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amburhostyn's reviews
3275 reviews
If You Hate Me by Helena Hunting
fast-paced
5.0
Wowzers! I couldn’t put IF YOU HATE ME down! I’m always up for a new book for Helena Hunting, so I jumped at the chance to read and review this one nice and early and I’m so glad that I did! I read it both as an egalley and listened to bits of the advanced listener’s copy and both the ebook and audiobook were absolutely fabulous…the readers are amazing and Helena’s words were as captivating as always!
IF YOU HATE ME was hilarious, heartwarming and jammed full of sizzling spice! Rix and Tristan were such wonderful characters and I had so much fun seeing them go from hate to something much, much deeper…and their chemistry was off the charts! I loved their solo journeys, and also how they complemented each other. I loved seeing Rix become more confident in herself, uncover her passions, and find a sense of belonging...and Tristan. Oh boy! I was right there with Rix when Tristan was on her last nerve, but he won me over hard! It was a delight to see him grow, and I love, love, loooooved seeing him learn to realize his own worth. Gotta love self-aware main characters who know they have to work on themselves! ;)
There truly was so much heart in this story...and it definitely didn't cool the heat down at all. In fact, I'd say this is one of Helena's spiciest books yet and if you haven't perfected your spicy reader poker face...you might want to watch if you decide to read this one in public...especially if the audio is your format of choice! It's a scorcher and you will likely find yourself blushing. ;)
Now onto the rest of the fabulous cast of characters! One of my favourite parts of starting new series from Helena is meeting her delightful cast of characters...and she's once again created the most excellent group of side characters who I desperately want to read about. I loved Rix's growing group of friends, and loooooved all of the Toronto Terror players! If you look around online, you might just spot some hints on what's in store next for this series (*hint hint* look for IF YOU WANT ME)...and I am seriously so excited for what's next! I'm also just so excited for all of the potential in this series, and can't wait until more and more people have read IF YOU HATE ME so we can all discuss who we want to read about next! ;)
Overall, I absolutely loved IF YOU HATE ME! Enemies-to-lovers is one of my favourite tropes and I'm always a fan of brother's best friend...so this was right up my alley! I also adored seeing a sports romance set in Toronto from one of my favourite Canadian authors! It was so fun to see certain Canadianisms...and even hear some of them in the audio version, too. I highly recommend IF YOU HATE ME to anyone who loves spicy rom-coms that are high on the spice scale and pack some delightful heat, especially if you also love hockey romances! This is one that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon and I already can't wait to reread it! ;)
Star Rating:★★★★★
IF YOU HATE ME was hilarious, heartwarming and jammed full of sizzling spice! Rix and Tristan were such wonderful characters and I had so much fun seeing them go from hate to something much, much deeper…and their chemistry was off the charts! I loved their solo journeys, and also how they complemented each other. I loved seeing Rix become more confident in herself, uncover her passions, and find a sense of belonging...and Tristan. Oh boy! I was right there with Rix when Tristan was on her last nerve, but he won me over hard! It was a delight to see him grow, and I love, love, loooooved seeing him learn to realize his own worth. Gotta love self-aware main characters who know they have to work on themselves! ;)
There truly was so much heart in this story...and it definitely didn't cool the heat down at all. In fact, I'd say this is one of Helena's spiciest books yet and if you haven't perfected your spicy reader poker face...you might want to watch if you decide to read this one in public...especially if the audio is your format of choice! It's a scorcher and you will likely find yourself blushing. ;)
Now onto the rest of the fabulous cast of characters! One of my favourite parts of starting new series from Helena is meeting her delightful cast of characters...and she's once again created the most excellent group of side characters who I desperately want to read about. I loved Rix's growing group of friends, and loooooved all of the Toronto Terror players! If you look around online, you might just spot some hints on what's in store next for this series (*hint hint* look for IF YOU WANT ME)...and I am seriously so excited for what's next! I'm also just so excited for all of the potential in this series, and can't wait until more and more people have read IF YOU HATE ME so we can all discuss who we want to read about next! ;)
Overall, I absolutely loved IF YOU HATE ME! Enemies-to-lovers is one of my favourite tropes and I'm always a fan of brother's best friend...so this was right up my alley! I also adored seeing a sports romance set in Toronto from one of my favourite Canadian authors! It was so fun to see certain Canadianisms...and even hear some of them in the audio version, too. I highly recommend IF YOU HATE ME to anyone who loves spicy rom-coms that are high on the spice scale and pack some delightful heat, especially if you also love hockey romances! This is one that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon and I already can't wait to reread it! ;)
Star Rating:★★★★★
Gazing at the Star Next Door, Volume 1 by Ammitsu
fast-paced
5.0
Absolutely loved thisssss! What an adorable start to a new series and I loved that we got to see an extra for Ran the Peerless Beauty, too! Highly recommend this manga to anyone looking for something cute and fluffy that also makes you laugh! I can’t wait to see where this one goes!
