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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Wednesday, November 27, 2019

The Liar's Daughter by Megan Cooley Peterson

The Liar's DaughterThe Liar's Daughter by Megan Cooley Peterson
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 was not really sure where this story was going to go, but I ended up really enjoying it. If you love True Crime and different things like that, I think you will enjoy this one. There is a limited look into the cult life, but it was still very interesting since you know that things like this really happen.

This story follows Piper before and after being in a cult. I found the parts with the story and the cult interesting. I also enjoyed the after parts as Piper starts to unravel everything that has happened in her life.

This not a very detailed read, but you will find yourself wanting to know what happens next. It is unlike any other thing I have read. Overall, this was surprised me and I really enjoyed it.


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Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Wicked: A Rockstar Romance Series by Piper Lawson

Wicked: A Rockstar Romance SeriesWicked: A Rockstar Romance Series by Piper Lawson
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 going to start off by saying I am not normally a fan of rock band/music group romances. I just never feel there is anything that sets them apart. This series sounded really good though, so I decided to give it a chance. I am glad I did. Just an FYI, Audible has the bind-up of the series all in one, so you can get all three for only one credit!

Book one was really building the world and characters. I really liked getting to know both Jax and Haley. It really starts to build on their relationship as well which is a slow burn romance. I really loved that and also the age gap they are dealing with. There was enough other things going on with them and in the background to keep you wanting more. (4 stars)

Book two was a little lacking for me. I was looking for more as I just do not feel much happens. This one is much steamier than book one as Jax and Haley do take their relationship to the next level. I do not recommend reading this one unless you have read book one in the series. The story is a continuation with the same characters and I think book one really sets up this story.

I really did love the Jax and Annie parts of this story. It was pretty predictable, but did bring some emotional parts to the story. There was almost more around Annie and Jax than Jax and Haley.

Something happens towards the end and also the end of the story that comes out of nowhere. I do not feel it even really fit on how it all happened. I see what the author was doing, but I would have liked some bits of these character thrown into book two to bring a little more emotion to all of this. These things come out of nowhere and did not really flow with everything going on. It just seems thrown in to bring emotional moments to the story. They did not work for me. (2.5)

Book three starts of two years after the ending of book two. I do feel that books two and three could have been combined into one. Book three was pretty short at only 200 pages. I did not realize this was a novella until I looked at some other reviews.

This cannot be read as a standalone as it is a continuation of the Jax and Haley love story. I liked this one much more than book two. I liked seeing Haley and Jax coming back together after a few years ago.

My biggest thing with this series is the holes within the story. There are several time jumps between the books, and also things that happen with no explanation or without any build up. I wanted more around these aspects of the story. (3 stars)

Overall, this was still a fun series if you love music/band romances. I really loved Jax. Book one was my favorite, but I liked following their story in books two and three.



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Thursday, November 14, 2019

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

Imaginary FriendImaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky


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.

This started off so strong. I was hooked and flew through the first few hundred pages. I was really loving the story and everything that was going on. However; around half way through everything was getting too repetitive. It was a little too slow and there was not enough happening to keep my interest. I wanted to know how everything ended, so I did skip to the end. But, all and all, I really DNF this around the half way point.


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Life at 12 College Road Eric Mondschein

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Back For More by Kayley Loring

Back For MoreBack For More by Kayley Loring
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 enemies to lover tropes! I just wanted a little more out of this one to set it apart from others. It was a really fun and quick read, but it just never hit that spot of breaking away from others like I wanted. That is not a bad thing, just something I like to look for to separate it from other romances.

I really enjoyed the characters with this one and had fun with the story. This was my first from this author and I am still excited to explore some of her other work. There were so many aspects of the story that I did enjoy. Overall, I still like this one.


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Dark Tomorrow 2: Cult of the Crow Dark Tomorrow Book Two Jeremiah Franklin


Tuesday, November 12, 2019

When the Stars Lead to You by Ronni Davis

When the Stars Lead to YouWhen the Stars Lead to You by Ronni Davis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I went into this thinking it was going to a romance. It was, but it was also a hard hitting contemporary which is my absolute favorite. This story is kind of told within three parts: before, during, and after. I was pretty hooked from beginning as you start to see how Devon and Ashton meet and start their love story. I was not a huge fan that this does have a year jump where you miss the anguish Devon was going through though.

