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samgroat's reviews
426 reviews
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
5.0
I could not stop blushing, giggling, sobbing and just loving on this book!
I’ve had this story sitting on my shelf for a while, always meaning to get to it but never picking it up - if this is you, JUST DO IT. With the movie released to Prime, I wanted to read this before watching and I’m soooo glad I have experienced it the way the author intended before I go see if the movie lives up to the book!
The pacing is quite fast in the beginning of the book, however you settle into this quickly and it actually became one of my fave parts of the writing. It genuinely reads like a rom-com in the best ways.
The banter in this book between not just our two MMCs, but the cast of supporting characters as well, is UNMATCHED. I genuinely was laughing out loud and/or blushing my way through entire scenes of this book.
The spice is tasteful and although not particularly explicit it does give you the gist which keeps you in the moment more than a “fade to black” style would have.
The characters are so uniquely different (duh) and I really appreciated the way the author played into their identities without being too stereotypical (especially with the easy go to’s there would have been with English/American quips).
Truely, I will read this book again I am so sure of it!
I’ve had this story sitting on my shelf for a while, always meaning to get to it but never picking it up - if this is you, JUST DO IT. With the movie released to Prime, I wanted to read this before watching and I’m soooo glad I have experienced it the way the author intended before I go see if the movie lives up to the book!
The pacing is quite fast in the beginning of the book, however you settle into this quickly and it actually became one of my fave parts of the writing. It genuinely reads like a rom-com in the best ways.
The banter in this book between not just our two MMCs, but the cast of supporting characters as well, is UNMATCHED. I genuinely was laughing out loud and/or blushing my way through entire scenes of this book.
The spice is tasteful and although not particularly explicit it does give you the gist which keeps you in the moment more than a “fade to black” style would have.
The characters are so uniquely different (duh) and I really appreciated the way the author played into their identities without being too stereotypical (especially with the easy go to’s there would have been with English/American quips).
Truely, I will read this book again I am so sure of it!
Slaying the Shadow Prince by Helen Scheuerer
4.0
4.5 ⭐️
You want a fantasy romance? Check.
You want a spicy fantasy romance? Check.
You want a spicy fantasy romance STAND-ALONE? Checkkk!
I don’t know what it is about Helen’s writing, but I cannot get enough! I find her books so well paced, I’m immediately gripped in the beginning and never find myself wondering if it’s could speed up because there is ALWAYS something happening!
This story was a beautiful complimentary piece to her Adult Fantasy Romance series The Legends of Thezmarr, but held up on its own if you didn’t already read book 1 of that series as technically it was just set within the same realm. But once again, Helen made the world building pretty straight forward and easy to understand.
The tension between the grumpy, arrogant, golden retriever MMC and our equally grumpy, feisty FMC was wonderful, with a great amount of spice (mostly towards the end as you would expect!)
The only reason I gave 4.5 instead of 5 was there were a few scenes towards the end that felt slightly more rushed than I would have maybe preferred but ultimately it was such a strong story and I was truely taken along for the ride!
It has me so excited for book 2 of TLoT
You want a fantasy romance? Check.
You want a spicy fantasy romance? Check.
You want a spicy fantasy romance STAND-ALONE? Checkkk!
I don’t know what it is about Helen’s writing, but I cannot get enough! I find her books so well paced, I’m immediately gripped in the beginning and never find myself wondering if it’s could speed up because there is ALWAYS something happening!
This story was a beautiful complimentary piece to her Adult Fantasy Romance series The Legends of Thezmarr, but held up on its own if you didn’t already read book 1 of that series as technically it was just set within the same realm. But once again, Helen made the world building pretty straight forward and easy to understand.
The tension between the grumpy, arrogant, golden retriever MMC and our equally grumpy, feisty FMC was wonderful, with a great amount of spice (mostly towards the end as you would expect!)
The only reason I gave 4.5 instead of 5 was there were a few scenes towards the end that felt slightly more rushed than I would have maybe preferred but ultimately it was such a strong story and I was truely taken along for the ride!
It has me so excited for book 2 of TLoT
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
4.0
What in the EVER LOVING HELL was that ending?!?! Here I was just going along, loving the story progression, loving the character development but not feeling truely rocked like I was with Crown of Midnight… and then IN POPS CHAPTER 64/65?!
I was SCREAMING. I literally can still feel my heart beating out of my chest?! Holy shit am I glad I read Assassin’s Blade after COM instead of HOF because no way could I go back now!!!
The writing once again improved out of sight. SJM is the queen of building on the tension in each book individually , having the mini “come to a head” moments while still maintaining tension for the overall story as well!
