Month: August 2023

Review: The Long Game

Title: The Long Game
Author: Elena Armas
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Atria Books
Source: Publisher via Fable app
Format: Ebook
Release Date: September 5, 2023
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

A disgraced soccer exec reluctantly enlists the help of a retired soccer star in coaching a children’s team in this smalltown love story in the vein of Ted Lasso and It Happened One Summer —from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception.

Adalyn Reyes has spent years perfecting her daily routine: wake up at dawn, drive to the Miami Flames FC offices, try her hardest to leave a mark, go home, and repeat.

But her routine is disrupted when a video of her in an altercation with the team’s mascot goes viral. Rather than fire her, the team’s owner—who happens to be her father—sends Adalyn to middle-of-nowhere North Carolina, where she’s tasked with turning around the struggling local soccer team, the Green Warriors, as a way to redeem herself. Her plans crumble upon discovering that the players wear tutus to practice (impractical), keep pet goats (messy), and are terrified of Adalyn (counterproductive), and are nine-year-old kids.

To make things worse, also in town is Cameron Caldani, goalkeeping prodigy whose presence is somewhat of a mystery. Cam is the perfect candidate to help Adalyn, but after one very unfortunate first encounter involving a rooster, Cam’s leg, and Adalyn’s bumper, he’s also set on running her out of town. But banishment is not an option for Adalyn. Not again. Helping this ragtag children’s team is her road to redemption, and she is playing the long game. With or without Cam’s help.

Review:

Adalyn Reyes works as an executive for the Miami Flames soccer team, with her father who is the owner. Her life is changed when a video of her attacking the team’s mascot goes viral. Instead of firing her, her dad sends her to the small town of Green Oaks in North Carolina to help improve their soccer team, the Green Warriors. She didn’t expect the team to be full of nine-year-old girls. When she arrives at the cottage where she’ll be staying, she finds former soccer star Cameron Caldani already living there. Adalyn isn’t sure why he’s living in this small town, and coaching a children’s team when he was a soccer superstar. They instantly dislike each other, but Adalyn needs to make this team a success so she can return to her life in Miami, so they must learn to work together. 

This was a fun enemies-to-lovers romance. It reminded me of Ted Lasso, in the way that an unexpected coach is brought in to coach a soccer team. The connection between Green Oaks and the Miami Flames wasn’t revealed until the end of the story, so I was wondering about it for most of the story. The romance was a super slow burn, but it was worth it in the end. 

I was given the opportunity to read this book on the Fable app, in a book club with the author. I highly recommend checking out the app for fun reading opportunities like this!

The Long Game is a sporty slow burn romance!

Thank you Atria Books and Fable for providing a copy of this book!

Have you read The Long Game? What did you think of it?

Happy Pub Day – August 29

Happy Pub Day to these authors!

The Reunion by Kit Frick

My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine

Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Rachael Lippincott

A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford

Reign by Katharine McGee

House of Marionne by J. Elle

Thank you Simon Teen, Berkley Romance, Simon and Schuster Canada, Inkyard Press, and Penguin Teen Canada for providing copies of these books!

What books are you most excited for this week?

Review: You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight

Title: You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight
Author: Kalynn Bayron
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Horror
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: June 20, 2023
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game . . . but can you survive the night?

This heart-pounding slasher by New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron is perfect for fans of Fear Street.

Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.

But the last weekend of the season, Charity’s co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity’s role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they’ll need figure out what this killer is after. Is there is more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?

Review:

Charity Curtis works at her dream summer job, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake, a horror simulation. Guests pay for Charity and the rest of her team to scare them while recreating scenes from the horror movie Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. During their final weekend of the summer, some of the employees go missing. Then someone breaks into the camp, and someone else ends up dead. Charity becomes the final girl in her own horror story, and she has to figure out who the killer is before it’s too late. 

I’m not usually a fan of horror stories, but when I saw this awesome edition from Waterstones, I knew I had to have this book. This was a fast paced slasher story. I read it in under a day, it was so good and hard to put down! I thought I had the story figured out but I was wrong. The ending was so good and unexpected!

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight is the perfect horror read for spooky season!

