amateur_bookworm's reviews
575 reviews

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I feel like this book could be used as an example of everything that *isn’t* allowed during corporate sexual harassment training. I mean, who would’ve thought that an employee village in a seasonal remote location would turn into nothing but basically a huge orgy? Not me, but I’m here for it now apparently.

I think Henry is an entitled asshole and I’m completely on Team Ronan (*and* Connor if you catch my drift). I mean, Henry redeemed himself a bit at the end. But, sigh, how things could’ve been different with Ronan instead.

Content Warnings

Teach Me by K.A. Tucker

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Gosh, this one felt like I grind to get through. I can’t count how many times I almost threw in the towel on this one.

I’m not enjoying this story now with Abby home. I cannot stand her “mama” and the preacher. Jed is annoying, as are the gossipy townspeople. And it seems like her father didn’t have a backbone until the surgeon must have inserted it after the tractor accident. Literally the only character I can stand is Aunt Mae. The only parts of this audiobook that kept me listening were when she left town (which were also the spicy parts, but that’s what we’re all here for anyway).

It seems that she won’t be at home much, at least to start the next book, so I’ll keep going with the series. But so far it’s all been pretty underwhelming. And I miss Ronan, I think he is the catch here and not Henry.

Content Warnings

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Haunting Adeline by H. D. Carlton is the first book of the Cat and Mouse duet. It is very heavy on the dark and light on the romance (unless a stalker’s obsession is your idea of wooing) with a lot of suspense. I’ve seen such mixed reviews for it and I completely understand why.

It has creepy vibes for sure. And I don’t think I’ve ever been so terrified by a single red rose in my life. This book is just so deranged and I kept asking myself why I was still reading this, pretty much throughout the entire thing. Despite being mostly appalled, I was still flipping pages like it’s *my* life that depends on it. And I’m not gonna lie, exposing the entire government as corrupt pedos sounds like a theme that I can get behind here for sure.

But, seriously, I just read 600+ pages and I’m honestly not sure how I feel here. Disturbed? Intrigued? Disgusted? Paranoid? It’s definitely twisted. Pretty deranged actually. But somehow the vigilantism is comforting. Even though the stalking obsession is hard to swallow.

Every time I read a f-cked up book, I think to myself, “wow, this is the most f-cked up book I’ve ever read.” And then, with the next one, I’m like, “No, *this* is the most f-cked up book I’ve ever read.” But, ya’ll, without a doubt, THIS is the most f-cked up book I’ve ever read. And I’ve heard the next one is darker. Eek.

The tension I felt while nearing the end was astronomical. There’s a very ominous feeling, but maybe it’s because I know that it’s going to end on a cliffhanger because this is a duet. I’m definitely reading the next one to see how this ends. And mostly to see why it’s her chapters are labeled as The Manipulator.

Content Warnings

Tempt Me by K.A. Tucker

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I saw a recommendation for the Wolf Hotel series by K.A. Tucker on audiobook as a good spicy listen. Initially, I thought I was listening to a preview on Audible but three chapters later, here we are. Apparently it’s an included title with my subscription which is nice.

Right off the bat, it gave me real strong Fifty Shades of Gray vibes. Young innocent college girl corrupted by rich corporate guy (cringe). I continued listening on—hoping it’s at least hot (it is a smut book after all). I definitely questioned myself early on if I really wanted to listen to almost eight hours of the deflowering of the little innocent farm girl by the powerful hotel owner and that answer seemingly turned out to be a reluctant yes.

Avery Reid does a good job on the narration of this. I don’t love single person narrated audiobooks but I don’t hate this one. I always worry that I’ll find listening to the same person for so long a bit grating but I actually enjoyed her narration for the most part.

I like the setting of the seasonal luxury hotel in Alaska with the employees in a village together. I enjoyed Abby’s roommates taking her under their wings and, ahem, showing her things she’s never seen before. It feels believable that Henry is proving himself to his father and getting ready to take over the hotel chain. But I just found it a little hard to get past the constant references to her religion and her “mama” and the POS reverend’s son ex-boyfriend and the speed at which things progressed physically between her and Henry.

Also, I’m not sure I’ve ever felt my age more than when Abby is on the phone with her mama asking how her dad is managing the farm on his own, even though he’s in better health than her mama, at the ripe old age of—wait for it—41. Welp.

I totally plan on diving straight into the next audiobook of the series so I’m hoping that Abby finds her confidence more as we go along, otherwise I will likely call it quits after the second book in the series.

Content Warnings

Lights Out by Navessa Allen

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dark funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Lights Out by Navessa Allen is a dark romance that had me smirking almost the entire time I listened. I laughed, I swooned, I was grossed out, and rolled my eyes at the intentionally cheesy parts. I would’ve binged this straight through but, alas, real life kept getting in the way of that. This book is so f*cked up and I love it so much. I’m not really sure what that means on a personal level, but I’m assuming I need just as much therapy as Aly and Josh clearly need.

This audiobook is fantastic right off the bat. I love both narrators, Elena Wolfe and Jacob Morgan. Their performances are excellent. The voice inflection of both of them throughout is spot on. And he is super hot during the spicy scenes, so that’s is always a bonus. Also, THANK YOU for using both narrators throughout the book in all chapters. I hate when the girl does a dude voice during her chapters and the dude does a girl voice during his chapters, but this audiobook didn’t do this.

Gosh, I love this one so much. The story is hot. The narrators are excellent. I know what’s happening without having read it first. I could listen to audiobooks like this every day all day. (Not sure what that says about my mental state but here we are). I found myself grinning at the most absurd things in this book. I did enjoy the first half much more than the second half, but its overall drive a five-Star listen for me. I highly recommend this to anyone who also enjoyed the Butcher & Blackbird audiobook.

Content Warnings

The Inmate by Freida McFadden

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This is my first Freida McFadden book and I can see why her books are so well loved. I was pulled into the story right off the bat. It felt like easy reading and the pages just flew right by. I literally read this in less than 24 hours.

It honestly felt like it was too simple—I felt like I had it all figured out at a couple of points pretty early on in the book. But, nope, I did not see the twists coming. Like, at all. It ultimately blew my mind a bit and, even now, I’m still trying to wrap my head around all of it.

I’ve been wanting to read a Freida McFadden book for quite awhile now so I swooped this up out of a Little Free Library (despite some water damage on it) as soon as I saw it. I am so glad I picked this up and I will definitely be reading more Freida. I think her books are the perfect palate cleanser for when I’ve binged too many romance books.

Content Warnings

Fragile Sanctuary by Catherine Cowles

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emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

My summary:

After tragedy struck when she was 13, Rhodes was taken in by her best friend’s family. Now 27 years old, Rhodes is feeling ready to cope with her devastating loss and move back to her childhood home, all with the support of her large found family. Anson is a restoration specialist working for Rhodes’s brother and taking the lead on her project. But Anson is running from his own tragedy—and he and Rhodes soon connect over their shared losses.

My thoughts:

This is a heartrending story of tragic loss and learning to love again. This is my first book by Catherine Cowles and I honestly didn’t know what I was setting myself up for with this one. I *thought* I was starting a sassy and spicy romance and, instead, it was quite tragic but also left me feeling hopeful and swooning as the story moved along. And the suspense kept me from putting the book down for the entire last half of it.

At about 40% into the book, I think I got over my shell-shock of expecting a lighthearted romance and instead getting a tragic one. And I was HERE for it. I love Rhodes and her choosing to enjoy every moment of life and finding the good. Anson is such a great character and his concern for Rhodes above all else hit me right in the feels. I love Lolli’s character and her sparkly phallic artwork. The huge found family, although hard to keep track of the who’s who at times, is a delight.

This felt very similar to me of the style of Abby Jimenez’s The Friend Zone series. You know, absolutely devastating and tragic where it just rips your heart out and shreds it—but then slowly stitches it back together in a swoony love story. I mean, the dedication already had me tearing up so I clearly should’ve immediately realized what I was jumping into here. And, despite not being emotionally prepared for this at all, I ended up really enjoying Rhodes and Anson’s story.

Content Warnings

Pen Pal by J.T. Geissinger

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

First of all, Bookstagram made me do it. Second of all, I read nothing about this book before stating it so I *thought* I was diving into a smutty dark romance. But it’s actually an amalgamation of a smutty psychological thriller with a good amount of romance, mystery and spookiness.

The style of writing pulled me into this book right away. I found myself pretty captivated given that I had no actual clue about what was happening through most of the book. I don’t read a bunch of thrillers anymore so I always feel super gullible to any plot twists. I had inklings of how it would turn out and I really wasn’t correct at all—so, I love that I was a bit surprised by the way everything shook out. I totally plan on a reread (maybe by audiobook) now that I know what happens.

Overall, I almost couldn’t put this down and really enjoyed the suspense of it (despite it not being anything like I expected by judging it purely by the cover). I did not, however, enjoy their nicknames for each other and found it a bit grating. That being said, I absolutely recommend it—especially if you have Kindle Unlimited.

Content Warnings

House of Sky and Breath: Part 1 of 2 by Sarah J. Maas

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The House of Sky and Breath is the second book of Sarah J. Maas’s Crescent City fantasy series. I previously read this book in February 2024 and I’m really enjoying listening to the GraphicAudio version of the series. GraphicAudio has a full cast and sound effects and is billed as “a movie in your mind.” It most definitely lives up to that.

I do enjoy the full cast and sound effect and think it’s a fun way to listen. That being said, I feel like the action of this story really doesn’t get going until the last half of the book. So, I’m excited for Part 2 to finish this book off. I felt like this dragged a bit for me, especially towards the end.

Content Warnings

The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Pumpkin Spice Cafe is a cozy romance featuring a small town, gossipy locals, a reclusive farmer, and all the pumpkin spice that you could want.

I’m trying to be better about reading seasonal books in the right season. After seeing this book all over the place, I had to give in and read it for myself. It’s cute for the season. It’s a very light read and there’s hardly any strife. I definitely recommend this as a fluffy read or a palate cleanser after an intense book.

I enjoyed the quirky townspeople (especially the smutty book club!). I found the characters to be relatable and likable, but I also found myself unable to get very invested in the story. I was a bit bored and just kinda wanted it to end so I can move on to something more exciting. I do think I’ll read the next book in the series but probably not until I’m looking for a comfort read.

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amateur_bookworm's reviews 575 reviews

amateur_bookworm's reviews
575 reviews