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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
This book was just so fun to read, and I loved it! After reading Highlander for Hannah, I couldn't wait to read this one. This series is just the perfect quick read. I couldn't put it down and didn't want to!
Mystic Falls being the backdrop of this book made me so excited!! I am a big fan of Vampire Diaries though this book is a little less dramatic it made me so so happy. This book just brings in the perfect hint of magic, mystery, and the belief of fate.
Poppy is such a fun character who you can't help but love automatically. She is this bubbly, beautiful hopeless romantic. Throughout the book she feels like she doesn't know if she belongs and where she wants to go with her live. Feeling stuck in the family business and like she meant for something bigger than what she is doing. I loved not only watching her shine one stage but come into her love of baking. Soon realizing that her calling and her true love was all right in front of her.
Though her confusion of the love spell is extremely frustrating and totally wasted on a dumb actor I think the obstacle was necessary for her to realize her worth, what is important to her in life, and what is right in front of her.
Josh Turner.. THIS MAN obsessed. I genuinely loved this man so much. He is such a staple character for this town and a great man all around. Watching him pine after Poppy is so painful because you know that he loves her so truly and whole heartily. I loved watching the way that he connects with Poppy family and gets the thing that he wishes he would have had.
I loved their first date on the waterfall with picnic it was picture perfect and romantic. I just think that they fit so well together like puzzle pieces. It was cute to see the way their lives fall in place with their career paths, the fight for their house and their future. Overall, just a very good and cute story. I love the representation of plus size women in all of Mary Warren's books and I think it just shows authors and publishers what good representation in writing can look like. Very excited to read Let's Go Lucy!
Mystic Falls being the backdrop of this book made me so excited!! I am a big fan of Vampire Diaries though this book is a little less dramatic it made me so so happy. This book just brings in the perfect hint of magic, mystery, and the belief of fate.
Poppy is such a fun character who you can't help but love automatically. She is this bubbly, beautiful hopeless romantic. Throughout the book she feels like she doesn't know if she belongs and where she wants to go with her live. Feeling stuck in the family business and like she meant for something bigger than what she is doing. I loved not only watching her shine one stage but come into her love of baking. Soon realizing that her calling and her true love was all right in front of her.
Though her confusion of the love spell is extremely frustrating and totally wasted on a dumb actor I think the obstacle was necessary for her to realize her worth, what is important to her in life, and what is right in front of her.
Josh Turner.. THIS MAN obsessed. I genuinely loved this man so much. He is such a staple character for this town and a great man all around. Watching him pine after Poppy is so painful because you know that he loves her so truly and whole heartily. I loved watching the way that he connects with Poppy family and gets the thing that he wishes he would have had.
I loved their first date on the waterfall with picnic it was picture perfect and romantic. I just think that they fit so well together like puzzle pieces. It was cute to see the way their lives fall in place with their career paths, the fight for their house and their future. Overall, just a very good and cute story. I love the representation of plus size women in all of Mary Warren's books and I think it just shows authors and publishers what good representation in writing can look like. Very excited to read Let's Go Lucy!
DNF at 26%. Not very well written, weird stilted language and convos and repetitive sentence structure. I’m out.
Oh, and it’s “Suddenly Seymour” not “Suddenly Seymore”. Lord.
Oh, and it’s “Suddenly Seymour” not “Suddenly Seymore”. Lord.
I had mixed feelings about the second book in the Mystic Falls series. I loved the characters and that we got to see more from Hannah, Graham and Bridget but I felt like there could have been another round of editing done (there were a lot of clunky sentences). I also felt a little torn on Poppy and Josh going from zero to 100 so soon after she ends a spur of the moment relationship with a big city scum bag.
That said the small town, Gilmore Girls vibes of this series is excellent and I truly did love Poppy's journey from wanting to make it big in the city to discovering a new dream for herself working with her brother and living in the town she always thought she wanted to leave.
Other positives: another amazing Leni Kaufman cover, great fat rep and some STEAMY bull riding scenes I didn't know I needed in my life! Many thanks to the author for sharing an early ARC copy in exchange for my honest review! Recommended for fans of Mixed signals by B.K. Borison.
That said the small town, Gilmore Girls vibes of this series is excellent and I truly did love Poppy's journey from wanting to make it big in the city to discovering a new dream for herself working with her brother and living in the town she always thought she wanted to leave.
