Tag: karen thornell

ARC Book Review: No Match for Love by Karen Thornell

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 304 pages
Author: Karen Thornell
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Release Date: September 2nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Lucas Berkeley has a secret—one he cannot risk anyone discovering. After all, a future marquess belongs in drawing rooms, not underground boxing circles. Yet with a painful past and a need to control every aspect of his life, it is his only outlet. And when his brother begins to court the one woman who could ruin everything, Lucas needs the secret diversion more than ever.

Lydia Faraday is exhausted from living a life in which she has no say. When her taciturn guardian drags her to London intent on marrying her off, she determines to thwart his plans. If she is to have freedom in any aspect of her existence, it ought to be with whom she marries. And when a solicitor turns up with new information, she thinks that just might be possible. Or it may complicate her future further.

 When Lucas and Lydia become entangled in a dangerous scheme, they cannot help but become closer, even as the obstacles between them grow. The last thing either is looking for is love. But their hearts have different plans.

Thank you to Austen Prose and Covenant Communications for the gifted copy.

WELL.

I wanted to love this and I don’t know if it was totally a me issue or if I just had a disconnect with this book. A lot of the writing felt stagnant. It was missing an aura of romance and the characters didn’t have a lot of those crucial connection moments to build up to the kissing scenes I love.

I did like these characters. Lydia learned to stand on her own and I liked her personality and demeanor. I still don’t know how she was all of a sudden medically trained enough to perform stitches?? But I guess that’s a question for another day.

Lucas was good too. He was endearing and kind. I liked the effort he put into helping others and learning to let go of his guilt. His brother was sweet too and I loved the addition of Charles to the story.

I found the plot to be somewhat incohesive. It felt like two stories were happening and they didn’t smoothly come together. I found myself having a hard time picking this up to finish.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low; some blood depiction
  • Content Warnings: physical altercations, physical assault, sexual assault (unwanted kissing)

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Book Review: Objection to Love (Greenbank Romances #3) by Karen Thornell

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 295 pages
Author: Karen Thornell
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 2nd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

One thing is for sure… law school was way easier than love.
September Miller has a ten-year plan for success, and it doesn’t include a personal life. So why does it hurt that her colleagues think she’s a bore and never invite her anywhere? And, more importantly, why is she enlisting her new next-door neighbor to fix that?

Garrett has barely moved in but somehow he’s already caught up in helping his neighbor learn how to have fun. It’s selfless of him and has absolutely nothing to do with finding the uptight lawyer attractive.

But maybe agreeing to spend every Saturday together wasn’t the best plan for either of them. September’s plans can’t be abandoned and there’s an expiration date on how long Garrett will be around. So what are they supposed to do when more than just Saturdays start to look appealing?

Objection to Love is a sweet romance with plenty of laughs and a happily ever after. It is the third book in the series but can be read as a standalone.

SO CLOSE.

This was SO FLIPPIN’ CLOSE to a five star read for me. I loved 85% of this book. The banter was perfect. Had me laughing and smiling along with Garrett and September. I even liked all of the lawyer puns. They were woven in really well and the writing had me wrapped up in this romance. I looove that Garrett had big golden retriever energy and wanted to help Em realize there is much more to life than working and trying to continually please your parents.

There were many little adventures and dates that had me swooning and loving every minute. I liked the adventure atmosphere and the combination of all of these little things that brought these two together.

BUT THEN. There was a third act break-up that honestly made me so cranky. I can’t get behind a single reason Em had for needing to end things with Garrett. Frankly, I’m still salty about it. Everything wrapped up fine after that debacle, but at that point my love had been lost. It’s a good book and if you don’t mind a traditional third act then I’d say go for it.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kissses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: brief mention of loss of a father, references to child birth (side character), fetal surgery (side character), small physical injuries (i.e. sprained ankle)

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Book Review: Pretending At Love (Greenbank Romances #2) by Karen Thornell

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 280 pages
Author: Karen Thornell
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: April 2nd, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A stalker, a Hawaiian wedding, and attraction that should NOT exist between friends.
Friends who are pretending to date, that is.

A random run-in at a restaurant brings high school friends April and Jackson back together. A not so random run-in with April’s new stalker starts a VERY short charade of Jackson pretending to be April’s boyfriend.

That is, until he needs a date to a destination wedding. And who can say no to a free Hawaiian vacation?

But when feelings beyond friendship start to develop, can these two separate the fake from the real? And if they can… Is it worth the risk?

OH SO SWEET.

I love romances like this. Where the fake dating trope is on top of its game and the couple is clearly starry eye for one another. Adding the Hawaiian vacation and wow do I wish I were somewhere tropical right now.

Dual POV in romance should be mandatory. I love the back and forth with April and Jackson. They had a plethora of sweet moments that showed off all of the chemistry they had. I liked all of the antics from horse back riding, to eating on the beach, meditation and more.

I don’t know quite why the stalker was involved? I don’t think it flowed as well because it came in at the beginning, then only randomly showed up in the middle and end *shrugs*. I guess it was a catalyst to get them to Hawaii together at least. I wish Jackson and April didn’t stand in there own way so much about officially committing to each other. That dragged the book out a little bit. I did like how everyone responded with positivity and didn’t blow things out of proportion. It was handled incredibly well and made the ending all the sweeter.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: stalker

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ARC Book Review: Edward and Amelia by Karen Thornell

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Karen Thornell
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Release Date: June 6th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The last thing Amelia Kennington wants is to participate in the London Season. But the daughter of a duke is not afforded such opinions. She must put forth a subdued facade, but beneath it is a well-hidden fire that surfaces only when provoked—such as when an overly familiar gentleman startles her and she falls into the Serpentine.

Edward Drayton, the Earl of Norwich, has gained a reputation as Society’s most decorated rake. And while there are benefits to such a reputation, it no longer gives him the satisfaction it once did. This Season, he plans to find a wife—except she seems to find him instead. And she is nothing like he expected.

Scandal is inevitable following Edward and Amelia’s ill-conceived meeting, forcing them to marry. Amelia’s disdain for this man she hardly knows is more than clear, and Edward’s pride is wounded before their marriage has even truly begun. Yet, against all odds, the two slowly let their guard down, discovering the truth of who they married. But when Society gossip, a sister’s jealousy, and long-held secrets threaten their budding relationship, the unlikely couple must determine if their unconventional love is strong enough to withstand the opposition they face.

Thank you to Covenant Communications and Netgalley for an eARC.

IT WAS SWEET.

I am always bound to pick up a marriage of convenience read and this was no different. I loved that aspect and watching Edward and Amelia (especially Edward) bumble around trying to figure out how the whole marriage and falling in love thing works.

Edward wad endearing. I liked his nature and I think his heart was in the right place even if his mind put together the most ridiculous ways of trying to woo Amelia. Gratefully she was taking no crap from Edward and actually made him work for it. Anytime these two were on page having a quiet moment by the piano or talking together and letting walls down I was charmed. I do think these two had fantastic chemistry.

I struggled with the plots involving Edith. Wow she had way too much control over this entire story. I did not like her at all and became increasingly frustrated that she was never put in her place until 98% of the book. It made the ending wrap up way too quickly and not get some of those satisfying moments to the antagonists. I’m glad that Edward and Amelia were able to have an adult conversation about rumors etc. and that the drama for by that point was significantly lessened.

There’s plenty of good things here even I was had some issues with it. I like Thornell’s writing and will continue to read her books. I love a good swoony cinnamon roll lead and Edward delivered.

Overall audience notes:

  • Regency romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: bullying, shaming

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