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stephsnextread's Reviews (390)
This is part of the Meant to Be series of Disney princess retelling. By the Book is a retelling of my favorite Disney princess movie, Beauty and the Beast. I was so curious how this story would be made into a contemporary romance…Would there be magic spells? How would the Beast keep the Belle character trapped in his home? Let me tell you, Jasmine Guillory made it all work!
Isabelle (“Izzy”) is working in publishing and gets assigned to help Beau Towers(the Beast character) write his celebrity memoir. I absolutely loved how names of things were nods to the movie, like the publishing company “Tale as Old as Time” and the TV show they watch “This Provincial Life”. I loved reading the book while knowing the story of Beauty and the Beast to see how it would all play out. I highly recommend it, especially if Belle is your favorite 💛
Read if you like:
❣️Disney princesses
❣️Books about books
❣️Grumpy x sunshine
❣️Forced proximity
❣️Slow burn
“Don’t ever let anyone tell you the most romantic part of love is the beginning. The most romantic part is when you know it has to end.”
Emma married the love of her life, Jesse, but his helicopter went missing on their first wedding anniversary and he was gone. It took years, but Emma has figured out how to live her life again and is now engaged again to the new love of her life, Sam. While out to dinner with her family and Sam, Emma receives a call from Jesse that he is alive and coming home. Now Emma has to figure out what her heart wants.
This book was absolutely heart wrenching! From the first chapter, you know one of these men will lose the love of their life, and Emma will be heartbroken no matter what. Both love stories were beautiful and I loved both men with Emma. There was no clear right choice, and that’s what makes the story so devastating! I cried for Emma so many times. This was definitely one of my favorite reads of the year!
Emma married the love of her life, Jesse, but his helicopter went missing on their first wedding anniversary and he was gone. It took years, but Emma has figured out how to live her life again and is now engaged again to the new love of her life, Sam. While out to dinner with her family and Sam, Emma receives a call from Jesse that he is alive and coming home. Now Emma has to figure out what her heart wants.
This book was absolutely heart wrenching! From the first chapter, you know one of these men will lose the love of their life, and Emma will be heartbroken no matter what. Both love stories were beautiful and I loved both men with Emma. There was no clear right choice, and that’s what makes the story so devastating! I cried for Emma so many times. This was definitely one of my favorite reads of the year!
I love romance books with plot, and this book had such a great plot that blended seemlessly with the romance! There are also two dogs as side characters, who are probably the best dog characters I’ve ever read. Throw in a few ACOTAR references, and it’s the perfect book!
Haley is a Christmas-loving romance reader and Christian is in a band with Haley’s brother. He shows up out of the blue to Haley’s brother’s house (where Haley is living too) and has to hide out for 12 days from the media…hello forced proximity!! And then we find out he’s been in love with her for years! The romance developed so naturally between Haley and Christian, and I was rooting for them the whole time. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a new holiday romance book!
Haley is a Christmas-loving romance reader and Christian is in a band with Haley’s brother. He shows up out of the blue to Haley’s brother’s house (where Haley is living too) and has to hide out for 12 days from the media…hello forced proximity!! And then we find out he’s been in love with her for years! The romance developed so naturally between Haley and Christian, and I was rooting for them the whole time. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a new holiday romance book!
I loved this book! Lucy is so endearingly awkward and relatable. She is a single mom, and her son was also such a cute character. Cooper is Lucy’s brother’s best friend, but her brother doesn’t see Cooper as a relationship guy, so he has deemed his sister off limits (but obviously they don’t listen to that archaic rule since this is a romance book). In true Sarah Adams fashion, the romance was a very sweet slow burn. I highly recommend this one!
With how much fun Butcher & Blackbird was, I was excited for this 2nd book in the series. But honestly, it didn’t have the same magic. Lark is an interesting character, with how sunshiney and sparkly she is on the outside but so dark on the inside. I felt like I was missing a lot of her backstory until late in the book though, so it was hard to connect with her. I really just didn’t care for Lachlan or their relationship. It was missing the chemistry and banter that was in the first book, and it was a slowww burn. Lark’s Aunt Ethyl was really the redeeming character. I loved her so much and could’ve read an entire book about her!
