lara_ayrolla's reviews
56 reviews

I waited 8 months after I read 100 Days of Sunlight to read this during Christmas time. It was 100% worth it.

This book is super cozy, setting the perfect mood and executing the theme quite well. It kept me engaged and I was able to start reading in the 24th and finish in the 25th of December, even though I was pretty hard into a reading slump. The story is wholesome, age appropriate, and perfect to give the brain some rest.

The humor in this is awesome. I laughed out loud multiple times and had a great time, especially with Weston's character, whose personality is so lively that seemed to come out of the page.

However, everytime I read I am looking forward to learn something, and I didn't agree with the overall message of this book. The point of view is quite bland and black and white, leaving no room for nuance. Tessa shifts from completely ignoring her mother to hugging, crying, and asking her to stay. It's not subtle and it makes no sense at all.

Weston and Tessa's relationship feels a little forced, with too much being said, but not the same being shown. They are physically attracted to each other, they get along sort of okay, and that's pretty much it, but the book keeps trying to push this idea that they're madly in love and are a perfect match.

Overall, it is a nice book, with captivating charactets that kept me engaged and interested, but it's nothing extraordinary.

Before anything, I would like to thank Kathryn Trattner, the publisher, and BookSirens for providing me with an ARC. I received it for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The book contains a total of 5 short stories, the first one being the shortest and the last one being the longest. Although the lengths of the stories vary quite a bit and the themes feel different, I can see why this collection was put together. All of the five stories bring what was promised starting with the title: magic and myth. It's nice to see the author explore the supernatural and the fantasy in different ways and I enjoyed most of the stories, although some were better than others.

I don't think this book was cohesive enough. Maybe if it had more stories, they could help to fill in the gaps and make it feel more whole. Some stories weren't as good as they had the potential to be, and some were very good. Overall, it was a nice book that with a little bit more could've been great.

Tornado: It was a nice introduction and set the theme and tone of the book well enough. I would have taken it out though. It felt too cliche, a little empty, and wasn't a good opening to set the expectations for what was to come. The other stories were much better.

Blackberry Baby: Detailed descriptions, giving a high sense of space, though sometimes it felt more descriptive than needed. It was a beautiful story, easy to read, and the ending was bittersweet exactly as it should be, bringing a lot of reflection.

The Deer Woman: Interesting story but very weird. The romantic aspect of it feels a little forced as I don't believe in love at first sight. I'm not the kind of person to enjoy revenge plots, so it wasn't really my thing. But I also love seeing toxic men going down, so it was kinda my thing?

Fire Watch: It was such a lovely story that I wished it was longer. I wanted to see the build up of the romance and get butterflies in my stomach. But it was enough as it was. Sweet and hopeful, with a very funny ending phrase.

The Black Cat: I liked how this story is divided in parts and evolves with perfect pacing. In the beginning, I love how caring and understanding the mother is and how, despite the words being way too complicated for a child, you can see how the point of view would made sense coming from someone younger. As each part goes by, the bond between the main character Maria and her cat Onyx is established and portrayed in a way that shows instead of telling. He's a part of her life and would do anything for her. Maria's growth and life changes are clear, as is the way she sees and treats Onyx, the way she slowly understands and accepts his nature. The story is mysterious and a definite page turner, I had to keep reading until I knew the ending.

Before anything, I would like to thank Kathryn Trattner, the publisher, and BookSirens for providing me with an ARC. I received it for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The characters of this book were interesting, especially Chinook, the descriptions of scenery were nice and detailed, and the plot was interesting at most times. My biggest problem with it was the time taken for some plot points. It could have been paced a lot better.

The reading started engaging and exciting but there was too much rushing with the characters feelings, then at around 50% the story started dragging and I hoped things would happen faster, and finally the ending was way too rushed with the final confrontation happening with less than 5% of the pages left. With some balance it would have felt a lot nicer.

Positives:
* I love that the reader gets to figure out the world along with the character, with the same feeling of unknown and curiosity.

* The descriptions of the world and scenery are detailed and vivid. I was able to picture everything that was being described in my head.

* Chinook is a lovely character, caring, funny, and full of personality. He made me giggle or feel the desire to cry from cuteness multiple times.

* Most of the book was entertaining and kept me wanting to read it and find out more about this world and these characters.

* I liked that Astrid kept all elements from her journey and used them to her advantage in the final scenes, showing that they weren't entirely meaningless.

* The world and location building was done wonderfully. Even the places where not much of the story happened felt well thought of and deep.

Negatives:
* A lot of the narration was repetitive, saying the same things or giving the same description three times in less than three pages.

* The romance could have been better built and given more time to grow during part 1 of the book. It was hard to picture real feelings besides the obligation between the characters. It felt like both of them just had a desire for finding love and it was a convenience to try to find it with each other.

