lizanneyoung97

[lizanneyoung97]

BOOK REVIEW: NEVER BEEN SHIPPED BY ALICIA THOMPSON

⭐⭐⭐⭐

TROPES

🎸 (Estranged) Childhood Best Friends to Lovers 

🎸 Forced Proximity (They’re Literally on a Boat)

🎸 Rockstar Romance

🎸 Dual POV

I obviously had to read the new romance release about band members on a fandom cruise falling in love while I was on my cruise. I think music romance books are growing on me, and this may or may not be causing me to seek them all out and forget about my planned TBR.

Watching as Micah and John reconnect after what I would call a series of misunderstandings when the band broke up was such a nice story. While they certainly have life things to catch up on, it’s almost like no time has passed between them. There hasn’t been any bad blood, and it was nice that, at least for them, the band imploding didn’t impact how they ultimately felt about each other. And, the ending made me feel so warm and fuzzy.

Honestly, it was refreshing to see a childhood friends to lovers story where they hadn’t already been together romantically at some point. I feel like so many of these end up either like, while they’re in college, or later in life after they had a relationship that ended poorly. It was nice that John and Micah hadn’t ever been together romantically, though Micah, in particular, recognises the signs as an adult that there was something brewing beneath the surface. 

Maybe it’s just me, but there have been some excellent releases this year that are indirectly fandom related. In this case, the band is well-known because one of their songs appeared during a prom scene of a The Vampire Diaries-esque show, and they are on a cruise with the cast for fans of the show. The mentioning of the college season being bad immediately made me think of TVD, so that’s what I’ve been going with. Honestly, I love it. I love seeing these little fandom things in books, especially when fandom cruises are happening, and it just makes me feel like I’m reliving a bit of my childhood/teen years. 

Do I want a book about Steve? Yes. Is Steve married with children? Yes. But, I just need more Steve and his hilarious antics. 

[lizanneyoung97]

ARC REVIEW: PLAYING WITH MY HEART STRINGS BY H.K. GREEN

⭐⭐⭐⭐

TROPES

🌹 Reality TV Show (The Bachelor meets The Voice)

❤️‍🔥 Forced Proximity

🤫 Hidden Identity

💋 He Falls First

🧡 Dual POV

I love how much behind the scenes this shows. As someone who is always so skeptical about who gets to stick around on reality dating shows, especially after Hannah B.’s season of The Bachelorette, this was exactly what I wanted to see. Dusty is so over it before it even begins, and I can’t blame him in the slightest. It’s great to watch him change his mind as the process works, because to me, that means he remained open-minded about it all, and that’s always what I want to see in reality dating show participants. 

Part of what I always love about Green’s books is the emotional journey the MCs go on. In this case, Baylor and Dusty both know what they want, but have allowed people with who they see as having more authority over their lives to dictate what they do. While they don’t realize it, their decisions are directly impacting who is dictating the other’s life, and to me, it just shows how cosmic things can be. It’s like the Taylor Swift song “Everything Has Changed.” Dusty knew that something had shifted, he just didn’t know how, when he first saw Baylor. 

I think there are often times where our life feels out of our control, and that’s what Baylor and Dusty experience throughout this story. However, unlike many, they’re able to reclaim that control, even if it means blowing up everything they’ve known. While Dusty actively makes that decision, Baylor is arguably a bit more pushed into it in a way I was not expecting, but it left me rooting for them the entire time. But, they needed the other to get there, and it was nice to watch them realize that.

Thank you to the author for an eARC!

[lizanneyoung97]

BOOK REVIEW: LUCK & LAST RESPORTS BY SARAH GRUNDER RUIZ

⭐⭐⭐

TROPES

🍕 Second Chance Romance

That guy who you’ve considered your best friend, and who you met on your first yachting gig, and who you’ve had an on-again off-again thing with for nearly a decade, gives you an ultimatum and makes you decide what the two of you are by the end of the season? That’s a lot to put on someone, but I respect Ollie for standing up for himself.  

Nina is a character that is so relatable. While I hope the majority of people do not have to deal with the struggles she does, I think how she handles it feels so normal. She’s training to be an Olympic athlete, and when that’s taken away, she doesn’t know how to move forward. It’s an important story about how we need to better support young athletes, especially when all they’ve ever known their career to be is gone. I do think she might’ve had an easier time if she hadn’t had to deal with everything involving her parents as well, but I know more people than I’d like who have experienced that too. None of us want to think about a betrayal of that nature, but it happens to so many people, and it’s important to see that in the stories we read.

I think where this book stumbled for me was the third act. There’s quite a bit of unnecessary measures taken to make the third act break up feel worse, but it just feels like an awkward set back. Honestly, I think it would’ve been more effective for that third act break up to happen a bit sooner, and would’ve meant more for Nina’s character development.

