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clairetrellahill's reviews
3229 reviews
Mind Games by Nora Roberts
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
While Mind Games starts with a deep tragedy and grief that made me cry multiple times, the rest of this book feels like a cozy healing balm.
Mind Games follows Thea and her brother Rem, who go their Grammie's house for the summer, just like every year--only for tragedy to strike when their parents are murdered. But Thea has a gift--a special talent that runs in the female side of her family, a sense of precognition and dreams and the ability to sense things that no one can explain. She sees the killer--and enables the law to bring him to justice. But as she grows up and becomes successful and eventually falls in love, the killer dogs her through her mind.
I really enjoyed this book. Like I said, I cried multiple times at the start (Ms Nora knows her stuff) but really enjoyed Thea's healing and growing up and the embrace of family and community. This book has a lot of the things Ms Nora really enjoys--small town community, close knit family and friendships, people who are great at their jobs, almost cottagecore sometimes? and of course unexplained powers that don't go so far as to make the book feel paranormal, but all an element of mystery to the Appalachian air that the book is filled with. I really enjoyed that the book was set in Kentucky, a place I love, and I also really liked Ty, Thea's love interest and his four year old son Bray. So much of the latter middle and back half of the book is just a good slow burn to love with them.
All in all I'd definitely give this a solid 4 stars.
Heat level: 2.5 or 3. Only two or three scenes but not super descriptive. Could be cruised over easily enough.
Mind Games follows Thea and her brother Rem, who go their Grammie's house for the summer, just like every year--only for tragedy to strike when their parents are murdered. But Thea has a gift--a special talent that runs in the female side of her family, a sense of precognition and dreams and the ability to sense things that no one can explain. She sees the killer--and enables the law to bring him to justice. But as she grows up and becomes successful and eventually falls in love, the killer dogs her through her mind.
I really enjoyed this book. Like I said, I cried multiple times at the start (Ms Nora knows her stuff) but really enjoyed Thea's healing and growing up and the embrace of family and community. This book has a lot of the things Ms Nora really enjoys--small town community, close knit family and friendships, people who are great at their jobs, almost cottagecore sometimes? and of course unexplained powers that don't go so far as to make the book feel paranormal, but all an element of mystery to the Appalachian air that the book is filled with. I really enjoyed that the book was set in Kentucky, a place I love, and I also really liked Ty, Thea's love interest and his four year old son Bray. So much of the latter middle and back half of the book is just a good slow burn to love with them.
All in all I'd definitely give this a solid 4 stars.
Heat level: 2.5 or 3. Only two or three scenes but not super descriptive. Could be cruised over easily enough.
The Prince's Bride by Charis Michaels
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0
The Hidden Royals series remains Top Tier.
The Prince's Bride features Gabriel, a French prince who fled during the terror and is presumed dead, but really he is hiding in an english forest training horses and living in a cave and doing Just Feral Guy Things. And then his former fiance seeks him out because she needs his help to oust his odious cousin who is trying to usurp Gabriel's title and his former betrothal and all that comes with it--namely, Lady Marianne's (aka Ryan's) home and family. And then Gabriel goes feral for Ryan.
This book is focused on coaxing Gabriel out of the self-imposed isolation caused by trama from the french revolution and being hounded by those for and against the french kings during his childhood and offering him opportunity and incentive to reunite with his sister and rejoin the wider world, and he does this by going after what he really wants--Ryan. He wants to be a man who can support her and assist her and help her and not be held back by fear and trauma, and he works to be that man for her. I also really loved Ryan's patience and her kindness and her also untapped feralness for Gabriel. This book is very hot.
Definitely a five star romance read. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC. The Prince's Bride comes out May 21, 2024.
Heat level: 4.5 (serious pining and UST leading up to major fireworks)
The Prince's Bride features Gabriel, a French prince who fled during the terror and is presumed dead, but really he is hiding in an english forest training horses and living in a cave and doing Just Feral Guy Things. And then his former fiance seeks him out because she needs his help to oust his odious cousin who is trying to usurp Gabriel's title and his former betrothal and all that comes with it--namely, Lady Marianne's (aka Ryan's) home and family. And then Gabriel goes feral for Ryan.
This book is focused on coaxing Gabriel out of the self-imposed isolation caused by trama from the french revolution and being hounded by those for and against the french kings during his childhood and offering him opportunity and incentive to reunite with his sister and rejoin the wider world, and he does this by going after what he really wants--Ryan. He wants to be a man who can support her and assist her and help her and not be held back by fear and trauma, and he works to be that man for her. I also really loved Ryan's patience and her kindness and her also untapped feralness for Gabriel. This book is very hot.