Like Butcher & Blackbird, the audiobook is done in dual narration and it’s really well done. I didn’t like the laughs that sounded more like cackles, but I really enjoyed the addition of singing during Lark’s songwriting.
Like Butcher & Blackbird, the audiobook is done in dual narration and it’s really well done. I didn’t like the laughs that sounded more like cackles, but I really enjoyed the addition of singing during Lark’s songwriting.
This book was entertaining and I loved the banter between LaRynn and Deacon. I laughed out loud a lot at their antics trying to provoke each other. The book blends together second chance romance and marriage of convenience, which I loved. But…there was so much miscommunication!!
Both characters have reasons that they are closed off and insecure, which leads to frustration as they are trying to communicate with each other. I enjoyed their character arcs as they each put in work on themselves, but they both drove me nuts for a big chunk of the book. I had a hard time rating this book because I both loved and hated the characters at different points of the book, but I appreciated how two people could work through their challenges and come together through that journey.
Thank you to Tarah DeWitt, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Read if you like:
❣️Dual timeline
❣️Dual POV
❣️Forced proximity
❣️Second chance romance
If This Was a Movie was the perfect sweet and spicy holiday romance. It takes place in the cutest, snowy small town that sets the cozy scene. An adorable little girl makes a Christmas wish that her beloved doll would come to life and marry her dad. She walks outside and sees Jules, who looks exactly like the doll, but Jules has a history with her dad and is not excited to learn about the Christmas wish.
There were so many things that I loved about this book, including the found family and all of the romcom references sprinkled throughout the book. But the best part of the book was definitely the sweetest MMC I’ve read in a long time. Nate is so steadfast in his feelings for Jules, and he is patient while waiting for her to figure her things out. I devoured this book and highly recommend this small town, feel-good holiday romance!
Thank you to Morgan Elizabeth and Valentine PR for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Read if you like:
❣️Christmas magic
❣️Invisible strings
❣️Second chance romance
❣️Single dad MMC
❣️The one that got away
There were so many things that I loved about this book, including the found family and all of the romcom references sprinkled throughout the book. But the best part of the book was definitely the sweetest MMC I’ve read in a long time. Nate is so steadfast in his feelings for Jules, and he is patient while waiting for her to figure her things out. I devoured this book and highly recommend this small town, feel-good holiday romance!
Thank you to Morgan Elizabeth and Valentine PR for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Read if you like:
❣️Christmas magic
❣️Invisible strings
❣️Second chance romance
❣️Single dad MMC
❣️The one that got away
I expected to love this book because I’ve loved Colleen Hoover’s ability to shatter my heart in other books of hers that I’ve read. But, unpopular opinion…I was annoyed at the characters for most of the book.
Tate and Miles meet and feel a mutual attraction. The problem is that Miles doesn’t want a relationship, so Tate agrees to follow his two rules: never ask about his past and don’t expect a future. They decide to have a friends-with-benefits situation, but it gets complicated.
Most of the book is Miles telling Tate he will never love her and Tate thinking he’ll change his mind. Also, Miles’ teenage POV drove me absolutely nuts. He was so obsessive over his high school girlfriend and spoke in many simple (often 3 word) sentences. He was clearly so in love with her, and I never saw those feelings directed toward Tate.
Despite my complaints, I was still invested in the story. And bonus, it hits the “U” title in my goal to read A to Z books this year! I know a lot of people loved it, so I recommend it if you’re looking for a dual POV story with Colleen Hoover’s signature drama.
Tate and Miles meet and feel a mutual attraction. The problem is that Miles doesn’t want a relationship, so Tate agrees to follow his two rules: never ask about his past and don’t expect a future. They decide to have a friends-with-benefits situation, but it gets complicated.
Most of the book is Miles telling Tate he will never love her and Tate thinking he’ll change his mind. Also, Miles’ teenage POV drove me absolutely nuts. He was so obsessive over his high school girlfriend and spoke in many simple (often 3 word) sentences. He was clearly so in love with her, and I never saw those feelings directed toward Tate.
Despite my complaints, I was still invested in the story. And bonus, it hits the “U” title in my goal to read A to Z books this year! I know a lot of people loved it, so I recommend it if you’re looking for a dual POV story with Colleen Hoover’s signature drama.