[lizanneyoung97]

BOOK REVIEW: FROZEN ALASKA BY KATHERINE RHODES

⭐⭐⭐⭐

TROPES

🌲 Fated Mates

🌲 Instalust

🌲 Dual POV

I had to read the second one in the series while on my trip, and loved this one just as much as the first. Delia and Jason meet when she hires him to take her on a hike, and things only spiral from there. Much like the first, things move very quickly between them, but we get a better look at the socio-political issues happening. 

I particularly love Jason in this story. He is so caught up in what he believes is “expected” of him regarding his mate, based on how others in his pack behave, and when he feels like he can’t live up to that, he chooses to let that love go. While it is inherently for silly reasons that Delia doesn’t care about, it shows just how much he cares and that he wants what he thinks is best for her. Does it take his sister and others to make him come to his senses and realize that the obstacles he thinks are there are solely of his own making? Yes, but sometimes we all need that.

I love that we get more insight into the pack of coyotes in this one. It dives deeper into the dynamics between the packs, why some were exiled, and shows how that’s impacting all the shifters of the area. I’m curious to see how that narrative continues to build as we get the other perspectives of these months. 

[lizanneyoung97]

BOOK REVIEW: TAMING ALASKA BY KATHERINE RHODES

⭐⭐⭐⭐

TROPES

🌲 Fated Mates

🌲 Instalust

I downloaded this during a SYKD just before my trip, because it only felt appropriate to read a shifter book set in Alaska while I was traveling in Alaska. Jess and Garrett meet when he comes to fix some electrical issues with the cabin Jess and her friends are meant to spent the summer in, but everything changes for all of them after Garrett and his friends and family enter their lives. 

I enjoyed how easily the lore was included within the story. While Garrett is a wolf shifter, that isn’t the only kind of shifter in this universe, and the information about the magic of it all was spread throughout the story really well. I particularly loved how, during the third act conflict, it became clear all the friend group knew about the shifters and didn’t realize that the others knew. I can’t wait to keep reading and see the summer from other perspectives. 

I hope to see more about the changes coming to the magic, what happens to the exiles, and how it all plays a part in the shifter dynamics in the region. I also hope that something bad happens to Bart, and I will not give context as to why. You’ll know when you read it that he is an antagonist in his own right. 

[lizanneyoung97]

ARC REVIEW: ROLL FOR ROMANCE BY LENORA WOODS

⭐⭐⭐⭐

TROPES

🖌️ Found Family

🖌️ Forced Proximity

🖌️ Slow Burn

🖌️ Small Texas Town

I’ve been excited about this book since I first saw the Publisher’s Weekly announcement about it, and I’m so happy I got to read it a bit early. Sadie is trying to figure out her next move after losing her job. Thankfully, her best friend Liam has her move in with him in his home in Texas, getting her out of New York City to clear her head. What helps even more is finding a group of friends as Sadie plays Dungeons & Dragons for the first time.

I think the best part of the book is, as the reader, we got to experience the campaign Sadie and her new friends go on as well. I wasn’t expecting that part of the book, and it absolutely made the book everything I wanted it to be. It felt like two stories in one, and I, like the group, was completely flabbergasted by where the campaign went. I’m still in awe of Liam’s DM skills.

I think what makes Sadie and Noah’s relationship feel so special is that, despite both of them making significant, life-altering decisions, they do it on their own time. Sure, Sadie lets Noah know about something, but she works through the decision on her own. For a couple that’s only known each other a few weeks, this feels so much more realistic than many books. And, while I’m always for a whirlwind kind of romance, it is nice to read something that is rooted a bit more in reality. 

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC!

[lizanneyoung97]

BOOK REVIEW: FATED ENEMY BY VERA RIVERS

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was excited to read Evander’s story, so I just continued on with the series. He did not end up with who I thought he was going to in the best way. Briony is a great character to be in the head of, especially with her snark.

This is one of the best versions of “My friend beat me to it” I’ve read recently. Usually I don’t find these scenarios that believable, but I think in this case, it worked. While Evander and Will are friends, I think it’s more of a “friends” situation, so it’s not surprising to me that there wasn't a little shoving of shoulders for who would ask her to dance first. 

[lizanneyoung97]

BOOK REVIEW: BIG BAD MATE BY VERA RIVERS

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I’m continuing my reading with recent SYKD downloads! This is a shorter story told from the dual POV of Thorne and Iris. Thorne is an alpha who needs to mate, and Iris is a human who runs a combo animal rescue/veterinary clinic. 

