Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I always enjoy a romance with deeper character backgrounds and individual story arcs. That being said, I felt like the ending fumbled the bag and had too much heavy shit happening to Sammy for what is categorically a romantic novel. Atmospheric prose though.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I adored this big-hearted adult fiction debut featuring a cast of queer characters, found family, small town charm and an utterly cheer-worthy second chance romance between Sammy, a pansexual music reviewer and Max, a Rockstar looking for a comeback.
Great on audio and it seems like there just might be a second book coming??? I would definitely love to return to Ridley Falls and get more Sammy and Max stories. Recommended for fans of authors like BK Borrison or Courtney Kae.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and @prhaudio for early digital and audio copies in exchange for my honest review!
⚠️CW: recovering alcoholic, absentee/neglectful parent, death of a loved one
Great on audio and it seems like there just might be a second book coming??? I would definitely love to return to Ridley Falls and get more Sammy and Max stories. Recommended for fans of authors like BK Borrison or Courtney Kae.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and @prhaudio for early digital and audio copies in exchange for my honest review!
⚠️CW: recovering alcoholic, absentee/neglectful parent, death of a loved one
Perspective: first
Tense: present
POV: single
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ 3: Medium Salsa (A few open door scenes with explicit descriptions, but not very detailed)
Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4: Great, calling it good doesn’t feel adequate. I really liked it and had a very good time reading it.
Review:
This was a very entertaining read! It was a little predictable, but enjoyable through and through.
I read this for the Diverse Baseline Challenge prompt to read a book by a Latinx author, and I found this amongst the books people had already tagged for the prompt.
The book follows Sammy Espinoza, who, for reasons, has no connection to her Mexican American heritage, and a significant part of the book is exploring this. I think I may have enjoyed that plot line even more than the romance!
Source: Library (Libby)
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Life as Sammy Espinoza knew it is crumbling down around her. Her girl friend dumped her, she is about to be fired from her job and she’s moving back to Ridley Falls, the place that feels closest to home. She has no clue where she’s going with her life, but she does have a crazy plan to redeem herself and keep her job. Rumor has it that former rock star, Max Ryan, lives in Ridley Falls and is working on a solo album. Sammy promises her boss an exclusive story with a sneak peek of the new album, but can she actually deliver? Sammy also has ulterior motives, Max Ryan ghosted her years ago and she’s never fully gotten over it. Will everything go as planned or will Sammy’s crazy plan blow up in face?
I found this to be a very enjoyable romance that kept me on my toes. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about Sammy wanting to ‘use’ Max to farther her career, but the way everything played out sat well with me. I really liked the characters of Sammy and Max and enjoyed seeing how their pasts formed them into the people they were currently. Everyone has a bit of a secret that you don’t see on the surface and I liked how Sammy and Max’s secrets played out. The whole time I was reading this book I thought I was going to give it a solid 4 stars, but the last few chapters were so good, in my opinion, that I had to give it the full 5. This was an enjoyable romance with some drama thrown in. It was definitely worth the read!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!
I found this to be a very enjoyable romance that kept me on my toes. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about Sammy wanting to ‘use’ Max to farther her career, but the way everything played out sat well with me. I really liked the characters of Sammy and Max and enjoyed seeing how their pasts formed them into the people they were currently. Everyone has a bit of a secret that you don’t see on the surface and I liked how Sammy and Max’s secrets played out. The whole time I was reading this book I thought I was going to give it a solid 4 stars, but the last few chapters were so good, in my opinion, that I had to give it the full 5. This was an enjoyable romance with some drama thrown in. It was definitely worth the read!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!
3/5 stars.
There were parts of this book that I liked, but overall I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book.
Sammy Espinoza’s job is to write reviews about singers and musicians. When her job is in jeopardy, her last chance to save it is to write a review about Max Ryan, a rock god who just happens to be her ex who ghosted her years ago. Once she heads back to their shared hometown, they get back together. But will the issues that drove them apart in the past resurface, or can they get through them?
