Title: How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates
Author: Shailee Thompson
Publisher: Gallery Books
Genre: Slasher Rom-com
Pages: 368
My Rating:

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How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates

Review

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Title: Big Bad Wolf
Author: Laurie Gilmore
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 384
My Rating:

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Big Bad Wolf

Ruby lives with her sister, Lena, in Maple Hollow. One night, on her way home, she is almost attacked by a wolf. But another wolf saves her life and gets hurt in the fight. Ruby decides to help the injured wolf.

The next day, the wolf is gone, but suddenly, Rafe appears. That’s how Ruby finds out that Rafe is a werewolf. Rafe feels the need to protect Ruby because he believes this won’t be the last attack.

Other wolves are after Lena because she has visions. But Lena’s visions are getting worse, and they are starting to affect her entire life. They need to find help or at least some answers so Lena isn’t exhausted all the time.

Review

I was so excited to read this book. I’m a big fan of the whole Dream Harbor book series by Laurie Gilmore, so I thought this was a completely new book series. But that’s not the case. This book was actually published before under a different title and author name. Just a little warning in case you want to read this book too. Luckily for me, I had never read the original.

The story started off somewhat interesting. Ruby finds out that Rafe is a werewolf, but she’s still interested in him. They have a connection, and I was curious to see where their relationship would go. Lena also has visions, but they’re getting worse. They have to help her and somehow make it easier for Lena to control these visions.

The first half of the book was sort of promising. But then we never got any answers about Lena’s visions or how to fix them. Nope, because the book ended with a major cliffhanger.

At the same time, I really didn’t like Rafe because he was annoying. One moment he was kissing Ruby, and then the next moment, he had to stay away from her because he wasn’t good enough for her. He was too dangerous. I once met a guy who was exactly like this, and it was exhausting. So, every time this happens in books, I get annoyed. I honestly couldn’t care less about Rafe.

Ruby was okay. At first, I was waiting for the Little Red Riding Hood reference. The cover makes it pretty clear that the story is somehow based on the fairy tale. Eventually, she started wearing this red cloak, so there it was.

Lena was another character, and she’s an adult, but somehow she needed a babysitter. I found that a little strange. I understand that she needed someone to take care of her, but calling that person a babysitter felt a bit weird to me.

Overall, I was clearly disappointed. It felt like nothing actually happened in this book. We never got any answers about Lena, and instead, we got a cliffhanger. It feels like this book was just an introduction to the story, but in this case, it was a 400-page introduction, which is crazy.

I wasn’t a fan, and I’m not even sure if I want to read the next book.

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Title: A Witch in Notting Hill
Author: Alexandra Paige
Publisher: Avon a
Genre: Romance
Pages: 352
My Rating:

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A Witch in Notting Hill

Review

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, so I went in pretty blind. The title sounded very fun, and the cover had so many fall vibes, which was exactly what I was looking for.

Honestly, I had a lot of fun reading this book. Willow is a famous actress, but she’s also a witch, and she accidentally turns her manager into a cat. So, Willow takes a break from acting and everything else to fix her mistake. In London, she meets Oliver, the owner of an occult bookstore. He doesn’t believe in witchy things at all, but he can’t deny that strange things seem to happen whenever Willow is around.

I liked all of the characters, not just Willow and Oliver. Oliver’s best friends were great too, and they loved helping Willow reverse the spell. There was a lot of chemistry between the two main characters, and it was honestly kind of cute. They spend a lot of time together, and I loved watching their relationship develop. She’s a witch, he’s a non-believer, and he’s a little grumpy. Of course, I was rooting for them to get together, but I was also rooting for Willow to successfully reverse the spell.

This story had the perfect witchy and fall vibes, and I loved it. These are exactly the kind of books I like: just a cute romance novel with cozy vibes. It was such a fun read. And it definitely reminded me of the movie Notting Hill. It has some of the same elements—she’s famous, he owns a bookstore, and they fall in love—but this book adds some extra witchy vibes to the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was charming, cozy, and such a fun romance read. It’s the perfect book to read this fall if you also love witchy vibes. I enjoyed it so much that it kind of made me wish I were a witch too. I mean, it sounds pretty cool if you can use spells to fix anything!

