Tag Archives: 4 stars

The Tourist Attraction — Sarah Morgenthaler — Moose Springs, Alaska #1

Author: Sarah Morgenthaler
Narrator: Elise Arsenault

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Narration: 5 mikes
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emojis (pretty closed-doors, if you ask me)
Content Warnings: Describes animal cruelty and death, violence, and bullying. Mentions car accidents. Contains some sexual content.

“The Tourist Attraction” follows Zoey Caldwell, a middle-class hard worker who’s best friends with a multimillionaire who lowkey owns a small town in Alaska called Moose Springs. This leads to Zoey taking a vacation in said town and meeting Graham Barnett, the owner of the unintentionally touristy diner called The Tourist Trap—they immediately hit it off. But it makes no sense. Graham hates tourists, and although he is friends with Zoey’s bestie, Zoey is definitely a tourist… So why does he keep wanting to hang out with her?

This is the first book I’ve listened to that’s been narrated by Elise Arsenault, but it won’t be the last—first, because the other books in this series are also narrated by her, and second, because I absolutely loved her voice.

This is your classical Grump-Meets-Sunshine trope love story, but now in an Alaskan setting. I don’t know who I loved the most, if Graham or Zoey, but what I do know is that they were destined to meet (and I would date them both).

If you’re a fan of outdoorsy activities, wildlife, and remote locations, then you’ll adore Moose Springs. And if you’re a sucker for grumpy guys who’ll take care of you when you’re drunk or defend you when assholes are around, then you’ll adore Graham Barnett.

This book kind if reminded me to a milder, PG-13 version of the Wild series. So, in other words, I loved it. I would highly recommend the Moose Springs, Alaska series.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

Love at First Spite — Anna E. Collins

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 4 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses cheating, breaking off engagements, and office romances. Describes fires and fire/explosion injuries. Has explicit sexual content.

“Love at First Spite” follows Dani Porter, an interior designer who just broke off her engagement to an entitled, cheating jerk, and Wyatt Montego, an unfriendly (but good-looking) architect that works in the same firm as Dani. When she sees the opportunity to buy and build in the plot beside her ex’s house (that was supposed to be her house), blocking its beach view—she takes it. The only problem is no architect will take her project, except for Wyatt. A serious and critical architect that has lowkey always had a thing for Dani, but she really doesn’t know that. Until she does.

Look, objectively I understand office romances are wrong—but holy, this was so good. All the characters were so likable and the story relatively fast-paced (although the romance not to so much). Dani and Wyatt have great chemistry, although miscommunication was a big stressor here.

The writing was good, but I did see a few plot holes here and there. I don’t want to go into details, but after reading this book, all I am thinking about are those pieces I’m missing.

Overall, I would highly recommend this romance book if you’re looking for a light-ish read that’ll make you go through a great range of emotions in 320 pages.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC — Pride & Puppies — Lizzie Shane

“I’m just saying in real life the Darcys don’t always turn out to be Darcys.”
“So date a Bingley.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Mentions parent death. Also, dangerous levels of mutual pining.

“Pride and Puppies” follows Dr. Charlotte Rodriguez as she swears off men and is set to adopt a puppy instead of looking for another boyfriend. And so in comes George Leneghan, her neighbor and coworker who actually has an incredibly well-behaved dog—so he must have all the tips and tricks she’ll need. As they start spending more time together, Charlotte may or may not be developing feelings she swore she wouldn’t towards George, feelings George had always had for her.

This is for all the Pride and Prejudice (2005 movie) lovers. No, you don’t really need to have seen the movie (or read Pride and Prejudice) to enjoy this book, but it just makes it so much more fun. It was a bit slow-paced for my liking, but I loved the characters and the lightheartedness of it all.

Charlotte and George are both so weird and socially awkward, I loved it. Their friendship growing into something more felt so natural. I truly fell in love with this novel—and it has nothing to do with the fact that I, too, love Colin Firth (and Matthew Macfadyen) as Mr. Darcy.

If there is one thing that I didn’t like that much about “Pride and Puppies” is how the doctor/rehab/medicine part of it was a bit vague and not really in the forefront of either the plot or the narrative in general. I’m guessing this could be a plus to some people, but, in my case, my boyfriend is a doctor and I love medical dramas so it would’ve been cool to kind of get that viewing off his story.

