shaykay's reviews
634 reviews

emotional sad tense 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

I feel like this book and the first book are right up there with like the Story of Us. There are a lot of ups and downs and the way the previous book ended made me so mad, but I needed to know what was going to happen. Although I liked how this one ended and that we get dual POVs in here it is a really heartbreaking story. It takes a lot of work to get to that happily ever after in here. It’s a very emotional story. It does make sense why the first book ended the way it did, and I love how it even came up here during one of their conversations. I just wish we had a little bit more because it is rough to read.

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A Pack for Autumn by Emilia Emerson

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emotional hopeful sad 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

Another series I keep seeing all over the place and finally wore me down to pick up the first book. It’s honestly a cute book and falls into the cozy category. I liked Olive and the guys but I kind of wish the tension lasted a little bit longer. In the beginning Olive’s determined to stay away from the guys and constantly turned Easton down but kind of quickly came around. Then for the Finn, I needed more groveling. It’s like all of the tension/drama was quickly explained away or forgiven and I just needed a little bit more drama, but that’s my reading test. The book itself isn’t terrible and is a fall, cozy book. It’s really easy to read with a ton of small-town vibes.

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She's Got Male by Sinclair Kelly

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challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.5

Not going to lie I wasn’t the most excited for this one like I was for previous ones in this series. Plus, this one kind of just came out of the blue but I loved that I picked it up when I did because the book was so good! I love it when books end up being so good like this one. This one is really emotional though because Elliot, our FMC, has a lot of baggage that she’s been carrying since she was a child. I love how determined the guys are and they are so patient with her. I mean the pack has been in love with her for over 10 years. Meanwhile, Sy was like the best friend to a lover and took his time and waited for the right moment to make his move. It was just so good. Even though I think this one might end up being my favorite in the series I do wish that we had a little bit more follow-through here and there, especially when it comes to their families. We know that 3 of them are adopted but they ended up with pretty solid families. But Nix and Raff had families and came up quite a bit but we never actually met them. There are little things like that I wish had a little bit more follow-through. However, this one had a very solid HEA, so I feel like it’s the last book in the series and I really hope we get a book for both JJ and Ez. I mean we know how their stories end thanks to the HEA for this book, but I need to know how they got to that point! One’s a rodeo girl who’s pregnant when we first meet her and she doesn’t remember the guy because it was a one-night stand and then the other is a pop star who has very strict/controlling parents. Both books sound so dang interesting!

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Slaying the Holidays: A Dark Rom Com by Beatrix Hollow

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dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It was an unhinged holiday book that I’ve been dying for to come out! It was supposed to come out earlier in December but was pushed back to the 8th which wasn’t terrible. Even though it had a lot of things that I loved, and some really good banter it did leave me wanting more. I wish we had a little bit more time in this book to discover the truth. I feel like as soon as Sophie finds out Soren takes her. But the other issue is that Soren’s not holding her captive. She can leave at any time, but she chooses to stay. At first, it’s to study him but then things quickly escalate to falling for him. Plus, the book just ends. I kind of wish we had more of an HEA or follow through with some of the characters. Like with her family or even meeting Soren’s kids or learning why his wife left him. It’s just a bit all over the place for me. But there were a lot of elements that I really loved here.

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Greer's Change by Jillian West

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emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

It just sounded like a really fun and interesting monster story so I couldn’t wait to jump into it, especially after learning that it is a standalone with no cliffhangers. It was an addictive book and hard to put down. I loved how it was written and got everyone’s POV. I do wish we had a little bit more in the end when it came to these guys, especially Novak’s POV. It just kind of felt like we went from him denying his feelings for Greer, to saving her life, to being jealous of the other guys’ connection to her. It was just a bit all over the place and I wish we had a little bit more time in his POV or at least communication between the two. Plus, the whole thing with the vampire that turned Greer was a bit confusing. I feel like it wrapped up too easily and I wish it took longer to get to that point or had a bit more satisfying ending with him. Plus, I wish we learned more about who he is or who turned him. We didn’t really get to learn that info, but the questions were asked multiple times throughout the book. But I was hooked on this book and could not put it down and had to jump right into The Monster’s Den since it’s the actual book 1 to the series. Greer can be read as a complete standalone, but we do meet a lot of other characters from the main series, and I feel like the little things/connections with them are kind of lost on me since I haven’t read them yet so now, I’m going back to the actual series and reading it.

