Tag: indie author

Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: April 2023

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Another great month of reading! A small slow down from last month but that is completely okay. I loved how many rereads I got to and found some absolute new favorites.

Favorite Books:

  • To Poison a King
  • A Girl Called Samson
  • The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King
  • In This Moment
  • The Assassin’s Blade
  • Before the Fortress Fals
  • Echoes of You
  • Desire or Defense
  • Throne of Glass
  • Fourth Wing
  • Finding Gene Kelly
  • Practice Makes Perfect
  • The Weight of Air

Least Favorites:

  • Two Wars and a Wedding
  • A Shadow Crown
  • The Path of Daggers
  • The Heart’s Choice
  • Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn
  • Objection to Love (Greenbank Romances #3) by Karen Thornell
  • Two Wars and a Wedding by Lauren Willig
  • [ARC] To Poison a King (The Heirs of Isla #1) by S.G. Prince
  • Shattered Souls (Guardians of the Maiden #3) by Beck Michaels
  • A Girl Called Samson by Amy Harmon
  • Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes #1) by Travis Baldree
  • Love at First Psych by Cara Bastone
  • Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell
  • [ARC] The Ashes & The Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia #2) by Carissa Broadbent
  • Haley and the Yeti (Love Tucson #1) by Laura Langa
  • [ARC] In this Moment (Timeless #2) by Gabrielle Meyer
  • [Reread] Assassin’s Blade (Throne of Glass #0.5) by Sarah J. Maas
  • [ALC] A Shadow Crown (The Halfling Saga #2) by Melissa Blair
  • [ARC] Why Trey Let Me Get Away (Famously in Love #1) by Kortney Keisel
  • Before the Fortress Falls by A.L. Sowards
  • Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata
  • [ARC/ALC] Echoes of You (Lost & Found #2) by Catherine Cowles
  • [Novella] Kill Joy (A Good Girls’ Guide to Murder #0.5) by Holly Jackson
  • [ARC] Desire or Defense (Hooked on a Feeling #1) by Leah Brunner
  • [Reread] Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas
  • The Path of Daggers (The Wheel of Time #8) by Robert Jordan
  • [ARC] Bonesmith (House of the Dead #1) by Nicki Pau Preto
  • [ARC] The Never Heir (The Otherworlds #1) by Courtney Millecam
  • [ALC] Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros
  • [Gifted] To Swoon and to Spar (The Regency Vows #4) by Martha Waters
  • Finding Gene Kelly by Torie Jean
  • A Sinister Revenge (Veronica Speedwell #8) by Deanna Raybourn
  • Captured by Chaos by Kathryn Marie
  • [ARC/ALC] Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
  • An Amiable Foe (Castles and Courtship #1) by Jennie Goutet
  • [ARC] The Heart’s Choice (The Jewels of Kalispell #1) by Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse
  • Silver in the Bone (Silver in the Bone #1) by Alexandra Bracken
  • The Darkest Sunrise (The Darkest Sunrise #1) by Aly Martinez
  • The Brightest Sunset (The Darkest Sunrise #2) by Aly Martinez
  • The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (Vol. #2) by Beth Brower
  • [Novella] The Managing Miss (Promise of Forever After #5) by Heidi Kimball
  • The Weight of Air by Kimberly Duffy
  • Slaying the Vampire Conqueror (Mortal Enemies to Monster Lovers) by Carissa Broadbent
  • [ARC] The Art of Love and Lies by Rebecca Anderson

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Book Review: Unlikely Match by Laura Bradbury

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 348 pages
Author: Laura Bradbury
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: May 26th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Could the man I hate be the perfect match I need?

I’m Jules Kelly, a certified bohemian boss babe, whose hip tech company just won subsidized office space in the coolest co-working space in town. From a distance I seem poised to take over the world (or at least the travel industry), and I would be if it weren’t for two big complications:

1. A rare and seriously inconvenient disease is tanking my health by the day, and my only hope for a cure—a transplant—is moving further from my grasp.

2. A soulless database company is sharing my new office space, and its coldly gorgeous, judgmental, CEO is on a path to world dominance (at least in his mind).

Tom Davenport represents the very worst of bro culture in the start-up world. Naturally, we despise each other.

The thing is, as much as Tom’s antagonism annoys me, he has an uncanny ability to conjure up my fighting spirit and vitality at a time when my illness is robbing me of both. I’m drawn to him in ways I can’t (or would really rather not) understand.

A mysterious angel investor forces our companies to compete for a life-changing amount of money just when my relationship with Tom becomes infinitely more complicated. To make matters worse, things get cutthroat just as my time starts to run out.

In order to survive, I must decide if I can truly trust my most unlikely ally of all.

Unlikely Match is a high-stakes and steamy workplace romance that will leave you feverishly turning pages.

For those of you who love wry (and sometimes a wee bit dark) humor, emotional intensity, loyal friendships, insane chemistry, and forced proximity in the context of high medical stakes, Unlikely Match is for you.

REALLY DANG GOOD.

This was a buddy read win y’all. It wasn’t really on my radar until a friend asked to read it together and wow, it delivered.

