January Favorite Books

 Hi everyone! 

Time is already flying so fast, yesterday it was Christmas and today it's almost Valentine's Day. How??

Anyway, I got such a good start of the year, reading-wise. I read The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood on the first day of the year and it opened my appetite for Romance and RomCom books. I missed them and that feel good vibe! 

So while I already read like 20 books so far, here's some of my favorites:

The only Fantasy book I loved:

- Song of Silver, Flame Like Night which I can tell already it's going to be one of this year's hits and on many favorite lists. Superb, the 2023 Daughter of the Moon Goddess!

Now, when it comes to Romance: Hands down, my most favorite is Twisted Lies. I HAVE NO WORDS and I'm still recovering.

The entire Twisted series is mind-blowing and has that quality to get under your skin. You may think it's not that big of a deal while you read, but then you close the last book and wonder what just happened, what is this life. It lives with you long after still. And Lies was the best one of them all. It will live in my heart forever.

Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese and obviously, Ali Hazelwood's upcoming Love, Theoretically are perfection and must reads.(out Jun.13)

*don't ask me how I got an ARC of that one lol it's probably the first and last time I ever get a Berkley title, so I'll just say my prayers, count my blessings, squeal in delight and re-read until pub day. It's my favorite of hers and it will .blow .your.
mind. Adam has some serious competition. You are not ready. 💖

I also read some pretty awesome ARCs and I'm so grateful for getting them, I'm aware I'm not one of the popular kids in the bookstagram/blog-world anymore, but after all these years, I still get excited and love to spread the word about upcoming books. 

> Things I Wrote About by Kelsey Humphreys is one of the best second chance Romance books I have ever read (out Feb. 23)

> Planes, Trains, and All the Feels by Livy Hart - Grumy / Sunshine stuck on a roadtrip of sorts, with forced proximity and all the feels (out May 23)

Happy Vday everyone, I hope you have a lovely day and also get to read some steamy Romance books - I got you set if you read any of the books I mentioned. ;)

xoxo

Deea

Book Review: Miles and Miles of you by Jennider Bonds

 Hi everyone! 

Today I want to recommend you a quick, fun Romantic Comedy book, that is fun, fast paced, engaging and leaves you smiling at the end.

Miles and Miles of You

The Harts Book 1

Goodreads / My Instagram

4.5 stars

Tropes:

🌟 Rom-Com

🌟 Dual POV

🌟 Fast paced and hilarious

🌟 Boss - (ex)Assistant tropes

🌟The Wall of Winnipeg and Me (Mariana Zapata) vibes

🌟 Dedication: "𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒌 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒔."

This book was so much fun, I highly recommend it for a quick, feel good reading escape! 

It's the kind of story that leaves you with a silly smile on your face and in a good mood after you finish reading. 

Our heroine is sassy, smart, witty and the hero is the perfect sexy, swoony workaholic that is not very connected to the real life as he focuses on his startup company and has an assistent who manages everything else (even his personal life calendar).

So we have:

✔️one over-worked assistant who has had enough of her boss not taking her seriously or not realizing how much she has to deal with on the daily because of him (beside her crush on him obs). So when she's finally had enough and quits, she decides to go on a road trip and be a travel influencer. 

✔️A charming, workaholic grumpy (with a side of sunshine) clueless boss, who finally realizes his life is a mess without her coordinating everything and decides to follow her to win her back (to work for him - what were you thinking?🤫). She reluctantly allows him to tag along but she doesn't make it easy for him along the way. 🤭

So we have forced proximity, How To Lose a Guy in 10 days (or a boss, in this case) theatrics, slow burn, grovelling, roadtrip via sketchy places shenanigans, walls coming down, yummy "what are you wearing?" tension and spice. 

I breezed through this book in a couple of sittings, the dialogue, setting, adventures and emotions were so well done! 

I really loved the trip and what it represented too. It brought a lot of awareness and character development that were inspiring.

🌟Review copy provided by the publisher Entangled Publishing in exchange for my honest opinion.

Have a great week!

Xo

Deea

Book Review: The Fine Print by Lauren Asher

 Hi everyone!

How's your reading goal going so far?

I keep switching between Romance and Fantasy and I read multiple books at the same time, but I'm doing pretty good on my set goal for the year. If only I could stick to my planned TBR :))

And speaking of plans, here's a book I got a whim from the bookstore and ended up reading it right away, in 3 days tops. The Fine Print has been all over Instagram this year for Romance recs, so I had to see what was all the fuss about. And I was not disappointed! 

