Tag: new adult romance

ARC Book Review: Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: NA Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s
Release Date: November 7th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this clever and swoonworthy YA debut from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, life’s moving pieces bring rival chess players together in a match for the heart.

Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays; after the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning Bad Boy of chess.

Nolan’s loss to an unknown rook-ie shocks everyone. What’s even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. What kind of gambit is Nolan playing? The smart move would be to walk away. Resign. Game over. But Mallory’s victory opens the door to sorely needed cash-prizes and despite everything, she can’t help feeling drawn to the enigmatic strategist….

As she rockets up the ranks, Mallory struggles to keep her family safely separated from the game that wrecked it in the first place. And as her love for the sport she so desperately wanted to hate begins to rekindle, Mallory quickly realizes that the games aren’t only on the board, the spotlight is brighter than she imagined, and the competition can be fierce (-ly attractive. And intelligent…and infuriating…)

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the eARC.

NEW FAV.

Alright, I absolutely adored this. Couldn’t put it down. Binge read this beauty. Ali Hazelwood definitely has a spot in the upper YA & NA category.

While at times I was frustrated with Mallory, I could honestly see how warped her thoughts had become because of her past. This felt very true to the age group as well and I liked seeing the up’s and down’s of her decisions. I ESPECIALLY loved her sisters and Mom. I love a close family, flawed and all. Not one person had it all figured out, but they had each other and I found myself misty eyed when they were all able to come together and reconnect.

The roooomance. Oh, it was sweet. Perfectly swoony. I LOVE NOLAN. He is this cinnamon roll hero that just needed someone in his corner. I loved the banter and the build. I was chomping at the bit to see them kiss. I loved seeing Mallory and Nolan argue and work together and all the things that make that fated connection last.

All of the chess things went way over my head (I have only a basic understanding of the game), but I never found it overwhelming Mallory’s character arc or the romance. It added great balance and I liked learning so much about competitions and ratings and how the whole system works.

This was a gem of a read and I hope there’s more YA/NA books in the future!

Overall audience notes:

  • Upper YA/NA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong throughout
  • Romance: light innuendo throughout; one fade to black
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a father (recounted, drunk driving), cheating (recounted; side character), estranged family members

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Book Review: Reign (American Royals #4) by Katharine McGee

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: NA Dystopia Romance
Length: 415 pages
Author: Katharine MCGee
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: August 29th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A queen’s life hangs in the balance, and her siblings’ decisions—about what to do, and most of all, who to love—could change the course of history. Romance. Duty. Power…only one can triumph in this stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling American Royals series.

America’s royal family is in shambles. Queen Beatrice is in a coma and Princess Samantha has gone missing—from the look of things, she ran away with her boyfriend, Lord Marshall Davis. Which means that Prince Jefferson is currently on the throne. For some in America, it’s exactly what they wanted: a King ruling the country. And for Daphne Deighton, who has tricked Jefferson into dating her again, it’s the ultimate dream come true. 

Surely this is all just temporary. Won’t Beatrice wake up and reclaim her rightful place? Samantha can’t really be gone…can she? And Prince Jefferson will never truly be over his childhood crush, Nina Gonzalez. Right?

For the Washington family, the stakes are higher than ever. Love might save the throne….if secrets don’t destroy everything first.

Thank you to PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook.

I AM SATISFIED.

I sincerely needed this to go a certain and specific way and I’m very happy it did. This is a series where you have to lean in and enjoy the drama. I love that it’s dramatic and I don’t know quite what’s going to happen next.

I really enjoyed everyone (BUT DAPHNE) storylines and where they ended up. There were some crucial endings and reconnections, starting over and moving on and I liked how that wrapped up. Character arcs kept being pulled in different directions and I was very much glued to my headphones waiting to know how it would end.

An enjoyable series with a unique flair. McGee has the addictive quality about her books that pull you in and I was very much attached to these characters. I loved the pacing and how well the plots were woven. There wasn’t one (EXCEPT DAPHNE) POV chapter that I didn’t enjoy reading.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: retrograde amnesia, multiple counts of cheating

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Book Review: Dark Night Golden Dawn (The Immortal Orders #1) by Allison Carr Waechter

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Rating: ★★
Audience: NA Fantasy Romance
Length: 408 pages
Author: Allison Carr Waechter
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: March 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In a city where the elite are powerful as gods, the season is about to begin. The Immortal Orders will gather, pair and create a spectacle for all of Nuva Troi to witness.

