Book Review: A Temporary Marriage: The Fake Love Series by Summer Dowell

August 13, 2020March 31, 2020 GoodeyReads1 Comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 171 pages
Author: Summer Dowell
Publisher: Self-published
Expected Release Date: January 21st, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

“Kylee, will you marry me?”
If she hadn’t still been breathing, she would’ve checked for a pulse.
“M-marry you?”
“Not for real, of course!”

Struggling graphic designer Kylee Morgan would do just about anything to help Ryan Hudson, her very attractive friend she’s been harboring feelings for for way too long. But, marry him? That might be taking things a little too far even for her.

Ryan is on the cusp of success with his new product line when things come to a crashing halt. He needs cash fast and his grandparent’s trust fund is the perfect solution. However, there’s one small requirement to get the money, he has to be married.

Will Kylee and Ryan play a convincing married couple? Or will things fall apart when Ryan’s family gets involved?

Don’t miss A Temporary Marriage, the first of The Fake Love series by Summer Dowell. If you like fake relationships and swoon worthy moments, than this clean romantic comedy will have you turning pages!

QUICK AND CUTE.

This is the second book I’ve read by Summer Dowell and I gotta say, this was much better than the first one I tried. I really enjoyed this light, quick read. Made me smile and all the happy feelings. It reminded me of the movie, The Proposal (with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds).

I love the relationship between Kylee and Ryan. I thought they clearly had chemistry and were both clearly fighting feelings for one another. Each time they got to hang out or needed to show some PDA had me excited for them. I thought the story line was written well and I liked the plot as a whole. The ending was tooootally cliche and Hallmark movie status, and I had no problem with that. Sometimes those are the best endings! I wanted all the mushy-cheesiness because this book called for it.

I thought the writing was significantly better than Love is an Art. There was a lot less telling and more showing through characters actions and words what was happening. I didn’t get as much unnecessary information and was able to really relax into the story. Occasionally the inner monologues of Ryan and Kylee would seem a bit repetitive (we get it, y’all like each other, but won’t admit it), but other than that I had no major complaints.

This would be a great full fledged story. With more background and lead-up to Ryan and Kylee getting together. Things ran pretty quickly and I found myself wanting more from them. At least this was cute. Really cute. And I’m satisfied with that.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: none
Romance: some kisses

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Book Review: Neighbors Like That (A Love Like This #1) by Carina Taylor

August 6, 2020March 27, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 263 pages
Author: Carina Taylor
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: December 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

KYLIE

He started our war–I intend to finish it.

Buying a house in the suburbs was supposed to be low stress—my own little haven to decorate and landscape exactly how I want. Instead, I find myself locking my garbage can to keep pests out–pests that are six-foot-one, green-eyed, and far too good-looking.
My trespassing neighbor is rude and entitled. It isn’t long before war is declared, and I find myself stooping to immature pranks.
When trouble lands at my door, my unlikely neighbor starts knocking on my heart. Am I ready to answer?

HAGEN

I will win no matter what it takes.

I moved to this neighborhood for a fresh start. The one thing I’m not looking for is a relationship. So, when I mistakenly assume my neighbor is hitting on me, I lash out at her.
I didn’t mean to start the war, but now she taunts me from across the street. Our harmless pranks have become the highlight of my day. I should stay away–but I can’t. I want to spend more time with her.
When a stalker begins sending Kylie a series of notes, I’m only too willing to help protect her.
Maybe I’m looking for a relationship, after all.

FAIRLY CHARMING.

I decided to give Carina Taylor books another chance, after being disappointed with Christmas Like This, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read another in this series. Neighbors Like That had some pretty good praise, and here we are! I honestly enjoyed this and it was a super quick read (under 300 pages).

I liked the chemistry between Kylie and Hagen. It was a very literal interpretation of enemies to lovers. A pranking war starts between the two and some hilarity ensues. Creativity was running high as things heated between them. It offered some great banter, close encounters and laughter.

