The Summary

Oraya, the Nightborn vampire king's adopted human daughter, found her place in a hostile environment. Entering the Kejari, a fabled competition hosted by the deity of death herself, is her only chance to transform into something other than prey.

The Summary

Bee Königswasser abides by a straightforward rule: What would Marie Curie do? She compares herself as an avenging, purple-haired Jedi who restores harmony to the mansplained cosmos. After years of surviving on the scraps of academia, Marie would agree without hesitation if NASA offered her the opportunity to manage a neuroengineering project. It would be a literal realization of her dreams. Duh. However, Levi Ward and the father of modern physics never had to share the lead.

Levi is certainly handsome in the tall, dark, and piercing-eyes sense. And indeed, when she unwittingly became the damsel in distress on her first day in the lab, he caught her in his tightly corded arms like a hero from a romantic story. Levi, meanwhile, was very clear about how he felt about Bee when they were both in graduate school; archenemies are best used in their own far-off universes.

Currently, Bee's tools are gone, the staff isn't paying attention to her, and her career is in a bit of a dilemma. Bee might swear she can see Levi melting into an ally, supporting her acts, seconding her ideas, and devouring her with those eyes. Perhaps it's just her occipital cortex playing tricks on her. All of her neurons are firing due to the possibilities. But there is only one question that matters when it's time to act and put her heart on the line: What will Bee Königswasser do?

My Review

First of all, I've always enjoyed The Love Hypothesis, and I've finally had to decide to read it now that our book club has selected it as one of the choices. This book has been on my want list for a while, so here it is.

Many people have complained about Ali Hazelwood's inability to write outside of a certain genre of novel, and I can understand why. Although we once again share the same trait and the fundamentals of the connection are very similar, there are still enough differences to emphasize the appeal of each attractive quality.

From the tough attitudes of the major protagonists to their in-depth understanding of engineering and neurology. I adored both Bee's character and her relationship with Levi. I enjoyed how many of the couple's misunderstandings were cleared up in the book much sooner than they usually are. Because you typically spend a lot of time trying to get characters to really talk to one another, it can be annoying. I didn't really encounter that here. It seems to be just enough to raise the stakes without getting too intense.

I'm utterly captivated by Ali Hazelwood's writing, which combines humor and sarcasm. The supporting cast and the storyline were also really excellent. Really to my taste, the pace was always fair and direct. I should also mention how impressed I was with the science throughout. I also feel like I'm receiving literature, lol.

Overall, it was humorous and delightful to read the book! If you're the kind of reader who dislikes books that share a lot of traits with earlier ones, I'm not sure, but I believe it's best not to pick up the book.

However, as I personally don't mind it at the time, go ahead if you are good with it:)

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.

The Summary

Maybell Parish has always been a romantic at heart and a dreamer. But avoiding the disappointments of real life has long been preferable than live in her own fantasy world. So Maybell seizes the chance to start again when her Great-Aunt Violet leaves her a gorgeous home in the Smokies.

However, it appears that her problems have only just began when she arrives. She must share everything with Wesley Koehler, the groundskeeper who is as grumpy as he is attractive, and it turns out that he has a totally different vision for the future of the property. Not only is the mansion falling apart around her, but she isn't the only inheritor.

It will be more difficult to persuade the reclusive Wesley to compromise and quit avoiding her than it will be to fulfill the other dying desires. Great-Aunt Violet was abandoned. But when the two gradually begin to let their guard down and Maybell finds something unexpectedly sweet beneath Wesley's scowls, they may discover that sometimes taking the smallest risks outside of one's comfort zone can have the biggest payoffs.

My Review

It was very challenging to finish this book! Simply put, this book is too lovely to pass up. Although I admire the tale You Deserve Each Other, I think this one to be superior.

I felt understood by the wonderful anxiety representation as well. I was very happy to find this on the page because I frequently get social anxiety. Maybell and Wesley, who were daydreamers and suffered from social anxiety, respectively, struck a chord with us.

Interacting with the characters was a lot of fun. It was so easy for me to identify with them. I enjoyed reading about Maybell. Maybell was absolutely kind, friendly, and generous. She only wanted to be noticed, loved, and respected. While Wesley has a sweet teddy bear hidden beneath his tough exterior. The most romantic thing I've ever read was watching as he gently let Maybell inside.

They were so gorgeous that I started crying. They both exhibited such a strong capacity for comprehension and empathy. These characters really do fit together like a glove. I had a lot of support for them.

Her writing has a compelling charm to it. It is successful in causing you to exhale, laugh out loud, and flutter in your backside. The language was so humorous and enjoyable to read. The main character's uninhibited talking makes me giggle nonstop. The humor juggles being absurdly funny and being clearly relatable.

Throughout the entire book, I felt the most great. The praise I have for this book just seems insufficient!

If you like romantic comedies that make you swoon, Twice Shy is the book for you.

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.

The Summary

In fact, June Merriweather is trying to escape her own life. Her parents are dishonest, her sibling is deceased, and her college major is a farce. June is in serious need of reinventing herself, aside from her best buddy Matt. And a smart place to start is with a one-way flight from Cincinnati to the Scottish Highlands.

June starts over with a backpack, an urn, and a secret. She secures employment at a café and locates housing at a charming inn with an eccentric group of roommates. The inn's annoyingly astute (and attractive) proprietor, Lennox, is the only issue. He has misgivings about June. After all, unless someone is fleeing something, nobody comes to Scotland in the winter. June's new world is thrilling and just one detour away from disaster from a shaky beginning to blazing temptation.

June struggles to envision where her redesigned life is going because both her past and her future are fighting for her attention. And it's only the beginning when she starts to fall in love with someone she least expected.

My Review

I honestly don't know where to begin, so I'll just say that it took me a while to finish this.

After her brother passes suddenly, June leaves her friends, family, and university life behind and flees to Scotland with his ashes. Once in Scotland, she finds a job and a place to stay. But she didn't expect to fall in love.

This novel does a good job of examining June's feelings toward her brother and the cover-up around his heroin addiction/overdose. In my opinion, the story did a good job of balancing representation of a new family, romance, and mental health/addiction issues.

She was, however, portrayed in the book's beginning chapters as a likeable, reticent lady who merely want to escape her situation and the traumatic grief of losing a sibling. The character's past, however, irked me since it felt inconsistent with how she was narrating the story. She is portrayed as a hard-partying sorority girl, but the narrator has a completely different impression. Because of June's repeated impulsive and emotional outbursts in the book, I found myself truly loathing her.

Other characters weren't any better. They had underdeveloped backstories, were self-centered, and ready to judge others. Without taking them into account, they made judgments for others based on what they believed to be in their best interests.

What piqued my attention in the book and compelled me to keep reading was the Scottish setting. When she described the weather, homes, and decorations, the ambiance was amazing.

The romance hardly passes muster. Fortunately, as the book progresses, they do get closer and both of their earlier actions noticeably change.

It was easy to read. Simply said, the book didn't quite live up to my expectations for it. The locations and personalities may have needed some care, and it might have used some polishing. This book was so close to being something I would have enjoyed, but it didn't quite live up to my hopes.

In general, I struggled a lot with the characters, and there were some pretty major flaws, but I would definitely read another book by this author because this one had some good base.

I thank Netgalley and Skyscape providing an ARC in exchange for a honestly review.

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.