Other positives: another amazing Leni Kaufman cover, great fat rep and some STEAMY bull riding scenes I didn't know I needed in my life! Many thanks to the author for sharing an early ARC copy in exchange for my honest review! Recommended for fans of Mixed signals by B.K. Borison.
Didn’t enjoy this as much as the first in the series, the writing felt a lot more clunky and (like my critique of the first book) the way people speak just seems weird!
I want to give this 5 million ⭐️ just for the fat rep alone but it was just too fluffy and the final epilogue was cringy - unfortunately not just not for me 😖
I want to give this 5 million ⭐️ just for the fat rep alone but it was just too fluffy and the final epilogue was cringy - unfortunately not just not for me 😖
I think I got a cavity from how sweet this book is. That's not an issue but it is a little too boring. Poppy is kind of a whiny person and Josh needs to be needed so much they're a good match.
Spotlight on Poppy has such a cute Hallmark channel vibe to it. Josh and Poppy are childhood friends, they grew up in the same small town — but where Josh embraces the small town life, Poppy is sure that her big break is waiting for her in a big city and she can’t wait to get there. Desperate to find love (and her ticket out of Mystic Falls,) Poppy tries to convince herself to fall in love with Damian St. Cloud when he comes from Broadway to help Mystic Fall’s musical theater production. Everyone knows: when someone is desperate they often overlook red flags. Thankfully, Josh is there for Poppy when things fall apart, and maybe THIS TIME Poppy will see him and Mystic Falls for their full potential.
I loved the premise, I really loved the body positive plus-size representation, I loved the Stars Hollow feel of Mystic Falls. If you liked “A Highlander for Hannah,” you’ll also enjoy “Spotlight on Poppy.”
I think that this story could have MUCH better with the right editor and beta team. The dialogue and emotion felt flat and very surface level. As it is, it’s a great rough draft. I hope that Mary Warren continues to write and grows as an author.
2.5⭐️ rounded up for Goodreads
I was lucky enough to receive an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I loved the premise, I really loved the body positive plus-size representation, I loved the Stars Hollow feel of Mystic Falls. If you liked “A Highlander for Hannah,” you’ll also enjoy “Spotlight on Poppy.”
I think that this story could have MUCH better with the right editor and beta team. The dialogue and emotion felt flat and very surface level. As it is, it’s a great rough draft. I hope that Mary Warren continues to write and grows as an author.
2.5⭐️ rounded up for Goodreads
I was lucky enough to receive an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
ARC Review!! I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I wanted to badly to love this book. The cover is adorable, there's a plus size main character, and the premise sounded promising. However, this book fell so flat for me.
From choppy descriptions to repetitive dialog, it was so hard to really get into this book. Everything the characters said was a repeat of the narration that the author just gave us. It was all so stiff. And even then, the descriptions and narration of the story were so formal. It really took me out of the story. There were multiple grammatical errors that I noticed. It was difficult to believe that any of these characters were actually doing anything. It was a lot of telling us that they were doing things and not showing us.
I saw someone else's review, I think for Hannah's book, that a lot of the events that were built up as these huge plot points were just barely talked about when the time actually came. The third act conflict in this book was hyped up to be this huge beast of a problem that they would have to solve, only for it to miraculously work out in about two sentences. It was jarring.
On to positive things!
I will say I did not read the first book in this series, but I didn't feel like I was missing any context, so that's a plus.
I liked most of the characters, even when I feel like we barely know anything about them.
Overall, this book just wasn't for me. It had a lot of potential, but just seemed like it missed the mark.
I wanted to badly to love this book. The cover is adorable, there's a plus size main character, and the premise sounded promising. However, this book fell so flat for me.
From choppy descriptions to repetitive dialog, it was so hard to really get into this book. Everything the characters said was a repeat of the narration that the author just gave us. It was all so stiff. And even then, the descriptions and narration of the story were so formal. It really took me out of the story. There were multiple grammatical errors that I noticed. It was difficult to believe that any of these characters were actually doing anything. It was a lot of telling us that they were doing things and not showing us.
I saw someone else's review, I think for Hannah's book, that a lot of the events that were built up as these huge plot points were just barely talked about when the time actually came. The third act conflict in this book was hyped up to be this huge beast of a problem that they would have to solve, only for it to miraculously work out in about two sentences. It was jarring.
