Review: The Trouble with Christmas by Amy Andrews

Book Description via the author's website:

All Suzanne St. Michelle wants is an over-the-top, eggnog-induced holiday with her best friend in Credence, Colorado. But when her hoity-toity parents insist she come home for Christmas in New York, she blurts out that her sexy landlord is actually her boyfriend and she can’t leave him—Joshy loves Christmas. The more twinkle lights the better.

Rancher Joshua Grady does not love Christmas. Or company, or chatty women. Unfortunately for him, the chattiest woman ever has rented the cottage on his ranch, invited her rich, art-scene parents, and now insists he play “fake rancher boyfriend” in a production of the Hokiest Christmas Ever. And somehow…she gets him to agree.

My review: 

I loved The Trouble with Christmas. It has been quite a while since I have read a book so fast, but I just could not get enough! I had a pretty strong feeling I was going to really enjoy this one since it includes some of my favorite things. Grumpy handsome rancher... check, Christmas time... check, hero and heroine who drive each other nuts... check, fake relationship... big fat check. Lucky for me it was even better than I had anticipated. Not to mention I absolutely loved Suzanne. From the very moment she started babbling and saying things even she had no clue why, I knew she was my kind of girl. It definitely made for some really funny moments and had me smiling and laughing out loud through most of the book. Joshua Grady never stood a chance! Ah, but the broody rancher also found a special place in my heart. I like that his backstory adds some depth to the story and makes his decisions to try to keep his distance more sympathetic than upsetting. He still managed to be a fun character despite his past tragedies and I have to admit picturing him all macho and serious in a tacky Christmas sweater still makes me giggle. It's almost like the perfect Hallmark movie except with steamy parts and cursing. Although I did not enjoy the overuse of cursing God's name, I decided not to deduct any stars because of how much I absolutely loved everything else. Just be forewarned if that type of thing bothers you. I also have to say before my review is over that the ending was just perfect! It gave me all the feels. I definitely highly recommend The Trouble with Christmas for the Christmas romance and fake relationship fans out there.

** I received an advanced digital copy thanks to Entangled Publishing via Netgalley. This is my voluntary and honest review.**

Review: Fireborne by Rosaria Munda

Blurb via bookishfirst.com:

Annie and Lee were just children when a brutal revolution changed their world, giving everyone―even the lowborn―a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders.

Now they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn't be more different. Annie's lowborn family was executed by dragonfire, while Lee's aristocratic family was murdered by revolutionaries. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet.

But everything changes when survivors from the old regime surface, bent on reclaiming the city.

With war on the horizon and his relationship with Annie changing fast, Lee must choose to kill the only family he has left or to betray everything he's come to believe in. And Annie must decide whether to protect the boy she loves . . . or step up to be the champion her city needs.

From debut author Rosaria Munda comes a gripping adventure that calls into question which matters most: the family you were born into, or the one you've chosen.

My review:  What an amazing story! I absolutely loved Fireborne. I loved the characters and the plot. The intertwining of the past and the present was done so brilliantly. I felt so torn with the choices the characters faced. It was so unfair the things that they had experienced at such young ages and their limited choices now under the new regime as well. Yet despite the obstacles and hypocrisy of their world I still felt like it was a story of triumph and enjoyed rooting for both Lee and Annie. The relationship that these two shared, both in the past and future, was very touching. Fireborne also touches on several subjects including class, loyalty, power, politics, and more. There were just so many amazing things about this story that I could go on and on; yet I don't want to give away too much and spoil it. If you love YA fantasy with a dash of romance and dragons then I highly recommend you give Fireborne a try! ** I received an advanced copy of this book through Bookishfirst. This is my voluntary review and all thoughts expressed here are my own.**

Review: Twixt by Diane J. Reed

From the author's website:

About the Book

Everyone in Ophir Creek, Idaho knows the wild legend of Corvine O’Dannan, a mysterious Irish woman with “fairy powers” who came to town during the gold rush to find her fortune, only to be betrayed by her lover and meet a tragic end.

Fast forward to the twenty-first century, and her descendent Rose doesn’t have time for such nonsense! After a crash-and-burn marriage, she’s returned to her hometown to renovate her father’s gold-panning business and to start over. But everything changes on her 30th birthday when her friend talks her into doing a love spell. Unbeknownst to them, they conjure the spirit of the very same man who once tormented Rose’s ancestor. Why? Because Rose was Corvine O’Dannan in a past life—and her really bad habit of attracting Mr. Wrong still haunts her, and now jeopardizes her very life.

