Book Review: A Convenient Christmas (Isn’t It Sweet #1) by Jody Holford

October 9, 2022August 25, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 211 pages
Author: Jody Holford
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 1st, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Abigail Smith loves Christmas so much she made it her business. Whether it’s simple gift wrapping or arranging a sit-down feast, clients of A Convenient Christmas can count on Abby to meet all of their holiday needs. When her oldest and dearest client hires her to add a little cheer to her son’s life, Abby is up for the challenge.

Until he fires her.

Finn Edenbury is too busy trying to get through the holiday season to enjoy it. The divorced dad is not looking forward to spending this year alone since his daughter, Melody, will be with his ex. Which might be why he overreacted when he found a beautiful, tree trimming woman in his living room.

An unexpected change of plans mean Finn will spend the holidays with his little girl after all. Finn turns to Abby with an apology and a request: help him make Melody’s Christmas magic.

The Queen of Christmas can hardly say no even if she still thinks he’s a bit of a Scrooge. That is, until they spend time together. These two opposites end up wanting something for Christmas that neither of them expected: each other.

RATHER UNCONVENIENT.

This was heading towards a strong three star. I wouldn’t say memorable, but I was enjoying the holiday spirit, the single Dad romance was pretty cute and I’m always here for a sunshine/grump trope.

Enter in, the dreaded conflict. We all know they arise each romance read, and sometimes they work out great, other times I turn into a rage monster over the ridiculousness nature of it all. This one was the latter. If a 5 year-old has to tell her Dad he’s being silly because he blew up at the heroine without a good enough reason, something is wrong with that picture. It was laughable and extended the book unnecessarily. Really wish it just had skipped over the conflict and went to the sappy ending.

I liked that the Abby owned her own event business. It was fun to see a different angle to holiday romances with this. Abby and Finn got along together well and I love a cute kid to boot. There’s some goodness here overall, even if things weren’t clicking for me.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: none
Romance: closed door
Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a grandparent (prior to book, but discussed often), divorce

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Book Review: Love Unexpected: A Sweet Romantic Comedy (Some Kind of Love #2) by Jenny Proctor

February 23, 2022May 16, 2021 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 265 pages
Author: Jenny Proctor
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: April 21st, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A famous boss. A secret identity. And a hilarious road trip to love.

Yes. Yes, Rosie does have a crush on Isaac, her YouTube-famous boss.

Does she ever talk to him?

Absolutely not. Crippling social anxiety can do that.

But Rosie is nothing if not tenacious. Ignoring her friends’ advice to just talk to him already (Nope, that’s way too hard), she instead opts to pursue a virtual relationship with Isaac using a secret identity.

The plan is genius. Online, Rosie has social skills she’d never dream of having in person. She’s possibly even cool. If Isaac can just get to know her, he’ll see how amazing she is.

But then a spontaneous road trip throws Rosie and Isaac together, and their virtual and in-person lives collide. (Eleven hundred miles in a seventy’s era VW hatchback? What could possibly go wrong?)

Much to Rosie’s surprise, she doesn’t constantly humiliate herself. Conversation is easy, and their chemistry? It’s pretty much off the charts.

But every road trip is bound to hit a speed bump or two.

Will Rosie’s secret identity be the thing that brings them together? Or the thing that tears them apart?

FRUSTRATING PLOT.

What I initially enjoyed turned into meh when I understood the plot. Then, it did get better towards the end, but alas, this was not my favorite.

The plot was based off of a purposeful miscommunication. One of the main characters chose to hide their identity and I just couldn’t stand by it (or how long it went on…OR how EVERYONE IN THE OFFICE KNEW AND DIDN’T TELL THE OTHER SOUL the entire book). I mean, come on, I felt so bad for them by the time things finally came out.

There is a sweet story here. Coping with social anxiety and realizing that life is more than being apart of social media. I did like those aspects. There’s some great banter here too that would make me smile. It’s kind of a fun combination of an internet star and an introvert soul.

I really liked everyone of these characters (besides the communication issue). They were invested and really brought the book to life. I loooove good side characters that actually add to the story. A case of, not really for me, but definitely could be for you.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Content Warnings: depictions of social anxiety

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Book Review: Simply Starstruck by Aspen Hadley

October 11, 2021February 15, 2021 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 256 pages
Author: Aspen Hadley
Publisher: Sweetwater Books
Release Date: November 13th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Kate Evans never imagined she’d be a young widow and single mom, staying in her aunt’s guest cottage. She also never imagined she’d live next door to Jess Sullivan, an actual movie star. Struggling to put herself back together, Kate gets swept up in a whirlwind of dating, but can she keep ignoring what her heart really wants?

KINDA STARSTRUCK.

This book was neither here nor there. It’s a very positive three stars and I’m not upset I read it. There were just some pieces that missed the mark and caused me to lower my rating.

I liked Kate as the main character. She was witty and had a pretty funny inner monologue. What bothered me was how long some of her growth took until the very very end of the book. It was drawn out wayyy too much. Kate flounced around dating a bunch of different men (which was fine initially, but didn’t need to take up 75% of the book). So instead of feeling like this book was about her and Jess, it became an odd episode of a dating game.

I loved Jess. Really really did. Anytime he was on screen I was excited. Jess and Kate bantered well and had some tender moments that made me want to swoon. This was the best part of the book and I wish there was a whole bunch more. Jess and Kate were a great match and I loved how Kate’s son was apart of everything too.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: car accident
Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a spouse, cancer, car accident

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Book Review: The Promised Prince by Kortney Keisel

September 22, 2021February 2, 2021 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Dystopia Romance
Length: 412 pages
Author: Kortney Keisel
Publisher: Self published
Release Date: January 12th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He’s promised to another. She’s promised to forget him.
Eighteen-year-old Renna Degray is hopeful about love and her future after a chance encounter with a handsome stranger. Until she discovers who the mysterious man is—the Prince of Albion, betrothed to Renna’s stepsister. Now Renna must try to keep her feelings for the prince in check. But he’s not making it easy. The prince is charming, funny, and impossible not to fall for.

Trev has no room for mistakes. He must marry the princess of New Hope and secure the marriage alliance along with his future as king. The safety of his kingdom depends on it. Duty and honor never bothered Trev before, but love has a way of changing everything.

In this post-Desolation world, the Council of Essentials controls everything, including the prince. Is love more than a negotiation?

Is love essential?

HELLOOOO DRAMA.

I found this book simultaneously over dramatic and hard to put down. I guess I’m really into the dramatics sometimes.

This is an older YA cast, with a younger YA vibe. I believe the male lead is 24, and acts like he’s 17. I found a lot of the inner dialogue and thoughts to be rather naïve and occasionally annoying. I enjoyed the overall interactions between Trev and Renna at least.

Plenty happened throughout. I didn’t find the pacing slow until near the end. Some interesting villains who tried to hard to be villains. And I was desperate for some world-building. I understood it was a post-world scenario. That’s about it. No thought given to why their were kingdoms now, how they were run. What everything kind of looked like, nada. I had to make a lot of assumptions to understand everything.

Yet, I enjoyed reading this. There were some good nuggets. I was invested enough to keep going and see how it all played out (which was rather whoa on its own).

Overall audience notes: