Romance Wrap-up 8/16/21 to 8/31/21

 Playing House - Cassie-Ann L. Miller

This is the first book in the Playboys of Sin Valley series and follows Sera and Jason.  He's her brother's best friend and he's been secretly in love with her for years.  On the morning of Sera's wedding, her fiance leaves her at the alter and after a few too many drinks Sera and Jason end up getting married.  Jason had already agreed to let Sera stay with him while she gets back on her feet and now that their married, he just might not let her go.  Overall, I liked this story pretty well, but I did have some trouble with the relationship between Sera and Jason because I just didn't really get on board with Sera making the emotional switch so easily.  They only had so long to file for an annulment of their marriage so obviously they were going to fall in love before that deadline.  I realize Sera's ex-fiance was a real jerk so obviously it was easier for her to get over him because of those circumstances but there was a good amount of hesitation on her part to actually give this relationship with Jason a shot.  Jason, on the other hand, has been in love with Sera for forever and is really grabbing onto the silver lining of the whole situation.  He's never been the serious relationship type so this is new territory for him as well and it felt sometimes like he was glossing over Sera's feelings in favor of his own.  I think their dynamic would have worked better for me if Sera wasn't engaged and maybe instead it was just a long term relationship.  I did like in the later part of the book how they both would hype each other up when they were struggling with something and the relationship finally felt like it was moving past the physical attraction and I could actually see these two getting along emotionally as well.

Ruthless King - Meghan March

This is the first book in the Mount Trilogy and it follows Keira and Lachlan.  He's the king of the New Orleans underground and she's the owner of a whiskey distillery.  Keira is trying to get her family business back on track after her deceased husband was found embezzling from the company. What she didn't know is that he took out a loan from Lachlan and it is time to pay up.  Keira doesn't have the money but Lachlan wants something else in return - her.  This book was not for me although it is highly rated on Goodreads (4.14 avg with 25k ratings). I love me a good mafia romance and some dub-con trope if it is done well.  This, in my opinion, was not done well and it really hinged on the fact that we get almost nothing from Lachlan and a lot of negative feelings from Keira. After Lachlan gives her a deadline, Keira eventually agrees to his deal when it is clear that this is the only way to save the distillery.  She tries to draw boundaries for their arrangement and he blatantly disregards them and tells her that she's his property and he'll do what he likes to her.  This, on its own, is somewhat standard mafia romance fare  but Lachlan carries through on his threats every time and the only perspective we get is Keira really hating Lachlan and what he's doing to her.  It was uncomfortable to read and I didn't get so much of a hint of any real care between the two of them.  There was one point where Keira cut her hand and Lachlan seemed to care about her for a split second before tending to her wound so that it wouldn't ruin his night.  It doesn't help that all but maybe 2 scenes are from Keira's POV so we only see her hatred for him and how almost sociopathic he comes off being.  Maybe if we had gotten more from his POV or they had some actually nice times together (like if the hand cut was handled better) then this could be a couple I could root for.  The whole trilogy is their story and considering I almost DNF'd this book, I won't be continuing.

When Sparks Fly - Helena Hunting

This friends to lovers story follows Avery and Declan.  Friends since college and now roommates, the two have always been close but never crossed the line.  Avery has a great life running Spark House, a hotel/event space with her two sisters and spending her free time with Declan and their friends. However, that all comes to a halt when Avery is in a car accident and ends up needing care around the clock. Declan steps up to the challenge and goes above and beyond to help Avery as much as he can.  Spending every day together sparks a long-held flame in both of them.  However, their relationship isn't as solid as they might think and just as Avery is getting back on her feet, it all comes tumbling down.  I really enjoyed this story and how great Avery and Declan are with each other.  Their friendship is really established on the page before any hint of romance comes up.  I also loved how attentive and caring Declan was to Avery, even when she was getting frustrated with him having to help her with everything.  I really loved the slow burn chemistry between them and how carefully both of them acted because they didn't want to give up their friendship.  We do see a little bit of their flaws earlier on in the book, but I do wish we had gotten a little more of a ramp-up to the act 3 break up considering how big and explosive that ended up being.  It felt a bit out of left field, especially given how solid Avery and Declan's friendship and relationship were up to that point.  Thankfully a big blow up like that didn't go unchecked and it was therapy and lots of time to the rescue for this couple.  I really loved the positive therapy aspect both for individual therapy as well as couple therapy.  This was a super cute read and I really hope Avery's sisters get their own books in the future!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for review.  Expected publication date is September 21, 2021.

The Marriage Contract - Katee Robert

This is the first book in the O'Malleys series and follows Teague and Callie.  Callie was promised to the son of a different crime family but after his unexpected death, she ends up engaged to Teague - a move to unite the families.  Both Callie and Teague are less than thrilled, but they understand the role they play in the greater scheme.  Plus, it doesn't hurt when they are both very attracted to the other.  However, the death of Callie's original betrothed leads to a war between the families and with both Teague and Callie keeping secrets, there's a good chance someone will end up dead.  I liked this book, but it didn't really hit the points that I like in my mafia romances.  I prefer my mafia romances to either be pretty dark or to be more romantic-suspense and this one just felt more like a contemporary romance with some mafia sprinkled on top.  Since Callie and Teague actually liked each other and were generally nice people, any dark romance elements went out the window.  The romantic suspense elements were there a little bit, but a lot of the crime/revenge planning and scheming was done off page and our main couple was just informed about an upcoming strike a lot of the time instead of being involved.  Or, if they were involved, the reader doesn't get to see it until the end of the meetings where everything is decided. I thought Teague and Callie were really cute together and they had really great chemistry. I think this book does a good job setting up the rest of the series since we get to meet a lot of the other family members as well as set up the overall relationship/conflict between the three families. I'd be interested in continuing on in the series (especially since the next book seems like maybe an enemies to loves situation which is more in line with how I like my mafia romances to go).

Fix Her Up - Tessa Bailey

This is the first book in the Hot and Hammered series and follows Georgie and Travis.  Travis is Georgie's brother's friend and just recently retired pro-baseball player and Georgie has been in love with Travis since they were kids.  Now, he's back in their hometown and he's a little lost with what to do with his life now.  Georgie is a one-woman children's birthday party queen - a far cry from her family's house flipping business. When Travis gets the opportunity to get back into baseball, he needs to prove his days of sowing his wild oats are over and the two agree to fake-date.  Their agreement will show Travis has settled down and Georgie is grown-up enough that maybe her family will finally take her seriously.  I really loved this book.  Georgie and Travis were the perfect type of grumpy/sunshine relationship and it was great to see them both be comfortable enough to open up.  They both have some pretty deep feelings and insecurities that come from their family dynamics, but they are so supportive of one another. At first, Georgie can come across as a little immature and air-head-y and Travis has a bit of a temper and a real big chip on his shoulder.  However, I found their characters to quickly get to the root of those feelings (which were both pretty solid defense mechanisms in my opinion) and their relationship really seemed to break down those walls for each other. I also loved Georgie's group with her sister and best friend that they start to support each other's ambitions and to keep each other accountable.  All the characters felt really well developed and all the relationships (familial, platonic, and romantic) felt really authentic and really enhanced the overall story.  This is my second Tessa Bailey book (and my second 5 star rating) so she's quickly climbing into 'auto-buy' status for me.

Planet Lara: Tempest - Eliza Gordon

This is the second book in the Planet Lara series and picks up pretty much right after the events of book 1.  Since this is a romantic-suspense trilogy, I'll try my best to keep the spoilers of book 1 to a minimum during this review of book 2 (no book 2 spoilers) but of course even sharing a description of this book would spoil the events of book 1 so I'll just skip to my thoughts.  I thought this was a really solid book 2 but it did feel like it had a bit of middle book syndrome going on.  With both the romance and the suspense aspects, it felt like the first half of the book was catching back up to the ending of book 1 and then only really moving forward a little bit.  As an example, for the romance part, Lara and Finan have a fight at the end of book 1 so tensions are high during the beginning of book 2 and it takes them a long time to get back to where they left off.  On the one hand, I think this is more realistic because of course they'd need some time to get their feelings straightened out but since it took so long to get back to where they were, it didn't feel like any real progress had been made by the end of the book.  My same feelings hold for the suspense aspects of the story where we thought A at the end of book 1, then turns out that wasn't the whole story so we backtrack a little, find some more information, and then we're back where we started and there's only time for a little more forward momentum.  Again, this makes for a compelling read with the added layers that we didn't know about previously, but it sort of made the book feel like it was treading water and waiting for the reader to gather up all these bits of info before moving onto the third book (which is coming in December and I can't wait!). As a disclaimer, I don't read a lot of series so maybe I'm a little over-sensitive to this sort of pacing. All that being said, I was super engaged the whole time and read this book in one sitting (after staying up a little too late on a worknight).  I was super intrigued with the breadcrumbs we were following for the investigation but also in the interpersonal relationships being explored in the story.  I liked how we spent a good amount of time widening Lara's circle of friends and seeing her become more comfortable with her role as a leader on the island.  Lara and Finan (and Humboldt)  have my entire heart and I can't wait for book 3 to release so those two can finally get their happily ever after.

TW/CW: alcohol as a coping mechanism, miscarriage

Thanks to BookSirens and the author for the ARC - I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Liar of Red Valley - Walter Goodwater

 

This mystery/fantasy/horror follows Sadie - a young woman who is unexpectedly made the new Liar of Red Valley.  The Liar has the power to make lies into truths at the cost of only a little blood but with that power comes threats in multiple forms.  Red Valley has three rules that every child learns while growing up - do not trust the Liar, do not go in the River, and do not cross the King - and when Sadie finds herself in a battle for her life and the future of the town of Red Valley, she just might consider breaking the rules.

 I absolutely loved this book.  Fantasy is a genre that I want to like but I find myself not meshing with it in book form (audio books are okay, TV or movies are much better).  This book, however, hit the bullseye of very specific things I like in my fantasy books and the rest of the book came together so precisely that I ended up loving this story.  I found this a really nice mash up of mystery, fantasy, and light horror that I think would appeal to readers of all those genres.  

The fantasy elements, I thought, were introduced perfectly.  The story is set in Red Valley, California so we are pretty grounded in reality.  In fact, Red Valley is a pretty normal town that is just vaguely magical.  There are some magical creatures, some people have magical powers, the King is magical, but we don't get into too many specifics. We get eased into the different layers and magical elements as the story progresses so I never felt overwhelmed or confused and the elements have a good habit of building on each other so I never felt tricked or cheated. We find out one tidbit, then have a bit of time to adjust, then we find out another tidbit, etc.  I also really enjoyed the way the townspeople acted about the magic as well.  Everyone just sort of accepts that magic is a thing in this town but no one really seems all that bothered to figure out the exact reason for it. There is a sort of reason given, but when it comes to questions like "why is there only one Liar", no one really has an answer, it is just how it has always been.  I really enjoy that sort of *shrug*  explanations when it comes to the magic systems in my fantasy stories.  However, if you're a reader who really wants a deep explanation into the roots and history of the magic, then this book isn't for you. The fantasy elements were just accepted by the characters so when they were presented to the reader, I would just accept them alongside the characters.   I was getting pretty solid Welcome to Night Vale mixed with SCP Foundation vibes for the town and I was onboard from page 1. The horror elements were pretty light and I found they leaned more toward creepy and slightly bloody.  A lot of the fantasy elements leaned on the darker side (no bubblegum pink fairy godmothers here) so we get a good amount of creature horror.  I'd say it was the same level of horror as a summer blockbuster zombie action movie. 

The characters were really well developed and the side characters had really strong characterization which made it easy to sink into the narrative.  We are primarily following Sadie throughout the book (but do occasionally follow some of the outside threats to the town as they arise in the second half of the book) so we see her interactions with the townsfolk and how growing up as equal parts famous but also a bit of a social pariah given the implications of being the Liar. Sadie does have a close friend and the two do a good amount of investigating together in the story.  I thought their friendship was really well illustrated and while we obviously don't get a whole play by play of their whole lives, the way they interact shows the reader just how great of friends they really are.  I really enjoyed Sadie's character and thought her development arc as the main character was really well done.  I don't believe her exact age is ever given, but she had graduated high school in the past few years so I'd say early 20s at the oldest.  I think a lot of the character development came from the fact that she'd been just living her life and following the rules the same way she'd always done when suddenly this extra responsibility is thrust upon her and she has to make the best of it.  There were multiple times when someone would ask her if she was scared and her internal voice would say 'of course, I'm terrified' but then she's pull herself up by her bootstraps and actually give some sort of witty/vaguely threatening retort. 

The ending was a little anti-climatic for me, especially given the ramp up of the events throughout the story.  As mentioned previously, we are following Sadie 98% of the time, but we do get some outside perspective.  My biggest complaint with the ending was that we stayed with Sadie instead of switching to one of the other perspectives.  We follow Sadie as she is putting together the last pieces of information she needs and then continue to follow her as she sees the big climax happening on the other side of town.  I wanted to see that big ending and since we had already established in the narrative that we do switch POV at times, I think getting a bit of those other view points would really solidify the gravity of the situation that Sadie was in.  It also would have been a nice pay-off for the reader.  Since we've been following Sadie through her investigation I was pretty invested in the outcome of all these plot lines converging only for it to come to the climax basically off page. I also would have liked a bit more of a gentle wind-down of the story.  This ended pretty quickly after the ending climax and I generally prefer a chapter or two of the aftermath to see how all the characters settled in after the events of the story.  We do get a really quick run through of how characters are feeling, but it felt pretty rushed and considering the whole plot of the book takes place in just a few days, I would have liked a moment where the characters could finally breathe.

The investigation and twists were really well done and I think they worked well with the fantasy elements.  Most of the investigating was pretty much driving around and finding the right person to talk to which could have been boring but when the people Sadie needs to talk to are a bit odd and fantastical and every conversation answers some questions but leaves with others, it was a really fun ride. I really enjoyed how a few of the twists were big enough to change how Sadie understood the history of the town she's lived in her whole life but they also made her more resolved to figure out what the real truth is.  I really liked how the process of the investigation really brought out Sadie's character and we saw her growth through going through all these trials without much preparation at all.  There was a nice mix of her both succeeding and failing at certain points that also showed her growth.  For me, this was first and foremost a mystery book with fantasy elements and it worked so well!

Overall, this was a really great read.  Great characters, setting, and mix of mystery/fantasy/horror.  I do wish we had gotten a bit more of a gradual ending, but I highly recommend!

Thanks NetGalley and Rebellion publishing for the ARC in exchange for review

Expected publication date is September 28, 2021

The Final Child - Fran Dorricott

 

Eighteen years ago, Erin escaped the serial child abductor and murder known as The Father.  Her brother, who was abducted at the same time, did not escape.  They were the seventh (and last) pair of children to be abducted and the true identity of The Father was never found.  Now, Erin has done everything she can to put her past behind her.  She meets Harriet, a cousin of the first set of siblings to go missing, who is writing a book focusing on the children and how their families want them to be remembered rather than focusing on the killer.  Erin, initially, wants nothing to do with the book especially because she can't remember anything about her time with The Father or how, exactly, she escaped.  However, strange items start showing up in her house and she feels like she's being followed.  Now Erin, with Harriet's support, is finally ready to try and remember what happened eighteen years ago and if The Father is connected to the events happening in the present.

TW/CW: child abduction, death of a child, alcoholism.

Overall, I really enjoyed this thriller and would recommend it with the understanding that it does not shy away from the subject matter so it won't be a good fit for all readers.  I think the subject matter of a serial child murderer is an interesting choice because it immediately increases the tension and stakes in the story.  I think having Harriet being the lens that we get most of the backstory through was a great choice.  She has a personal connection to the case and says multiple times that she's sick of everyone focusing on The Father instead of the children.  She is interviewing the families of the children to see what they want the world to know about their children so they are remembered as the individuals they were and not just victim numbers of a monster. Harriet does have a background in journalism so she has an investigative and inquisitive mind that comes into play later in the story but her focus throughout is 100% on the children.  

I thought the pacing in the story was great and really ramped up from mystery to full blown thriller by the end.  The beginning of the story was pretty slow and it took me until maybe 20% to be invested.  We're following Harriet and Erin separately as they are both going about their lives.  I get that this beginning part is more to show the status quo of their lives and how well (or not well) they're handling things.  The two women then meet and Erin is initially hesitant but when strange things start happening, she is more willing to hear Harriet out.  This starts a domino effect, of sorts, that it really felt like the two women couldn't stop even if they tried.  Once Erin started remembering small snippets, she kept wanting to know more.  There were times when Erin would be absolutely panicked about having to remember more or trying to figure out what something she remembered meant and Harriet would have to calm her down before they could move on with their investigation.  I found there was a good mix of reveals both in the physical world but also in Erin's mind when she'd have breakthroughs in her memory.  The stakes were consistently ramped up and there was less and less downtime between events which made this a real page-turner. In the second half of the story, most of the downtime the reader gets is small snippets of Harriet's book of interviews with the other families.  I think the addition of these breaks were great as not only a bit of a break for the reader but also to re-center the reader by reminding them what all this action is for, where the investigation is leading.  Sure, it would be great to figure out who is leaving Erin these things and why, but we can't forget about the other children. 

I really enjoyed the different POV we got throughout the book.  We get Harriet, Erin, and then a third POV that only uses nicknames.  The third POV was an interesting addition that we don't get right away.  We get a good amount of time setting up the story with just Harriet and Erin so when the third perspective comes in, we know it must be somehow related to what is going on with the other women but we just don't know how.  We get clarification about half way through the book, but until that point we aren't sure if this other perspective is current day or in the past, or if they have something to do with The Father or not.  I think the choices of when to switch POV were used very effectively to build tension and hint at things to come - especially when we figure out where that third perspective fits into the overall narrative.

The main part of the story that fell a little short for me were the characters of Erin and Harriet.  To me, they felt a bit underdeveloped to be the main characters.  I felt like I knew the same amount of information about them that I knew about the other secondary characters.  When we're introduced to them, they are both haunted by The Father in their own way - Harriet is obsessed with the case and using it to work through her memories of her cousins and her grief but Erin is obsessively trying to distance herself from the case.  I can understand that, for both women, having something that huge being in your life consistently can leave little room for other hobbies and relationships.  However, as a reader, I really wanted both of them to have something else going on in their lives.  The plot of the story was very intriguing and I did like how we got a little more history of both women as the story progressed, but as a character-focused reader, I wasn't really attached to or interested in these characters specifically.  It is a little hard to describe, but it felt like they were place holder characters that were waiting to be more developed in later drafts.  I wanted more background, more hopes and dreams, more hobbies, more friends so we can get an outsider's perspective.  To be clear, I don't think missing these details would be considered a plot hole or anything like that.  I think we get the bare minimum of details needed to show the stakes each character has in finding out the truth as well as explaining their drive to get answers.  And for more plot-driven readers, that might be the perfect amount of character development but I just wanted more and the story lacking those details did make the reveals and twists hit less because I was less invested in the characters.

 I really enjoyed the investigation as well as the ending, which I think are key points to hit home when it comes to mystery/thrillers.  I thought the investigation path was really well paced and made sense of what led them from one plot point to the next.  I also found the path of the investigation to be pretty realistic considering the two women didn't have any sort of extra skills or access to investigate - gotta love a mystery solved by Google and social media sleuthing!  The thriller aspect really cranked up in the last 1/3 of the book when the past and the present collide.  When it came to the twists in the ending, I could see most of them coming and it felt like that was done on purpose.  I think there's a lot of aspects mentioned early on that get included in the ending so even the twists felt almost like a logical conclusion to the investigation (well if we know X and Y, then of course A and B would have happened, for example). Of course, maybe other readers who don't read as many thrillers might not be able to see what was coming. This isn't one of those mysteries where the ending twists comes out of absolutely nowhere which I think is for the best.  I really felt like this story was equally about solving the mystery of The Father along with healing from the past.  So many points along the investigation, Harriet would check in with Erin and ask her if they should continue or if they should just pass the information along to the police and be done.  The amount of agency that Erin had now that she is ready to find out the truth was really great.  I think it was extra important since she was abducted when she was so young so now she can take back her life, in a way, and move forward finally.  This is really made clear at one particular point in the ending climax that I found particularly impactful. 

Overall, I enjoyed this mystery/thriller.  I loved the pacing, the investigation, and the ending but found the characters a little underdeveloped for my personal taste.  

Thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for the ARC in exchange for review

Expected publication date is September 7, 2021.

Murder by Numbers - Megan Mayfair

 

This is the first book in the Lemon Tree Bay Mysteries and follows Clara after she returns to her small hometown.  It wasn't her choice to trade in her big city life for the quirky coastal town of Lemon Tree Bay, but life is funny like that.  Turns out, she isn't the only person to recently return - her ex boyfriend is back in town as well.  He's a cop and dating the daughter of local royalty which wouldn't be too bad until Clara finds herself walking into a murder scene of the local accountant.  His grandson, Lucas, had recently come to town and he and Clara flirted a bit as she cut his hair just before the body was found.  Now, with the town opinion split down the middle on if Lucas is a murderer or not, and with her ex investigating her new crush, it might just be up to Clara to follow the clues and see if the math adds up.

This was a really cute cozy mystery with a side of romance that I overall enjoyed.  I've been slowly getting more into the cozy side of the mystery genre so I'm still figuring out what is usual for the genre.  I really liked a lot of aspects of this book, but there were just a few things that were missing that sort of dampened my overall rating.  That being said, I'd absolutely love to continue in the series in the future!

The one part that really hit it out of the park for me was the setting.  I love a quirky small town and Lemon Tree Bay does not disappoint.  The story is set in Australia which I knew when I started but somehow every time I sat down to read and saw the lighthouse on the cover, my New Englander came out and I somehow kept picturing small coastal New England towns.  The only issue this caused was me being confused for like half a second when details like it being nice weather for a picnic in February popped up but that is 100% on me.  We got some great key details about the town that really helped solidify the atmosphere for the story.  A little eccentric, a little touristy, a little beachy, and a whole lot close-knit.  As with any small town, the local characters are also out in full force in the story which, again, added to the overall atmosphere. I think Mayfair did a really great job of balancing the number of places we needed to go to in the story so that the reader wouldn't get overwhelmed.  This book is on the shorter side (270ish pages) so if we got much more, I think it would have gotten confusing.  It also helped that we returned to a few of the places more than once so by the end, I felt really familiar with those locations (I'm assuming they'll continue to play a pretty significant role in later books).  There was one scene where there's a cricket match on the page and I've never seen a game of cricket played in my life so I was a bit lost in the terminology.  However, that isn't a fault of the book and Mayfair, to her credit, made it very obvious what was a good thing or a bad thing in the game so even if I didn't exactly understand the scoring rules, I could still follow along. 

I'm a little torn on the character relationships in this story.  On the one hand, I really loved Clara's relationship with her mother and with her friends/acquaintances.  She's very friendly and kind to the people around her and Mayfair does a great job at sticking in little details about the history the characters share. However, her relationships with her ex and Lucas I found to be underdeveloped for my taste.  For an example, when we first see her ex, she asks him 2 questions - what he's doing back in town, and if he's still seeing his girlfriend.  I got a real feeling of animosity and assumed that maybe the ex cheated on Clara with this other woman or maybe he got with this other woman really soon after the break up. But when we eventually find out the reason for the breakup, I didn't feel like it matched the level of emotion that was shown by both Clara and her ex.  I think the reason for the break up was fine, but I needed a little more emotional development or insight in order for me to fully understand and be on board with how Clara and the ex were acting.  My issues with Clara and Lucas were similar - basically just boiled down to I didn't get any real chemistry between them so I wasn't understanding how they were romantically involved.  It seemed like Clara had more chemistry with her friend the barista at the cafe than she had with Lucas.  Most of the story is told from Clara's POV, but we do get the occasional snippet from both her ex and Lucas but I didn't find these snippets sufficient to make up for what I was missing in the relationship.  Since this is the first book in the series, I thought maybe we'd only get a few details but these two romantic relationships might get further explored in the next books.  However, all plot lines were wrapped up by the end which left me a little bummed that we didn't get more development during the book.  This might just come down to a personal preference or what I'm used to from reading a lot of straight-up romance books, so maybe other readers won't feel the same.

I really enjoyed the path the investigation took and I'm finding that my favorite cozy mysteries (or maybe most cozy mysteries do this) rely pretty heavily on small town gossip.  Small town secrets/gossip is almost always a winning trope for me and this book was no exception. We get a good number of secrets being mentioned and there was a good mix of outcomes -  true, but not relevant to the investigation; half true; 100% false; and, of course there's true, and the key to the investigation. I thought the reason for Clara getting involved in the investigation was unique and very realistic for someone who doesn't have any law enforcement or journalism background.  Clara is very much just a regular person who is doing her best to make sure all lines of the investigation are exhausted. I thought the eventual reveal and motive for the murder was also unique, well developed, and realistic.  I did have a bit of an issue with the pacing at the end where we go pretty quickly from Clara putting all the pieces together to suddenly her being in danger when there wasn't any previous threat of danger.  The danger element is quickly handled (like in a page or two) and then we're back to normal.  It was just a bit of a jarring situation and I wasn't necessarily expecting that level of danger based on how the investigation was going so far.  I would have preferred maybe a little bit of hinting at danger (maybe some threatening notes or shady figures lurking around) before we got the actual danger on page. 

 As a final note, there's also one key detail about Clara that isn't mentioned at all in the book description (so I'll consider it a spoiler and not mention it specifically) but it threw me for a loop.  It isn't a bad thing by any means but it felt like such a key detail for Clara, the investigation, and her relationships that I was surprised it wasn't mentioned in the description and just sort of plopped down into the book.  This is the first book from Mayfair that I've read so I'm not sure if Clara was a side character in a different series or not but this one detail really made me feel like I was missing out on something.  That being said, I really loved this one detail and wished it was used more throughout the investigation.  I read another romantic suspense/mystery book last year whose main character had a similar trait and I thought it was really fun and a great detail but that trait was used much more in that other book and I wished we got a similar sort of structure in this story. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this cozy mystery and can't wait to return to Lemon Tree Bay.  I loved the setting, atmosphere, investigation, and most of the character relationships.  I would like more development between Clara and the love interests (both current and former) so maybe I'll get more of that in the future books in the series.

Thanks BookSirens - I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

 Expected publication date is September 24, 2021.

Romance Wrap-up 8/1/21 to 8/16/21

 

Feed - Aveda Vice

 

 

This novella is the first in the Fangs with Benefits series and follows Avirin (a succubus) and Pye (a moth fairy). Avirin uses a service in order to feed in a safe and controlled manner and when she opens the door for her newest appointment, she finds Pye waiting there.  We're told the two butt heads at the office, but their chemistry is off the charts once they're inside the apartment. This was a short and steamy read but the world building and character creation that Vice was able to do in such a short page count was really great.  My understanding is Vice is working on making this a full length novel so I'm looking forward to getting some more BDSM-y monster lovin'.  (TW/CW are listed in the description on Goodreads and on Amazon)

 

Skin - Aveda Vice

 

This novella is the second book in the Fangs with Benefits series and follows Harbinger (a banshee) and Flint (a gargoyle).  Whenever Harbinger touches someone, she is able to tap into their emotions.  She tries her best to keep her skin covered to avoid any accidental touching, but when her and Flint get into trouble during a job, they accidentally touch and now she is intensely aware of his feelings - for her. This was a bit lighter on the BDSM side of things than Feed, but still very steamy.  I liked the amount of connection that Vice was able to build between these characters and I'd love a whole series of romantic suspense stories following them on their adventures. (TW/CW are listed in the description on Goodreads and on Amazon)

 

The Dating Playbook - Farrah Rochon

 

This is the second book in the Boyfriend Project series and follows personal trainer Taylor and former NFL player Jamar.  After a knee injury ended his rookie season, all the sport blogs and commentators said Jamar would never play again.  He wants to prove them wrong and Army brat Taylor, with her no-nonsense attitude and drill Sargent training style is just the person he wants to whip him back into shape.  Only condition is: no one can know what they're doing.  So when they're spotted together by a journalist and questions start flying, Taylor says the first thing that comes to mind: they're dating.  I really enjoyed this story and thought Taylor and Jamar were really perfect together.  Of course, a personal trainer and NFL player were going to have the physical attraction, but their relationship went deeper than that.  They worked through a lot of personal history together and helped each other realize what they actually wanted out of life.  I do wish the fake dating part lasted a little longer or had more pull on the plot.  My favorite part of fake dating stories is when they are forced into a real life situation that causes them to become a little too close (like dates to a wedding, for example) and I didn't feel like the fake dating had enough emotional consequences in this story for my personal tastes. I thought Taylor and Jamar had really well developed characters and character development (both apart and as a couple) through the story.  

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for review.

Expected publication is August 17, 2021

 

Her Soul to Take - Harley Laroux

 

This is the first book in the Souls Trilogy and follows Leon and Rae.  He's a demon following orders to kill, she's a human that was picked to be his victim.  But once Leon is off his leash, he doesn't want to kill Rae, he's intrigued by her and her dark desires. Rae has returned to her home town after years away, only to find herself the focus of a cult that plans to awaken an old God that lives in the abandoned mines.  She's meant to be a human sacrifice, but Leon isn't giving her up that easily.  This book wasn't exactly what I was expecting but I loved everything about it.  I really thought this was going to be much more sinister and darker, but I found this to be a dark romantic suspense where most of the 'dark romance' aspect came from the BDSM elements and not so much from the surrounding world.  I was intrigued from the very beginning, especially by Leon's chapters.  He's a bit of a reluctant hero where initially all he wants to do is escape his imprisonment by this cult and return to his home in Hell, but once he meets Rae he just can't leave her behind. He's possessive, he's alpha-y, but he has a soft spot for this one human. Rae was a bit of a frustrating character because she really didn't seem to have an ounce of self-preservation or rational thinking since she kept going and doing things that Leon told her not to (like fight supernatural creatures by herself). But, taking a step back, that's exactly what her character would do because she keeps reminding herself (and the reader) that Leon won't be around forever so she needs to figure out how to take care of herself.  I really enjoyed the suspense plot with the cult and can't wait to continue on in the series. Between this book and the two Aveda Vice books above, I think I might have found a new favorite sub-genre.

(TW/CW are listed in the description on Goodreads and on Amazon)

 

Deliver - Pam Godwin

 

This is the first book in the Deliver series and follows Liv and Josh.  This is my second Pam Godwin book and I can honestly say that her books are some of the darkest subject matter I've read but I'm not entirely sure they're my preferred brand of dark romance.  Liv is a Deliverer in a human trafficking network.  She picks a person that fits the buyer's list of requirements, takes ten weeks to break them down and rebuild them to the buyer's specifications, then she delivers them and walks away.  Josh is her eighth victim.  Unlike her previous victims, Josh sees past the mask that Liv puts on and he wants to not only free himself, but take her with him.  This was ... a lot. This book was 450ish pages and spent about the first 40% really establishing the world we're in.  Josh gets abducted right at the beginning, so then we're spending a lot of time as Liv attempts to torture and break him down.  We also see Liv's perspective and how she feels about what she's doing as well as some information on how she came to be in this position.  Liv is a very complex character and I really liked how we got to peel back her layers as the book went on.  I couldn't really get my feelings straight about Josh - at first, he felt really realistic and I was interested to see how he'd handle the situation but then it felt like he flipped a switch into savior mode and I didn't really understand how he felt about Liv.  Of course, this is a romance, so the two have a happy ending, but it really felt like more of a happy for now because I really didn't picture them having enough in common outside of their shared trauma to have a long term (and healthy) relationship. 

(TW/CW: a lot.  Seriously, this is a book about human trafficking and basically breaking down people so they can be sold to their new 'masters' and the process isn't pretty or consensual.)

 

Priceless - Miranda Silver 

This new adult dark romance follows Patrick and Christina.  Christina is a junior and spent all fall semester partying and blowing through her bank account.  Now, spring semester has started, she's trying to make up for her poor grades last semester as well as make sure she can pay her rent, utilities, and her Adderall dealer.  She sees Patrick across a party one night last semester and she hasn't been able to get his icy stare out of her mind. They reconnect at the beginning of this new semester and he has an interesting proposal for her - be his companion, do what he wants in bed, no relationship outside of his room, for pay.  But what Patrick wants at night isn't the lovey-dovey vanilla sex Christina is used to from her ex boyfriends, it is harsh, humiliating, and leaves Christina raw with emotion by the end. Overall, I liked this story but it might have been a bit overhyped by Twitter/Instagram.  This has dirty talk for days.  The things Patrick says are downright filthy but certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea and can be a little intense.  This book is about 340 pages long, and I found a lot of the middle repetitive.  There is a lot of on-page sex and Silver does not hold back - it is steamy. But there are only so many times I can hear Patrick call Christina names and have her go weak at the knees before I get desensitized and start to skim read.  Since they only meet up to go to bone town, there isn't much opportunity for relationship growth that isn't related to the sex so I get why we had so much.  I did really enjoy their little conversations after sex and how those conversations added up over the weeks to really getting to know each other. I also liked how the sex did morph from strictly physical to being emotionally cathartic which I think is something not touched on in a lot of the darker romance I've read.  Most of the book is told from Christina's POV and I would have liked to get more from Patrick (we get a few chapters throughout the book, but is isn't close to 50/50 like a lot of romance books).  

(TW/CW: drug use, infidelity, BDSM specifically degradation/humiliation kink)

The Liquor Vicar - Vince R Ditrich

 

This story follows Tony Vicar, a failed rock-star turned wedding DJ, just plodding through his life.  Until one day when he comes across a fatal car accident and helps a woman who is barely clinging to life.  Word quickly spreads of the vicar who brought the woman back to life.  Vicar insists he did nothing but talk to her (and he isn't an actual vicar, that's just his name), but his protests cannot quell the rumors.  Add in a lucky guess at a lottery ticket, an obsessed stalker, and a former exotic dancer and Vicar's life just gets increasingly absurd.

I wanted to like this book.  The description seemed right up my alley with the promise of black comedy and the book tagline "the mildly catastrophic misadventures of Tony Vicar". But this missed the mark by a good margin for me.  I did like the last 30%, but the first 70% was just not for me.  There isn't anything glaringly bad about the book but it really came down to just being so boring that I can't really recommend it.  It does seem to be the first book in a series and I'll consider giving the second book a chance because this had some good points but mostly hit way out in left field.

So what I thought this book would be based on the description and the tagline would be a series of sort of campy accidental miracles that would keep getting Vicar more and more attention that would eventually go to his head and then he'd have to come to some sort of realization that all this fame isn't what he wanted afterall and he'd choose to go back to his roots of what really makes him happy.  And the skeleton for that story arc was in the book but it did not go anywhere.  We know he's a washed up, wannabe rock-star.  He's been a part of countless bands and cover-bands and is obsessed with music as only a musician can be (he reminded me a lot of Jack Black's character in School of Rock).  He starts getting all this attention for this woman from the car accident and he initially shrugs it off.  Then, there's an incident with him 'blessing' a lottery ticket and the fanfare increases.  This was where I thought Vicar would have the fame going to his head a bit, maybe getting a little excited at the idea of having all these followers (even the stalker). However, he has his girlfriend and friends to keep him grounded and he maintains pretty much through the whole book that he's just a normal guy. And that last point is my main issue with the book - there was pretty much no character development.  I'm pretty sure that anyone who would find themselves in their 5 minutes of fame would have some sort of development - maybe figuring out that they really like being in the limelight or maybe the opposite.  

After the lottery ticket incident, I thought that maybe the point was that all these absurd things keep happening to Vicar and he sort of plays the straight-man to all the chaos around him.  But even that didn't happen because most of the story was Vicar hanging out with his friends so we don't really see the people in the town getting all worked up over his 'miracles'.  Also, there were really only 2 main 'misadventures' that amped up his celebrity status and they both happened pretty quickly in the book so I wasn't sure why the excitement of people was still so high at points.  If anything, his girlfriend was the one who was outside any of this bubble and seemed to be pretty unimpressed.  As a character focused reader, I can deal with a pretty low action, low tension plot if there's good character development or character exploration.  However, I really didn't feel like there was any exploring done.  At times, it felt like this book was just a list of things that happened to Vicar as he lived his pretty mundane life.  Went to work, drove some deliveries, had a date with my girlfriend, those people were outside my house again asking for autographs, had a nice piece of pie for dessert. Everything was just monotone.  And if this book was meant to be some sort of lit-fic exploration of one man's life, then the description is really misleading. 

The last 30% of the book is where a lot of the consequences I was looking for came in, but they did seem to come out of nowhere.  Since we don't get to see how amped up the Vicar fan-club is becoming, we have no idea what level of celebrity Vicar is achieving.  Because of this, when the stalker plot line is introduced, it really felt like it came out of nowhere.  I would have loved to have gotten a split POV earlier in the book with this stalker maybe as soon as the car accident happened and they met Vicar for the first time and just latched onto him.  Maybe getting this outside perspective on the whole situation would have helped give the reader a different point of view that would then directly contrast Vicar's POV of just going about his life like nothing is really happening. When the stalker plot comes to a head, we do get Vicar thinking a little more about his impact on the community and how his 'miracles' have come across to people who really believe he can help them. So we get a tiny bit of character exploration, but it was too little too late for me.

I did enjoy the writing style and the dry humor throughout the book.  I think Ditrich does a great job setting the scenes quickly and introducing new characters effectively with just a few lines.  Ditrich really zooms in on a few key details that really give the reader a quick way to get an idea of what sort of situation or character we're meeting.  I really liked Vicar's character and how 'over it' he is about a lot of things.  He's set in his ways and he's a little grumpy which comes across in the humor style in the writing.  This isn't a character who is really over-the-top in his reactions to what's going on around him.  There were a good number of jokes and humorous parts that got a chuckle out of me but I love this dry humor style.  I think other readers who prefer more amped up reactions or funny moments would find this, for lack of a better term, too dry.

Overall, this story had an interesting premise but the execution was not there for me.  The book did end strong for me, so I'd be open to continuing if we get a second book.  Writing style and humor were a win for me, but I found the character development and plot pretty lacking.

Thanks NetGalley and Dundurn Press for the ARC in exchange for review

Expected publication date is September 14, 2021.

Bath Haus - P. J. Vernon

 

This domestic thriller follows partners Nathan and Oliver.  The two have been together for years and seemingly have the perfect life.  Nathan is a doctor and the two share a large house in Georgetown with their dog - a long way from Oliver's life as a drug addict in rural Indiana.  However, the two have drifted away and have let their relationship lag which is why Oliver finds himself at Haus - a gay bathhouse - and open to the idea of actually cheating on Nathan.  Olive is approached by a stranger and the two head back to a private room.  However, the encounter quickly turns violent and Oliver barely escapes with his life.  It may be easy to delete the hookup apps from his phone, but Oliver is having a harder time explaining away the hand-sized bruises that are forming around his neck.  Fearing that Nathan with leave if he found out, Oliver is dead set on keeping Haus a secret, but the man he met there might not have the same idea.

TW/CW: drug use, drug abuse, cheating, attempted sexual assault 

The pacing of this story is the most stand-out element to me. The book starts immediately with Oliver's trip to Haus and barrels forward from there.  There isn't a lot of downtime but the reveals just keep coming.  This was the definition of an unputdownable page turner and I flew through the book in one sitting.  Most thrillers I read, especially domestic thrillers, seem to take a while to pick up the pace and really only get going after about the 50% mark.  The first half of these books are often used to set up the relationship, show the cracks in the facade, and introduce a shady character or two.  In this case, we know from the get go that Nathan and Oliver's relationship isn't in a good place but we don't know the details of why.  We find out more details as the police investigation and Oliver's web of lies grow as the story progresses. It seemed like every new detail we got about their lives would lead to a new complication in Oliver's plan to keep everything a secret from Nathan. There's a pretty consistent ramping up of the tension and stakes as the story progresses which is how I personally enjoy my thrillers to go. 

I really enjoyed the characters and their dynamics in this story but I do wish the side characters were a little more developed.  This story is primarily about Oliver and Nathan's relationship and I really liked how quickly we were shown aspects of their relationship.  Right from the get-go, Oliver tells us that he has to call Nathan back within an hour of his voicemail, otherwise he gets upset.  Other details like who makes dinner, who drives home from the airport, etc really all come together to give the reader a view of how this relationship works. We then get the different POV of both Oliver and Nathan while they're alone and together which only deepen the character building.  We see what the other person notices, what their pet peeves are, what they think about when the other person is around.  I really like this way of layering character details as the story progresses instead of trying to jam everything in at the beginning or in one long info-dump.  When it came to the side characters, I do wish we got more of a similar building and layering to the characters.  For example, we know Oliver works as a receptionist of a friend of Nathan's and that friend and Nathan talk frequently.  But we never see them talking, we never get any sort of plot outcome of them being friends, we never see a new side of Nathan through his interactions with this friend.  Basically, I didn't find any real showing in the text of this relationship other than Oliver worrying that if Nathan finds out about Haus that he'd lose his job because his boss is friends with Nathan. Which is a fine place to start, but I wish we had gotten more layers of this relationship as the story progressed (maybe they weren't as good of friends as Oliver thinks, maybe Nathan owes this friend a favor, etc).  I had the same sort of issue with the other side characters where they really felt just like devices to push the plot forward but I never really got a good sense of the relationships there. 

My main issue with the story revolves around character motivations.  I found myself suspending my disbelief a few different times when certain information was revealed because I figured we'd get more of an explanation later in the book.  And while we do, technically, get a bit more explanation, it wasn't nearly to the extent that I wanted. This book is only 312 pages and there's a lot of plot packed into those pages which is why I was giving the book the benefit of the doubt that all would be explained by the end.  There were some pretty big questions I had at the end that weren't really answered.  There were a few that were technically explained but I didn't feel like the text supported the answer. A small example would be that Oliver feels that Nathan won't forgive him for cheating.  We are never shown any reason for him to think that with the amount of certainty bordering on fear that we see in the book. Of course, no one would like that their partner cheated, but we were never shown any information to explain Oliver's visceral reaction to the idea of telling Nathan.  If we had seen some conversation about how Nathan's previous boyfriend cheated and it is a complete dealbreaker now, or maybe they have a mutual friend who is cheating and Nathan doesn't understand how someone could do something so inexcusable.  The strength of Oliver's reaction doesn't line up with the Nathan the reader knows so I was left a little confused.  Obviously the plot of the whole book could have ended on page 5 if Oliver told Nathan, Nathan forgave him, and they went to couples therapy - so I was really waiting for a more substantial reason than what we got.  This same sort of mismatch happens with a few different characters and plot lines throughout the book and when we didn't really get satisfying answers by the end, I was a little disappointed.

The story is told in dual POV and dual timeline.  We get Nathan and Oliver in the present as well as some significant flashbacks to Oliver 5 years prior in Indiana.  I normally really like dual POV, but this was hit and miss for me.  For me, the POV switching in the beginning half was used really well to amp up the tension in the narrative.  We see Oliver trying to hide his trip to Haus and then we get Nathan's perspective on how Oliver is acting.  This back and forth when the lies are still (relatively) little really shows the reader what the relationship dynamic is like and how each of them read the other person's tells.  However, in the latter half of the story, the POV switches came across as feeling a bit manipulative.  I think my feelings about this tie together with the above point in regards to character motivation.  It felt like now that more secrets were getting revealed and we were learning more about these characters and their relationship, the POV changes were used to tease and mislead the reader.  It was like suddenly we were cutting away from a scene at a pivotal moment where we think X is happening but then later it is revealed that Y really happened.  For me, the reveals would have been surprising enough on their own without the misleading of the strange POV switch timing.  By the end, once all the information is revealed, I can understand why the scenes were cut off when they were.  However, as a reader, it really felt like I could see the puppet master strings moving everything around and it did take me out of the story a bit.  I did really enjoy the flashbacks to Oliver's past and I think those really helped flesh him out as a character and show some of his motivations and reasons for his current actions.

