Tag: indie author

ARC Audio Book Review: Long Live the Elf Queen (The Elf Queen #2) by J.M. Kearl

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 560 pages
Author: J.M. Kearl
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: October 26th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The enthralling and romantic sequel to J.M. Kearl’s enchanting Bow Before the Elf Queen.
Layala fought against falling in love with him. Thane battled to win his mate’s heart. Now they’ll discover if their love can withstand those who tore them apart.
Held for weeks without food or water, Layala’s resolve begins to fracture as an evil darkness looms over her. She’s the key to destroying the Void or reviving its creator— the long-dead Black Mage she has a mysterious connection to.

Layala and Thane learn what it truly means to fight for love as their enemies surround them and it becomes a struggle for revenge, the kingdom, and finding the truth about why Layala seems to harbor the power of whether Palenor falls into darkness or if her Lightbringer name holds true.

Author’s note: Long Live the Elf Queen is book 2 in the Elf Queen series and ends on a cliffhanger. It contains romantic steam, violence, war, and mature themes with morally grey characters.

Thank you to House Valor Books and Netgalley for an ALC.

THAT CLIFFHANGER Y’ALL.

I don’t really mind cliffhangers, even if they cause me high amounts of stress. And this book definitely ended with a wild one that I LOVEEEE. I have no clue where this will go and why and you better believe I’ll be picking up the next book.

Audiobook thoughts: As an ALC wanted to touch base here too. I did love that within this dual narration any feminine characters were by one actor and the male characters by the other. It gave a real life conversation tone to it and made for a positive listening experiences. What I didn’t love was a few of the side characters voices. They were kind of hard to listen to and was grateful when their roles became more minimal so they didn’t show up as often.

Back to the general bookish thoughts. I really like this romance. Luckily there wasn’t a long separation here and we got to see Layala and Thane work together as a couple (my favorite for fantasy romances). There’s just the right amount of spice that works well within the plot and the story moves forward in interesting ways. I liked all of the dragons that showed up. There’s a good amount of action and I’m intrigued by the antagonists and figuring out who belongs on what side.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: a little strong
  • Romance: 2 brief/vague open + mild innuendo
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: near death experiences, weapons violence, magical and physical violence, loss of loved ones, battle themes

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Book Review: A Confirmed Rake (The Donovans #2) by Martha Keyes

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Regency Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Martha Keyes
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: August 24th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When Rebecca Russell’s brother marries, she finally has the opportunity she has been dreaming of: to leave the seclusion of her reclusive grandfather’s home and enter into Society. But when her inexperience has her making blunders and courting embarrassment, help comes from an unexpected source: the brooding, irritable brother of her chaperone.

Valentine Donovan is a rake, mountains of gaming debt and all. With his only hope for financial relief tied up in the Admiralty Court, he must temporarily rely on his father’s charity—and all the strings attached to it. His father demands Valentine show evidence that he is changing his ways, so when the engaging but naive young woman living with his sister presents a plan, he can’t refuse the opportunity to fulfill some of his father’s requirements, albeit reluctantly.

But Valentine is unprepared for Rebecca’s guileless optimism and how impossible he finds it to say no to her increasingly onerous requests—requests that put both their hearts and reputations in danger. 

LOVE THESE TWO.

I think this is my new favorite Martha Keyes book. I looooved Valentine and Rebecca.

Rebecca was the sweet naive woman who cracked me up multiple times at her learning the ways of society. I loved it. This wasn’t an annoying thing to watch unfold. I genuinely loved Rebecca and would want to be friends with someone so filled with light and hope. The juxtaposition between her and Valentine was perfect.

Valentine, my reformed rake, OH HOW I ADORE YOU. He was swoony and kind and I could not get enough of watching Rebecca slowly wrap her way around his heart. There were even some beautiful moments towards the end that about got me misty eyed. The sinner and saint vibes (without being preachy) was one of the best things about this book.

Some aspects towards the end seemed to extend the book a little longer than I was looking for, but that’s mostly the only issue I had with it. This has been a fantastic series so far and Rebecca and Valentine definitely hold a place in my heart now.

