Book Review: Seven Summers by Paige Toon

July 27, 2024June 17, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 441 pages
Author: Seven Summers
Publisher: Random House UK
Release Date: December 2nd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Six summers to fall in love. One summer to change everything.

Liv and Finn meet six summers ago working in a bar on the rugged Cornish coastline, their futures full of promise. When a night of passion ends in devastating tragedy they are bound together inextricably. But Finn’s life is in LA with his band, and Liv’s is in Cornwall with her family—so they make a promise. Finn will return every year, and if they are single they will spend the summer together.

This summer Liv crosses paths with Tom—a mysterious new arrival in her hometown. As the wildflowers and heather come into bloom, they find themselves falling for one another. For the first time Liv can imagine a world where her heart isn’t broken every autumn. Now Liv must make an impossible choice. And when she discovers the shocking reason that Tom has left home, she’ll need to trust her heart even more.

GOOD HEAVENS.

Alright, I’m going to be honest. I usually HATE these kind of books. And I think this will be a polarizing kind of read. Luckily this hit me at a good time because I was obsessed with listening to it and threw five stars at it because I was IN MY FEELS.

I’m going to try to stay vague because I think this book will be better enjoyed going in as blind as you can (I hadn’t even read the synopsis, I just saw one friend’s five star review). I loved the high levels of angst and tension. The dual timeline really worked here and I was smitten with the romance. And even when frustrated, I was INVOLVED. I love when a book has me in a chokehold. It took turns I wasn’t expecting, but that I feel worked how for how life truly works out sometimes. There’s good discussion points and the love story has a forever quality to it.

This had great summer vibes too if you’re needing a summer romance to read. I flew through it and definitely plan to read future Paige Toon books.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: low-moderate
Romance: 4+ fade to black
Violence: low
Content Warnings: loss of parents (car accident), loss of a spouse, depictions of grief

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Book Review: You First by Caitlin Moss

July 24, 2024June 15, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 378 pages
Author: Caitlin Moss
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: May 30th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He’s her brother’s best friend…
…she’s his biggest regret.

Genevieve Michaels didn’t realize how much emotional preparation she needed to do for her brother’s wedding. But when Leo Bishop walks into the bar five days before the big day, she’s reminded of exactly why she can’t stand her brother’s best friend…and exactly why she plans to steer clear of him all week.

But within minutes, Leo and Genevieve are back to their usual childish antics. They grew up together, and they have a lot in their love for basketball and her brother, along with their innate ability to pick a fight with each other. But not this week. This week Genevieve is determined to play nice and avoid him as much as possible.

When wedding chaos ensues, Leo and Genevieve are forced to work together to ensure the wedding goes off without a hitch. As they eliminate each disaster, they uncover all the reasons they can’t stand each other, and all the reasons they once thought it could be love.

I LIKED THIS ONE.

New to me author and I am happily hear to say I’d read another book by Caitlin Moss.

This was a really solid friends to lovers, brother’s best friend & second chance romance. The combination of tropes worked well for me and I could feel the tension from the get-go. I liked the chemistry between Leo and Genevieve a lot. The flashback chapters weren’t overwhelming and added the necessary back story to feel all the things throughout this book.

There were a few plot choices that just weren’t my favorite. And a forced sense of drama that I didn’t connect with. Otherwise though, LOVED all of the basketball content, the HORSE concept was cute and I like how that was woven throughout. I sincerely enjoyed this story and look forward to more.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: strong
Romance: 3+ open door
Violence: low
Trigger/Content Warnings: brief mention of miscarriage, loss of a mother (theme throughout), cheating (Gen’s ex)

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ARC Book Review: Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell

July 23, 2024April 29, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Slow Dance
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: July 23rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and Attachments comes Slow Dance—a bright, beaming power ballad of a novel about a love so true it refuses to be forgotten.

Back in high school, everybody thought Shiloh and Cary would end up together . . . everybody but Shiloh and Cary.

They were just friends. Best friends. Allies. They spent entire summers sitting on Shiloh’s porch steps, dreaming about the future. They were both going to get out of north Omaha—Shiloh would go to college and become an actress, and Cary would join the Navy. They promised each other that their friendship would never change.

Well, Shiloh did go to college, and Cary did join the Navy. And yet, somehow, everything changed.

Now Shiloh’s thirty-three, and it’s been fourteen years since she talked to Cary. She’s been married and divorced. She has two kids. And she’s back living in the same house she grew up in. Her life is nothing like she planned.

When she’s invited to an old friend’s wedding, all Shiloh can think about is whether Cary will be there—and whether she hopes he will be. Would Cary even want to talk to her? After everything?

The answer is yes. And yes. And yes.

Slow Dance is the story of two kids who fell in love before they knew enough about love to recognize it. Two friends who lost everything. Two adults who just feel lost.

It’s the story of Shiloh and Cary, who everyone thought would end up together, trying to find their way back to the start.

Thank you to William Morrow for the gifted ARC.

HOLY DIALOGUE.

You will rarely find me saying too much dialogue, but y’all, there was too much dialogue. And I didn’t realize how much of a disconnect that created for me in understanding the main character’s emotions and decisions, and even their basic personalities. I struggled so much to FEEL something reading this.

The bones are there. It’s a second chance romance, there’s a lot of real life stuff to work through and talk, and I liked scenes here and there throughout.

This writing style got to me enough I was missing too much to reconcile my overall thoughts. I also think when I’m reading a romance, I want it to be realistic, yet I am cool with a level of romantic delulu because it’s a ROMANCE book and that’s fine. This was almost so realistic that it came across very bland and I watched the day to day of these characters without any true plot line woven in.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: moderate
Romance: 2-3 somewhat cringey open door scenes
Content Warnings: cheating partner (resulting is a divorce)

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Book Review: Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan

July 22, 2024June 12, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Annabel Monaghan
Publisher: G.P. Putnam
Release Date: June 6th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The ultimate summer nostalgia read, about an engaged woman who comes face to face with her first love who she hasn’t seen in fourteen years, but who she spent every summer with from age five to seventeen when he broke her heart, calling into question everything she thought she knew about their love story, and herself.

Beach Rules:
Do take long walks on the sand.
Do put an umbrella in every cocktail.
Do NOT run into your first love.

Sam’s life is on track. She has the perfect doctor fiancé, Jack (his strict routines are a good thing, really), a great job in Manhattan (unless they fire her), and is about to tour a wedding venue near her family’s Long Island beach house. Everything should go to plan, yet the minute she arrives, Sam senses something is off. Wyatt is here. Her Wyatt. But there’s no reason for a thirty-year-old engaged woman to feel panicked around the guy who broke her heart when she was seventeen. Right?

Yet being back at this beach, hearing notes from Wyatt’s guitar float across the night air from next door as if no time has passed—Sam’s memories come flooding back: the feel of Wyatt’s skin on hers, their nights in the treehouse, and the truth behind their split. Sam remembers who she used to be, and as Wyatt reenters her life their connection is as undeniable as it always was. She will have to make a choice.

LOVED.

This is my new favorite from Annabel Monaghan! Great second chance romance, I FELT the angst and the chapters in the past were gosh dang sweet and heart breaking.

Often with second chance I feel like I need the reason for the original break-up to make sense. And this one did!! It still hurt my heart, but with all of things surrounding why there was a breakdown, it worked well and I loved seeing Sam and Wyatt work towards a resolution. I love a first love reconnection.

I loved the setting, this really is a great book for summer. It’s fast paced (and short, the audio was 7 hours), brings the feels and a little bit of heat. There were a lot of sweet moments and good conversations, I wish the other guy would have been gone sooner though!!

Overall audience notes: