Gone Country - Hunter Snow (3/5 stars)

I struggled to read this book because the writing is so contradictory from line to another.

E.g. in one paragraph the MFC says that she absolutely hates the MMC and yet she follows him to his studio to make music with him (without discussing who the song belongs to), then shows up at a bar that he asks her to go to to sing it with him, and is then surprised when he sings it at the bar?

I mean, if you hate him that much, don't do what he is asking to do? Or if you are doing it, give at least a good reason to do it ( and yes, being attracted to him counts!), but she doesn't explain it at all!!!

Also, I'm sorry but the MFC is almost an alcoholic and that makes me really uncomfortable.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tellwell Talent for the e-ARC

Game Point - Meg Jones (3.75/5 stars)

 

3.75/5

Tropes: Friends to lovers, athletes, tennis, grumpy MFC, competition.

I read this book without reading the first book in the series, so my POV is biased because the MFC is expected to be grumpy, bitchy, difficult to manage with angry issues. However, without the context of her behavior from book 1, I found her to be pretty normal. 

She has struggled with winning the finals of any of her professional matches and struggles to comes to terms with it. The reason why I gave it a 3.75 instead of 4.5 was because while some friendship moments were shown between the leads, I didn't feel like there were that many? I mean, sure they watch Twilight together, but I wish more of the banter was shown prior to Oliver becoming Dylan's coach. In my opionion the transition from friends to lovers happened really quickly, I would have liked them to have explored the friend zone more fully. 

The whiplash from the leads wanting to retire, retiring, realizing they don't want to retire, to not retiring was also a bit much, in my opinion. Also, how old were the MFC and MMC? I don't think it said and in my mind that was a thought. Sometimes, despite your best talent, and drive, injuries and age is the limiting factor. And I wondered if that would happen to the leads but I didn't get an answer to this.

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the e-ARC.

 

Thrown for a Loop - A New York Legends Hockey Romance - Sarina Bowen (4.5 stars)

                                  

                 

4.5 stars

Tropes: Beta-heroes, ice-hockey, figure skater, second chance, humor

Now this is how to write a romance novel with a strong, independent female protagonist. Zoe is strong, run down, sick of her helicopter mom and ready for a change. Even if it means coming to terms with her first love, Chase.

I really liked their story, which started when they were eighteen and nineteen. Chase is now a renowned ice hockey player and Zoe was a silver medalist. FULL DISCLOSURE: I hate books with dual story lines. THEREFORE, I ABSOLUTELY SKIPPED their history chapters!!! I literally just didn't read them. I feel like the story in the present should be indicative enough of what happened in the past and to be honest, I feel like I got the gist of it. MFC's mom was a bitch and she didn't want her daughter getting distracted from getting her medal.

The female friendships were strong in this one. And I loved the camaraderie that the men's team had with each other.

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing)

Review of The Heir by Sophia Travers (3.75/5 stars)

3.75/5 stars

Tropes: Lost connection, old crush, rich hero, not-that-rich? heroine, angst, pining

Honestly this book deserved 5 stars. IF ONLY it had stopped when the going was good. Unfortunately, it just couldn't recognize a good thing and kept going on and on and on.... (you get the idea).

This is a book full of GOOD ANGST. You know the kind...? it makes your heart stop? The kind where you are IN IT. The only problem is... it doesn't STOP.

The story was just too long. I think a good 1/3 of it could have been edited out, and the outcome would have literally been the same. Both the MMC and the MFC are crazy about each other, had decades long crush ON EACH OTHER. TELL EACH OTHER THAT THE OTHER PERSON IS THE REASON FOR THEIR HAPPINESS AND PROGRESS. EVERYONE (including the readers!) CAN ALSO SEE THIS. And yet they distrust each other SO much that they literally act like young adults in their 20s rather than people who are 30. Also, the Hero is like The Heir and Super rich and yet the heroine DONATES 100K to the local high school. And apparently has done so many times before....SO IS SHE NOT RICH?

Also, there was no mention of the MMC and MFC going to work...? Like, Ok the MMC is a rich bastard and yet in all interactions, he's home chilling reading romance books ( I mean, no shade, because same, but I got a day job yo, so I have to manage the addiction, ya know?), hasn't left the house in a year??? I mean there is literally no mention of the winery (is that what it's called, the place where their family made whiskey?) And what happened to MMC's MOM? Did she run away? Abandon the kids - die? (Inquiring minds want to know!)

The MFC's parents are also just a means to an end. There is literally barely any interaction between her and her parents, but when the big conflict happens, they are suddenly there. And everything is ok? Also, yes, we know that the MMC and MFC love each other. That's what the whole book was about. We did not need two different Epilogues about it ( I think?)


Thanks to Netgalley and Sophia Travers for providing the e-ARC. Views are, obviously, my own.

Oaths & Vengeance Realm of Zadyra #1 by Susan Illene (4 stars)

4 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing the e-ARC. Views are my own

Tropes: other-world, elves, magic, literal-enemies, MFC is a softie, magical garden, powerful MFC, powerful MMC.

