I don’t play soccer, but grew up on the sidelines of soccer fields. All my siblings play soccer competitively, and while I moaned about our life revolving around soccer growing up, today I love a good soccer story. This was an enjoyable romance with interesting and diverse characters. While it took me a bit to get into the story, once I did I really enjoyed it. Now I can’t decide if I’ll pass it on to my sister or hoard it for myself. Either way, I will definitely be recommending it to her and all over my other rom-com reading friends.

Reading if you like:
⚽️Sport romances
⚽️LGBT stories
⚽️Romcoms
⚽️Diverse characters

The concept was intriguing and the plot line was interesting. However, things became very muddled and confusing, especially given the size of the harem. It was unclear who was included till the very end, and, even then, people seemed to come out of the wood work. There were just too many main characters to fully developed. Even after finishing the first book, I think I could only identify half of them.

I thought this was a fun unique take on a mafia romance. Like many categories of books, a lot of mafia romances have certain tropes or plot lines that repeatedly pop up. While we still have a kidnapping that leads to romance and an inheritance battle that turns bloody, Sophie Lark did a great job of infusing intrigue, spice, and emotion into this popular storyline. I also really appreciated having a heroine who wasn’t an 18 to 22 year old sheltered virgin. Instead our heroine is 29, and has had a plethora of life experiences that have shaped her as a person. While the trend in mafia romances is for late teen to early 20s female characters, I thought this was a great change of pace which I wish was more common in this genre.

I received an ARC of this book, and was excited to give it a read. While I think the story has great potential, I thought it needed a bit more work on pacing. There were a few big questions throughout the book that we were waiting on answers for. The one regarding her accident did not seem fully resolved. The reason for this might be because it was touched on in other books written by the author. But as someone who has only read this book, it left me with many questions. The second big reveal and/ or twist appeared to happen a little out of no where and too soon in the story. While I liked the twist, I felt like more ground work would have been nice and I wish it happened a little later in the book. Instead it happened too soon, and it felt like the rest of the book after the reveal dragged a bit without purpose. All that said, I did like the book and don’t regret reading. I just don’t know if it’s a book that I will feel the need to read again in the future.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Growing up, I loved the show Warehouse 13, and was so sad when it ended. When I read that this book was urban fantasy with Warehouse 13 and the Librarians vibes, I knew that I had to read it. It definitely gave me major nostalgia to some of my favorite tv shows, but with the urban fantasy vibes of a KM Shea or Linsey Hall book. While it was missing the soft romance of these authors, it had the fun whimsical supernatural vibe present in their stories.

I did find that the pacing was a bit slow in the beginning, and it took a while for things to really get started. Then, at the end, things moved really quickly—jumping from location and task at rapid speed. While this definitely helped build the tension, I do wish things were spread out a bit more and that things kicked off a bit sooner. Warehouse 13 and the Librarians are notoriously go go go from the start. If you are going to compare yourself to these Series, you need to meet that energy. However, while things took a while to build, it was definitely worth the wait and it was a great start to a new series. I can’t wait to read the next book, and see what Paige and Dewey get up to next!

This book is your average rejected mates story meets the bachelor. Very predictable, but still enjoyable.

I usually avoid true crime inspired content, and almost didn’t get this book. However, Sophie Lark is one of my guilty pleasures, so I decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised with this book and loved the art world it operated in. I’m still not sold on serial killer dramas, but still enjoyed it. The book would have been a 3 out of 5 star rating, but the playlist for this book was absolutely perfect. It did a perfect job matching the tone of the book. Since I can’t give the playlist a 5 out of 5 star ranking, I’ve given the book an additional star.

I usually avoid true crime inspired content, and almost didn’t get this book. However, Sophie Lark is one of my guilty pleasures, so I decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised with this book and loved the art world it operated in. I’m still not sold on serial killer dramas, but still enjoyed it. The book would have been a 3 out of 5 star rating, but the playlist for this book was absolutely perfect. It did a perfect job matching the tone of the book. Since I can’t give the playlist a 5 out of 5 star ranking, I’ve given the book an additional star.

I had a hard time getting through the middle, but it picked up around the end…. And of course it ended on a huge cliff hanger which makes me want to rush to the next book.

