skyhazzard's reviews
1052 reviews

The New Hunger by Isaac Marion

medium-paced

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

3.0

This didn’t really provide anything new, it was more a story of what happened before, how certain characters ended up together.

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I know it’s only February but pretty sure this book will be my biggest disappointment of the year. All I ever heard was people loving this book and I was so excited to get to it…and then I did…and I kept reading…waiting…waiting…waiting for nothing for almost 500 pages.

I was so bored reading, I ended up having to get the audiobook just to finish. I thought Paedyn and Kai’s flirting was cute but that was it, it wasn’t nearly enough for me to have endured 500 pages to come out so unenthused. The Trials made no sense to me, what was even the point of them. And it was basically ball, trial, ball, trial, oh let’s have another ball and then a trial. Everything felt so pointless. And then when the trials did happen (200 pages into the book) they were so bland. The first one Paedyn just stumbles across things as she needs them and then gets drastically hurt by the first person she runs into before somehow stumbling across Kai who saves her. And then it was just them hanging out for a couple days talking. The next ones weren’t any better.

Definitely won’t be continuing on with this series.

Spectacular by Stephanie Garber

lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.5

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if it’s not Scarlett and Julian I’m just not hooked. I don’t know why but I just really don’t care about Tella, she was alright in Caraval but once we actually got her POV I struggled so much reading the other books. And this one, unfortunately for me, was Tella heavy.

I did enjoy the little bit of Scarlett and Julian we did get to see and I enjoyed the illustrations throughout.

An Affair with a Notorious Heiress by Lorraine Heath

fast-paced

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

4.5

This one was so fun, I was invested from the beginning. I really liked Tillie’s character, I knew there had to be more to her scandalous divorce than what everyone knew. And Rexton intrigued me as well with his upbringing. You could feel the chemistry when they met, so much her sister felt it too and she was supposed to be believing he was trying to court her. She was funny being like well I’m going to let him keep seeing me cause maybe something will happen between him and my sister.

The Duke and the Lady in Red by Lorraine Heath

emotional 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

4.25

First half of this book I was kind of bored and wasn’t really connecting with the characters but about halfway through it was like a switch had been flipped. Suddenly I understood the characters actions and had deep emotional attachment to them. I cared about what was going to happen. It was a wild ride reading this book.

Our main character Rose is a bit of a con artist, she comes into town, sets her sights on someone, takes their money and leaves but she’s doing all this to help take care of her brother who is severely disfigured. She ran away with him at seventeen along with a few others she met and they have been taking care of him ever since.

Avendale spots her while she’s looking for a mark and can’t take his eyes or mind off her. He’s desperate to have her and she takes advantage of the situation while also battling feelings he brings up in her.

When I tell you I had no feelings for this man but the second he discovers her secret and her brother that all changed. This man was so kind and considerate. He treated her brother like a person and not once did he react to his disfigurement. He took the time to listen to him and understand him and developed a genuine connection. He realized the reason Rose would take everything in and try to absorb it was so that she could go back and tell her brother about the things he was missing having to hide away to avoid facing ridicule. And he helped him have real experience in a safe space. My option of him did a 180.

Three Schemes and a Scandal by Maya Rodale

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was fun but it took me a bit to get into. I liked Charlotte from when we met her in the series but I feel like it took awhile for me to be invested in her and James, maybe cause we hadn’t met him and gotten to know him like we did her. But by the end I was really enjoying them together.

Once More, My Darling Rogue by Lorraine Heath

dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was so fun! This was historical romance meets Overboard as Drake finds the thorn in his side Ophelia laying in the river and comes to realize she doesn’t remember who she is. To humble her he tells her she’s his servant, intending for it to only last a day or so before he takes her back home. But between her vexing him and him realizing maybe her accident wasn’t quite an accident the charade goes on longer than intended.

Despite not feeling like a servant Ophelia does try her best and she actually makes friends with the housemaid nextdoor. And without her past plaguing her Drake realizes she’s not as bad as he once thought. This new version of her intrigues him and he realizes there’s more to her than meets the eye.

I loved the chemistry between them and then their scenes where he’s trying to convince her she’s the maid were hilarious. We do uncover some dark things in both of their pasts so it’s not all fun and games. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Murder

When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was fun but the age gap felt a little icky to me even though I’ve read worse. Idk something about her being 19 and him being 28 and the fact that they’ve known each other since she first fell in love with him at 7 and he 16, idk just every time I remembered I was like ugh.

I did feel for this Lovingdon though. He’d done everything right: met a girl, fell in love, married her, they both were each others first times, had a baby and then his wife and daughter die. He’s lost his reason to go on and decides to drown his woes in debauchery because what has being good got him. The whole “I can’t love another because I can’t handle the pain of them someday leaving” was another thing that bothered me in this book, he kept having feelings but would be like what are these because I can’t possibly be in love with her, I forbid it. Like take some accountability and sort through your emotions!!

Grace I did think was fun and I liked that she didn’t act like a respectable lady all the time. She kept throwing him for a loop when she’d show up at random hours, drink his liquor, or be out having a cigar with the girls. She had a secret she had been keeping and was worried about how her potential future husband would react to it. Which her secret was something I don’t think I’ve read about in historical so it was interesting to read about.

Kiss the Sky by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

This took me awhile to read cause I started it at the start of a reading slump but I finally made it through!

It did take a little bit getting used to reading from Rose and Connor’s POV cause I’m so used to Lily and Lo. I love everybody but it is a completely different dynamic. We also had the whole new setting of them filming a reality show so that changed up the vibes as well. And omg can I just say that I hate Scott so much and I just want karma to come back around and run him over hardcore. Like there is a circle of hell reserved just for him.

To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt

challenging emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

I was OBSESSED reading this. This had perfect Beauty and the Beast vibes while also changing it up. One of my favorite aspects of BatB is that Belle doesn’t backdown and instead holds her own against the Beast and Helen had that in spades. Alistair tries getting rid of her and she just keeps coming back, she is a woman on a mission and will not let this grumpy man ruin it.

Helen also has two children and I really enjoyed their bits and watching Alistair get all soft around them. I was just like shut up this man loves these kids.

It was just so good and I was a sucker for it.