Aella is a powerful, magical elf and an orphan. She's 33 but still under the protection of her uncle, a sadistic elf who's leading the war against other elves. The story revolves around the war between the elves and their world slowly dying unless they find an artefact that gives life to their planet. This is book one.


1. The book took me a long time to read despite not being more than 400 pages long. I think it's because the author made a decent effort to make it action packed.

2. Good world building. I was not too invested in other magical creatures which don't play a role in the story. Wisps, centaurs... it didn't matter to me if they didn't move the plot in some way. I sort of skipped those paragraphs.

3. The story is intriguing. MFC who is under the control of her uncle by being cursed, she falls unconscious any time she leaves his territory. MFC who is cursed by not being able to fall in love.

4. The author allowed a world that allows both male and female elves to express themselves sexually without being judged. The rules are the same for both.

BUT
1. Despite a lot of action, I feel like the book could have been condensed. The number of times Aella went on portal trips but then nothing happened, could have been cut down.

2. The extra magical creatures didn't contribute much to the storyline. I think they could have been cut.

3. I kept thinking that according to the story, the MMC can't fall in love with the MFC, but then he was possessive of her, cared for her, craved her, listened to her limitations and followed them, allowed her liberty of his body, was gentle with her, missed her and lusted after her. What is love, if not this. I don't know what the author defines love as, but this is it.

4. Supposedly, the MFC could roam around wherever in the enemy kingdom without going unconscious so that really confused me.

I'll be anxiously waiting for the next installment when they try to reach earth.

Review of Steady Now by Liberty Stowe (3.5 stars)

3.5 stars

Tropes: rich-heroine, well-to-do-hero, texas, mechanic-hero, working-class-hero, maserati, posh-heroine, insta-lust, small-town, car-breaks-down

This is a new-to-me author, and I have to say that this book is readable. However, I'm not sure if the author got some external feedback, because the randomest things irked me and the timeline didn't make a lot of sense. We have no clue what lead to Wren running out like a bat from hell all alone. None. I know she got broken up with... but why? Who was this dude? We know she's rich, but why is she scared/irritated with her dad? No clue! No mention is made of her clothing ( e.g) so it was weird that she left her broken down car in a garage. What is she wearing? Where are her clothes?

I also feel like the MMC fell for her immediately. I mean, come on. Just cuz her name is Wren and she's petitie and she drove a sexy car? She is shown to be down to earth and friendly and that was a relief.

The hero is a mechanic/land owner who is also rich, yet grounded, yet 6 feet+ yet handsome, yet so sexy. Pretty stereotypical, I'd say. The fact that he has a son is discussed pretty late into the book. You'd think the guy thinks about his some somewhere between wanting to be with his new girl?

Thanks to Netgalley and RupertBossier for providing the e-ARC. Views are my own
 

Review of: Say It Out Loud A Novel by Ashley Schumacher (4.5 stars/5)

4.5/5 stars

Tropes: missed-connection, reconciliation, magic, regrets, life-in-a-decade, humor, celebrity, stage, acting, voice-actors, narration, twilight, twilight-is-feminist

BLURB:

"Juniper Green doesn’t believe in magic anymore. Not since her mom died, her dreams of a publishing career fizzled, and her podcast—the one bright spot in her life—was stolen out from under her. Now, at thirty-two, she’s living in her dad’s spare room and wondering if life peaked when she was a teenager with a stack of vampire books and an unhealthy obsession with enigmatic immortals.

Then comes the email: an invitation to audition for the lead role in the audio drama adaptation of The Meadow, the wildly popular vampire romance series that defined her teenage years. It’s a dream opportunity—until she learns her co-star is James Neely, the brooding, talented actor who played Romeo to her Juliet in a one-night-only college show before breaking her heart and disappearing from the stage and her life . . . right along with the magic.

To save the project (and her career), Juniper and James must revive their onstage chemistry, playing The Meadow’s star-crossed lovers for the microphones and social media alike. But as the lines between performance and reality blur, Juniper is left wondering: Can you rewrite the ending of a story you thought was over? Because love, like magic, is a fragile thing to lose . . . and to find again."

Review

Unlike other rom-coms or chick lits, this book portrays MFC in a much more realistic light and you are much more sympathetic to her plight. Usually the formula goes that the MFC is stupid and nothing has gone well her way. In this story, you can see how hard MFC has worked and she has been (somewhat) rewarded for it. She made a mistake and lost the brand she worked so hard for (unfortunate, but happens pretty frequently).

Also deals with the more realistic scenario of doing someone a solid favor and them completely dumping you when they get their chance. That's what MMC does to MFC who helps him be discovered by a talent agent during Romeo and Juliet performance. You'd think that the MFC is bitter and hates him, but she's pragmatic about it and has somewhat moved away, although she can't stop the what-ifs, especially after losing her podcast.

