Every Sweet Regret by Lexi Ryan

Thank you for Grey's Promotions and Lexi Ryan for giving me an ARC to read and review!

This was my first book by Lexi Ryan. I have heard so many good things about her books that I wanted to read one myself. 

Every Sweet Regret is a second book in Orchid Valley -series. It's possible to read this book without reading the first book of the series. I surely did so. But I think you would benefit for reading the first book before reading this one. 

I rarely read blurbs, but this one I read and I instantly liked the idea of this book. The idea of falling in love without knowing how the other person looks like is ideal. In these days people put so much value to the looks that it feels unreal sometimes. With this way you actually need to get to know each other. You can  never put too much value on good communication. I liked how Kace was forced to get to know other things than just focusing on how Stella looks like. 

I really liked how the story went forward. The pace was steady and it felt like the author hadn't had any problems with her story. Just the way I like 😊

This was a friends-to-lovers and brothers best friend -book. One of my favorite tropes! 

For my liking there was pretty much sex. That's purely on me and is in no way authors fault! I also didn't understand why characters acted the way they did in some points, but that's on me, too. 

Over all, I liked this book. I really liked the way this book is written. Fun and fast read that made you miss summer, sun and pool 🍸 

⭐⭐⭐½

Every Sweet Regret by Lexi Ryan

2020

Varsity Rulebreaker by Ginger Scott

Thank you for Ginger Scott and WordSmith Publicity for giving me an ARC to read and review.

Varsity Rulebreaker is the third and final book in Varsity-series by Ginger Scott. I read the first book, Varsity Heartbreaker, when it came out. Somehow I missed the second book, but I'll read it as soon as possible. 

Once I got into reading I couldn't put this book down. This book has some content in it that makes you think. It explores what's it to be like a woman and play with men. You might get a glimpse  if it's even possible to play a sport that is considered for a sport for men. I really wanted to read this and know how it all will end. 

Hollis is a senior in high school and she loves to play baseball. She is new in Indiana, but in there she can just maybe show that she's more than a coaches daughter and she can earn her spot in team. 

Cannon is a new in Indiana, too. He's there to play ball with his cousin, Zack. It is implied that they play well together. At first it seems that his relationship to his cousin is easy and good, but as the book goes on we get to see more Cannon's thoughts and maybe he's growing a bit, too.

Cannon and Hollis meet and there's attraction between them. A New Years kiss is all it takes from them to be imprinted in each others mind. Too bad that they didn't know they'll be playing ball together.

Zack isn't taking it well that he now needs to prove how good he is. He doesn't like competing against Hollis. Stuff happens, as always. Cannon needs to decide what matters most; love, friendship, family bonds, doing what is right or loyalty? All equally good things, so it might be hard for him to be in between Hollis an Zacks mess.

I really liked the chemistry between Hollis and Cannon. I liked the dual POV. I liked how the sport really was a part of the story, not just a some thing a hero did. I liked how the story went forward. It was easy and happy read with little drama. I can for sure recommend it for everyone who likes YA sports romance-books. A great end for the series, loved the epilogue!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Varsity Rulebreaker by Ginger Scott

2020

Escaping Eleven by Jerri Chisholm

Thank you for Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for giving me an ARC to review!

Escaping Eleven brings a whole new world to you. It's the world of violence, order and dreams. It's a world where those dreams usually die. The hierarchy is everything in this world.

Eve lives in compound eleven. Four generations ago the earth became to dangerous to live on. They decided to move underground. Now the life underground is all Eve knows. She loves to read and has read everything about life before the ground got uninhabited. Eve lives in the floor nr. 2. In her floor they fight and she's good with it. She needs to decide a profession soon and she's thinking about going pro.

Her latest fight is different, though. Her opponent isn't some punk from same floor. He's a kid from top floor with eyes that show every emotion he has. These two fight, meet, spend time together. Eve is determined to make chances on her life, she wants so much more than the compound eleven can offer to her. Maybe this kid with amazing eyes can change her life.

This is your typical YA dystopian novel, but this label takes nothing away from this story. If you have read The Hunger Games, Uglies, Under the Never Sky or Matched  you'll love this book, too. I have read YA dystopian as long as I can remember, some of those books are better than others, but this is still one of my favorite genres. 

