This book could not be more of a plagiarized Hunger Games if the author tried. Also Red Queen, Shatter mMe, The Darkest Minds, Defy the Night. It’s alThis book could not be more of a plagiarized Hunger Games if the author tried. Also Red Queen, Shatter mMe, The Darkest Minds, Defy the Night. It’s all those books with all the scenes from those books with characters with different names and some gender swapping. It’s one thing to take inspiration from a book, quite another two little use the same scenes in your book....more
I was totally bored. Where is the plot? There's not chemistry with the two main characters. The narrator was better with the male voices than the femaI was totally bored. Where is the plot? There's not chemistry with the two main characters. The narrator was better with the male voices than the female voices! ...more
I want to thank Random House Children's Books and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opiniI want to thank Random House Children's Books and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own. When you need money, you'll go to just about any extreme to get it. That's why Natalie Hart signs up for the reality TV show, Wild Adventures. But when her sunshine is paired with grumpy Finn Marcum, she's sure she's chosen wrong. Through their adventures, they grow close, and from the forced proximity a friendship, and more, evolves. But can they ultimately win the money, and each other's hearts? I love a good YA romance. They are clean and fun and the tension between the characters is fun to watch. I was prepared for a slow burn from this one but the love interest actually took off sooner than I thought it would. Either way it was fun to watch the two main characters have their adventures. Natalie started off as a high maintenance girl. She fills her backpack with all types of skin care products she refuses to leave behind. And, being a drama major with the hopes of becoming an actress, she talks up the cameras a lot. At first it turned me off a bit. But then she slowly transforms into more than just what you see on the outside. She has so many nuances to her character. Hill did a great job in helping her evolve and develop. It was fun to watch her learn. Finn, on the other hand, is Mr. Grumpy, and I was not a fan of his at first. He was very standoffish and definitely erected a wall between himself and Natalie. But she slowly wears that wall away, and helps him find more of his own sunshine. I wasn't all in for the chemistry with these two. I think this was mostly because it was told in first person from only Natalies point of view. For me, romances work so much better in dual point of view. It seemed to me the author was more interested in telling Natalie's story than Finn's but at the same time, I don't feel like I truly go to know Finn. Natalie's personality and character overshadowed him. The plot was fun. I love a good survivor type show and this one gave me those feels. It was also nice to see the history of the Appalachian Trail worked into the story line. I enjoyed learning the tidbits the author chose to share. I don't know much about Kentucky or Tennessee so it was fun to learn that a bit. I especially liked that the author chose to incorporate Natalie's anxiety into the plot line. This is such a wide spread mental illness that so many do not even know they have. The author took good care to show the spirals that happen with anxiety and also giving the audience information on how such things can be handled: therapy, medications, meditation, etc. I felt like the side characters were fun but would have liked to see a bit more of them. I feel like the only character I understood anything about was the female enemy. We got what she was all about right away. Overall the characters were relatable and real. I can see how people would easily see themselves in these characters. The pacing was good with this book. I wasn't truly hooked until the romance took off, to be honest, which seemed to be about half way through the story. I enjoyed watching the banter between this unlikely couple. Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It was cute. This was my first Hill book and it seems her books are connected through her characters. But you can definitely read this one as a stand alone. I think readers who enjoy Lynn Painter, Kasie West, and Stephanie Perkins will enjoy books by this author....more
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinion expreThank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinion expressed here are my own. Natalie is a budding writer. Rob is an academic. Thrown together for their best friends' wedding, they are forced to interact despite seemingly hating each other. When Natalie finds out Rob gave her book a one-star review, she is determined to never like him. But over their years from their 20s to their 30s they get thrown together over and over again and find what they thought was making them enemies was actually an attraction they might not be able to avoid. I loved the idea of this book. Two people who couldn't be more different continuously thrown together only to find they can't stay away. A perfect enemies to friends to lovers trope. And also a those who are meant to be will