Catherine

It's an amazing read with a level of depth and detail rarely found in a full series, let alone a book. There's a lot of detail at the start but by page 300 it's flowing and the storyline is epic. Sarah J Maas has such an ability to add layers and depth and detail that you get caught up and carried along. The last 100 pages had me in tears whilst also realising I will never vacuum in the same way every again.

Marley's 38 and suddenly back in Culpepper, right back in her parents house and her old bedroom. Having been dumped and fired in quick succession things aren't going great. She'd left Culpepper at 18 with no intention of going back. Now her old high school nemesis (and the reason she's banned from homecomings) is living next door with Marley's ex and a swan.

When it seems like it can't get worse, her mum manages to get her a job covering for the sports coach (PE Teacher) which includes coaching the girls sports team over the summer. They're a band of misfits who haven't won so much as a coin toss, with a rough history. Marley eventually finds out their old coach dropped dead at a game and they need some TLC. But before she gets to that point she tries to kill them with drills in the summer heat. Mostly she nearly kills herself. Throwing up from heat stroke she's rescued by Jake Weston, boys running coach and history teacher. Ex-bad boy, tattooed and fit (of course). She and Jake had a moment under the bleachers a lifetime ago and whatever rumour gets started they're brought into the principals office and made to sign a relationship contract. So they agree to fake-date, Jake will teach Marley (‘Mars') how to teach and connect with the girls, Marley will teach Jake how to date and act in a long-term relationship (he's decided he wants to settle down).
I love Lucy Score books, I love small town romances, this ticked all my boxes. Jake was fine but to be honest the rags to riches story of the girls football team gave me all the feels. I think that was the real highlight of the book.

This was my favourite of the series. Cassidy Tucker is the deputy sheriff and has been in love with Bowie Bodine her whole life. The summer she was 19 she thought they'd finally get together and get their happily ever after but Bowie told her he didn't think of her that way (after punching a summer-timer who was getting too frisky and having words with her dad the sheriff). I know the missing person case progressed but honestly I wasn't focused on that, I was too busy cheering Cassidy and Bowie on.

I like the idea of a Renaissance Faire, it's something different and I love that it was based on the author's own experiences.

There was no subtlety in this book, it was laid on thick in the first 50 pages so you knew what was coming; the next 250 pages just confirmed it. The pirate costume definitely helped but it felt like there were a few gaps in Emily and Simon's relationship and I couldn't follow how they got from glaring at each other to being in a relationship over a matter of weeks with so few interactions.

100% Brilliant

I'd read some of the reviews and hesitated buying this book. I loved The Hating Game, and didn't want to be disappointed. I wasn't. It's a great read. The main character is a little darker and edgier than Lucy, and Tom isn't quite Josh but it's a brilliant book, well written and I devoured it in an evening. For anyone on the fence, please try it. And all I can hope is that Sally Thorne is working on her third book and there won't be as long a wait as there was for this one.

If you want a good vampire novel, I'd recommend C. Harris's True Blood series first.

I love Throne of Glass and ACOTAR. I really liked the ending of House of Earth and Blood. I did not get this book at all. I really wanted to love this book, I've read ACOTAR and CC1 in the last few months building up to CC3's release, but I couldn't find the magic in this one that I've found and loved in the others.

I'm sure it's setting up for Book 3, but that's all it felt it did. Everything happened in the last 40 pages. The first 500 pages were tracking a kid who could have changed the world (but actually couldn't) and Bryce's sleight of hand with her mum was cleverly done but just left me feeling I'd missed out on a good bit. It's nice to see Ruhn get a story line but these characters don't feel like Manon or Dorian or Cassian. I'm not as bought into them as I have been with the other series.

I wanted to like it, I might come back after reading book 3 (because I will read it) with a completely different take but as a standalone book it felt about 400 pages too long.

