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a_stylish_bookworm's reviews
1077 reviews
Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb
Celeste is a divorce mom that is learning to herself after the divorce and accidentally is paired with John in a bird watching contest. They are total opposites with Celeste being loud and fun and John being reserve. Their encounter with each birding was a lot of fun and I love the tension between them. The side characters added depth to the story and the author made me want to pay attention to the birds that I see.
Thank you @gallerybooks for a copy of this book.
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Celeste is a divorce mom that is learning to herself after the divorce and accidentally is paired with John in a bird watching contest. They are total opposites with Celeste being loud and fun and John being reserve. Their encounter with each birding was a lot of fun and I love the tension between them. The side characters added depth to the story and the author made me want to pay attention to the birds that I see.
Thank you @gallerybooks for a copy of this book.
House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen
Stella, who is an interest lawyer, who is assigned to a new case to 9 year old Rose whose parents are going through a divorce and her nanny recently died at her home too. Stella goes beyond looking for the best interest of Rose and digs into why the nanny died. The story is a bit creepy and leads you down to not knowing who to trust. In addition to this case, Stella finally looks into the case of her mom's death and learns so much about her past. I found the attempt at romance for Stella was a bit out of place and didn't really add to the book and didn't provide any glimpse of what's to happen. Overall, a great enjoyable psychological thriller.
Laura Benanti did a great job with the narration and kept me on the edge of my seat.
Thank you @stmartinspress @macmillan.audio @netgalley for a copy of the book.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Stella, who is an interest lawyer, who is assigned to a new case to 9 year old Rose whose parents are going through a divorce and her nanny recently died at her home too. Stella goes beyond looking for the best interest of Rose and digs into why the nanny died. The story is a bit creepy and leads you down to not knowing who to trust. In addition to this case, Stella finally looks into the case of her mom's death and learns so much about her past. I found the attempt at romance for Stella was a bit out of place and didn't really add to the book and didn't provide any glimpse of what's to happen. Overall, a great enjoyable psychological thriller.
Laura Benanti did a great job with the narration and kept me on the edge of my seat.
Thank you @stmartinspress @macmillan.audio @netgalley for a copy of the book.
Heiress Takes All by Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka
medium-paced
2.0
Thank you @littlebrown @netgalley for a copy of this book. I will start by saying I am not the right audience for this book and may work better for the intended audience.
This one did not work for me. I don't know why I didn't DNF it - I guess I was curious how it would turn out.
This is about Olivia who is 17 year old pulling a heist on her dad's wedding day. I find it unbelievable that 1. An adult would be part of the heist and 2 that it was so easy to pull off with all that twists and turns.
Obviously there is a lot of resentment with Olivia and her das and nothing was resolved between that. There was just too many unbelievable plots that made this a meh for me. There is zero character development as the story focuses on the day of the heist.
I did enjoy the humor sprinkled through out the story.
This one did not work for me. I don't know why I didn't DNF it - I guess I was curious how it would turn out.
This is about Olivia who is 17 year old pulling a heist on her dad's wedding day. I find it unbelievable that 1. An adult would be part of the heist and 2 that it was so easy to pull off with all that twists and turns.
Obviously there is a lot of resentment with Olivia and her das and nothing was resolved between that. There was just too many unbelievable plots that made this a meh for me. There is zero character development as the story focuses on the day of the heist.
I did enjoy the humor sprinkled through out the story.
The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco by Talia Hibbert
Thank you @dreamscape_media for a copy of this audiobook. This one left me wanting more from the story to character development. I felt all the characters were a bit flat and the supporting characters didn't add much other then that Nik slept with them. The story is full of sex scenes which is good but also felt like that was all to it. There was a scene where they are playing soccer which was fine but Aria was playing in a bathing suit. How uncomfortable is that.
Rooke Kingston and Harvey Fuller did a good job with the narration.
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
Thank you @dreamscape_media for a copy of this audiobook. This one left me wanting more from the story to character development. I felt all the characters were a bit flat and the supporting characters didn't add much other then that Nik slept with them. The story is full of sex scenes which is good but also felt like that was all to it. There was a scene where they are playing soccer which was fine but Aria was playing in a bathing suit. How uncomfortable is that.
Rooke Kingston and Harvey Fuller did a good job with the narration.
Humor Me by Cat Shook
This book has a little bit of everything from humor, friendship, romance to grieving the death of a parent. Presley works as an assistant to a comic and is just sort of drifting through life. She bumps into her mom's childhood friend and they form a friendship that was a lot of fun to see. I felt bad for Presley who was pining for her coworker and seeing how that played out. I love how Clark came back into her life being Susan's son and seeing their friendship.
Fardelle Capistrano did a great job on bringing the story to life. Thank you @celadonbooks @macmillan.audio @netgalley for a copy of the audio book.
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
This book has a little bit of everything from humor, friendship, romance to grieving the death of a parent. Presley works as an assistant to a comic and is just sort of drifting through life. She bumps into her mom's childhood friend and they form a friendship that was a lot of fun to see. I felt bad for Presley who was pining for her coworker and seeing how that played out. I love how Clark came back into her life being Susan's son and seeing their friendship.
Fardelle Capistrano did a great job on bringing the story to life. Thank you @celadonbooks @macmillan.audio @netgalley for a copy of the audio book.