This book was sweet and nostalgic, not in a cloying way, but in a rather hazy summer's day way, where as a millenial, I was in sync with what the MFC felt. I feel like the pacing could have been better, especially when the two MCs meet up again ( hence the 4 stars), but perhaps the pacing is something the editor is responsible for, and not the author? As an intro to this author, this was a wonderful story.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey for providing the e-ARC. Views are my own

Review of People Watching - Hannah Bonam-Young (2.5/5)

 Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine | Dell for the e-ARC. Views are my own 2.5/5 stars.

This is my first foray into HBY's books. I'm not impressed. DNF at 40%.

Tropes: virgin-heroine, experienced-hero, moustached-hero, small-town-romance, Alzheimer

This book was just a collection of stereotypes. It's like the author made a checklist and checked off all things on it, without any regards to whether they made any sense or not.

1. Bisexual hero? Check
2. Virgin heroine? Check
3. Bi hero who has had 200 partners? AND mentions it to the virgin heroine? Check?
4. Hero who is (INSTANTLY TURNED ON) by the virgin heroine? Check?
5. Hero's (slight. ahem) sexual experience attracts heroine (REALLY, she didn't think that he has commitment issues? Like, at all? She was immediately turned on?)
6. Hero has had threesomes and thinks of them at opportune times, especially when he feels some sort of way about the heroine? Check. This one really made me feel the ick.
7. He speaks russian oh-so-fluently with the heroine's dad? Check


It goes on and on. I literally DNF it at like 40%.

Lessons in Faking - Selina Mae (Rating: 4.5/5)

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Tropes: Semi-enemies-to-lovers, trauma, daddy-issues, brothers-enemy, sweet, men-who-cook, girl-needed-a-confidence-booster

This is my first book by this author, and I was hooked from the first page. This is because I have around 100+ books on my TBR list, and unless something has a strong start, I'm not invested. I read the story as a stand-alone, and only got to know about the history of the author once I finished it. Now, let's be real. Are there things out of the realm of belief in this work? Absolutely. Realistically, there are a lot of things I object to. E.g. why did the MFC start dating her brother's supposed arch-nemesis to get her BROTHER'S ATTENTION? Or why the MMC had to have beef with his dad, because that aspect was literally unexplored and unnecessary. Or that the MMC was supposedly so in love with the MFC from the start that NO ONE SUSPECTED?

However, despite these gripes, the story worked well. It did. And the reason is for that is that it is really sweet without being cloyingly so. It's just sweet enough. The chemistry between the main characters is really strong. Read this as a floating leaf in the wind, without a final destination and without too many expectations, and you will love it, especially if enemies-to-lovers is your trope of choice.(Thanks to Netgalley and LYX publishers for providing the ARC. Views are my own)

He Falls First - Jill Shalvis (3.75/5)

 

Rating: 3.75/5 rounded up to 4.

Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for providing me the e-ARC. Views are my own.

Tropes: sweet romance, beta-hero, trauma-childhood, family-values, siblings, part-of-a-series, sassy-grandma, working-class-hero, working-class-heroine.

This is a sweet romance. I wish there were any other way to describe it, but sweet really does describe it well. The hero, Ryder, is the oldest sibling, takes cares of his family and all the kids were abused by their dad. Now their dad has had 2 strokes and is the sweetest ever, but the siblings are still reeling from the past abuse of their dad. Together, they own and run Colburn Construction.

Penny's mom is unstable and has left her grandma and younger (half?) brother alone. She gives up her job to help them out. She dreams of opening up her cafe, but is so bogged down from day to day, that she can't think straight. She works for the catering company that supplies lunches and snacks to the Colburn Construction.

I will concede that there is no doubt that the hero likes the heroine. All the people around him ALSO know that he likes her. He waits for her delivery and has (supposedly) bumped into walls because he was watching her. My issue is that I wish there were a little more anticipation between the two. The conflicts that each of them took a back seat, where as a reader you sort of discard their issues (they are not highlighted much at all, in my opinion). Because they kiss so naturally and are already so in tune with each other, it seems hard to understand why they aren't together already.

The about-face that Hank (the dad) had... I'm not sure if that was necessary? The relationship between the heroine's mom and herself could also have been explored much more to give more depth.

Homebound - Meredith Trapp (4/5)

 

Many thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books for providing me the e-ARC.

Tropes: Single dad, woman rodeo rider, forced proximity, childhood best friends, friends to lovers, he falls first, he falls hard, it's always been her, written in dual perspective.

Wyatt has been in love with Dakota forever, but she has always treated him like a friend over the 18 years that they've known each other. This time round, he will ensure that she sees him as more than a friend. It's a really sweet romance. Not a ton of action except that you get to see his angst and his yearning for her and that is really nice. The little baby in the book is adorable and Wyatt's anxiety about being a good dad is endearing. The heroine is very gutsy and strong although she is extremely anxious about her bull riding career and how it will be affected. 

I also liked that unlike other romances, the heroine wasn't a virgin. She had sex and a lot of it, and the hero still loved her. She wasn't emotionally involved with the other guys and it was mostly physical, but I liked that the author didn't shy away from making her really bold in this respect.

Could have been more fleshed out, but a sweet read nonetheless.