Thank you Bloomsbury US for providing a digital copy of this book!

Content warnings: body horror, stabbing, death, gun use, murder, death of animal (bird)

Have you read You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight? What did you think of it?

Review: Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh

Title: Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh
Author: Rachael Lippincott
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: August 29, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Five Feet Apart and She Gets the Girl comes a fresh and inventive sapphic romantic comedy that’s What If It’s Us meets Bridgerton.

What if you found a once-in-a-lifetime love…just not in your lifetime?

Audrey Cameron has lost her spark. But after getting dumped by her first love and waitlisted at her dream art school all in one week, she has no intention of putting her heart on the line again to get it back. So when local curmudgeon Mr. Montgomery walks into her family’s Pittsburgh convenience store saying he can help her, Audrey doesn’t know what she’s expecting…but it’s definitely not that she’ll be transported back to 1812 to become a Regency romance heroine.

Lucy Sinclair isn’t expecting to find an oddly dressed girl claiming to be from two hundred years in the future on her family’s estate. But she has to admit it’s a welcome distraction from being courted by a man her father expects her to marry—who offers a future she couldn’t be less interested in. Not that anyone has cared about what or who she’s interested in since her mother died, taking Lucy’s spark with her.

While the two girls try to understand what’s happening and how to send Audrey home, their sparks make a comeback in a most unexpected way. Because as they both try over and over to fall for their suitors and the happily-ever-afters everyone expects of them, they find instead they don’t have to try at all to fall for each other.

But can a most unexpected love story survive even more impossible circumstances?

Review:

After Audrey Cameron’s boyfriend dumps her and she was waitlisted by her dream art school, she doesn’t know what to do. When Mr. Montgomery walks into her family’s convenience store, she doesn’t realize he will change her life by tossing her a coin. Audrey catches the coin and ends up in the middle of a field in England in 1812. Lucy Sinclair finds Audrey on her family’s property. She’s glad to have a distraction from her strict father who is forcing her to marry the wealthiest man in town. However, as Audrey and Lucy spend time together, trying to figure out how to send Audrey home, sparks fly between them and they may find love in an unexpected place. 

As soon as I heard this was a YA sapphic love story with time travel to Regency England, I knew I would love this book. It was funny to see Audrey bring her 2023 lifestyle and knowledge to 1812, where life was completely different. There were some emotional parts where Lucy’s father was forcing her into a marriage that she didn’t want. However, there were more lighthearted moments between Audrey and Lucy that turned into the sweetest love story. 

Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh is a heartwarming romance!

Thank you Simon Teen and Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book!

Have you read Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh? What did you think of it?

Review: The Reunion

Title: The Reunion
Author: Kit Frick
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller, Contemporary
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: August 29, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

From the author of I Killed Zoe Spanos comes a YA thriller in the vein of The White Lotus and Karen M. McManus’s The Cousins following a doomed family reunion at a posh Caribbean resort, where old grudges and dangerous secrets culminate in murder.

Eleven Mayweathers went on vacation. Ten came home.

It’s been years since the fragmented Mayweather clan was all in one place, but the engagement of Addison and Mason’s mom to the dad of their future stepbrother, Theo, brings the whole family to sunny Cancún, Mexico, for winter break. Add cousin Natalia to the mix, and it doesn’t take long for tempers to fray and tensions to rise. A week of forced family “fun” reveals that everyone has something to hide, and as secrets bubble to the surface, no one is safe from the fallout. By the end of the week, one member of the reunion party will be dead—and everyone’s a 
The Addison needs a better hiding place.
The Theo just wants to mend fences.
The Natalia doesn’t want to talk about the past.
The Mason needs to keep his temper under control.

It started as a week in paradise meant to bring them together. But the Mayweathers are about to learn the hard way that family bonding can be deadly.

Review:

The Mayweather family went on a vacation in Cancun together. The grand finale is supposed to be an engagement party for Addison and Mason’s mom to Theo’s father. Their parents planned this as a bonding trip for the teens, but they weren’t aware of the tension between all of the teens. Addison and Mason haven’t seen their cousin Natalia in three years, since the “incident.” They all have secrets that they’re hiding from each other now because of the “incident.” Each of the teens have something to hide, and by the end of the week one of the family members will be dead. 

