Unexpected by Elizabeth Aton

I received an opportunity to read and review a debut novel by Elizabeth Aton and I jumped on board. I certainly do not regret it.

(Side note: It still feels funny that people give me an ARC to read when I ask it or sometimes even offers me an ARC to read. Like why would they ask me, the not-at-all important person from different side of the world to read their book. The work that one book requires is insane and I get to read that book is a huge blessing. Most of the time I feel like I am not worth these ARC's. But I am eternally grateful for all the authors who trust me enough to let me read their books.)

But now, back to business.

Elizabeth Aton wrote her debut novel, which I find hard to believe. I've read worse books by authors who have published tons of book. And I don't mean the plot or characters. I mean the writing. Writing and the flow of the story are important to me. Sometimes you read a book with great characters, but the writing or flow isn't as great. But it wasn't a problem with Unexpected. 

Unexpected is well-written story that flows most of the time easily. Sure, for me, there were few moments that it felt like story stayed put, but those were small moments. Characters were easy to connect with. 

Unexpected is a story about a waiter and a rock star, who happens to be a single dad. This book is contemporary romance with some steam. I really can't say much more, because it really would spoil the experience for you. But I'll say that if you're a person who cries, like I am, you will cry so keep tissues nearby. The twists and turns keep coming. 

The things I liked. The cover, have you seen it? It's amazing! The characters, I liked the bandmates and Ava a lot. Whit and secondary characters were great, too. I liked the writing. I liked the flow, if you don't count few slow moments. The author, she's funny.

So, why I don't give five stars to this book? For me there were few loose ends. I would have liked to know what happened with certain things. There were few slow moments, which was sad, because other than those, the book was very capturing.  

I liked the promise that we get to see more of these characters in the next book of the series, which is about Whit's bandmate. 

Over all, this was a great debut novel and I really hope that Elizabeth Aton keeps writing!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Unexpected by Elizabeth Aton

2022

Between Hello & Goodbye by Emma Scott

Hi all. It has been a while, but I am slowly getting back there. Here's a review from, yet once again, great Emma Scott book. 

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

There are few things you know before you start reading a new book by Emma Scott. One, you know that the book is going to make you cry. Two, you know that when you start reading you can not stop the reading before the book ends. That's why I needed to wait for a weekend to start reading. Three, you know that you get to read a great story with great writing. 

Between Hello & Goodbye is a story about Faith. Story about Faith, the girl and faith for the new beginnings. Faith for the power inside you. Faith for the other people. Faith for that you can find the strength when it isn't anywhere to be seen. 

I loved Someday, Someday and that's a book where we first met Faith. But I didn't love Faith in that book. It would be stretch to say that I even liked her. I felt indifferent towards her. She wasn't my main focus while reading Someday, Someday. 

But this time Faith became my main focus and not just because she was supposed to come being one of the two main characters. She has many great qualities, but she doesn't have faith in herself. She sails through the life without bothering to look anything meaningful. She meets Asher, the hot fire fighter with so many people to care in his life and something starts to change in Faith. 

It's a cliche to say that love changes people, but maybe it really does or at least maybe love makes you think things differently and therefore makes you to make changes. I really don't know. But Faith certainly makes some changes in her life as does Asher. 

But love isn't easy and certainly not when you're living 2700 miles from each other. These people struggle with theirselves and their beliefs, wants and needs. They still have faith and certainty for their love. They want what's best for the other one and sometimes it means that you're losing. You are giving something great to someone, but at the same time you lose a piece of yourself. 

So, really. This book is about Faith. Faith for yourself, faith for the ones you love, faith for the future and faith for the fact that you're enough and capable. The faith in that life is not a competition. We all are here and we all are different, we all struggle and we all thrive. We are meant to be ourselves and we are meant to have faith. In this book we get to see that sometimes loving hurts, sometimes being in love is hard and still it's all worth it. 

Emma's writing was once again solid, flawless and heart breakingly beautiful. (I did cry while reading and my spouse just asked if the book was good.) The world is built beautifully, the characters are just right, they are real people with real feelings and actions. 

Can I say anything more? Not likely. Maybe I just share one of my favorite lines from the book, the one I can connect with "We all have our stuff. It's all valid."

Thank you, Emma, for once again great book. I really appreciate that I got to read this book. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Between Hello & Goodbye by Emma Scott

2022

Reason to Believe by Rebecca Yarros

Thank you for the Candi Kane PR and Rebecca Yarros for giving me an ARC to read and review! 

I have read Rebecca Yarros' books before and I have loved them. I had really high hopes for this book. Reason to Believe is the first novel of Legacy -series. I have read the two novellas, Point Of Origin and Ignite, before, but I didn't remember much from them. Luckily this didn't matter, because you can read Reason to Believe as a stand-alone. 

In this book we get to meet Harper and Knox who have loved each other for years without telling it to each other. Harper decides to foster two boys and asks help from Knox. He agrees to help and as we can predict they both fall in love with the boys. I don't want to spoil this book so I won't say much more about this book. 

I enjoy reading Mrs. Yarros' books, because I always know that she has done her research and everything in book will be correct. This book has some heavy subjects that might trigger some readers. I found this book incredibly well written. I liked a lot of the fact that there's matter of fostering and adopting brought up in this book. 

This book is full of joy and love. There's also some hard and negative feelings. Some hard stuff happens and how it's dealt in this book is amazing. I love how I could see the overflow of Harper's and Knox's feelings. I loved their relationship and how it was portrait in the book.