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Title: Barbie: Dreamscape
Author: Alex Aster
Publisher: Mattel Press
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 304
My Rating:

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Barbie Dreamscape

Barbie lives in Heartland and is basically the perfect student. During graduation, you get to hear your fate, meaning you find out what kind of job or future you’re going to have. But when it’s Barbie’s turn, nothing happens. She is fateless.

Of course, she isn’t happy about this. She is the only one without a job or a clear future. So, she decides to find the Fates and maybe convince them to change their minds. She goes on a long, crazy, fun, and sometimes dangerous adventure. Along the way, she slowly discovers more and more about her mom and, ultimately, herself.

Review

I saw this book suddenly everywhere on social media, and it piqued my interest. I mean, the cover is absolutely stunning, and I thought I would make my inner child happy and read this book. I had absolutely no idea what to expect.

Honestly, I didn’t hate the story. I mean, it’s not the best story I’ve ever read. It’s just okay, but I still had a lot of fun reading it. My inner child was definitely happy while reading this book. I played with a lot of Barbies growing up, so reading about Barbie was pretty cool.

After Barbie finds out that she is fateless, she goes through a lot and decides to go on an adventure. She has to get to Dreamland, but to get there, she has to travel through several other lands first. And they are all crazy, fun, and interesting. A lot of interesting things happen along the way.

Barbie doesn’t have a lot of personality at first, since she basically only wears pink because her mother loved the color. But I think this adventure was really good for her. She finally gets to know herself and discovers the truth about her mom and herself.

I also thought there were a couple of beautiful messages in this book, such as there is light in the darkness and you are never too old to play. But my favorite one was: rock bottom is a pretty solid place to start a new life. It shows that life isn’t perfect, but just because you’re feeling bad right now doesn’t mean it has to stay that way forever.

But I also want to say that, even though this book was marketed as Young Adult, I would say it’s more of a book written for younger teens. The writing style wasn’t my favorite. It didn’t bother me that much, but it might be a dealbreaker for you.

Overall, I still enjoyed reading this book. I thought it was a fun and magical read, and I flew through it pretty quickly.

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Title: Autumn at the Cat Café
Author: Kathleen Fuller
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: Romance
Pages: 304
My Rating:

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Autumn at the Cat Café

Via Dalton is the proud owner of a cat café in Pecan Corner. Her neighbor, Earl Brewster, owns Second Chapter Books, and the two of them are close. When Earl passes away, Via expects to inherit the bookstore because Earl had promised it to her. Unfortunately, he forgot to update his will before his death.

Instead, the bookstore goes to his nephew, Leo, a wealthy hedge fund manager from LA. Leo has no intention of keeping the store. He wants to sell it and move on with his life. He didn’t even know Earl very well.

But there’s a catch. The will has a few stipulations, and Leo has to stay in Pecan Corner for 30 days before he can receive his inheritance. Slowly, he starts to grow more fond of the charming little town, and of his neighbor, Via.

Review

It’s September, and the weather literally said it’s time for fall. So, obviously, I got into the fall vibes, and this book was screaming at me. I mean, I love cats, so a book about a cat café? I’m sold. I’m a very simple woman in that sense.

And you can bet that I was immediately romanticizing the small-town vibes and the idea of owning a cat café and a bookstore. This was the perfect book to start the fall season with. It literally has everything I wanted: romance, cats, lots of chemistry, small-town vibes, and fall vibes. It was honestly perfection.

The main characters, Via and Leo, were extremely likable. I loved them together. The chemistry between the two of them was off the charts. Sure, they’ve had terrible relationships in the past, their lives aren’t perfect, and they make mistakes, but who doesn’t? The romance (and the heartbreak) made me feel so many things. I loved it.