The way these books are weaving together to create an epic conclusion…
This book gave us 4/5 storyline’s to follow and while at times that can get a little confusing and frustrating when we do a POV swap in an intense moment, I SEE the vision.
Can’t wait for QOS to rip my heart out again!
I was SCREAMING. I literally can still feel my heart beating out of my chest?! Holy shit am I glad I read Assassin’s Blade after COM instead of HOF because no way could I go back now!!!
The writing once again improved out of sight. SJM is the queen of building on the tension in each book individually , having the mini “come to a head” moments while still maintaining tension for the overall story as well!
The way these books are weaving together to create an epic conclusion…
This book gave us 4/5 storyline’s to follow and while at times that can get a little confusing and frustrating when we do a POV swap in an intense moment, I SEE the vision.
Can’t wait for QOS to rip my heart out again!
Reputation by Dr. Rebecca Sharp
4.0
This was such a fun read! And surprisingly spicy!
I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the writing in the beginning - there were a lot of cringey Taylor Swift Easter eggs (and yes I know it’s a TSwizzle inspired novel) that weren’t really spaced out, but once that calmed down and they became more subtle I truely fell for this story!
I sat up until 2:45am to finish it!
I love me some brothers best friend, I also love me some fake dating - and this book was both wrapped up with a fun rockstar romance! The FMC is relatable, and the MMC is equal parts hot AF and frustrating. The tension is delicious.
The spice is spicy too, really well done!
I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the writing in the beginning - there were a lot of cringey Taylor Swift Easter eggs (and yes I know it’s a TSwizzle inspired novel) that weren’t really spaced out, but once that calmed down and they became more subtle I truely fell for this story!
I sat up until 2:45am to finish it!
I love me some brothers best friend, I also love me some fake dating - and this book was both wrapped up with a fun rockstar romance! The FMC is relatable, and the MMC is equal parts hot AF and frustrating. The tension is delicious.
The spice is spicy too, really well done!
The Ice Kiss by L. Steele
3.0
3.5⭐️
When I saw the tropes for this book, excited is an UNDERSTATEMENT. Unfortunately for me I just found the writing style a little disjointed and that took me out of the story.
However, although this story is considered a standalone (and technically functions as one) it is part of a larger series and as such I think there were some context clues i may have been missing that could have helped here.
I liked the FMC’s character - I felt she was relatable and written reasonably realistically. The way her inner monologue processed how much she equally disliked and was attracted to our MMC was hilariously relatable.
The pacing of the book was a little all over the place - I found the beginning rushed through a lot but once you settled into the story it was much more fluid.
The spice in this story is great
When I saw the tropes for this book, excited is an UNDERSTATEMENT. Unfortunately for me I just found the writing style a little disjointed and that took me out of the story.
However, although this story is considered a standalone (and technically functions as one) it is part of a larger series and as such I think there were some context clues i may have been missing that could have helped here.
I liked the FMC’s character - I felt she was relatable and written reasonably realistically. The way her inner monologue processed how much she equally disliked and was attracted to our MMC was hilariously relatable.
The pacing of the book was a little all over the place - I found the beginning rushed through a lot but once you settled into the story it was much more fluid.
The spice in this story is great
Behind the Net by Stephanie Archer
4.0
3.75⭐️
I actually am not 100% sure how I felt about this book?
I found the writing to be a little immature at times - the dialogue and the way the plot moved from one point to another. However I found the spicy scenes to be INCREDIBLY well written and not immature at all…. So it’s a bit of a conundrum for me!
There were some deeper themes around mental health involved that I enjoyed however they weren’t the main focus. The couple were a little bit Insta-love/second chance romance which is not my particular taste but is great of its yours!
The foreshadowing to future books was obvious in some places but I am actually keen to read it if it is the couple I’m expecting.
Overall it was a reasonably quick, fun read but I probably wouldn’t reach for it again.
- grumpy x sunshine
- second chance
- hockey player x assistant
- forced proximity
I actually am not 100% sure how I felt about this book?
I found the writing to be a little immature at times - the dialogue and the way the plot moved from one point to another. However I found the spicy scenes to be INCREDIBLY well written and not immature at all…. So it’s a bit of a conundrum for me!
There were some deeper themes around mental health involved that I enjoyed however they weren’t the main focus. The couple were a little bit Insta-love/second chance romance which is not my particular taste but is great of its yours!
The foreshadowing to future books was obvious in some places but I am actually keen to read it if it is the couple I’m expecting.
Overall it was a reasonably quick, fun read but I probably wouldn’t reach for it again.
- grumpy x sunshine
- second chance
- hockey player x assistant
- forced proximity