Tag: books

Review: Drop, Cover, and Hold On (The Improbable Meet-Cute #4)

Title: Drop, Cover, and Hold On (The Improbable Meet-Cute #4)
Author: Jasmine Guillory
Genre: Romance, Novella, Contemporary
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Source: Purchased
Format: Ebook
Release Date: January 23, 2024
Rating: ★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

It takes nothing less than a fateful natural disaster to throw two opposites together in a ground-shakingly charming short story by the New York Times bestselling author of Drunk on Love.

This Valentine’s Day, Daisy Murray has her heart set on binge-watching rom-coms. Instead, an earthquake traps her inside a bakery with its impossibly rude and insufferably handsome owner and head baker. They already have a history: she’s always smiled, he’s always scowled. Where better to finally get to know each other than amid the disaster? Then again, they have no choice. Besides, it could have its sweet, undeniable, and unpredictable perks.

Jasmine Guillory’s Drop, Cover, and Hold On is part of The Improbable Meet-Cute, irresistibly romantic stories about finding love when and where you least expect it. They can be read or listened to in one sitting. Let’s make a date of it.

Review:

On Valentine’s Day, Daisy Murray ends up trapped in her favourite bakery after an earthquake. The problem is that she’s trapped with the owner of the bakery who clearly hates her. Daisy had even decided not to come to the bakery anymore because of the dirty looks he would give her, but she wanted to give it one last shot on Valentine’s Day. However, as they talk and snack on her favourite treats, she realizes that maybe she misunderstood his feelings. 

This was the most extreme grumpy/sunshine story I’ve read. Daisy was super bubbly and happy, and Harris was scowling at Daisy all the time. It wasn’t clear why he was acting angry all the time when he really liked Daisy. There wasn’t an explanation for why he scowled all the time. The romance also escalated very quickly at the end once they knew they liked each other, which seemed unrealistic, since they hadn’t even spoken to each other until a few minutes before.

Drop, Cover, and Hold On had potential to be a good story but didn’t seem realistic.

Content warnings: earthquake

Other books in the series:

Have you read Drop, Cover, and Hold On? What did you think of it?

Review: Rosie and the Dreamboat (The Improbable Meet-Cute #3)

Title: Rosie and the Dreamboat (The Improbable Meet-Cute #3)
Author: Sally Thorne
Genre: Romance, Novella, Contemporary
Publisher: Amazon Original Publishing
Source: Purchased
Format: Ebook
Release Date: January 23, 2024
Rating: ★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

For a hopeful and hopeless romantic, it’s love at first sight—with a little twist.

Rosie Whittaker and her sister are up for some Galentine’s pampering at a day spa. Getting locked inside a flotation tank is so Rosie. Enter a firefighter hero determined to pry this luckless pearl out of her high-tech shell. All Rosie has to go on is a dreamy voice and a flirty sense of humor. Remain calm, Rosie. This could be what you’ve been waiting for. Is this the man she’s waited for her whole life?

Review:

Rosie Whittaker takes her sister to a spa for Galentine’s Day for some pampering. When they go in the brand new flotation tanks, Rosie gets stuck inside. The fire department has to be called in to rescue her, and Rosie listens to the attractive voice of one firefighter as he tries to rescue her. 

This novella was quite short, at just around 40 pages, but it felt like it dragged on. Most of the story was spent with Rosie in the tank, speaking to the firefighter, and not much was happening. The way that Rosie was trapped in the tank was also making me feel claustrophobic, so it didn’t feel like a particularly romantic setting.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this romance novella. 

Content warning: claustrophobia

Other books in the series:

Have you read Rosie and the Dreamboat? What did you think of it?

Review: Worst Wingman Ever (The Improbable Meet-Cute #2)

Title: Worst Wingman Ever (The Improbable Meet-Cute #2)
Author: Abby Jimenez
Genre: Romance, Novella, Contemporary
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Source: Purchased
Format: Ebook
Release Date: January 23, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

They’re falling in love, yet they’ve never met. Maybe fate can intervene in a heartwarming “what-if” short story about new beginnings by the New York Times bestselling author of Yours Truly.

Holly is dealing with the impending death of her grandmother and still reeling from a bad breakup. One bright spot: a Valentine’s Day card on Holly’s windshield—even if it wasn’t meant for her. An amusing mistake soon turns into a lovely exchange of anonymous notes, little acts of kindness, and a growing affection between two strangers. What happens when one of them has to say goodbye?

Review:

Holly is a hospice nurse who is taking care of her dying grandmother. When she leaves her grandmother’s apartment on Valentine’s Day, she finds a Valentine card on her windshield but it isn’t addressed to her. John, who mistakenly put the card intended for his brother’s girlfriend on the wrong car, writes an apology note and leaves it on the car the next time he sees it. This begins an exchange of anonymous notes and gifts, until fate gives them their meet cute. 

This was my first read of Abby Jimenez’s stories, and I loved it! It was short and sweet with some surprising twists along the way. It did have a sad side, with Holly’s grandmother dying, but her grandmother added some funny moments to the story too. 

Worst Wingman Ever is a fun romance novella!

Content warnings: death of grandparent, hospice

Other books in the series:

Have you read Worst Wingman Ever? What did you think of it?

Review: Down Comes the Night

Title: Down Comes the Night
Author: Alison Saft
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: March 2, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Allison Saft’s Down Comes the Night is a snow-drenched romantic fantasy that keeps you racing through the pages long into the night.

He saw the darkness in her magic. She saw the magic in his darkness.

Wren Southerland’s reckless use of magic has cost her everything: she’s been dismissed from the Queen’s Guard and separated from her best friend–the girl she loves. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate, Colwick Hall, to cure his servant from a mysterious illness, she seizes her chance to redeem herself.

The mansion is crumbling, icy winds haunt the caved-in halls, and her eccentric host forbids her from leaving her room after dark. Worse, Wren’s patient isn’t a servant at all but Hal Cavendish, the infamous Reaper of Vesria and her kingdom’s sworn enemy. Hal also came to Colwick Hall for redemption, but the secrets in the estate may lead to both of their deaths.

With sinister forces at work, Wren and Hal realize they’ll have to join together if they have any hope of saving their kingdoms. But as Wren circles closer to the nefarious truth behind Hal’s illness, they realize they have no escape from the monsters within the mansion. All they have is each other, and a startling desire that could be their downfall.

Love makes monsters of us all

Review:

Wren Southerland is a healer, but her empathy for a prisoner leads her to heal him, allowing him to escape. She’s dismissed from her position and separated from her best friend. When she receives a letter from Lord Lowry from a neutral country, she decides to go help him. Lowry wants Wren to heal one of his servants, who is the latest to come down with a mysterious illness. However, when she arrives there, she discovers that the servant is actually Hal Cavendish, her country’s enemy. Wren’s morals mean she must heal Hal, and they discover that they actually have the same goal for peace in their countries. Wren and Hal have to work together to discover the truth behind the illness at Lowry’s manor and how to save their countries from war.

This was a great fantasy! There was great worldbuilding, with some people having magic. Since Wren’s magic was healing, there were a lot of medical scenes. Some of these scenes involved surgery, which became quite gruesome at the end. However, the ending was so perfect, it made it all worth.

Down Comes the Night is a thrilling fantasy!

Thank you Wednesday Books for sending me a copy of this book. 

Content warnings: death of parents, death, poisoning, surgery, blood, eye surgery

Have you read Down Comes the Night? What did you think of it?

Review: The Fall of the House of Tatterly

Title: The Fall of the House of Tatterly
Author: Shanna Miles
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Contemporary
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: October 10, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Twelve-year-old Theo Tatterly’s ability to see ghosts is a useful skill in a house full of dead relatives, but it makes him a loner at school and everywhere else, where ghosts eternally pester him for help. For Theo, life is easier on the periphery. When his first failed exorcism portends an end to the Tatterly line, Theo must bring together his entire family—living and dead—to save the home they’ve lived in for generations . . . and maybe the world.

Author Shanna Miles’s story of magical modern-day Charleston crackles with unforgettable characters and pays homage to the city’s rich culture, folklore, and history.

Review:

Twelve-year-old Theo Tatterly can see ghosts, which is useful in his family full of witches. He can communicate with his dead ancestors who live in their house, but he doesn’t have friends outside of the family. When he fails at an exorcism, everything starts to fall apart for his family. The Tatterly family must work together using their unique magical skills to save their family home. 

This was an exciting paranormal story. I love ghost stories, especially middle grade ones. They were my favourite when I was a kid. Theo came from a big family with many aunts and a few cousins, but they each had distinctive powers. He was able to see some older ancestors so he was in a unique position to get their help with problems too. Though Theo didn’t have many connections outside of the family at the beginning of the story, when he started playing basketball, he made some friends. The ending of the story was action packed and a little creepy too. 

The Fall of the House of Tatterly is a fun paranormal middle grade story! 

Thank you Union Square and Co for sending me a copy of this book!

Content warning: death of parent, parental abandonment

Have you read The Fall of the House of Tatterly? What did you think of it?

Review: Marvel 1602

Title: Marvel 1602
Author: Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert, Richard Isanove
Genre: Graphic Novel, yHistorical Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Marvel
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 29, 2003
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

In Marvel 1602, award-winning writer Neil Gaiman presents a unique vision of the Marvel Universe set four hundred years in the past. Classic Marvel icons such as the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and Daredevil appear in this intriguing world of 17th-century science and sorcery, instantly familiar to readers, yet subtly different in this new time. Marvel 1602combines classic Marvel action and adventure with the historically accurate setting of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign to create a unique series unlike any other published by Marvel Comics.

Review:

England, 1602: Queen Elizabeth I is the ruler, and she works with her spies Nicholas Fury and Doctor Strange to uncover a mysterious artifact being sent to England. Fury and Strange also work with Marvel superheroes such as Daredevil, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men to save the world from Doctor Doom and other dangers.

This was a fun adaptation of the Marvel comic characters. They were slightly different without all of their powers in this setting of Elizabethan London, but the characters were the same people. There were a lot of characters to keep track of throughout the story. I liked that even though some seemed to be original characters, they were later revealed to be part of the Marvel universe in disguise. 

Marvel 1602 is a fun graphic novel for Marvel fans!

Have you read Marvel 1602? What did you think of it?

Review: Whiteout

Title: Whiteout
Author: Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: November 8, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Atlanta is blanketed with snow just before Christmas, but the warmth of young love just might melt the ice in this novel of interwoven narratives, Black joy, and cozy, sparkling romance—by the same unbeatable team of authors who wrote the New York Times bestseller Blackout!

As the city grinds to a halt, twelve teens band together to help a friend pull off the most epic apology of her life. But will they be able to make it happen, in spite of the storm? 

No one is prepared for this whiteout. But then, we can’t always prepare for the magical moments that change everything.

From the bestselling, award-winning, all-star authors who brought us Blackout—Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon—comes another novel of Black teen love, each relationship within as unique and sparkling as Southern snowflakes.

Review:

One night, a few days before Christmas, Atlanta has a snowstorm. Everything in the city stops, but Stevie needs to try to win her girlfriend back. She enlists the help of her friends, who do all they can to get around the city and help Stevie, while also finding their own snowstorm romances.

I loved the book Blackout, which was written by the same authors, so I knew I would love this one. It was so fun to read these intertwined stories of different characters who were working towards the same goal, but who also had their own subplots happening at the same time. There was a list of clues at the end of the story to help you figure out who wrote each chapter. I tried to guess which author wrote which characters while I was reading it, and I think I got a couple of them right. 

Whiteout is a fun snowstorm romance!

Have you read Whiteout? What did you think of it?

Review: Gwen and Art Are Not in Love

Title: Gwen and Art Are Not in Love
Author: Lex Croucher
Genre: Young Adult, Historical, Romance, LGBT, Fantasy
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: November 28, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Heartstopper meets A Knight’s Tale in this queer medieval rom-com YA debut about love, friendship, and being brave enough to change the course of history.

It’s been hundreds of years since King Arthur’s reign. His descendant, Arthur, a future Lord and general gadabout, has been betrothed to Gwendoline, the quick-witted, short-tempered princess of England, since birth. The only thing they can agree on is that they despise each other.

They’re forced to spend the summer together at Camelot in the run-up to their nuptials, and within 24 hours, Gwen has discovered Arthur kissing a boy, and Arthur has gone digging for Gwen’s childhood diary and found confessions about her crush on the kingdom’s only lady knight, Bridget Leclair.

Realizing they might make better allies than enemies, Gwen and Art make a reluctant pact to cover for each other, and as things heat up at the annual royal tournament, Gwen is swept off her feet by her knight, and Arthur takes an interest in Gwen’s royal brother. Lex Croucher’s Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is chock full of sword-fighting, found family, and romantic shenanigans destined to make readers fall in love.

Review:

Hundreds of years after King Arthur’s death, his descendant, Arthur, is betrothed to Princess Gwendoline. However, they can’t stand each other. They are forced to spend the entire summer together leading up to their eventual marriage. Soon after Arthur arrives at the palace, Gwen catches him kissing a boy. After she confronts him about it, Arthur finds Gwen’s diary where she fantasizes about kissing the only lady knight. Since they both like people of the same sex, they know they aren’t meant for each other, so they decide to work together. Gwen gets to spend more time with her lady knight, while Arthur gets closer to Gwen’s brother Gabriel. They eventually have to figure out a way to get around their future marriage and be with the ones they love. 

This was a fun historical romance! It isn’t a retelling of the King Arthur story. Some of the characters are descendants of King Arthur, and most of them have been named after people from that era. Gwen, Arthur, and Lancelot were some of the names that were popular in the time period in the story. Though there were some serious moments, with the characters dealing with homophobia, there were also a lot of laugh out loud moments as well. It was very entertaining. 

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love is a fun queer historical romance!

Thank you Wednesday Books for providing a finished copy of this book!

Content warnings: homophobia, death of parent

Have you read Gwen and Art Are Not in Love? What did you think of it?

Review: Fake Famous

Title: Fake Famous
Author: Dana L. Davis
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Skyscape
Source: Firefly Books Distributed
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: November 7, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

In this breezy novel from the author of Somebody That I Used to Know , one Iowa farm girl—a dead ringer for a global pop star—gets an unlikely shot at stardom. Will she choose fame…or the family farm? Red Morgan is fresh out of high school. With signature red curls and a remarkable singing voice, the bubbly teenager is a devoted daughter and big sister. The world should be her oyster. But Red already knows exactly where her future the family farm in Orange City, Iowa. Zay-Zay Waters is at the top of her game. The Brooklyn-born singer has it all—talent, fame, even a smokin’ hot boyfriend. But life in the limelight isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And when a video of Red singing in the mud—looking and sounding exactly like Zay-Zay herself—goes viral, the pop star begins to hatch a plan. Red is the key to Zay-Zay’s scheme. With much-needed money on the line, Red agrees to step into Zay-Zay’s famous shoes for one week. But when planned appearances start to go off script, Red may be in over her head. Can she really pull it off?

Review:

Red Morgan is a recent high school graduate who loves helping out on her family’s farm. She knows she’s destined to run the farm after she goes to college. When a video of Red singing goes viral, everyone thinks she’s pop star Zay-Zay Waters. Red looks so much like the singer that Zay-Zay goes to the farm and asks her to impersonate her for a week while she goes to a private retreat in Brazil. Red’s family’s farm really needs the money she’ll receive, so she agrees to do it. However, when the planned appearances take an unexpected turn, Red’s true identity could be revealed. 

This was such a fun story. Red got to live the dream as a celebrity for a few days, but not everything was easy. I really liked the characters in the story. Some were quite eccentric and entertaining characters, who made the story fun. The ending was so great too!

Fake Famous is a fun story!

Thank you Firefly Books Distributed Lines for sending me a copy of this book!

Have you read Fake Famous? What did you think of it?

Review: In Case You Missed It

Title: In Case You Missed It
Author: Sarah Darer Littman
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Borrowed from a friend
Format: Paperback
Release Date: October 10, 2016
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Everyone has secrets—until they go viral.

Sammy Wallach has epic plans for the end of junior year: Sneak out to the city to see her favorite band. Get crush-worthy Jamie Moss to ask her to prom. Rock all exams (APs and driver’s).

With a few white lies, some killer flirting, and tons of practice, Sammy’s got things covered. That is, until the international bank her dad works for is attacked by hacktivists who manage to steal everything in the Wallach family’s private cloud, including Sammy’s entire digital life. Literally the whole world has access to her emails, texts, photos, and, worst of all, journal.

Life. Is. Over.

Now Sammy’s best friends are furious about things she wrote, Jamie thinks she’s desperate, and she can barely show her face at school. Plus, her parents know all the rules she broke. But Sammy’s not the only one with secrets—her family has a few of its own that could change everything. And while the truth might set you free, no one said it was going to be painless. Or in Sammy’s case, private.

Review:

This was a powerful story about the negative effects of technology.

In this story, Sammy’s father’s company gets hacked. It leads to their family’s “cloud” storage also getting hacked and all of their documents get posted online, including Sammy’s online diary. This would be mortifying for anyone, but especially a sixteen-year-old girl, who made private comments about her friends in her diary.

One thing I liked about this book is that the adults had to face consequences for the actions as well as the kids. Sammy ended up losing some friends over comments she made in her journal, but her parents’ secrets were also exposed in the hack. They were keeping a big secret from Sammy, which they had to discuss with her once the world found out before her. This shows that adults can be affected by the same consequences as their children.

I really enjoyed this story.

What to read next:

Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman

Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman

Have you read In Case You Missed It? What did you think of it?