greenteabookme's reviews
952 reviews

Just Playing House by Farah Heron

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I have conflicting feelings about Just Playing House! If you read the synopsis, you know it largely centers around Marley who has a preventative mastectomy after being diagnosed with the BRCA gene. It made it a tough read for me and less of a romance, or at least not a lighthearted romance. As a woman in her 30’s with a grandmother who fought breast cancer, it’s something I’ve thought of and worried about… so none of the book was a relaxing experience for me personally. 

But I liked the book a lot more after reading the authors note at the end and learning how deeply personal the story is to her. Also really loved the cameo from Reena who is the FMC of Accidentally Engaged by Farah (which I LOVED)! 

Thanks to the author, Forever pub and NetGalley for the arc. All thoughts are my own. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer

The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Break Up Pact is my first book by Emma Lord and it was a cute fake dating, forced proximity, second-chance romance with a lighthearted modern take to it that kept me intrigued and reading. 

June and Levi are childhood best friends that are reunited after going through public gross breakups with their respective long term partners and decide to fake date as a revenge on their exs. They also help one another heal through some trauma and work through finding themself and connecting with what they want out of life again and I found this aspect particularly relatable. 

As an avid tea lover I really loved all the plots around the tea and scone shop! I had a bit of trouble getting a read on Levi through Junes POV and wish it had been two POVs. Overall cute romance I’d recommend and I’d definitely pick up another book by Emma!

Thanks NetGalley, st Martin’s press and Emma for the arc! All thoughts are mine. 

The Vicious King by Gina L. Maxwell

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Loved this conclusion to this fun kinky series! It was a fast and fun read and Finni and Taryn were sweet fated mates. I loved the little clues and mystery in this book and felt it really rounded off the series. Also love how education on d/s and bondage this whole series has been for me personally! 

Crossing my fingers for a spin off where Taryn’s vamp brother gets a HEA. 🤞🏻

If You Want Me by Helena Hunting

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Helena Hunting is the QUEEN of hockey romance!! All the stars! I was obsessed with the Pucked series and all the offshoots of that, and now I’m obsessed with the Terror series   The little tidbits from my Pucked-fam = perfection!! Hollis and Aurora (aka Hammer & Peggy) were perfection and my first time reading the dads-best-friend-trope! The banana ducks, cats, and coziness of this book were spot on and I really just loved everything about it. 

I was so lucky to be able to listen to the audiobook AND read with my eyeballs, and the audio is sooo good. There is two actors in the audio (one each of their povs) and the narrator for Hollis is so sexy sounding - it was so much fun to listen to!

And now I will be impatiently waiting for Dallas and Hemi 😁!

A Photo Finish by Elsie Silver

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

This book immediately intrigued me and drew me in. I’m a sucker for a lost cause and loved unraveling the layers of Cole like an onion! And Violet was so darn sweet. This is my second book by Elsie Silver and I can say for sure now I’m a fan! Canadian author, horses, cowboys and so much character growth…. What’s not to love? ☺️

Throne of Air and Darkness by Emberly Ash

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Another ending that has me itching to pick up the next book in the series! In the sequel we see more of what we learned in book one come together and Veyka and Arran continuing to learn about their relationship. We also get to explore more of their world and the human world and learn about how magic fits in with the fae and humans. I don’t want to say more that would give away the plot of book one! ☺️

I struggled a bit with the pacing in this sequel but loved the weaving of the parts of the story we know and nods to famous mythical characters in the traditional King Arthur story. 

Overall a fun romantasy story and I look forward to continuing! 

This Used to Be Us by Renée Carlino

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I feel utterly heartbroken. I hate writing trigger warnings because I feel like they are such spoilers, but I didn’t expect this and will just say this is some kind of bittersweet happily ever after that has left me feeling utterly unhappy. 

I always love Renee Carlinos words and read This Used to Be Us in almost one sitting, so that still holds true, but this might be my least fav and I wish I could re-write a different end haha. 

Alex and Dani were so relatable and reading their fights was spot on from my own history. Renee did a super great job writing a realistic marriage just dripping with resentment. 

Thanks for the arc Random House and NetGalley. 

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Content Warnings

als, terminal illness, miscarriage, pregnancy

Bound to the Shadow Prince by Ruby Dixon

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

It’s tough to summarize how I felt about this book because there were parts that I really liked and parts that I disliked. I never connected to either of the lead characters or identified with who they were and how they thought. 

It is a bit of a polarizing book and that’s likely because the pacing was off in my opinion. I felt like the author spent half the book laying the foundation for the relationship and that very little plot happened. She left almost all the plot to the latter part of the story, and I appreciate a bit more balance. The later half of the book picked up though and I was satisfied with the ending and how everything was resolved as a standalone novel. 

3.5 stars rounded up because while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t amazing either. Thanks NetGalley, and Wattpad for the arc to read and review. All thoughts are mine! 

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

Rules for Second Chances manages to teeter between a really deep and moving story of self-discovery and entering 30’s, and sillier lightheartedness and the unique premise and approach to a second-hand romance immediately caught my attention. 

Liz and Tobin are in a marriage rut and really faced some large curveballs basically on their wedding day they never recovered from which I found so relatable and I think many others will. The idea of using a improv based completely different approach to working through their issues and starting to communicate as a couple was brilliant. I highlighted a ton of passages and thought the advice and strategies sounded so logical and fun even if they were entirely made up by the author?!?! 

I’m probably always going to love an autistic representation and this one was done really well. I also really enjoyed the bisexual representation and how organically it was written. Liz was just generally a very cool character.

I tend to prefer one POV, but surprisingly found myself kind of wishing it was two POVs as I wanted to hear Tobins unfiltered thoughts, not the filtered ones through Liz. But part of the magic and discovery is sorting through her perception which is greatly impacted by her not yet diagnosed autism. 

I rate it 4.5 stars rounded up! The only thing that knocked the book down a half star for me is that at times the pacing was a little slower than I like and I found my mind wandering, but it’s a super fantastic debut book and I really enjoyed it!

Thank you to Maggie North, NetGalley, St Martins Press for the arc.