ARC Book Review: The Magic of Light by Jordan Abitz

March 5, 2025February 25, 2025 GoodeyReads2 Comments

Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 361 pages
Author: Jordan Abitz
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 5th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

How do you build a life when yours has been shattered to dust?

Sawyer spent her childhood bouncing from one foster home to the next. As an adult, she spends her days advocating for those in the same broken system. When a child in her care runs away on a rural road in Kansas, it starts a chain reaction that unravels memories from her past. At the center is a grumpy rancher she can’t seem to stay away from. Sawyer wasn’t built for love and relationships. In the end, everyone always leaves.

Soren is no stranger to tragedy. Over the last eight years, he has rebuilt his life from the ruins of his greatest regret. When he returns from feeding cattle to find a beautiful woman sitting on his porch, he can’t shake a sense of déjà vu. Soren feels desperate to know her—especially when he finds out how closely connected she is to his past.

Is it possible for a relationship to last when love may not be enough to hold you together?

The Magic of Light is a contemporary romance novel about love, loss, and the power of hope against all odds.

Thank you to Love Notes PR and the author for an eARC.

BEAUTIFUL DEBUT.

Oh I enjoyed this so much. It’s such a beautiful romance that makes you FEEL. I loved the impact and themes and I am so excited for future books. There was clear intention and a lot of love that went into writing this story.

The main characters were great (yay for dual POV). Soren and Sawyer bond together through a soft and tender story. I loved how they showed up for each other and the inevitable draw that pulled them together over and over. The slow burn buuuurns in all the best ways.

I had a few minor quips about some repetitive thoughts and too many uses of the nickname, but honestly, that’s it. I was drawn into this book and had a hard time putting it down. The found family and small town made me NEEEED the next books in this series. I already love these characters very much.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: low
Romance: kisses
Violence: moderate
Content warnings: foster care (theme throughout), injury from an animal, mentions of child abuse (recounted), C-PTSD episodes, loss of a sibling (recounted, car accident), grief depiction

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Book Review: Exes Don’t (Fall in Love #3) by Leah Dobrinska

March 4, 2025December 26, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Christmas Sports Romance
Length: 292 pages
Author: Leah Dobrinska
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: October 8th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A fast-paced and fun sports and spy romantic comedy…let the games begin!

Rose Kasper has a secret. A big one. She’s a spy. Okay…not exactly. She works as an undercover security specialist. For a decade, she’s used dry humor, deflection, and self-deprecation to keep herself distanced from her sisters and friends in order to hide her double life. But when a man she dated for the job years ago—the same man she foolishly let herself get close to—is in danger, she must place herself in his playing field yet again. Whether he likes it or not.

Anton Bates has a full life juggling his roles as star quarterback of the Green Bay River Foxes and Prince of Penwick, a small island nation off the coast of Norway. He’s slow to trust, having been used for his position—both of them—on more than one occasion. So when Rose Kasper, a woman whom he loved and lost, sweeps back into his life, he wants nothing to do with her. Or does he?

Anton audibles and decides to use his unexpected reunion with Rose as an opportunity to prove to her that the two of them together are a touchdown. Rose knows she doesn’t deserve Anton—not with all the lies and deceit. But his gameplan is working, and she starts to believe that if she’s honest with him, maybe things between them can be different this time. But when the truth comes out and Anton’s life is at risk, their second chance looks like it’ll end in a loss.

Because exes don’t fall in love…do they?

MY KRYPTONITE.

I don’t know what it says about me that one of my favorite tropes is a man obsessed. But it is what it is and it’s really easy to win me over at that point. I loved this book, it’s my current favorite of the series and I had such a blast with it (especially after just finishing Wind and Truth, IYKYK).

The quarterback/prince dynamic took a little more suspension of my reality than I prefer, but the author made this work. It’s quirky and you don’t have ALL the information, yet the romance really shines and I loved that this had just the right amount of flashback chapters to add to the history between Rose and Anton.

Also, praise dual POV. I loved seeing both of their mindsets and personalities behind all of the hard decisions that were being thrown at them. I loved all of Anton’s teammates and Rose’s sisters. Strong support systems make a book really sing for me.