I am once again amazed how beautifully Mrs. Yarros writes. Her words are powerful and when you pick up one of her books you know you have a great read ahead of you. I hope she continues to write about Legacy. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐½

Reason to Believe by Rebecca Yarros

Everafter Romance

2022

Blind Pass by Teagan Hunter

Thank you for Valentine PR and Teagan Hunter for giving me an ARC to read and review.

Sometimes I have problems with these kind of series, where it's about a new couple in every book. I feel so invested in the first books couple that it's hard to switch for a second couple. But this time I managed to do just that. Maybe that's because Collin and Harper are a big part of this book, too. 

Rhodes and Ryan get married in Vegas, but the marriage doesn't just stay in Vegas. They decide to stay married, because they both benefit from the marriage. I won't tell much more, because I don't want to spoil anything.

I liked Rhodes, he was the strong, silent type. Ryan felt more outgoing. They both had their own insecurities which stay struggled with. I liked how they had this connection from early on. I liked side characters. Would have loved to know more about some of them, maybe we get a book about them some day?

This is fast and easy read without much drama. I like hockey romances that actually have some hockey action and this book has hockey action. There was a twist I didn't see coming, it was nice. This is a solid read and leaves you with happy thoughts. Writing is good. Will read the next book of the series, too!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Blind Pass by Teagan Hunter

2022

Unraveling Eleven by Jerri Chisholm

I waited this book for so long! Thank you for Entangled Teen and Jerri Chisholm for giving me an ARC to read and review!

I loved, so much loved, the first book of the series, Escaping Eleven. It triggered my memory of all those years ago when I used to read only YA-dystopian, books like Hunger Games, Divergent, Uglies, Delirium, Under The Never Sky, Matched... The list just keeps going.

I had high hopes with this one, too. But I knew that in reality the second book of trilogies are often not so perfect as the first ones were. But still I expected much. And the book sure delivered.

There were much stuff going on. The book mainly consentrates on Eve's struggles with herself. She has to make huge decisions and it affects the way she sees herself. It affects her relationship with Wren and with her friends. She has to decide what's more important to her; her own happines or the well-being of whole compound Eleven. 

Eve's struggles with herself are well written and believable. She's just a girl, 16 years old, and she has a whole faith of compound Eleven in her hands. 

I liked many things in this book, but it wasn't as good as the first one. I still like how Jessi Chisholm creates worlds. I could see myself in the corridors of Eleven. Reading this book felt like I met long-lost friends again. 

The book surely ended greatly. It will definitely peak your interest. Can't wait for the next book!

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Unraveling Eleven by Jerri Chisholm

Entangled Teen

2021

Puck Shy by Teagan Hunter

Thank you for Teagan Hunter and Valentine PR for giving me an ARC to read and review.

I have read Teagan Hunter's books before and I have liked the humor of the books. I kind of knew what to expect and this book did meet those expectations.

In Puck Shy we get to meet the girl, Harper, who loves all the scary things. She's an artist. She has some things in her past that still holds her back. We also meet Collin, the NHL superstar, who had some rough few months at the end of the last season and is now starting to get back on his feet, or skates. 

These two meet and sparkles fly. I would like to call their meeting each other as a meet cute, if you know what I mean. They share a car ride together, but neither one is brave enough to ask other ones contact information. 

Later they meet through a dating app. And this is where I think lays the Teagan Hunter's magic. She can write text conversations so incredibly well. I was so happy that there are these text messages through out the book. I enjoyed them a lot.

I liked the main characters and I liked the fact that the amount of the side characters was kept reasonable. I liked their character arc, I liked how the book was written, I smiled a lot. 

This book was a fast read for me, I read it almost in one sitting. There's not much drama, so this book is a happy book. I missed few popular culture references, since I can't watch or read any horror-stuff. I think that the only horror movie I have seen is The Ring and some say it's not horror at all, but it gave me many sleepless nights back in 2003. 😅😨

Over all, if you want a fast, enjoyable, funny friends-to-lovers romance with some steamy times, you should read this one. I know that I'll be reading the next book of the series!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Puck Shy by Teagan Hunter

2021

Famous Last Words by C.W. Farnsworth

Thank you for Grey's Promotions and C.W. Farnsworth for giving me an ARC to read and review. 

This was my first book by C.W. Farnsworth, but it will not be last. Famous Last Words hit my kindle late last night. I couldn't put it down. I needed to know how it ends.

To be honest, I have read tons of hockey romances. One of my favorite books ever is a hockey romance. This genre has some great books, but not every hockey romance isn't great. In my opinion, if you're saying that your book is hockey romance, there should be some hockey in that story. 

This book deliveres. There sure is some hockey action in this book. I liked how it (hockey) really felt one of the main things in this book. 

In Famous Last Words we meet Nora and Conor. They know each other, but are determined to avoid each other. But somehow they meet and talk. And there's a spark. They start spending time together and it's easier than they expected. 

I liked many things in this book. I liked the main characters. The chemistry between main characters was awesome. It felt real. I liked the banter and how they struggled with their feelings. 

I don't want to spoil anything, but there are much talk about loyalty and family. I can believe how much these two struggle with their own beliefs and how much you should be sidelines and watch the one you love to make their own mistakes. 

This book is great book with few heavy topics. I liked how C.W. Farnsworth made the world seem real. Her story building is awesome. Her characters have flaws. The story moves forward effortlessly. There aren't too many side characters and it was easy to keep track on them.

Famous Last Words is fast and easy read with lovable characters and great story line. I can absolutely recommend this to anyone who loves hockey romance, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers and some steamy times. 

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Famous Last Words  by C.W. Farnsworth 

2021