The Way We Fall by Cassia Leo

The Way We Fall by Cassia Leo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a very quick read. I started it one night and finished it on audio the next day. Triggers for suicide, mental health, cheating, sexual abuse/perpetrator, mental health, fake pregnancy, abortion, and more.
This is told in two parts. Part one is really setting up everything that is happening and getting to know both Houston and Rory. We get back and forth chapters from their perspectives from both the now and then. I wanted a little more with their chemistry. The past included mostly fighting and grief. It makes sense as you read, but I still wanted to see the angst more between the two both before and after.

I did not like the storyline involving the wife of Houston. She was manipulating him on many levels including around what happened with his sister.

I also did not love the reveal of the letter and all it laid out around Hallie. I just did not like that twist.

I did like how everything wrapped up on this one though and look forward to reading more from this author in the future.


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The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have been putting this one off due to all the hype. I love the cover and it sounded like something I would love, so I knew I would eventually give in and give it a go. Sadly, I just do not get the hype on this one.
I really liked the start of this one with the fake dating. However; this went on too long and everything was so slow. Nothing was happening. I found myself wondering what I was missing compared to everyone else who was loving it so much.

Sadly, this one was just not for me. I skimmed some sections just to finally have something happen and grab my attention again.


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God Bless This Mess: Learning to Live and Love Through Life's Best (and Worst) Moments by Hannah Brown

God Bless This Mess: Learning to Live and Love Through Life's Best (and Worst) Moments by Hannah Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is not going to be for everyone, but I am a huge fan of Hannah Brown so I was excited to read this. I also like that she is the narrator for the audiobook.

I liked learning a little more about her when she was younger. The stories around her family were heartbreaking. I did not know some of what happened to her Aunt and cousins when she was little.

I really have not watched the Bachelor series the last few years, but I liked hearing a little behind the scenes from her seasons. Yes, there was some fun stories and some “tea”, but do not expect the whole book to be around this. It is around Hannah herself and this was one stepping stone in her journey. It is not the main focus of the book. I found almost everything talked about was used was talked about for the pre-lease of the book.

Hannah has always been open around her faith, and she does talk a lot around that throughout the book. I appreciated that she stayed true to herself and left all of that in.

Some of the body image issues, acne, and other stuff has been talked about on her YouTube channel. Other stuff was new. I enjoyed the balance of both for those of us who already follow her on social media.

I was surprised that she did not talk about Adam at all. I am not sure if she wrote this prior to their relationship, but I would have liked to hear a little more around that.

Overall, I enjoyed this for what it is.


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Unguarded by Scottie Pippen

Unguarded by Scottie Pippen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars

I have always been a fan of the Bulls, especially Pippen and Jordan. If you were worried about reading this based on the pre-release press, I recommend still giving it a try. There is a lot of context around what came out for the release of this book. It was not as it was made out to be.
I did like leaning a little more around Scottie and his family. I did not know all of the information around his childhood. I would have liked more of this than recapping his stats.

Scottie talked more around his stats and previous games. Talking about previous games was fine, but he did not add anything into these conversations that many would not already know. I would have liked a little more around himself. There were some tidbits thrown in that I was not aware of though and I enjoyed those parts.

There is a lot of talk around previous players and teammates. I am happy that I know who all these players were/are as it made it more interesting to read.

I was expecting much more bashing around Michael Jordan. However; most of his stories actually contradicted many of his negative statements around Jordan that you may have seen in the media. It was a little confusing and again, I think, a way to gain interest in reading his story for the release. As the stories continued, the more he talked positively around MJ, his relationship with him, and what he did for the game. He maintained that they were not super close, but had a friendship. It was just not as others perceived or as strong as others thought it would be.

Overall, I enjoyed this for what it was and the nostalgia that it brought around my favorite time in the NBA. It was much more game by game recapping than anything though. If you are a fan of Scottie Pippen or the 90’s Bulls, I think you will like it. It is not the drama that it appeared it was going to be and I was happy about that.


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The Wrong Heart by Jennifer Hartmann

The Wrong Heart by Jennifer Hartmann
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Triggers for child abuse, trauma, death, and suicide.

This story is very emotional right from the very first chapter. I found myself crying several times during the first half. I really loved the start to this one. However; the middle dragged a little for me. It was a little too long with too much back and forth of the same things happening.

I also did not love how inconsistent Melody was with Parker. I understand she was also dealing with grief and the guilt from moving on, but she would be devasted for taking a step with Parker and then get upset with him when he would back off based on her own actions.

There were some tropes thrown in that were almost skimmed over such as the miscarriage. It was never spoke about again and was actually a very emotional scene in the story.

Overall, I did enjoy this one but did not love it as much as I was hoping based on it being such an emotional read (they are my favorite). I do want to check out more from the author though.


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My Wife Is Missing by D.J. Palmer

My Wife Is Missing by D.J. Palmer
My rating: 3 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 am actually a huge fand of D.J. Palmer and was excited to read this one.

When this one first started, my heart was pounding so fast when Michael returned to the hotel. I was flying through the beginning of this story. This did eventually slow down though and started to take a few twists and turns that I just did not connect with. This was also set up three different narratives: current Michael and Natalie and also Natalie before she disappeared. I just found some sections very drawn out. I was skimming some of the dialogues at times as I did want to know how everything would unfold.

I was just not a fan of everything that happened with this one and the directions it took. It was still a fun read, just not my favorite.


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After She Falls by Carmen Schober

After She Falls by Carmen Schober
My rating: 3 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 a good Christian romance and this one does deal with some much harder topics such as domestic violence. It does have a little more region aspects thrown in compared to some I have read in the past. Based on the description and the cover, I knew I needed to give this one a try.

This story had a little bit of everything: romance, abuse, family, and more. It kept my attention throughout, but I just kept wanting more. This is one that I really did enjoy but it just did not blow me away like I kept hoping it would.


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The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was expecting a lot more out of this one. I did enjoy it, but just not as much as the first two books in the series.

First off, this read much more women’s fiction with some steamy scenes thrown in. I never really connected with the romance between Anna and Quan. There were very limited scenes around their connection and most of the scenes revolved around sex. I just wanted to see more with their relationship.
This was more around Anna and her story about finding her own self and her own voice. Yes, this was sad as she is taking care of a sick father. I went through a similar situation of watching my own father pass away with Hospice in place when I was younger so I really did connect with these parts of the story. I was expecting this to be more emotional than it was though even though these situations normally tear me apart. I think we moved on from it all too fast.

I just did not love this. It just needed more for me.

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