The Catch by Amy Lea
fast-paced
5.0
I've been wanting to read Amy Lea's books for so long now, so I decided that THE CATCH was the one that I wanted to start with...and boy was it an excellent choice!
First off, I absolutely loved the characters! Melanie and Evan were wonderful and I loved seeing their relationship evolve...and oh boy, oh boy did I adore having a lumberjack-esque grumpy fisherman as the hero in this--I feel like that's a high I've been chasing ever since I read (and loved) Tessa Bailey's It Happened One Summer, and while there were definitely some similarities to the premise, Amy Lea kept this story so fresh and fun and I loved every single second of it! I loved that it was set in Nova Scotia, I loved Evan's family and all of the small town shenanigans! As someone from a small Canadian town that's a similar size...albeit in a very different part of the country, I can confirm that the way everyone knows all the news and the way everyone all comes together is very, very accurate. :P
Along with amazing characters and loving the Canadian setting, I loved the plot and story so much! It had elements of WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, and THE PROPOSAL, and gave me all of those gooooooood ol' school rom-coms vibes! The chemistry between Mel and Evan made it even better, and it was so fun to see everything that they got themselves into.
Overall, I thought that THE CATCH was absolutely amazing and I loved it so much! I did read it as a standalone, so I think that if you wanted to do the same, you definitely can! I have to admit that I will definitely be going back to read the first two books in the series now though because I definitely want to get to read Crystal's and Tara's stories, too! Highly recommend this one if you're looking for a fun, steamy rom-com that you won't want to put down...and I recommend it even more if you're like me and can't resist a grumpy, super capable hero that seriously knows how to take care of the woman he loves. ;)
First off, I absolutely loved the characters! Melanie and Evan were wonderful and I loved seeing their relationship evolve...and oh boy, oh boy did I adore having a lumberjack-esque grumpy fisherman as the hero in this--I feel like that's a high I've been chasing ever since I read (and loved) Tessa Bailey's It Happened One Summer, and while there were definitely some similarities to the premise, Amy Lea kept this story so fresh and fun and I loved every single second of it! I loved that it was set in Nova Scotia, I loved Evan's family and all of the small town shenanigans! As someone from a small Canadian town that's a similar size...albeit in a very different part of the country, I can confirm that the way everyone knows all the news and the way everyone all comes together is very, very accurate. :P
Along with amazing characters and loving the Canadian setting, I loved the plot and story so much! It had elements of WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, and THE PROPOSAL, and gave me all of those gooooooood ol' school rom-coms vibes! The chemistry between Mel and Evan made it even better, and it was so fun to see everything that they got themselves into.
Overall, I thought that THE CATCH was absolutely amazing and I loved it so much! I did read it as a standalone, so I think that if you wanted to do the same, you definitely can! I have to admit that I will definitely be going back to read the first two books in the series now though because I definitely want to get to read Crystal's and Tara's stories, too! Highly recommend this one if you're looking for a fun, steamy rom-com that you won't want to put down...and I recommend it even more if you're like me and can't resist a grumpy, super capable hero that seriously knows how to take care of the woman he loves. ;)