Leah Mae Larkin heads back to Bootleg Springs after a disastrous run on a reality tv show. As a model she was looking for her big break, but her agent/boyfriend got her onto the tv show and she's being portrayed as a home-wrecker. Bootleggers don't believe that though, especially not Jameson Bodine; the resident artist (metal work) and Leah Mae's best friend when she was a child growing up here.

It's a good story and follows on with the over-arching mystery of what happened to Callie.

It's one of my goals to read all of Lucy Score's books. They don't disappoint. Scarlett is the youngest Bodine sibling, the only girl and the one who found her dad dead in his bed a few weeks ago following a lifetime of drinking. Devlin is hiding out in his gran's house following his separation from his wife (she cheated) and looking to rebuild his political career when the dust settles (he punched the guy she was cheating with). Devlin's trying to enjoy the peaceful rural West Virginian town of Bootleg Springs but his neighbour's having a party. He goes over to complain and finds out his neighbour is Scarlett. He didn't stand a chance. Scarlett worked with her daddy and so is the town handywoman and starts to fix up Devlin's house whilst his gran and her partner are on holidays.
In addition to falling for her neighbour the feisty Scarlett has also been dropped in it by her 3 older brothers to clear out their dad's house. Their mum died in a car accident years ago. Whilst clearing out his bedroom she finds the red cardigan of Callie who went missing 12 years ago. Some people think she ran away, others think she's dead. Small towns love gossip.
This was close to perfect - small town America, murder mystery that spans the series, and all the Bodine brothers.

Not Ms Martin's greatest work

I've really enjoyed some of her other books, and there were parts in this novel that made me smile and laugh, but I don't think I've cringed so much during one book before. Details about relationships were painful and very forthcoming. Think I'll reread One Hundred Proposals instead.

Sadly the worst in the series by a mile. Painful and pointless, the story's mostly based in a court room with very little from Boxer throughout. Thoroughly disappointed.

I love this book. It's been probably 2 years since I've last read it so wasn't sure how it would compare given everything I've read lately. It's sweet, a little steamy and just ticks all the boxes. I love it, I still love it, and I'm already looking forward to the next re-read.

Unputdownable

...will hopefully stay there

Sadly this book was genuinely painful. It had promise but failed in execution. The two female characters, Katie and Victoria are fine - sometimes even likeable - but the fact that the male lead was constantly referred to as Paul Taylor (and never just Paul) got very annoying, very quickly. The book was well paced until the end, then just seemed to wrap up over a few pages.

Not for me, I enjoy YA, I enjoy time-travelling fantasy and I hate bailing on a book but I just couldn't finish it. Really disappointing given the premise.

I loved the first book, I told everyone I knew to read it because it was so good. The second book was great, the third book was good and this... I'm really sorry this is how it ends.

In the earlier books they went in all kick-ass, assuming they'd win. This book was just them expecting to die and telling each other how much they love each other (repeatedly). There was no sass or banter. There was a scene involving the throne room (too much like Iron Flame), there was a cabin in the snow filled woods (too much like ACOTAR). Just when I thought the end was near there was another Trial. It was all about forgiveness and not carrying anger with you, and whilst that's very noble that's not who the characters were through the first three books, and I liked them for that reason. They were real and hurt and wanted revenge. This was not revenge.

For something that started with grit it was too neatly packaged up at the end with no great sacrifice. I get why it had to be this way, but I'm sorry it was.

It's really good, actually, it's better than I was expecting.

I've never read a book before where the third act break up made sense, at least not that I can recall off the top of my head.

I really enjoyed the first book and have waited a year to get my hands on this one. Pity, it was disappointing.

It's got middle book filler almost as bad as Crescent City (I'm still sore about those first 500 pages...). It's just not getting anywhere fast. The characters are great but the plot jumps and never really gets anywhere. There's lots of themes that other books have done in recent years (Shadow Daddies, Dragons) that don't get the same development here. Instead of taking one theme and running with it, it feels like it's got all of them going at once so nothing gets fully developed.

