heathers_books's reviews
457 reviews

Breeze Spells and Bridegrooms by S.O. Callahan, Sarah Wallace

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

When reading a romance novel I need either chemistry that is so good I could read thousands of more pages of the characters drinking tea or a plot that has me so captivated I'm engaged until the very last page. Often I find myself reading books that have equal parts of both but even when it pulls one way or another I'm pleased! This expectation of my reads is where this book fell flat for me on all angles. 

For starters - this book is almost 500 pages. In my humble opinion, no romance book should be that long and if it is (I have read some of this nature and it CAN be done well!) then it HAS to have a reason to be so long. This did not. At the 48% mark I found myself checking every few chapters how much longer was left and finding myself severely disappointed. 

Wyn and Roger didn't have much depth and even though I had almost 500 pages with them, I didn't care for either of them in particular and their romance (or lack there of) was cringey to me at best. The plot was nearly nonexistent and their entire fake engagement was spurred by something that just...didn't feel necessary of a fake engagement? It would have been pretty easy to simply ...not go along with it.... 

I also got a pretty icky misogynistic taste in my mouth throughout this and I could very well dig deeper into that but quite frankly - <em>I do not want to. <em/>
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

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dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I have been waiting for a good thriller to come around that has me guessing, has be doubting, and has me actually surprised. Really fun read with a satisfying ending! 
Lullaby of the Dawn, Volume 5 by Ichika Yuno

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

3.0

I feel like I'm starting to fall out of love with this series. I don't love the characterization of Alto as much as I once did (his personality is starting to feel less firm to me) and I wonder if perhaps this story has went on longer than it needs to? Or maybe it's just not progressing fast enough to feel like every installment is getting us somewhere? Anyhow, I think this might be the end of the story for me. 
Fence Challengers: Long Shot #1 by Joanna LaFuente, Johanna the Mad, C.S. Pacat

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funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Look Up, Handsome by Jack Strange

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hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This book is a cutesy small down cozy holiday book that will be enjoyed by those looking for something to read while they sip hot chocolate. Unfortunately that reader would not be me.

Sigh. This sounded right up my Hallmark Christmas movie loving alley, but it missed the mark on some pretty major fronts. 

The writing wasn’t great overall. Information was dumped onto me instead of being woven into the story and I was being told most things rather than shown. Now I usually associate this with weak writing but hey, if I’m invested in the plot/characters, I can persevere. Which leads me into the characters and why I did not care about them. 

When reading a romance or a romcom I am expecting one thing to shine through and that is chemistry, which is often led by dialogue! And the dialogue at play here was so awkward and stilted I found myself cringing. WHO talks like this? (I’ll answer that : the teen lead of a Disney channel movie from 2010.) Quinn’s voice was juvenile and Noah was written to be the “mysterious deep handsome stranger”… which is a type and not a multidimensional character. I’m gonna be so real, my hate for Noah clouded me the whole book. It was hard to see past the massive ick he gave me. Together these two had no chemistry. At all. 

Honestly I’m most disappointed that this could have been great! The concept is fantastic for a cozy holiday novel and the narrative of Hermione reclaiming her story while Quinn fights for his bookshop (and romance) is heartwarming.

Special thanks to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and Netgalley for providing an arc of this book! I am leaving this review voluntarily! 
Where He Can't Find You by Darcy Coates

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dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Reclaimed by Seth Haddon

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Seth Haddon doesn't disappoint as Reclaimed continues to expand on the world he first brought to life in his debut novel Reforged. 

At its core, this is a story of self-discovery and acceptance. The budding romance between Saba and Zek is sweet, but it falls into the background when faced with the enormity of Saba’s tangled web of secrets getting knotted up in arcane disasters and you know - the world possibly being torn apart by the very device that he created (All VERY VALID reasons for romance to take the back burner!). Still, the relationship that remains true and at the heart of this whole book is Saba’s relationship to himself and I appreciated that greatly. 

This story is told entirely through Saba’s voice. I’m usually a fan of single POV, but I felt some disconnect with Saba’s personality here and there. In all fairness, Saba himself seemed to be experiencing a similar disconnect so I don’t fault this entirely on the writing. 

Something Haddon excels at and continues to captivate me with is his ability to remind us that these characters are players in a much larger and startlingly more complex world that he has erected - yet we care for them and their version/perception of their world just as much as the last. Seeing the same world from numerous perspectives, backgrounds, and belief systems has been fascinating.

Now, I think I remained very professional throughout this review. So please excuse me for a moment while I… LUAN ZEK I WOULD LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Man, I just really love this book. And I really want a print out of the map so I can frame it in my library - pls, I beg, tell me how to get a map print!?


Special thanks to Seth Haddon,  Blind Eye Books and Book Sirens for the arc of this read! I am leaving this review voluntarily! 
The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith

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adventurous dark emotional fast-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

4.0

You Had Me at Happy Hour by Timothy Janovsky

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

3.25

This review has taken me a while to write just as this book took me a while to read. I’m a big Timothy Janovsky fan - every other book of his I have genuinely enjoyed if not absolutely adored. He’s an expert at juxtaposing campy humor with heartfelt characters. I tend to have a love-hate relationship with his characters but very much in the “this is wonderful writing and even though I am tempted to fight this character on sight, I am absolutely engaged with them and their storyline” way. Unfortunately You Had Me at Happy Hour fell short for me. 

The thing is - the story was fine. The plot was fine. Greg and Julian were fine. It was all very fine. But nothing was memorable. Nothing hooked me. Part of this falls to the plot. Admittedly this was the first story I have read where tiktok played a major role and even though I expected a contemporary romance, it felt a little too real. The backdrop did these characters no favors - every side character felt more like a prop than a real person and I knew so little about the restaurant, the people behind it, or the role it played in the community that I had very little investment as to whether it succeeded or not. 

Greg and Julian were… you guessed it - fine. On their own they were interesting but I don’t feel we really got to dig our teeth into either of them enough to really fall in love with either of them. Honestly I feel like their romance felt the same way. Where was the chemistry!? The stakes felt low because I never quite felt like they cared enough for me to care. 

All in all - this book was fine. I don’t have anything awful to say nor anything spectacular. It’s a quick read and the characters and plot are cute! 

Special thanks to Netgalley and Afterglow Books by Harlequin for the ARC - I am leaving this review voluntarily! 
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

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

4.5