I went into Only Spell Deep with really high expectations. I loved Ava Morgan’s previous two books, The Bane Witch, especially, so I was ready to I went into Only Spell Deep with really high expectations. I loved Ava Morgan’s previous two books, The Bane Witch, especially, so I was ready to be swept away again. But this one ended up being just okay for me.
The book starts very slowly. Morgan is known for her slow-burn style, but this was slow even by her standards. The one thing that absolutely did shine, though, was her beautifully dark writing. She gives Seattle this gritty, eerie underbelly that feels so on brand for her—moody, atmospheric, slightly dangerous in that deliciously magical way.
My biggest struggle was the pacing. The first 65% barely seemed to move the plot forward, and then suddenly the story takes off at a sprint. I almost DNF’d at 30%. Then again at 40%. Then I took a break at 61% and debated not returning at all. Honestly, the only reason I kept going was because I loved her last two books so much.
I also never really connected with the characters this time around. Jude, our main character, didn’t land for me, and it was hard to care deeply about anyone in her orbit. Even the romance, which Morgan usually threads seamlessly into her stories, felt surprisingly flat. Levi never quite came off the page, and their relationship felt more superficial than meaningful. And the spice… it just didn’t work for me here. It didn’t add anything to the story or deepen the bond between them in any meaningful way.
I also went in expecting the same kind of powerful, feminist energy the first two books had, those witchy women flipping the patriarchy the magical bird. This book is about female power, but in a different way—not necessarily in a bad way, it just needed a more cohesive plot to support it.
Another thing I kept stumbling on was how many names sounded similar—Dara, Arla, Mira, Anneli, Aurelia. I was constantly stopping to remember who was who.
And some of Jude’s choices felt… off. She reads like someone who should be smarter than the decisions she makes, but the plot needed her to go a certain direction, so she made choices that didn’t feel believable. It also clashed a bit with Morgan’s writing style, which assumes a pretty intelligent, attentive reader, yet the main character wasn’t always operating on that same level.
Overall, the book still has Morgan’s signature atmosphere and dark charm, but the pacing issues, the character disconnect, and the romance that never fully took shape made this one harder for me to love. I’m still absolutely a fan of the author and hoping the next story captures the magic of her first two.
Thank you St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion....more
This book is Heather Webber at her best. Her stories are always like a comforting hug and a good cry or a good friend and a cup of tea. They always leThis book is Heather Webber at her best. Her stories are always like a comforting hug and a good cry or a good friend and a cup of tea. They always leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy at the end and unable to stop thinking of the characters throughout. The Forget-Me-Not Library is no different.
I loved Tallulah and Juliet, who were both grieving in their different ways but who found healing and hope in this magical town and close-knit community. I loved the peripheral characters, especially Katy and Renny, who both saw things so clearly and always had that uncanny ability to say just the exact right thing. I loved the romances that developed, lending even more hope to Lu and Juliet's stories. Finally, I loved how well Webber ties the magical elements together, dropping tiny breadcrumbs that have greater meaning when the end is revealed.
If you're unfamiliar with Webber's work, you should know that her pacing tends to be purposefully on the slower side. It is my opinion that she does this to encourage reflection on how the story may parallel with the reader's life. That said, I felt like the first third of this book moved almost too slow. I would have liked to have seen Lu and Juliet's friendship develop a little sooner than it did, or at least be shown more of it, but this is a minor gripe.
If you enjoy emotional stories with feel good endings with a touch of magic, if libraries have ever calmed your soul upon walking into one, if you enjoy books that lead to introspection, The Forget-Me-Not Library is just the sort of story for you.
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3.25 stars This is one of those that I liked the start of the book better than the rest. I was really enjoying the story, really wrapped up in the firs3.25 stars This is one of those that I liked the start of the book better than the rest. I was really enjoying the story, really wrapped up in the first 40ish% of this book, but somewhere around the middle, it dragged. I found myself continually checking my progress only to notice the needle hardly moved at all. Still, I pushed through and found the ending to be okay. I enjoyed the lit references and the dark academia setting, though the world building wasn't what I expected. I wanted more. Also, I felt the characters to be incredibly childish and OTT with their responses to conflict. I mean, I know they're teens and tend to be more self-centered and less self-aware, but this went to the extreme. Overall, I think YA dark academia lovers will like it well enough and it's not a whole series commitment, so that's nice....more
Wow! This slow-burn thriller (that sounds like an oxymoron!) is called a southern gothic but other than a few references to southern manners, the settWow! This slow-burn thriller (that sounds like an oxymoron!) is called a southern gothic but other than a few references to southern manners, the setting feels pretty generically rural. It didn’t feel specifically southern though the atmosphere and pervading sense of dread was on point. It gave me Into the Light by Aleatha Romig vibes with a dash of The Girls by Emma Cline.