I was so excited when I read the blurb for this book, and was even more thrilled when I received an ARC. I immediately crawled into bed and devoured this book. For people who read Between Wrath and Mercy, this book is much darker and is more of an urban fantasy romance. Our MMC is a vampire, who is trying to get revenge on the people responsible for the death of his mother and brother. Our FMC is the last in a line of vampire hunters, who apparently has no idea about her back ground or skills. The two are on opposite sides and keep so many secrets from each other, but somehow their feelings keep getting stronger and stronger.

Although this was a pretty lengthy book, I flew through it. Things seemed pretty straight forwards until we got to about the 90% mark and then the twist came. I usually pride myself on seeing a twists way far out, but this one caught me off guard. I have SO many feelings, and need the next book to be released. Sadly, that won’t be for a while.

Read if you like:
🩸dark romance
🩸urban fantasy
🩸enemies to lovers
🩸vampires
🩸curvy heroines

*please read the trigger warnings, especially if certain mental health conditions or suicidal ideation are triggering

Interesting but predictable. I hope the next two books have a bit more twists. Read if you like:
🐉RH
🐉academy
🐉shifters
🐉romantasy

This book was an interesting overview of the role of women in the early church, and the role of women in church ministry. This book felt well researched and planned. Overall I enjoyed it, and it made me nostalgic for my time in grad school and the people I worked with who had a similar focus.

I really enjoyed the main characters and their relationship—which are really well-written, unique, and compelling. I especially loved the time Sophie took with these characters backstories and nuances. They definitely felt like real people by the end of the book. Because I liked the characters, their relationship, and the plot so much, I wanted to give it a higher rating (I kept going back and forth with how to rate this book while I was reading. However, the smut (which was well-written but not for me) and one-liners kept bringing me out of the story. While I enjoyed the book, it’s something I’m content to read on kindle unlimited and don’t think I’ll buy to add to my bookshelf.

(But, again, I’m conflicted because I really did like the characters and the story—so watch me change my mind ten more times before tomorrow)

I don’t cook with fruit that often, and was really intrigued by the concept of this cook book. While I have a few recipes for sweets using fruits, I don’t have anything savory. As such, I was hoping this book could help me expand my cooking horizons.

To start, the book is thick. And gorgeous (the photos are stunning and all of the food looks amazing). Additionally, there is a wide range of categories within the book, which allows you to pick how adventurous you want to be. Some are straight forward and only use a few ingredients, while others were a bit more complicated (and might take a few try’s to get a right). All in all, I am so excited about this book

I have so many thoughts on this book, that I don’t know where to begin. The book was thoughtful and well-plotted, and did a fabulous job of slowly building the atmosphere and setting without doing massive information dumps. The main characters, Iris and Jilly, were both complex and complicated. I would 10 out of 10 recommend.

I don’t know why a procrastinated reading this so long. There were enough twists to keep it interesting, but also enough grounding to make the storyline consistent.

Read if you like:
👑fae
👑ya fantasy
👑court politics
👑enemies to lovers
👑betrayal and lies

This book is full of so many ups and downs. I plan on coming back and updating this review once I’ve had more time to digest it, but it was an interesting and unique book that follows multiple generations of an Iranian American family and their interpersonal conflicts. There multiple view points characters, all of whom nuanced and complex and flawed.

The author looks at many issues that may be trigger to some readers. This includes death of children/ family members and sexual abuse. As these themes were a significant thread in this story, please keep this in mind if it may be triggering.

Read if you like:
📖family sagas
📖emotional stories
📖multiple view points
📖Iranian American stories

Book review 📖📚📖
Practice Makes Perfect
By @authorsarahadams

This was a fun light read, that would be a great choice for romance lovers. Annie is known in her hometown of Rome, Kentucky as sweet and angelic, but she feels like she is living a half life and that something is missing. With the help of her brother’s fiancé’s bodyguard, she decides to improve her dating skills in the hopes of finding a husband and filling the hole in her life. Will avoids connections and romance due to his own trauma, but feels compelled to help Annie. Soon their fake dating leads to questions about what they really want out of life… and if it just might be each other.

I loved the character growth and introspection present in this book—which was a steady thread but balanced well with plot, interesting characters, and humor. Both Annie and Will have their own trauma to work through, but are always honest with each other (even if they aren’t always honest with themselves). This book did a wonderful job of giving them the time and space they needed to work through their issues and come together.

