• ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    THE MAP TO YOU by Rachel Stockbridge | ARC Review

    25th January 2022
    Cover of The Map to You (Rachel Stockbridge)

    THE MAP TO YOU (Next Stop Love #2) by Rachel Stockbridge

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    3.5 stars.

    The Map to You opens with a very long prologue, and then we skip ten months ahead. I believe that time gap is covered in the previous book, Next Stop Love, and while it would be nice to have the context in the first book, it is not necessary to enjoy this second installment.

    Varsity soccer player Sasha Deforest (21) likes the grumpy, artsy Kinsey Han (Chinese American) even before they became roommates. Now that they are no longer living together and the third person in their best friend squad Beatrice is not around, Sasha and Kinsey’s friendship quickly turns a bit awkward. But when Kinsey’s mother is hospitalized six hundred miles away, Sasha immediately volunteers to drive Kinsey, never mind all the classes they’re going to miss. Throughout the journey, Kinsey also begins to realize that Sasha is not as happy-go-lucky as she seems to be.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    RECKLESS GIRLS by Rachel Hawkins | ARC Review

    4th January 2022
    Cover of Reckless Girls (by Rachel Hawkins)

    RECKLESS GIRLS by Rachel Hawkins

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    MCs     : cishet white woman (*4)+ cishet white man (*2)
POV     : single 1st-person (present) + multiple 3rd-person (past)
location: Hawai‘i, USA + Meroe Island (fictional)
indie?  : no

    I read Hawkins’ The Wife Upstairs (my review) this time last year and couldn’t put it down. With Reckless Girls, I had a similar experience of wanting to keep reading to find out what’s going on, but unfortunately, the final reveal also happened to be a huge, unexplained plot hole that just made the whole build-up fell flat.

    Lux (25) has been stuck in life after her mother passed away from cancer. When she followed her boyfriend Nico (26) to Hawaii, she was hoping for some travel adventures but ended up working at hotels instead. Then Brittany (22?) and Amma (22?) showed up, wanting to hire Nico to take them to Meroe Island, a secluded atoll famous for cannibalism legends in WWII. Soon, Lux finds herself heading for the island with Nico, Brittany, and Amma, but they aren’t the only one there. Rich boy Jake (30) and his girlfriend Eliza (30) are also on the island. As the days go by, terrible things start happening, and Lux begins to see that this was not a friendly trip after all.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    SHAKEN OR STIRRED by Georgia Beers | ARC Review

    30th November 2021
    Cover of Shaken or Stirred (Georgia Beers)

    SHAKEN OR STIRRED (A Swizzle Stick Romance #1) by Georgia Beers

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    A new series with gay cousins and I’m so here for it! Shaken or Stirred is the first book in the Swizzle Stick Romance trilogy featuring cousins Julia, Vanessa, and Amelia Martini, respectively. I love this trio and am excited for Vanessa’s (On the Rocks) and Amelia’s stories because Vanessa is such a fun person who is an elementary school teacher and Amelia is in her late forties (48 in Shaken or Stirred) who takes zero bullshit. While Vanessa and Amelia seem to have more personality to them, Julia is… a business owner who is a workaholic. Maybe not the most intriguing character, her story was still an enjoyable one.

    Julia Martini (38) just bought Martini’s from her uncle and reopened the bar. When Savannah McNally (34), who works as a caretaker, comes in for a drink one day, sparks fly. But there is something going on between the Martinis and McNallys on top of other issues within their own families. Will Julia and Savannah retreat to their comfort zones and miss out on this chance of love?

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    THE BREATH BETWEEN WAVES by Charlotte Anne Hamilton | ARC Review

    26th November 2021
    Cover of The Breath Between Waves (Charlotte Anne Hamilton)

    THE BREATH BETWEEN WAVES by Charlotte Anne Hamilton

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    The Titanic journey lasted for six days from April 10th to 15th, 1912. It was supposed to arrive at New York on the 17th. To make the main characters fall in love within the timeframe is a huge challenge, and unfortunately, the chemistry between them wasn’t enough for me to be fully invested in their story.

    Penelope Fletcher doesn’t want to leave Scotland, but she joins her parents onboard Titanic after being heartbroken by her ex-girlfriend. Her roommate, Ruby Cole, is traveling with her sister’s family. As they spend more time together, they realize there might be something brewing between them, but the clock is ticking as they get closer and closer to their destination.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    PASSION MARKED by Ophelia Silk | ARC Review

    23rd November 2021

    PASSION MARKED by Ophelia Silk

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    A romance between a racehorse trainer and Nocturne centaur! The first few chapters really sucked me into the story but I was slightly disappointed in how the rest of the book played out. Ellie (human, she/her) and Nadine (centaur, demi-girl, she/her, Mx.) are cute together and I really liked their interactions and small touches. Note that there is also quite some sex scenes going on, but I’m here for the cuteness and Ellie’s attempt at winking.

    The writing of Passion Marked was enjoyable. It is my second book by Silk, and while the first one Spellbound (my review) was a fantasy romance with a simplistic plot, this book was somewhat too expansive for me. I had some issues with the pacing of the story where the first half was slow and everything happened close to the end. There is a lot of talk about magic, like Nadine’s Nocturne magic, but we don’t really get to understand how these magical elements worked. The only thing I know about Nadine’s magic is that… she has shadows that curl up at her hooves? So the world-building didn’t work great for me and I had the feeling of the world setting being just out of reach. I did enjoy the fact that there were phones and high school students of different species (just random characters; this book is NOT YA), making the world in Passion Marked feel more like ours.

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