It was a little predictable. I had theories and was right on everything I guessed though there were still some surprises. I think if you only get your enjoyment from thrillers when they surprise you, you might be let down, but if you go into it to just be entertained, you can easily get caught up in the story.
It was pretty slow to start but I knew this author to be a slow-burn so I stuck with it. Even early on, there are moments of unease that feel menacing and sinister as she starts to expertly build that tension and dread. But once it started to come together, it grabbed me and I stayed up past my bed time to finish it. It even gave me creepy dreams!
Definitely a thrill ride, you just have to hang in there for it!
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Warning: This review is slightly spoilery for the first book in the series, Soul of Shadow. While I don’t go into specifics, this3.75 stars rounded up
Warning: This review is slightly spoilery for the first book in the series, Soul of Shadow. While I don’t go into specifics, this review assumes you’ve read the first book and makes references that could spoil the ending of that book if you haven’t.
As happens quite frequently with the middle book in a trilogy, this book is fell into the sophomore slump book in my opinion. I enjoyed it and I was engaged enough to need the third book right after finishing, but it didn’t quite hold a candle to the first book, Soul of Shadow. For me, it’s mostly down to how tiresome I found Charlie at the beginning of the book and some of the sappiness we get from Elias later, which felt inconsistent with his character. Maybe if we’d had more of his perspective throughout the book it wouldn’t have felt like such a 180 for his personality.
Still, like I said, the plot continues and while there isn’t as much world-building here, it’s obvious the plot is building to something big for Book 3, the final book in this series. While the plot definitely moved forward, this book had a greater focus on the romance than the previous book, in my opinion. I was a bit surprised that some of Charlie’s friends forgave Elias for what happened in Book 1 so quickly and easily. Charlie obviously comes around, able to see to the complexity of Elias and look beyond his faults, even when one of those faults was trying to kill them all in the first book. When I found out that the author is a big Damon Salvatore fan, it made more sense, and it’s pretty obvious that Elias was modeled after him.
All in all, I really liked the book and am still invested in the characters and story, but I’m hoping the third book is as good as the first.
Thank you Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an eARC of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.
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Wow! This book isn't even published yet and already I can't wait for the sequel. I need more, stat! I love different mythologies and I feel like NorseWow! This book isn't even published yet and already I can't wait for the sequel. I need more, stat! I love different mythologies and I feel like Norse mythology is overlooked a lot in the fantasy genre as the foundation for a magical system, so when I saw the description for this, I knew I had to read it for that alone and I was not disappointed.
If I were to summarize this book in three songs, they would be Bring Me to Life by Evanescence, Decode by Paramore, and I Hate Everything About You by Three Days Grace. Noyes doesn't pull any punches and the ending is going to leave me with a major book hangover.
Yes, we've got another shadow daddy on the scene, but the entire magical world is structured so differently than a lot of what I've seen in other YA Romantasy that I'm letting it slide. Elias is the epitome of morally gray, leaning heavier on the darker charcoal side of the spectrum. It took a little bit for Charlie to come off the page for me, but we got there in the end.
The twists are twisty, the burn is slow, the characters are fun and loveable, especially the vatte. There's tension, mystery, magic, and adventure. Such a fun ride!
Thank you Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an eARC of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.
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I’m not a big horror fan due to my overactive imagination and the ensuing nightmares, but I love a good dark and atmospheric read and this is more likI’m not a big horror fan due to my overactive imagination and the ensuing nightmares, but I love a good dark and atmospheric read and this is more like horror-light. I saw another reviewer (Paige - TheBookandtheBoston) call for a subgenre of horror called cozy horror, I and I have to say I agree that Elmendorf’s books would suit that description perfectly.