And Via’s cat, Sir Meow, is just adorable. He immediately falls in love with Leo, which was absolutely adorable. The other cats also play their part, and it honestly melted my heart. It was so cute.

The story never got boring. There were constantly sparks between the two of them. As you can tell, I fell in love with this book and all of the characters. Via has a fall bucket list, which gave the book the perfect fall vibes for those cloudy and rainy days. And I kind of want to create a fall bucket list now too.

Honestly, there wasn’t a single thing I didn’t like about this book. I could keep this review very short and simply tell you that I loved this book. If you’re looking for a cozy and romantic story with cats, this is the one.

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Title: Summerween
Author: Joss Wood
Publisher: One More Chapter
Genre: Romance
Pages: 353
My Rating:

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Summerween

This book is about a small town called H’town, which is short for Halloweentown. They basically celebrate Halloween every single day of the year. The two main characters in this book are Wren and Dane, and they have something in common: they are both taking a break from their lives and trying to figure out what they want.

Wren is a professional dancer, and she now teaches kids how to dance. Dane ends up joining her class, and they start hanging out and having fun together, which eventually grows into something more.

Review

The main reason why I decided to buy this book was the cover because it is so pretty and colorful. It was screaming at me, and I couldn’t resist it. It was the end of August when I read this book, so it was still summer, but at the same time, I was already getting into the fall vibes. So, this was the perfect book for me to read as I transitioned from summer books to fall books.

I love Halloween, and this town celebrates Halloween all year round, which sounds pretty fun. It also attracts a lot of tourists. Not everyone in the town agrees with the whole Halloween-every-day thing, though. But the fact that they celebrate Halloween all the time isn’t the only reason why this book has spooky vibes. I mean, it’s not scary at all, but there are also ghosts living in this town. Almost nobody can see them, but they’re there. They do ghost things and talk about everyone who lives in the town.

The main characters, Wren and Dane, were okay. There was a little bit of chemistry between them, and they have something in common: they’re both taking a break from their lives to figure out what they actually want. But honestly, they weren’t my favorite characters in the book. I mainly enjoyed this book because of the ghosts. They were kind of funny, trying to get Wren and Dane together, while one of the ghosts was definitely not okay with it. That ghost was very old-fashioned.

And even though I liked this book, there were also a couple of little things that I didn’t like. First of all, the chapters were long. I prefer shorter chapters. Each chapter was also divided into three parts: Wren, Dane, and the ghosts. I think it would have been better if each section had been its own shorter chapter.

The last thing I struggled with in this book was the number of characters. This is probably a very personal thing because I already have a hard time remembering people’s names, let alone when there are so many characters. In the beginning of the book, I was so confused. But eventually, it got easier.

Overall, I actually really enjoyed it. It was the perfect book for me to read as I transitioned from summer reads to fall reads. I would still love to read the other book(s) in this series, which I want to do soon. I think this book, and the other book(s) in the series, are just perfect for this time of year.

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Title: Thief
Author: Cassie Mint
Publisher: Black Cherry Publishing
Genre: Romance
Pages: 64
My Rating:

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Thief

Tabitha is a thief, and she steals from rich people. This time, she is planning to steal a very expensive sapphire from Spencer. She has planned everything carefully and manages to get into his apartment by hiding inside a suitcase.

Spencer isn’t supposed to be at the apartment that night, or at least, that’s what Tabitha thinks. But when she opens the bedroom door, she finds Spencer in his bed. He has already called the police because he heard someone in his apartment.

Tabitha mentally prepares herself to be taken to jail, but to her surprise, Spencer decides that he likes her and doesn’t want her to go to jail. Instead, he wants her to stay with him.

Review

I was looking for short romance stories. I think this was listed under dark romance, but honestly, it wasn’t dark at all. It’s more of a romance with comedy, I guess, because it actually made me laugh.

This review is going to be short because the book is literally only 65 pages. This is the first time I’ve heard of Cassie Mint. I read some of the other reviews of this book, and apparently, she writes a lot of short romances like this. So I’ll definitely keep her name in mind because sometimes I just want to read something short that I can finish in an hour or so.

