The ABC Book Challenge | V

January 24, 2020January 18, 2020Leave a comment

Today is Friday and I’m here again with the next letter of the ABC Book Challenge!

MEMORABLE TITLES THAT START WITH THE LETTER “V”

BOOKS STARTING WITH “V” ON MY TBR

REVIEW: Love Her or Lose Her – Tessa Bailey

January 23, 2020January 22, 2020Leave a comment

Title: Love Her or Lose Her (Hot & Hammered #2)
Author: Tessa Bailey
Rating: ★★★½

What is this book about? Love Her or Lose Her is about second-chance romance and falling in love all over again with your spouse. The story focuses on Rosie and Dominic, who we were introduced to in Fix Her Up, and the desperate attempts they make to save their crumbling marriage.

What did I like? My favorite part of Love Her or Lose Her is the hopeful message. Contemporary romances featuring characters trying to save their marriage and falling in love again with their spouses are such a sweet spot for me. I loved watching Rosie and Dominic “relearn” each other’s love language and figure out how to better communicate and what needed to be changed in order to grow together and fix their marriage.

What didn’t I like? I didn’t end up loving this one as much as Fix her Up, and I think it’s because I struggled with Dominic’s character. I understand that he’s not meant to be a touchy-feely talkative guy, but I feel like 99% of the problems could have been solved quicker and with less heartbreak had he just talked to Rosie. There were also moments where he was very overbearing towards Rosie.

Overall thoughts: An enjoyable contemporary romance about second chance romance and going to the extreme to save your marriage, but it didn’t wow me as much as Fix Her Up.

BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY: Beyond the Shadowed Earth – ARC Review

January 13, 2020January 1, 20202 Comments

Welcome to my stop on the Beyond the Shadowed Earth book tour! Thank you to Fantastic Flying Book Club for organizing the tour and allowing me to participate as a tour host!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Beyond the Shadowed Earth (Beneath the Haunting Sea #2)
Author: Joanna Ruth Meyer
Release: January 14, 2020
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Genre: YA Fantasy

It has always been Eda’s dream to become empress, no matter the cost. Haunted by her ambition and selfishness, she’s convinced that the only way to achieve her goal is to barter with the gods. But all requests come with a price and Eda bargains away the soul of her best friend in exchange for the crown.

Years later, her hold on the empire begins to crumble and her best friend unexpectedly grows sick and dies. Gnawed by guilt and betrayal, Eda embarks on a harrowing journey to confront the very god who gave her the kingdom in the first place. However, she soon discovers that he’s trapped at the center of an otherworldly labyrinth and that her bargain with him is more complex than she ever could have imagined.

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Review

What is this book about? Beyond the Shadowed Earth is a companion novel to Beneath the Haunting Sea rather than a sequel. The story is about Eda, who makes a small appearance in Beneath the Haunting Sea as the antagonist. Here, Eda loses the empire she fought so hard to gain control of and sets out to find the god with whom she made a bargain with years ago.

What did I like? Honestly, the thing I enjoyed the most about this book was Eda. She’s not written to be a very likeable character–she manipulated, lied, and murdered her way to be Empress. She’s selfish and power-hungry, yet it made the story that more intriguing to read. And because she was such a flawed character, it made her growth at the end that more meaningful and satisfying.

What didn’t I like? Parts of the story were slower which made hard to capture my attention, but other parts are very action-packed which makes up for the slower sections.

Overall thoughts? Beyond the Shadowed Earth is another well-written, fantasy story from Joanna Ruth Meyer. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves reading books about flawed characters and redemption stories.

★ ★ ★

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joanna Ruth Meyer hails from Mesa, Arizona, where she lives with her dear family, a rascally feline, and an enormous grand piano. When she’s not writing, she’s trying to convince her students that Bach is actually awesome, or plotting her escape from the desert. She loves good music, thick books, looseleaf tea, rainstorms, and staring out of windows. One day, she aspires to own an old Victorian house with creaky wooden floors and a tower (for writing in, of course!).

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GIVEAWAY

Win one of two finished copies of Fireborne (US/CAN only).

✨ ENTER HERE ✨

FOLLOW THE TOUR

January 8 | The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club

REVIEW: Red, White & Royal Blue – Casey McQuiston

January 6, 2020January 9, 20202 Comments

Title: Red, White & Royal Blue
Author: Casey McQuiston
Rating: ★★★½

“The first slide says: SEXUAL EXPERIMENTATION WITH FOREIGN MONARCHS: A GRAY AREA. Alex wonders if it’s too late to swan dive off the roof.”

What is this book about? Red, White & Royal Blue is a warm, amusing story about self-discovery and an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance between Alex, the First Son of the United States, and Henry, the Prince of England.

What did I like? Who could help but love these characters? Alex and Henry were such soft, tender-hearted men and I felt giddy the entire time as their relationship and feelings unfolded between them. I also really enjoyed how funny the book is. It’s no secret I’m a big fan of rom-coms, and some of the one-liners in this book were absolute gold.

“How dare Henry come into Alex’s house looking like the goddamn James Bond offspring that he is, drink red wine with the prime minister, and act like he didn’t slip Alex the tongue and ghost him for a month.”

What didn’t I like? For whatever reason, this book seemed to really drag. I think it’s because at some parts of the book, the plot seemed to stall out which left me inpatient for it to get on with already. I also found some of the political aspects of the story to be unrealistic and overly-romanticised for the sake of the novel, which is fine-it’s fiction, but bothered me enough that I don’t think I enjoyed the overall story as fully because of it.

Overall thoughts: Red, White & Royal Blue is a heart-warming, romantic story about two young men coming to grips with who they are and who they want to be. As always, I absolutely loved the hate-to-love aspect of the story and Alex and Henry are such wonderful characters it’s hard not to root for them throughout the book.