On to positive things!
I will say I did not read the first book in this series, but I didn't feel like I was missing any context, so that's a plus.
I liked most of the characters, even when I feel like we barely know anything about them.
Overall, this book just wasn't for me. It had a lot of potential, but just seemed like it missed the mark.
5 stars! A man who obsesses over his woman, no third act break up and great communication?! I wanna give this book 6 stars!!!
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Spoilers ahead:
This is the second book in the Mistery falls series. The first was A highlander for Hannah.
In Spotlight on Poppy we follow Poppy and Josh and their journey to get together.
And here we are, and i'm having toughts and opions.
1. The conclusing. She spends her life dreaming about leaving the little town. Josh wants to stay in the little town and is thinking of buying a house for them (after dating like a few pages) and the resolution is that she gets a dream and there is that.
Somehow i hoped that her dreams became a part of the story.
2. Josh is cute and all. But a little to much golden retriever energy there.
Things i loved:
1. Good plussize representation. We always can use more good and positive plussize representation and this book was a great example.
2. The love spell. The scenes about that are funny and never fail to make me laugh, I love Bridget.
3. The glimps of the wedding between Hannah and Graham from the first book. I was in love with those two and seeing them getting married from Poppys POV was amazing,
4. Mystic falls is and will be the small town of my dreams.
So naturally i had to give this book 4,25 stars. It is not a perfect book but i came really close. I had so much fun reading this.
This is the second book in the Mistery falls series. The first was A highlander for Hannah.
In Spotlight on Poppy we follow Poppy and Josh and their journey to get together.
And here we are, and i'm having toughts and opions.
1. The conclusing. She spends her life dreaming about leaving the little town. Josh wants to stay in the little town and is thinking of buying a house for them (after dating like a few pages) and the resolution is that she gets a dream and there is that.
Somehow i hoped that her dreams became a part of the story.
2. Josh is cute and all. But a little to much golden retriever energy there.
Things i loved:
1. Good plussize representation. We always can use more good and positive plussize representation and this book was a great example.
2. The love spell. The scenes about that are funny and never fail to make me laugh, I love Bridget.
3. The glimps of the wedding between Hannah and Graham from the first book. I was in love with those two and seeing them getting married from Poppys POV was amazing,
4. Mystic falls is and will be the small town of my dreams.
So naturally i had to give this book 4,25 stars. It is not a perfect book but i came really close. I had so much fun reading this.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Opinion: Liked the cozy town and a guy in touch with his feelings.
Story was ok, the first time with Poppy and Josh in the hidden waterfall rocky area started me up but then left me feeling like they just StClouded me. Absolutely dry and disappointed. The next time was better but lack luster as well.
Enjoyed the part where Josh was irrational about Poppy leaving him if he lost the house. The emotional writing for him was well done in that scene. I am definitely not a in the end there is a child or children in the future fan so all of that was a huge bummer. Especially the misogynistic father walking the daughter down the aisle wedding bs.
Tossing a couple of gay guys, one black and one white, in the background as "diversity" is trash writing.
Possible word triggers: "princess" and "panties" like, repeatedly.
Spice: Absolutely no kink or bdsm. I wouldn't even call her doing the work one time and him another "switching". It's just vanilla graphic details.
Writing: A lot of spelling and grammar mistakes make it hard to dive into the world completely. An editor would have been a good idea before publishing but not a deal breaker.
My ratings system:
1 star - read thru/not a dnf
3 star - I liked the book
5 star - left an impact/vibes were vibing
Story was ok, the first time with Poppy and
Enjoyed the part where Josh was irrational about
Tossing a couple of gay guys, one black and one white, in the background as "diversity" is trash writing.
Possible word triggers: "princess" and "panties" like, repeatedly.
Spice: Absolutely no kink or bdsm. I wouldn't even call her doing the work one time and him another "switching". It's just vanilla graphic details.
Writing: A lot of spelling and grammar mistakes make it hard to dive into the world completely. An editor would have been a good idea before publishing but not a deal breaker.
My ratings system:
1 star - read thru/not a dnf
3 star - I liked the book
5 star - left an impact/vibes were vibing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content
Minor: Fatphobia, Violence, Pregnancy, Alcohol