Look on the Bright Side by Kristan Higgins
This audio book was told in 3 POV, Lark, Ellie and Joy. Lark is a doctor that is emotional and was moved from to ER which is not what she wants. She gets an interesting proposal from "Dr. Satan" aka Lorenzo. The story centers on their agreement and the entanglements of family. Both family adds a fun element to the story and I enjoyed seeing Lark's past to learn about her. There's lots of funny moments to balance out the moments that makes me cry. The narration was great and distinct between the characters.
Thank you @berkleyromance @recordedbooks @netgalley for a copy of the audiobook.
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
This audio book was told in 3 POV, Lark, Ellie and Joy. Lark is a doctor that is emotional and was moved from to ER which is not what she wants. She gets an interesting proposal from "Dr. Satan" aka Lorenzo. The story centers on their agreement and the entanglements of family. Both family adds a fun element to the story and I enjoyed seeing Lark's past to learn about her. There's lots of funny moments to balance out the moments that makes me cry. The narration was great and distinct between the characters.
Thank you @berkleyromance @recordedbooks @netgalley for a copy of the audiobook.
Triple Sec by TJ Alexander
Thank you @atriabooks for a copy of this book. Mel is a bartender at one of the hottest spot and meets Bebe and there's instant connection. Mel learns that Bebe is is married but is in an open relationship. The story explores how an open relationship develops between Mel, Bebe and Kade. I thought the story was cute but I felt like I didn't get to know the characters and the love develop.
medium-paced
3.0
Thank you @atriabooks for a copy of this book. Mel is a bartender at one of the hottest spot and meets Bebe and there's instant connection. Mel learns that Bebe is is married but is in an open relationship. The story explores how an open relationship develops between Mel, Bebe and Kade. I thought the story was cute but I felt like I didn't get to know the characters and the love develop.
Swiped by L.M. Chilton
This was a fun popcorn thriller which Gwen, our lead character has hit a bump on the road with a recent break up and giving up her job. Gwen decides to start dating and uses a dating app and learns that her one of her dates is murdered and becomes a suspect. I enjoyed how the story is told in the present as well as the past with what happened during her dates. There's a lot of fun moments and lots of red herring sprinkled in the story. The ending was a bit unbelievable but I didn't suspect the killer. Over all entertaining thriller.
Thank you @gallerybooks @scoutpressbooks for a copy of the book.
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
This was a fun popcorn thriller which Gwen, our lead character has hit a bump on the road with a recent break up and giving up her job. Gwen decides to start dating and uses a dating app and learns that her one of her dates is murdered and becomes a suspect. I enjoyed how the story is told in the present as well as the past with what happened during her dates. There's a lot of fun moments and lots of red herring sprinkled in the story. The ending was a bit unbelievable but I didn't suspect the killer. Over all entertaining thriller.
Thank you @gallerybooks @scoutpressbooks for a copy of the book.
Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung
Thank you @prhaudio @berkleypub for a copy of this audiobook.
This book is set in the late 40s/early 50s during turmoil in China. The story is fictional but based on the authors's grandmother's experience with her flight from China to Taiwan. The story focuses on the Ang's family with the girls and mom flight from communism. The story is heartbreaking at times and my heart broke for all of them. I love how each persevere and was so resilient in their journey.
This story hits close to home for me as my mom and dad were young children during that time and probably shared similar experiences. They never speak of those times and knowing what they went through, makes me so proud of what my parents accomplished.
The narrator Yu-Li Alice Shen did such a phenomenon job with the narration. She brought so much emotions to life and her pronunciation of Chinese words added to the story.
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Thank you @prhaudio @berkleypub for a copy of this audiobook.
This book is set in the late 40s/early 50s during turmoil in China. The story is fictional but based on the authors's grandmother's experience with her flight from China to Taiwan. The story focuses on the Ang's family with the girls and mom flight from communism. The story is heartbreaking at times and my heart broke for all of them. I love how each persevere and was so resilient in their journey.
This story hits close to home for me as my mom and dad were young children during that time and probably shared similar experiences. They never speak of those times and knowing what they went through, makes me so proud of what my parents accomplished.
The narrator Yu-Li Alice Shen did such a phenomenon job with the narration. She brought so much emotions to life and her pronunciation of Chinese words added to the story.
Pardon My Frenchie by Farrah Rochon
I am a sucker for books with dogs so this one was a no brainer to read. All I can say is I need to see Puddin and Duchess on my feed. The dogs were so cute and with Heron's writing on their adorable personality, I can see why these dogs would go viral. Ashanti who owns Barkingham Palace day care is a super woman and has a lot of her plate. I love how fiercely loves not only Duchess and her sisters but other dogs as well. Thad is not a dog person and I loved seeing his growth journey in getting back to civilian life and learning to love his grandmother's dog. I thought there were some loose ends that needed to be resolved. If you love dogs and a weekend trip to NYC, grab this one.
Thank you @readforeverpub @netgalley for a copy of this.
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
I am a sucker for books with dogs so this one was a no brainer to read. All I can say is I need to see Puddin and Duchess on my feed. The dogs were so cute and with Heron's writing on their adorable personality, I can see why these dogs would go viral. Ashanti who owns Barkingham Palace day care is a super woman and has a lot of her plate. I love how fiercely loves not only Duchess and her sisters but other dogs as well. Thad is not a dog person and I loved seeing his growth journey in getting back to civilian life and learning to love his grandmother's dog. I thought there were some loose ends that needed to be resolved. If you love dogs and a weekend trip to NYC, grab this one.
Thank you @readforeverpub @netgalley for a copy of this.