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melanietalksbooks's reviews
1862 reviews
Flawless by Elsie Silver
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Flawless by Elsie Silver follows Summer as she is in charge of keeping the famous cowboy Rhett in the straight and narrow after he dissed one of his sponsors, milk. You read that right, he dissed milk and then he gets a babysitter, just roll with it. Summer and Rhett dislike each other at first sight but they still feel very attracted to one another. Then they become lovers. The end.
This book was overall fine. This book didn't make me giggle or kick my feet because the chemistry was not there for me. I just thought it would blow me out of the water like some people make it out to be and it was just okay for me. They were rivals and then they were lovers and there are no stakes at any point or at least it didn't feel like they were stakes. While it is a fun book to pass the time I do have to warn you that there is past grooming. I did not like how they handled that at all, remember what I said about the stakes? Exactly, even when the big reveal happened there were no consequences. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book because there are better romances out there in my opinion.
Tropes: rivals to lovers, workplace romance
Trigger Warnings: past grooming
This book was overall fine. This book didn't make me giggle or kick my feet because the chemistry was not there for me. I just thought it would blow me out of the water like some people make it out to be and it was just okay for me. They were rivals and then they were lovers and there are no stakes at any point or at least it didn't feel like they were stakes. While it is a fun book to pass the time I do have to warn you that there is past grooming. I did not like how they handled that at all, remember what I said about the stakes? Exactly, even when the big reveal happened there were no consequences. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book because there are better romances out there in my opinion.
Tropes: rivals to lovers, workplace romance
Trigger Warnings: past grooming
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse
The Dog Across the Lake by Krista Davis
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The Dog Across the Lake by Krista Davis follows Holly as she tires to solve a murder of one of her Inn's guests that seems to be related to her cousin's sudden appearance in town with a new less than trustworthy girlfriend. She also has to help out the chief of police who injured himself and his position is in jeopardy as someone with more seniority wants to take it over. I thought this book was pretty cute and a nice little palette cleanser. It is a little formulaic which I am usually fine with but this time it was just all so obvious. Her relationship seems a little stagnant in this one and there wasn't much character development. While I thought that it is worth a read, I don't think this is a standalone and reading 8 books to get to this one might be a lot for someone who doesn't love cozy mysteries. I would recommend this series to people who enjoy cozies though.
King of Wrath by Ana Huang
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.5
King of Wrath by Ana Huang follows Vivian and Dante after their arranged engagement where Vivian was told it was a business transaction and Dante is being blackmailed into it. This book is what I believe crack cocaine would be like. I'm not joking. I started reading this book and then my eyes got tired and I was a little sleepy and it turns out it was the next day and I hadn't slept at all. I don't know what sorcery is in this but I could not put this book down.
Do I think it is literature? No, but I had a great time and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in a spicy forced proximity rivals to lovers billionaire romance. I liked this book a lot. It is on KU so if you have KU what are you still doing reading my review? Go and get it. When you are done with it, tell me what your favorite scene is please! My favorite scene is when Vivian gets sent flowers from her ex and her and Dante aren't really anything at the time and he gets so mad. I was giggling and kicking my feet. I loved it. I also really liked her friends and Alessandra. I saw that their story is already written so I'm blessed to be able to read it immediately.
Tropes: forced proximity, rivals to lovers, billionaire romance
Do I think it is literature? No, but I had a great time and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in a spicy forced proximity rivals to lovers billionaire romance. I liked this book a lot. It is on KU so if you have KU what are you still doing reading my review? Go and get it. When you are done with it, tell me what your favorite scene is please! My favorite scene is when Vivian gets sent flowers from her ex and her and Dante aren't really anything at the time and he gets so mad. I was giggling and kicking my feet. I loved it. I also really liked her friends and Alessandra. I saw that their story is already written so I'm blessed to be able to read it immediately.
Tropes: forced proximity, rivals to lovers, billionaire romance
The Co-op by Tarah DeWitt
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? Yes
4.5
My friend Leora kept talking about how fantastic Tarah DeWitt is and we got this ARC at the same time so we got to buddy read it. The first thing I have to say is HOW WAS I NOT READING TARAH DEWITT'S BOOKS BEFORE?! The second thing is that now I know that I should listen to Leora when she tells me to read something because it was so good! Tarah DeWitt does a magnificent job in the Co-Op presenting a dual timeline, rivals to lovers, second chance romance that has so many amazing things that soothe my brain.
In the Co-Op, LaRynn must deal with the reality of being cutoff by her parents and along with Deacon must put aside their past to figure out how to save the house that their grandmothers loved. The plan is simple, marry each other so LaRynn gets access to her trust so they can fix the house together. Except they actually fall in love for real!!!
I really enjoyed this book. I thought the premise was clever. I thought that the way the characters were written was absolutely beautiful. The only reason I'm not giving the book 5 stars is because the third act didn't feel like a third act, it felt a little glossed over but not enough to make me deduct a full star. I liked it, I just didn't absolutely obsess over it, do you get me? Anyway, the book is freaking fantastic overall and I'm about to go buy every Tarah DeWitt book right now. I highly recommend this if you haven't read it!