I loved the chemistry between characters, I loved how the story went forward. I loved how this was written. Amazing debut novel!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Escaping Eleven by Jerri Chisholm

Entangled Publishing

2020

Muses & Melodies by Rebecca Yarros

 Thank you for Rebecca Yarros and Kandi Cane PR for giving me an ARC to review.

Muses & Melodies is a part of Hush Notes -series. The other two books are written by Sarina Bowen and Devney Perry. I have not read the other two books and I believe that Muses & Melodies is the third book of the series. 

In Muses & Melodies we meet Nixon, the bad boy rocker with tattoos all over him. (Swoon! Honestly, that's all I needed to know, I was going to read this book. You just got to love these bad boys.) Nixon is fresh out of a rehab and this time he's determined to stay sober. There are demons in his past that are trying to drag him down. The bands manager orders his employee, Zoe, to stay and babysit Nixon.

Zoe is a professional and she's determined to keep things official with Nixon. It doesn't matter how good-looking or how beautifully he plays guitar, she will be professional. She needs to get through this job.

But what can you expect when you're constantly together? These two live together and they travel together. They learn things about each other that no one else knows about. Slowly the lines between them fade away.

I love the way Rebecca Yarros writes. This is a solid book with lovable characters. I loved how there were some familiar places from other books by her. Fast and easy read, but still some serious content to give some depth to this book. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Muses & Melodie by Rebecca Yarros

2020

When You Come Back To Me by Emma Scott

Thank you for Emma Scott and Valentine PR for giving me an ARC to read and review.

When You Come Back To Me is a second book of the Lost Boys -series. It can be read as a standalone, but you will get so much more out of this book if you've read The Girl in the Love Song (and Someday, Someday). 

I was lucky enough to score an ARC of both of the books in this series. I can't thank enough for Emma Scott and Valentine PR for giving me a chance to read this book beforehand! What an amazing opportunity 💜 

The cover of this book is gorgeous. I am absolutely in love with it. 

We meet both of the main characters in The Girl in the Love Song. And in that book I was very curious about both of them, but especially of Holden. The vibes he gives you are something else, something I can not describe. River was left a bit distant, but that works, because in this book we get to see the reasons behind it. 

Holden is the new guy in the school. He's polished, he's smart and a bit reckless. He drinks and asks someone to stab him. He feels like he's constantly drowning in his memories. He doesn't know whether he wants to drown in them or not. He feels like no one can really love him. Every time someone does or says something good to him, his demons shout for him to not to listen. 

River is the star of the school. He's the good guy, who doesn't brag about being with the girls. He's the quarterback of the team and he has a bright future ahead of him. He's way smarter than he lets people to assume. But his life isn't what he wants it to be. His mom is sick and can die at any giving moment. His dad is trying to live his missed life through River. He's just acting his way through the life.

These boys meet and nothing is like it used to be. They struggle to keep away from each other and they struggle to be together. Nothing is easy. River likes to put everyone around him on first place. He thinks about his mom, he thinks about his dad, he thinks about the NFL and how there's no way for him to love another boy if he wants to play football. Holden doesn't really have anyone. I was totally livid with the way his parents had treated him. I can not believe that this is really something that exist in our time. Holden loves the warmth that River can provide him. River loves how he can be absolutely himself around Holden. One of the things Holden says is "You can be okay and completely fucked up at the same. I'm living proof." It hit home. That's how I feel most of the days. And in some way this sentence is the best way to describe both of these young men.

This is coming of age book, like the last book of the series was. I would consider this more NA than YA, mainly because there are some heavy issues on this book. There's a warning of that in the beginning of the book. The feelings that these two young man go through in this book are very true. They feel sad, happy, overwhelmed, depressed, joyful. You name and they have felt it. They struggle with the expectations of their parents. They are trying to decide whether they try to reach goals they are setting for themselves or just listen their parents.  

I liked how they struggled with their feelings towards each other and how their feelings had an influence on their actions. That it's like when you're not so sure about what to do or say or even feel. When all the expectations are weighing you down. When all that has happened on the past are screaming inside of your head that you don't deserve to be happy.

I haven't read many M/M -books and that's mainly because I haven't found ones that feel right. But Emma Scott knows how to write M/M -romance. I adored Someday, Someday and I can honestly say that both of these books are in top two in this genre. 

