kimberleysreading's reviews
40 reviews

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

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

4.25

If you want a fast-paced, cute cowboy romance, you are totally in the right place!

4,25 stars - arc - Releases Jan 4th!

Aaaah this was such a cute cowboy romance! It was small town, brother’s best friend, it had disability representation AND it was fast-paced! That is all I could ask for!

The book was easy to read and had intriguing characters. I liked the big family with lots of brothers. They work on a ranch in a small town (Bell Buckle), and it had the best vibes! They work in horse rescue, and Lettie (and her mom) cares a lot about saving the horses, and their whole family works on the ranch to give the horses better lives.

I liked that we had some flashbacks, and both the FMC an MMC had their reasons for the way their relationship developed. They were so cute, and the small-town and cowboy vibes made it all come together. Also, there wasn’t a third-act-breakup, it ended really nicely. And I LOVED the epilogue!! It was different than an usual epilogue, but omg it was just THE BEST!

In september I read Karley Brenna’s debut novel, Wasted Memories, and fell in love with that book. Since then I was ready for what other projects would bring! And she did not dissapoint! I can see her writing has progressed.

There were other characters with connections, which is a nod to the rest of the series… Maybe a bit of enemies to lovers? I don’t know, but I can already say I am ready for some more cowboys!

The only reason that it wasn’t a 5 star for me, was because at some points it could use a bit more action. But this is totally my opinion, and I still loved the book (hence the 4,25 stars)!

Read this if you like:

-Cowboy romance
-Spice
-Small-town
-Fast-paced
-Disability rep (anemia) (for the dutchies, it means bloedarmoede)
-Brother’s best friend
-Chestnut Springs vibes

Don’t read this if:

You are not okay with spice, and reading about anemia

Content Warnings

Virgin Sacrifice by L.M. Ramirez

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4 stars -arc- Releases 16th Nov!

This was a great book! It had all the bad girl, academic, psycho vibes you ever wanted! Also perfect for autumn and winter.

This book was fast-paced and had very interesting characters. The story takes place in college, so the academic vibes were amazing! Our main character has a lot of secrets, which slowly get revealed throughout the story. It was dark-academia and also atmospheric. It had some slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers, and wicked twins. The book has more pov’s, and as I mentioned before it was fast-paced which made it nice to read! There was also an awesome Halloween party, and maybe the main character has a stalker going after her? You will soon find out, since the book releases 16th November!

Read this if you like:

-Dark-romance

-College-romance

-Dark-academia

-Psycho’s

-Slow-burn

-Enemies-to-lovers

-Diverse characters

Don’t read this if:

You are not okay with the trigger warnings (there is some gore and abuse) or not okay with it being a ‘dark’ romance.

(Also just found out this is her DEBUT novel?!?!?)

Last but not least I want to thank Luna Maria Ramirez for providing me this arc copy! I had a great time reading it, and wish you the best of luck with the release of your book! I am looking forward to the rest of the series!

Content Warnings

Safety Measures by Maeve Hazel

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

3,75 🌟 -arc- Releases Oct 11th!

The beginning of the book already interested me so much. You get thrown into the story, and there is immediately action. You don’t see that too often in romance books.

I really liked the story, and there is a lot of background and depth to the characters. Also, one of the mc’s is a writer and the other a book editor, and there is talk about publishing, which was really interesting to me! The side characters were also really nice.

Near the end the book had some emotional moments, so grab your tissues if you’re an emotional reader! I liked that I could really feel the sadness that was experienced for the characters.

What I didn’t really like was that is was not really atmospheric, like a small town romance for example. This is totally not the problem of the book, and it was not marketed as such, but just something I like. So I did learn that I do need something like that (college, small town, sports) in romance books.

There was one spicy scene that was just a bit weird to me. I have no idea if anyone alse experienced it that way, but if you know what scene i’m talking about, lmk (no spoilers for others pls)!

Some sentences got a little repetitive, and there were two characters who had really similar names, which was confusing.

But overall it was a good, fast-paced read, but for me it was not 5🌟. But I do get that it would be a 5🌟 read for others!

Also, it does have some trigger warnings, so check that out if needed.

Last, I want to thank Maeve Hazel for providing me this arc, and I think many people will really enjoy the book!

Content Warnings

Midnight Blood by Ella d'Avoine

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.5

4,5 🌟-arc- Releases Oct 14th!

Guys, put the release date in your agenda’s. You HAVE to read Ella’s debut novel! It was SO incredibly good! And let me tell you why:

At first: Omg it has a list of name pronunciations! Which we all need in a fantasy book right? It also has a list of trigger warnings, and I think it is so helpful when authors do that, because I am always too lazy to look that up. But now let’s talk about the story.

We follow Elora, the princess who lives in a castle and is desperate to get out. When she learns the truth about her cruel father (the king), she flees.

Then we get to the only downside for me: the beginning was slow. I had to get through it. But then something happened, and from then on it was so tense and action packed! So I advise you to please get through the beginning, it will pay off! Then I also understood the beginning, those were all points we saw back further in the story, everything was there for a reason! And that was SO well done. Things I thought were pointless, all came back in some way. I really liked that!

Also, the characters were amazing! I loved the romance part, and also the found family. Every character had something likeable. Subconsciously I did compare the bad guy to President Snow from ‘The Hunger Games’.

I totally loved the atmosphere that was created, and the parts where they trained, and were going on adventures, and the writing style. I have so many things to say that I am in a loss of words.

So in conclusion, I loved this so much! I only didn’t really like the slower beginning, but it totally paid off! This book was also so moodboard-worthy! (In my link in bio you can find my moodboard on pinterest)

Read this if you like: Fantasy, high stakes, revenge, found family, adventure, tension, romance, and a bit of spice!

Don’t read this if: You are not okay with the trigger warnings. (sxual assalt, violence, a bit of gore (which was over with in a sentence though))

Last but not least, a HUGE thanks to Ella for giving me this arc. This was so great, it is a banger of a debut novel! You have a new fan!

You can now pre-order ‘Midnight Blood’. Check Ella D’avoine’s account. Oct 14th!

Content Warnings

The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Content Warnings

Wasted memories by Karley Brenna

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This story is set in a small town (one of my favorite things in books), and we follow Emerson and Wesley (dual pov, also one of my favorite things!!). She has a nice life, but then things happen that she would not see coming..

What I liked about this book was that it was small town, and the chapters were short, so I would describe this as fast-paced. I fell in love with the characters, also the side characters (will we get to see more of stella?). The story also had some plot-twists, which I did not see coming. I would also say this story is kind of a mystery, which I would not have thought. It is not the main focus, but it is important to the story. Also, I just want to give Emerson a hug, she deserves that. Also, it had some funny quotes.

Read this if you like:
-One bed
-‘Who did this to you?’
-Overprotective mmc
-Dual pov
-Some spice

Don’t read this if:
-You are not okay with the trigger warnings (you can see them on @authorkarleybrenna instagram account)

Last but not least, I want to thank Karley for this arc! It was such a great debut novel, and I feel honored to have read it. This was also my first arc ever, so this is a great way to start that journey! I will definitely read future projects! (new auto-buy author!!)

Content Warnings