be. Because despite their years apart, and the relationships those years bring, they always end up back in each other's orbit. The pacing in this book was a medium pace. I was neither drawn to pick it up and continue reading nor was I disliking it. There's a lot of humor used in the book as well as sarcasm, which may or may not be easily understood by the reader. This is my first book by this author and I thought her writing was good. I liked the dual POV but then the author snuck in third person omniscient POV from a side characters and that was just really weird. Also the third person POV sometimes made it hard to realize whose POV I was actually reading and took me out of the story trying to figure it out. Given the jumps in time, I felt like this needed to be more clear and it was very frustrating at times that it was not. Natalie was a fairly relatable character. I did find her a bit whiny and really wanted her to take hold of her life which seemed all over the place. It was like she was constantly having trouble becoming an adult. I also found her obsession with Gabby, her best friend, a little odd. Her life kind of revolved around Gabby and how she could always keep them being friends despite them forming their own lives as they get older. And she doesn't take any kind of responsibility for her actions but likes to think all the bad things that happen to her and due to outside forces she cannot control. In fact, she creates these situations on her own and it's not until the end of the book that we see her shift into understanding the need to take hold of your own life. It seems the point of Natalie's character was to show how you can only rely on yourself, but it took a super long time for Natalie to come to that conclusions and felt a bit dragged out. I liked Rob's character. He was extremely pragmatic. And the fact that he was willing to accept a relationship which he thought of as love but was certainly not was a testament to the damage caused by his relationship with his father. You can see he has never received praise from the man and that has caused him to too easily accept a life he truly doesn't want and is not happy with. Their romance was a very slow burn. But I will say, I never truly felt the pull between them. I just felt like they were always angry at each other and much of the time for no reason. Natalie carried her grudge of Rob's one star review but didn't take responsibility for what she actually wrote in the book and how it might affect others. The romance definitely didn't feel like the central plot to this book, which I kind of wanted it to be given the enemies to lovers trope. The plot line rumbled along throughout most of the book and I felt like I just kept waiting and waiting for something to happen between Rob and Natalie which I know was the point but it felt a bit drawn out. I knew there would be something huge that would bring them together at some point. I wasn't thrilled with what it was. I cannot imagine the plot turn that happened would be the reason these two would finally realize they wanted each other. Maybe it was the "you only have one life" and "you never know what might happen" vibe that did it but it wasn't completely clear. Overall, this was a cute read. It's a commentary on how to navigate the shifts in life as you get older. It touches on friendships, love, loss, Dementia, cancer, and the pandemic as it's told over a 10 year time span. This one will be good for an easy and fast beach or pool read for the summer....more
Review to come...I'll just say one thing now before I post it, thank goodness that's over. I want to thank Kensington and Edelweiss for providing me wiReview to come...I'll just say one thing now before I post it, thank goodness that's over. I want to thank Kensington and Edelweiss for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own. Information is power. For Alana Beaumont, that information is through social media. Reeling from her brother's death, she finds herself the heir to Aquarius Social. Thorn Beathatch is a recluse. As the owner of his own social media company, he's done whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and doesn't let anything get in his way. But he has a weakness and that's Alana. He's obsessed with making her his, even if that means kidnapping her. But, when his life is on the line, the enemies find themselves turning to each other to figure out how to save him. And how to solve the mystery of how Alana's brother died. Can they put aside their differences and hate to help each other come out on top? Let's start with what I liked. I love a good retelling. Especially based on the beloved Beauty and the Beast story. I've always connected with Belle and her love for reading. Add into this story some dark romance, and I'm all in. I was expecting a fabulous story of enemies to lovers with some outrageous sexy times. What I got was not what I expected at all. The cover of this book is absolutely stunning. I'm a sucker for a great cover (yes, I do judge books by their cover). And it's being offered with pretty sprayed edges. This is what initially drew me to the book. The blurb totally drew me to this story. I really wanted to watch this enemies to lovers dark romance bloom. I'm