booksjenrecs's reviews
223 reviews

Hunger by Rebecca Rivard

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Talon and Eden are definitely one of my favorite couples from the Vampire Syndicate series. Talon had the alpha male, protectiveness going on throughout the whole story, and Eden was smart enough to know when to stand her ground and when to fold. 

Talon came across as a complex, multi-dimensional character right from the start, and it was hard to not immediately love him. As a made vampire, Talon had a lot of thoughts and feelings on vampires, dhampirs, thralls, and just the syndicate in general. He (thought he) knew what he wanted, and it was entertaining to watch all those preconceived notions crumble once Eden was back in his life. 

Eden was a great love interest for Talon. She provided the flexibility and give-and-take that Talon was not initially able to offer, and owned up to her previous actions while also standing her ground. I don't usually gravitate towards romances, paranormal or otherwise, that involve pregnancy, but I didn't mind the trope at all in this story. It was a huge part of Eden's story, but it definitely wasn't her whole story. 

I loved how much Talon evolved as a character throughout this book. He's probably had the best character growth, emotionally speaking, out of anyone in this series so far. 

Hunger was, overall, a great vampire romance with plenty of action and spice in the plot to keep readers turning the pages. Not only was Talon and Eden's story full of action, but it also set up the next story nicely and I can't wait to see what comes next for the syndicate. 

[A huge thank you to Rebecca Rivard for providing a review copy of this title. All opinions are my own.] 

Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

Always Only You by Chloe Liese

emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Grave New World by Gena Showalter, Jill Monroe

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

Grave New World was a bittersweet read. I love Jane and Conrad and all their friends, and it was sad to know while reading this one that it would be their last adventure together. I was not ready for Jane to set her investigative nature aside, so I definitely took my time reading this one, savoring it instead of devouring it like I have all the other Jane Ladling mysteries. 

Showalter and Monroe gave Jane a whirlwind of a final crime to investigate; I had no idea who the culprit would end up being, and I wasn't at all disappointed when we got to the big reveal. These cozy mysteries have always been a great blend of serious case solving coupled with Jane's effervescent personality, and those two elements combined better than ever in this final installment. 

Outside of the crime solving and investigation, I loved that we finally got to the endgame for Jane and Conrad. This romance has been building since the very first book, and it was so obvious just how gone Conrad was for Jane throughout this entire story. As a character who started off as more reserved, it was great to see just how much Conrad changed throughout his series' story arc. 

Grave New World was a fantastic way to end the Jane Ladling series. Jane and Conrad are just the sweetest couple and are surrounded by a wonderful cast of characters. This finale gave me everything I could've wanted while wrapping the series up nicely. If you're looking for a cozy mystery with an unlikely crime solver, look no further than Jane Ladling. 

[A huge thank you to both Gena Showalter and Jill Monroe for providing a review copy of this story. All opinions are my own.] 

Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandria Bellefleur

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

I loved Truly and Colin's story. It was low drama and full of fabulous back and forth between the two, and I never once doubted that they were each other's person. Colin could easily be the model for what a supportive, all-in boyfriend should look like, and I could've easily read another 200 pages of him giving Truly all the green flags when it comes to a relationship. 

This romance was just easy to enjoy. Most of the requisite conflict happened because of outside influences, or just completely outside of their relationship altogether, and it was refreshing to read a romance that didn't put my emotions through high and low after high and low. If you love low-angst romances that are just allowed to be, then Truly, Madly, Deeply is a must-read for you. 

Despite Truly's hang-ups on romance for most of the novel, both Truly and Colin together just made this novel feel like a warm hug. From their very first interaction, I just sunk into their banter and didn't want to resurface to the real world. Bellefleur's writing and storytelling was top-notch, making this my favorite of her books to date. 

Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Could this be the first Ashley Poston novel I've read that I didn't immediately fall in love with the main couple? Don't get me wrong, this was still very much a four star read for me, but I just didn't get any connection between Elsy and Anders until the very end. I know part of that boils down to the fact that the life Elsy was living in her fictional town was just that - fictional. It truly took Elsy living in a fictional world, straight out of her favorite novels, to wake up and face the reality of her actual life. There is great commentary in here about living and moving on from heartbreak, both from Elsy and Anders's backstories, but the romance in this book did not do it for me. 

