reading_historical_romance's reviews
451 reviews

Lauren and her mom have relocated to Happy Valley, Pennsylvania (the home of Penn State) for a new beginning. Lauren is desperate to escape the stigma of a public scandal, and her mom is excited to finally live locally to a long-distance boyfriend. Lauren’s efforts to build her reputation as a great soccer player all seem for naught, however, when she learns that the boy she’s been having a casual affair with was the last person to see his former girlfriend alive. Then one year later, his brother finds his own girlfriend dead of an overdose. Are the wealthy Crestmont brothers hiding deadly secrets, or did they both really end up in the wrong places at the wrong times?

Even though I am giving this a 3-star review, for reasons I will explain later, I did enjoy this debut. It was so fast-paced and well-written that I finished it in a day. It’s giving I Know What You Did Last Summer vibes, but with higher stakes because the two female victims were in relationships with the suspects. Everyone in town knows that the intimate partner is usually the perpetrator when it comes to violent crimes against women, but they also know that the influential Crestmont family has the resources and the connections to keep Robbie and Trevor out of jail, and permanently erased from the suspect list. I thought the author did a great job developing the mystery and building suspense. She also made all of the main characters sympathetic so that the reader is invested in finding out how and if each character's innocence would be proven.

The reasons that this one doesn’t rise to a 5-star mystery for me are (1) the degree of suspension of disbelief required for the story to work; and (2) the motive for the first killing, and which ultimately set off an avalanche of future violence, just didn’t make sense to me. I still don't know why the suspect(s) did it.

Without spoiling the plot, there is a big reveal about 25% into the story that significantly impacts the main character Lauren’s perspective on the crimes and her suspicions. Even though Lauren is 17 and clearly quite bright and independent, she doesn’t call the police or trust any adult with her findings. She doesn’t even make any kind of permanent record of the findings for herself. We’re talking about an actual murder here, but the reader is asked to belief that Lauren isn’t sure what to do, or that she is too scared to make an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers? This is 2024! True crime podcasts are a thing! 🤪 It's just too big of a pill to swallow, especially considering that it is her decision not to involve law enforcement that must happen in order for the rest of the events in the novel to occur.

Finally, and maybe it’s just me, but I am concerned that this novel, like many other YA titles I’ve read over the last few years, does not depict a single adult who behaves like one. Literally, every adult in this novel who interacts with a main characters is an awful, selfish, narcissistic person. The parents who we don’t actually meet on the page are all enabling, if not encouraging, underage drinking, drug use, and sexual promiscuity in their homes. None of the teenagers in this book can point to even one adult who has proven themselves capable of exhibiting good judgment or making a sound decision to protect the minors they have a duty to protect. I don’t think this is representative of most teenager’s lives, and I don’t understand the point of creating a fictional world where the only people that a teenager can trust are other teenagers who are just as angry, depressed, confused, cynical, and disillusioned as themselves.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group/Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own. 

This is a fun and sexy friends-to-lovers romance with a mysterious twist.

Lt. Eli Williams was well and truly dead. Until he walked into his family’s home very much alive, two years after the tragic shipwreck that had reportedly sent him to a watery grave. He quickly learns that the joyous homecoming he imagined is not to be, when he finds his former fiancée married to someone else, his childhood friend still furious over his former engagement, and that the Royal Navy is highly suspicious of the reasons for his prolonged absence.

I’m giving this one a 3.5-4 star review. It is a charming historical romance set in London in 1839 and has a great premise, and a great cast of characters to bring it off. I loved Chapter 1. It was really a perfect beginning and hooked me from the get-go. I also loved the first half of Chapter 2 when Eli and his family met with Mr. Filby. It was so funny! The author did a wonderful job with character development so that I was quickly invested in both Eli and Jane as individuals. Then, I loved the scene when they were reunited in the library, and the sparks of tension that were created between them in that moment.

I love Jane’s independence and her idea to form a women’s gambling club, knowing that she was flaunting societal expectations and risking her reputation as a “proper” young lady whose purpose “should” be to make a suitable match. I also thought that the rivalry between Jane and her rich cousin Cecily worked well as a counterpoint to the romance arc.

The weakness with this novel is the pacing and plot development. The first 50% of the book was amazing as the plot was laid out well, the characters came to life, and there was some really fun banter and conflict. Then it just kind of petered out. Even though I kept reading and waiting for the next big thing to happen, nothing ever really did. I felt like the narrative struggled as far as developing an overall theme or a new and interesting conflict after Eli and Jane began their affair, and then there was an anti-climactic ending. I’m not even sure exactly where it started to go meh for me, but Jane started to annoy me with her “I can’t do this! But let’s have sex anyway!” melodrama.  I was also disappointed with the reveal about Eli’s whereabouts during the two years he was missing, as it just wasn’t that exciting after all of the build-up. I also didn’t understand the point of Jane’s brother morphing into a really awful person all of a sudden right at the very end.

While I won’t revisit this one, it was an enjoyable read despite a mediocre second half. I will also be adding this author to my one-to-watch list, and look forward to reading her next book.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own. 

Unfortunately, this book was just not for me.  I DNF'd at 52% for a number of reasons:

*I didn't feel like anything had actually happened by this point other than two random hook ups and the MCs internal angst about it.

*The initial hook-up didn't feel realistic whatsoever, especially in the year 2024.  What woman would invite a completely strange man she finds sitting outside of her apartment (in NYC no less) inside her door, and then proceed to get naked with him after 5 minutes of awkward conversation, just because he is a fellow Pinoy?   She couldn't even see his entire face until after he was inside because he had a mask on.

*There were several references after the fact that their initial sexual encounter involved "f***ing" -- but that didn't occur?

*With that being said, their second hook-up involved oral s*x and neither one of the parties used protection or asked to see test results?  I work in public health, and I am constantly having to educate people about the fact that there are multiple STDs that can be transmitted from p**** to mouth.  

*There wasn't enough story for me to feel Mon and Olivia's chemistry.  However, I think this is fairly par for the course when it comes to insta-love plots.  

*While I loved the Filipino representation and cultural references, I had to utilize Google translate many times, which became very distracting.  Similarly, I was not familiar with most of the foods they were eating, so I was using Google to understand those references as well.   I really wish a glossary of the foods had been included.

*It was difficult to have a frame of reference for Mon's music, and why Olivia was so captured by it.  I would have loved a bit more description about the type of music he writes so that I could get a feel for the beat and style.

*It is still too soon for me to enjoy storylines that involve the pandemic.   When Mon's character was introduced wearing a mask, I shuddered.

I do think that this author has a fun, bright voice, and is a talented writer, so I think that my issues were really more about the story in general, rather than the execution of the idea.   I would absolutely be willing to try another one of her titles!

Thank you NetGalley and Afterglow Books by Harlequin for the opportunity to read and review this novel.  All opinions are my own.