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sarah_ae13's reviews
264 reviews
Puck Pact by Kristen Granata
hopeful
fast-paced
4.75
My Rating: 4.75⭐️
Spice Details: Several Open Door Scenes (a couple involving the bike 🏍️)
Summary: Aarya loves her independence and is certain of one thing, men in romance books don't exist in real life. That is until she meets Alexander Krum. He believes in romance, wants her for more than one wild night, and wants to take care of her. They could not be more different. But Alexander has a problem and a proposition. A marriage between the pair can get them what they desperately want: Alex, his parent's villa, and Aarya, money to make her dream gallery a reality. Even after a secret Alex has held close to the belt comes to light, the line between charade and reel feelings begins to blur. Could a happily ever after--never thought possible--be possible for Aarya?
My Thoughts: I LOVED THIS BOOK!! Aarya is a fiercely independent woman, who knows who she is and what she wants. Watching her grow throughout the book was incredible as she became someone in a role she never expected to be in. Her nicknames she continued to make up for Alex--variations of his hockey nickname Krum Cake--had me laughing. Their witty banter back and forth was one of the many reasons I could not put this book down. And ALEXANDER!!! He is what dream book boyfriends are made of. The commitment and love that he has for the people he loves is heartwarming. His tattoo nearly made me tear up. The words out of his mouth were such a pleasant mix between swoony and spicy that had me wanting more. The way these two came together felt natural, and I loved every second of the book even if I was sitting on the edge of my seat at the end with a tinge of worry.
If you love hockey romances, add this one to the TOP of your TBR. It is now available on KU and paperback.
Thank you to The Author Agency and Kristen Granata for an eArc copy of this book!
Read if you love:
🏒 Sports Romances
🍩 Cinnamon Roll MMCs
🐈⬛ Black Cat FMCs
💍 Marriage of Convenience
🎙️Dual POV
Spice Details: Several Open Door Scenes (a couple involving the bike 🏍️)
Summary: Aarya loves her independence and is certain of one thing, men in romance books don't exist in real life. That is until she meets Alexander Krum. He believes in romance, wants her for more than one wild night, and wants to take care of her. They could not be more different. But Alexander has a problem and a proposition. A marriage between the pair can get them what they desperately want: Alex, his parent's villa, and Aarya, money to make her dream gallery a reality. Even after a secret Alex has held close to the belt comes to light, the line between charade and reel feelings begins to blur. Could a happily ever after--never thought possible--be possible for Aarya?
My Thoughts: I LOVED THIS BOOK!! Aarya is a fiercely independent woman, who knows who she is and what she wants. Watching her grow throughout the book was incredible as she became someone in a role she never expected to be in. Her nicknames she continued to make up for Alex--variations of his hockey nickname Krum Cake--had me laughing. Their witty banter back and forth was one of the many reasons I could not put this book down. And ALEXANDER!!! He is what dream book boyfriends are made of. The commitment and love that he has for the people he loves is heartwarming. His tattoo nearly made me tear up. The words out of his mouth were such a pleasant mix between swoony and spicy that had me wanting more. The way these two came together felt natural, and I loved every second of the book even if I was sitting on the edge of my seat at the end with a tinge of worry.
If you love hockey romances, add this one to the TOP of your TBR. It is now available on KU and paperback.
Thank you to The Author Agency and Kristen Granata for an eArc copy of this book!
Read if you love:
🏒 Sports Romances
🍩 Cinnamon Roll MMCs
🐈⬛ Black Cat FMCs
💍 Marriage of Convenience
🎙️Dual POV
The Closer by C. Aimee Hyde, C. Aimee Hyde
medium-paced
3.5
My Rating: 3.5⭐️
Spice Details: A Couple Open Door Scenes
Tytus Hayes Jr. is an MLB closer on the rise and doesn't date during the season. Sarah Dalton is making a name for herself on Broadway and doesn't date professional athletes. Neither is looking for love. But when their best friends are getting married to each other this throws a curveball colliding them together and opening them up to the possibility of something more between them. Will they be able to overcome past trauma, learn to trust, and fall in love?
Tytus Hayes Jr. for one is an incredible name for a pitcher and two he definitely stole this girl's heart. His fierce love for his family and friends combined with his thoughtfulness was almost enough to make this girl a Yankees fan even momentarily. I loved being able to watch his journey of healing and working through past trauma. Unfortunately the same could not be said of Sarah, I was not a fan. I struggled to empathize with her as she seemed immature throughout the book in how she reacted to certain situations. The pace of the book was quick thanks to switching between the dual POV, which kept a fresh perspective on the scene.