* Astrid's journey on part two of the book became daunting to read and boring, especially after the ship scenes.

* The ending felt way too rushed, with the final confrontation happening way too fast and feeling too easy after all the difficulty with previous smaller battles. I was hoping that there would be a smart way to win. There was also an opportunity missed where Astrid could be faced with a situation resembling her previous mistake but this time asking for Tyhr's input and showing that she's grown and learned her lesson. It would have ended in a very satisfying manner, tying everything together and bringing the element of surprise when outsmarting the villain. However, it was just bland and fell flat.

Before anything, I would like to thank Carol Ann Collins, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Seafarer's Secret was a nice book to read, with a cozy small town vibe and themes mixing history and fiction. It has an interesting mystery, though it could have been more in depth. It was a quick read and I enjoyed every second of it.

Positives:
* The diary entries every chapter are super interesting and highlight the theme of the story.
* The small town vibe is very well executed.
* I enjoyed the writing style and the reading flew quickly and easily.
* The subplots are interesting and cozy. I specially loved the quartet the six-pack and hoped for more scenes with them.
* The characters are interesting and lively.
* I liked how William acknowledged his mistakes as well as Catherine's during their marriage and is able to respect her memory, even after what she did and despite his feelings for another woman.

Negatives:
* A few pieces of dialogue felt too long and unnatural.
* Eva and William's feelings are a bit too on the nose from the beginning. The scenes of them together showed how they felt quite well, so it would've felt more interesting if we weren't told from the get go that they were attracted to each other.
* The mystery of the story could have been a little more flashed out, with more suspicious activities from the suspects.
* The antagonist has a personality transplant in a second to fit the crazy villain stereotype.

Before anything, I would like to thank Melissa Hill, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this was a great read, very entertaining and kept me engaged, almost unable to put it down.

I kept wanting to tell someone about this story and these characters because it was too interesting to just keep it to myself.

There were a few details that I would either remove or change but they didn't stop me from enjoying the story.

Positives:
The multiple storylines to follow (Leonie's, Alex's and the letters') kept the book interesting in a multidimensional way.

The story kept me curious from the beginning to the end, since everything was slowly unraveling throughout the chapters, leaving me to want more and more.

I loved exactly how the 3 main storylines ended, with everything unfolding beautifully exactly the way I expected.

Negatives:
I don't like how Leonie blindly believes every man throughout the book, even the one who hurt her friend Alex despite Alex telling her what she felt about him.

Grace's trip to the US felt useless to the plot and not very fun to read about, a little like Grace's character itself.

Nathan's letters weren't all that special. In fact, they seemed very cliché and uninspired. I don't know why Leonie or anyone else could be so infatuated with them.

Details I hated in Leonie's ending scene that stopped it from being a very good one — these might spoil the book a little bit:
- I hated that Leonie didn't write a brand new letter inspired by the original one but instead copied it fully;
- The use of the same words to describe what had happened between them (upended my/his world) by her and the male love interest broke the immersion of it being two different people speaking;
- Despite what he said about their fight, Leonie hadn't just insinuated what she thought. She said it straight up, even if it was after his angry reaction.

Before anything, I would like to thank Mary Beesley, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I tried as best as I could to not include any spoilers. However, I did describe a few scenes from the book and wrote things in a way that might give away the main plot point.

Overall, this was a beautiful book with a lot to reflect on. It had its flaws and could use some improvement, but was pleasant and interesting to read.

The romance was healthy and nice. I started the book wanting Claire to choose the other male love interest because to me that would've been perfect but after her opinion was settled I accepted her choice and the book ended up teaching me a lesson.

The fact that she chose the not "ideal" relationship only made for a more interesting dynamic and made room for more drama. The drama itself didn't really happen the way I expected but it still made for some funny moments that had me almost screaming. Turns out the other love interest was at a different point in his life and didn't really want Claire or worked well with her, he liked the idea of being with her instead. The actual couple was a great fit for each other, with personalities that worked well together and similar interests in life.

Positives:
This book had me seeing abstract painting in a whole new light. I'm not too into it and was never able to understand how someone could make a living off of it, since it is just paint randomly sitting on a canvas. But I guess that's the whole point of it, you have to be talented enough to make it stand out and captivate the viewer without screaming the truth with clear pictures. It's difficult to convey emotions through colors and shapes. Or maybe it's not that deep and I just enjoyed seeing it through a different perspective. Either way, it was fun.

I like that the female main character is a 40 year old widow, mother of three, and grandmother. I also love how appropriate the romance ages are, even with the gaps. It's a breath of fresh air. It was quite interesting as well to see in practice how society tends to think it's natural a relationship between a woman 10 years younger than a male love interest but has a way harder time picturing the possibility of a 10 years younger man instead.