Finding your way back to yourself has been a consistent theme for at least one main character in Poston's most recent novels. In A Novel Love Story, we see both Anders and Elsy stall out after heartbreak and escape to a place where time stands still and broken hearts have time to heal. However, while this escape gives Eileen a purpose, it only gives Anders a place to hide from the world. 

Fiction means different things to different people; no two readers read the same book, and a book can easily change meaning for a person depending on where they're at in their life. I appreciated that those thoughts held true for our main characters, bringing a bit of real-life book magic into this fictional world. I think, though, this book was missing the extra surrealism of both The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip. 

I love the idea of escaping into a book - quite literally in Elsy's case - and this plot sounded so magical to me when I first read it. However, the actual action of the plot fell a bit short for me, and I would've loved to see more character development outside of describing Anders's minty green eyes or Elsy being a hypocrite on more than one occasion. 

A Novel Love Story remains a solid four stars for me. I love the premise and how it was developed, but I couldn't bring myself to love the main characters like I have in previous Poston stories. 

[Thank you to Berkley Romance for providing an advanced copy of this title for review.] 

What I Should've Said by Max Monroe

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I'll say one thing for sure: this blurb definitely hits different after you finish the book. 

I have a newly discovered love/hate relationship with Max Monroe after reading their latest novel, What I Should've Said. This romance was just so heartbreakingly beautiful, and I cried so many tears over everything Norah and Bennett went through. These, unfortunately, weren't cathartic tears, but the big, ugly, sobbing kind of tears that require a shower right after to help hide how red and splotchy your face is - all from just reading a romance. 

It wasn't the romance itself that made me cry, just to be clear. It was everything that played out around the romance. As main characters, both Norah and Ben were multi-dimensional and achingly realistic. We meet both of these characters when they're not in a good place (honestly, most of the characters in this book have complex stories to work through), but both Ben and Norah can't seem to stay out of each other's orbit long enough to second-guess their untimely attraction. But in real life, love doesn't wait until you're ready for it, and I think that's one of the reasons why I loved this romance so much. It was heartbreaking at times, but it was real and honest and emotionally charged from pretty much the first page. 

I can't dive into the specifics of why this story was so heartbreaking while simultaneously being a fantastic read without giving away a huge part of the plot, but this has to be one of the most special stories Max Monroe has ever written. The love that bloomed between Ben and Norah wasn't all puppy dogs and rainbows, and this romance was stunning in its realness and its ability to tackle some very tough moments and keep me reading through it all. 

This is my new favorite Max Monroe book, despite the emotional upheaval. And even if a future Max Monroe book becomes a favorite, What I Should've Said will always have a special place in my reading journey. 

[A huge thank you to Max and Monroe for providing an advanced copy of this story for review. All opinions (and tears) are my own.] 

The Stranger I Wed by Harper St. George

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter

dark hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

This was such a fun and steamy start to this series, and I can't believe this book came out in 2011 and I'm just now reading it. 

Jane and Nicolai were such interesting main characters, and I immediately loved their chemistry, their intensity, and their ability to put love and forgiveness above everything else when it came to each other. As a vampire, Nicolai is sort of expected to have secrets; it just comes with the long life expectancy. But Showalter put a spin on it, and had Nicolai lose most of his memories. It put a unique twist on the story, and it was sort of fun to watch Nicolai remember more and more as the story went on. The fact that Jane had secrets of her own made their connection even better.

I really loved Jane's backstory. She definitely had a background that served her well once she met Nicolai, and I liked watching her knowledge come into play the longer she was around the vampire. 

Overall, this was a fairly quick read, but Showalter managed to not only tell Nicolai and Jane's story, but also set up the rest of the series (and Nicolai's siblings' stories) very nicely. While the vampire romance aspect pulled me into this story initially, I'm now just as intrigued to read the other, non-vampiric romances in this series as well.