a sucker for a good villain story. And, I expected some darkness. I don't have triggers so I was good with whatever the author brought forth. Finally, I enjoyed most of the spicy moments. I do love me some good kink and fun. That's about where my likes ended, unfortunately. I just don't think this book was for me, even though I wanted it to be. I could not connect with the characters. I didn't like them. I didn't feel anything for them. I was hoping to watch them develop and grow and it just didn't happen. Thorn is an obsessive stalker who is battling a curse that is killing him. While I like a good bad guy, I didn't find his brand of badness or love endearing at all. It was just toxic. I thought maybe he'd grow and change during the book. But it didn't happen. All he wanted to do was have possession of Alana and ultimately punish her for all the wrongs he thought she was committing towards him. He presented these things as him loving her and wanting her, but it didn't come across that way. But why was he so obsessed with her? This is never addressed. Alana was a very flat character. There's zero girl power with her. I wanted emotion. I needed to watch her flounder with being drawn to Thorn's brand of love, but I didn't really see it. She lets him do whatever he wants and she's ok with it. She kind of questions it but it's never a deep dive and her questions never seem to sway her away from him at any point. There's no point in which I felt she was truly getting anything, including pleasure, out of their relationship. Their connection just was not there. I saw the author trying to make it happen with banter and a bit of interest in each character learning about the other, but ultimately it just didn't work for me. It failed to show any romance at all. There was never a moment where I felt like the main characters finally connected and realized why they should be together. And I understand the nature of this relationship, a little Stockholm Syndrome is intriguing. But I never bought into her actually falling for him. The world building and magic system were lacking for me. This is super important in a fantasy book, even if it's billed as a dark romance. The crystal technology and how it worked was totally lost on me. There were times in the book when the characters were speaking in what I assume was some kind of IT lingo but I just didn't understand what was going on. How are the characters connected to the crystals? What happened in the past to make it happen? There were quite a few plot holes throughout the book. Normally I can overlook them if they are simple, but these were gapping for me. I also felt like the book just ended. The main mystery in the book is solved but there's not real conclusion through the epilogue provided. There were some interesting plot lines introduced but they weren't fleshed out well. And we're never given any real reason for the curse that plagues Thorn throughout the book or why the people who cursed him did so in the first place. I will admit, I pushed myself to finish in the hopes there would be some redemption for me in the end but I didn't get it. The set up of the plot was initially interesting and unique but the ending felt a bit rushed and almost like the author wasn't sure how to pull it full circle and wrap it up. I appreciate this is the author's first dark romance and I do think her concept is interesting. I am not sure I'll continue with this series as I don't think this author's brand of writing is for me....more
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for supplying me with an egalley of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expThank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for supplying me with an egalley of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own. Ian Chase endured a very public breakup that forced him to leave his home and his friends behind for 6 years. Finally back where he feels he's meant to be, he's surprised to find his childhood friend and local baking show sensation, Delilah Baker, all grown up and not at all the "kid" she once was. Delilah has been in love with Ian since she was a teen, but he'd never seen her that way. Now they have to work together to try and help Ian's reputation and increase her ratings by pretending to be romantically involved. But there's nothing pretend about their attraction or how they truly want each other without the other knowing. But Ian is keeping secrets about his past. Will their true romance gown down the drain when Lila learns of Ian's "sordid" past? I have really enjoyed Ferguson's other books so I was excited to see her branch into a sports romance. It turns out it really doesn't matter what Ferguson writes, it's all fun and romance and sexy, spicy times that have a good plot to go along with it! As with her other books, the pacing on this one is spot on. I would reluctantly put this one down only because, you know, a girl does need her beauty sleep. But I didn't want to because each chapter had me itching to see what happened next. I love dual point of view for romance books. I feel it gives such a deeper connection to the characters. Makes them more real and believable. This is no exception. I'm glad to see we got to enter both