Either way, I would highly recommend you go buy this book, be it for yourself or for someone else. It really has that vibe of being a good gift book. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for it this holiday season.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: November 22, 2022

“Other little girls could keep their Prince Charmings. She was devoted to Mr. Darcy.”

Carry On — Rainbow Rowell — Simon Snow #1

“You have to pretend you get an endgame. You have to carry on like you will; otherwise, you can’t carry on at all.”

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, LGBTQIA+
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Magical violence, death of parent, animal death, murder and murder attempts. Discusses suicide and suicide attempts, emotional abuse, and bullying. Describes fire injuries.

“Carry On” follows Simon Snow, the Chosen One, and his friends, ex girlfriend, and his archnemesis, Baz, as they try to survive through their last year at the Watford School of Magicks.

“Carry On” was one of the books that, last year, in the middle of the pandemic, pulled me back into the world of reading. I was a big reader when I was younger, all through middle school and high school, but as I delved into university it kind of became hard to take the time to do what I loved doing instead of what I needed to do.

Basically, “Carry On” is a ode to childish academic magic, and a gift to all Harry Potter lovers looking for a queer, non-homophobic alternative to the series we once loved.

Looking back to my review of this book, posted in Goodreads on June 2021, the only salvageable comment is how I do not like how many POVs this novel had, it got exhausting and confusing to keep up with. Now, I can just say that it’s a fun, not-so-short read that’ll bring you into a world of magic and chaos. I ultimately loved it.

I mean, I guess I already gave all my recommendations but, basically, if you like books about magic and Harry Potter, and don’t shy away from some queer romance, then you’re gonna love “Carry On”.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

“You were the sun, and I was crashing into you. I’d wake up every morning and think, ‘This will end in flames.’ ”

ARC — The Creative Lives of Animals — Carol Gigliotti

“We do not give meaning to the lives of animals; they are able and willing to do that themselves. They plan their future, build their homes, fabricate bowers for their beloveds, defend themselves from predators they fear, (…). Their lives have meaning for them. To their detriment and ours, we have until recently dismissed and neglected the critical importance of that knowledge.”

Genre: Science, Nonfiction
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: N/A
Content Warning: N/A

The number of science books I read in comparison to the number of fiction books I read is basically negligible. I think that’s because I already work in a science-focused area, and it’s easier to escape the pressures of being a marine zoologist by reading about made up worlds where people live extraordinarily different lives from what I’ve experienced in mine. But a science book here and there usually doesn’t disappoint.

Just by reading the premise and the introduction to this book, I was instantly reminded of Frans de Waals’s “Are We Smart Enough To Know How Smart Animals Are?”, which is one of my all-time favorite animal behaviour books. So it was no surprise to see Carol Gigliotti quoting this same book later on, on her first chapter.

Written under different prompts, this book will give you a glimpse, both through theory and case studies, into why animals do the things they do. Discussing topics like animal intelligence, communication, building, amongst other things that make animals different, yes, but not necessarily superior, to humans.

This is a well-researched, but heavy read. I would only recommend this book to readers interested in biology, ecology, and animal behaviour. If these aren’t amongst your interests, you might find this book a bit boring. In my case, it served as a reminder of why I love my field of study and why I do what I do and study what I study.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley and NYU Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: November 22, 2022

ARC — Archangel’s Resurrection — Nalini Singh — Guild Hunter #15

“The kiss, it was everything, feeding his parched soul and healing broken things inside him.”

Genre: Romance, Fantasy
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Some sexual content and lots of violence and death.

“Archangel’s Resurrection” is the 15th book in Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series, and it follows Alexander, Archangel of Persia, and Zanaya, Queen of the Nile, through their impossible love story. We see them grow up, grow together, and grow apart out of necessity. Starting before they’re ascended to archangels and ending in a distrustful happily ever after, this romance is worth the eons it took to make.

Is it so wrong of me to want someone to love me as much as Alexander loves Zani? Is it? Okay, okay, so first things first: I am new to this series, but I did my research before reading this advanced reader copy (ARC)—and by that I mean I read summaries for the other books and decided to be open to any plotlines I might have missed. Basically, I got comfortable with not knowing.

I would not call this a standalone novel by any means, but I do give it credit where credit is due: you don’t need much background story to understand and appreciate this story Nalini Singh has brought together. It was a bit slow-paced for my liking, but I love the characters’ introspection, I feel like I got to know them so well (or perhaps old readers already knew them, but they were all new to me).