I loved that this was a very unique romance. It’s also heavy. Yet, the author does a great job balancing all of the weight with a great love interest and a sweet romance + some seriously amazing friends and other side characters. I love learning more from books and this one brought a whole new disease to light for me. Also it increased my awareness of the nature of transplants and how that side of medicine works. It was extremely enlightening because the author went through this entire process.

The romance was filled with all sorts of witty and snarky banter centered around start-up culture. Two competing CEO’s that can’t get enough of snapping back at each other. It has a nice little rivalry vibe, but with immediate intent for a friendship. Tom is an utter cinnamon roll and I loved how gung-ho he was about being with Jules. And when he overstepped he could recognize that and establish boundaries. I loved the discussion around mental health and medicine and how going through something so traumatic can play a forever role in your life.

I wish there was a dash more lean on the romance side because I just loved them that much, but it was an amazing read that I could not put down. Highly recommend as something different in the romance genre!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: two brief open door
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: heavy discussion about the world of medicine in general (doctor’s visits, needles, hospitals, etc.), PTSD, grief, therapy scenes, transplant surgery and recovery

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Book Review: A Lily in Disguise (Wycliffe Family #1) by Jessica Scarlett

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Regency Romance
Length: 312 pages
Author: Jessica Scarlett
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: July 4th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

One woman.
Three identities.
A handsome lord trying to unmask them all.

To escape the scandals tied to her name, Lillian Markley has gone by an alias for eight years. It was the only way for her to get a reputable job and save enough money to reunite with her sister in America. But when Lily is suddenly let go just as she’s about to reach her goal, she’s offered a salary she can’t refuse in exchange for the unthinkable:

She must masquerade as an heiress at a country estate for the summer.

Being exposed means facing prison, or worse—never seeing her sister again. Run-ins with kidnappers, a suspicious young boy, and a dangerous gentleman who knows her secret quickly has Lily spouting lies as often as she sips her tea—all while battling her growing feelings for Peter Wycliffe, the smiling host who seems to best her at every turn.

Nothing is as simple as it seems. And as the falsehoods begin to mount, Lily must use her arsenal of wits to keep her three facades separate, while preventing Peter—and herself—from discovering the true woman beneath them all.

MOSTLY OKAY.

I am obsessed with book three in this series, A Lady on the Chase. And seriously go read it. This one…not my favorite, but I still plan to read the second book.

There’s a lot of potential here and I did enjoy plenty of moments between Peter and Lily. I thought things got off a bit too quickly on the romance side and it took me awhile to catch up. Some of those swoony ending scenes with confessions of love though? Those were fantastic and I adored everything about them.

I felt like too much was trying to happen in 300 pages. There’s the history behind why Lily goes by a different name. Multiple suitors. Highwaymen attacks. An estranged half-brother and more. Amidst this were fluff scenes of party games, etc. where I felt the pacing was a bit all over the place.

It’s a good book and maybe most of this is attributed to wrong time picking it up scenario. I would still recommend this easily as the writing is enjoyable and the slow burn is impeccable.

Overall audience notes:

  • Regency Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: Kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents, attempted kidnapping, brief weapons violence, domestic abuse

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Book Review: Dragonfire (The Starchaser Saga #6) by Renee Dugan

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 550 pages
Author: Renee Dugan
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: June 1st, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A call to arms. A race against time. A choice that will change the future.

With her cabal divided, a price on her head, and her power put to the test, Cistine leads the desperate search for Maleck with a kingdom’s worth of enemies seeking them both. Finding him might be the key to winning the war. It might also spell Cistine’s doom.

Risking uncharted territory, Ashe, Aden, and Kristoff seek aid from the dragon legions in wild Oadmark. Only they stand a chance of bringing down the enemy’s abominable hordes. But to gain their alliance, Ashe must prove beyond all doubt who she is—as a warrior and as a Wingmaiden.

Amidst a storm of schemes, missing friends, broken hearts and uncertain horizons, the cabal faces the grim possibility of a world that can’t be redeemed, and Cistine fights to carry the burden no one else does: the weight of the power in her veins, and a weapon that could turn the tide of the war.

A power that could demand her love, her cabal, and even her own life to save the kingdoms from destruction.

NEW FAVORITE OF THE SERIES.

Ohhhhh my goodness, I LOVED THIS BOOK. It took my breath away. At this point I am so immersed in these characters lives that each book is a journey I am chomping at the bit to read through.

I love all of these characters and that it’s multi-POV. Getting to see everyone’s mindset and where they are internally helps create these immerse character depths that I loooove. The romances and friendships are top tier and the sincere bonds of this found family group have me misty eyed.

While amidst the well placed (and written) action scenes that had me holding my breath, there were also ALL the sweet and tender moments too. Good heavens these are my favorite things about a well written fantasy book. I love being enthralled by every aspect.

I can’t speak to much else other than my intense love for this series or I could spoil how things have changed over 6 books. Just know: YOU MUST READ THIS SERIES.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy + Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life, war themes, torture, depictions of grief and depression

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