Read if you love:
⚾️ Sports Romances
🖊️ Unique Writing Styles
❤️🩹Stories of Healing
🎙️Dual POV
Spice Details: A Couple Open Door Scenes
Tytus Hayes Jr. is an MLB closer on the rise and doesn't date during the season. Sarah Dalton is making a name for herself on Broadway and doesn't date professional athletes. Neither is looking for love. But when their best friends are getting married to each other this throws a curveball colliding them together and opening them up to the possibility of something more between them. Will they be able to overcome past trauma, learn to trust, and fall in love?
Tytus Hayes Jr. for one is an incredible name for a pitcher and two he definitely stole this girl's heart. His fierce love for his family and friends combined with his thoughtfulness was almost enough to make this girl a Yankees fan even momentarily. I loved being able to watch his journey of healing and working through past trauma. Unfortunately the same could not be said of Sarah, I was not a fan. I struggled to empathize with her as she seemed immature throughout the book in how she reacted to certain situations. The pace of the book was quick thanks to switching between the dual POV, which kept a fresh perspective on the scene.
Read if you love:
⚾️ Sports Romances
🖊️ Unique Writing Styles
❤️🩹Stories of Healing
🎙️Dual POV
In the Shadows by L.B. August
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Lilith Clarke has spent years living in the shadows. She lost her name and old life but eventually gained a new title—the Queen of Umbra. Bound to King Asher, she rules in the dark fearing that one day she will lose herself to it. Her fate of darkness seems inevitable until the captain of a rival kingdom stumbles into hers. Theodore Kincaid is determined to find justice for his lost men and the Kingdom of Lux. Trapped in Umbra with no way out, he believes death is his fate as it is the end of all captives caught by King Asher. That is until Umbra's Queen proposes an offer he can't possibly refuse. As the two spend more time with one another and understand each other better, can either of them resist the plans the fates have for them?
Um... wow. WOW!! It is hard to put into words how incredible this book is. The world-building is perfection and not overwhelming. Lily is a fierce FMC, and I love her tenacity and undying love for the family she gained and her kingdom. Her close relationship with Nyx was a perfect mix of snarky and loving as these two would do ANYTHING for each other. Theo! He is a new book-boyfriend favorite for so many reasons and I will leave it at that. I am unwell in all the best ways after that ending, so I am desperate for book 2 and cannot WAIT to get my hands on it.
Read if you like:
🫠Forced Proximity
⚔️ Fierce FMCs
❤️🔥Slow Burn
🌶️Enemies to Lovers Spiciness
💗Found Family
Um... wow. WOW!! It is hard to put into words how incredible this book is. The world-building is perfection and not overwhelming. Lily is a fierce FMC, and I love her tenacity and undying love for the family she gained and her kingdom. Her close relationship with Nyx was a perfect mix of snarky and loving as these two would do ANYTHING for each other. Theo! He is a new book-boyfriend favorite for so many reasons and I will leave it at that. I am unwell in all the best ways after that ending, so I am desperate for book 2 and cannot WAIT to get my hands on it.
Read if you like:
🫠Forced Proximity
⚔️ Fierce FMCs
❤️🔥Slow Burn
🌶️Enemies to Lovers Spiciness
💗Found Family
Pucking Revenge by Brittanée Nicole
medium-paced
4.75
Brooks Langfield is the Saint of professional hockey and is in love with his best friend. Sara Case loves her job, can't get enough of her best friend, and is finished with her boyfriend, the coach of the team she is the PR Manager for. She knows she deserves better and this is only further confirmed when she is blindsided to learn that the man she'd been dating is married. Brooks is furious with his uncle for hurting the woman he loves and comes up with a little revenge plan, he and Sara will start fake dating and drive Coach out. Now the Saint is lying, stealing, and fighting to keep his chance at dating Sara for real alive. She's the only person he wants calling him a good boy and needs to show her this is so much more than pucking revenge.
GOAL!!! This book might have been the ultimate hockey romance for me. It was a perfect combination of revenge, fake dating, and best friends discovering a deeper love. And thanks to this one I'll never look at a Lisa Frank notebook the same again. I fell for Brooks initially, and my love only grew as I read. How can you resist a man who can cook and would lasso the moon for the people he loves? Sara was feisty and awkward and the absolute best! Her dedication to her work and her family and friends made her a character you want to root for! The mix between blood family and found family ties was strong in this book. The connections they both had to their families and the families they made along the way were heartwarming, especially when we saw that the Bolts teammates would do anything for each other. I appreciate how well Brooks and Sara communicate with one another, as miscommunication is my least favorite trope and their open communication avoids this issue. I cannot wait to follow the series with the next Langfield brother!!
Read if you like:
🫠He Falls First
🏒Hockey Romance
❤️🔥Slow Burn
🥰Friends to Lovers
🌶️Spicy
Thank you to the Author Agency and the author for an eArc copy of this book!
