snugglesandpages's reviews
250 reviews

I love a good domestic suspense, especially one that is fast paced and told from multiple points of view like The Personal Assistant.

📖 Alex is a Social Media influencer celebrating 1M followers on her Instagram account, unapologetically Alex. A mummy blog dedicated to encouraging her followers with positive energy. After a night of overindulging on champagne with her husband and Personal assistant A.C., Alex wakes up to an onslaught of negative comments across all her platforms. A controversial and very off-brand post had been uploaded to her account last night, slut shaming a teenage Disney star and her twin girl's idol. Only Alex doesn't remember posting it, and now her Assistant, the only other person with access to her account and who she entrusted with her deepest secrets, is mysteriously nowhere to be found.

💭 Told from multiple perspectives of Alex, her husband Patrick, and Personal Assistant Annie Clare, The Personal Assistant explores the dark side of social media and how fragile one's life can be if built on likes and shares. What you see is not always the truth and how easy it is to lose control to the narrative.

I really enjoyed Kimberly's writing style. Fast-paced and deliciously addictive. The game of cat and mouse had me hooked and I read the bulk of it in a single day. The way she expertly plants seeds of doubt and then flips the switch just when you think you've got it all figured out. I was definitely surprised at how it all came together in the end.

Thank you @harpercollinsaustralia for sending me an advanced copy of The Personal Assistant. I've now purchased Belle's entire backlist and plan to read them over the course of the year.

The Next Girl is a psychological thriller told from the first person perspective of Billie, a young 20 something paralegal with a taste for serving justice her way.

I really enjoyed the female vigilante concept of the story and it moved fairly quickly, but I got lost in the unnecessary and repetive explanations of processes about passwords, email forwarding, burner phones.

The conversational narrative style was cool, and is a great set up for an unreliable narrator, but Billie was so frustrating at times that I didn't care enough to connect with her story, and so overall this wasn't my fave.

Loathe to Love You delivers some spicy STEMinist fiction over three fast-paced and bingeable novellas. I loved how the friendship between Mara, Saide and Hannah intertwined with each story, and how each one of the MMCs were swoonworthy in their own way.

Under One Roof: ★★★★
Enemies to lovers & forced proximity, this was my fav of the three novellas. I loved everything about Ian & Mara and wish this story was a full novel.

Stuck With You: ★★★✮
Two rivals with a recent history are stuck in an elevator together. This one is heavy on the insta love which isn't really my thing, but the miscommunication was written well.

Below Zero: ★★★
It was cool to have our FMC Hannah working for NASA and the office scene was 🔥 but the damsel in distress/saviour angle didn't really do it for me in this one.

Thank you to @tandemcollectiveglobal for hosting another great readalong.

Apartment 303 is a slow burn psychological suspense. I felt for Rory and her struggles with OCD, PTSD and anxiety however the story was a little drawn out at times that it was hard to stay engaged. The paced picks up towards the last third of the book, with an ending I did not anticipate, but more so because it felt somewhat abrupt and out of nowhere. 

I enjoyed the Sydney setting and could picture the apartment building and surrounds clearly. I loved that Rory had an emotional support dog, Buster and the friendship she made with Farrah and the elderly security guards.


*Thank you to @harpercollinsau for sending me an advanced readers copy of Apartment 303. 

An enemies to lovers college sports romance with real communication and a swoon-worthy MMC 🥰 seriously, I loved this book. Nathan Hawkins is officially one of my top fav book boyfriends 🥵

📖 Stassie is a girl who knows what she wants and is willing to put in the hard work, no matter what it entails. I enjoyed her arc and character development, going from stringent planner with an aversion to all things hockey, to embracing new freedoms and finding unexpected love & friends.

Nathan Hawkins is the captain of the UCMH Hockey Team and is definitely the type of guy you want on your side. He is fiercely loyal and would throw himself under the bus to protect his team, even if it means being benched himself. 

When a misunderstanding sees one of UCMH’s rinks shut down for repair, the Skating team are forced to share their rink with the Hockey team. Stassie is furious with the disruption to her meticulous schedule as she and her roomie/skating partner Aaron prepare for an upcoming comp. Stassie needs to focus on her dream of making it to Team USA, so it's a good thing she doesn't even like Hockey players, right?

Thanks to my fave's @Sjp.reads @reading.adventures.with.rach and @racheal_reads for buddy reading with me! So glad I had you ladies to vent to about my utter distrain for Aaron. I can't!! He is just such a POS! Oh, and gorgeous Henry and his sweet lil bro energy 🥹. 

Can't wait for book 2 in the series, releasing in Oct. 🤞

I think there will be a lot more sports romance in my future, particularly Ice Hockey. It may have reignited my childhood obsession with The Mighty Ducks (oh, Charlie 🥰) 

Kill Joy is a quick and fun prequel to introduce you to the 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙂𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝙂𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙈𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 trilogy, I enjoyed the murder mystery format and trying to piece the clues together along with Pip.

