5 stars
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Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays. After the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning bad boy of chess. Nolan’s loss to an unknown rook-ie shocks everyone—especially Mallory. What’s even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. What kind of gambit is Nolan playing? The smart move would be to walk away. Resign. Game over. But Mallory’s victory…
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Mr. Wrong Number by Lynn Painter
Olivia Marshall is the Queen of “Bad Luck”; things always go wrong for her. Following accidently burning down her entire apartment complex, she moves in with her brother and his insufferable best friend Colin. When a “What are you wearing?” text from a random wrong number turns into the hottest, most entertaining—albeit anonymous—relationship of her life, she thinks things might be on the upswing…. Colin Beck has always considered Olivia his best friend’s annoying little sister, but when she moves in with them after one of her worst runs of luck, he realizes she’s turned into an altogether different and sexier distraction. He’s sure he can keep his distance, until…
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Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
A steamy game of cat and mouse between witch and witch-hunter, played out against a backdrop of opulence, secrets, and bloody history. A kingdom previously run by three witch queens, but following a devastating revolution, being a witch will lead to a public execution – hung up like cattle and bled in the streets. Our FMC, Rune, is a witch hiding in plain sight – an airheaded wealthy socialite by day, a witch saving vigilante by night. Rune is courting many of the kingdoms elite, “trying to find a husband”, but she’s really using her dates for vital intel. Through the night, as The Crimson Moth, Rune saves as many…
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Heartless by Elsie Silver
Working as a nanny for the world’s grumpiest single dad should have been simple. Except I can’t keep my eyes off him. And he can’t keep his hands off of me. Cade Eaton is thirteen years older than I am and barely looks my way. Until I get him into the hot tub one night for a game of truth or dare. Then all bets are off—and so are our clothes. Rating: 5/5 ⭐️Genre: Small Town Romance 🤠Series: Chestnut Springs [2/5]Tropes: cowboy, grumpy sunshine, age gap, single dadRecommend?: Yes! 🐎 Cade Eaton, a rough around the edges, grumpy cowboy, is in need of a nanny for the summer to watch…
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Best Books of 2023 (so far)
These are the 9 books or series that I’ve given 4.5 or 5 stars to in 2023. I like to think I’m pretty picky about my 5 stars. A 5 star read for me is something I could not put down, it played into my emotions, I was invested in the characters. Tangled in Tinsel by Trilina Pucci Samantha is an interior decorator with a high-end (and good-looking) clientele. She gets snowed in with four of them. Jace, Reed, Alec, and Cole are the best of friends are love to worship women … together. Both filthy and funny! This might have been my first “why choose/ reverse harem” read, and…
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Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff is the first book in an adult fantasy series. I’m going to keep this short and sweet because it’s all it took for me to run to my library, and I think it will do the same for you. We’re following Mia Corvere who seeks revenge for the murder of her father and ruin of he family name. She attends an assassin school. There is magic involved. Need I say more? The ONE major critique I have of this book is the dang footnotes. Some are telling you more about the setting, or history of the world, while some are just snarky remarks that you may…
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A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is the first in a young adult fantasy series loosely a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Originally a trilogy, now being expanded into 6 core novels and 2 novellas. Feyre is responsible for keeping her family fed since her mother’s death, and father’s injury. She’s become an excellent hunter out of necessity, while her sister’s play the damsel’s in distress. On a hunt, in the desperate months on winter, Feyre finally spots a deer, an animal that could feed her family for weeks, or trade for other necessities. She then notices a large wolf stalking the prey as well. It’s…
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The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson
The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson is a psychological thriller with so many twists and turns. Ted Severson meets a mysterious woman at the airport bar named Lily. He tells her about how he’s just caught his wife, Miranda, cheating on him with their contractor, and how much he wishes she were dead. He was obviously speaking under the influence but Lily takes his wishes to heart and devises a plan. This was the premise given to me, that pushed me to pick up this book. With thrillers, I like to go in knowing as little as possible. However, Goodreads has a much more detailed explanation if you needed…
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Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor is a whimsical young adult fantasy, the first in a duology. You’re following Lazlo Strange, an orphan raised by monks, now a junior librarian, with an obsession with the lost city of Weep. Weep is not the real name of the city, but a word which replaced the name in everyone’s minds when Lazlo was a child. It’s Lazlo’s life mission to rediscover this lost city; he learns all there is to know. One day, a caravan arrives from across the desert, recruiting experts in their field, such as alchemists and engineers, to help the citizens of Weep “solve a problem.” Lazlo, being the…
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A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab
A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab is the second book in the Shades of Magic series. I have done a post on the first in the series, A Darker Shade of Magic, and recommend reading that post first so you are not spoiled in anyway for the series if you haven’t read the first book yet. Four months have passed since the events in the first book; since Rhy was injured, the Dane twins defeated, and Holland sent to die in Black London with the obsidian stone. Kell is getting bored, having given up his smuggling habit following their catastrophic consequences. Red London is preparing to host the…