I really enjoyed In the Hour of Crows and was so excited for Grave Birds. It did not disappoint. It was haunting and eerie in all the best ways. The twists were so good and kept me guessing. I loved the dash of romance, though I wouldn’t have said no to a bit more of it because Cain was ticking all my boxes!
I loved the concept of grave birds as the dead’s biggest regret manifested in the ghostly form of a bird. The other paranormal elements throughout lent a spooky quality to the story and the atmospheric writing brought it all to life.
If you enjoy slightly spooky paranormal stories that give you all the creepy vibes but don’t give you nightmares, or if you read In the Hour of Crows and liked it, you’ll enjoy this.
Thank you to Mira and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
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Wow, I can already feel the book hangover starting after finishing this one minutes ago. If you enjoyed the Letters of Enchantment duology (Divine RivWow, I can already feel the book hangover starting after finishing this one minutes ago. If you enjoyed the Letters of Enchantment duology (Divine Rivals), you’ll love this companion novel! You don’t need to have read LOE to read this book. Though it is set in the same world, it takes place before the time period of that duo, exploring the mythology of that world in more detail. It was fun seeing little breadcrumbs in this story dropped like Easter eggs for people who have read the LOE duo, though.
This book was on the longer side at 544 pages, but with the exception of the first 15%, it moved at a good clip. All I wanted to do was devour this book. As I was reading, I found myself checking my progress, thinking I had been reading this book for so long that I surely must be coming up on the end, and I was dreading it. Then I would look and realize I still had more to go and the story, thankfully, was not over yet.
Gah, this book! I loved it so much!
Honestly, I liked this book better than LOE. I loved how Ross explored what it must have been like to be a god and grow up amidst the deadly games gods play, never knowing if someone is a true ally or waiting to take their shot, never knowing is someone loves you or feels any real affection for you or if they are using you for their own purposes. I loved the bargaining, the cunning of the gods and their choice of whether to pursue for gain or not, I loved Matilda and Bade’s relationship contrasted with Matilda and Thile’s, and I loved the wise Matriarchs and their knowing ways. I loved watching Matilda navigate this ever changing landscape all while coming into her power and growing, both as a woman and as a god.
The world-building is as we would expect from Ross, borrowing elements of historic settings we readers would be familiar with and peppering it with the fantastical world of the Skywards, the Underlings, and the Wastes. Those fantastical places were described so well I could see them clearly in my mind. The romance is so good, pure. There’s tension in the mortal/immortal pairing, the forced separation as well as forced proximity without any drama of cheating or misunderstanding. It’s simply about trust, patience, and love.
It was such a beautiful story full of love, magic and myth! I would love to see another novel about Bade and Adria and their story.
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This is my first book by Elle McNicoll and I really enjoyed it! I am a big fan of hidden disability stories getting attention and as a neurospicy womaThis is my first book by Elle McNicoll and I really enjoyed it! I am a big fan of hidden disability stories getting attention and as a neurospicy woman myself (ADHD), I related to a lot of what the autistic characters in this book experienced. I don't know if the author herself is autistic or not, but she writes about it with kindness and gentleness in a way that also helps to explain some of autism's nuance to neurotypicals.
From a genre perspective, this is a small town, enemies to lovers epistolary romance and the You've Got Mail comparison in the book's blurb was on point, though I'd hesitate to call this a romcom...romance, yes, comedy, not so much. I loved the bookish setting, the majority of the story centered around a book store and a book festival. While I haven't read any of the author's previous work, there is a cameo from the characters in Some Like It Cold, but I didn't feel like I needed to have read that first to enjoy this, it's completely standalone. I really loved Jonah and found him very endearing and I respected the way Allegra stood up to bullies and set boundaries, something this people-pleaser always struggled with.
There were a couple things I found a bit off-putting but not enough to prevent me from appreciating the story. First, I felt like the author went a little too on-the-nose with some of her autism portrayal. Second, the swear words used in dialogue toward the end of the book felt incongruous with the characters as they hadn't been using them all along and the overall feel of the book was more wholesome. I'm no stranger to swearing, so the words themselves didn't bother me, but more the fact that they didn't feel authentic to the characters. Lastly, this book leans on the miscommunication trope, which I typically hate. While I found it as frustrating as ever in this book, it also felt authentic to the characters due to rejection sensitivity common in neurodivergent people.
