Thank you Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Nothing Like the Movies is a cute sequel to Better Than the Movies, following Wes and Liz two years later, on college. I enjoyed the sequel even more than the first book! I remember enjoying Better Than the Movies but I got much more invested in Nothing Like the Movies. I like the fact that Wes went through something hard and it did effect him and we had to work through that. I really enjoyed the fact that there was that time jump and we saw how Liz and Wes changed. It had all the cutesy moments I expect from Lynn Painter but felt more real somehow. I would highly recommend if you enjoyed Better Than the Movies!
Thank you Juliette Cross and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. The Wraith King is the first in a new Romantasy series by Juliette Cross. It follows Princess Una, a light Fae, discovering who she is meant to be when she meets Goll, the Wraith King. Full of fae, darkness and spice, I absolutely loved this book! I'm a huge fan of Juliette Cross so I had high hopes anyway and I was not disappointed! This has all the elements I expect from her - addictive, great characters and side characters, a developed and spicy romance and a well thought of world. I really enjoyed getting to know the Fae lore in this world and liked seeing the differences between them all. I flew through the beginning and didn't want it to end! I can't wait to get more from this series, especially after the ending! I really want to find out more about the other Fae and am excited to see where the story is going.
Thank you netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Heir of Sin is the first in a Romantasy series based on djinns of the seven deadly sins. This book followed Keira getting to know Elijah, the djinn of Lust, awakening a new side of her. Overall I enjoyed the book however I struggled with a few things that are personal preference as opposed to things specifically wrong with the book. Firstly, I prefer my Romantasy books to be 1st person, especially dual POV, so I struggled to connect with Keira and be fully invested in her getting to know Elijah and fall for him. I always struggle more with 3rd person romances and found that I didn't really see why Elijah fell for Keira so quickly and equally why she did for him, apart from the obvious lust element. I also tend to read spicier Romantasy books so, although there was some spice, it wasn't particularly spicy for me. I liked the idea of Keira getting to know herself and her own sexuality but I did struggle with a few elements of it, in particular regarding something that happened at the end which blurred the lines a bit with Keira's manipulation of Elijah - that definitely put me off her quite a bit. That being said, it is an enjoyable story and I'm sure many Romantasy fans will enjoy Heir of Sin and want to continue with the story; unfortunately it just didn't connect with me.
Thank you LoveNotesPR and Nova Banks for the eARC in exchange for am honest review. Rinkmates is an enemies to lovers, hockey & figure skater romance with lots of spice and love! I absolutely flew through the book, enjoying it way more than I was expecting. I love that both Riley and Liora had a lot of things they needed to work through but we saw them grow throughout the book, supporting each other but making changes for themselves. Also, Riley - what a cutie! He always has Liora's back and it was all just so nice to read. I enjoyed the tension and spicy scenes between them, loving their back and forth. I found the side characters equally loveable and am hoping the next two books may follow the two couples that were hinted at - either way, I can't wait to read them! The friendship between Priya and Liora was lovely to read about and I can't wait to get to know Rosalie more, I feel like there's a lot of potential for her. Also, no third act break up - always a win for me! If you enjoy hockey romance with some enemies to lovers elements, spice and tension, I highly recommend Rinkmates!
Thank you netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Enemies to Lovers - from the title I thought I'd love this book as it's my favourite trope and I love a summer romance so thought this would be perfect. However, a few things in this book really didn't click for me, unfortunately. For the most part, I struggled with our main character Florence. I felt like there was very little depth to her - pretty much every page mentioned Jamie, the 'enemy', and we didn't really get any other thoughts from her, it just felt like an obsession about him. But we somehow didn't get to know him and why she actually liked him? They had no chemistry and I just didn't understand their romance - especially as 'enemies to lovers'. They weren't enemies - they'd hooked up once and now 'hated' each other but found each other hot still. Romance books are my favourite to read but I like the main characters to have a bit more to them than just their love interest but Flo had nothing apart from Jamie and a breakdown. Again, mental health could have been a great aspect to explore but I felt like it was done very shallowly as a throwaway comment - she'd had a breakdown a few years ago and that was all people knew her as and therefore became her personality. I really wanted to enjoy this book but I really did struggle to get through it, unfortunately.