The ending was interesting.  I liked the reveals and I liked the idea of the ending but I found the execution to be a little messy for my liking.  I took some time to think it over, and I think my main issue is that the ending is where everything comes to a head and I think it highlighted my main issues with the character motivations and side character development.  By the end, we have a lot of characters all in the same place and reveals are dropping left and right.  But because of the iffy motivations and development, I wasn't sure how these reveals were landing or why certain characters were reacting in certain ways.  I had a lot of "wait, if character A wants X, then wouldn't they be happy about this reveal?  Why are they angry?" sort of confusion.  Again, it wasn't anything like a major plot hole and most of the answers I was looking for were eventually given but in a very hand-wavy sort of way.  The ending is also where we got some 'gotcha' reveals that came as a result of the POV switches happening at very convenient times which just felt a little unearned.  I liked the ending plot points like as bullet points on a list (A gets revealed, which leads to B, which leads to C) but the execution of those points in the actual story left me a bit underwhelmed.

Overall, if you want a non-stop ride of a thriller, this is the one.  The narrative goes pretty much 0 to 100 in the first 5 pages and then we're just holding on for the rest of the trip.  However, I wanted more out of the side characters, the character motivations, as well as the ending.

My Heart is a Chainsaw - Stephen Graham Jones

 

This story follows Jade, a seventeen year old girl with an abusive mother, absent father, and love of slasher movies.  She's the town outcast and feels like since the entire town wants nothing to do with her, she'll just escape into her own world where the rules of slasher horror are set in stone.  Now that the new housing development across the lake is ready for people to start moving in, the gentrification of the small town of Proofrock seems to kick off a series of deaths that look unrelated to all except Jade.  Where the local sheriff sees a boating accident and bear attacks, Jade sees a masked killer in search of revenge.  It will take all Jade's knowledge of slasher history, rules, tropes, and a reluctant Final Girl for anyone to get out of this alive.

TW/CW: suicide, animal death, sexual abuse of a child

This feels a bit weird to say about a book that is this bloody and intense, but this was a really fun read.  I read it over the course of a few days and every time I picked the book back up, I was instantly drawn back into the story.  Everything from the writing style, structure choices, character arcs, and atmosphere really came together perfectly for a really fun, summery, horror read.  There are some really heavy moments, it isn't all fun, but those moments fit in so wonderfully with the rest of the story that they didn't take me out of the story at all.  I think Jones really captured the feeling of those summer time blockbuster slasher movies in this story and I wanted to start reading the book again immediately after I'd finished it.

The story revolves pretty heavily around Jade's knowledge of slasher movies and I was a little nervous going into this book that I would be a little lost.  I really enjoy the plots of horror movies but I'm a complete wimp when it comes to actually watching them (I blame my overactive imagination).  I was forced to watch some horror movies during sleepovers in high school but they aren't my go-to movies to watch.  For example, I know the general plot of the Friday the 13th movies but I've never actually watched them.  I was worried that this lack of first hand experience would mean I would miss out on aspects of the story that I was supposed to pick up on.  However, I found that my general pop-culture level knowledge of slasher movies was completely sufficient to understand Jade and her planning throughout the story.  I think readers with zero knowledge of slasher films could absolutely still follow along in the story because Jade explains the tropes and expectations of slasher films really well to the reader through a few different plot devices. I didn't know a whole lot about the different plot beats of slasher movies so I learned about that aspect through reading this book and I didn't have a hard time understanding Jade's logic or thought process.  

The way Jones is able to build in these 'teaching' moments for Jade to explain stuff to the reader was really well done.  We know that Jade needs to finish a history class before she can graduate high school and throughout the book, we get these extra credit papers that Jade is writing for her history teacher that revolve around different slasher movie tropes or plot beats and how they relate to local legends or historical events.  Jade needs to explain these ideas because it is an academic paper, but it is still 100% focused on slasher lore and we get a little more background information about the town with each of these papers. These short breaks also give the reader a bit of breathing room from the main plot pacing which I always appreciate.  These papers also become important to the main plot of the book as it progresses which I thought was a nice touch to make them feel even more grounded in this world. 

The pacing of the story was just about perfect.  It did start out a little slow for me in the first 1/3 where we were just following Jade around and getting a feel for her personality quirks.  We get a death or two in this time, but it doesn't really feel like anything has really started yet.  The pacing does then ramp up pretty evenly during the middle 1/3 and the last 1/3 is full speed ahead (the big climax scene at the end was phenomenal).  The last 1/3 really felt more like a straight-up thriller but then the horror elements came in really strong at the last 10%.  I do wish we would have started ramping up the pacing and main tension a little sooner but that is just me being a little picky.  I did think Jones did a fantastic job at answering questions the reader probably had at just the right moment.  There were a number of times where I was reading along and thought to myself "why can't they just do X" and then a few pages later, someone in the book would pose that question and it would get answered. This happened with bigger details as well as small details where I found myself thinking "that was an oddly-specific detail to add in there, I wonder if it will be important later" and then 50 pages later, it was important.  I just really love when my brainwaves and the story get in sync like this and it really ups the immersion factor for me. 

The character work in this book was top-notch, especially Jade. As a former teenage girl myself, I loved how Jones was able to capture the feeling of being 17 where you're worried about things like passing history and bigger things like what to do after graduation.  Jade's internal monologue is pretty constant and jumps around as her thoughts wander.  She does the same thing with the conversations she has with people she actually likes.  I can remember my thoughts going a mile a minute like that (and they still do at times) and I thought that feeling came across really well in the writing. It was an interesting mix of sort of stream of consciousness with a heavy literary fiction style which I did find myself having to make an effort to slow down my reading at times because my eyes were skimming over the page.  Because we're so deep into Jade's mind and her POV in the story, I didn't find myself questioning her character motivations but there's a point at about the 50% mark where other characters are pointing out things about Jade that she seems to be pretty cagey about answering their questions.  Which then had me reading the last half of the book while questioning if Jade was an unreliable narrator or if she was giving us a truthful representation of the events happening around her.  It was a really nice way to subtly up the tension in the reader, especially as the events became increasingly dangerous and strange.

Overall, this has been my favorite horror book so far this year.  I absolutely loved the premise, pacing, characters, and integration of the slasher movie lore into the story.  I think the prose style leans a little heavy into the lit-fic side of the spectrum which isn't for everyone but I was so engaged in the plot arc and Jade's character that I just wanted to keep reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC in exchange for review.

Expected publication date is August 31, 2021.

Welcome to Planet Lara - Eliza Gordon

 

This romantic suspense follows Lara after the death of her eco-warrior grandfather, who raised her after her mother disappeared and was assumed dead. Only problem is that Lara has grown up with all the money she could ever need available to her and her grandfather's will makes it clear that pattern will not continue.  Lara is appointed Project Administrator of Thalia Island - a private island with the goal of creating a self-sustainable living situation for all residents.  Lara must stay on Thalia Island for 1 year and accomplish a series of goals.  The idea of trading in her high heels for workbooks isn't easy to accept, but the hunky next door neighbor and co-worker might help convince her.  Just as she starts to gain her footing in her new role, a series of unfortunate events threaten the success of the island - and maybe even the lives of the people who live there.

