Joshua Zuniga

I received this as an audiobook ARC. Honestly, I wanted to love this. It was right up my alley as someone who loved Red White, Royal Blue, and The Unlikely Heir, but honestly, it was just okay.

I found it annoying the number of times we heard “I want to be with him but my family won't let me.” I wanted to scream YEAH WE KNOW, WE GATHERED THAT THE FIRST 12 TIMES! Overall though I did like it and was excited to be allowed to read it. Just sometimes you don't have to repeat the same phrasing because we don't need a reminder every chapter that the guy can't be with him over family stuff. Even though you could tell that this was one of the romances where everything ends happily, I will say this was one of the better endings I have gone through. This one didn't make me worry about what happened to them as you have the epilogue, which is a year later. Also, you get to see a lot of it come together in the last chapter so it is definitely worth the read. Just if you get annoyed by the constant repeating of that one phrase, just know you are not alone there.

First, I would like to thank both the Author and Brilliance Audio for the opportunity to read this as an Audio ARC.

Now for the review. This book helped me out of a slump. I could not get into anything until I started this, and right away, I was sat for it. From the moment we find Rod's body until the moment the story is over, you will continue to be tossed around on what is going to happen and who is the one that did all of this. Then, near the end, you discover who and why the person did it. With everything that happened, it constantly felt like something was going wrong for the main detective when his fingerprints were discovered I went to the point of “How much more could go wrong for this man” just was a bit redundant with stuff going on.

Overall it was still an amazing book and easily, I would give this book a 4.75/5 as my only gripe is just that it always seemed that something was going wrong for him. It did help push the story you just get annoyed with it.

It was about a 3.5/5 for me. I loved the idea of the book. As someone who grew up gay in a small town, it was healing for me. Overall it was hard to understand how Darby didn't remember what happened between him and his best friend in school. I think many people would remember that type of thing, even when you try to tell a friend major information. I did see that Darby went to Oak Falls with no choice but eventually, he tried to heal past trauma. It is a solid book that I did love and it was eerily healing for me. I think most LGBT kids growing up in small-town America have the same feelings about trying to make space for themselves in a town like that.

The ending though was quite sad. I felt like the first 75% flew by and then the last 20 pages were heartbreak after heartbreak. I more felt bad for Mr. Grumpy and Michael than any other character.

It was okay. I feel the ending was kind of easy to figure out. I had issues trying to get into the book and even when I was into it I got bored quickly.

I am ready for Christmas to be here after reading this. I was lucky to get the audio version through NetGalley, which is worth every minute of the book. For the first time, I will say I hated Santa. You'll love some characters while hating others. I understand the comparison between Red White and Royal Blue, but in my opinion, this one is better. I loved both and this one just makes you want to celebrate both Christmas and Halloween together. As someone who doesn't usually get hooked right away into books this had me going from the first minute. There were some cringy times but those are made better by the character realizing what he said is cringy.

I am unsure what the author put into this series, but I am ready for the next one.

First, I want to thank Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for providing me with the Advanced reader copy. The opinion is my own.

I loved this book. I began laughing from the beginning while we got Quinn's view in Chapter One. This wasn't too cheesy as a lot of romcoms end up. I loved how the author showed the issues in the marriage early on. It was things like communication, monotony, and prioritizing the other partner's well-being that they forgot to care about themselves. I had never read a book by this author but he is now on my favorite author list from this book. It quickly became one of my favorite books of 2024.

If you love The Santa Clause movie, Hallmark movies, or just funny stories, pick this up. It was kind of heartwarming when you saw the two main characters who were on the brink of divorce, learn to love one another again.

It was a short quick read. I enjoyed it. This was my first of K.J. Charles' works though I have more to read. It was good for the length it was and not many authors I have read could pull such short stories and still tell a very thorough story with a plot.

It was a good story, but there were a few things that turned me off. I listened to it on audible and the way the narrator imitated a native person was just weird. It was like listening to a high schooler trying to be funny imitating different cultures. Overall, it was good. I stayed curious as to why they couldn't find the boy's mother but in the end, you find out the kid died in an accident and he was autistic. He kept saying he was native but he wasn't. The native tribe he claimed to be from was just what he currently was infatuated with.

