Category: Books

[New Post] ARC Review: Forever the Highlands by Samantha Young

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Title: Forever the Highlands

Author: Samantha Young

Page count: 382

Published: December 5th, 2024

Publisher: Valentine PR

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Received: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 5/5

He’s her brother’s best friend. She’s totally off-limits. But when life takes an unexpected turn, she’s the only one he wants at his side…

Fyfe Moray raised himself. His only real family is his best friend, Lewis Adair. For that reason, Lewis’s sister Eilidh is totally off-limits. Fyfe is in deep denial about their intense attraction. Thankfully, Eilidh is a famous actor living in London while he runs his cyber security company from the Highlands. They’re worlds apart. Until one day, Eilidh reaches out asking for a lifeline and Fyfe can’t bring himself to turn her away.

Acting isn’t what Eilidh Adair expected. As a kid, she wanted to be just like her famous uncles. But the double-edged sword of fame cuts deeper than expected. Afraid to admit she’s made a mistake, Eilidh is spiraling. The only person who knows the truth is Fyfe, but her childhood crush has developed into a love he won’t return. Yet when she comes home intent on starting over, Fyfe can’t seem to stay away. His confused feelings might just be the end of them. Until a woman from Fyfe’s past abandons the baby daughter he never knew he had.

Now a single father, Fyfe needs support. He just never expected Eilidh to be the one he needed most. Fyfe can’t believe how quickly he falls for his child and how rapidly his world view changes. He’s ready to admit the truth: he’s madly in love with his best friend’s sister. And Fyfe’s done wasting time.

But someone else believes Eilidh belongs to them. Someone who has been watching her far longer than she realizes. Just when she thinks she might have everything she wants, Eilidh finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a person intent on destroying everything she holds dear.

Fyfe and Eilidh have been long time friends living in a small town. Fyfe has had a hard childhood being from a broken home. He’s always had a crush on Eilidh, he doesn’t want to cross that line because of how much the Adair family has helped him. Eilidh ends her acting career and moves back home because all the fame isn’t all what she was expecting it to be. The relationship Eilidh and Fyfe have is a slow burn, when they finally decide to make a go for it it’s a roller coaster of raw emotions you can see how truly these two are meant to be.

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[New Post] ARC Book Reviews: Beating Heart by Laura Pavlov

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Title: Beating Heart

Author: Laura Pavlov

Page count: 354

Published: August 25th, 2024

Publisher: Valentine PR

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Received: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 5/5

A Small Town, Single Dad, Neighbors to Lovers, Standalone Romance from USA Today and Amazon Bestselling Author, Laura Pavlov.

From the moment my son came into the world—my life changed in the best way.
I’d found my purpose.
My reason.
My heart beats for this kid every damn day.
My company is thriving, and life is good.
But then Emerson Chadwick happened.
It must be the universe’s way of messing with me when I least expect it.
Our town’s new pediatrician is gorgeous and brilliant and—complicated.
I’m not looking for complications.
To make matters worse, my little boy is crazy about her, and now she’s moved in next door.
She’s everywhere I turn.
I can’t stay away no matter how hard I try.
But Emerson isn’t here to stay.
This is just a temporary stop for her.
And now my heart beats for her in a way I never expected.
Falling for the girl next door is a bad idea.
Loving her… well, that’s as easy as breathing.

Emerson is a new temporary pediatrician in town, she’s just been through so much that she wants to getaway. To do that she heads to Magnolia Falls. Nash has a construction business and is a single father to his adorable little boy Cutler who will have you smiling from ear to ear. Nash is dedicated to being the best father that he can be which is just swoon worthy. Cutler is Emerson’s new patient and Nash isn’t too happy with things when they change but what he doesn’t know is that Emerson is the one change that he was looking for. Emerson and Nash have a fantastic banter and chemistry that keep you glued to your kindle but more importantly they found a family in one another. I loved this one so freaking much. Its’s one of my favorites in the series thus far. I can’t wait to meet who’s next.

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[New Post] ARC Review: Truly Madly Deeply by L.J. Shen

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Title: Truly Madly Deeply

Author: L.J. Shen

Page count: 568

Published: September 10th, 2024

Publisher: Netgalley

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Received: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 4/5

This old flame just might set them on fire.

Conceited, unattainable, and downright delicious, renowned Michelin-starred chef Ambrose Casablancas has one passion in life—food.

Women are a distraction, and he doesn’t do those. Especially Cal Litvin, his baby sister’s best friend. Her entire existence is a complication; she’s awkward, eccentric, infuriating…

And, much to his chagrin, hotter than his kitchen.

Ambrose has a lot on his a new restaurant to open, a multimillion-dollar property deal to execute, and a violent stalker to tame.

Then Cal shows up at his doorstep, looking for both a job and salvation after their messy goodbye. His resolve, like his patience, is ebbing each day she works at his restaurant.

Because Cal is no longer a doe-eyed girl.

Now? She’s the woman he’ll do anything to conquer.

***

Quirky, compassionate ball of sunshine Calla Litvin can’t catch a break, and not just because she swore off running.