Tropes: second chance romance, dual timeline, dual POV, rivals to lovers
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin, and Tarah DeWitt for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
In the Co-Op, LaRynn must deal with the reality of being cutoff by her parents and along with Deacon must put aside their past to figure out how to save the house that their grandmothers loved. The plan is simple, marry each other so LaRynn gets access to her trust so they can fix the house together. Except they actually fall in love for real!!!
I really enjoyed this book. I thought the premise was clever. I thought that the way the characters were written was absolutely beautiful. The only reason I'm not giving the book 5 stars is because the third act didn't feel like a third act, it felt a little glossed over but not enough to make me deduct a full star. I liked it, I just didn't absolutely obsess over it, do you get me? Anyway, the book is freaking fantastic overall and I'm about to go buy every Tarah DeWitt book right now. I highly recommend this if you haven't read it!
Tropes: second chance romance, dual timeline, dual POV, rivals to lovers
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin, and Tarah DeWitt for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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? Yes
3.0
Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan follows Percy Jackson as he is trying to get the second recommendation letter to be accepted into New Rome University. For his second challenge, Hecate request that Percy et al. pet sit her mastiff Hecuba and her polecat Gale. Obviously things go awry due to Grover and they must fix everything before Hecate comes back and incinerates them.
I thought this book was cute. I had a fun time reading about Percy and the gang. My favorite part was the little moments between Percy and his mom, I thought those were adorable. I also liked Annabelle and Percy's relationship a lot. I do think that these books could be novellas rather than a full book because after saving the world these feel a little lackluster. However, I will continue to read them since I just enjoy being around the characters. I think it is a good nostalgia book and would recommend it to anyone who has read the Percy Jackson series.
I thought this book was cute. I had a fun time reading about Percy and the gang. My favorite part was the little moments between Percy and his mom, I thought those were adorable. I also liked Annabelle and Percy's relationship a lot. I do think that these books could be novellas rather than a full book because after saving the world these feel a little lackluster. However, I will continue to read them since I just enjoy being around the characters. I think it is a good nostalgia book and would recommend it to anyone who has read the Percy Jackson series.
God of War by Rina Kent
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
DNF
This is the same story as all the other ones except worse because somehow they are married. It hits the same plot lines which just got really repetitive at this point.
This is the same story as all the other ones except worse because somehow they are married. It hits the same plot lines which just got really repetitive at this point.
Gingerbread Danger by Amanda Flower
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
In Amanda Flower's Gingerbread Danger Bailey has opened the new candy factory and business is booming, she's even hired new people to be able to manage it. One of those new people is Zeph who tends to be distracted easily and Margot manages to distract him by asking him to go onto the icy roof to place a game piece for the festival that is happening in the square. Bailey requests that he take the piece down he manages to fall to his death in what appears to be an accident. However, when Zeph's Robin Hood tendencies come to light and extra foot prints are found on the roof, the accident doesn't seem quite as accidental.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I thought that the expansion to Swissmen Sweets was totally welcome and along with that all the new characters. I really like that Aiden is the sheriff and we have one less person making Bailey's life frustrating. I did get annoyed at the fact that Bailey has no backbone to say no to things that others make her do. I guess I just have to accept that so I don't get as irritated by it but it is quite hard. Otherwise the book was really great. My favorite part was finding out that a character that people think is bad was actually good, they just had a problem. I also thought the mystery was hard enough to figure out where I didn't feel bored by it. I recommend this book to anyone who likes cozy mysteries and small town mysteries.
Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing, Kensington Cozies, and Amanda Flower for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I thought that the expansion to Swissmen Sweets was totally welcome and along with that all the new characters. I really like that Aiden is the sheriff and we have one less person making Bailey's life frustrating. I did get annoyed at the fact that Bailey has no backbone to say no to things that others make her do. I guess I just have to accept that so I don't get as irritated by it but it is quite hard. Otherwise the book was really great. My favorite part was finding out that a character that people think is bad was actually good, they just had a problem. I also thought the mystery was hard enough to figure out where I didn't feel bored by it. I recommend this book to anyone who likes cozy mysteries and small town mysteries.
Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing, Kensington Cozies, and Amanda Flower for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Daydream by Hannah Grace
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Daydream by Hannah Grace is a delightful slow burn friends to lovers book about Henry who has never had a relationship before and Halle who just got broken up with by a citizen of douche nation. These two meet at the bookstore that Halle works at and become fast friends. Eventually they decide to have experiences together to help Halle with inspiration to write a book for a writing competition and they fall in love for real y'all!