How they meet is one of the funniest circumstances I’ve seen so far in a shifter book. It makes complete sense that a pack has to deal with situations like that, and it made me chuckle. And then how Thorne plays it all off, it’s just a fun way to portray a situation that happens in most shifter stories and set the tone in a great way. 

I already have my suspicions on who Evander’s mate might be, so I will need to keep reading to find out! 

[lizanneyoung97]

BOOK REVIEW: BIG WAVES DOWN UNDE RBY LIZ FIELDS AND JESS LYNNE

⭐⭐⭐💫

This is another recent SYKD download for me! After being left at the altar, Francine heads to Australia for her honeymoon on her own, meeting someone on the flight. This was a fun, quick read, and, like most books I read set in Australia, it makes me really excited to plan a trip there one day.

It was fun to be along for the ride on her week-long honeymoon. There were parts of this story that I think were unnecessary, particularly her ex-fiance reaching out to give her a reason why. It didn’t add anything inherently, not even really giving the character closure, and I don’t think the story needed that. That said, I like how casually the person she meets on the plane reappears after the flight. 

[lizanneyoung97]

BOOK REVIEW: CHRYSIX BY J.A. MERKEL

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I don’t know why I thought maybe Benji and Soren would catch a break in the next chapter of their story, but I was wrong. I think I just wanted them to not be in fight or flight mode, because I care. I’m glad Benji and Soren have seemingly found an ally. I’m treading lightly though, as nothing is guaranteed, but maybe this is the break I was hoping they’d have.

I love the worldbuilding that happens in this installment. Learning more about the gods and goddesses, and how that all plays into the Fall Gauntlet, helps set the stakes as more than just Benji and Soren fled the city and now people are after them. There’s a balance that they’ve risked without knowing it, and the gods are seemingly starting to lash out. It also really makes me question if the winner actually gets a wish, or is that wish coopted by the crown to maintain everything. I’m curious how it’s all going to play into the next three stories. 

I also like the mask discourse. I don’t want to spoil the narrative, but learning what we did means anything is possible from this point out, and that excites me. I’m curious where other masks could be, what their intention is, and how many others can reach out to people the way one did this time. 

[lizanneyoung97]

ARC REVIEW: SCARS OF ANATOMY BY NICOLE ALFRINE

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

TROPES

🐦 Sports Romance

🐦 He Falls First

This is the first contemporary romance book I’ve read where the entire book is from the MMC’s POV, and this was the perfect story for it. The “I don’t want a relationship until I met her” trope worked really well from the male perspective, and added something I haven’t seen in other similar books, especially with the full circle moment at the end. I don’t want to spoil it, because it did make me teary, but it gave a new meaning to “I saw her and knew she was special.” There were inklings of where it was headed, but I never thought it was going to be quite so much of a full circle, and I love it.

Scars of Anatomy hit all the right notes for me. The slow burn that keeps getting interrupted, the tutoring that becomes “tutoring,” a realistic anatomy lab schedule, the reasonable progression of the relationship, Bronx’s inner turmoil about his history, the use of hoodies. There were the scenes I expected in a college romance involving a football player, like her wearing his jersey to a game, and I like how they fit into their dynamic. It all comes together so well, and I would love to see another book just about Bronx and Olivia.  

Honestly, this makes me want to read more books like this from the MMC perspective. I’m sure they’re out there, and now I need to find them. 

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC!

[lizanneyoung97]

ARC REVIEW: COMING IN HOT BY JOSIE JUNIPER

⭐💫

TROPES

🥃 Age Gap

🥃 One Night Stand

🥃 Workplace Romance

🥃 Sports (Formula 1) Romance

🥃 Found Family

🥃 Accidental Pregnancy

🥃 Dual POV

While I enjoyed the first book in the series, I felt there was a significant lack of character development. Going into this second book, I was hopeful because of the dynamic in this story that there would be improvement in that department, and I was left incredibly disappointed. 

Coming in Hot is trying so hard to be too many things. I think the overall plot structure set the story up for failure from the beginning. We have what could be a full length story within the first 25% of the book, which then leaves the rest floundering and me as the reader trying to figure out what the intention is. It isn’t unpredictably fun, it’s just confusing. And, because character development was again shafted to the final 5% of the narrative, Natalia’s decisions never made sense. 

There was an effort to include significant themes like grief regarding parental abandonment, but because we are constantly being told things after the fact, like weeks to months later, rather than experiencing them with the character, none of it makes the emotional impact it intended to. And, though this is technically a dual POV story, Klaus’s chapters are so few and far between that they don’t add anything. I was left in the dark in the weirdest way and “surprising” reveals just came off as odd, since the natural progression or development for them was non-existent. 