GOAL!!! This book might have been the ultimate hockey romance for me. It was a perfect combination of revenge, fake dating, and best friends discovering a deeper love. And thanks to this one I'll never look at a Lisa Frank notebook the same again. I fell for Brooks initially, and my love only grew as I read. How can you resist a man who can cook and would lasso the moon for the people he loves? Sara was feisty and awkward and the absolute best! Her dedication to her work and her family and friends made her a character you want to root for! The mix between blood family and found family ties was strong in this book. The connections they both had to their families and the families they made along the way were heartwarming, especially when we saw that the Bolts teammates would do anything for each other. I appreciate how well Brooks and Sara communicate with one another, as miscommunication is my least favorite trope and their open communication avoids this issue. I cannot wait to follow the series with the next Langfield brother!!
Read if you like:
🫠He Falls First
🏒Hockey Romance
❤️🔥Slow Burn
🥰Friends to Lovers
🌶️Spicy
Thank you to the Author Agency and the author for an eArc copy of this book!
Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Owen Bailey Needs Advice: A Closed Door Friends-to-Lovers RomCom by Jen Atkinson
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.25
Annie Archer, an advice columnist, has a problem. How do you know if THE ONE exists? She can always answer the questions that come across her desk even if she has to do thorough research, but now she's questioning everything and wondering if her advice works. What better way to research both than to conduct an experiment where she sets up her best friend on dates, then he'll follow her dating advice, and report on how it worked? But can she resist falling for him herself? Owen Bailey has a big problem. He agrees to help his best friend with her experiment to find the one, but he's already found her. And she has no idea. He'd never say no to Annie, but how can he make her see they're perfect for each other? If he needs advice on how to woo his best friend, Owen knows just who to ask.
Dear Ask Annie... how can anyone resist falling for Owen? Honestly, he is the sweetest, cinnamon roll MMC. His thoughts of his love for Annie are swoony enough to make you weak in the knees! Annie was determined if not a little frustrating at times reminding me (in the best way) of Leslie Knope from Parks & Rec. She has such a fierce commitment and love for the people in her life if she is blind to certain things. Her character development was heart-warming and felt natural. Loved Owen's relationships with his siblings, especially his dynamic with Coco and his niece Alice. The meddling siblings of both Annie and Owen brought clarity to both of them while also making me laugh out loud. I cannot wait to follow another Bailey brother on his path to find love!
Read if you like:
🫠He Falls First
💗Closed Door Romance
❤️🔥Slow Burn
🥰Friends to Lovers
⛰️Small Town Romances
Dear Ask Annie... how can anyone resist falling for Owen? Honestly, he is the sweetest, cinnamon roll MMC. His thoughts of his love for Annie are swoony enough to make you weak in the knees! Annie was determined if not a little frustrating at times reminding me (in the best way) of Leslie Knope from Parks & Rec. She has such a fierce commitment and love for the people in her life if she is blind to certain things. Her character development was heart-warming and felt natural. Loved Owen's relationships with his siblings, especially his dynamic with Coco and his niece Alice. The meddling siblings of both Annie and Owen brought clarity to both of them while also making me laugh out loud. I cannot wait to follow another Bailey brother on his path to find love!
Read if you like:
🫠He Falls First
💗Closed Door Romance
❤️🔥Slow Burn
🥰Friends to Lovers
⛰️Small Town Romances
Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Spice Details: None
Quick Summary: People just don’t disappear. But in one suburb of Chicago, fear has been struck into their community when not only one but three people go missing in the span of only a few weeks. Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing followed by Meredith Dickey and her young daughter, Delilah. Could the cases be connected? Questions and mysteries pile on top of one another with few answers or clues until slowly the trail to finding the truth goes cold.
Until 11 years later when Delilah reappears. The police, her remaining family, the community, and the world want to know what happened to her, where she had been, and what happened 11 years ago. Will they be prepared for the answers they’ll find?
My Thoughts: This book had a strong start drawing me in! There were so many different twists throughout the book as the reader bounces not only between POVs but also from different points in the past and the present. With good thrillers, it's important to have layers and hide the truth below misdirection and false clues. Kubica did not fail to redirect me off the trail as I tried to pick through the different stories. With the audiobook, it was difficult at times to track where we were in time, but that only heightened the intrigue of the disappearances, mysteries, and conspiracies. I would highly recommend the audiobook version--the narrators did an excellent job. I loved the different personalities they brought to their POV and the emotion they brought to different parts of their story.
Read if you love:
🔪 Thrillers
🎧 True Crime Podcasts
🎙️ Multiple POVs
❤️🔥 Dangerous Twists
Quick Summary: People just don’t disappear. But in one suburb of Chicago, fear has been struck into their community when not only one but three people go missing in the span of only a few weeks. Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing followed by Meredith Dickey and her young daughter, Delilah. Could the cases be connected? Questions and mysteries pile on top of one another with few answers or clues until slowly the trail to finding the truth goes cold.