This thriller was fast paced and twisty! It followed four teens who were related, but they each had their secrets. I liked how many of their secrets and the “incident” weren’t revealed until the close to the end of the story. This kept up the mystery and suspense of the story. I was really surprised when the killer was revealed. The ending was left open for a possible sequel which I would love to see!

The Reunion is the perfect YA read for fans of White Lotus!

Thank you Simon Teen for sending me a copy of this book!

Have you read The Reunion? What did you think of it?

Review: Sing Me to Sleep (Sing Me to Sleep #1)

Title: Sing Me to Sleep (Sing Me to Sleep #1)
Author: Gabi Burton
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: June 27, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

In this dark and seductive YA fantasy debut, a siren must choose between protecting her family and following her heart in a prejudiced kingdom where her existence is illegal.

Saoirse Sorkova survives on lies. As a soldier-in-training at the most prestigious barracks in the kingdom, she lies about being a siren to avoid execution. At night, working as an assassin for a dangerous group of mercenaries, Saoirse lies about her true identity. And to her family, Saoirse tells the biggest lie of all: that she can control her siren powers and doesn’t struggle constantly against an impulse to kill.

As the top trainee in her class, Saoirse would be headed for a bright future if it weren’t for the need to keep her secrets out of the spotlight. But when a mysterious blackmailer threatens her sister, Saoirse takes a dangerous job that will help her investigate: she becomes personal bodyguard to the crown prince.

Saoirse should hate Prince Hayes. After all, his father is the one who enforces the kingdom’s brutal creature segregation laws. But when Hayes turns out to be kind, thoughtful, and charming, Saoirse finds herself increasingly drawn to him-especially when they’re forced to work together to stop a deadly killer who’s plaguing the city. There’s only one problem: Saoirse is that deadly killer.

Featuring an all Black and Brown cast, a forbidden romance, and a compulsively dark plot full of twists, this thrilling YA fantasy is perfect for fans of A Song Below Water and To Kill a Kingdom.

Review:

Saoirse Sorkova is a siren pretending to be a powerless fae in her soldier training. At night, she works as an assassin for an anonymous source. When she graduates from the academy, Saoirse is given the top job as a guard for Prince Hayes. However, she hates him, but she needs the money for her family. The royal family were responsible for destroying the sirens and other creatures, leaving Saoirse and her sister to grow up under false identities. Saoirse ends up helping Hayes investigate a series of deaths in the city. The problem is that Saoirse is the killer, giving her one more secret to hide. 

This story is a fantastic debut! I loved the unique world and setting. Saoirse is a bit of a morally grey character. She didn’t mind killing people to keep her family’s secret, without thinking of that person’s family or friends. Even though she was supposed to hate Prince Hayes, they had an undeniable chemistry. I can’t wait to read the sequel!

Sing Me to Sleep is a beautiful fantasy debut!

Content warnings: death, murder, poisoning, kidnapping

Have you read Sing Me to Sleep? What did you think of it?

Review: The Brothers Hawthorne (The Inheritance Games #4)

Title: The Brothers Hawthorne (The Inheritance Games #4)
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Thriller
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: August 29, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Four brothers. Two missions. One explosive read. Jennifer Lynn Barnes returns to the world of her #1 bestselling Inheritance Games trilogy, and the stakes have never been higher.  
 
Grayson Hawthorne was raised as the heir apparent to his billionaire grandfather, taught from the cradle to put family first. Now the great Tobias Hawthorne is dead and his family disinherited, but some lessons linger. When Grayson’s half-sisters find themselves in trouble, he swoops in to do what he does best: take care of the problem—efficiently, effectively, mercilessly. And without getting bogged down in emotional entanglements.
 
Jameson Hawthorne is a risk-taker, a sensation-seeker, a player of games. When his mysterious father appears and asks for a favor, Jameson can’t resist the challenge. Now he must infiltrate London’s most exclusive underground gambling club, which caters to the rich, the powerful, and the aristocratic, and win an impossible game of greatest stakes. Luckily, Jameson Hawthorne lives for impossible.
 
Drawn into twisted games on opposite sides of the globe, Grayson and Jameson—with the help of their brothers and the girl who inherited their grandfather’s fortune—must dig deep to decide who they want to be and what each of them will sacrifice to win.

Review:

Though the games that Tobias Hawthorne left for his family have been completed, there are still games for the Hawthorne brothers to solve. When Grayson finds out that his half-sisters are in trouble, he goes to Phoenix to help them, since their father won’t be able to. Jameson finally finds his father in London, who asks him to infiltrate an exclusive and private club to win back his family’s estate. Both brothers have to solve these puzzles with the help of their two other brothers and Avery, their grandfather’s heiress. 

This book started out feeling a little different from The Inheritance Games trilogy, since this book followed two of the Hawthorne brothers instead of Avery. She was still in many of Jameson’s scenes though since they’re a couple. I liked the alternating plot lines between Grayson and Jameson. The story really picked up in the middle when they both had intense puzzles to solve. I also liked that the puzzles were related to their fathers, who we didn’t know that much about in the original trilogy. The ending set up the next book in the series, which I can’t wait to read!

The Brothers Hawthorne is a fun continuation of The Inheritance Games.

Other books in the series:

Have you read The Brothers Hawthorne? What did you think of it?

Review: A Smile in a Whisper

Title: A Smile in a Whisper
Author: Jacquelyn Middleton
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Kirkwall Books
Source: Tandem Collective Global
Format: Paperback
Release Date: August 10, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

NOT ALL FAREWELLS ARE FOREVER…

Evie Sutherland throws herself into everything. Like many on Scotland’s picturesque Orkney Islands, she works several jobs: managing her family’s shop, researching genealogy for tourists, and writing historical romance novels. Evie aces most challenges—except love. With a childhood diagnosis of Crohn’s disease and a disastrous dating history, Evie has convinced herself that guys won’t date the “sick girl” and the blame falls on the shoulders of her first love, a famous boy from London who spent his summers on her island.

To the outside world, Nikolai Balfour lives a charmed life. Starring in a popular British TV series as a teen, young Nick stole fans’ hearts from the Isle of Wight to Shetland. However, that was a lifetime ago, and the years since have been filled with “Didn’t you used to be…” moments, career wrong-turns, and empty relationships. Now finding success behind the cameras, Nick is still racked with regret and guilt over how things ended with the Orcadian girl he’d loved and left behind.

But when a television series filming in Orkney blows Nick back into Evie’s quiet life, they’re forced to face their heartbreaking past and revisit old secrets that should never have been kept.

Unfolding in alternating past and present timelines, A Smile in a Whisper is a touching story of first love and second chances, and the enduring summer memories that shape us.

Review:

On the Scottish Orkney Islands, Evie Sutherland has had Crohn’s Disease since childhood but she lives a quiet life in her hometown. She blames her disease for her disastrous love life, starting with her first love, Nick Balfour. Nick visited the islands in the summer as a teen, when he was on a break from filming a popular teen soap opera. Now it’s been over a decade since their romance ended. Nick has returned to Orkney to produce a tv show and Evie is catering the food for the crew. They must revisit their past, learn each other’s secrets, and figure out if they can have a future together. 

This was such a sweet second chance romance. The story alternated between their past and present relationships, which showed all the heartache they had both been through. There was great representation of Evie’s Crohn’s disease as well as Nick’s panic disorder and anxiety. I have IBS which has some of the same symptoms of Crohn’s, though not the damaging flare ups and hospital stays. I could relate to the way it affected Evie’s social life, food choices, and even clothing choices. I haven’t seen much representation that was as close to my lifestyle like this, so I really appreciated it! I think fans of second chance romances like Every Summer After will love this story!

A Smile in a Whisper is a beautiful summertime romance!

Thank you Tandem Collective and Jacquelyn Middleton for sending me a copy!

Content warnings: Crohn’s disease/chronic illness, panic attacks, hospital scenes, allergic reaction, underage drinking, and drug use

Have you read A Smile in a Whisper? What did you think of it?