etymoye's reviews
45 reviews

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes

1.0

 The good:

  • I loved the setting, the small, magical town of Glimmer Falls. It has kind of Harry Potter-ish vibes but for grown ups. Once the bad taste of book 1 has left my mouth, I think I’d be up for book 2 to see if it’s more my style based solely on the setting. 
  • The beginning and the ending are pretty decent. They’re honestly the only parts that feel like there’s anything happening, plot-wise.
  • Also, I LOVED Calladia, the heroine’s friend. And book 2 is her book. So I could see myself giving it a shot at some point.

Calladia’s dating history had left her with a hair trigger when it came to shitty men, and she loved fighting, especially when defending a friend, but Mariel wasn’t sure she wanted to sic Calladia on the demon just yet.

Calladia’s a real one. 

The not-so-good:

Honestly, most everything else, unfortunately. 

  • For most of the book, I kept thinking how the pace of the plot felt really strange. Like we were meandering through events. Like, at one point, the heroine admits she needs to go to the library to research demons, but doesn’t want her mom to find out (it’s a small town, her mom is a powerful witch and a big deal). So she doesn’t go, until she just randomly does, and…nothing happens? Her mom never finds out, and what’s even weirder is that the scene happens on-page, but it’s all information the reader already knows. So it ends up feeling really boring and a waste of time. 
  • There were multiple scenes like this, where the characters don’t know something and the reader does, but the author chooses to go into detail about it as if it’s new information to the reader. And it really ends up messing with the tension and momentum of the plot.
  • Once I read the afterword, the strangeness of the plot made sense. This was Reylo fanfic at one point, right? I love fanfic and have no problem reading it, but this, to me, read like a really good fanfic and a not-so-good professional novel, like it needed a little more reworking before publication. 


Safety Stats:
Ages:
The hero is two hundred years old, the heroine is an adult in her late twenties, I believe.
Cheating:
None.
Other OM/OW:
None.
Separation:
Well, the third act breakup feels pretty random, but they’re still tied to each other through the bargain. So even though they “break up” for a bit, nobody goes anywhere.
Triggers:
The heroine's mom is pretty toxic and borderline verbally/emotionally abusive, but otherwise none.
HEA/HFN?:
Honestly, I’d almost call this more of a HFN. The hero is mortal and they agree they want to spend the rest of their lives together, but there’s no marriage or anything.
 
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The Wrong Mr. Right by Stephanie Archer

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Genres: Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Tropes:
Friends to Lovers, Cinnamon Roll Hero, Possessive Hero, Sweet/Gentle Hero, Praise Kink, Slow Burn, Sports/Athletics, There Was Only One Bed

I’m actually kind of shocked by how much I loved this book, because book 1 was enjoyable but not, like, book-hangover amazing. But this one was. Wyatt is the perfect book boyfriend–sweet, charming, an absolute cinnamon roll who is pretty much down for the heroine from the beginning. And Hannah is wonderful–we get to see her grow and change without the book or Wyatt ever portraying her as “not good enough”.

The premise of the book is that Hannah, our heroine, is about to turn thirty and decides she wants Wyatt, our cinnamon roll of a hero, to teach her to be a “hot girl” to find a boyfriend and kickstart her life. Up until this point, she’s been mostly quiet, shy, and doing what her father has told her to do. Before starting the book, I was concerned that Wyatt would be the asshole who couldn’t see the heroine as being worthy of love until she changed (or that the book would portray her that way), but fortunately, Wyatt likes her from the beginning. They’ve met before, and he says that she was basically avoiding him due to shyness, so he never talked to her.

My eyebrows pinched together. She didn’t need to change a thing. She was adorable, with her pretty eyes and sweet little mouth. Even her glasses were cute in that dorky-girl way. The collar of her sweater was pulled to the side and a pale pink bra strap peeked out, and my gaze raked down her form. At Emmett’s wedding, I was going to ask her to dance but every time I tried, she had disappeared. A pang of regret hit me in the chest. I should have tried harder to ask her to dance at the wedding. Her wanting to change bummed me out.