I loved that this story dealt with a Bi-Racial relationship. It really does hit on several good conversations around race and acceptance of dating outside your race as well. I really enjoyed these parts, especially being in a bi-racial relationship myself. Thankfully, our family accepted our love much more so than Ashtons.

This also deals with mental health including depression and suicidal ideations. You may not know that going in, but it is important as this could be a trigger for some. Where this would be something I would normally love in a book, it just fell a little flat for me. It was almost thrown in at times where it did not fit. I wanted more around Ashton and his depression, his battle, and the everything that happens along this storyline. ‘

The story itself was pretty good. I do not feel like this needed to be 400 though. There was too much filler for me. I also could not always connect with the writing. There are a lot of shorter sentences and fragments (other times I would be locked in with the writing; I know does not make sense).

I really loved at the end where the author shares her own story. The author also shares resources for mental health which I loved.

Overall, I liked this but did not fall in love with it as much as I would have liked too.


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Monday, November 11, 2019

American Royals by Katharine McGee

American Royals (American Royals, #1)American Royals by Katharine McGee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have heard mixed reviews on this one, but I really loved it. It had a little bit of everything: romance, drama, family, sickness, mean girls, and more. It had my attention from the start! I would have finished it in only one sitting if I did not need sleep.

When this started off, several characters are thrown at you with each new chapter. I did not really love this, but it worked! I was loving each characters story so it helped for me to read on. I loved the romances and how everyone was connected. I was not expecting the stuff with the King, and loved the family parts of the story too.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! I cannot believe this is how it ended! I need book two!


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Dark Tomorrow: Rise of the Crow Dark Tomorrow Book One by Jeremiah Franklin


Wednesday, November 6, 2019

The Space in Between by Brittainy C. Cherry

The Space in Between (The Space in Between, #1)The Space in Between by Brittainy C. Cherry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow! I did not realize this was the debut novel from Brittainy C. Cherry. I love her work and this was no exception. She is amazing and I can really see the development in within her newer work. This was just as great!

This was really good, but there was something that was missing for me. I am still giving this 4 stars! Do not get me wrong, it was amazing. I cannot even pinpoint what was lacking, but it just did not take me over the edge like several of her other works. I still loved the story and everything that happened though.


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Sunday, November 3, 2019

Checkmate: This is War: Travis & Viola, #1 by Kennedy Fox

Checkmate: This is War: Travis & Viola, #1 (Checkmate Duet, #1)Checkmate: This is War: Travis & Viola, #1 by Kennedy Fox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am way behind in the times! This is my first Kennedy Fox read. I kept putting it off, but I am so glad that I finally took the plunge to start this series.

This was very steamy. It was a little more steamier than I prefer, but I actually loved the banter and back forth between Travis and Viola. I love that we get glimpses of their childhood relationship to help better understand why they have the love to hate relationship they have during adults.
That ending! I was not sure if I was going to continue with the series, but there is no chance that I can stop with that ending! I need book two ASAP!


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Thursday, October 31, 2019

Stitches in Time by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Stitches in Time (The Deacon's Family #2)Stitches in Time by Suzanne Woods Fisher
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.

Stitches in Time by Suzanne Woods Fisher is the second book in The Deacon’s Family. I did not realize this was part of a series. I read this as a standalone and had no problem getting to know the story. However; I enjoyed it so much I plan to go back and read the first book. I think it will bring so much more to the backstory and to the characters.

I love reading stories following Foster families as I work within the field. However; I am pretty critical when I read these types of stories. I ended up really enjoying this one. The author did a great job pulling out my emotions while reading. I loved everything about this story from the setting, the plot, and down to the characters. It is just one of those reads you will lose yourself in while reading.

Overall, I loved this one.


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Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The Plus Ones by Kayley Loring

The Plus OnesThe Plus Ones by Kayley Loring
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 enemies to lover tropes! I just wanted a little more out of this one before they were showing so much interest in each other. I did not realize this is a standalone, but does follow other characters from another series from the author. I may have appreciated this one a little more if I had previously read those. This was just so short that it never fully developed into what I wanted, as I just wanted more details.

Normally hate to love stories revolve around characters hating each other and turning into more. This was more like a little kids I hate you from secretly loving you right from the start. I did not hate that, but I did expect something a little different from characters in their 30s.

This was my first from this author and I am still excited to explore some of her other work. There were so many aspects of the story that I did enjoy, like Keaton. Overall, I still like this one.


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