Read if you like:
💐small town romance
💐fake dating
💐contemporary romance
💐romantic comedies
💐off page/ closed door romance

I was immediately intrigued by the synopsis for this book: Romantasy + Shakespeare = what’s not to love. Etta Capulet and Roman Montague have been raised to hate each other, as their families have for generations. But something seems to pull them together, and they soon start to question whether it was ever really hate… or something else. Like the original, there’s plenty of angst. However, this retelling also has lots of spice and magic. Additionally, the author does an amazing job of tackling some of the complaints people have with the original. This isn’t a case of insta-love or the hero changing his love interest with little though. Kate King did a fantastic job of taking these characters we all know and leaning into the plot points of the original play, while still creating something fresh and fun.

Read if you like:
🥀romantasy
🥀enemies to lovers
🥀Romeo and Juliet retellings
🥀murder mystery
🥀fated couples
🥀dark academy

Catharina Maura has done it again—each time I read one of her books I’m convinced it’s my new favorite, only to have that place quickly stolen by her next book! So it goes without saying that Dion and Faye are hands down my new favorite couple. Dion has all that wonderful brooding angst of a great MMC, while Faye has a softness and insecurity that is relatable and makes you just want to protect her. Although on the surface they are pretty different, they still work so well together and bring out the best in each other.

I loved watching Faye grow as a character, and develop throughout the story. Similarly, I thought Catharina Maura did a wonderful job of building a relationship between Dion and Faye that led to growth and development of both characters. They grew as a couple and as individuals because of their relationship, and this was done in a way that was plausible but still interesting.

I also can’t go without saying that I really appreciated the way this author writes short characters. Sometimes short characters are written in a way that feels inauthentic and the details just don’t match the alleged height. While this is such a silly thing, I feel like Catharina Maura gets what it’s like to be really short and the little details she added into this book made Faye feel more real. While I totally acknowledge this is such a silly thing, it totally took this book over the top for me.

Read if you like:
🎹age gap
🎹billionaire romance
🎹tortured show more MMC
🎹contemporary romance
🎹piano/ music

* At the front of this book, there are trigger warnings. This includes domestic violence in the FMC’s home. While there is no domestic violence between Faye and Dion, please read the trigger warning if you think this might be an issue. show less

I came to this series after reading Dark Blood Academy (I know.. out of order). I while I don’t think it quite lived up to the next series in this universe, it was still great. The bachelor + magic + murder mystery = an interesting read.

I came to this series after reading Dark Blood Academy (I know.. out of order). I while I don’t think it quite lived up to the next series in this universe, it was still great. The bachelor + magic + murder mystery = an interesting read.

I came to this series after reading Dark Blood Academy (I know.. out of order). I while I don’t think it quite lived up to the next series in this universe, it was still great. The bachelor + magic + murder mystery = an interesting read.

I came to this series after reading Dark Blood Academy (I know.. out of order). I while I don’t think it quite lived up to the next series in this universe, it was still great. The bachelor + magic + murder mystery = an interesting read.

I think this is my new favorite Ali Hazelwood book! I might be a bit biased but I will always love a book with a FMC shorter than 5’1 and MMC taller then 6’2” (some of us were just never meant to be astronauts). Like her other books, Love on the Brain had a cast of quirky fun characters who need to get out of their own way in order to find love. In this book, a scientist is forced to work with her grad school arch-nemesis on a project for NASA. But things don’t start off well and Bee believes that Levi might be up to his old tricks. Is he trying to undermine her or is there something more going on??? You’ll have to read to find out.

Although many of the plot points where predictable, it was still a funny rom-com with compelling characters. I do think the ending seemed a bit rushed and I wanted a bit more of the after, but I still think this was a solid read.

Read if you like:
🧠romantic comedies
🧠women in stem
🧠enemies to lovers
🧠miscommunication tropes

This was a thoughtful and informative book on a major issue in the United States. This book did a wonderful job of sharing issues and information around maternal health of black women. The information in this book is relayed in a way that is accessible and clear. The use of stories makes this all the more real and emotional. Often books like this can be too caught up in the jargon, but this book was written so that even people without a medical degree can understand the nuances of this issue. Additionally, Dr. Rainford handles this with compassion. I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about this issue.

“No. No. But haven’t you noticed? Women are always told, chin up! Don’t complain! Be quiet! Don’t ever ask for more. If your life is hard, too bad, that’s your lot! Stay with the terrible husband, stick with the horrible job, keep trudging along until you die… No one ever tells women that it’s okay to leave. It’s okay to get out!”