Ian and Delilah's head spaces and learn what made them tick. I was happy to see there was more to this plot than just sexy times. While I kind of figured out the twist that was Ian's secret, I still enjoyed watching it unfold. And what I loved most about this book was SPOILER no third act break up. This helped me love the characters that much more as they were able to communicate with one another and support one another through their hard times. While I know the third act trope is used in most romance books, it's always refreshing to have things be more realistic when it comes to character understanding one another. Delilah was a delight. I really connected with her personality and I loved that she wasn't a willowy beauty but was more realistic in stature and body type. And her passion for baking was really fun as I love to bake. I also love to watch cooking shows, so that drew me right in. Ian, on the other hand, seemed a pretty standard type for a hockey player, though he's a ginger and I haven't seen that done a lot in the romance books I've read. He's fiercely protective of those he loves, which endeared me to him right away. His relationship with his father was taught with angst and power playing. I despised his father, as well anyone should with how he treated Ian. The side characters, Abby, Jack, Ava, and Ian's other teammates were loveable. I will say I really liked the banter between Ian and Delilah. It helped to solidify their attraction. And the brother's best friend trope is always one that's interesting to see unfold. Plus fake dating never really works out to just be that, right? There's a bit of an age gap between Ian and Lilah, as well, but it's not huge, so I'm not sure the age gap trope truly applies here. While most romance books sell themselves on excessive drama, I don't find that with Ferguson's books. Which makes me love her stories even more. I mean, there's some drama, how could there not be to make the plot somewhat interesting, but it's not this I want to throw the book across the room why did you rip my heart out drama I see in many other books of this genre. My only issue with this book was the true connection between the FMC and MMC. They are childhood friends, so the past is there. But we don't really get the sense of how close they were. Sure, the characters allude to their past, but flashbacks would have been a great addition to understanding why they might go from friends to lovers. Plus I found the whole teenage obsession with Ian rolling over into her adulthood a little unrealistic. They haven't seen each other in years (seems like since she was a teen though the timeline was a bit confusing on that). And she's dated other guys. But why would she still be obsessed with Ian? I needed a better foundation for it. Overall, I adored the book and will definitely continue to read anything Ferguson decides to write. I'm looking forward to Loch and Key for sure!...more
Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed herThank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own. Ren has been sheltered all her life but now she's branching out to go to college. But even with this new adventure, her parents insist she comes back to the homestead on weekends and won't let her tell anyone where she lives. It's been like this all her life and she never thought it was odd. Until she meets Fitz, and goes on a cross country adventure with him to investigate some DNA results she got from her class at school. Along the way she has many firsts, including finding herself attracted to Fitz. But her parents won't have any of it and find her only to drag her back home. But turns out there's more to her parents and her life than she could have ever imagined. I love Christina Lauren and all their books. Of course I needed a chance to read this one and see what it was about. It's very different from their usual romance. If you're looking for a typical Lauren book, this won't be it. But it's a cute story. It's a reimagining of a modern day Rapunzel story. And it's dual POV, which I love in a romantic story. Ren is oddly sheltered, having grown up home schooled with parents who insisted they be totally self-sufficient on their homestead. College is a totally different animal for her. One where she learns there's more to life than only what her parents have presented. She's a naive character but at the same time has fairly good instincts about people. I think this is what saves her character for me. Because while she's been sheltered all her life, she still managed to walk away with a good head on her shoulders. Fitz is damaged goods. Or at least that's what he believes. He doesn't like to let anyone in and doesn't like for people to know about his past. He's determined to graduate and make something of himself, and seek revenge all at the same time. He didn't need Ren in his life to change how he feels about his plan, but there she is. And, while he comes across as locked up, he really just needed the right person in his life to help him open up and see what he can truly make of himself. I kind of figured out the underlying plot line early on. Something never sat right for me with Ren's parents. They were odd and still insisting on sheltering her at the age of 22 seemed very off to me. The romance is definitely part of the story, but it's really not the main plot line. If you're looking for the usual spice that accompanies Lauren's books, you won't find it here. You'll find some light romance and attraction. But the book truly reads more like a YA book. The main plot is really Ren coming into herself and learning what she needs to do to be an independent woman. If you're looking for a cute fast reading romantic adventure a la Disney style with a bit of a mysterious twist, jump into this one....more