Frankly, I’m bummed. As I become more interested in Formula 1, and as someone in journalism, I was excited for this book, and it let me down. There are so many important themes trying to come to the surface here, and none of them land due to the plot structure.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC!

[lizanneyoung97]

BOOK REVIEW: THE NIGHT IN LOVER'S BAY BY LIZ ALDEN

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I read this novella not realizing it was the precursor to another book in this series, and that was honestly the best way to do it. Marcella is a chef trying to see the world, and Seb is a deckhand on the superyacht she’s currently working for. 

As far as one night stands are concerned, the ending scene of the two boats sailing by each other made me so excited to read their second chance romance. It’s clear they’d both been harboring feelings for a while, and when they finally got to act on it, it resulted in her being removed from the boat. Had she effectively decided to get a new job? Yes, but that choice was taken away from her, and I’m upset for her. 

What I wouldn’t give to know what was running through Seb’s mind in that final scene. I need to know where he’s at after everything. 

[lizanneyoung97]

ARC REVIEW: TO SWAY A THIEF BY ELIZA TILTON

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I love Tavia and Lucius's story so much! A chance encounter leads to so much more as Tavia is just trying to make enough gold to help her parents, and Lucius has been stuck in a coffin for the last one hundred years. 

Both are closed off from being alone, and it’s nice to watch them open up to each other. Even before going out on the road by herself the last two years, Tavia’s parents isolated the family, meaning she didn’t get to interact with a ton of people. In addition to being locked in a coffin, Lucius didn’t really have people around him because of his line of work. 

The pacing of the story was great, with constant beats and decisions being made as Tavia and Lucius make their plan to take back something stolen from Lucius before he was put in a coffin. They are always moving and planning, and I like how on my toes it kept me as the reader. 

Thank you to the author for an eARC!

[lizanneyoung97]

ARC REVIEW: AFTERMATH BY MK AHEARN

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

TROPES

🩸 Grumpy x Golden Retriever

🩸 Smalltown

🩸 Romantic Suspense

🩸 Dual POV

Lenore lives in a small town that was rocked by a serial killer three years prior. Stone is an FBI agent that suffered the worst loss imaginable and decides throwing himself into a cold case is the best medicine. 

This story is a wonderful example of two people healing together. They both went through something unimaginable, and it’s taken a toll on them. Going on that journey with them, and watching as they both find something in the other that helps with that, was beautiful. In so many of these cases, while I love seeing it happen, I don’t think they’d actually be together long-term. When this book ends, I do genuinely believe their relationship will survive because they took the necessary time apart for both of them to heal and grow, rather than their relationship being solidified on a trauma bond. 

Outside of the romance plot, the crime-solving one worked well. Lenore’s interest in the case makes sense, as does her guilt, and I think the third act twist of who the killer is made a ton of sense. It felt like an episode of Criminal Minds, so I think that’s a win. As a fan of Spencer Reid, I was so excited about this book, and Stone delivered on what I expected of an MMC based on Spencer. I could picture Spencer saying most of Stone’s dialogue. 

I also love watching Lenore figure out her place in the world. She’s simply been treading water for so long, and it’s great to see her discover where her talents and interests are. I wish it hadn’t taken something of this nature to do that for her, but I like what the silver lining is. 

Thank you to the author for an eARC!

[lizanneyoung97]

ARC REVIEW: TO SWAY A FLAME BY BRIANNA R. SHAFFERY

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is my second read in the Tempting Thieves collection, and I loved it. Adelaide is carrying out tasks given to her by someone who helps her mother receive the illegal cure for an illness that plagues many, while Gavin is an archduke trying to protect the kingdom. 

This one was a dual POV, and it was great to see the suspicion on both sides. Gavin purposefully put out the job posting with the intention of luring someone who's been stealing from the elite, and when Adelaide appears, he thinks someone has fallen into his trap. While it’s not her necessarily that has, and there are several other factors that play that come to light, their dynamic is fun to watch. And it’s not even really them pulling the strings. 

Watching two people just feel that pull, while also trying to better a kingdom, is a great story. There’s action, romance, and intrigue, and I can’t help but root for it all. 

Thank you to the author for an eARC!

[lizanneyoung97]

BOOK REVIEW: MINE TO KEEP BY ANN MARIE CROFT

⭐⭐⭐💫

This was a fun read, even though I didn’t realize until I started reading it that it’s Valentine’s Day themed. It’s a dual POV, which I don’t find a lot in novellas, and I enjoyed that. I do think that dynamic worked well for the FMC, Sarah, but I would’ve liked to see a bit more from Joe’s perspective about what he didn’t like about how he handled relationships in his 20s. I think this story was paced well while still creating an emotional depth between the couple, which is always a plus with novellas.