French Holiday reminded me of 27 Dresses... but better. Merry has secretly been in love with her best friend Leo for years, but on the night she plans to tell him about her feelings, Leo meets Merry's little sister Angela. The next morning Leo and Angela are engaged, and Merry is left heartbroken. After the wedding and a spur-of-the-moment decision to quit her job, Merry accepts an offer from her godmother to spend three months at a French chateau. She needs an escape—a flight plan—and the chateau is just that.

The only problem: the property’s already been leased to her ‘nemesis’ Noah. Noah is a famous travel documentarian who is in France researching his next project and hoping to get answers about his past. Neither Noah nor Merry is willing to give up the chateau to the other, so they are stuck sharing the chateau and its only bed.

This book does not take itself too seriously and is full of humor and laughter. It is a great choice for anyone who likes tropes such as enemies to lovers or forced proximity romances. While reading this novel, I laughed regularly and shed a few tears. From angry lobsters to falling down show more castles to family mysteries, it will keep you entertained from beginning to end.

Thank you Netgalley for this e-ARC.

Read if you like
🦞enemies to lovers
🦞forced proximity
🦞vacation romance
🦞family mystery
🦞 light-hearted romance show less

When I read the blurb for this book, I knew that I had to read it. It was a second chance romance, that touched on legal work and travel—what’s not to love. The author did an amazing job of making the characters feel real and their careers seem genuine. I feel often jobs or passions can feel like props in books, where we either don’t get enough information to ground it or it’s a massive information dump. Here, the author created a wonderful balance, which made the characters so much more real.

The one issue I had with this book was the timeline. I usually love a nonlinear storyline, but, in this case, it didn’t work for me. The book started in the present, before going to the past, and then back to the present. By having the first four chapters in the present, I knew the conflicts/ problems and wanted to know how they were resolved. We then spent the next forty percent of the book reading about how those problems came to be. While this was the heart of the novel and very interesting, sometimes it felt like it was in my way to finding out what happened next… And I desperately wanted to know what came next, and how Dawn and Callan overcame these issues... But instead I was reading about how these issues came to be. It took all of my self control not to jump to the second present timeline, and then come back and read the past once I finished.

All that being said, I still really enjoyed this book. I thought the story was interesting and the charters relatable. show more It’s definitely worth reading if you like second chance romances or romance books that have connections to the legal field. show less

I was intrigued within the first two lines; in love by the end of the second page. Sometimes you just know that a book is going to be a new favorite from the first chapter—that was Plot Twist for me.

The leads were relatable without becoming stock characters common in so many rom-coms. Sophie was a curvy pansexual romance author who has never been in love. Dash was a short tattooed indie actor trying to find his place in the world with his new sobriety. That already made for interesting and compelling characters, but then they both got bonus points for talking about crafting and candles. As someone who loves making decorative concrete candles, I feel like I just met my new book BFFs.

This book did a wonderful job of covering tense topics, while still retaining the joy and laughter found in rom-coms. I loved this book, and am already looking forward to buying it in paperback when it is released. This was an easy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating from me and I 10 out of 10 recommend.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

After the death of her husband, the late Earl of Somerset, Eliza is shocked to learn that she was left an unexpected fortune. However, this fortune is subject to a morality clause whose arbiter is none other than the man she jilted ten years previously, the new earl of Somerset. When her childhood sweetheart, Somerset, returns from abroad, Eliza knows that their time has passed but secretly hopes to rekindle their previous romance. However, after a frosty re-introduction and rising pressure from those around her to control her new fortune, Eliza does something completely out of character and moves to Bath. There she establishes her own residence and starts to build a life for herself. She establishes new friendships, begins painting again, and begins to rethink what she wants out of life and who she wants to share it with.

I had been craving a regency romance for a while when I read the blurb for a Lady’s Guide to Scandal. I hadn’t read a Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting but decided to give this book a shot. I am so happy that I did. Sophie Irwin did an amazing job of instilling her story with whimsy and humor, while slowly ratcheting up the tension and conflict. She also left the reader as conflicted as Eliza—do we root for Somerset or Melville or both (for a minute there I wasn’t sure if I had accidentally found myself in a RH regency romance)? Because I was conflicted about who she should end up with, it made it easier to relate to Eliza’s feelings and show more emotions. This was especially true in the second half of the book. Like Eliza, I was disappointed and angry with Somerset and Melville. And like Eliza, I hoped that somehow she could be proven wrong. Thankfully Eliza gets the ending she deserves… though I do wish we got more of her happy ending.

All in all, this was a fun book that I am so glad I read. I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Read if you like:
🎨regency romance
🎨love triangle show less