Claire and Tommy's relationship was adorable and really helped shine her nurturing, fun, and kind personality.

Banks grief for Helen and his journey towards accepting and dealing with it was great to read about. I wish it had been even more flashed out if possible because it had me almost crying at some points.

Negatives:
In the beginning of the book, I didn't like the "everything's different now" vibes. Claire wants to be better for this kid she just met than she was for her own kids. Also the two men want her from the get-go as if she was this special precious thing unlike any other. But it does get better as the book goes on.

I had access to an uncorrected proof, so it might be changed for the final published version, but I wish the layout for text messages was more defined, making it easier to read and understand where the narration ended and started again. It was a little messy.

I didn't like that the younger man is described as sexy and beautiful while the older man is described as someone who let go of himself a little bit and doesn't look as fresh. It wouldn't hurt to make him fit and just as attractive.

I wish both of the love interests had had their chance with the girl. To me, love triangles like this are a thousand times more satisfying when the person in the center has a small crush on both people and slowly discovers who they truly want.

As much as the trip to Hawaii helped pushing the plot forward, I don't like abrupt changes of scenery in a book unless it has a direct explanation by the plot, is cohesive, and has more meaning to the story.

I think the ending could have been a little longer, to make time for a little family drama. Everyone seemed to be to understanding of the romance way too quickly, when I feel like there would've realistic been some reluctance by the other male love interest and by Claire's oldest daughter Mona. However, I have to admit that the short confrontations worked well with the time that they were given.

Before anything, I would like to thank Brenna Thummler, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Sheets trilogy was exactly what I needed to lift my heart a little after so many bad romances with horrible messages. This is a beautiful ending to it.

While I did not like Eliza on this book and couldn't stand her, which made me bored at a few pages, I liked the message behind having multiple friends and dealing with different interests in a friendship.

I loved getting to know Wendell's story a little more and was touched by Tierney. She was a great character and I wish I could've read even more about Wendell and her.

The ending felt a little pointless, I couldn't understand the purpose of that happening besides causing an emotional reaction. I also didn't like the illustrations as much as I did on the previous books.

Overall, it was a cute light-hearted story with beautiful drawings that, even though had its flaws, was fun to get through.

Before anything, I would like to thank Brenna Thummler, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The illustration style seems to be a little less detailed than on the first book of the series but I still like it. I love how Marjorie's wardrobe developed with her age, even though I miss the more childish clothing.

The story is able to show through Marjorie exactly what it's like to go from being someone who was suffering to someone who causes other people to suffer. It's powerful and so beautiful that now I want to buy it for my little sister.

Edit (August 2024):

Previous rating: 3.0

The author emailed me the final version of this book last year after I got to read an ARC. It's been months, but I finally found the time to reread it.

I am impressed at how easily the reading is flowing. The writing style is descriptive enough to visualize scenes but succinct enough that I don't get distracted or bored. I still love the food explanations before every chapter.

The ending still feels quite rushed, but I understood it a bit better during this read, and I also appreciated the slow burn a lot more. The extra chapter added was welcomed.

I had to force myself to stop reading at 3 am so I could go to sleep because I loved the interactions so much and just didn't want to stop. I usually sleep at midnight if I'm going late. That's how addictive this book was.

It's still not perfect. It has its flaws and I'm also not super into the rich people and nepotism aspects of it, which affects my rating quite a lot.

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Original review (July 2023):

Before anything, I would like to thank Waitlyn Andrews and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, it was a pleasant book to read, fast paced, with a cute romance storyline, and nice details. However, it had a lot of things that I didn't enjoy like typos, relationship with a power imbalance, and things happening either too slowly or too quickly. It is nothing out of this world but it definitely is a solid book to have an enjoyable time with.

Positives:
- Information about food at the beginning of each chapter really enhanced the ambiance;
- Writing style that made the reading pace fly by;
- Curiosity about the main character's backstory kept me engaged;
- Well established routine that made the characters feel more real and also made it feel like I knew them better;
- Male love interest that is actually interested, caring, and sweet;
- Small details connecting parts of the story making them feel more meaningful;
- Cute scenes that made me giggle and almost scream of excitement.

Negatives:
- Waaaay too many typos and mistakes;
- Slow burn that burned way too slowly and then way too quickly when it did;
- Recurrent comparisons of the romance with novels, breaking the forth wall and trying to be something it's not. It's okay to be a novel and you can totally say a guy smells like clean soap and his eyes look like Levi blue jeans without implying that your story "is not like other stories";
- Kinda romanticizing workplace relationships with a power imbalance (worker and a boss);
- Both characters seem a little too flawless, and when flaws are pointed out they are talked about in a positive light and it doesn't affect their lives negatively;
- Last plot point was way too rushed.