I like the Hunger games style vibe it carried. It was interesting to keep up with the characters and be in that world. I did get confused in a few places on what was going on but at the end of the book it all worked itself out paying close attention in the beginning I was able to see that the friend was going to double-cross someone or wasn't entirely the good guy.

First, it is set in Michigan! That was an immediate enjoyment factor. I was able to use book information and figure out where it was going down which helped me to think of the roads in that area and know that they can be dark and desolate. I enjoyed the ending even though it was a bit hectic. I did not like how secretive the FMC was. Oh, and the Inn Owner is a character to love. She is comedic in her interactions with everyone in the town.

This is the best LGBT graphic novel I have read. It was cute and the two main characters were enjoyable. Seeing Eric being truly himself with all the baking trying out for hockey then playing and trying to overcome certain issues was very interesting.

I loved this. It was a good story taking into account the time frame it was set in. It made me both happy and sad. Part of me wishes the characters get another book but I am aware that won't happen. Neither character deserved what they went through. I love that they can love each other on their own terms.

I wish I never read this. I was bored and hated every minute of it. This is one series I can NOT wait to get rid of. I feel I was lied to about this being a good book. In my opinion, this novel and series are completely forgettable. I hated the book from page 2 and felt it got worse all the way through.

I love Darcy Coates but this was okay. I wanted to like this book but it just wasn't worth the time reading and for an author that is good with horror, this just didn't hit her mark. It may have been too young for me and that is why I feel it didn't make the mark but either way it just wasn't creepy and at times was slow.

I loved this when I finally read it. I do hate the publisher for choosing such a small font but it still was a good book and now I am really sat for the entire series.

This series just slowly gets better and better. I am here for the full ride while the story is told.

I LOVED THIS! I felt like the trial itself was rushed but I hadn't even thought of the revenge plot. I thought the girlfriends or angry citizens may have killed the doctor. It was suicide to begin with but just done so well that it would look like the MMC killed her. I feel that this was one book I enjoyed even though the end began to slow down.

I wasn't sure how Grisham could improve in a series but this one became an instant favorite of the year. It was very memorable for me and I became very excited to read the next book in the series. The characters we love all return to Camino Island as we follow their investigation into the death of another member of their friend group after a hurricane hits the island. After these books, I feel like I will be sad to leave Camino Island.

I had felt that Romeo and Juliet was boring in school. This did make it a bit more interesting but at the same time, it was boring in itself too. I waited to make an actual post and I am glad as I had to change my original rating. I mean it is literally Romeo and Juliet but gay and they both don't die.

This was only the third Grisham novel I read. I love how each follows a different idea of what is going on. This is one of my favorites by him. Following Mercer through the entire investigation looking into the stolen Fitzgerald Manuscripts was fun. Grisham is a master storyteller and this was not a disappointment.

Criminal Minds meets YA story. It was a great time read but at times it felt like the FMC was just insufferable. She complained about everyone but in the end, I didn't expect the killer to be who it was. When you connect the clues throughout, it made sense but when I first read it, I was completely clueless.

Overall, this has been the best one in the series. I love the “appointments” that they want to keep.

Seeing what happened to Roman was sad. The life that Roman and Iris would have was going to be hard. Both had to lose people who were very important to them, the deaths that occur in the novel are heartbreaking but help carry the story and show the impacts of war.

I never knew I would love a Psychopath so much. This was an interesting romance story. I will say to mind your triggers for this as it does talk about SA against children and an entire ring about it. Retribution is brought against the men in the ring. Throughout the story, you start to love how protective Adam is of Noah and feel bad for everything Noah goes through. You do see that Noah is reunited with his mother but overall it is fascinating to see how the author portrays a psychopath falling for someone. I just wish we weren't always reminded that Adam couldn't love Noah. As soon as I finished this book, I had to purchase the rest of the series to read the stories of the other Mulvaney brothers.

This was the ending I wanted for both characters. It was quite a ride to make it through all three books, especially with the triggers in book one. After reading this series I will never look at the word mount the same again. It still was worth the slow burn of the three books