What Rose doesn’t realize is that along with this dark curse comes an extraordinary blessing–in the form of a soul guardian named Chance Murphy who’s been protecting her for centuries. But this time around, the evil spirit that plagues Rose has stolen Chance’s body. So the only way that Chance can reach her is late at night in her dreams, when he appears as a magical raven who escorts her to an enchanted island off the coast of Ireland. There, Chance becomes a man again, and he shows Rose how to heal her past through the fairies’ special brand of magic. But will Rose finally be able to forge a new future and make the man of her dreams become real? Only if she can once again believe…

My Review: 

Twixt is one of the most magical and spellbinding stories I've ever read! The writing is brilliant and flows so beautifully through the pages as you're carried along this mystical adventure. I love how the story mostly takes place in the present while also being heavily rooted in the past. I feel it would be very fitting to describe it as a tale of both hardship and romance that transcends time. I am in awe of how it's all intertwined so seamlessly. The story starts with a prelude that takes place in Ireland and focuses on Ailis O'Dannan and her young daughter Corvine. After a tragic event Corvine travels to Boston. She meets Rory there who sweet talks her into heading to Idaho Territory with him, convinced she would lead them to gold. Fast forward to the present and we have Rose, a descendant of Corvine, who has to battle not only with her own heart, but also with foes from the past that have come back for more. I don't want to give too much away, but Rose is seriously stronger than she knows. How much she loves her daughter is so touching and I really felt for her as she battled with what was best for Crystal. I'd also like to say that the imagery in this book was amazing. I felt like I could truly see the shop and the island and Rook Ridge. I of course can't say how much I liked this book without including something about the gripping romance. A time transcending bond full of encouragement and faith... Just beautiful! I'd recommend this book for fans of Sarah Addison Allen, Alice Hoffman, and just a beautiful romance in general.

Author's website: https://dianejreed.com/

Review: My Forever Cowboy by Diane J. Reed

Book description via the author's website: 

Just when you least expect it, love finds you forever…Avery Smart doesn’t believe in “forever cowboys.” Especially after her father died young in a tragic rodeo accident, and she watched all her girlfriends get their hearts broken by love ’em and leave ’em types in Stetsons and spurs. But when she returns to her hometown of Bandits Hollow, Colorado to take pictures of cowboys for her lucrative photography business, a new light is shed on the darkroom of her heart by Grant Hollow. He’s one professional bull rider who not only intends to stick around for the right woman–he’s determined to lasso her heart for good.

My Forever Cowboy is a prequel novella in the My Cowboy Series of contemporary western romances set in the Rocky Mountains.

My review: 

My Forever Cowboy is such a fun read. It may be short, but it's powerful. The characters were amazing and I even got to see a few familiar faces from previous slightly interconnecting stories from this author. The two main characters, Avery and Grant, have great chemistry and it was very entertaining watching Avery try to fight their connection. I do love the way they met... talk about a meet cute lol! I am definitely a sucker for a good cowboy romance and was totally blown away by the way the story could read as a contemporary cowboy romance, yet still have that ethereal beautiful mystical feeling weaved throughout, that I have come to love and expect from Reed's books. It's also got lots of fun, flirty, and silly bits to leave you smiling a mile wide. Literally everything I look for in a book and somehow packed within just around a hundred pages. I highly recommend My Forever Cowboy!  

** I received this book from the author. I voluntarily chose to write this honest review.**

Check out the author's website for more information on her books: https://dianejreed.com/ 

Review: Wilder Girls by Rory Power

First of all the cover is amazing! As soon as I saw it I needed to know more about this book. Wilder Girls instantly had me wrapped up in this new strange world, in which these girls are quarantined on an island and all have wild and crazy things happening to their bodies, also known as the Tox. The main three characters are very interesting especially since I still felt as if I still wasn't quite sure about who some of them truly were by the end of the story. I really like the writing style and the dual points of view. The atmosphere is perfectly creepy and a little tense leaving you with a sense of urgency to find out what will happen to these girls. I've heard it described as a female version of Lord of the Flies and find this to be a pretty accurate description. The ending was a bit disappointing only because it was rather open ended and there's no mention of a second book so far. The tone was fitting, but with so many things left in the balance still and so many questions left unanswered I am definitely hoping there will be a sequel. Overall Wilder Girls is a serious page-turner! * I won an advanced copy of this book through bookishfirst. This is my honest and voluntary review. **

