redlipstickandreading's reviews
413 reviews

The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I so wanted to love this book! I thought the premise (Delphie dies, meets her maybe soulmate in the afterlife, gets a second chance and ten additional days on earth to get her possible soulmate to kiss her so she can stay alive) was so creative and sounded like an old school rom com. But I spent most of this book cringing. Delphie gave me SO much second hand embarrassment to the point it was almost impossible to get through. The animosity between her and Cooper (MMC) felt stupid and unnecessary. While I I liked the last maybe 1/4 of the book it was still not what I was expecting.

Island Time by Georgia Clark

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adventurous 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? Yes

2.5

I finished my first book of 2025 and it was a pull from my TBR Jar! It takes place in a tropical island which is funny considering the current winter weather here. I wish I liked this book more than I did. Maybe it's because I ended 2024 with a similar book that I also didn't love (family trapped together drama ensues), but I didn't vibe with this one. I was mostly ambivalent to disliked the characters. Almost every character gets a POV except the two I ended up liking the most. Overall it was fine, but not the best way to start the year.

Trick Shot by Kayla Grosse

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Did I read this very spicy Christmas novella on Christmas Eve? Yes its called ✨self care ✨ while the spice was 🥵 I could never get over the fact that one of the male main characters literally lied about who he was for 90% of the book and the other MMC just agreed to lie to this woman they wanted to bang. Soured the whole book.

The Gift Rarely Given by Ambar Cordova

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Ambar Cordova is another author I got to meet at Romance Con. This was a cute novella. I liked that there was a built in little symbol so you could skip spicy scenes and keep it closed door if you'd like. This is a fake dating/ we'll both benefit from pretending to date. Which I usually like but the time frame of two weeks felt a little too short to really develop those feelings. Overall a cute easy read

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

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adventurous funny medium-paced