Safety Stats:
Ages:
Heroine is 29 (she mentions several times that she’s “almost thirty”), didn’t catch   the hero's age. Presumably late 20s/early 30s as well.
 
Cheating:
None.
 
Other OM/OW:
Minor. Heroine goes on a few casual dates with different men, but they don’t go anywhere.
 
Triggers:
Some hypothetical discussions of pregnancy between hero and heroine towards the end of the book. Some mentions of the hero’s aunt who died of dementia in the past. Also some mention of the heroine's mom who passed away of a terminal illness in the past.
 
HEA/HFN?
HEA. Married and discussing babies.
 
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Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

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emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

 Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Paranormal / Supernatural
Tropes:
Enemies to Lovers, Sweet/Gentle Hero, Magic, Slow Burn

Ross’s writing is phenomenal. Just a gorgeously written book. The love and the LONGING that Iris and Roman have for each other is just palpable, damn. And their devotion to each other is just chef’s kiss. 

My only complaint about the book is a VERY minor quibble, which is that
Roman WASN’T a part of the final fight to take down Dacre?! I’m sorry, but what? Not that I don’t love Attie, but I fully expected them to stumble across Roman in the caves and bring him with them. I was honestly shocked and disappointed that he wasn’t a part of taking down Dacre.

But otherwise loved this book. A really gorgeous and moving love story. For fans concerned about whether or not there is a HEA (I know I kind of was going into it),
yes, there is a HEA
. 
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That Kind of Guy by Stephanie Archer

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Genres: Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Tropes:
Enemies to Lovers, Fake Relationship, Forced Proximity, Hero - Bad Boy, Hero - Possessive, Marriage of Convenience, No 3rd Act Breakup

Pleasantly surprised by this one. The first 20% or so was a REAL slog, to the point where I was kind of worried this would end up being a DNF for me. But once the actual plot starts, the story really picks up.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the spice was very well written–everybody stays in character with lots of sexy banter. (I hate it when characters suddenly do a 180 during sex scenes and abruptly start acting or talking in a way they haven’t demonstrated before.)

My only complaint about this book is perhaps not a fair one, which is that it would benefit from an editor. The issue isn’t spelling and grammar as much the actual writing. The first 20% relies VERY heavily on telling the reader everything, with almost no showing. 

Even the details that are supposed to carry some emotional weight like the heroine’s deadbeat dad (which of course impacts her willingness to jump into relationships) is described in a very matter-of-fact, almost distant way to the reader. This is a tricky line to walk for any writer, especially an indie one, but if Archer had been able to close that gap, this would have been a five-star read for me.

Safety Stats
Ages:
Both characters are adults in their 30s.
Cheating:
None
Other OM/OW:
None. The hero gets a little jealous/possessive at times, but neither dates anyone else, and any mention of past partners is kept vague..
Separation:
None. I would describe this as not having a 3rd act breakup.
Triggers:
Some mention of heroine's deadbeat dad who abandoned her as a child. Doesn't get too descriptive.
HEA/HFN?
HEA, married (for real) by the end. No mention of pregnancy or kids.
 
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The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Genres: Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Tropes:
Fake Relationship, Forced Proximity, Friends to Lovers, Grumpy/Sunshine, Marriage of Convenience, Slow Burn. Sports/Athletics, Workplace/Office
 

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me tells the love story between Aiden Graves, defensive end for the National Football Organization, and Vanessa Mazur, his ex-assistant. Aiden asks Vanessa to marry him in order to help him procure citizenship to the United States since Aiden is Canadian.

First, the good things about this book: we see a lot of character growth and change in this novel, mostly on Aiden's end. By the end of the novel, I really found myself appreciating how much our hero had grown. It was also incredibly sweet when he eventually let Vanessa in because we knew how difficult it was for Aiden to open up.