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own, Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a great job as a biotech engineer, a roof over her head, and a few good friends. When a hostile takeover occurs and she meets Eli Kilgore, the chemistry is undeniable, but they are off limits to each other given the circumstances of their employment. They try to scrub each other from their systems but they keep getting pulled back into each other's orbits. And, given the reasoning Eli has for overtaking Rue's company, a rift may form between them that is impossible to fix. I eat up anything Hazelwood writes. Every time she has a new book, it becomes my favorite. And I knew going into this one that it would be a bit different from her previous book. But, as always, she is Queen of STEM and knows just how to write characters that are quirky, relatable, interesting, and endearing with emotional baggage that always comes to the surface to create tension and angst. I could not put this one down. I enjoyed every bit of the character development, plot, and spice! Yes, this one is quite spicy, on a different level than her other STEM books in my opinion. If you're into closed door romance, this one is not for her. Enemies to lovers trop is one of my favorite, along with dual POV which gets me into the heads of both the main characters. Rue, as with many of Hazelwood's female characters, has some latent childhood trauma that causes her to shirk most relationships. She jumps off the page as grumpy, rather than full of sunshine. But it's her social anxiety that makes her this way. She's also not built like everyone else and tends to be a loner. She doesn't believe she is capable of love, so quick one night stands are her thing. She doesn't expect for Eli to make her feel things she never knew she could. I love how smart she is. She's also very no nonsense. There's nothing shy about her and she doesn't come across as a woman who won't go after what she wants. Eli: tall, ex-hockey player (YES PLEASE!), science type who is not afraid to go after what he wants, both in the boardroom and in the bedroom. He's a very layered character. I loved that he was explicitly involved in science while still having that knowledge. At first, I was not sure where Hazelwood would take that aspect as I'm used to seeing both her main characters being part of the science world, but his involvement just worked. Wew, when I say this man creates hot tension, I am not joking. His emotional damage comes in the form of loss and being thrown into becoming a parent when he wasn't even sure he could care for himself. He's fascinating in his interactions with his friends and his sister. He's a boy obsessed in this book. There is nothing he wants more than to have Rue as his own, in whatever way she'll give herself to him. Even if he may get hurt in the process. And he's so patient with Rue, letting her open and blossom and giving her just the push she needs to be more than she thinks she can be. He's attentive and very aware of her needs. He really sees her for who she is and never pushes her to be someone she is not giving her the time and space she needs. Was I angry that he withheld things from her, just a bit. But I did understand his reasoning. At the same time, he's almost feral when it comes to what he wants in the bedroom, and this makes him a bit more unexpected for me. The spice and humor in this book are great. I don't think Hazelwood's spicy scenes have made me squirm before but this one totally did. I was literally sweating while reading some of it. There's a bit of kink in the sexy scenes I totally was not expecting and I have to say I loved that Hazelwood went there. It was unexpected given the nature of and level of spice in her previous works. And there is actual plot here. It's not just sex page after page, it's characters experiencing trauma and loss and how they grow and change to fit new roles that were unexpected. I will say I saw from the beginning the rift that would happen but I was invested on how the book would unfold it and get to where it needed to be. There are a lot of subjects touched on and explored: food insecurity, child neglect, social anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy. Hazelwood explores these with a deft and delicate hand. As with all of Hazelwood's books, my chest felt heavy many times during reading with the anticipation of how things would blow up and be resolved. The tension she creates is up there with what I feel when I read Christina Lauren's books. And it's what keeps me wanting to turn the pages. I enjoyed how Hazelwood incorporated the politics of business. While she writes very much from a science