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The Monster's Den by Jillian West

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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

I’m so hooked on this world and cannot wait to see where we go from this book. I started with Greer’s book, and it is kind of spin-off/companion book to this series so some of the characters overlap. But I thought that the series was going to follow one story and end with a cliffhanger until the last book. However, I’m glad that isn’t what happened. This first book follows Ember’s mom, Emerson. We actually see Ember in Greer’s book since they are friends and she was really worried about Ember’s disappearance. Anyways Ember is just a baby. We learn how she came to be, how her mom met her fated mates, and even how her brothers were born. I also really like the fact that it had a solid ending too. Anyway, although I really love this world and book, I do like Greer’s book more. There were a lot of similarities between these two books. However, in this one, I just wish that the dark/suspense side was a tiny bit more prevalent and also that we had more world-building. Haven is so interesting to me, but we just barely get into it here. I mean we learn some of the basics like being a sanctuary city, how if humans leave, they don’t remember anything, and some of the dynamics but I want so much more, and it’s something that I wish happened in Greer’s book too even though she ends up in a different city. I can’t wait to read the rest of this series not just for more world building but also to see more of the parents’ books and their connections to Greer’s book. I need more in this world ASAP!

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Christmas in Quincy by Devney Perry

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

It felt like a solid prequel to this series. Now I don’t know how much is going to get linked to the actual series and how much Cleo and Austin are going to appear in the later books. But we did explore the small town. We got to meet the Edens and a few of them had fun little cameos in here. Now I’m really curious about the series and hope to finally read them in 2025. Now as for this novella, although I do wish things would’ve taken a little bit longer to come out to Cleo’s father, Ray, overall, I think this was a really solid story. Even though it is on the shorter side it felt like a satisfying book, and we even get a solid HEA. I just don’t get the connection to the main series for Cleo and Austin.

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Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Honestly, I’ve been kind of curious about these novellas since they’re so short, and thought it would be good to help meet my Kindle reading goal. Anyway out of all of them, this one was the one I was most curious about, and I ended up picking it up because of a book club pick. It wasn’t terrible but things were really fast, and I wish we had more groveling/tension. I do like that we went back in time to see just how much history the main characters had. It wasn’t bad, and maybe we would’ve enjoyed it a little more if we had his POV too but at the same time, we get a lot of his feelings and thoughts. It might just fall where this one is just a little too short and I needed things to simmer a little more.

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Hooves & HeartStrings by Cassie Lein, Alisha Williams

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

3.5

Not going to lie I picked up this one mostly due to the cover. It’s an adorable cover! Anyway, the book itself isn’t bad. It’s just really on the sweeter side of things and I just wanted a little more drama or at least follow through in the end. Especially when it comes to Dahlia. What was the point of her causing issues for her to just disappear? I think she might end up in Sawyer’s book if she ends up getting one. Other than that, I wish we had a little bit more HEA too. I feel like the book just up and ended up instead of giving a satisfying ending. However, I really can’t wait for the next book to come out because it’s Brooks’s story and I need to know what’s going on with him and Stacy!

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Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

This was a pretty unique read, and kind of hard to put down. In the end, I do wish that the games/trials were a little bit more prominent. I feel like once the steam and side quest started coming into the picture, we kind of lost that attention we had on Phantasma but other than that it was a very addictive read. Plus, I'm so curious how Genevieve is even getting a book because everything gets wrapped up pretty tight in this one.

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shaykay's reviews 634 reviews

shaykay's reviews
634 reviews