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Book Review: The Lost Letter by Mimi Matthews

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Regency Romance Retelling
Length: 244 pages
Author: Mimi Matthews
Publisher: Perfectly Proper Press
Release Date: September 19th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A PROUD BEAUTY

Society beauty Sylvia Stafford is far too pragmatic to pine. When the tragic death of her gamester father leaves her destitute and alone, she finds work as a governess in a merchant’s household in Cheapside. Isolated from the fashionable acquaintance of her youth, she resigns herself to lonely spinsterhood until a mysterious visitor convinces her to temporarily return to her former life–and her former love.

A SCARRED BEAST

Colonel Sebastian Conrad is no longer the dashing cavalry officer Sylvia once fell in love with. Badly scarred during the Sepoy Rebellion, he has withdrawn to his estate in rural Hertfordshire where he lives in near complete seclusion. Brooding and tormented, he cares nothing for the earldom he has inherited–and even less for the faithless beauty who rejected him three years before.

A SECOND CHANCE

A week together in the remote Victorian countryside is the last thing either of them ever wanted. But when fate intervenes to reunite them, will a beastly earl and an impoverished beauty finally find their happily-ever-after? Or are some fairy-tale endings simply not meant to be?

FANTASTIC RETELLING.

I had no idea this was a Beauty and the Beast retelling until I got into the story. What a pleasant surprise because these are my favorite kind! This is a super quick read that I was able to get through in a day and I continually enjoy Mimi Matthews books and this was another good one.

This was written well and I loved the set-up between these two. A good dose of second chance romance and some hidden unrequited feelings. I liked the little dash of mystery to solve what happened to the missing letters and how it led Sebastian and Sylvia back to each other.

There was a small dash of miscommunication I didn’t love, and I kind of had a hard time with the meddling sister too. Besides that things moved swiftly and there some great swoony kiss scenes and a nice HEA.

Overall audience notes:

  • Regency Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: medium
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: multiple mentions of suicide and suicide ideation, loss of a parent from suicide, grief

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Book Review: A City of Flames (A City of Flames #1) by Rina Vasquez

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 456 pages
Author: Rina Vasquez
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: October 31st, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Nara desires justice for her father’s murder; hunting dragons might bring her peace

Or pain as she learns the ugly truth.

When a fire dragon attacks her village, the perfect opportunity to take revenge on the creatures that killed her father arises. But the dragon she’s intent to capture seems fascinated by Nara, a detail not missed by those around her. The strange event leads to an invitation to join the venators—the order of people who slay dangerous magical creatures—like her father before her.

The offer is a dream come true.

After all, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to destroy the cruel, dangerous creatures that enslaved humans for thousands of years up until three centuries ago? But Nara is about to learn a dangerous secret; history is written by the winner. Those she hunts might not be her enemies, and those she thinks she can trust might just want to kill her.

CAN’T WAIT FOR BOOK TWO.

I randomly found this scrolling reels one evening and immediately downloaded it to start reading. And I was not disappointed. Bring on all of the dragon shifter romances.

Nara is a great FMC. I loved her tenacity and strength and how she was open to her world view changing as she learned new facts. Nara was easy to root for and I look forward to seeing her character arc in the next book.

I adored the snarky banter and light enemies to lovers vibe in the romance. There’s a bit of a love triangle that didn’t phase me much too. It all worked well into the plot and the reveals at the end lined up in a way that has me anxious to read the next book. I looooved that this was slow burn and not a rush to get to the spice just because. Showing that build in the relationship and actually giving time to it has me all the more connected.

Looking forward to following this journey to the next book!

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: light
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of loved ones, battle scenes, murder, weapons and creature violence

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ARC Book Review: Heidi Lucy Loses Her Mind (Happily Ever Homicide #2) by Gracie Ruth Mitchell

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 338 pages
Author: Gracie Ruth Mitchell
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: October 5th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Heidi Lucy has a secret—a big one. A scary, dangerous, ugly one.

There’s just one problem: thanks to a mysterious head wound, she can’t seem to remember what that secret is.

In order to regain her lost memories, Heidi sets out to retrace her steps—followed grudgingly by Soren, a faithful patron of her little bookshop and the less-than-thrilled recipient of the cryptic voicemail she can’t remember leaving. But her journey gets derailed when one of Heidi’s customers drops dead in the middle of her shop, and it isn’t long before both Heidi and Soren come under suspicion. Something fishy is going on in Sunshine Springs, and if they want to find the truth, they’re going to have to hunt for it themselves.

Who killed the woman in Heidi’s bookshop? What secret has Heidi forgotten? And, maybe the most crucial question of all: Who gave Soren permission to look so good in a man bun?

Heidi Lucy Loses Her Mind is the second in a series of interconnected standalones involving swoony romance, wacky comedy, and dead bodies turning up in the most unlikely of places.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

SUNSHINE.

It’s my favorite micro trope ever: when the MMC is GONE for the FMC. It never gets old and automatically has me kicking my feet in the air waiting to watch the love story play out. And this one DELIVERED.

I love the combination of murder mystery and romance. It just works. Gracie Ruth Mitchell does an incredible job of balancing all of the swoon while moving the plot along and wondering whodunnit. I ADORED Soren (are we surprised?) and was ecstatic to get his POV alongside Heidi’s. I also thought Heidi was great. She’s quirky and goes after what she wants and I loved watching her let Soren in.

There’s lots of really great themes throughout too that made me want to hug multiple characters. I loved the bookish vibes and the small town setting. And every time Soren spoke I’m pretty sure I melted into the floor. This book is sweet and I loved it.

A fantastic story, one I devoured in practically a day. The books in this series can be read as a standalone too!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low-moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: murder, attempted murder

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Book Review: House of Beating Wings (The Kingdom of Crows #1) by Olivia Wildenstein

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Rating: ★★★★
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Length: 490 pages
Author: Olivia Wildenstein
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: September 27th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Free the crows, Fallon, and they will make you queen.

Until an oracle predicted my regal future, I’d never imagined myself rising above the curve of my round ears. After all, I was the magicless halfling loved by beasts but loathed by every pure-blooded faerie at court. Well . . . by all but one.

Dante Regio, prince of Luce, had owned my heart since he gave me my first kiss. If gathering a slew of iron relics could help me overthrow the current monarch and crown his brother to rule at my side, then treasure hunting I’d go.

If only the oracle had warned me what winged demon I was releasing into the world.

And that I’d become this demon’s obsession.

I’M SOLD.

Well hi there new fantasy romance indie book. I LIKED YOU A LOT.

This was a pretty good start. I liked the beginning but there was a particular scene I’m still thinking really didn’t need to be added. And after that point things slowed down a bit so I was in limbo wondering how I would feel about the book overall.

The second half showed up big time. It had many things I always turn back to in fantasy romance reads. I love hidden identities, a FMC who’s realizing her own worth and power, changing alliances and allllll of those secrets revealed. I do think Fallon was a bit on the naïve and super oblivious side, but I’ll cut her some slack to make it up in the next book.

I enjoyed the plot too. It’s a good mix of warring kingdoms, with new people rising to the throne and even kingdoms you didn’t see coming. I can’t wait to further explore those politics and dynamics in the series too. This was just a really nice beginning and my first book by this author.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: some
  • Romance: one open door; innuendo throughout
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: blood/gore depiction, loss of life, loss of loved ones, physical and magical altercations

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