TW/CW: death of an animal, cancer

This was such a fun start to the series and I very much appreciate the author giving a warning at the beginning of the book that this ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. I, personally, really don't like being surprised by cliffhanger endings (especially when I don't have the next book ready to go) so being able to mentally prepare myself as I was reading the rest of the book was really helpful.  I was still a little upset at the end that book 2 wasn't out yet, but that just speaks to the quality of the story as well as my own fault for not knowing myself better.  

I think Gordon did a wonderful job of giving us a complete plot arc in this book but also left enough open questions that the reader is drawn into reading the next book.  I really appreciated how well these larger plot points and questions were worked into the story.  Seeds were planted for the reader pretty early on in the story which made the cliffhanger surprise at the end seem like a rational conclusion of the facts we were working with throughout the rest of the book.  I've read some books in the past where it felt like the author had a last minute idea (or book deal) for a series and they just tacked on some twist at the very end that sort of negated the main plot from the rest of the book.  I also think having the resolution of the plot arc in this book softened the blow a little bit when the cliffhanger hit. The overall pacing of the story was fantastic and really worked to give the reader tidbits and then build on that knowledge as the story progressed.

I really loved the characters, but could see how Lara will be a tough sell for some readers.  Lara is pretty darn unlikeable at the beginning of the book.  To be blunt, she's a spoiled brat who basically has full blown (alcohol-fueled) tantrums when she doesn't get her way.  We don't get to Thalia Island until around the 25% mark and considering the first 1/4 of the book was Lara being pretty awful, I was having a hard time seeing her as the heroine in this story.  I got the impression from the book summary that Lara was maybe a little uptight and not used to the outdoors-y type living situations but I didn't imagine she would be this much of a mess. It would have been easy for Gordon to leave Lara as just a spoiled child but we get so many moments in that first 1/4 of Lara's inner thoughts and fears.  She's so alone, lonely, and she doesn't let people get close to her.  These little details really make it easy to see Lara as a fully rounded human and not just a caricature of a person.  Then, once we get to the island, Lara has so much room to grow as a character and we're following her, wanting her to succeed.  The same sort of structure holds for our other characters, espeically Rupert.  Rupert was Lara's granfather's second in command and we initially only see him through Lara's perspective (and she doesn't like him very much), but we get to see their relationship grow over time and get some more information on Rupert. 

The romance element of this story was great and I loved Finan as a hero.  He's your typical romance hero (big, strong, muscles for days, a little bossy) but he's got a real soft center that he shows Lara pretty quickly.  The two form a sort of alliance and friendship before anything physical starts up which I always appreciate in my romances.   Because of their initial friendship, we get a good amount of scenes where they're getting to know each other and their thoughts and feelings instead of just feeling each other up (but don't worry, there's plenty of that too).  My only wish is that this story was told in dual POV (which is just how I prefer my romances).  Finan was already living on the island when Lara shows up and I think it would have been interesting to get his perspective on how everything is working out.  We see from Lara's perspective that Finan is pretty straightforward with his opinions so I didn't feel like he was keeping secrets or anything, but I just like to see how early on he was falling for her and what he thought when everything started going awry on the island.

I thought the mystery/suspense element of the story was great.  I'll acknowledge that, at times, it was a bit over-the-top but it felt really grounded in reality which helped when those super over the top moments happened.  I would have liked a little more of a creeping dread maybe with smaller issues cropping up before the big issues that we get in the book (or maybe small things in between the few big issues?).  I think there could have been a fun dynamic between Lara thinking X was really weird and maybe a little sinister but Finan then just brushes it off as 'that's just how people do things on the island/outdoors/etc'.  I really love romantic suspense books because of the teamwork between the love interests and this was no different.  Both Finan and Lara bring their own skills to their investigative team and it was really fun to watch them together.  

Overall, this was a really fun, lighter romantic suspense story and I can't wait until the next books come out!

I received an advance review copy for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Publication date was April 22, 2021.

Expected publication date for book 2 is summer 2021

Expected publication date for book 3 is late 2021

Romance Wrap-up 7/16/21 to 7/31/21

 Grin and Beard It - Penny Reid

This is the second book in the Winston Brothers series and follows eldest brother Jethro and actress Sienna.  Sienna is in town filming a movie but gets lost on the winding mountain roads.  Luckily, Ranger Jethro is there to rescue her and, to Sienna's surprise, he doesn't recognize her.  The two start spending more time together and eventually the town finds out and the two need to figure out how to balance their relationship and the spotlight.  Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  I really liked Sienna and Jethro as their own characters and as a couple.  There was so much great flirty banter in this book!  I really liked how both characters were pretty well comfortable in their own skin and life choices so while Jethro may rescue Sienna when her GPS cuts out, he isn't rescuing her from anything else.  I loved how much of the Winston family we got in this book and I can't wait to read book 3 which follows my favorite brother.  I'm not the biggest fan of romance books where one side of the relationship is famous (actor, rockstar, etc) and the other side is 100% just a regular person.  I prefer my fame-based romances to be with people at least in the same circles (so the actress and the screenwriter, for example), but that is just a personal preference.  I think the fame aspects for a regular person in this story were handled better than I've seen in some of the other books I've read but I'm still not the biggest fan.

The Fixer - Jessica Gadziala

This is the first book in the Professionals series and follows Aven and Quin.  After months of having a stalker and no police action, Aven is attacked in her home.  She calls on Quin, a Fixer, and his company to get her life back on track.  However, the first attack wasn't the end and Quin isn't staying away from her like he normally does with clients.  I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to continue on in the series.  I loved Aven and Quin as well as all the other characters at the company we meet.  I think this was a really good introduction book to the series because it laid a lot of ground work for the characters we'll follow in the upcoming books.  I really liked Aven and Quin together and how easy their chemistry felt - especially given the circumstances of their meeting.  I do wish we had gotten a little more of their relationship once they got together, especially since it is mentioned that one of the other members of the team always gets broken up with because his girlfriends can't handle his schedule and him being gone so much. 

TW/CW: stalker, attempted sexual assault, suicide, domestic abuse

Like You Love Me - Adriana Locke

This is the first book in the Honey Creek series and follows childhood friends Sophie and Holden.  Sophie runs the local Bread and Breakfast and needs to pay off a chunk of debt to keep it open.  Holden comes to town to work at his grandfather's vet practice while waiting on his dream job offer.  Only problem is that job wants a stable, family-focused man and Holden has recently been fired from his job and ended an engagement. The two friends reconnect and make a deal - they'd get married so Holden looks good for his new job and he'll pay off Sophie's debt so she can keep the B&B open.  But when emotions get involved in what should have been a pure business relationship, they'll need to decide what truly matters.  I absolutely loved this book.  Friends to loves with a marriage of convenience is one of my favorite trope combos. I really liked how easily Sophie and Holden's history got integrated into the story so we got a really good feel of their friendship.  This book was a little short (about 280 pages) so I wouldn't have been mad if there could have been a few more scenes of how their friendship worked back in the day.  I loved the small town setting and all the side characters - especially Sophie's siblings. I also appreciated that this was a pretty low angst read where the third act breakup was pretty quickly resolved.  The chemistry between Sophie and Holden was fantastic - especially their close flirting scenes in the beginning 50%.  I can't wait for more books in the series to be released!