Quick note regarding the cover, since this is an eARC. I saw that there were two different covers online for this title and it looks like the primary contender is this almost cubist rendering of a couple embracing versus the more common cartoon drawing that's more in line with the author's other book covers. If I had to choose my favorite, it would be the cartoon drawing. It's more in line with the author's other titles, as I said, but also more common to the romance genre. I'm not sure if I saw the other cover in the store that I would pick it up to read, and that would be sad because it's a great story.
Ultimately, the romance was sweet and rewarding, the story was pretty wholesome, spice level was at a 2 (on page but vague), and the autism rep was well done and will hopefully build empathy in neurotypical readers of the book. Miscommunication is a necessary element to telling this story but it was a little OTT at times, but I still enjoyed the story.
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I love a good atmospheric Appalachian setting and The Witch’s Orchard delivers on it. Mystery, myths, and mysticism, what more could you ask for?
I reaI love a good atmospheric Appalachian setting and The Witch’s Orchard delivers on it. Mystery, myths, and mysticism, what more could you ask for?
I really liked Annie as a character. Former military, private detective, tough, she’s like a female Reacher. Some of her dialogue came off a little flat at times, but I still really like her. It feels like this may be the start of a series featuring Annie, and I hope it is. There definitely feels like there’s more to her story.
The mystery kept me guessing. Just when I thought I knew who it was, there’d be another breadcrumb dropped and I’d change to someone else. Some of the events that took place felt a little OTT for the scope of a week in this small town, but I was able to suspend reality enough to enjoy this procedural.
Triggers: kidnapping, alluded to SA
Thank you Minotaur for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
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Thank you Celadon Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
They say we are all fools in love, but I think Evie and Theo take it Thank you Celadon Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
They say we are all fools in love, but I think Evie and Theo take it to the next level in this book.
I wanted to like this book but honestly, it felt like a chore. The concept sounded believable and a great way to introduce the friends to lovers trope. This book has all the makings of a book up there with Emily Henry or Katherine Center. There’s humor, spice, trauma, and emotional baggage getting in the way of the two being together. That said, all of that just fell really flat for me.
I was never quite able to care about the characters. I liked that there was chronic illness rep in the book, as well as trauma rep, but she was getting in her own way so much, not achieving much in her character arc until the last 25%, it drove me nuts. Also, both of these things are used as her excuses at the end but only the trauma was played up to be believable. Maybe if it would have been more equally built between each, I would have believed it more.
My other problem with this book was it was way too long. It was repetitive in several different ways and I found myself skimming after about 50%. I felt like it could have been reduced by 100 pages easily. I was close to DNFing, but I was mildly curious how it would end, so I skimmed. I do not feel like I missed anything…nothing important anyway.
I would probably only rate this 1 star, but I’m opting for 2 stars since this is the author’s adult debut and it’s possible I was in the wrong mood for this book so maybe I’m being overly critical. However, I also feel that even so, good books will grab your attention and hold it. This just wasn’t for me....more
I Am the Cage was a stunning and absolutely beautiful work of literature. The writing and poetry was so good, so evocative that I felt like I was righI Am the Cage was a stunning and absolutely beautiful work of literature. The writing and poetry was so good, so evocative that I felt like I was right there watching Elisabeth go through everything and I was so moved. The way her trauma, emotional abuse, and mental health were so sympathetically written, it seemed like the author was writing what she knows in a way we can all relate to. That she’s made this her YA debut and seeks to target a younger audience only makes me love it more.
As a mother, I couldn’t understand how Elisabeth’s mother, Iris, could act the way she did. Still, no one is ever really sure what’s in someone else’s head until they share it, and Iris did very little sharing and I loved that the author allowed her some grace in how Elisabeth considered her, acknowledging Iris’ unacceptable behavior while allowing for Iris’ own possible pain. Iris’ inaction and unwillingness to speak up for her daughter showed just how much authority we give to doctors without question as well as how much we cater to others’ perceptions of us.
I loved how friendship was portrayed in the book in both Kacey and Noah. They showed kindness, empathy, patience, and understanding, even when it was hard, even when they didn’t know if it was making any difference. They were a perfect example of unconditional love. Mr. Ito and Jonathan were wonderful examples of how family should be there for you, Mr. Ito as a sort of father figure and Jonathan as a sort of older brother.
