madeline's reviews
776 reviews

katee is definitely writing to a core story of feeling like you can only be loved if you fundamentally change yourself, but i think the speed of her output is making her work feel iterative instead of fresh.

i- y'all - 

this! book! has! everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the witticism of a loretta chase and the tender romance of a lisa kleypas. and the tropes!!!!! oh baby, the tropes: wallflower and a rake! he's been in love with her for years! fake dating! fake engagement! 

and then the fake engagement takes them to the border of scotland and you <i>know</i> what that means!!! ugh this was so good.

This book was so, so fun - tightly plotted and paced and a delightful romp that also thinks critically about the changing role of women in the workforce, sexism, aging, and the friends you hold closest to your heart. The ending wraps up a bit too quickly for my taste, but I had such a good time.

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!

Too much setup for future books and not enough world-building - the basics of it are familiar, but the way they play out in Martin's world and the specifics of lore, etc., are totally overlooked. There's just not enough magic! I thought we were getting like a curse breaking romp and it was just... people hanging out and laying plot for future books. Bummer.

Thank you Forever and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was pretty cute! It's tough to write a dual romance, and while this has a relatively short page count, it did read long at points - I wouldn't say that one couple lagged more than the others, because I was equally bored at different parts in each, but I think things could have moved a little faster. There was also some real weird mom stuff (like, mad at mom stuff, not MILF stuff).

The narration was great, though: Greta and Thurman each get their own narrator, and their mutual friend also has her own narrator for their text etc. interludes.

Thank you Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC!

What a weird little novella - I had fun, but I also couldn't really tell you what was going on and why? Which I think is partially my own inability to understand fantasy but also perhaps partially a flaw of the piece. There's more questions left unanswered by the end than answered, which I don't know is a real negative (it's a novella, not everything is going to get addressed), but I think people would be more tolerant if there were like 10 more pages here or the promise of a series. Should the latter manifest, I don't feel the need to return personally, but I certainly wouldn't encourage people to do the same. If you liked Legends & Lattes, you may like this one.

Thank you TOR and NetGalley for the ARC!

I've been looking forward to the second book in this series since halfway through the first book and this definitely didn't disappoint! This is such a fun series: enough paranormal action to satisfy someone looking for something in that genre, but there's also enough background information to be a great choice for someone just coming to the sub-genre, and a lack of the jerky alphahole hero character that many paranormal readers (me included) love but that can be a turn off or barrier to entry for people.

I would have loved a little more backstory for Damian, and a little more self-discovery for Rose. The book feels a little long, but I'm not sure where we could have trimmed some fat to put in more meat. It's a wonderfully fun read, though, and I would truly take a dozen books in this incredibly interesting supernatural world, particularly because of its accessibility to new paranormal romance readers. I'm looking forward to the next book already!

Thank you St. Martin and Edelweis for the ARC!

As per usual, I'm not sure I totally understood everything that was happening in this fantasy-horror-gothic novel. But I did have a great time! I had heard reports that it was gory and I didn't think it was too over-the-top. Definitely enjoyed this one more than The Wolf & The Woodsman, which I did really like.

Thank you Harper and NetGalley for the ARC!

Absolute nonsense - flat, stereotypical characters including a heroine who repeatedly violates HIPAA and a cartoon villain, and horrific writing. 

Thank you Harlequin and NetGalley for the ARC.

Okay, listen - did I finally pick up this ARC because there's a rumor that the pseudonymous author was Stephanie Meyer? Yes. Do I think it actually was Stephanie Meyer? No.

Is it incredible? Absolutely.

Like, whatever expectations I had for this book were totally incorrect - gorgeous, gorgeous sparse prose, simultaneously achy breaky and dryly witty. It is heartbreaking to watch Corinne get shunned and it is heart breaking to watch her fight her way back into her family and it is heart breaking to watch Enoch try and balance what he knows to be the goodness of faith with the incredible harm it has done to people he loves and it is heart repairing to watch these people work through it together. If you like Sally Rooney, I think you might like this.

Thank you St. Martin's and NetGalley for the ARC!