'Those Summer Nights' by Laura Silverman

5 stars!

Book Blurb:

"After recovering from a life-changing injury, a teen girl must navigate a new summer job, an ex-best friend, and two surprisingly attractive coworkers in this romp of a rom-com for fans of Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

Hannah used to be all about focus, back before she shattered her ankle and her Olympic dreams in one bad soccer play. These days, she’s all about distraction—anything to keep the painful memories of her recent past at bay, including the string of bad decisions that landed her at boarding school for a year.

Enter Bonanza, the local entertainment multiplex and site of Hanna’s summer employment. With its mini golf course, bowling alley, and arcade—not to mention her hot, flirty coworker Patrick—Bonanza seems like the perfect way to stay distracted. Until her boss announces the annual Bonanza tournament, a staff competition that brings her past Olympic nightmares crashing back into her present.

On top of that, the Bonanza staff includes Brie, the ex-best friend she cut off last year, and Ethan, her brother’s best friend who became unreasonably attractive in her year away and who accepts her, even knowing her worst secrets. Under the neon lights of Bonanza, Hannah must decide whether she can find a way to discover a new self in the midst of her old life."

My Review:

Excellent YA Contemporary read, full of fun summer vibes. We follow Hannah as she picks up the pieces of the previous summer when she lashed out at everyone around her after losing both her grandmother and the sport she lived for. She sets out to achieve the four goals outlined by her parents, so that she can complete her senior year of high school at her old school, rather than being sent away again.

At first, Hannah just goes through the motions; she gets a job, she's nice to her family and co-workers, and she plans to basically 'fake it' with her parents' list. Until her job and co-workers turn out to be lots of fun, and reconnecting with her brother and old friends turns out to heal the soul. And her brother's best friend? He grew up in the year she was away.

Out now! Grab a copy here

#NetGalley - I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s.

'The Make-Up Test' by Jenny L. Howe

 4.5 stars

Book Blurb:

 
“In this smart, swoony, rom-com debut from Jenny L. Howe The Make-Up Test, two college exes find themselves battling against each other―and their unresolved feelings―for a spot in a prestigious literature Ph.D. program.
 
Allison Avery loves to win. After acing every academic challenge she’s come up against, she’s finally been accepted into her dream Ph.D. program at Claymore University, studying medieval literature under a professor she’s admired for years. Sure, grad school isn’t easy—the classes are intense, her best friend is drifting away, and her students would rather pull all-nighters than discuss The Knight's Tale—but she’s got this. Until she discovers her ex-boyfriend has also been accepted. Colin Benjamin might be the only person who loves winning more than Allison does, and when they're both assigned to TA for the same professor, the game is on.

What starts as a personal battle of wits (and lit) turns into all-out war when their professor announces a career-changing research trip opportunity—with one spot to fill. Competing with Colin is as natural as breathing, and after he shattered her heart two years ago, Allison refuses to let him come out on top. But when a family emergency and a late night road trip—plus a very sexy game of Scrabble—throw them together for a weekend, she starts to wonder if they could be stronger on the same team. And if they fall for each other all over again, Allison will have to choose between a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and what could be a twice-in-a-lifetime love.
 
Charmingly bookish and unequivocally fat positive, The Make-Up Test embraces the truth that people can sometimes change and grow, even when you least expect it.”

My Review:

This is a delightful New Adult Contemporary, set in graduate school where Allison and her ex, Colin, must work together as TAs (teaching assistants) for the same professor. Competing against is each other is nothing new, but as time goes on, Allison's old feelings for Colin start coming back, and maybe he's no longer as awful as she remembers.

Grab your copy by September 13^th  

#NetGalley - I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s.

'The Liar’s Crown' by Abigail Owen

5 stars!

Book Blurb:

“One born to rule. One to forfeit…

Everything about my life is a lie. As a hidden twin princess, born second, I have only one purpose—to sacrifice my life for my sister if death comes for her. I’ve been living under the guise of a poor, obscure girl of no standing, slipping into the palace and into the role of the true princess when danger is present.

Now the queen is dead and the ageless King Eidolon has sent my sister a gift—an eerily familiar gift—and a proposal to wed. I don’t trust him, so I do what I was born to do and secretly take her place on the eve of the coronation. Which is why, when a figure made of shadow kidnaps the new queen, he gets me by mistake.

As I try to escape, all the lies start to unravel. And not just my lies. The Shadowraith who took me has secrets of his own. He struggles to contain the shadows he wields—other faces, identities that threaten my very life.

Winter is at the walls. Darkness is looming. And the only way to save my sister and our dominion is to kill Eidolon…and the Shadowraith who has stolen my heart.”

