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633 reviews

Till Cupid Do Us Part by Hannah Cowan

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3.5

Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young

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3.0

β€œπ‘° 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 π’šπ’π’– π’˜π’‰π’†π’ π‘°β€™π’Ž 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 π’šπ’π’–π’“ 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 π’π’Šπ’Œπ’† 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒏 π’‚π’π’•π’Šπ’„π’Šπ’‘π’‚π’•π’† π’šπ’π’–π’“ π’“π’‚π’π’…π’π’Ž π’—π’Šπ’”π’Šπ’•π’” 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’π’‡π’‡π’Šπ’„π’† 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 π’”π’π’Žπ’† 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 π’Šπ’π’•π’–π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’π’ 𝒐𝒓 π’„π’π’π’π’†π’„π’•π’Šπ’π’ π’ƒπ’†π’•π’˜π’†π’†π’ 𝒖𝒔. 𝑨𝒏𝒅, π’˜π’‰π’†π’ π’šπ’π’–β€™π’“π’† 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓, π’šπ’π’– π’π’„π’„π’–π’‘π’š π’†π’—π’†π’“π’š 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 π’Žπ’š π’π’Šπ’‡π’†. 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒐𝒇 π’Žπ’š π’•π’‰π’π’–π’ˆπ’‰π’•π’” 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’šπ’π’–. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 π’Žπ’š π’…π’“π’†π’‚π’Žπ’” π’Šπ’π’—π’π’π’—π’† π’šπ’π’–. π‘΄π’š 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 π’šπ’π’–. 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’˜π’‚π’π’• π’šπ’π’– 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’Šπ’” 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 π’˜π’‚π’π’•π’†π’… π’‡π’“π’π’Ž 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‡π’Šπ’“π’”π’• π’Žπ’π’Žπ’†π’π’• 𝑰 π’”π’‚π’˜ π’šπ’π’– π’„π’“π’š 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‘π’“π’Šπ’—π’Šπ’π’†π’ˆπ’† 𝒐𝒇 π’ƒπ’†π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‚π’“π’Žπ’” π’šπ’π’– 𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐."

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: πŸ”₯.5
Relationship: MW
Tropes/content: Marriage in trouble, high school sweethearts, relationship retreat, flashbacks

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Sarah and Caleb Linwood are high school sweethearts who have been together for seventeen years. There's no doubt that they're the perfect match for one another. Sarah starts to wonder if she can stand on her own without Caleb by her side, so she decides to host a fundraiser in her mother's honor. When Sarah falls short of her goal, she's prepared to own it, that is until Caleb swoops in to save the day. Sarah and Caleb soon find themselves at odds and wondering how to move forward. They decide to go on a couples  retreat in the woods to work on their relationship.

As someone who loves Out on a Limb and had it as their top read of 2024, I was so excited for this book. It hurts my heart to say that I didn't care for this story.

I liked Sarah and Win's friendship. They're able to care for one another and have honest conversations without offending each other. I loved Caleb calling Sarah "baby" as often as he could. I especially enjoyed when he told her he loved her before the retreat and was happy they were going together. I thought the flashbacks were helpful in better understanding Sarah's grief and how her relationship formed around that grief.

I struggled with Sarah at times. I understood she had a lot of grief and trauma from her mom dying at a young age. I got why she felt incomplete as an adult. I struggled with the fact that she seemed to blame Caleb for a lot of her feelings, but never really communicated with him. It's hard for someone to change when they don't know they've been doing something that's impacting others. I felt like Caleb did a lot of introspection and owned up to his part in their dynamic, but I didn't think Sarah fully did the same.

There's not third act break up, but there is a crisis of sorts that happens. That did pull at my heartstrings, however, I felt like that was choppy. They went from being at the retreat, to being at the crisis, to epilogue. I felt like we needed a bit more of them post the crisis and navigating the changes they committed to in the woods. 

In terms of the writing style, I felt like this book was a lot of internal thoughts. It felt like there wasn't a lot of dialogue, which isn't great for a couple that has a communication problem. The story dragged at parts and I found myself skimming some of the scenes in the woods because they felt repetitive.

Thank you to Hannah Bonam-Young and NetGalley for the early copy!
Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

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3.0

Sugar Baby by Harley Madison

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3.5

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto

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3.5

Wrecked by Lauren Asher

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4.0

Stolen Chances by Clio Evans

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4.0

"𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’˜π’‰π’š π’šπ’π’– π’˜π’π’–π’π’… 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆 π’Šπ’π’•π’†π’“π’†π’”π’•π’†π’… π’Šπ’ π’Žπ’† π’˜π’‰π’†π’ π’šπ’π’–β€™π’“π’† π’šπ’π’–.” 

β€œπ‘©π’†π’„π’‚π’–π’”π’† π’šπ’π’– π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’† 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏 π’”π’‰π’Šπ’π’†, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’Žπ’š π’˜π’π’“π’π’… π’”π’‘π’Šπ’. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 π’”π’Šπ’π’„π’† 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’…π’‚π’š π’šπ’π’– π’”π’‰π’π’˜π’†π’… 𝒖𝒑 π’Šπ’ π‘ͺπ’Šπ’•π’“π’–π’” π‘ͺ𝒐𝒗𝒆.”

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: πŸ”₯πŸ”₯πŸ”₯
Relationship: MMW, poly am
Tropes/content: Small town, romantic suspense, single mom, brother's best friend, friends to lovers, spanking, DVP, fisting, breeding kink, toys, light bondage
Series: Citrus Cove #2

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Sarah thought she married the man of her dreams, until she learned about the secrets he kept from her and her world changed forever. Now she's a single mom to her twin boys, working hard to rebuild her life and heal from her marriage. Love is the last thing on Sarah's mind. Enter Colton Hayes and Sammy Harlow, two men Sarah has known forever, who are determined to show her what it means to have partners who really love her.

I had fun with this story. I love that Clio wrote a poly am romance in a small town in Texas. Given the state of the world right now, I think it's great to show all types of romantic relationships and how great they can be. I liked getting to see Sarah's healing journey through the support of her therapist, family, and her men. I thought the development of their relationship was done well and I loved how the guys interacted with her kids. The spice was delicious and everything I expected from Clio.

I didn't love the third act break up mostly because it didn't serve much of a purpose. I felt like they broke up, something happened, then they were just back together. There wasn't much discussion about the break up and how they were going to move forward, they just jumped back in. I would've preferred if there wasn't a break up and they worked together to address the concern.

Thank you to Clio Evans and Grey's Promotions for the early copy!
Railed by the Yule Cat by Dalia Davies

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3.0

Collided by Lauren Asher

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3.0

Downpour by Maggie C. Gates

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4.5