Definitely a five star romance read. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC. The Prince's Bride comes out May 21, 2024.
Heat level: 4.5 (serious pining and UST leading up to major fireworks)
Even If It Breaks Your Heart by Erin Hahn
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I'm not crying, it's just raining on my face!
I am such a fan of Erin Hahn's YA novels. The characters feel read and alive and they are fighting tooth and nail for the future they want, and nothing, not their families, not their pasts, not their circumstances or their grief is going to stop them.
Case Michaels is a bull rider whose best friend has died and he is dealing with the grief and the loss. He's got a list that Walker made for him, though--tasks to complete--and a competition to win for his best friend. Winnie Sutton is a barrel racer--or she would be if she had the money for fees or a horse or hey, even a saddle. But instead she's a trainer at the Michaels ranch and is the main parent figure for her two younger siblings. Case and Winnie collide and pull each other out of their fears and grief and anxieties and inspire each other to go after what they really want. I inhaled this book in one day after having the ARC for months. I think I was just waiting for the right time so I could tear up 50 times in peace. 4.5 Stars.
Heat level: 1 (closed door)
CW: terminally ill childhood best friend's death before the book begins, dead or deadbeat parents, language.
Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC. EVEN IF IT BREAKS YOUR HEART comes out February 6, 2024.
I am such a fan of Erin Hahn's YA novels. The characters feel read and alive and they are fighting tooth and nail for the future they want, and nothing, not their families, not their pasts, not their circumstances or their grief is going to stop them.
Case Michaels is a bull rider whose best friend has died and he is dealing with the grief and the loss. He's got a list that Walker made for him, though--tasks to complete--and a competition to win for his best friend. Winnie Sutton is a barrel racer--or she would be if she had the money for fees or a horse or hey, even a saddle. But instead she's a trainer at the Michaels ranch and is the main parent figure for her two younger siblings. Case and Winnie collide and pull each other out of their fears and grief and anxieties and inspire each other to go after what they really want. I inhaled this book in one day after having the ARC for months. I think I was just waiting for the right time so I could tear up 50 times in peace. 4.5 Stars.
Heat level: 1 (closed door)
CW: terminally ill childhood best friend's death before the book begins, dead or deadbeat parents, language.
Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC. EVEN IF IT BREAKS YOUR HEART comes out February 6, 2024.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness
The Bump in Their Forbidden Reunion by Amanda Cinelli
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Starting off the new year with a bang! Literally.
Izzy is a widow and has no other family and desperately wants a baby, so she decides to go along with her late husband’s wishes and do IVF at a Swiss clinic. But who barges into her appointment but Grayson Koh, her husband’s best friend, race car driver, the guy who got her fired from her nanny job before her marriage….and who she shared a secret kiss with. He has big , secret news for Izzy. If she had gone through with three procedure, she would’ve had his child, not her husband’s.
As a storm descends and Izzy and Grayson are snowed in at his fabulous house, all the secrets come out and they must decide if Izzy will get a baby after all. 👀
This was a fun book and I enjoyed the way the author made the past and all these secrets collide into the perfect storm. The only downside IMO was that while the BUMP features prominently on the cover and blurb, it really only arrives in the epilogue, but I can see why the author did it so that their I Love Yous are motivated by each other and their feelings and not a baby.
Harlequin Presents knows the biz, and their titles continue to grab. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC.
Izzy is a widow and has no other family and desperately wants a baby, so she decides to go along with her late husband’s wishes and do IVF at a Swiss clinic. But who barges into her appointment but Grayson Koh, her husband’s best friend, race car driver, the guy who got her fired from her nanny job before her marriage….and who she shared a secret kiss with. He has big , secret news for Izzy. If she had gone through with three procedure, she would’ve had his child, not her husband’s.
As a storm descends and Izzy and Grayson are snowed in at his fabulous house, all the secrets come out and they must decide if Izzy will get a baby after all. 👀
This was a fun book and I enjoyed the way the author made the past and all these secrets collide into the perfect storm. The only downside IMO was that while the BUMP features prominently on the cover and blurb, it really only arrives in the epilogue, but I can see why the author did it so that their I Love Yous are motivated by each other and their feelings and not a baby.
Harlequin Presents knows the biz, and their titles continue to grab. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC.
The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
4.0
My baby boy Grayson goes through it and learns how to connect with people and care about others.
Skullduggery (A Necromancer Story, #0.5) by Beverly Twomey
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
A fun romp of a heist that introduces you to the mysterious Necromancer and his cat the Void, SKULLDUGGERY is a pun-infused adventure and great spoiler-free opener to the world of the Necromancer’s Apprentice! SKULLDUGGERY is free to read through the author’s newsletter!!