Harlow Krane is a sorcière who wants nothing more than to recover from her most recent breakup in peace. When the season begins, her Order needs her help to save their ancestral occult district from being taken over by the Illuminated, the most powerful immortals in Nuva Troi. They offer to back off—if Harlow agrees to pair with their most eligible bachelor, Finn McKay. But Harlow has been burned by Finn before.

Finn McKay is one of the Illuminated. Rich, powerful, and he isn’t afraid of anyone—except for his parents. When they push him towards Harlow Krane, he knows their purposes are sinister at best. For the past seven years, Finn has done everything in his power to stay away from Harlow and he won’t break his resolve now, even if it means defying his parents. As the season begins, it’s clear something is dangerously wrong but besides Finn, only Harlow seems to notice.

With magic behaving strangely, the balance of power between the Immortal Orders and humans grows deadlier by the day. Harlow and Finn must work together to keep ancient grudges from resurfacing and take back their lives in the process. If they can get over their past, the whole world may have a brighter future.

Dark Night, Golden Dawn is Book One in The Immortal Orders Trilogy, a blazing hot fantasy romance, set in a contemporary world of magic, deception, and betrayal. 

WOW THIS DID NOT WORK FOR ME.

I feel like I read a completely different book than everyone else. Nope nooooooooope no.

A nagging issue I had with this, is that it felt like a contemporary romance shoved into a fantasy world? And not as a compliment. Because than the fantasy elements fell flat and I think a lot more world building could have been focused on. It was this weird zone.

It is definitely a romance which awesome. Things moved way too quickly. Was this supposed to be enemies to lovers? Furthest thing from that. Second chance? Yes that trope was efficient. When the couple is already completely back together before the halfway point I have no connection to them. It just turned into a let’s bang everywhere scenario that y’all know I never love.

There’s some sweet family and sister dynamics. Good friendships and connections. I never really liked the FMC either though which played a big part in me skimming way too much of this book.

I won’t be continuing the series.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: multiple open door scenes; med-high explicit
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: emotional abusive boyfriend (recounted multiple times), depression, gaslighting, suicide attempt, animal cruelty, fatphobia, homophobia

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Book Review: Bewitched by You by Kendra Mase

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: NA Contemporary Romance
Length: 340 pages
Author: Kendra Mase
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: September 27th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Luella Pierce is having a mid-witch crisis.

Her best friend is top of her class and currently on a fast track to land her dream job. Her coven members have all found their passions in life and are excited to start their next chapter. Even her arch nemesis and Barnett University’s star football player, Ryan Gardner, has future plans. Sure, they’re to become a permanent nuisance in her life, but still. Everyone else seems to have life figured out except her.

Lu’s big plans? Procrastinating the future by throwing all her energy into creating the most fantastic Samhain–Halloween–celebration BU has ever seen. That is, if she can convince the student council she won’t perform any satanic rituals.

Cue the eye roll.

But when Ryan sustains a career-ending injury and Lu receives an offer from her sweet yet meddling coven matriarch that causes her to rethink everything, Lu also begins to question if the strongest magic may be taking a chance on love.

And herself.

Bewitched By You is a standalone new adult contemporary romance featuring a handsome, people pleasing football player and a quirky yet disheveled modern day witch finding home in a small college town. Perfect for readers who can’t resist the charm of Practical Magic or the sweet swoons of a romantic comedy with an emotional happily ever after.

IT WAS ALRIGHT.

I’m a sucker for these types of covers and I admit to this being a total cover download. I did like it overall in the end at least.

The romance is really one note and very much what I would expect to see in a college relationship. I liked Luella and Ryan. They were sweet on one another and I felt the chemistry between them. It was lacking in any form of angst (something I like even a dash of) as they steadily moved through their relationship. There were some truly good moments between them and I enjoyed the support they gave each other as life landed on them.

Plot wise it’ll give you all the whimsical and fall season vibes. There’s not much past that, buuut I know that’ll be a hit with others looking for something simple. I didn’t like the mean girl moments or some of the drama that resulted from it. But I did find it a quick read that put me in the mood for all things autumn.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some
  • Romance: one brief open door
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: bullying, loss of a mother (recounted), season ending sports injury

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