Based on what I saw from Nalini’s writing, I would highly recommend this book and this series. I didn’t believe I would enjoy this book as much as I did, especially this being my first exposure to the series. I don’t have time to grab this series right now but I am so tempted to tackle it on, page-count be damned.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by Berkley Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am part of this book’s blog tour, but this in no way affects this review.

Publication Date: October 25, 2022

“I love you, my Zani. I will love you till the end of time, whether that is tomorrow or eons from now.”

ARC — The Last Chairlift — John Irving

“Screenplays are written in the present tense, as if what you see is happening for the first time. That’s why what happened to me in Aspen is a movie; it’s always happening, again and again, for the first time. I will always see it as a movie.”

Genre: Fiction
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: Very disturbing
Content Warnings: Describes (sort of) incest, infidelity, death, sickness, mental deterioration, dysfunctional families, having children out of wedlock in conservative families, and hiding your sexuality and gender identity. This is overall a very troubling and dark read, these content warnings don’t encompass that too well.

“The Last Chairlift” is a 889-paged novel, so it’s understandable that the blurb doesn’t really describe what it’s all about. But, essentially, throughout this book, we live the life of Adam Brewster, the bastard child of a prominent skier known as Little Ray, as he is, honestly, heavily traumatized by his mother and somewhat rescued by his stepfather.

It is also fair to note that when they talk about ghosts on the blurb, they’re literally talking about ghosts as in dead people, not as in people Adam hasn’t seen in a long time. Maybe keep that in mind when grabbing this book—it is a bit surrealistic and odd.

I am still not sure how I feel about this read, other than heavy, weighted down. Not necessarily in a bad way, just in a very real way. This book not only touched on a fictional or fantastical world, it takes from our history and inserts a group of characters that are living through it too.

Something very unique about “The Last Chairlift” is how some parts are told through screenplay. When Adam goes to Aspen in search of answers about his origins, this is all told through a script, which was hard to adjust to, but also kind of welcomed, as it broke the narrative for a while—gave you a break through a very long novel.

I found some of the things about this book to be extremely disturbing. Things like Adam’s fascination for his cousin Nora, how Little Ray kissed Adam, how the sweet angel of Adam’s step father (Elliot, the little snowshoer) was treated at times, and then bring in how some people are pointing out how some things are practically autobiographical. It makes me wonder where fiction and reality become one.

This book reminded me of one of my favorite reads last year, “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara, but I’m still not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, because I will never be reading that book again. It was just too heavy (and perhaps this book is too).

Overall, if you’ve read other John Irving books and you’re up to reading this chunk of a novel, then might as well grab it. It’s not bad, it just maybe didn’t have to be almost 900 pages long.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: October 18, 2022

ARC — Did Not Finish — Nicola Marsh

Author: Nicola Marsh
Narrated By: Kendra Murray and Connor Brown.

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses domestic abuse, parent death, car crashes, and snow storms. Has some sexual content and innuendos.

“Did Not Finish” follows Mia Samson, a book reviewer and aspiring author, as she is chosen to spend a week in a writers’ retreat with 5 other new writers and her favorite author, Axel Low. Little is known about this multi-bestselling author, Axel, so Mia was stoked to be there, with the non-disclosure agreement and all, by a small town in Nebraska—all her Gilmore Girls dreams were coming true. One thing she did not expect, though, was how they would be snowed in for that week… alone. Mia arrived a day before everyone else, so Axel could tear her novel apart, the same way Mia tore other’s careers apart with her DNF reviews. In this close-proximity and stranded approach to an enemies-to-lovers story, you’ll get to know Mia and Axel in depth, with all their doubts and insecurities.

If I’m being honest, I almost did not request this audiobook because the cover simply wasn’t for me. The color scheme, the fonts… It just did not look like the kind of books I usually like. I am so so glad I looked past that.

“Did Not Finish” tells the story of a warm romance stuck in the middle of a snowstorm. Starting with a sexual attraction and then moving into something more, it was great to see how Axel and Mia opened up to each other. This book is fast-paced and I was there for it.

I was lucky enough to get an advanced reader copy of the audiobook of this novel and I must say I loved the experience. I feel like there are books that work and there are books that don’t when performed as an audiobook, but this was definitely a book that did, if that makes sense. Mia’s and Axel’s voices, as narrated by Kendra Murray and Connor Brown, were just as I would have imaged them. The quality of the audiobook and narration are unparalleled, I am so glad I got to experience it.