I didn’t think that the “romance” part of this romance book was particularly strong. It felt like Sammy and Max’s relationship was the same as last time, so why would it last now if nothing has changed?
I wasn’t super connected to their of the characters and didn’t really feel like I was rooting for them.
It was an easy and quick read, though, and overall enjoyable. It was a predictable ending but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC.
There were parts of this book that I liked, but overall I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book.
Sammy Espinoza’s job is to write reviews about singers and musicians. When her job is in jeopardy, her last chance to save it is to write a review about Max Ryan, a rock god who just happens to be her ex who ghosted her years ago. Once she heads back to their shared hometown, they get back together. But will the issues that drove them apart in the past resurface, or can they get through them?
I didn’t think that the “romance” part of this romance book was particularly strong. It felt like Sammy and Max’s relationship was the same as last time, so why would it last now if nothing has changed?
I wasn’t super connected to their of the characters and didn’t really feel like I was rooting for them.
It was an easy and quick read, though, and overall enjoyable. It was a predictable ending but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC.
Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Sammy Espinoza's Last Review to review!
3.5 stars
Sammy has hit her quarter life crisis. She is about to lose her job as a music critic and she just got broken up with in a stint of public humiliation. She decides to move home to Ridley Falls to find her ground again but she also read a rumor that Max Ryan, a former rock star that also happens to be from Ridley Falls, is living in his hometown and working on his first solo album. In an attempt to save her job Sammy decides to try to find Max Ryan in Ridley Falls to convince him to let her review his yet to be released solo album. When her accidental meeting with Max turns into more than she could've ever predicted, her plan is pulled out from under her and her trip home brings her more than she could've imagined.
This book was so much more than I initially thought it would be. It had a great love story but it was also a great story about finding yourself and growing more connected to your friends and family. I love rock star love stories and Max Ryan seriously gave me Daisy Jones & the Six vibes. I also loved the whole "met once at 18 and never saw each other again" addition. I thought that was a very cool touch even though it wasn't super relevant to the story. I thought Max was a 10/10 love interest. I loved seeing Sammy become more connected with her biological and non-biological family throughout the story. I thought Brooks and Willa were so cool and I loved how they brought a little bit of comic relief while still being extremely relevant to Sammy's personal growth. I also thought the ending was very unpredictable which I loved, sometimes it's really nice to just go into a book like this with zero expectations and see where it takes you. I also thought the writing was so much more evolved than I expected it to be. I did think that the last third of the story dragged a bit and the book felt slightly longer than it needed to be, but other than that I thought this was a genuinely enjoyable read that I was pleasantly surprised by.
3.5 stars
Sammy has hit her quarter life crisis. She is about to lose her job as a music critic and she just got broken up with in a stint of public humiliation. She decides to move home to Ridley Falls to find her ground again but she also read a rumor that Max Ryan, a former rock star that also happens to be from Ridley Falls, is living in his hometown and working on his first solo album. In an attempt to save her job Sammy decides to try to find Max Ryan in Ridley Falls to convince him to let her review his yet to be released solo album. When her accidental meeting with Max turns into more than she could've ever predicted, her plan is pulled out from under her and her trip home brings her more than she could've imagined.
This book was so much more than I initially thought it would be. It had a great love story but it was also a great story about finding yourself and growing more connected to your friends and family. I love rock star love stories and Max Ryan seriously gave me Daisy Jones & the Six vibes. I also loved the whole "met once at 18 and never saw each other again" addition. I thought that was a very cool touch even though it wasn't super relevant to the story. I thought Max was a 10/10 love interest. I loved seeing Sammy become more connected with her biological and non-biological family throughout the story. I thought Brooks and Willa were so cool and I loved how they brought a little bit of comic relief while still being extremely relevant to Sammy's personal growth. I also thought the ending was very unpredictable which I loved, sometimes it's really nice to just go into a book like this with zero expectations and see where it takes you. I also thought the writing was so much more evolved than I expected it to be. I did think that the last third of the story dragged a bit and the book felt slightly longer than it needed to be, but other than that I thought this was a genuinely enjoyable read that I was pleasantly surprised by.