A second chance/marriage in trouble situation where the parties have been split up for years after an infidelity situation does not seem like it shoulA second chance/marriage in trouble situation where the parties have been split up for years after an infidelity situation does not seem like it should be my thing probably, but this book was VERY my thing. I really loved the emotional work Cate C. Wells did here. It was brilliant....more
I love CCJ's writing, always, and I love this trope. I feel like there were a lot of characters packed into this novella though and it read like a conI love CCJ's writing, always, and I love this trope. I feel like there were a lot of characters packed into this novella though and it read like a continuation of something as opposed to being entirely independent. I still enjoyed it immensely, but I would have liked to have more of a footing with who everyone was and more about Kensa and Denver.
I loved this novella. It has very strong "Tolerate It" vibes and it's really, really well done. I loved this novella. It has very strong "Tolerate It" vibes and it's really, really well done. ...more
This relationship in trouble romance was pretty lovely, but there were a couple things about the pacing that kept it from being a full five stars fromThis relationship in trouble romance was pretty lovely, but there were a couple things about the pacing that kept it from being a full five stars from me. ...more
How to Catch a Queen is, as always, a really well-written book with several passages that had me stopping to highlight them. It also has the really fuHow to Catch a Queen is, as always, a really well-written book with several passages that had me stopping to highlight them. It also has the really funny, banter-filled text message threads between various Royals and Royal-adjacents (Portia, light of my life!!!) that I've so loved from A Duke by Default and A Prince on Paper. Sanyu and Shanti are really, really well drawn characters whose internal motivations make so much sense and the mental health representation of both the grief, anxiety, and trauma informed patterns Sanyu has are exquisite. The introduction of one of the love interests for the next book was impeccable and I cannot wait to have her story. And, of course, Alyssa Cole's world-building is so well done, I think I hate this Royal Advisor nearly as much as I dislike some of the elected politicians in the real world. She has created such a rich history for her made up country that I wound up feeling like my thoughts and concerns for the citizens of Njaza whose voices weren't being heard overshadowed the relationship development between Sanyu and Shanti.
It is easy to see how reading this book in the time and place that I did (November 2020, in the United States) may have impacted my reading of a King who doesn't really know how to lead and keeps letting other people tell him what to do. And, honestly, as much as I liked Sanyu, as much as I think all of his decisions and thought processes made sense given his backstory and anxiety, he is not a good king at the start of this book. Which is, I guess, where Shanti steps in, because Shanti has been training to be a Queen basically her entire life. But Shanti is treated horribly by everyone in this dang palace except for one guard who deserves her own HEA for the record. And it's probably unfair of me, but not only did I want Sanyu to do more within the pages of the book to stand up for his people and to listen to his people, with guidance from Shanti, I also wanted Sanyu to kick out his advisers for being horrifically mean to Shanti.
I wound up feeling like Shanti and Sanyu really do have great teamwork and they'll probably wind up being good and decent rulers for Njaza, but when the country is on the brink of collapse, it's worrisome to see so much progress still needing to be made and (view spoiler)[forgiving the man who kept the country there AND treated your wife like poop. (hide spoiler)] Again, reading this in November 2020 means that I wasn't able to read this with the ability to put on political blinders and just read for fun. And, honestly, I don't think it's written for you to be able to do that because there is so much on the page about politics for Njaza. So a lot of these feelings are probably from resentments in real life, but they bled over onto the page so I was left feeling dissatisfied with the book as a romance. Tbh, Shanti deserves better and her HEA needed to include more groveling from basically everyone. That said, this is a really well-written book that I think a lot of people will really love.
Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the opportunity to read and review this book pre-publication!...more
I really love Beharrie's writing. I think she does such a fantastic job of crafting emotions so perfectly. This marriage in trouble romance tackles a I really love Beharrie's writing. I think she does such a fantastic job of crafting emotions so perfectly. This marriage in trouble romance tackles a lot of really heavy topics so the emotions were critical to the book working, which it absolutely does.