The confession of love about melted me through the FLOOR. Oh gosh it was perfect. I loved all of the heated kisses and mounting tension that broke away for a second chance and a true relationship. The drama played well into the finale and it’s a quick, lighter read that even has a little bit of holiday cheer.

Overall audience notes:

Sports Romance
Language: none
Romance: heated kisses
Violence: mild
Content Warnings: brief gun violence

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: February 2025

February 28, 2025February 28, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

The month of love. And a lot of good books! I love seeing all of the covers together at the end of the month.

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
[ARC] You Between the Lines by Katie Naymon
Here’s the Thing (The Seddledowne #4) by Susan Henshaw
[Short story] The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez
[ALC] A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall
Sweet Wicked Vows (A Wicked Dade Brothers Book #1) by Rachel Donnan
Kingdom of Claw (The Ashen #2) by Demi Winters
[ARC] If Tomorrow Never Comes by Allison Ashley
A Crown So Silver (Fair Folk #2) by Lyra Selene
We Redeemed the Rain (Meadowbrook Ranch #1) by Ashley Dill
[Short story] Please Be Mine by K. Sinko
[ALC] Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods
[ARC] One More Wish (Sugar Valley #2) by Lindsey Lanza
Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft
[Novella] A Churn in the Dark (Into the Churn #2.5) by Hayley Reese Chow
The Rose Bargain (The Rose Bargain #1) by Sasha Peyton Smith
Beautifully Broken Control (Sutter Lake #4) by Catherine Cowles
[ARC/ALC] The Scorpion and the Night Blossom (The Three Realms Duology #1) by Amelie Wen Zhao
Wedding Dashers by Heather McBreen
The House of My Mother by Shari Franke
Beautifully Broken Redemption (Sutter Lake #5) by Catherine Cowles
[ARC] The Emerald Alliance (The Otherworlds #3) by Courtney Millecam
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (Volume #8) by Beth Brower
[ALC] The Dark Mirror (The Bone Season #5) by Samantha Shannon
[ARC] The Serendipity (Only Magic in the Building) by Emma St. Clair
The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson
[ARC] The Magic of Light by Jordan Abitz
[ALC] Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven
[ARC] Secret or Shutout (D.C. Eagles #4) by Leah Brunner
Under Your Spell by Laura Wood
Taken With Trouble (Caught in Chaos #2) by Jenessa Fayeth
We Will Be Heroes (The Vigil & Ante Files #2) by Megan McCullough

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Book Review: Sweet Wicked Vows (A Wicked Dade Book #1) by Rachel Donnan

February 27, 2025February 7, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 347 pages
Author: Rachel Donnan
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 28th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

JAXON
Revenge doesn’t have an expiry date.
So when my brother hands me the chance to get it, I jump.
It doesn’t matter that it involves marrying my main competitor and enemy’s daughter.
All I have to do is focus on the task at hand and not on the redhead who makes me question everything, including my own heart.

EVELYN
My whole world is being turned upside down.
Broken-hearted and thrust into becoming CEO of my dad’s company, I make a deal with the Dade devils.
Marriage for one year. Simple.
Except everything I start to feel for Jaxon is anything but simple.
No matter how much I crave him, falling in love with my temporary husband isn’t an option, right?

PLEASANTLY SURPRISED.

Okay so, I picked this book based off of seeing it recommend on a Thread I wrote. It just called to me. And at the time of me writing this review, it has less than 40 reviews on Goodreads. I took a shot in the dark, and I am here to say, I enjoyed this book.

The marriage of convenience trope CALLED to me. And I answered. I thought it was a clever plot with the feuding jewelry stores and I did like both characters. There was some good and feisty banter. I love a man who speaks a different language and I thought the romance showed a lot of potential.

What was missing for me was a fleshing out of all aspects of the plot and romance. Since I’ve read 1,000+ romance books I felt like my mind filled in the blanks because I knew where things were going. I do wish that we had some more background on the feud, the characters, just all of the little pieces put together.

Will I read the next book? Maybe. I think the spice was a bit out of my wheelhouse preference level (but if you like more spicy things, I would say try this!!). I’m not mad I took a chance on reading this though. It brought me out of a slump I was mulling me way through.

Overall audience notes: