ARC, Books

Book 877: Twice in a Lifetime (Sheltered Connections #1) – R.M. Neill

Another ARC, another gamble. After reading the blurb on this one with two characters with emotional baggage and growing together out of their traumatic pasts, I requested a copy.*

What I didn’t realize was that the entire book was going to take place in roughly a week, which is one of my biggest pet peeves. Forewarning, my response is going to sound a lot more negative than it is, but it’s because Neill has a lot of potential I think she just missed the mark by just a smidge on SO. MANY. THINGS. in this book. One reviewer on Goodreads went so far as to say, “DNF. The only interesting thigs in this book were the conversations Micha had with the dogs he groomed.” While I agree with this, I wouldn’t go quite that far, but it was  a definite miss for me.

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ARC, Books

Book 867: Finley Embraces Heart and Home (Love, Austen #4) – Anyta Sunday

This book felt different from the other three books in Anyta Sunday’s Love, Austen series. I was always going to read it and said yes as soon as the review opportunity came in, but it just felt different.*

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I think it has to do with the fact that we spend so much more time with Finley and Ethan growing up than we spent with anyone else in the series. All the other books (Emerett Has Never Been in Love, Cameron Wants to Be a Hero, and Bennet, Pride before the Fall) were your more typical whirlwind type romances: sparks fly, a couple of weeks or months past, boom happily ever after.

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ARC, Books

Book 866: Under the Whispering Door – T.J. Klune

After loving everything I’ve read by Klune so far it was obvious I was going to read this. And then, when it appeared on NetGalley AND I was approved, I had to sit on it for SO. MANY. MONTHS.* It was 100% worth the wait.

Having not read any of Klune’s “adult” books, this one feels more mature than his superhero books (The Extraordinaries and Flash Fire) or The House in the Cerulean Sea. Most of this is directly because there are no young adult characters and this deals so much with the topics of death and grief. And it brings up so many philosophical ideas about life and death that I’m sure I still missed plenty.

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Books

Book 859: Subtle Blood (The Will Darling Adventures #3) – K.J. Charles

Now THIS is how you end a series! Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want it to end, especially after reading Charles’ short story “To Trust Man on His Oath” that takes place between this and The Sugared Game. The short story provided Will and Kim the much-needed space to discuss who they are separately and who they think they want to be together.

And, thankfully, I’ll get to visit with Will and Kim one last time when I finally Charles’ short story/epilogue “How Goes the World”. I just need to read Proper English and Think of England first which share a world with The Will Darling Adventures! (Oh no, more books to read :-D)

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Books

Book 858: Heated Rivalry (Game Changers #2) – Rachel Reid

What’s better than one enemies-to-lovers MM Sports Romance? TWO BACK-TO-BACK!!!! 😀

I hadn’t planned it this way, but I put this one on hold after finishing Game Changer and enjoying the preview, so when it popped up so quickly from my local library and I had a gap to read it in I went for it.

In Game Changer we meet one of the two protagonists, Ilya, an unlovable Russian jackass who’s been leading the Boston Bears (I see what you did there) to the championship multiple years in a row. But we never met Shane, Ilya’s biggest rival since the draft and their rookie year, who has led the Montreal team to success.

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