Short chapters kept the story moving quickly, moving back and forth between timelines in an organic way. The amount of emotional punch those chapters packed into so few pages was really impressive. I found the entire thing to be so cathartic.
I would have loved to have seen what happened with Elisabeth’s relationship with her sisters after her time in Fish Creek. I’m left wondering if she found any kind of closure with them and how they moved forward. I could take or leave any kind of closure with her father, as he didn’t feature heavily in the story. But I can’t fault the book for this in the ratings because I just loved it so much.
With evocative writing and a powerful story that explores the space between who we are and who we let others define us to be, this is sure to be a story that will resonate with readers of all ages.
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I read and really enjoyed The Only Woman in the Room and The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by this author, and I was excited to be approved to read an eARCI read and really enjoyed The Only Woman in the Room and The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by this author, and I was excited to be approved to read an eARC of this one, but the writing was a departure from Benedict's usual style and it just didn't work for me at all. Unlike her other books, where the story focuses on the heavily-researched, fictionalized stories of real-life women that allowed the reader to learn something about those women, The Queens of Crime focuses on Dorothy L. Sayers and four of her female contemporaries of the time, including Agatha Christie, and uses them as detectives to solve a murder mystery.
My first problem was the characters. I wasn't able to connect with any of the characters at all. They felt two-dimensional and never came off the page for me. The dialogue, which I assume was intended to sound authentic, came off as stilted, lacking the panache and pluck these women must have had. The few tidbits of their real lives we pick up throughout the story didn't really pack enough punch in either educating me or in connecting me to the characters or storyline much. In fact, I had to Google the Queens of Crime to see if this was a moniker assigned to the group by society or if they were actually as they were portrayed in the story, a self-appointed subset of the larger Detection Club, and I couldn't find an answer, so hopefully there's an Author's Note added in the final copy of this book.
Probably the bigger problem I had was the pacing and writing. I found the pacing incredibly slow and the story much too drawn out. The writing itself was often pedantic and sometimes a little patronizing in how much was overexplained throughout. The book was fairly short and the chapters moved quickly, but it felt purposely drawn out, but could have been condensed even more by the time you remove unnecessary explanations and redundancies.
As a result of my problems with the characters, the pacing, and the writing in addition to the fact that I didn't really learn overmuch about Dorothy L. Sayers and the Queens of Crime, I struggled to engage with this book. I pushed through because of my respect for the author, but I honestly almost DNFed this at least once a week during the month it took me to read it.
I am sad to say that I cannot recommend this one, unfortunately.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.
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God bless Alice Feeney. I have been in a bit of a reading slump this month with mediocre book after mediocre book and a few less-than-mediocre sprinklGod bless Alice Feeney. I have been in a bit of a reading slump this month with mediocre book after mediocre book and a few less-than-mediocre sprinkled in. I needed something to pull me out of this rut. I needed something good, really good. Enter Alice Feeney.
I know this isn’t a recent publication for this author. I’m still making my way through her backlist. But I recalled a friend having listened to this one and really enjoying it, so I opted to jump in without looking and I was NOT disappointed. Thank goodness!
This one is right up there with Sometimes I Lie for me, which I liked slightly better than Daisy Darker. It grabs you from the beginning and holds your attention throughout. I had my guess as to who the murderer was and I was right, but let me tell you that Feeney had me second-guessing my choice the entire time! After finishing, I thought it would be fun to go back and listen to the murderer’s first chapter again and it just blows me away how deftly Feeney drops breadcrumbs that don’t feel like breadcrumbs until you’re looking backwards.
The dual audio narration is perfection. I love Stephanie Racine, who has narrated many of Feeney’s books, and Richard Armitage is back with Stephanie to add His POV. The voice modulator effect used for the murderer’s POV was chef’s kiss. Listen carefully to that modulated voice and see if you notice anything over the course of the book. If you notice what I’m talking about, you’ll appreciate how the producer of the audiobook added this additional layer to the story that was so perfectly aligned with Feeney’s method of storytelling.
I really enjoyed this audiobook and it was exactly what I needed to pull me out of my reading rut. If you love a good twisty plot that keeps you guessing, you’ll enjoy this one.