Back in her hometown to nurse her mother’s broken heart after losing her father, she finds herself jobless, hopeless, and penniless. She hopes to rekindle her friendship with her former BFF, but Dylan is attached at the hip to her cruel brother—the one Cal’s been secretly crushing on since middle school.

Falling for the bad boy the second time around would be a mistake of gargantuan proportions.

Too bad she’s always been clumsy.

Row is a brooding grumpy chef with multiple restaurants with a naughty mouth, Cal comes back home to Maine to help her mother after her dads passing. While reading I hadn’t realized how quicky I had read it. The banter they have I don’t think I have ever laughed as much as I have in this one then other books that I have read by Shen. Row and Cal have some comebacks to one another that I haven’t even herd/thought of. I enjoyed this book a little more because Row was the one that fell first. I’m excited to see what’s next by Shen.

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[New Post] ARC Review: A Thousand Broken Pieces by Tillie Cole

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Title: A Thousand Broken Pieces

Author: Tillie Cole

Page count: 317

Published: July 23rd, 2024

Publisher: Self Published

Genre: Romance

Received: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 5/5

Can two broken hearts make a whole. . . ?

After losing her beloved sister three years ago, Savanna Litchfield has been living half a life. When Savannah’s therapist suggests joining a trip around the world for grieving teens she agrees to go clutching tightly to the unread journal her sister left behind.

Seventeen-year-old Cael Woods is angry. One year after losing his older brother his life has spiraled. Once the most promising hockey player in the junior league, Cael can no longer step onto the ice. When his parents sign him up for a trip abroad no part of him wants to go.

As Cael and Savannah embark on a journey they begin to find solace in each other. As they start to heal piece by broken piece, could this be the start of a love they never thought they’d feel again?

A Thousand Broken Pieces is a beautiful and life-affirming novel about grief, love and friendship.

After reading the first book, it had left me heartbroken and utterly captivated by the emotional depth it explored. I knew that this was going to be one hell of a whirlwind of feelings, and it turned out to be much more than I had anticipated. Sav and Cael, two characters bound by their profound losses, have both tragically lost an older sibling and are struggling to find a way to move on in a world that feels incredibly heavy without them. Sav, who hasn’t been the same since Poppy’s passing, feels as if a vital part of her spirit has been extinguished, leading her parents to make the difficult decision to send her to a camp designed for those like her—others who are navigating the tumultuous waters of grief. On the other hand, Cael has experienced the devastating loss of his brother in a car accident, and in the aftermath, he has been consumed with anger that colors his every interaction and thought. His parents, recognizing the toll this anger is taking on him, hope that the camp will provide him with the tools to lessen the darkness that has enveloped him and help him deal with his brother’s tragic passing. They embark on a journey that takes them all over the world—from the fjords of Norway to the bustling streets of Japan, and the vibrant landscapes of India—seeking various cultures’ ways of coping with similar heartbreak. Seeing the heartfelt letters that Poppy left for Savannah were sweet reminders of their bond, giving her the strength to move on while simultaneously weighing heavily on her heart. As for Cael, he hasn’t been able to lace up his skates and play hockey since his brother’s passing, a sport he once loved passionately while working his way to the NHL; the ice has become a haunting reminder of his loss. Getting to see Rune in this narrative makes me yearn for his perspective, hoping to delve deeper into his own experience with grief. After immersing myself in this story, it still had the same raw and gritty gut-wrenching impact, shattering my heart again and again, yet it also offers a flicker of hope, helping readers to deal with their own grief. It carefully assists in putting some of the broken pieces back together, illustrating that healing can be a messy but necessary journey.

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[New Post] ARC Book Review: Alone With You by Aly Martinez

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Title: Alone With You

Author: Aly Martinez

Page count: 379

Published: August 22nd, 2024

Publisher: The Author Agency

Genre: Romance Suspense

Received: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 5/5

Pain trapped me in this house. Can love set me free?

Death had been chasing me my entire life. I survived the horrors of war, but it was the aftermath that truly destroyed me.

People called me a recluse, but the only time I didn’t feel like I was suffocating was inside that house.

For my daughter, I kept some semblance of normalcy by implementing a rigid routine. Once a week, I forced myself to walk to the diner at the end of the block—a ritual I despised but relied on as my last anchor to the real world.

Until the day a “Closed” sign on the door shattered my fragile existence. Worse, the new owner was the most haunting ghost from my past.

It had been years since I’d laid eyes on Gwendolyn Pierce. She hated me—and rightly so. But when a film crew arrived in town to dig into my past, she became my only ally.

With my secrets threatened, I leaned on Gwen, forging a connection neither of us could deny. But with a past as dark as ours, I feared it would eclipse any hope for a future.

I always said that when Death finally came for me, I would be ready, eager, and alone.
Always alone.

But for Gwen, maybe I could face the world again as long as it meant I could be alone—with her.

I went into this book completely blind just knew it was going to be an emotional one. After reading, I’m completely floored. Truett and Gwen take you on a baffling emotional journey that I didn’t think that would have such an affect on me. Truett has a huge weight that no one should carry. Gwen was a fantastic help to him when he needed it the most. I felt like I was going along with them with everything they were doing. Aly has this amazing talent to write a book with such feeling and emotion that you didn’t think were possible. Grief is hard for everyone and we don’t really know how someone is truly suffering.

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