lisaluvsliterature's reviews
4124 reviews

No Saints in Kansas by Amy Brashear
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.

Really hard to understand that the main character would do some of the things she did.  And she wasn't likable in how she acted in some cases, like with someone who really was a friend.

Hook, Line and Single: A BRAND NEW hilarious, uplifting romantic comedy from Phoebe MacLeod for 2025 by Phoebe MacLeod

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-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

3.75

I’ve wanted to read this author for a while, and with my own very first cruise planned for this summer, I thought what a fun book to get started with! There was a lot of fun in this story. I enjoyed the characters relationships with each other. Ruby has some great friends, and her family members were fun to spend time with as well. The whole going to church to meet a guy for her friend Sam was hilarious! Besides knowing from the blurb that Ruby was being tricked into a singles cruise by her friend, it was obvious something was up when her friend was asking her how she would describe herself in a dating app bio. Although honestly I think her friend did a good job with what she said.

So many of the activities the singles group had going were ones that made me cringe and are part of the reason my introverted self would not want to be a part of those things. It was so realistic though for me, to see how her friend Sam kind of left her behind in finding her own perfect guy. That’s happened to me most of my life. My friends find a guy, then I get left behind, not even included as a third wheel. Cameron was a pretty nice guy and while we knew that Ruby had reasons and didn’t want to date anyone, we didn’t know the specifics, so I got a little irritated with her as she kept pushing him away. When we finally did get her reasoning, I could see how it made sense. However I was glad to see that she could see how much she was hurting him and it made her look at her reasons after finally sharing them with Sam. And honestly, as great as Cameron was, there wasn’t a ton of romance involved on his end either, other than doing lots of things to help her out. This is an instance where I think if we’d gotten half the book from his POV it could have made up for that.

Even though I’m a dog person, I do adore the stories with cats that are such a big part of someone’s life, just like my dogs are for me. So I loved their cat, and how it went to the bookstore for work with her! And the nude beach scene was funny, I did appreciate that! However, the part where she didn’t know about morning wood? That was a little unbelievable if she’d been in a serious relationship or had sex before. Especially at her age, and her talk about how a vibrator was a good enough stand-in for a man. I have no problem with that, just doesn’t sync up with not knowing that. Her jokes about “little Cameron” were funny though, and Frou Frou, those parts did keep me giggling.

On Loverose Lane by Samantha Young

emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

I’m not saying that I haven’t enjoyed the romantic suspense series that Samantha Young has been writing the last few years. But, this book, this is the type of story that made me fall in love with her writing and become an auto-buy/reader. The sports romance aspect is a little different, but the large family of actual relatives, friends, and found family all coming together to rally around the characters was perfection. The main characters are a whole new world, not at all cookie cutters of their parents from the original series, but we also get to see how those characters molded and shaped them, and how those original characters fit into the world when it isn’t their personal story anymore.

Beth is someone that I could totally connect with. Her fear of failure, how one thing going wrong or being unknown could send her spiraling into how then everything was going to fail and it was all her fault, boy do I know those moments. While I pretty much always had those moments when I was alone, I could put on the “I’m okay” face and keep the spiraling from happening around other people, Beth had some moments where it hit her when other people were around. She did her best to get somewhere alone to handle it though.

Callan was a grumpy almost enemy. Because of how the budding relationship between the two of them had ended abruptly, it fed into the way other people had made him feel inferior due to his background, and the fact that Beth came from a wealthy well-known family didn’t help. Even if she didn’t think that way, and it wasn’t why exactly she stepped away from him, it totally came across that way. Both of them thought they knew the other one well, but when the meet up again as adults they realize that they never did really know the other one.

Their enemies to lovers/second chance romance storyline was wonderful. I loved how Callan’s teammates were instantly in love with her, friend-love that is. I loved how Beth made friends with the women she ran into in the mornings coming out with Callan after one night stands. I mean except one, the one Callan knew he probably shouldn’t have taken home in the first place.

All the steaminess that Young knows how to write was in the book. But so much emotion, again as she knows how to write, fit in seamlessly and filled the story out. There was such wonderful handling of Beth’s panic attacks and how she handled them, or started to finally work to get them figured out and shared with those who cared about her the most so they could be there for her and understand. Yes, there was even a couple moments when both Beth and Callan had that thought that normally adds unnecessary and in my opinion unrealistic drams, maybe the other would be better off without them because of the issues that came from being together. But in this case, both of them had those thoughts and then worked through them. Either with family or even just taking the time to think it over and then come out and talk about it with each other.