It's obviously very tongue in cheek and there's some cracking one liners. Evie's character develops and I can't picture The Villian as anyone other than The Darkling from Shadow and Bone. So there's lots of positives. I just had to read the book quickly because I knew if I set it down I'd struggle to go back to it. For a story that's an “office” setting with adults the romance has strong YA vibes that just gets frustrating. Will I read book 3? Probably, I'd like to see how it all ends. Would I recommend book 2? Mmmm, I think a good synopsis would work.

This made me cry, it's all of what - 60 pages? - and it had me in tears. Definitely reading more Abby Jimenez, even if I wasn't sold on the last novel I read. Holly is a carer who's looking after her gran in her final days. Someone leaves a valentine's day card on her windscreen and Holly discovers she has a mysterious knight in shining armour.

John's helping his brother out, he's the maintenance guy in another building but keeps leaving notes on Holly's car and doing good deeds to help her out. They meet once but don't realise who the other person is until Holly has a problem with her fridge in her own building.

There was a lot of emotion in a short space of book and anything that can make me feel so deeply for so few words deserves the credit.

This... wasn't the worst thing I'd read but only because I'd read earlier books in this series. It would have made a great 2000's film but otherwise it was horribly predictable. Princess Ilaria swaps with her assistant to go wandering around without being recognised. Being a royal, so therefore an idiot, she takes painkillers that make her drowsy and passes out in a public space. Somebody took her home but turns out he's a photographer. But wait! He's actually not! He's the undercover heir of a Scottish kingdom! Who ever could have guessed it? They have a great day walking around, he realises who she is and bails cause he wants his freedom. They're both sad then get back together.

I was hoping for great things, after The Dead Romantics I was so geared up to read this book and it fell short. I know it was short, I know it's a cutsey-theme valentines series but it was a little sparse and I just didn't get it. Audrey Love is the girl before the girl - her ex's all go on to find the one after dating her. She's Best Man at her best friend Rhett's wedding, the Maid of Honour is Theo who she hates. Rhett goes missing on the day of, Audrey thinks she kissed him the night before and now he's run off. But she was blinding drunk so can't be sure. Theo drags her drunk ass round the town trying to find Rhett until they realise Rhett and his bride have gone off and eloped together and Audrey actually kissed Theo. Wasn't feeling it but it was only 43 pages.

Rosie and her sister Bree go to the spa for a day to celebrate Bree's promotion. Rosie gets stuck in a sensory deprevation chamber that hasn't been set up properly and begins to panic. Leo is part of the fire crew called to rescue her and he sits with Rosie chatting to her to keep her calm as they work to figure out how to free her. It's a sweet story and it's Sally Thorne - there's more feels in 40 pages than some 300 page books.

An earthquake ruins Daisy's Valentine's plans and leaves her trapped in her favourite bakery with the owner who seems to hate her.

This just felt a little disjointed and I struggled to follow how it wound up where it did. The characters don't seem to gel which is a pity as the premise is good.

I don't normally read short stories but this series has all my favourite authors.

An accidental email on Valentine's Day 2014 becomes a yearly tradition between Terra and Callum. As they open up and their friendship develops so do their feelings.

I thought this was a perfectly crafted short story that managed to pack so much into 100 pages.

I really like Fangirl Down, but was disappointed by this book. There are elements that are good but others that just really missed for me.

Like Tallulah's whole backstory, still trying to get my head around it. It got really dark, really fast then kinda got glossed over from there. She promised her sister it wouldn't stop her, but her whole family went back to Turkey and haven't visited in 4 years? She hasn't spoken to them on the phone but only sent post cards? For 4 years??

It was a slow start, an ok middle and a rough end. There was a lot of baggage to get neatly parcelled up and it feels like it should have been a longer, darker novel to properly deal with the backstory. I didn't buy it, some of the lines made me physically cringe towards the end and it felt like Tallulah gave up on a lot of her hopes and ambitions for something physical.