However, there are a lot of characters for a short prequel that you don't really learn anything about, aside from perhaps what drove Pip to choose the project subject she did in AGGGTM and her clever detective skills. So if you're like me and haven't read the series yet, you may enjoy reading it more AFTER the first book, once you have come to know the many characters better.

I will say that I am keen to read the series now, which has been sitting on my shelf for over a yr 😂.

I don't usually go in a book with expectations, and a lot of the time don't even read the blurb, but in this case, I really feel like the cover, blurb and title all portrayed a creepy cabin in the woods where sinister things have happened. However, that's not exactly what this is.

Maya has been self-medicating for years to cope with the sudden and inexplicable death of her best friend 7 years ago. She is convinced her ex-boyfriend Frank was somehow responsible, despite never having laid a hand on her. When a video goes viral depicting another girl literally dropping dead in front of Frank in the same manner, Maya decides to return to her childhood home to confront Frank and uncover the truth about her friend's death and the missing pockets of time from those few weeks they spent together.

The House in the Pines is more of a slow-burn physiological suspense than the dark and sinister cabin vibes I had anticipated it to be. The story is told through dual timelines of past and present, however, the abrupt flipping back and forth somewhat fizzled the pent-up suspense for me.

The story really ramps up in the last 100 pages as everything comes together and though the reveal was something I had put together early on, the concept was super intriguing and engaging enough to keep reading.

*Thank you to @hachette for sending me a copy of The House in the Pines.

"𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡. 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬. 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡."

📖Hallie Welch has been crushing on Julian Vos since they almost kissed one night during her freshman year of high school. That was 15 years ago. When Julian returns home to his family's vineyard on a sabbatical from his ivy league school to write a novel, Hallie concocts a plan to revamp the gardens on the Vos estate so she can either fall in love for real or move on with her life. Only, real-life Julian is not at all who she imagined. Julian is a studious and structured College Professor who irons his socks and plans every detail of his day down to the minute. Hallie is a chaotic and impulsive landscaper who is chronically late and plans absolutely nothing. But you know what they say... Opposites attract! 

💭Secretly Yours was my most anticipated rom-com of 2023 and it did not disappoint. I loved these characters and their quirks so much. The romantic setting of a small town vineyard and ooof, the dirty talk 🥵! 

Tessa has a way of harnessing her character's perceived flaws and incorporating themes of grief, loss, anxiety and body positivity in such a lighthearted and relatable way. 

Read if you like.
🌸 Small Town Romance
🌸 Grumpy x Sunshine 
🌸 Opposites Attract
🌸 Second Chance Romance  
🌸 Steamy Open Door 🔥 

A big thank you to @nicolawoods_hc and @harpercollinsaustralia for sending me an early copy of Secretly Yours! And to the lovely @racheal_reads & @reading.adventures.with.rach for buddy reading with me 💗

I can't wait for book two (Unfortunately Yours) which focuses on Julian's sister, Natalie in a marriage of convenience trope! Bring on June 1st 🙌

Secretly Yours is OUT NOW! And is the perfect Valentine's read for fans of Tessa Bailey's Bellinger Sister series!

I read Laura Marshall's debut, Friend Request a few years ago and loved the creative plot and clever execution. My Husband's Killer follows a similar setup and was just as thrilling. 

💭𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨:
The story is told through multiple POVs and timelines, broken up into four parts. Each revealing a web of secrets and lies between the group of longtime friends, as Liz pieces together what really happened to her husband on the groups luxury Italian getaway. 

I really felt for Liz, having lost her husband in such a sudden and unexpected way. Left to navigate the grief with her young boys after months of no real closure, only to be hit with such a bombshell that had her questioning everything she thought she knew about Andrew, their marriage, and her friends. 

All the perfectly placed red herrings had me doubting everyone at some point and the short and snappy chapters heightened my anticipation for what was to come. 

Thank you @hachetteaus for sending me a review copy of My Husband's Killer. It was a ride!

Omg! How have I never read Rachael Johns before now! This book has absolutely everything! The best work-wife relationship, single-mother representation, teenage angst, online dating, social media bullying, trauma, loss, + mystery and thriller elements! Oh, and that twist! ... I did not anticipate that at all!!

Told from the perspectives of Deb, her teenage daughter Romona and Deb's work wife Quinn, I became heavily invested in each of their individual journeys of love and self-discovery. I laughed, I cried... and I may have developed a slight case of carpal tunnel 🤣 (haha, jokes!) Yes, this is a chunky read at just over 500pgs, but it honestly didn't feel that way while reading it. Rachael has such a way with words, that it all flows so beautifully. 

As a local Sydney girl myself, I loved that I could visualise all the places mentioned in the book as well. I felt like I was walking down the streets of Darlinghurst alongside Quinn & Snoodles 🐕 
My reading snacks may have also been swayed by the mention of cheese toasties and pizza.. (I should have called myself thehungrybookworm 🤣) 

Thank you @harpercollinsaustralia & @harlequinaus for #gifting me a copy of The Work Wives 🙏 And to the lovely @taurusbooklover for buddy reading with me 💜

Be right back while I add Rachael's entire backlist to cart! 💸🛒