Tag: forever publishing

Book Review: This Could Be Us (Skyland #2) by Kennedy Ryan

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Kennedy Ryan
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: March 5th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. Because, of course, she does. She plans everything. She designs everything. She fixes everything. She’s a domestic goddess who’s never met a party she couldn’t host or a charge she couldn’t lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes poof in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion.

But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She’s too busy keeping a roof over her daughters’ heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. From the ashes of a life burned to the ground, something bold and new can rise.

But then an unlikely man enters the picture—the forbidden one, the one she shouldn’t want but can’t seem to resist. She’s lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?

After all she’s lost . . .and found . . .can she be brave enough to make room for what could be?

BEAUTIFUL.

I loved this book y’all. It brought me close to tears multiple times and I loved so many themes throughout. How deeply motherhood has been woven into Soledad’s soul touched my soul too. I love how fiercely she loved her daughters and valued who they are and her place as a Mom. It was empowering and encouraging. Kennedy Ryan writes some of the best children characters I’ve ever read. They all are attached to my heart and are the sweetest souls.

The romance was beautiful too. I didn’t love the benefits angle that it had for most of the relationship but I adored the chemistry between Soledad and Judah. I loved how patient and endearing Judah was. How he allowed Soledad to find herself and was okay with waiting. I think the time jumps worked well in the beginning too because I was concerned at what the timeline was going to look like from the initial drama of the beginning.

Kennedy Ryan is an incredible writer and I lover her storytelling powers. I look forward to her future books!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Langugage: moderate
  • Romance: 3+ open door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: divorce, cheating spouse, imprisonment

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ARC Book Review: You Between the Lines by Katie Naymon

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Katie Naymon
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: February 18th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A former sorority girl starts a prestigious poetry MFA program only to discover that one of her fellow grad students is her high school crush-turned-nemesis—​who can’t stop writing about her.

No one’s more surprised than Leigh when a prestigious MFA program in North Carolina accepts her. A former sorority girl, Leigh’s the first to admit she knows more about the lyrics of Taylor Swift than T.S. Eliot, and she’s never been able to shake the “all-style-no-substance” feedback her high school crush made in their poetry workshop. Bad enough that her tattooed, New Yorker tote bag-carrying classmates have read all the right authors and been published in the country’s leading literary journals, Leigh’s insecurities become all too real when Will, that same high school crush-turned-nemesis, shows up at orientation as a first-year in the program, too. And now, he’s William, exactly the kind of writer Leigh hates, complete with his pretentious sweater vests and tattered Moleskine.

Leigh’s determined to prove herself—and William—wrong by landing the program’s highly-coveted fellowship. But Will’s dead-set on it, too, and in a small cohort, they can’t keep apart for long. When Will submits an intimate poem (that’s maybe, probably, definitely about Leigh) to workshop, they’re both forced to realize there’s more to the other than what’s on the page. And what’s between the lines may be even more interesting.

Thank you to Forever Publishing for the gifted ARC.

I TRIED Y’ALL.

This was high on my release list radar and I was so excited to have received an ARC, and now I’m sad that this didn’t all pan out. There are some good moments between Leigh and Will and different scenes and pieces were perfectly fine. I’ll even go on record that I would try another book by this author, even with my issues with this debut.

Leigh had no character growth. It didn’t show up until the last 30 pages and by that point I had already hit a level of frustration with waiting for her confidence to show and to learn to communicate. I also feel like I handled my parent’s divorce at age 11 better than she did at 27.

And it just didn’t feel romantic. I wanted the swoon factor and never felt that. Many of the moments of closeness between Will and Leigh were fueled with alcohol and that’s not my favorite vibe.

There were a few small plot points that were throw in, forgot about for long stretches of time and then added back in at the end. I think figuring out the continuity more would have helped too.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: brief open door
  • Content Warnings: loss of a parent (recounted), divorce

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ARC Book Review: One Last Summer by Kate Spencer

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Rating: ★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Kate Spencer
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: June 11th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the cohost of the award-winning Forever35 podcast comes a dreamy, laugh-out-loud summer romance that asks: What do you do when the life you’ve planned isn’t what you’ve dreamed?

Clara Millen’s life is spiraling out of control: her dream job is a nightmare, she’s resoundingly single, and it’s been years since she’s taken some time off. Thankfully, the last problem she can fix—this year she’ll join her friends on their annual summer vacation to their beloved childhood sleepover camp for a much-needed escape.

But when Clara arrives at Pine Lake Camp, she faces yet another unwelcome change: the owners are retiring and selling the property. The news turns her plans for revelry into a night of reminiscing . . . and prompts a surprise heart-to-heart between Clara and Mack, her old camp nemesis and constant competitor, who’s still just as annoying (and annoyingly handsome).

Soon the campfires aren’t all that’s throwing off sparks. And when one wildly passionate night turns into two (then too many to count!), Clara begins to wonder if she and Mack could have a future together. But when Clara’s boss finally offers her everything she’s worked so hard for, Clara will need to decide if the life she’s always wanted is the life that makes her feel truly alive.

Thank you to Forever Pub for sending an ARC.

NOT WORKING FOR ME.

I just could never get into this one y’all. It read kind of like a Hallmark movie, predictable and easy to follow, but lacking in charm. All of these characters felt very surface level and while attempts at being deep were made, I never found a connection with anyone.

This was mostly a bunch of adults trying to relive some kind of glory moment and a summer camp they all used to attend. I thought recreating games was kind of silly and I’m just not a food fight gal. This also led to petty arguments between the love interests and sleeping together rather than talking, which is always a recipe for a disaster. The drama didn’t add anything and I wasn’t surprised by one thing that happened.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: 2ish open door

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Book Review: Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 432 pages
Author: Abby Jimenez
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: April 2nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it’s now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work.

Emma hadn’t planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It’s supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they’re suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected–including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?

I DON’T KNOW.

I need to write this review, but also don’t know what to write. I enjoyed this, I did. But something was missing. I can’t quite put my finger on what. While not my least favorite of Abby Jimenez’s, I wouldn’t count it in my top reads of hers either.

Maybe something was off with the chemistry initially. It started off really funny and I liked the set-up, then I feel like I lost a bit of steam in trying to get through it. It might be my own personal past things that combined with small things happening in the book that made me a little flustered.

The romance was super sweet though. I adored Justin. That man was put through the ringer and kept showing up. I loved the way he loved. His friends, his family, Emma. He’s one of those good souls. I could have read this book entirely from his POV.

I feel like the unsung hero of this book was Maddy. She kind of got dragged threw the mud and I’m glad she found a HEA too because Maddy really deserved more.

This was a complicated read. I’m still an Abby Jimenez fan though.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 1-2 open; low explicit
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: parental abandonment, panic attacks, PTSD, anxiety, depression, depictions of undiagnosed mental health issues, toxic mother, child neglect

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