Serena

This book was the beautiful romantic version of self-helping myself the last decade of my life. But in seriousness, I loved how we have this FMC who is very real, raw, and relatable during this time period where being relatable to 2024 woman is that last thing you want to be. Was she always a peach? No. But who is when they are at rock bottom? Watching that character grow and process through all the stages for her growth, even the not so pretty stages, was so beautiful to watch and endeared me to Sera even more. In other words, I loved how real it was. No fluffy bows.

Adam is a cinnamon roll who bless him for loving her. He's a character we have read before but he is her puzzle piece.

3.5

This was a confusing book to review. I actually really enjoy most of it. House party shenanigans are always fun. But there was zero romance until the very end. Hero friend-zoned her so hard throughout the whole book, I kept getting second hand embarrassment on her behalf.

I listened to this one and really enjoyed the audiobook. I need to look into other books with this narrator.

Waaah you guys. I really wanted to LOVE this! Loretta Chase has never failed me, and I did enjoy the first two books in the series. But this one... well, idk just didn't quote hit the mark for me.

Don't get me wrong—there are things to enjoy. LC brings her signature witty banter, and Alice and Giles have some genuinely fun and charming moments. I've always been a fan of the best friend's sister trope, and childhood friends-to-lovers can be so satisfying when done right. Their dynamic is playful, with just the right amount of tension simmering beneath the surface, which made for some cute, if brief, romantic scenes.

But, here's where it fell flat: the romance feels like it's constantly getting sidelined by everything else happening in the story. There's a lot of focus on side quests—rescue missions, animal saving, and even long stretches of letter-writing between Alice and Giles. The villain of the story came off as a fool, making the stakes not seem quote as high as the characters were making them out to be. Idk if that makes sense?

Also, as much as I appreciate Alice's passion for helping those in need, it just took away from the time they spent on their actual relationship. By the time they finally got together, I found myself wondering if they even really liked each other or if it was more out of convenience (lol get it?

DNF at 70% throuple themselves were cute (and wow sizzling

This is the second book of the Season of the Furies saga. I usually don't care reading books out of order or as standalone, and while you can get away with this as standalone, the books have overlapping timelines and crossover with each other, so I recommend reading the first. Plus I looooooved A Terrible Beauty.

Here, Katherine was hands down one of my favorite heroines I have read in a long time. The author wrote a beautiful a character arc of a spiteful snooty “mean girl” ton debutante who makes a transformation through adversity and obscene amount of cruelty from the hero. Her transformation is gradual so it's realistic that by the time you realize you love her, you forgot why she had to learn so many lessons to begin with.

I disliked the hero as much as I loved the heroine. Yeah she messed up and he had his justifications blah blah and I get that the book was illustrating the historical reality of women's powerlessness in a marriage but his inner monologues were tedious as well. I could have even understood his treatment if the grovel was enough but it was not worthy for Katherine.

Last critique - that cover is unfortunate