Now, the not-so-good: Aiden, our hero, spends the first 50% of the book or so an indifferent jerk. I kept waiting to see if maybe he was using this facade to hide his feelings for the heroine or something (hey, it's a romance novel!) but no, he really is just that apathetic towards Vanessa for awhile. I suspect this will be a problem for some readers. I will say that although Aiden can be cold for the first half, he is not verbally or physically abusive to Vanessa, nor is he ever with other women.  (Deal breakers for me in a hero.)This book is also VERY MUCH a slow-burn type of romance, so some readers will find it slow paced.

Safety Stats:
Ages:
Vanessa is 26, Aiden is 30.
 
Cheating: 
None.
 
Other OM/OW: 
None.
 
Separation: 
Towards the end of the novel, the couple is briefly separated when Aiden leaves to go train.
 
Triggers: 
Both Aiden and Vanessa were physically abused as children (not sexually). Vanessa by her sisters, Aiden by his dad. Vanessa is in contact with her abusers and they do appear twice in the book.
 
HEA/HFN?: 
Yes, married with children in epilogue.
 
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When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare

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emotional funny lighthearted
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.0

 Very fluffy and sweet. I liked that once Maddie started writing to Logan, he wasn’t with any other women (even though he didn’t actually expect to ever see her in real life.) And Logan was a generally very likable hero - devoted to his men and protective of Maddie.

I didn’t like Logan’s weird insistence about how he couldn’t love Maddie, though. It was okay in the beginning, but it stretched on way too long and kind of felt like the author was just grasping for conflict.

I also didn’t like that Maddie’s PTSD was randomly dropped halfway through the book. All it takes to cure trauma is true love, don’t you know?

Safety Stats:

Ages:
Maddie is 24, I missed Logan’s age.

Cheating:
None.

OM/OW:
None.

Separation:
None. A couple of days toward the end.

Triggers:
None.

HEA?
Yes, married and pregnant in epilogue.
 
Tragic Bonds by J. Bree

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

 I read this as an audiobook on Spotify, and Michelle Williams is a phenomenal narrator. Both she and the writer of the book ( I presume a ghostwriter was involved, as is common with celebrity memoirs) do an excellent job capturing Britney’s voice.

Some people have complained that this skips over certain events and time periods in her life. I’d say this is much more of a memoir than an autobiography, most specifically a memoir of her life events that tie to the conservatorship. Britney focuses a lot on how infantilized she was during certain parts of her life, hence the “woman in me” subtitle. 

I didn’t go in expecting her to go into detail about every aspect of her life, nor do I feel like she really owes the public that level of explanation. She’s clearly approaching this as her chance to tell her side of the story regarding the conservatorship and the narrative spun by her father and Tri-Star Entertainment. I was fine with her picking and choosing what to focus on in the book, especially when the details omitted helped the narrative flow better. 

There were a few times were it did sort of feel like I was reading a press release or something, like the reader was being kept at a slight distance, if that makes sense. But at the end of the day, it’s her story to tell, and I’m sure this was a difficult book to write emotionally.

Overall, a really good read. Very thought provoking. 
Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Overall, a pretty cute and funny read. 

The pros:
-Both MCs are well-developed, with personalities and backstories that influence their behavior and the plot in ways that make sense and show growth by the end of the book.
-Lots of humor
-Decent amount of spice
-No 3rd act break up, woohoo!


The cons:
-Some of the humor was VERY on the nose sometimes, sort of like the author was winking a little too hard at the audience, if that makes sense.
-The constant, explicit hammering of the characters being ENEMIES and now they're LOVERS. Do you get it, audience??
-The ending was only a HFN?? C'mon, that big celebration the Fae wanted should have been a WEDDING and no one can tell me differently.


Overall, really liked this book and will check out her others. 
It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Cute, spicy read. Loved both the hero and heroine. Both characters get a chance to grow without changing who they are. Not a fan of the
dead wife
trope, though. There's just no real way to do it well. Either she didn't mean anything to the hero or she did and it then has to be factored in to the character development, plot, and relationship with the heroine. This book tended to go more of the first route, which makes you wonder what the point even is of included it.