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Oof, well, I think I'm done with this series and with this author, which makes me so sad. I credit Nora Roberts with kindling my love of reading and wOof, well, I think I'm done with this series and with this author, which makes me so sad. I credit Nora Roberts with kindling my love of reading and will always think of her with fondness, but in more recent years, her books have left me so underwhelmed and disappointed. This book is no exception.
After reading Inheritance, which had me intrigued by the storyline but annoyed with the choppy dialogue and weird pacing, I was interested enough to request the ARC for this one, which is the second in her latest trilogy. The pacing wasn't weird this time, just slow. Achingly, boringly slow. The choppy dialogue remained and continued to annoy me.
The perfection emulated in the relationships between Sonya and Cleo, Sonya and Trey, and Cleo and Owen felt too perfect and trite, and again, boring. There isn't even any spice to make it interesting. One scene maybe and everything else is just alluding to spice. There was no conflict there and since the plot didn't move forward much, this had me so close to DNFing this book because what's the point? Sonya and Trey could at least have had words over his use of the nickname "cutie." To quote my teenager: cringe.
Speaking of the plot, it was completely redundant in- and outside of itself. If you read the first book, you've read this one too. If your mind drifted through something while reading this one, don't worry, they repeat it in a page or two. We did at least get to meet Cleo's grandmother in this book, though even that was underwhelming. The most emotional I got with this book was when Sonya's mom talked to Clover.
So, this book was definitely not for me and I won't be reading the third, not even to see how it all ends.
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Well, I finally finished it. I’m waffling between one and two stars because some of it I liked, but not very much of it, and the t1.5 stars rounded up
Well, I finally finished it. I’m waffling between one and two stars because some of it I liked, but not very much of it, and the things I did like almost always had a caveat to it. Frankly, much of the book felt very…strange, I guess. As it started out, it was okay. The character development was okay, though flat at times. It felt more like telling instead of showing, which never makes the characters feel real to me. Because of that, I didn’t care about the characters overly much, making this more of a chore to get through than an enjoyable read.
The marketing of this book made this out to be sort of a romantic comedy mystery vibe. The concept of the main character covering up a murder with her romantic love interest is something I had not seen before, and I was interested to see it play out. However, the combination of romance, comedy, and mystery felt out of balance and frequently landed distastefully.
The romance aspect was sweet, but I found it to be as poorly developed as the character development. It’s a lot of shy glances and double meetings that ask the question does he/doesn’t he like me? That's all well and good, but it was once again developed insufficiently. I also found the way the romantic conflict was resolved to be very immature (her article and also I think the gentleman doth protest too much) and underwhelming.
There were two redeeming qualities I found about this book. The first was how the author showed the inherent bias and systemic racism by sharing a little about Asian actors in the age of representation and in the justice system as we see through Khin’s experience. The second was the friendship between Khin and her two girlfriends. Once again, however, I would’ve liked to have seen more development with their friendship for it to really hit home that theme.
Ultimately, this one missed the mark for me.
Thank you to Saint Martin’s Press and NetGalley for eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review....more
2.75 stars / 4 flames This book was more than okay, I liked it, but it took me longer than it should have to finish it.
Hockey romances are one of my fa2.75 stars / 4 flames This book was more than okay, I liked it, but it took me longer than it should have to finish it.
Hockey romances are one of my favorites and it had a lot of great tropes: college romance, brother's rival secret relationship, and he fell first. It was cute, spicy, romantic, without any of the miscommunication / misunderstanding stuff to build angst. What I really loved was the positive mental health representation. There is off-page domestic abuse and I loved that the author normalizes getting therapeutic help for mental health, especially in the realm of professional sports, which seems to still suffer the stigma of toxic masculinity and not asking for help when needed.
I found Izzy to be rather immature at times and juvenile, which yeah, she's young, but it still irked me a little. What I didn't care for was the length of the book. It felt too long with too many scenes that did little to move the plot forward. It was heavy on the spice (4 flames) and light on substance, which was disappointing given that the substance of the plot has real weight to it. The overabundance of these scenes meant I ended up skimming a good portion just to get on with it and made it easily put-downable. It was something to do when I had a few minutes, but I wasn't overly invested in the characters or the plot.
If you're looking for a sweet, easy read with a healthy relationship at the focus and a lot of spice, you'll probably like this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review....more
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