About the actual contents of the story, we know things get frisky, but we don’t get too much detail on that. We also get to see how these characters have some moments of miscommunication due to their own traumas and doubts. I’m well aware this wasn’t a suspense book, but throughout the novel we know things about one character that the other character doesn’t know and that felt forbidden, low-key illegal. Like, with every single miscommunication we knew exactly what went wrong and what was the truth behind the misunderstanding.

I think Mia and Axel are an unusual pair, but I’m still happy they got their happily ever after. The grand gesture that came from the last misunderstanding was so sweet. Then, the epilogue was all we needed it to be. If I weren’t happily in a relationship, I would wonder why these kinds of things wouldn’t happen to me as a reviewer.

I would highly recommend this novel if you like books about books (and reviewers and authors). I found it hilarious how these characters talked about tropes when they were following tropes themselves. Nicola Marsh did an amazing job at capturing the subtle rivalry between reviewer and book author and she gave us a romance to remember long after the book is over.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, and published by Thorpe Bowker, in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: October 04, 2022

ARC — Mistakes Were Made — Meryl Wilsner

“I want to go scuba diving with you. (…) Like, the ocean is huge and terrifying and unknown, but if you want to go scuba diving, I want to. I want to make you happy or do the things that make you happy with you.”

Author: Meryl Wilsner
Narrated By: Jeremy Carlisle Parker, Quinn Riley, and Stephanie Németh-Parker.

Genre: Romance, LGBTQIA+
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 4 stars
Narration: 4 mikes
Content Warnings: Discusses divorce and big age-difference relationship. Includes very explicit sexual content.

“Mistakes Were Made” follows Cassie Klein, a STEM senior university student hoping to be a grad student in aeronautic engineering, after she hooks up with a hot older woman called Erin at a bar… an older woman that ends up being the mom of one of her close friends. But Cassie didn’t know Erin was her friend’s mom when they met. She just knew she was pulled towards Erin, and she wanted to be close to her—and close to her she was. Being an ode to secret relationships, this book brings you all the rush you can need for the foreseeable future.

This book comes in as steamy as they get, right from the start. It is fast-paced, although perhaps a bit unrealistic—hence the 4 stars I gave it. The writing and the narration was amazing, although I grew a bit tired of Erin’s voice by the end, it felt too sophisticated for its own good.

I also feel bad for pointing this out, but I think it simply can’t be ignored: the age difference was weird. Really weird. It’s almost unnatural how people accepted it in the end. I would not be okay with my mom dating my friend—my friend who is 20 years her junior. I know Cassie swears it isn’t mommy issues with her attraction to Erin, but girl… those were some hella big mommy issues right there, even if she refused to see it.

All in all, I would still recommend this book. It’s entertaining and exciting, and actually pretty sweet. If you like books with secret relationships and with very big age differences—and that end with a happily ever after anyways—then “Mistakes Were Made” is for you.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, and published by St. Martin’s Griffin, in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: October 11, 2022

Fix Her Up — Tessa Bailey — Hot & Hammered #1

“I’ve met her twice in my life. This time, I was smart enough to fall in love with her.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 4.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Describes child abuse, verbal assault, and sexual content. Involves gaslighting and diminishing younger members of a family.

“Fix Her Up” follows Georgie Castle, the youngest of the Castle family siblings, part of the family who runs the best renovating company in town—but Georgie deals with nothing of the sort. She went for working as a clown and planning children’s birthday parties instead of making houses pretty. She’s set on expanding her business when, unexpectedly, her childhood crush moves back to town after an injury kicked him out of major league baseball. These two things should have nothing to do one with the other, yet they do. Because Georgie’s family has no respect for her or her business, still seeing her as a child. But dating an ex-professional athlete could change that, right? Or so she hopes.

It has already been well-established that we love and stan Tessa Bailey in this blog. But gosh, was I not ready for this book. I am an absolute sucker for childhood crush books because I was lucky enough to end up with my childhood crush.

Georgie, although annoying and immature at times, was sweet and considerate and down-to-earth. Funny how a clown wasn’t funny tho. Or maybe that was just my perception. Nonetheless, “Fix Her U really delivered on how spicy it was. This book series is called Hot & Hammered for a reason, that’s all I’m saying.

If you like fake dating romances and books with professional athlete main characters, then “Fix Her Up” is for you. Can’t wait to see where this series will take me next.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

“If I ever start to lose strength again, I’ll just think of how it felt to lose the girl who loved me, even when I couldn’t love myself.”