A wonderful return to one of my all time favorite fictional worlds, the one that first got me intrigued with all things Scottish. And after reading the author’s notes, I guess I have another author, Catherine Cowles, to thank for convincing her to jump back and bring us these stories.

Juicy Pickle by JJ Knight

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

Slayers: A Buffyverse Story by Amber Benson, Christopher Golden

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective 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

4.0

When in Rome by Sarah Adams
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.

I'm hoping it's just this book and not the author because I've wanted to read their books for a while.  It was kind of repetitive with the small town stuff just in one scene, like being hit over and over the head that this is a small town with how the people acted as well as how his thoughts were going over and over as if to point it out.  Also still not my type of read with a celebrity saying boo hoo about their life.

Pour It On Me by Meg Becker
Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.

Story was okay, but pretty standard for how people behaved, etc.  And there was a lot of giggling and winking that was out of place to me or just seemed constantly happening.  Just wasn't for me.

I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

4.25

Okay, between the crazy title and the even wilder cover picture, I knew I was in for quite the ride with this one, and I was NOT disappointed! I’m new to these types of alien romances/science fiction romances, just started getting my feet wet with the Ice Planet Barbarian series in the past couple years. I wasn’t sure if I’d read this one, but when the publisher reached out with a widget for me to download, I couldn’t pass it up.

First just the part at the beginning where she was doing her job on Earth resonated with my little former science teacher heart. Not to mention that she was studying meerkats, because I can go watch them at the zoo forever, and so it was fun to hear some of the things she was watching them do. Jump to when she wakes up on the spaceship and suddenly I was definitely put in mind of Dixon’s IPB series. Of course then things got their big mix up. The crash to this planet, finding out what this planet is for, all was it’s own wild and wacky part of the storyline!

Of course the author had to figure out a way they could all communicate with each other, and so there is a solution, not sure if I completely understood it, it happened so fast with the lion I might need to go back and reread to pick up some details. Because this first read through was all about the story. There was so much to this story, more than what it seems you might have. Even the aliens who had abducted Dory had a lot more going on at all times than they seemed.

I also have to say that the steam level in this was off the charts! While again it is hard to find the alien she is on the cover with attractive, you have to add in the lust/mating serum that she, Sol, and Lok were all shot with. And their tails. Dang. I see this author has similar types of stories out there already that I’ll have to probably check out. And I see that this is listed as part one of a series, so I’m wondering if the next person’s story will be the couple that the original aliens mated towards the end of the story.

The only issue that I had a little trouble with was the different names for things. Yes, I know it made sense that Sol and Lok’s people had their own names for the dinosaurs and other creatures and plants. But when the author would use those names as Dory thinking both of them in the same paragraph it was a bit confusing for me as the reader. So a very tiny issue really.

Oh yeah, the rom-com part of the title not only comes from the banter and mood of the story, but the fact that the aliens who had kidnapped Dory had used mating “guidebooks” to help get her to fall for Sol and Lok. These guidebooks were basically romance novels, or one guide to writing romance novels. One of the main rules they used to get them together was the one bed trope, literally houses with second stories that were just one bedroom with one huge bed.

If you’re looking for a steamy romp with aliens, and are a fan of the Ice Planet Barbarians series, this book is for you!

Catch and Keep by Erin Hahn

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

The Kiss Lottery by Ilsa Madden-Mills

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

I didn’t realize this was a novella, but that’s okay, because I totally adored it! It was short and sweet, but steamy! I loved Everly and Beckett’s story. Both had their reasons for the things that came between them. Some misunderstandings, some not wanting to tell because of nerves, and some trying to make sure the other still got to live out their dreams. The idea behind the town’s Kiss Lottery was cute, and I like how it worked. 

There was a lot of cute banter and fun characters that were friends, family, and townspeople. The poems were fun, the gifts were fun, especially the kitten Everly named Murder. There was a little side story of a ghost that needed some closure, and the way it connected back to the characters was just so perfect! Since this is a novella, and I enjoyed all these characters so much, I would love if the author would write a whole series based around them and the town, and the Kiss Lottery too!