CW: grief, parental death, death of a child (premature infant), foster care ...more
My first five star read of 2021! I knew this book was likely to really work for me because (a) I love the way Liese writes her romances, (b) marriage My first five star read of 2021! I knew this book was likely to really work for me because (a) I love the way Liese writes her romances, (b) marriage in trouble appears to be my favorite trope still, and (c) Liese really does such a brilliant job with mental health and inclusively writing her romance to incorporate neuro diversity. This book was absolutely brilliantly done, in my opinion, from the anxiety rep to the marriage counseling to the overall emotionality of it. It also could not have come at a more serendipitous time given that some themes in this book echo Untamed by Glennon Doyle and Burnout by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski and the importance of protecting your joy and what makes you, you. Anyway, enough rambling about how much I loved this and let me actually attempt to review it for you.
Ever After Always is, as I said, a marriage in trouble romance between Freya and Aiden who have been married for nearly 10 years. When they decided to start trying to have a child, Aiden's anxiety related to money due to growing up in poverty really spiraled and he found himself withdrawing from Freya, even though that's not what he wanted. When Freya kicks him out, Aiden goes to Washington, but comes home only about a week later. The two agree to try marriage counseling, the Bergman brothers intervene, and they resolve to pretend to be happy on a family vacation to celebrate Freya's parents anniversary.
At no point in this book is there a magic solution presented, which I appreciate. There is no, if Freya just loves Aiden enough and in the right way, his anxiety will go away. There are steps forward and steps backward. It is remarkably well done, in my opinion, and never, ever devalues the work that it takes to have a successful marriage. I also think that it did such a good and respectful job of discussing how there is trauma from growing up with food insecurity and in poverty. And! This book discusses sexual difficulties in men! I feel like that's representation we so rarely see in general, but especially not in romance and I thought it was well done as well.
The Bergman Brothers are, as usual, such a delight to read about. They are, as always, entirely over the top, but in a way that I really appreciate. There is one scene that had me asking wtf is happening, but even with that scene, I think it still was absolutely remarkable. I really love the large family dynamics at play here and I'm thrilled we still have several Bergman siblings to go.
Thank you to Netgalley for the review copy! I really loved this one so I'm especially grateful for the opportunity to read it early. ...more
Please explain why relationship in trouble is suddenly my favorite trope?? Anyway, this is like a historical You Deserve Each Other so I loved it 4.5
Please explain why relationship in trouble is suddenly my favorite trope?? Anyway, this is like a historical You Deserve Each Other so I loved it so, so much. My only complaint is that I think it needed one less prank type thing. The back and forth eventually started to get tiring, but then the end made up for it. So, a fantastic debut and I'm really looking forward to the next book!
Also, need to figure out who to beg to make sure we get Emily and Sophie's stories too because I need them!...more
This was my first Therese Beharrie, but it definitely will not be my last. I don't know that I've ever read a book with quite this mashup of tropes, wThis was my first Therese Beharrie, but it definitely will not be my last. I don't know that I've ever read a book with quite this mashup of tropes, which worked because we got to see, with a non-linear timeline, our main couple progress through so many stages of their relationship. It's difficult to review this book though because I don't want to spoil literally anything because seeing how things unfold was really, really magnificent. Kate Clayborn tweeted about this book actually, so go find her thoughts if you want someone to articulate well how skillfully Beharrie weaves this book together.
So what I am going to talk about is the feelings this book gives me. Second chance romance is a trope I really struggle with for multiple reasons, usually centered around forgiveness of the person who wronged the other. This book left me no room to not feel so deeply empathetic with Zoey, to not fully understand her decision to leave Sawyer, while also letting me feel the sense of betrayal Sawyer felt in the being left. These two beautiful characters love each other so much and you can feel that and you can see it. There's a deep sense of loss that both of them feel because they haven't been part of one another's lives for a couple of years. In other words, what I'm telling you is that if you want to feel all the things, pick up THIS book.
I will say that I think I would have loved this even more if I had read the first two books in the series first, but it did read just fine as a standalone.
Thanks to Netgalley and the Carina Press for the opportunity to read this beautiful book early! Now to go buy the first two books in the series... ...more
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