The Fine Print by Lauren Asher

- Dreamland Billionaires Book 1 - 

Goodreads / Amazon

My rating: 4.5 stars

I see now why this series is so popular. It's the perfect recipe for a Billionaire Romance and it's quite addictive!
Reading it was not part of my September plan. I honestly didn't go into it with high expectations either. Billionaire Romance books rarely work for me (they hit too close to home to my younger, stupider years lol - spoiler: it doesn't end like that IRL), but sometimes you just need a modern fairytale with a fair amount of banter, unrealistically good characters, humor and spice to brighten up your day. And that's pretty much what this book was.

Despite my reservations, I inhaled it in a couple of sittings. I LOVED the dual POV (groveling is just different when you see the struggle and thought process behind it haha), the grumpy/sunshine vibe...and actually the entire vibe of the story! It was perfectly balanced, I loved the dreamy setting, the banter, the spice, the romancing, the not-over-the-top drama, the work and office theme, the competition... And obviously the hero. *sigh* His grumpiness was a fun treat and his love and possessiveness by the end were toe-curling delicious. Sometimes it was a fine line between him and total azhole, but I read for fun not to be picky lol.

Zahra is one of my most favorite heroines ever - actually, she is the kind of girl I like to read about. She is the sunshine to the billionaire grump, but she is also smart, witty, independent, creative and has this aura that pulls you in. In Rowan's famous words, "What is it about this woman, and why can't she fall in line like everyone else? It's like she shits sprinkles and consumes rainbows for sustenance". 

And while most Billionaire / workspace Romance books have the same theme and feel, I loved the idea of a Disney-type of world, the cast of secondary characters, the background stories, the creativity and inspiration.

So totally recommended!

Memorable Quotes:

✒️-𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥*𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥.
- 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺?
- 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸.

***

- 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?

- 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘺.

***

𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴.(𝘡𝘢𝘩𝘳𝘢)

***
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘵𝘦.( 𝘙𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘯)

Book Review: Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score

Hi book friends! 

I finally caved and read this book that kept coming up as a recommendation from fellow book lovers and Instagrammers. I was a bit wary of the hype (heck, even the title on Amazon said "The TikTok Sensation" and those are rarely a win for me (sorry). But am I glad I decided to pick it up! 

Things We Never Got Over

(Knockemout #1) by Lucy Score

Goodreads / Amazon

🌟 4.5 stars 🌟

The writing style reminds me of Samantha Young, Mariana Zapata and Elena Armas. What they have in common, you may ask? 

- Grumpy/Sunshine Romance

- Dual POV

- Feisty Heroine

- Grumpy, bad boy, foul mouthed, bearded billionaire alpa hero (yumz!)

- Banter

- Slow burn

- Small town setting

- A great cast of supporting characters who like to meddle and add fun to the drama

So this book was quite the ride! It checks so many things we love in Romance books, I kinda understand the hype now. One of the most fun grumpy-sunshine couples ever! If you look up "grumpy" in the dictionary, I'm sure Knox's name will show up. Which made for some of the best one liners, monologues, interactions and banter!

I will admit I loved the first part of the book more than the second one, and it was a looong book. I devoured every word, dialogue, growls and grumpiness from the hero and I LOLed at the banter and theatrics (think Mariana Zapata).

The ending was a bit too stereotypical for my taste, but overall a great romance that shouldn't be missed! The fun, the caring, the possessiveness and jealousy, the spice, the growing... all swoon-worthy.

And while I loved the dynamic Knox and Naomi had, I also liked the family and friends connections, their meddling and hilarious comments, the way everyone had a role to play in Knox and Naomi's life and how the relationship with her nice developed. Knox is the definition of grumpy foul mouthed bad boy, but the way he softened, stood up and swept Naomi off her feet eventually was heartmelting.

Memorable quotes:

He grinned. Full-on, panty-melting, 100-percent-wattage grinned. I felt woozy and hot and like I didn’t know how any of my joints worked anymore. “Wow,” I whispered. 
“Wow what?” he asked. 
“Uh . . . You smiled. And it was just seriously wow. I had no idea you could look like that. I mean, you already look like . . .” I waved my hand awkwardly in front of him. “You know. But then you add the smile, and you look almost human.”

“You can’t spend your entire life trying to make everyone else happy, Naomi,” I warned her. 
“Why not?” She looked genuinely baffled. 
“Eventually you’re going to give a little too much and you won’t have enough left over for yourself.”

“I believe Knox Morgan just said he couldn’t satisfy me. If only I had a phone to immortalize that statement on social media.” 
“A. You’re getting a new phone immediately. It’s irresponsible to go without one when you have a kid to think about.”
 “Oh, shut up. It’s been a handful of days. Not months. I didn’t know I was going to have a kid to think about,” she said. 
“B. I could satisfy the hell out of you,” I plowed on, pulling out of the parking lot.
“But you’d just want more, and that doesn’t suit me.” 
“Because I’m an ‘uppity, needy pain in the ass,’ ” she said to the darkness out her window. I didn’t have a defense. I was an asshole. Plain and simple. And the sooner she realized that, the farther she’d stay from me. Metaphorically speaking.

“𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘹, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦, 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦. 𝘚𝘰 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.”
“𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯’ 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”

“𝘐 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶,” 𝘐 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. “𝘕𝘰𝘱𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘦𝘵. 𝘍𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬.”

Totally recommended! 

xo

~Deea

August Reads Recap

 Hi lovely book friends! 

Looks like denial is not working anymore, fall is here. I tried to hold on to the end-of-summer vibe as much as I could, but after a couple of days with cold, rain and fall releases everywhere, I needed to get on with the program. 

On the bright side, fall means end of the summer wedding season, more time to read books and perfect setting for those Fantasy books I love so much! 

Before we get on the September reading list, let's take a look at the books I read in August. I just read whatever I got in the mood for, without caring about genre, release date, TBR pile, ARCs list etc. It was fun and will try this approach more often! (not in September though lol I have a lot of backlist books to get through and so many new releases.  

- Book Lovers by Emily Henry - favorite!

- Just my Type by Falon Ballard (ARC, releases on my birthday in February next year) - favorite!

*these 2 books spoke to me like no others, I related to the heroines so much its like the books were written for (about me) 

- Azagoth (Demonica Underworld #1) - Larissa Ione (audiobook re-read) - just because I missed this world and a good old Paranormal Romance

- The Reluctant Bride and The Ruthless Groom by Monica Murphy - Dark Romance, despite the lower rating and my issues with each story, they were enjoyable and memorable, I read them in one sitting

- Shipped by Angie Hockman - a nice, easy summer read, but the characters and romance not spectacular

- Things we never got over by Lucy Score - an old school grumpy sunshine Romance, adored it!

- City of Thorns (The Demon Queen Trials) by C. N. Crawford (audiobook) - surprisingly good PNR, it reminds me a lot of Larissa Ione, Kim Harrison and Nalini Singh!

- Liar's Crown - by Abigail Owen (ARC) It was ok, pretty standard enemies to lovers NA Fantasy Romance, a bit too insta love-ish, more focused on the Romance than the world building.

Have you read any of these books?

xo

~ Deea

Book Review: The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas

 Hi everyone! 

Elena Armas is slowly becoming one of my all times favorite Romance authors and this is my reminder to pre-order her second book ASAP! You will not be sorry, I promise! 

The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas

*Companion to The Spanish Love Deception

Release date: September 6th 2022 

Goodreads / Amazon

5+ stars 💫

I have no words to express how much I loved this book! OMG.

If I said The Spanish Love Deception was, in one word, delicious, this one was delicious with extra topping.

YOU ARE NOT READY FOR THIS.

You are not ready for Lucas.

You are not ready for his POV.

You are not ready for Lucas AND Aaron on the same page.

You are not ready for Lucas. (Yes, I had to repeat that)

You are not ready for the most maddening slow burn in the history of slow burns.

You are not ready for the hugs.

For the Cronuts. The cooking. The "dates". The sexual tension. The banter.

The smiles.

For the vulnerability and emotion.

The intensity. The pet names.

The soundtrack.

For the LOL or spicey moments not appropriate for reading in public.

For the forced proximity trope. (!!!)

For ALL the tropes.

At least, I wasn't ready. And my expectations were pretty high considering, you know, the first book AND Aaron, but no - Lucas just kept dazzling me over and over. He is the sweetest most charming hero ever.

Rosie is a bit clumsy and awkward in the beginning lol (nobody blames her!), but the two of them together were hilarious.

Just... Top notch.

And steamy. And comforting. And inspiring, seeing as they struggle with the shaky state of their life and relationship.

I don't know how Elena makes every thought, feeling, look, emotion, action seem so realistic and relatable, but she does.

Also, I will never look at dolce de leche the same way again.

So...*whispers dramatically* I thought it was better than Spanish. And before you yell in outrage, that's just my opinion, because things hit differently this time. It may or my not have something to do with my weakness for Spain and Spanish people in general.

So yeah. Drop everything and read it the second you get your hands on it. I promise, you will not regret it.

Memorable quotes:

“Lina me va a cortar las pelotas.”

"That's my girl".

“Buenos días, preciosa. ”

“If we weren’t friends,” I told her, voice like gravel. “Good friends like we are, best friends”—I watched her eyelids flutter shut—“I would take you somewhere dark and rip your clothes off with my teeth without caring to have a good reason. Just so I could see you, have you to myself.”

“If you want anything from me, you only have to ask.” Lucas’s forehead came to rest against mine, his breath now leaving him shakily. “Don’t you see that I’ll break my back to provide anything you could possibly need? Have I not made myself obvious?”

He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “This is not a one-way street, Rosie. You look after me, and I look after you. We take care of each other. We’re a team.”

*eARC provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review, THANK YOU SO MUCH! <3