Overall audience notes:

  • Regency Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a parent recounted

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Book Review: Just Go With It (Just Us #1) by Madison Wright

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 243 pages
Author: Madison Wright
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: April 25th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

My life is, to put this delicately, a hot mess right now. I’ve lost my job and my home all in one summer. To top it all off, I have a chronic illness and no health insurance.

Did I mention that the world now thinks I’m dating one of the Internet’s hottest stars—all because someone snapped a photo of us at our friend’s wedding? Seriously, guys? One dance, and now we’re in love? HA! Isn’t that funny? Weston King, famous YouTuber, would never date me. In fact, when given the chance six years ago, he moved two thousand miles away.

Dating Wes is off the table, but…is marrying him? He might just be the only one who can help me get my life together, and after getting hit with some really bad press, he needs me just as much. 

Marrying Wes just might be the answer to my prayers, but it also opens the door to a whole mess of problems—a door I’d rather keep tightly shut.

The whole thing would probably be a huge mistake and end in disaster. 

Should I just go with it?

I LOVE THE COVER.

Smitten for a book that draws me in by the cover and this one had that, what it didn’t have was enough substance to call this book a romance.

The first 40% started off really strong, I’m a sucker for marriage of convenience tropes and this one had all of that critical things I’m looking for in that kind of plot. I wish it would have happened sooner so that there was more interaction between the main love interests. There were so many plot holes related to the entire story that I don’t know where I’d begin.

Wes was a gem. I loved him. A good love interest with an even better heart. I enjoyed every moment he was on the page and he carried a lot of this book for me. I wish Lo had been more…*something*. I loved the own rep for fibromyalgia and learning more about the day to day effects of this disease. What I didn’t love is how she handled everything related to Wes. At times it felt high schoolish and I especially think the drama at the end had me wanting to be done reading.

So a mixed bag, but not a bad debut. I’m curious about future books from this author.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: closed door
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: fibromyalgia (own voices)

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ARC Book Review: Betting on the Boy Next Door (Betting on Love #1) by Melanie Jacobson

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 308 pages
Author: Melanie Jacobson
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 7th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

I’m a nurse who wants to be a rock star—a secret I don’t even tell my best friends and roommates. So when one of them—Ruby—gets it into her head to find me a man, I can’t explain why I don’t have time for her matchmaking. Ruby turns it into a bet to make sure I go along with it. I say yes, but won’t matter. My ex taught me the most important thing about men: you can’t count on them.

When Ruby picks the worst possible guy for me, I know I’ve got this in the bag. Sure, our brand-new neighbor, Josh, is hot, but he’s the privileged scion of an Austin family whose money is so old, it’s dusty. Been there, done that, and I’m not going back.

The thing is, Josh isn’t easy to shake, especially not after he discovers my secret double-life. With the help of a fake dating scheme, a cursing parrot, and our late-night balcony talks, I’m starting to think he’s a risk worth taking—even when all the evidence says I better run.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

JUST WHAT I NEEDED.

I enjoyed this book so much. It turned out to be what I needed when it dropped in my inbox and I stayed up way too late to finish it because I was loving every page.

Josh and Ruby has great chemistry from the get-go. I looooved the banter. I found myself smiling and swooning and when a few fake dating antics got thrown in I was INVOLVED. Little heated glances, the small touches, leaning in to whisper in someone’s ear? GIMME ALL OF IT. This had a very natural flow to the relationship with some push and pull, but ultimately realizing a HEA is in front of you.

Even when I found myself a little frustrated with how Sami was allowing past issues to completely fuel her decisions in the present I did see a lot of growth. Sami allowed herself to be open about her fears, spoke to others and even did some big gestures of her own to show Josh she’s as invested as he is. Josh definitely fell first (my fav) and I adore a guy who shows up, regardless of what that means.

And I thought the plot was fun. I’m hit/miss on music themes and I thought this was wonderfully written. I wanted to see the best for Sami and loved her level headedness about following her dreams and making those happen. It’s a great book. It’s super swoony, it’s on the lighter side and it’s perfect for spring time.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a grandparent, multiple mentions of older people passing away (Sami works as a nurse at a care facility), brief mention of going to rehab, absent father

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