I’m still not sure how I feel about this book. It was very easy to read, and you fly through the story. I finished it before I even realized it. That’s usually a good sign. This book also made me laugh, which is usually a very good sign. But this time, I’m not 100% sure if I was laughing because the story was actually funny or because it was kind of ridiculous. But maybe that’s a me-problem because apparently Cassie Mint is the queen of insta-love novellas. Apparently, I’m not the kind of woman who believes in love at first sight because I rolled my eyes so hard while reading this.

I think Spencer was an interesting character because he is a rich man who gets robbed, and he obviously doesn’t like that. But when he sees the burglar, Tabitha, he suddenly changes his mind because she is gorgeous. I’m not sure if I would have the same reaction to a handsome male burglar.

On the other hand, it was just a very short love story with an interesting setting. She is stealing from him, and he falls in love with her. It still made me laugh a couple of times. Maybe I thought it was kind of ridiculous that they fell in love at first sight, but I was still entertained.

Overall, it wasn’t that bad. I think it was good enough for a short story. It felt a bit rushed, but this novella is only 64 pages, so what else do you expect? It was an interesting book that could make you laugh, whatever the reason may be.

This is the first book in the Sweet Little Sinners series. Apparently, the other books are going to be about different characters.

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Title: The Third Gilmore Girl
Author: Kelly Bishop
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pages: 244
Genre: Biography
My Rating:

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The Third Gilmore Girl

This book is all about the life of Kelly Bishop, best known as Emily Gilmore in Gilmore Girls. In this book, Kelly Bishop tells her own story, from her earliest memories to how she started dancing and acting. She also talks about her relationships and the different experiences that shaped her life.

Review

I’m a huge fan of Gilmore Girls. It is my favorite show ever and my comfort show. I love watching it every year during the colder months. I love all of the characters on the show, including Emily, so it was time to read her biography and learn more about her.

And I learned a lot! To be honest, I only knew her from Gilmore Girls. I thought I had never seen her in any other movies or shows. I just didn’t know much about her. But this book tells you all about Kelly’s life. Did you know that Kelly isn’t even her birth name? That was so surprising and interesting to me.

Kelly started out as a dancer, and she was incredibly talented. She eventually went to Broadway and even won a Tony Award. Funny enough, the actor who played Richard Gilmore, Edward Herrmann, also won a Tony that exact same day. That was just mind-blowing. And when Kelly got older, she started acting more and appeared in a lot of shows and movies, including Dirty Dancing. Yeah, so I have watched that movie so many times over the years and never recognized her?!

She also talked about her time on Gilmore Girls, and when she described certain scenes, I immediately knew which scenes she was talking about. I guess I’m a Gilmore Girls expert now. She talked about how everyone was so relaxed and friendly behind the scenes. I think that is part of why Gilmore Girls became so successful. You can sort of feel the good chemistry between the actors. She is still friends with the writer, Amy Sherman-Palladino, and Lorelai, played by Lauren Graham.

I also got the sense that Kelly was a genuinely good person. She was supportive of other dancers and actors. And apparently, Kelly Bishop is really good at manifesting because whenever she wished for something, opportunities seemed to show up. She was also quite spiritual.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this biography. I don’t read books like this very often, but sometimes I want to know more about a person. If you’re expecting her to only talk about Gilmore Girls, you will be disappointed. Her time on Gilmore Girls was just a small part of the book. But honestly, the rest was pretty interesting too. I discovered so many things because I had no idea she had won a Tony Award or that she played Baby’s mother in Dirty Dancing.

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Title: How to die Famous
Author: Benjamin Dean
Publisher: Little Brown books for young readers
Genre: thriller YA
Pages: 384
My Rating:

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How to Die Famous

Abel Miller is a rising star and just landed a role on the hottest reboot of Sunset High, produced by Omni Channel. But he is not there just for the acting role he landed. He is also on a mission. It has been no secret that there is a so-called curse on Sunset High, because terrible things happened to the actors in the past. Abel’s brother died while he was working on Sunset High. And Abel is now there to figure out what happened. And if Onmi Channel is the one to blame.

Review

First time I read a book by Benjamin Dean. I don’t read thrillers that often, even though I love them. I love my Freida Mcfadden books and I have also read other thrillers by different authors.

I liked the plot idea. Abel is sort off going undercover to find out what happened to his brother and if someone killed him and if Onmi channel is the one to blame. Omni channel was giving me Disney Channel or Nickelodeon vibes for the record. They all produce all young adult shows. Abel is not alone of course, he has three other co-stars: Lucky, Ryan and Ella. The curse everyone was talking about was interesting part. It wasn’t the first time something bad happened to people from Sunset High. And it is still happening. Bad things are happening to them right now.

But there was a huge reason why I didn’t like this book and I was sort off surprised. From the beginning the author makes it very clear who could be the bad person, the on who is stalking and murdering. But I have read other thriller books and I also know there will always be a plottiwst,except that never happened. By  2/3 of the books they made it very clear who the killer is. No plottwist came. That ruined the whole book for me honestly. I want to read thrillers and then be surprised who the killer actually is.

Sure, there were still interesting things happening at the end, but for me personally the whole story was already ruined. I want to figure out on my own who the killer is, not that the author makes it clear right from the beginning. That’s no fun.

Overall, I am just really disappointed. I really hope Benjamin’s other books do actually have plottwists, because this wasn’t fun. I still gave it 2/5 hearts, because I still like the plot idea. Or maybe I am just getting too old for YA thrillers at this point.

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Don’t Brake My Heart

A year ago, Leesa Kubicka’s professional cycling career came to an abrupt end after a disastrous final race. Now, she’s working for a sports marketing company and is given the opportunity to lead a major project during the Tour de France. Her assignment seems simple: follow one of cycling’s biggest talents and create content around his journey throughout the race.

The problem? That talent is Colin Gallagher. Leesa already knows Colin from their days on the same cycling team. Back then, he was constantly pulling pranks on her, and she never quite knew what to make of him. Now, they’re forced to spend weeks together during one of the biggest sporting events in the world.

What Leesa doesn’t know is that Colin has had a crush on her for years. With the Tour de France underway and their paths crossing once again, he sees this as his last chance to prove that he’s more than the immature prankster she remembers—before she disappears from his life for good.

Review

First, I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

The main reason I requested this book is that I’m from the Netherlands, and it’s centered around cycling. If there’s one thing you should know about the Dutch, it’s that we love our bikes. We use them for transportation every day. I cycle to work daily, so a sports romance about cycling immediately caught my attention.

I ended up giving this book 3 out of 5 stars for several reasons, but I’d like to start with the positives.

I really enjoyed the cycling theme. There are so many sports romances these days, but most of them focus on hockey, baseball, football, or Formula 1. I don’t think I’ve ever read, or even seen, a sports romance centered around professional cycling. This book revolves around the Tour de France, one of the biggest sporting events in the world. It’s hard to avoid during the summer, and I’ve watched it several times myself whenever I had the chance.

That said, I don’t think this was ultimately the right book for me. The biggest issue was that I never felt fully invested in the story. In fact, it felt like the most interesting part didn’t begin until around the 70% mark, when the Tour de France actually started. Until then, I found myself struggling to stay engaged.

The second reason was Colin. Unfortunately, I really didn’t like him as a character. Although he’s 25 years old, he often behaved like a 13-year-old boy. His constant pranks on Leesa felt incredibly childish and immature. I understand that his actions were supposed to show that he had a crush on her, but he was an adult during most of these interactions. There are far more mature ways to get someone’s attention, and instead of finding his behavior charming, I found it frustrating.

Overall, this book wasn’t for me, and I’m unfortunately not its biggest fan. However, if you’re a fan of sports romances and are looking for something different from the usual hockey or Formula 1 romances, this book definitely stands out. But the fact this book is about cycling/ Tour de France makes it stand out.

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