hollyenchanted's reviews
59 reviews

These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I went into this very worried because I LOVE Sarah's writing so much but was thinking "how much am I going to be able to deal with a controlling and manipulative tech billionaire's decisions impacting those around him at this moment in history." But of course, I shouldn't have worried about that at all. I should have known that Sarah would find a way to tell a story about knowing yourself and finding yourself and grief and family secrets and unexpressed need for connection that's happening to characters we share virtually nothing in common with feel so relatable and compelling. I was so moved by how ultimately hopeful the Storm siblings became, despite their issues and despite their parents (yes, definitely both). 

Romance lovers will also not be disappointed! There's really three solid love stories happening throughout the book. All of which I loved.
Emily and Claudia are an incredible couple, right from the jump. Greta and Tony absolutely killed me. And of course, Alice and Jack, our two main lovebirds. I never thought they wouldn't work, because, hello, Sarah is an HEA expert, but I did worry that Alice would be too pigheaded about it all.
Sarah walked the line of deep emotion and humor perfectly and ultimately this book just brought me so much joy.
A Man for Mrs. Claus by Rebekah Weatherspoon

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

I cannot BELIEVE how much I loved the world that Rebekah created for this book! Not only were the romance and the heat perfect, but every single side character was fleshed out and compelling, and it was just a truly wonderful novel absolutely filled with joyful Christmas Spirit (iykyk).
The Old Place by Bobby Finger

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challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 7%.
Need to be honest with myself after having this on "read" for three years hahahah
Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

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Did not finish book.
Just a little slow. Would try again.
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton

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Did not finish book.
Prose wasn't for me! Would try again though.
Volume 0-Issue None Book of The Month by Mary Jones, Puloma Ghosh, Abby Geni, Juliet Escoria, Christine Vines, Jean Kwok, Lena Valencia

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dark reflective medium-paced

4.0

I love short stories, and this was a really solid compilation.

The Hot Girl-3.5, sardonic and compelling
The Next Husband Game-3, not fleshed out as much as I'd like
The Reclamation- 4, sure, a bit like 9 Perfect Strangers but I could have easily read 200 more pages of this
Lemon Boy- 3.5, ended abruptly but otherwise good
Greensleeves- 4, unsettling and REALLY well done
Heat- 3, the pacing was off for me and some of the assertions (stretch marks = motherhood among others) made it surprising that this was written by a woman. The idea was great though.
A Spell for Disappearing- 4.25, I wanted more!!! 
The Duke's Virgin Spinster: A Steamy Second Chance Regency Romance Novel by Claire Devon, Claire Devon

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
The formatting was so infuriating 
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Knockout by Sarah MacLean

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

Sarah has done it again! This was an incredible, emotional, adventurous, sexy, wonderful love story! Imogen and Tommy were so great in the previous books in this series and seeing them finally figure it out was the best. Obviously, the rest of the Hell's Belles were around, but other parts of the MacLean-iverse also popped up here and there in really truly delightful ways. I just love her writing and love these characters.