perspective, we have rarely seen how these politics truly change the world in which the characters live. Initially, I wasn't sure I would like this aspect and how it was integrated into the lives of the characters. It took me longer to become emotionally attached to the people in this book than it has in previous Hazelwood books. Definitely much more of a slow burn when it came to my investment in wanting to see where the story led. But once I saw how that slow burn needed to happen in order for the book to progress, I understood the need to have some emotional distance from the characters at the beginning. Once again, Hazelwood has given me a book I love. I truly enjoyed how different this was from her previous works while still incorporating the STEM aspect. There's definitely more of a focus on the business world in this book while the science part is more in the background. Hazelwood knocked it out of the park with this book. I just have one request for Hazelwood: please, please, please continue to write in dual POV because it truly brings the stories you write to new heights!...more
Thank you to Avon who sent me an advanced copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own. Delfina Silva-MiThank you to Avon who sent me an advanced copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own. Delfina Silva-Miller is having some bad luck. She's out a boyfriend, a roommate, an apartment, and a job! She finds herself back in her hometown; a place she never thought she would return. And a place where she experienced heartache, lonliness, and abandonment. She finds herself interacting with her childhood nemesis, Edgardo. As she tries to get her life back together, she slowly realizes perhaps her hometown was not as bad as she thought it was and perhaps the one person she thought she hated might be the soul mate she never thought she'd have. This was a fabulous debut for Betty Corrello. She did a wonderful job with her character development, her plot line, and her pacing. I went into this book thinking there would be a bit more romance than there was. And I thought I would be disappointed. But I was, in fact, very pleased with how this story progressed. I was happy the story was not all romance and spice. The plot was focused on Del's growth and her experience as she comes to terms with who she is and where she wants her life to go. Throughout the book she learns to open her heart more and more. She learns forgiveness and love. Del is a great character. I love that she's almost thirty and is still struggling with being an adult. This is such a true representation of what we are seeing these days with people returning to home as they try to put their life in order. So many people struggle with being an adult at such an early age and then feeling they failed because they are not able to pull it off. She's vulnerable and definitely wears that on her sleeve, despite not wanting to do so. Edgardo is so sweet and tender. I love that he's a hometown guy who truly enjoys where he lives. And I love how his experiences didn't make him an angry person but show that he was capable of great growth. And his relationship with his family is so fun. I loved watching the banter between them. I really enjoyed the flashbacks Corrello incorporated into the story. They gave amazing background on the relationship between Del and Eddie and how they had this intrinsic push and pull toward and away from each other over the course of their teen years. Many of their moments were filled with what they termed hate but really was them fighting their attraction to one another. It totally reminded me of the relationships I had in high school. There was lots of humor used in this book to form the relationship between the characters. We are told many times how funny Del is and you can feel this with her interactions with Eddie, her grandmother, her father, and a few of the other side characters in the book. One thing that pulled me out of the story was not having much of a background from the last ten years Del has spent away from her hometown and Eddie. I need more of what she truly experienced during that time. We do get some of this for Eddie, but also not as much as I would have liked to truly shape him and show us why he is the way he is. Since the entire book is told from Del's point of view, we never truly know what's going on in Eddie's head. I feel like having his point of view would have really helped with being able to form a better opinion on his character. This was a great summer or beach read. Something easy to move your mind into feel good stuff. A second chance romance that is sweet and slow to burn. An exploration of relationships, love, and friendships and how these all help shape a life. An impressive first foray for this author into writing. ...more
I just cannot handle the: writing, relationship (like ewww...he was with your sister for all that time and now you're finding attraction to him?), whiI just cannot handle the: writing, relationship (like ewww...he was with your sister for all that time and now you're finding attraction to him?), whining, plot holes, and so much more. How this is such a highly rated book I have no idea!...more
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