Tag: new adult romance

ARC Book Review: Even If It Breaks Your Heart by Erin Hahn

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: NA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Erin Hahn
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: February 6th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A heart-buckling ride of a romance by beloved author Erin Hahn, Even If It Breaks Your Heart is about two teens finding out that sometimes, the hardest part of discovering what you want is getting the courage to pursue it.

The only thing keeping nineteen-year-old Case Michaels together after the death of his best friend, Walker, is a list Walker left behind of things he wants Case to accomplish in his absence. So far, though, Case hasn’t even been able to continue riding bulls in the rodeo circuit, something he’s done his entire life, balking at the thought of competing without Walker by his side. But the list? Case is determined to follow it to the letter– and he follows it all the way to Winnie Sutton.

Eighteen-year-old Winnie Sutton just wants to keep her family together. She graduated high school early to work long shifts at the Michaels family ranch so she can support her younger siblings and a father who’s more than happy to let Winnie fill the responsible parent role. If she sometimes sneaks out to ride the horses herself and forget about life for a while– well, that’s no one else’s business– until the day she crashes headfirst into Case Michaels. Case sees her riding skills and immediately ropes her into competing for the ranch and becoming his friend.

Winnie and Case couldn’t be more different, but Case can’t help but be inspired by Winnie’s badly-hidden passion for riding and competition. And there’s something about Case that makes Winnie want to try grasping onto a dream for herself, whether that’s a shot at a rodeo trophy, the annoyingly handsome rancher’s son who won’t leave her alone, or maybe both.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the eARC.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED.

This is now my new favorite Erin Hahn book. I love the way she writes new adult stories and wow did this one just hit every single thing right. I LOVED the setting and all of the cowboy content. The ranch and horses, bull riding and rodeos, it was all magnetic and I was entranced.

And the romance?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME. This was the softest friends to lovers. That genuine, I am here to be your friend, and then realizing that person means a whole lot more to you. Oh my gosh I was WEAK. I adored Case, I loved seeing his grief and his awakenings and the way he cares for those he loves. And how he found what made him passionate and the future he wanted to pursue (which also was one of the 10 reasons I was tearing up reading this). Winnie was also spectacular. I was cheering her on from the beginning. Her tenacity and strength, bless her for finding ways to lets others help in her life too. I loved the deep sibling bond she had with Garrett and Jesse and the way everything worked out for them in the end.

This book was pure magic. I have zero complaints. NO NOTES. It was everything I needed when I picked it up. I loved the story and how Walker was woven in. I loved the friends and so many small moments that packed a punch and really brought this entire book together. There’s even no third act nonsense, AND IT WAS BLISS Y’ALL. The whole book, just go read it. Thank me later.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: strong and high
  • Romance: 2 closed door scenes
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a friend (grief depictions throughout), underage drinking, absentee father

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Book Review: A Deal with the Devil (The Devils #1) by Elizabeth O’Roark

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 314 pages
Author: Elizabeth O’Roark
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: August 10th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He might not be the devil, but working under him for six weeks is my idea of hell.

Hayes Flynn is an arrogant jerk known best for his scotch habit and the way he spreads his British “charm” all over Hollywood, never with the same woman twice.

He’s the last person I want to work for, except he has a face I can’t look away from, and the longer we’re together, the harder he is to hate. Because under that smug exterior is a heart he doesn’t want to show—one that was badly broken a decade earlier.

A part of me wants to fix it for him before I leave…but can I do it without breaking my own in the process?

AN INTERESTING HOT MESS.

I feel conflicted by this book (which is how I felt about book two in this series before coming back to this one).

One on side, we have a SUPER sweet grump x sunshine; boss x assistant; slow burn romance. I really liked the chemistry between Hayes and Tali. Fantastic banter and soooo many sub tropes in romances that I flat out adore. The protective alpha vibes totally worked for me and every time Hayes opened up more I was a puddle. Great hero.

Aaaaand the other side was this weird amalgamation of plot things that felt like it was trying too hard. Each side character had to have some intense thing happening in their lives, & I HATED how the Mom thing with Tali was handled. There’s quite a few off-color jokes that did not land well whatsoever and made me cringe. The addition of book stuff from what Tali was writing? And just stuff like that?

Hayes truly carries this entire book and is the only reason it held its four star status. I’m undecided on reading book three at this point as the wild plot seems to be a theme.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: multiple open; med-high explicit + medium innuendo
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: cheating recounted, parent with alcoholism, suicide mentioned, death of a parent recounted

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Book Review: Cursed (Gilded #2) by Marissa Meyer

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 496 pages
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: November 8th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In Cursed, Marissa Meyer brings the fairytale-inspired Gilded duology to a conclusion..

Be still now, and I will tell you a tale.

Adalheid Castle is in chaos.

Following a shocking turn of events, Serilda finds herself ensnared in a deadly game of make-believe with the Erlking, who is determined to propel her deeper into the castle’s lies. Meanwhile, Serilda is determined to work with Gild to help him solve the mystery of his forgotten name and past.

But soon it becomes clear that the Erlking doesn’t only want to use Serilda to bring back his one true love. He also seeks vengeance against the seven gods who have long trapped the Dark Ones behind the veil. If the Erlking succeeds, it could change the mortal realm forever.

Can Serilda find a way to use her storytelling gifts for good—once and for all? And can Serilda and Gild break the spells that tether their spirits to the castle before the Endless Moon finds them truly cursed?

HMM.

Well. You see, I wanted to love this, buuut I can only put it in the like category and that’s the first time I’ve done that for a Marissa Meyer book.

I already wasn’t sure after the [big redacted spoiler] from the ending of the last book. And I don’t think it played super well here. There was an interesting magic workaround that gave the characters some movement but ultimately the miscommunication it led to, led me to struggle with it all.

Where was Gild? Frankly, not sure. He was missing for SO MUCH of this book and he was the whole love interest in the first!! It was one of those cases where the romance dropped off the map rather than holding steady when it was the original purpose of the retelling. The time spent with the Erlking did not do it for me.

There were some good action sequences and I remember liking different parts here and there. I wish Serilda had accomplished a bit more rather than letting things continually happen to her or just hanging out when battles were fought. I hoped for more in this conclusion but oh well.

I do love Marissa Meyer’s writing style and will still pick up whatever she writes next.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: murder, loss of life, possession, physical and magical altercations, childbirth

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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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