kj468's reviews
399 reviews

I enjoyed it. Overall I think I don’t click with this author’s style amazingly but also this is my second book in a week by them, so clearly I’m having a good enough time haha. I enjoyed the wit throughout the book. Both MCs were likable, even when they (Nico) were being silly. I would have liked to see Nico actually make some friends before the end. 

10/10. Amazing. Wonderful. Perfection. Hands down one of my favorite reads this year, and I reckon it’s catapulted itself into the shortlist of my favorite books too. Fantasy isn’t even my favorite genre generally, but this was exactly to my tastes. Not too much action, the plot was interesting and sufficient but not unnecessarily complicated or difficult to follow. Even when I was stressed I wasn’t STRESSED; I had full faith that everything would work out and my goodness it all worked out marvelously. Even better than I imagined. 

My only very minor complaint is that I really wanted to see Matti give Luca one of the Jay family ear/thumb kiss flicks by the end.  Luca became family, I think he earned one 🥺❤️

I loved this one!! My favorite of the series. Great main characters, adorable children, fun side characters. Lots of growth and healing. A low angst book and the type of problems I love most in a romance book — the main characters working through problems external to their relationship while leaning on each other and learning to love each other  

Bi rep, no homophobia/biphobia, insta love, single father, small town romance, meddling friends, main and background queer characters

Very strong insta love trope, so if you like that, this is probably a great novella for you. Their relationship and feelings move very fast, which does sometimes come with the turf of being a novella but was maybe a bit too much for my aromantic ass. 

Personally, I had a hard time understanding why the MCs liked each other so much, other than them telling me how much they liked each other. I didn’t get a strong sense of who Ezekiel was before he moved to town, but it seems like he changed a lot very quickly. At points, I was confused by how much time they were (or weren’t) spending together off page, and would be surprised when  one of them referenced an off page hang out. Overall, I felt like I just didn’t have a strong grasp on their relationship. 

Ollie struggled with retreating into himself and isolating when he’s stressed/anxious/upset. I totally get that, but here’s what would have given me more faith in Ollie’s character growth:

By the end of the book, he promises Ezekiel that he won’t cut him out during times like this in the future, but after watching him do it (at least) twice during the book, I really would have liked to see an on page example of a situation where Ollie overcomes his instincts and reaches out to Ezekiel instead of isolating during a moment of stress. It would have given me more faith in them as a couple.

I hate Lennox (the one who owns the house). She’s not just grumpy, she’s mean. She flat out doesn’t acknowledge any of the nice things Noelle does for her, literally doesn’t even say thank you. She just games and shouts into her headset and makes Noelle feel like dirt for existing. Noelle is basically acting like a live-in maid, making Lennox coffee, cleaning, making her meals, keeping groceries stocked… and Lennox acts like she doesn’t exist. I read in other reviews that people didn’t like her in the beginning but that her apology game is strong, but at this moment in my life I don’t have space to read about mean characters, there’s enough mean people irl. I don’t have the patience’s or mental space to get to the apology scene and also I’m not sure what she could say to make me like her. 

Also, I wasn’t comfortable with the sexualizing they do to each other. They both like really ogle the other, and it’s very frequent, even as they’re still in the enemies stage. Which honestly might objectively be fine and just uncomfortable for me as an ace person. I read lots of spicy books, but I’m always uncomfortable when the ogling isn’t… consented to, I guess. Like, Noelle wakes up one morning and does yoga in the living room, and Lennox basically is silent on purpose so she can watch Noelle do yoga because it’s hot. Noelle realizes and is kind of flustered about it , but to me that feels like a violation. In a similar vein, while still in the enemies phase, they both get off to thoughts of the other. I know lots of books do this, and sometimes it doesn’t bother me, but it did in this book — maybe because Lennox is being so mean. 

I love this holiday romance. I’ve read it every year since it came out I think lol. 

This book was wonderful. Beautiful. Consumed me. I read it in a weekend and basically did nothing else but read this book because it was so all-consuming. Deep, raw emotions make the happily ever after that much sweeter. It's a book about grief and a book about ex-best friends falling in love after years of not talking which sounds like it could be a sad book. And there are sad emotions! But it's also not? I don't know how to explain it. Rachel Reid is a magician, that's clearly the answer. The love interest is so patient and kind and willing to put in work to repair the relationship with the MC and give him space to grieve his father. It's got lots of pining and family interactions. Features my all-time favorite trope of "in love the whole time". 

This is a book I know I will buy both the audiobook and the paperback of, so I can listen to it and also annotate a physical copy of it. 

I really adored this book. Hopeful and sweet, a good romance, a great main character, and some excellent side characters. I loved the trans rep. Truly just a joyous book 

Love love love love loveeeeee! Such a sweet holiday novella, a perfect November or December read and one I suspect I’ll be reading annually around this time of year! Incredibly kind characters, great family dynamics, just a dash of strife to the happy ending. A story about letting others in and learning to open up. I really enjoyed the deaf and nonspeaking rep & thought it was really well done. Highly recommend! 

I loved the ghost aspects of this book. The plot was great, and I loved the ghost characters. The human characters were great too.

The romance was good, though I felt like a lot of their relationship happened off page, especially the part where they went from dating to being ready to say I love you. Granted, there was a lot of ghost related plot happening during that time so I get that the author had to make some choices. By the end of the book, I felt a bit lackluster about the couple, purely because I hadn’t seen them together as a couple very much. 

I listened to the audiobook and the narration was great. I will definitely continue the series & do so on audio