The way Emma Scott builds the world around her characters is amazing. She keeps the story going on without any problems. There's no way you want to put the book down unless you need to find a tissue to cry on. This book made me cry on so many occasions. I cried, because I was angry. I cried, because I was heartbroken and I cried, because I was happy. 

If you want to read a great, touching, heart breaking and the most beautiful romance there's right now then this is your book. I really understand why everyone talks about this book. 

I believe that this book was supposed to be under a different name, but the title makes so much sense. Amazing story from an amazing author. I can't wait to read the Ronan's story!

Remember that love is love. And believe me, you deserve to be happy!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When You Come Back To Me by Emma Scott

2020

Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover

Once again a great book by Colleen Hoover!

Colleen Hoover is an automatic one-click author to me. Actually her books are what started my love to go in blind. I think I have been doing that more or less since 2015 when November 9 came out. It's a best way to start reading. I think that I have something around 20 books by her in my actual book shelf, some of them are even signed 💜 I can safely say that she's the reason why I love romance novels. 

Whether you like Colleen's online persona or the things she shares online, you have to admit that she knows how to write. She has really unique style to write. I like how her writing seems "depressing", I don't know if this is a correct word to describe her writing, but I don't know how else to say it. She is very skilled author and she writes books with heavy subjects, such as depression, domestic abuse, cancer, loss of love, family and so on. Those are hard subjects to write about and maybe that's the thing what makes her style heavy. It's like you can feel the heaviness of the words. Like you're carrying the same weight on your shoulders as protagonist does. 

Heart Bones is contemporary romance. I would say it's a NA book. Beyah's world crumples around her so she decides that change of scenery is great before she starts a college at the end of the summer. She leaves her home and heads to Texas to stay with her father, whom she hasn't seen in years. She's determined to keep her head down and just try to survive until the college starts. 

Things rarely goes as planned. Beyah meets the cute next door neighbor, Samson, and even if they have some really big differences as background and wealthiness they both seem to be sad. That sadness is the thing that draws them towards each other. They make plans to spend time together during summer. They are firm about the fact that they keep their summer fling "in shallow end", but as we know you can drown in shallow water, too.

I loved how the title is explained in book. It all makes sense. I loved how content Beyah and Samson were together. I loved the amount of sunrises and sunset in this book. I loved how it took time from Beyah (and Samson) to learn new things about themselves. 

This might not be my favorite book by Colleen Hoover, but this still was a really amazing book. One of the best books I've read this year. I am going to keep reading CoHo books in future, too. When you pick up a book by Colleen Hoover you know that you get a quality book. You get a book with story that goes forward, you get a book that's written really wonderfully and thoroughly edited. You get to meet exciting  characters and sometimes you even get new songs to listen.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover

Independently Published

2020

The Duplicate Bride by Ginny Braid

Thank you for NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for giving me an ARC to review!

The Duplicate Bride is a contemporary romance novel written by Ginny Braid. It's written in third POV, which always takes some time from me to get used to. The view switches between Brent and Hope, the main characters and I enjoyed that fact. 

Hope and Jackie are twin sisters. Jackie is getting married, but she has problems at work so she asks Hope to swap places with her and go play Jackie on her pre-wedding festivities. It was supposed to be only for a day, but one day turns to another and then another one.

As soon as Hope arrives to meet Brent and his family, she realizes that everything isn't okay between Brent and Jackie. Brent also sees there's something not right with his fiancee. She used to love jogging and had a strict diet, now she doesn't want to get up early to run and loves to eat everything she doesn't usually eat. Brent struggles with his personal life and it seems that being with Hope helps him to understand himself more. 

All these small changes he notices on his fiancee makes him want to win her over. He really wants to try to make this relationship work. He wants to love her and wants her to love him. They spend a lot of time together and somewhere along the way Hope realizes that she's developing too warm feelings towards his sister's soon-to-be husband.

I especially liked Brent's family. There were multiple fun characters. I wouldn't mind being a part of family like that. The writing is beautiful! I liked that this was a clean romance. The connection between Brent and Hope felt real.

The things I struggled with this book were Jackie (didn't like her at all) and how long the things went on before the secret of twins swapping places comes out. 

⭐⭐⭐½

The Duplicate Bride by Ginny Braid

Entangled Publishing

2020