I liked this book a lot. It is pretty long but it felt so quick, maybe it is because I read it in two days. I enjoyed their relationship a lot until I didn't, but then they got me back. Now, what did I like? I really liked that Henry was so respectful and kind. I was happy to see that Halle expresses herself and is heard when she does. I really liked that Henry realizes that he messed up. I really liked all that. What didn't I like? So Henry is sweet for the majority of the book until he isn't and that was really frustrating to me because he obviously was struggling mentally but never gets help. Hannah Grace makes a point of saying that not everyone gets a diagnosis so that is why she made Henry not get a diagnosis but he has two medical doctors as moms. He is the one pushing for Halle to get checked out when she is sick, so it makes no sense to me why he wouldn't get checked. I had to deduct a star because it just felt out of character to me.
I would still recommend this book to anyone who likes romance and especially the Maple Hills series. I thought this book was fun. Daydream had me giggling and just having an all around good time. I highly recommend!
I liked this book a lot. It is pretty long but it felt so quick, maybe it is because I read it in two days. I enjoyed their relationship a lot until I didn't, but then they got me back. Now, what did I like? I really liked that Henry was so respectful and kind. I was happy to see that Halle expresses herself and is heard when she does. I really liked that Henry realizes that he messed up. I really liked all that. What didn't I like? So Henry is sweet for the majority of the book until he isn't and that was really frustrating to me because he obviously was struggling mentally but never gets help. Hannah Grace makes a point of saying that not everyone gets a diagnosis so that is why she made Henry not get a diagnosis but he has two medical doctors as moms. He is the one pushing for Halle to get checked out when she is sick, so it makes no sense to me why he wouldn't get checked. I had to deduct a star because it just felt out of character to me.
I would still recommend this book to anyone who likes romance and especially the Maple Hills series. I thought this book was fun. Daydream had me giggling and just having an all around good time. I highly recommend!
A Merry Little Murder Plot by Jenn McKinlay
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A Merry Little Murder Plot by Jenn McKinlay follows Lindsey Norris, librarian extraordinaire, as she hosts an "author in residence" event while dealing with a book banner as the director of the friends of the library. The season that becomes more complicated than she expected when they find a former friend of the author in residence Helen dead and the prime suspect is Helen. Lindsey doesn't believe Helen committed the murder and decides to help along with her crafternoon book club.
Jenn McKinlay is a national treasure and is allergic to writing bad books and that's a fact. She proves it by writing this book which is awesome! I love revisiting Lindsey and the crafternooners because the plots are always phenomenal, I will always get a surprise on who the killer is, and I get to feel all cozy with these stories. My favorite part was Robbie and Emma's storyline that I don't want to spoil but I was laughing out loud as things got resolved. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes cozy mysteries and small towns. I can't wait to see what will happen next.
Jenn McKinlay is a national treasure and is allergic to writing bad books and that's a fact. She proves it by writing this book which is awesome! I love revisiting Lindsey and the crafternooners because the plots are always phenomenal, I will always get a surprise on who the killer is, and I get to feel all cozy with these stories. My favorite part was Robbie and Emma's storyline that I don't want to spoil but I was laughing out loud as things got resolved. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes cozy mysteries and small towns. I can't wait to see what will happen next.
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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? Yes
4.5
4.75 stars
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren was exactly what I want other "groundhog day" like books to be. Mae is making the wrong choices that do not make her happy, makes a wish to find true happiness and chaos ensues. She gets to repeat the day a few times but it does not become exhausting to the reader to read the same thing over and over again. The accidents that take her out get so funny each time after you realize what is happening. I also love that it is a HEA because it really could have gone the other way at any point.
I really enjoyed this book a lot. The reading felt really fast maybe because it was so well paced but I didn't feel the length at all. My favorite part was when she finally decides to do whatever she feels will make her happy and how it coincides with the things the people who love her would want for her. I thought the book was cleverly written and was so witty. I did not like some of the characters but I think we figure out their reasoning eventually so I didn't hate them either.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is trying to get into the holiday spirt or just likes a cute "groundhog day" like book. I think that this book will make you giggle and sometimes even blush. I went through the entire spectrum of emotions with this book. It is only my second Christina Lauren book and they are just phenomenal at their craft. Highly recommend!
Tropes: time travel, friends to lovers, small town, holiday romance
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren was exactly what I want other "groundhog day" like books to be. Mae is making the wrong choices that do not make her happy, makes a wish to find true happiness and chaos ensues. She gets to repeat the day a few times but it does not become exhausting to the reader to read the same thing over and over again. The accidents that take her out get so funny each time after you realize what is happening. I also love that it is a HEA because it really could have gone the other way at any point.
I really enjoyed this book a lot. The reading felt really fast maybe because it was so well paced but I didn't feel the length at all. My favorite part was when she finally decides to do whatever she feels will make her happy and how it coincides with the things the people who love her would want for her. I thought the book was cleverly written and was so witty. I did not like some of the characters but I think we figure out their reasoning eventually so I didn't hate them either.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is trying to get into the holiday spirt or just likes a cute "groundhog day" like book. I think that this book will make you giggle and sometimes even blush. I went through the entire spectrum of emotions with this book. It is only my second Christina Lauren book and they are just phenomenal at their craft. Highly recommend!
Tropes: time travel, friends to lovers, small town, holiday romance