Until 11 years later when Delilah reappears. The police, her remaining family, the community, and the world want to know what happened to her, where she had been, and what happened 11 years ago. Will they be prepared for the answers they’ll find?
My Thoughts: This book had a strong start drawing me in! There were so many different twists throughout the book as the reader bounces not only between POVs but also from different points in the past and the present. With good thrillers, it's important to have layers and hide the truth below misdirection and false clues. Kubica did not fail to redirect me off the trail as I tried to pick through the different stories. With the audiobook, it was difficult at times to track where we were in time, but that only heightened the intrigue of the disappearances, mysteries, and conspiracies. I would highly recommend the audiobook version--the narrators did an excellent job. I loved the different personalities they brought to their POV and the emotion they brought to different parts of their story.
Read if you love:
🔪 Thrillers
🎧 True Crime Podcasts
🎙️ Multiple POVs
❤️🔥 Dangerous Twists
Kissing Bandit by Margaret Rose
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
My Rating: 4.25⭐️
Summary: After a hard-hitting break-up, Frannie Bloomfield has a list of things to get done. Build her estate sale business starting with her new clients, escape to the lake for the summer, and finish her kissing list. One thing that isn't on that list is dating. While attempting to check off #5 on her kissing list, she encounters the quiet wallflower who happens to be looking for the opposite of a casual experience. John Boggs, a recently retired professional baseball player, is looking for more than a one-night stand. But when he attempts to take things slow to start a real relationship, Frannie runs. Fate is a fickle beast. Turns out the estate sale opportunity to jumpstart her business thrusts her back into the arms of John who is selling his father's estate and is her first client. Will they resist the attraction pulling them together one kiss at a time? Or will they embrace destiny?
This book was such a sweet, quick read. I would be lying if it didn't make me want to drop everything and move to a small town on a lake and get away for the summer. Frannie knew what she wanted and was so focused on building her new business, which was great to see in an FMC. Her POV is adorable and filled with hilarious thoughts as she tries to resist John and keep her promise. Watching her grow and find confidence in who she was (and not apologizing for it) is beautifully done. JOHN (JB) WAS EVERYTHING! His mission to woo Frannie was adorably sneaky. These two had both been through different trials and finding trust in each other genuinely warmed my heart. The dude crew!! I loved these boys and the story of how they came together. The support they provide to each other truly made me love every single one of them. Both sisters Cat (Frannie's) and Meg (JB's) in this book were a force of nature and so fun. It was nice to see the love and support they showed their siblings.
I cannot wait to continue the Love at the Lake series! Fingers crossed it includes learning more about a certain prince 👑 😉
Read if you love:
💞 Soulmates & Destiny
🍩 Cinnamon Roll MMC
🏕️Small Town Romance
🛏️One Bed
👯♀️ Loyal Friend Groups
Summary: After a hard-hitting break-up, Frannie Bloomfield has a list of things to get done. Build her estate sale business starting with her new clients, escape to the lake for the summer, and finish her kissing list. One thing that isn't on that list is dating. While attempting to check off #5 on her kissing list, she encounters the quiet wallflower who happens to be looking for the opposite of a casual experience. John Boggs, a recently retired professional baseball player, is looking for more than a one-night stand. But when he attempts to take things slow to start a real relationship, Frannie runs. Fate is a fickle beast. Turns out the estate sale opportunity to jumpstart her business thrusts her back into the arms of John who is selling his father's estate and is her first client. Will they resist the attraction pulling them together one kiss at a time? Or will they embrace destiny?
This book was such a sweet, quick read. I would be lying if it didn't make me want to drop everything and move to a small town on a lake and get away for the summer. Frannie knew what she wanted and was so focused on building her new business, which was great to see in an FMC. Her POV is adorable and filled with hilarious thoughts as she tries to resist John and keep her promise. Watching her grow and find confidence in who she was (and not apologizing for it) is beautifully done. JOHN (JB) WAS EVERYTHING! His mission to woo Frannie was adorably sneaky. These two had both been through different trials and finding trust in each other genuinely warmed my heart. The dude crew!! I loved these boys and the story of how they came together. The support they provide to each other truly made me love every single one of them. Both sisters Cat (Frannie's) and Meg (JB's) in this book were a force of nature and so fun. It was nice to see the love and support they showed their siblings.
I cannot wait to continue the Love at the Lake series! Fingers crossed it includes learning more about a certain prince 👑 😉
Read if you love:
💞 Soulmates & Destiny
🍩 Cinnamon Roll MMC
🏕️Small Town Romance
🛏️One Bed
👯♀️ Loyal Friend Groups
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
5.0