Review: Lander Ridge by Diane J. Reed

Book description from the author's website: 

For the cutthroat cowboy who wins at everything, losing his heart to the only woman who can reach his soul is the greatest risk of all…

Lander Iron Feather’s fierce business strategies have made him one of the richest ranchers in the West, dominating all that he touches. But when the beautiful former model Nicky Box returns to Bandits Hollow to reform the Wilson Ranch School for Wayward Boys and Girls, suddenly Lander is forced to face the terrible abuse he suffered there as a teen. Lander’s seething hatred for the school’s wealthy owner is largely responsible for fueling his business success, yet now he has the chance to combine forces with Nicky to turn the place around for the sake of the school’s orphans. But doing so means opening his heart—to the kids, to the wounds inside himself, and most of all, to Nicky. When the school is confronted with a shocking closure, Lander must dig deep inside to redefine what “winning”, and the magic of falling in love, really means. 

My review:

Lander Ridge is stunning, magical, and compelling. I absolutely love Diane J. Reed's writing style. As with her previous books, Lander Ridge instantly transported me into the story with the almost tangible scenes. There is one word in particular that seems to come to mind... mystical. It's just this overwhelming sense of magic and wonder that flows throughout the entire story. It's like I'm there and can feel the chills when I hear the owl's call, or the amazement when something beautiful and haunting happens. The characters are some of my all-time reading favorites. I was super excited to get to know Lander better in this book after getting glimpses of him in the previous two. It was also fun to catch up with Dillion, Barrett, and their ladies a bit as well. Getting back to Lander though, he is such a tortured soul who is more than just a bit rough around the edges, but with a secretly kind and longing heart. *SWOON!* I love how easily the author seems to be able to weave together the past and make the characters destiny seem so amazingly intertwined. I can definitely tell she believes in soulmates and it shines through in her writing. The witty banter is probably my favorite part and actually had me smiling while I read. My husband wanted to know what I was smiling so big about lol. Although there are definitely some heart wrenching moments as well that had me very emotional. I was entranced from the first page to the last. I highly recommend Lander Ridge!

P.S. I loved reading the author's note at the end of the book about the sacred trees. So cool! Make sure if you read Lander Ridge to check that part out too.

** I received this book from the author. I voluntarily chose to write this honest review.**

Review: Barefoot Beach by Debbie Mason

Description from the author's website: 

From the USA Today bestselling author of the Harmony Harbor series comes a beautiful summer romance that will keep you reading until the sun goes down!

Can a summer of love make up for a lifetime of secrets?

Wedding fever has taken over Harmony Harbor this summer, and the local matchmakers have set their sights on Theia Lawson, a former navy pilot who’s in town for a stay at Greystone Manor. And while Theia’s got her reasons to put this small town behind her as fast as she can, there’s a certain tall, dark, and irresistible man that she can’t seem to get off her mind.

Firefighter Marco DiRossi wants to beat the matchmakers at their own game so he conspires with Theia to pretend they’ve already fallen in love. It’s only for the summer. What could go wrong? Yet as the beach season draws to a close, Marco and Theia find their pretend relationship has led to a very real attraction. But when a secret from the past is revealed, jeopardizing everything they hold dear, can this unlikely couple find their way to a happily-ever-after?

My review: 

I absolutely loved Barefoot Beach! There were plenty of funny moments as well as a lots of mystery and suspense. My favorite element of course is the romance. I loved how much fun Theia and Marco had together! The fact that it starts out as him getting on her nerves, then turns into a fake relationship, then they start to want more is just so enjoyable. Not to mention Marco is definitely swoon worthy! It adds even more to his appeal that he likes Theia for her strengths, determination, and exactly who she is, not just her looks. They have great chemistry together and I really like their witty banter. I have read all of the books in this series and enjoyed every last one, so it's no surprise that I loved this one just as much, and was happy to get to catch up with old friends from the previous books as well. I cannot wait to see what's going to happen in the next book, although I believe it is going to be the last of the series and I will be sad to see it end. I've really come to look forward to reading about and rooting for both the Gallaghers and the DiRossi's. I hope that they all get their happily ever after. Highly recommended!

** I received an advanced copy of this book. I willingly chose to write this honest review. **