One thing that didn’t quite add up was the attempted kidnapping sub-plot. It felt unnecessarily added to heighten the *drama* of the whole book, but it could have been left out and I would have been happy without it. Hagen had his own backstory and personal issues to deal with and those flowed much better into the story line.

I enjoyed the side characters and how much I could see those types of friends in my own life. They were fun, way too into everyone’s personal lives (but in a charming way) and I thought they were a great addition to Kylie and Hagen’s happenings.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: physical
Trigger warnings: attempted kidnapping (with someone being held at gunpoint)

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: July 2020

July 31, 2020July 30, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

REVIVAL.

I have come back from the depths of morning sickness + reading slump to read EIGHTEEN books for July! And I even had some five stars and some really great four stars and this sentence is running on because I’m so relieved to have some “normalcy” right now.

Below are my reads! I read lots of ARCs this month that will have reviews soon and I recommend all of them for your TBR!

Favorites: Clap When You Land, The Empire of Gold, and Far From Normal
Least Favorites: Once More Upon a Time, What I Like About You, and Unravel the Dusk

[ARC] Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards #1) by Janella Angeles – (☆☆☆☆)
Clap When You Land by Elizaveth Acevedo – (☆☆☆☆☆)
[ARC] Miracle Creek Christmas by Krista Jensen – (☆☆☆☆)
The Happy Ever After Playlist (The Friend Zone #2) by Abby Jimenez – (☆☆☆☆)
[ARC] Fable (Fable #1) by Adrienne Young – (☆☆☆☆)
Once More Upon a Time by Roshani Chokshi – (☆☆☆)
[ARC] Well Played (Well Met #2) by Jen DeLuca – (☆☆☆☆)
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata – (☆☆☆☆)
The Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy #3) by S.A. Chakraborty – (☆☆☆☆☆)
Not Like the Movies (Waiting for Tom Hanks #2) by Kerry Winfrey – (☆☆☆ 1/2)
What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter – (☆☆☆)
[ARC] The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and the Dove #2) by Kaitlyn Davis – (☆☆☆☆)
Unravel the Dusk (The Blood of the Stars #2) by Elizabeth Lim – (☆☆☆ 1/2)
[ARC] Far From Normal by Becky Wallace – (☆☆☆☆☆)
Party of Two (The Wedding Date #5) by Jasmine Guillory – (☆☆☆☆)
The Distance Between Us by Kasie West – (☆☆☆☆)
The Match (It Happened in Charleston #1) by Sarah Adams – (☆☆☆ 1/2)
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin #1) by Roseanna A. Brown – (☆☆☆☆)

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Book Review: Love is an Art by Summer Dowell

July 20, 2020March 18, 2020 GoodeyReads2 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 187 pages
Author: Summer Dowell
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: March 13th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Normally poised and confident Erin McCoy is having a rough day. Spilling paint all over a stranger’s car was not part of her plans that morning. Luckily, things begin looking up when her best friend drags her to an art class taught by the unmistakably gorgeous Travis Hunter.

Travis is your average, easygoing art teacher. His day is off to a bumpy start when he finds his parked car covered in grey paint. However, when a stunning brunette walks into his class later that afternoon, things don’t seem so bad.

A hilarious love/hate situation forms as Erin and Travis unknowingly battle over the paint accident while simultaneously pursuing their budding relationship.

SUPERFLUOUS.

This is unfortunately how I felt about most of this book. For a short story it had a lot of random details and tangents that I couldn’t possibly figure out why it was that important. The writing itself was my biggest issue with the book. While cute, it overall let me down.

There was a lot of telling rather than showing. For instance, there was a coworker the main character, Erin, didn’t like what so ever. And you know what? I still don’t know why. He never DID anything in the story to warrant this level of hatred other than Erin telling me I should hate him. These kind of moments kept me asking more questions and not getting any answers.

Erin and Travis were a cute couple. I liked the banter and flirting between them. They also had real issues and communication problems. Having POVs from both characters gave me greater insight into how they saw themselves and others. I appreciated seeing them work through their communication issues and realizing that being able to truly talk to one another can help create a lasting relationship.

Overall audience notes: