Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: September 2023

October 1, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

THE BER MONTHS HAVE ARRIVED. Now if I could just get the weather to cooperate. I only had one absolute dud of a book this month and plenty of great reads. A little slower for me as I read some BIG fantasy books.

Happy reading!

Favorites of September:

Reign
Emma Lion Vol. 3
ACOTAR Reread
Mrs. Nash’s Ashes
The Goddess Eye
Heat of the Everflame
A Little Magic
Once Upon a Broken Heart Reread
Can’t Help Falling
Heidi Lucy Loses Her Mind
ACOMAF Reread
Things We Left Behind
Her Radiant Curse
Faking the Fall
Two Twisted Crowns
Shadow and Silence
Blade Breaker

Least Favorites:

Main Character Energy

Reign (American Royals #4) by Katharine McGee
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (Vol. 3) by Beth Brower
Best Friends, Back Ups & Something More by Ranee S. Clark
Just a Football Star (Tate Brothers #2) by Deb Goodman
[Reread] A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1) by SJM
Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler
The Goddess Eye (The Blood and Water Saga #3) by Cassidy Clarke
Hold Back the River by Ashley Dill
Neve A Hero (Monsters #2) by Vanessa Len
The Fall Back Plan (Sweater Weather #2) by Melanie Jacobson
Savage Bred (The Royal Rose Chronicles #3) by Victoria McCombs
[ALC] The Ex-Mas Holidays by Zoe Allison
[ARC] Heat of the Everflame (Kindred’s Curse #3) by Penn Cole
Knife of Dreams (Wheel of Time #11) by Robert Jordan
A Little Magic by Lindsey Lanza
A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford
[Reread] Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart #1) by Stephanie Garber
[ARC] Welcome to Fae Cafe (High Court of the Coffee Bean #1) by Jennifer Kropf
Can’t Help Falling (Sweater Weather #3) by Courtney Walsh
The Curse of Saints (The Curse of Saints #1) by Kate Dramis
[ARC] Heidi Lucy Loses Her Mind (Happily Every Homicide #2) by Gracie Ruth Mitchell
[Reread] A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR #2) by Sarah J. Maas
Things We Left Behind (Knockemout #3) by Lucy Score
Codename Charming (Palace Insiders #2) by Lucy Parker
Her Radiant Curse by Elizabeth Lim
The Long Game (The Long Game #1) by Elena Armas
[ARC] Codes of Courage (Heirs of Falcon Point #1) by A.L. Sowards
Faking the Fall (Sweater Weather #4) by Julie Christianson
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs
[ARC] Two Twisted Crowns (The Shepherd King #2) by Rachel Gillig
[ALC] Silence and Shadow (Blood and Moonlight #2) by Erin Beaty
Main Character Energy by Jamie Varon
How Jenna Became My Dilemma (Famously in Love #2) by Kortney Keisel
Blade Breaker (Realm Breaker #2) by Victoria Aveyard
Easy as Pie (Sweater Weather #5) by Carina Taylor

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Book Review: Play Your Part by Kathryn Kincaid

October 1, 2023August 10, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Sports Romance
Length: 312 pages
Author: Kathryn Kincaid
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 3rd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Three months. Two enemies. One goal. Zero time for distractions.

Kennedy Cole’s life stalled one year ago after she tragically lost her mom. She abandoned her plans to finish college and quit working for her family’s professional hockey team, the Palmer City Wolves. She’s finally ready to move forward with Wolves star player Justin Ward at her side, but when he’s traded to another team, he hightails it out of town, leaving Kennedy behind.

Alexei Volkov is known for his hotheaded reputation, on-ice antics, and rivalry with Justin. After being fired by his last team, the Wolves offer Alexei a one-year contract to prove he can stay out of trouble. When a misleading photo of Kennedy and Alexei in a compromising position goes viral, his career is in jeopardy, along with the team’s public image.

Alexei wants nothing to do with the sassy brunette who got him into this mess. Kennedy would rather avoid the arrogant hockey player. But pretending to date each other can fix the negative press. The agreement was simple: three months together, with clearly outlined rules. But the more time Kennedy and Alexei spend together, the harder it becomes to fight the sizzling chemistry between them, making it difficult to know where pretense ends and reality begins.

Fans of Elle Kennedy, Mariana Zapata, and C.W. Farnsworth will enjoy this dual-POV steamy contemporary romance featuring enemies-to-lovers and fake-dating tropes.

AWESOME DEBUT.

I admit, I am easily influenced by one well created reel that shows up when I’m mindlessly scrolling. This one was an absolute winner.

The fake dating was a lot of fun and I liked the enemies to lovers vibes banter that happened between Alexei and Kennedy. I continually smirked at my screen because I just KNEW THEY WERE FALLING IN LOVE. And that’s the best feeling.

I looooved that this was a slow burn. Really getting to see that build before the spice came into play. Better yet, it happened to be in my spice comfort level and worked well into the story. I loved both of these characters. Battling pasts, finding common ground, and realizing that they may have met their match.

The only thing I didn’t love was that Kennedy’s ex came back into the picture when I didn’t think he was needed to bring in any more conflict. He can get gone.

Fantastic writing and story telling. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Highly recommend for my hockey romance lovers.

Overall audience notes:

Sports Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: two brief open; low explicit
Violence: low
Trigger/Content Warnings: brief hockey fights, loss of a mother (recounted)

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ARC Book Review: Flirtation or Faceoff (D.C. Eagles Hockey #2) by Leah Bruner

September 1, 2023August 27, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Sports Romance
Length: 265 pages
Author: Leah Brunner
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: September 1st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

After getting my heart broken, I’ve sworn off athletes forever.

Then my best friend has to go and marry an NHL player, and his teammate, Colby Knight, won’t leave me alone.

Colby is a master at scoring (on and off the ice), and he’s not used to being told no. So he takes my disinterest as an invitation to pursue me even harder. I ignore him… until I realize I can use his expertise to help me get my crush’s attention.

But now that he’s my dating coach, and we’re spending so much time together, I’m growing more and more distracted. I mean, those dimples? Very enticing.

Just when I think he might be more than just a playboy hockey player, a blast from the past comes back and reminds me why I swore off athletes in the first place.

Can I trust Colby, or is he just another jerk who will break my heart?

(This is a dual POV, fade-to-black romance, and can be read as a standalone. This book contains mild language. Trigger warnings: cheating exes.)

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

CLOSED DOOR HOCKEY QUEEN.

I don’t care that we’re only three books into this series (including the prequel!), Leah Brunner is creating the best closed door hockey romance series around.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. Colby was absolutely GONE for Noel from the get-go and he was so dang sweet. Good heavens. I loved how much he cared. For Noel, his friends, family and those around him. I loved his passion and commitment. I just loved HIM.

And Noel. I loved her too. I loved how incredibly intelligent and nerdy she was. I loved her character arc too and how she learned to trust and move forward with the things she wanted in life.

The chemistry between Colby and Noel was off the charts. I loved how soft it was, but also sexy. It’s a fiery combination that sets the book A FLAME. I loved the dating lessons, and protective moments. All of the family get together and the seeing my favorite D.C. Eagles again.

This book had it all. I already want to read it again.

Overall audience notes:

Sports Romance
Language: some light – moderate
Romance: heated kisses
Violence: low
Trigger/Content Warnings: brief physical altercation, cheating ex (recounted)

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ARC Book Review: Just Don’t Fall (Sweater Weather #1) by Emma St. Clair

August 31, 2023August 22, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Sports Romance
Length: 300 pages
Author: Emma St. Clair
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 31st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Before Logan Barnes was hockey’s hottest bad boy, he was my brother’s best friend … and my first crush. Oh, yeah–and the guy who ghosted me and broke my teenage heart.

Now Logan is back in Harvest Hollow, but not willingly. Recovering from an injury (and some bad press), he’s stuck playing for our minor league team. Which means I’ll be working with him almost daily. As the hockey team’s social media manager, it’s my job to wrangle all the guys into filming TikTok trending videos. But Logan doesn’t want to be wrangled. Turns out … neither does my heart. Because my old crush never died.

And when Logan becomes my accidental fake boyfriend, those old feelings flare hot enough to melt the ice. But this is all totally one-sided. Totally fake. Isn’t it? No matter what signals he seems to be giving me or how real things start to feel, I know Logan’s not home for good. I survived Logan leaving me once. But this time, I’m not so sure my heart will recover …

Just Don’t Fall is a small town, closed door hockey romcom with all the fake dating, brother’s best friend vibes. You’ll get smoking chemistry and characters to root for but NO spice. (Yes, you read that right–a low spice hockey romance.) Perfect for fans of sports romance who want a less heat.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

THE SWOON.

I NEED MORE closed door sports romances. Oh my goodness this was so good. Binge in a day, go to bed too late, GOOD.

First and foremost I have got to say that I read the hottest no kissing scene I have ever [potentially] read. GOOD HEAVENS. The heat, I was BURNING (I feel like I need to reiterate again that there is no spice in here, Emma St. Clair does an incredible job of writing steam without it being spicy). ANYWHO. I loved it. The slow burn, fake dating romance had me begging for the real thing and it delivered.

I adored Logan and Parker. Both on their own and separate. I loved seeing the character progression for Logan. He’s rough and protective, but also comes to a lot of realizations about his life and how he wants to move forward. And Parker is a beautifully strong woman who knows how she wants her life to look. I loved that she was flexible without compromising. And them together just brought all of the sparks and chemistry of an old unrequited crush.

There’s definitely some hockey aspects, some goofy TikTok dances and a grand gesture [or two]. It is light, filled with depth, will make you smile and bring all of the fall vibes.

Overall audience notes: