Monday, December 30, 2019

Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison

Good Girls LieGood Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 Stars

I was sent this book from the publisher/publicity team. My ratings and reviews will be my own personal opinions and are in no way influenced by publishers or authors who may have sent me books to review.

I fell in love with JT Ellison with her previous release and was so excited for this one. I may have went into this a little biased as I am not a huge fan of boarding school reads. I ended up feeling a little underwhelmed and disappointed.

I am so split on this one as there were times I wanted to just put this down, but there is something addicting about the way the author writes. I was really not interested in the story around the school at all. I could care less about the relationships among the girls and the drama with the school. I wanted more around the back story of Ash and her family. I wanted more in general. There was too many times I was just skimming dialogue to get to the next twist/reveal.

I also feel the story jumped all over the place. We jump perspectives, times, and events. All of a sudden something would happen randomly and out of nowhere. It was not even a “twist or reveal,” it just happens. I did not like the flow of everything happening.

This did still have moments though! I wanted to know everything going on with Ash (currently and in her past). Chapters would leave me wanting to move on and kept me reading in the end. The final reveal was ok, but I expected a little more.

Overall, I thought this one was ok.


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The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

The WivesThe Wives by Tarryn Fisher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tarryn Fisher is an author that I have always wanted to read. There are so many of her books on my wish list. Everyone was talking about her upcoming release, The Wives, so I was freaking out when I received an advanced copy. Even though it does not come out until December, I just had to reach for it now.

I was loving this when it started. I really enjoyed seeing how Thursday and Seth meet and you start to learn more around their polygamist relationship. There is a lot of build up around their relationship and at times it was a little slow. This all ends up being very important later in the story though.

As I mentioned the beginning was a little slow. Then things suddenly start to happen and they do not stop until the very last page. I enjoyed the second half of the book, but I just did not love the direction the story took. I wanted more development around everything happening. I think it could have been a little bit darker. I was just expecting more.

I also did not love the ending. Again, I just wanted more.

Overall, I still enjoyed this and I still plan to reach for more from this author. I just did not love this as much as I was anticipating.

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Dirty Ball Jungle Beauty Goddesses Book 3 Cassandra George Sturges

Saturday, December 21, 2019

As She Fades by Abbi Glines

As She FadesAs She Fades by Abbi Glines
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have been pretty hard on previous Abbi Glines reads as they have been pretty hit or miss for me. I was really hesitant to go into this one, but I decided to give it a try. I really loved part of one. I was really enjoying the budding romance between Slate and Vale. I enjoyed the college aspect between the two.

I thought this was going to be predictable, but I was not expecting part two to be what it was. Part two was good, but I wish this would have kept the pace and direction from part one. I felt it was all a little rushed. It also make you take a step back from the romance that I was loving in part one. It all ended and I just wanted more.

Overall, this was pretty good but still did not blow me away. Part one was 4 stars, but part two brought it down to around three stars!


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Thursday, December 19, 2019

The Fake by Rebecca Jenshak

The Fake (Smart Jocks #4)The Fake by Rebecca Jenshak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 Stars
I was sent this book from the publisher/publicity team. My ratings and reviews will be my own personal opinions and are in no way influenced by publishers or authors who may have sent me books to review.

I was actually sent the audiobook for all of the books in this series first. These can be read as standalones, but I highly recommend starting from book one. It just brings so much more to the characters and their stories. I am obsessed with each and every story, and you will be too.

This is really reminding me of the Off Campus series, and I highly recommend it if you loved it. There are so many similarities, but enough to ensure this series for what is as well. I was so excited for this and even more excited when I saw it was going to involve Nathan. His story was really set up in the previous books, and I was excited to see how it all came together.

I really loved the romance and how our characters meet with this one. I do feel parts of the story felt rushed. I still loved it and found myself smiling the whole time I was listening to the book. I loved the addition of the other characters as well.

No surprise here! I loved this one too. I really want a spin off with Heath around hockey players!!

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Secret: In Wolf Lake D.K. Davis


Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Regretting You by Colleen Hoover

Regretting YouRegretting You by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was sent this book from the publisher/publicity team. My ratings and reviews will be my own personal opinions and are in no way influenced by publishers or authors who may have sent me books to review.

I love Colleen Hoover and was ecstatic when Regretting You showed up at my front door. I literally called into work for the rest of the day as I had to start reading it immediately. This is going to be hard to put into words without giving away any spoilers though as any little detail will take away from my favorite part of the whole book.

I highly recommend going into this blind. The first half of this story blew me away. The story itself took a different turn than I thought it was going to take, but I liked it. I did not see the twist coming at all. I thought there was going to be a cheating scandal, but I was not expecting everything that happened. Even though you are set up to dislike certain characters, I balled my eyes out. I really connected to this part of the story and I was very emotional while reading the first half of the book. I was hooked! The first half alone was without a doubt a five star read! The twist happened so early though, so I was wondering what was going to happen next.

The rest of the story was the characters living through the grief of losing their loved ones and living through the twist. I totally understand Clara and her grief, but I felt at times she was too bratty. This also involves the communication trope (lack there of), so be aware going in that most of the second half occurs due to Morgan and Clara not talking with each other. I just felt this all dragged out a little too long. I wanted/needed something else to happen and it just never did.

You are really getting multiple stories in one with this one. You have the story around grief and loss; the story about a mother and her child; the long awaited romance or lack there of between Morgan and Jonah (do not want to spoil if they do or do not); and the romance between Clara and Miller. I wanted more around Morgan and Jonah, but we get much more of Clara and Miller. I still enjoyed their romance, but again wanted a little more around other parts of the story.

There was a few details I also wanted more around. I would have liked more with Grandpa. He was so fun! I thought his cancer was going to come back into play and bring another emotional moment to the story. He was really not too involved, but does come back into play towards the end. I also wanted to know what the letters and cards said! I know and understand why Morgan did what she did, but I think this was another moment to bring more to her story rather the YA story.

Overall, I still really enjoyed this. As mentioned above the first half was a 5 star easily. The second half is what lost me a little and knocked it down to a four. I am still between a 4 and 4.5 star, but I cannot decide! I look forward to what Colleen Hoover brings to us next!

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