Skip to content

Tag: 0 Star (DNF)

Review – Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend

Posted in Book Blogger

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend

by Emma R. Alban

book cover: don't want you like a best friend

Series: Mischief & Matchmaking
Genres: LGBTQ+, Romance
Release Date: January 9, 2024
Pages: 396
Get from: Library | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Gwen has a brilliant beyond brilliant idea.

It’s 1857, and anxious debutante Beth has just one season to snag a wealthy husband, or she and her mother will be out on the street. But playing the blushing ingenue makes Beth’s skin crawl and she’d rather be anywhere but here.

Gwen, on the other hand, is on her fourth season and counting, with absolutely no intention of finding a husband, possibly ever. She figures she has plenty of security as the only daughter of a rakish earl, from whom she’s gotten all her flair, fun, and less-than-proper party games.

“Let’s get them together,” she says.

It doesn’t take long for Gwen to hatch her latest scheme: rather than surrender Beth to courtship, they should set up Gwen’s father and Beth’s newly widowed mother. Let them get married instead.

“It’ll be easy” she says.

There’s just…one, teeny, tiny problem. Their parents kind of seem to hate each other.

But no worries. Beth and Gwen are more than up to the challenge of a little twenty-year-old heartbreak. How hard can parent-trapping widowed ex-lovers be?

Of course, just as their plan begins to unfold, a handsome, wealthy viscount starts calling on Beth, offering up the perfect, secure marriage.

Beth’s not mature enough for this…

Now Gwen must face the prospect of sharing Beth with someone else, forever. And Beth must reckon with the fact that she’s caught feelings, hard, and they’re definitely not for her potential fiancé.

That’s the trouble with matchmaking: sometimes you accidentally fall in love with your best friend in the process.

Review – Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystal

Posted in Book Blogger

Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystal

by Dash Hoffman

Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystal

Series: Mrs. Perivale
Genres: Fantasy
Release Date: March 1, 2017
Pages: 335
Purchase from: Amazon

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

View ratings overview

☆☆☆☆☆ – Did not finish
★☆☆☆☆ – Hated it
★★☆☆☆ – Disliked it
★★★☆☆ – Okay
★★★★☆ – Liked it
★★★★★ – Loved it
Read the full explanation of my book rating system.

“People your age belong at home.” 73 year old Mrs. Perivale is told when she tries to volunteer. With her son grown and gone, and her community turning their backs on her, the gravity of no longer being needed sinks her spirits deeply. She wonders if she has outlived her usefulness until a mystical little creature sneaks into Alice Perivale’s home and begs her to come with him; there is a prophecy about her, and she must help save his world!

Finding herself in a magical place she had no idea existed, committed to a dangerous mission far more vital than helping out in her neighborhood, Alice dusts off her courage and bravery, rediscovering the feisty, sassy, powerhouse woman she is deep inside. She is determined to find the stolen Blue Fire Crystal before the imbalance between elements destroys all of the magical land of Corevé. Together with her extraordinary family of six cats and her skeptical-yet-devoted butler Henderson, she takes on the tremendous challenge.

With time running out and the world falling to pieces, Alice’s precious companions are pulled away from her, and she is faced with impossible choices. Does she choose what she wants most of all, does she rescue her family, or does she save the world that will not survive without her?

Review – Death Island

Posted in Book Blogger

Death Island

by Kelsey Ketch

Death IslandGenres: Historical Fantasy
Release Date: December 31, 2017
Pages: 512
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | KoboiBooks | Smashwords
My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Her family name tainted by her great-grandfather’s crimes of piracy, Meriden Cummings is far from the typical 18th century woman. A social outcast, she works in a carpentry shop in a small village, where the people barely tolerate unconventional behavior.

However, her life takes a turn after a gang of pirates attack her village and her blood reveals an ancient map adorned with Mayan glyphs leading to Death Island. An island legends say is ruled by the Mayan god of the underworld, Ah Puch. Her great-grandfather had sought after the island before he vanished without a trace. Now, Meriden is about to journey across the sea to understand her family history.

There are only a few problems: her growing feelings toward a mysterious stranger linked to her great-grandfather’s past; a greedy band of pirates after her great-grandfather’s legendary treasure; and a contract she has unwittingly signed in blood with Ah Puch himself.

Review – The Friend Request

Posted in Book Blogger

The Friend Request

by Charles Soto

Genres: Romance
Release Date: February 4, 2015
Pages: 314
Purchase from: Amazon
My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Chase has it all. Owner of a successful business, social standing and respect, killer looks and not the fiancé of any man’s fantasy. His life is in control, just the way he planned; but everything is not as it appears. His brother, also his business partner and closest friend, is angrily rejected when he attempts to tell Chase the Truth. As Chase blindly races toward an empty future based on lies and deceit, his brother makes the dangerous decision to protect him.

Carly, a single and struggling mom, has always sacrificed personal happiness in an effort to protect her son. Lonely and stuck in a dead-end job, her life revolves around her special needs child; until the abusive father threatens to take him. Carly decides to take a chance on life and accept a friend request from her high school sweetheart. Can she let down her defenses and open her heart, or will the past cloud her future? Will a simple Facebook friend request bring Chase and Carly the happiness they so desperately desire, or will secrets from their past threaten to keep them apart … forever.