My Review:

This is a beautiful YA Fantasy read with rich world building, complex and well-developed characters, and a PG slow-burn romance. So well done, this gets all the stars! Highly recommended!

Pre-order your copy before it's release on August 30, 2022!

#TheLiarsCrown #NetGalley - I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s. 

'The Wicked Remain' (Grimrose Girls #2) by Laura Pohl

5 enchanted stars!

Book Blurb:

“At Grimrose Académie, the fairy-tale deaths continue. And unless the curse is broken, one of the girls could be next.

Nani, Yuki, Ella, and Rory have discovered the truth about the curse that's left a trail of dead bodies at Grimrose. But the four still know nothing of its origins, or how to stop the cycle of doomed fates.

And each girl harbors her own secret. One is learning why she was brought to the school. One struggles to keep her new and deadly power under control. One knows exactly how much time she has left.

And one, trying to escape her dark destiny, will come even closer to fulfilling it.

Can the girls change their own stories and break the curse? Or must one of them die to end it forever?“

My Review:

'The Wicked Remain' contains a satisfying conclusion to the 'Grimrose Girls' duology, after our four narrators learn much more about the curse and those around them.  After the events in 'Grimrose Girls,' the wicked do, indeed, remain.  While one piece of the puzzle was resolved, the four friends have much investigating left to do, in order to discover the greater mystery of the curse that affects them all.

Once again, I enjoyed the variety of representation: F/F pairing, characters who are pan, on the ace and aro spectrums, and also chronic illness, mental health, and neurodiversity rep.

Pre-order your copy before it's release on November 1, 2022!

#NetGalley - I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s. Read more reviews! http://dreamerjbookreviews.blogspot.com

'Violet Made of Thorns' (Violet Made of Thorns #1)

5 stars!

Book Blurb:

“A darkly enchanting fantasy debut about a morally gray witch, a cursed prince, and a prophecy that ignites their fate-twisted destinies—perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and Serpent & Dove.

Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased—and not always true—divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer—unless Violet does something about it.

But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus’s love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom—all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between her and Cyrus.

Violet’s wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can’t change her fate. And as the boundary between hatred and love grows ever thinner with the prince, Violet must untangle a wicked web of deceit in order to save herself and the kingdom—or doom them all.”

Author’s Message:

“Violet Made of Thorns is my fairytale love story for cynics. It isn't very pretty sometimes, kind of messy all of the time, but hopeful despite it all—or at least, I think so.

I wrote Violet for those who feel they only relate to the "unrelatable" characters—the ones who are too cold, too proud, too much and not enough at the same time. Violet isn't your role model or your #girlboss (one of my peeves is ambition being uncritical shorthand for "strong" among heroines, when power is complicated and rarely scrupulous); she is her own contrary character: a prickly girl carving a place for herself in a world she doesn't believe in.

That aside—the story is fun! There's banter and dramatics and princely shirts torn asunder! It borrows elements from fairytales, nods to them, and gets kind of meta with them (but it's not a retelling). As for the romance, it's a bit of an...intense love/hate situation. Think childhood it's complicated-to-it's still complicated.

Well, you'll see.”

My Review:

Excellent fantasy read, highly recommended.

This beautiful YA fantasy tale incorporates elements of the fairy tales we know and love into a unique and original magical story where it’s the not-so-charming prince that needs saving.  ‘Violet’ kept me on my toes, with a snarky, relatable narration style and a few surprise twists.  I’m excited for the next book in this series, and am looking forward to seeing what author Gina Chen writes next.

Pre-order your copy of 'Violet Made of Thorns', releasing on July 26th!

#VioletMadeofThorns #NetGalley - I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s. 

‘The Starburst Effect’ by Kelly Oram

4 stars!

Book Blurb:

 
“Lily Rosemont lives next door to the biggest jerk in high school. Noah Trask has bullied Lily for years, and now he’s ruined her senior year by making her a target and turning the whole school against her. On top of that, her parents are getting divorced, and her world is falling apart around her.

After an accident on the football field leaves Noah with a traumatic brain injury, shattering his life as he knew it and leaving him with a whole heap of new disabilities, he’s no longer at the top of the high school food chain. In fact, he’s right down at the bottom with Lily.

In a cruel twist of fate, if Noah wants to graduate high school on time, he needs Lily’s help to complete a project—a book he wants to write about his experience. Lily’s not sure she can put aside her anger and hate for the boy who destroyed her senior year, but she desperately needs this project to get a scholarship to college.

It doesn’t take long for Lily to realize that the Noah who got injured is not the same Noah who survived the accident. He’s different. Way different. Slowly, Lily softens to this new Noah, but can she find it in her heart to forgive him? Can the two most unlikely people find friendship in adversity and help each other pick up the pieces of their broken lives? “

My Review:

What happens when the school’s quarterback and biggest bully is shunned by the in-crowd and made fun of after a football injury?  What happens if the girl next door was his biggest bullying target, but everything changes after his injury?  Dig into this well-written YA Contemporary to find out!

The Starburst Effect is both the title of the book, and another way to say concussion, or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).  Noah, the love interest, was the captain and quarterback of his high school football team until he got knocked down really hard during a game, resulting in a concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury.  Author Kelly Oram does a great job showing how serious the TBI is and the many ways it creates challenges in Noah’s daily life.  The concussion is handled realistically and it respects the fact that Noah has retained his knowledge, it’s just being accessed differently.

The TBI, and all its cognitive and psychological challenges, give Noah a new perspective on everything in his life, and he doesn’t mind that his former friends turn on him.  The in-crowd and top bullies in the school, his ex-girlfriend and fellow football teammates, now laugh at his expense, at how different he seems.  But it doesn’t bother him.  It’s when Noah gets close to Lily, the girl living next door to him, that the bullying bothers him – because his former friends are bullying her.

Lily has never done anything to the high school jock living next to her; she has no idea what won his attention and contempt.  It seems that being neighbors put her at the disadvantage of being nearby when the school’s most popular crowd comes and goes from Noah’s house, and Noah himself starts the most vicious of all the bullying – right before getting injured on the football field.

Lily is facing multiple challenges all at once, she’s losing friends due to the bullying and she’s taking care of her younger brother, all while trying to pretend that her parents deciding to get divorced doesn’t bother her so much.  She may even be losing scholarship opportunities for college because she’s closed herself off in order to cope with it all.  She desperately wants to go away for college and escape all the bad things happening all around her, so she joins forces with Noah in a school sanctioned Independent Study, to help him write a book about his TBI experience.

As Lily gets to know post-accident Noah, she realizes that his values and priorities have truly changed.  Despite her best efforts, sparks fly between the two of them, and the PG romance that follows is sweet and heartwarming.

Grab a copy on June 20^th!

#TheStarburstEffect #NetGalley - I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s. 

'Fireworks' by Alice Lin

4 stars

"A pitch-perfect K-pop rom com! Fame and friendship can get complicated, especially when there are more than platonic feelings at play.

Seventeen-year-old Lulu Li has her last summer before college all planned out. But her plans go awry when she learns that Kite Xu, her old next-door neighbor and childhood friend, will be returning home from South Korea.

Lulu hasn't seen Kite since eighth grade, after he left the country to pursue a career in K-pop, eventually debuting in the boy group Karnival. When Karnival announces that Kite will be taking a break from K-pop activities for mysterious reasons, the opportunity to rekindle their friendship arises.

Star-struck and nostalgic, Lulu tries to reconnect with Kite. As they continue to bond and reminisce over the past, Kite's sister, Connie, warns Lulu not to get too close to her brother. The harder Lulu tries to deny her feelings, the stronger they get. But how could a K-pop star ever fall for a nobody from home? And even if he did, is there any way for their relationship to end but badly?

Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it."

My Review:

Very cute YA contemporary about when the boy next door becomes a K-pop star in another country and then comes home for the summer. Childhood best friends and neighbors, Lulu and Kite have not seen each other since the end of eighth grade. Kite is now firmly established as a member of a K-pop group and Lulu and her friends just graduated from high school. I enjoyed watching as they caught up on all the things they missed over their years apart, and how their friendship turns into something more, slowly and sweetly.

‘Fireworks’ lights up bookshelves on June 7, 2022.

#Fireworks #NetGalley - I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s.

'Misrule' (Malice Duology #2) by Heather Walter

4 stars!

Book Blurb:

“Did they break the curse, or begin one? Sleeping Beauty's dark sorceress reclaims her story in this sequel to Malice.

The Dark Grace is dead.

Feared and despised for the sinister power in her veins, Alyce has spent 100 years wreaking her revenge on the kingdom that made her an outcast. Once a realm of decadence and beauty, Briar is now wholly Alyce's wicked domain. No one escapes the consequences of her wrath.

Not even the one person who holds her heart.

Princess Aurora saw through Alyce's thorny facade, earning a love that promised the dawn of a new age. But that love came with a heavy price: Aurora now sleeps under a curse that even Alyce's vast power cannot seem to break, and their dream of the world they would have built together is nothing but ash.

Alyce vows to do anything to wake the woman she loves, even if it means descending into the monster Briar believed her to be. But could Aurora ever love the villain Alyce has become?

Or is true love only for fairy tales?”

My Review:
 
What if Sleeping Beauty *did* sleep for a hundred years? What if Maleficent spent that time trying to wake her? Author Heather Walter has crafted a detailed High Fantasy novel to help us find out. Once again, we follow Alyce's lovely and flowing narration as she allies herself with Demons, Shifters, Imps, and other Vila to transform Aurora's Kingdom of Briar into the Dark Court. When Aurora is finally awakened from her hundred years' slumber, everything about her world has changed around her. Oh, and there's a pesky Prince.

Highly recommended for fans of all fairy-tale retellings and F/F pairings. ‘Malice’ and 'Misrule' will also likely appeal to readers who enjoy vivid descriptions of palaces, court wardrobes, makeup, and food, such as in ‘The Selection’ series.

Grab a copy on May 10^th

#Misrule #NetGalley - I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s.

'Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake' (Untitled series #2) by Mazey Eddings

4 stars

 
Book Blurb:
 

“Lizzie has made endless mistakes. Kitchen fires, pyramid schemes, bangs (of the hair and human variety), you name it, she’s done it… and made a mess of it too. One mistake she’s never made is letting anyone get closer to her than a single hook-up. But after losing yet another bakery job due to her uncontrolled ADHD, she breaks her cardinal rule and has a two-night-stand that changes everything.

Once burned, twice shy, Rake has given up on relationships. And feelings. And any form of intimacy for that matter. Yet something about charming, chaotic Lizzie has him lowering his guard. For two nights, that is. Then it’s back home to Australia and far away from the pesky feelings Lizzie pulls from him. But when Lizzie tells him she’s got an unexpected bun in the oven, he’ll do whatever it takes to be a part of his child’s life… except be emotionally vulnerable, obviously. He’s never going to make that mistake again.

Through a series of mishaps, totally “platonic” single bed sharing, and an underground erotic baking scheme, Lizzie and Rake learn that even the biggest mistakes can have the most beautiful consequences. ”

My Review:

Really enjoyed following Lizzie and Rake as their lives change forever from their two-night-stand.  Lizzie has untreated ADHD and often feels like her brain works against her.  Though her family and previous employers misinterpret this and assume she is lazy, Lizzie puts a lot of effort into conforming to neurotypical standards, such as not forgetting things and to sticking to schedules.  It’s not her fault that her neurodiverse brain doesn’t easily fit society’s strict mold of neurotypical behavior.  But years reactions to her being ‘late’ and ‘forgetful’ and ‘different’ have chipped away at her confidence and self-esteem.

Her closest friends see the real Lizzie, and so does Rake.  He is instantly understanding and supportive of Lizzie, and he’s fascinated and curious about how her mind works.  Rake is drawn to her energy, enthusiasm, and creativity and appreciates the way her mind interprets the world around them.

Though they set out to be platonic co-parents who live together, their biggest challenge becomes fighting their attraction to one another. 

This wonderful rom-com can be enjoyed by Adult Contemporary and Romance readers, and also upper Young Adult Contemporary readers. The characters are in their mid-twenties and juggle their careers with family expectations and interference by hilariously nosey friends.  There are lots of relatable moments for neurodiverse readers whose brains don’t work the same way neurotypicals’ brains do.

Pre-order here.

#NetGalley - I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s. 

'Three Kisses, One Midnight' by Roshani Chokshi, Sandhya Menon, Evelyn Skye

5 magical stars!

Book Blurb:

“Three New York Times bestselling authors—Roshani Chokshi, Sandhya Menon, and Evelyn Skye—craft a delicious concoction of storytelling about best friends who discover that love is the most powerful magic of all.

This Halloween, magic will reawaken in the town of Moon Ridge, and any love forged that night will last forever. At least, that’s what the founder’s fable says, and best friends Onny, Ash, and True—better known as “The Coven”—aren’t taking any chances.

After brewing a supposed love potion from a recipe passed down by Onny’s grandmother, each member of The Coven sets off to try to charm the love of their life. One falls for an unexpected suitor. Another paints himself into a corner. And the third refuses to believe in magic at all… until true love proves her wrong.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before meets Gilmore Girls: Three Kisses, One Midnight will put you under its spell and keep you reading long past the witching hour!”

My Review:

'Three Kisses, One Midnight' is beautiful, atmospheric, and full of magic. It is comprised of three novellas, told one at a time, by each of member of 'The Coven' - besties Onny, Ash, and True. The novellas are set in chronological order and easy to follow.

The events occur around a masquerade ball in a castle-like mansion on Halloween, and magic is in the air. This is the perfect book to get readers in the spirit of all things Halloween, magical, and spooky.

I love how different the three friends are and how supportive they are of each other. Onny, Ash, and True each learn something about themselves as the night unfolds and plans go awry in rather humorous ways. I also enjoy the nods to 'Hocus Pocus' and the minor fairy-tale vibes throughout.

Pre-order links here.

#NetGalley - I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s.