• Book Reviews,  Fiction

    A Shot at Gold by Nicole Pyland

    30th August 2020
    Cover of A Shot at Gold (Nicole Pyland)

    A Shot at Gold (Sports #2) by Nicole Pyland

    Content warnings: loss of father figure, loss of loved one, alcoholism, anxiety

    “You’re not a terrible coach. You were just not meant to be mine because you were meant to be so much more.”

    Madison

    A Shot at Gold was a very emotional read for me but I don’t know why. I have never lost anyone close, and yet I still felt every bit of the main characters’ lingering pain and understood all their insecurities stemming from their losses.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Payback by Charlotte Mills | ARC Review

    27th August 2020

    Payback (Payback #1) by Charlotte Mills

    Content warnings: off-page arson, murder, suicides, pedophilia, rape, deaths of family members, sexual harassment; blood, cancer

    I did not expect the story to escalate like this.

    Dead body. Arson. Missing person. Throughout most of the story, I had trouble getting into the plot, connecting with detective Kate Wolf (34) and her boss Helen Taylor, as well as understanding their attraction. A lot of things did not add up for me, so it took me a very long time to get past the first few chapters and keep reading. Even as I was close to finishing, I couldn’t understand why everyone loved it so much. Until I did.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Spindrift by Anna Burke | ARC Review

    25th August 2020
    Cover of Spindrift (Anna Burke)

    Spindrift (A Seal Cove Romance #1) by Anna Burke

    Content warnings: depression, past suicidal thoughts, off-page death of family member, multiple mentions of animal deaths

    This is the first Burke’s book I have read, and I may have found a new auto-read author.

    Emilia Russo (30, of Italian descent, lesbian, depression) was a shelter vet. When her father passed away, her job of putting down innocent animals suddenly became too much. Now on leave and coping with depression, Emilia goes back to Seal Cove to renovate her father’s house for listing. She only plans to stay for a few months. When she accidentally falls into the ocean, it is her teenage crush Morgan Donovan (31) who happens to save her. Morgan, who is also a vet, is recently dumped by her fiancée and still wary of love. Off to an embarrassing and rocky start, the pair keep running into each other in the small town and gradually grow closer. After befriending Morgan’s supportive friends and falling for Morgan, Emilia finds herself reconsidering selling the house, and maybe staying for good.

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  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Both Ways by Ileandra Young

    15th August 2020
    Cover of Both Ways (Ileandra Young)

    Both Ways (The S.P.E.A.R. Mission Files #1) by Ileandra Young

    CW: speciesism from Danika, homophobia, violence, pregnancy, blood, one-time unintentional misgendering from Rayne, one-time nonconsensual m/f kissing

    This book was nothing like I imagined and completely outdid my expectations.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    A Love that Leads to Home by Ronica Black | ARC Review

    31st July 2020
    Cover of A Love that Leads to Home (Ronica Black)

    A Love that Leads to Home by Ronica Black

    Is it a good thing that I tend to love toaster-oven romance more than most other tropes? A story where at least one party is figuring out their sexuality almost always focuses more on the development of the relationship, and I love an extremely slow-burn book where both characters try to understand what they are feeling for each other. Reading toaster-oven romances is often like experiencing falling in love all over again, and Black’s A Love that Leads to Home is one of those beautiful works.

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