still love the summertime vibes brought out in this series and it was a sweet read.

Overall audience notes: