The Litertarian

Book Review:: Let It Settle | Michael Galyon

Have you seen the dreamy guy on Instagram with the soft comforting voice and the message to slow down, take a breath, center yourself, and let it settle? It’ll make you stop scrolling every time. His name is Michael Galyon, and now, he’s written a book!

(You can find his instagram feed here – you’re welcome)

Let It Settle, Daily Habits to Move You from Chaos to Calm Michael Galyon Book Cover

I received this book as an advanced listening copy from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review, and I cannot tell you how much I recommend it. If you clicked over to Michael’s IG, you’ll know what I mean by saying he has one of the most calming, gentle voices. Listening to it is like warm honey pouring across your shoulders and down your back. I don’t know if it would even matter what he was saying, I think it would be a calming experience regardless.

But what he is saying is so valuable.

This book is designed to give you lots of tools he help guide you through stress, anxiety, and bad patterns of thinking. Even more than that, honestly. It is an arsenal to guard you against the chaos the human brain can often be.

There are very introductory meditation exercises here if you’re a beginner, like the body scan, but there are also many more advanced exercises explored too, and each includes an anecdote that help to explain how they can be helpful in practical application.

Then there are the actual guided meditations. Again, the audiobook is going to give you more bang for your buck here. I’ve never felt more relaxed and centered when listening to an audiobook as I did this one. It is so soothing.

If you’re looking for some extra help managing the chaos of your life, I really recommend this book. I think anyone could find something in its pages to benefit them.

Details

Title:: Let It Settle: Daily Habits to Move You From Chaos to Calm
Author:: Michael Galyon
Genre:: Non-Fiction/Self Help
Publisher:: Wiley
Length:: 256 pages
Audio Length:: 6h 25m
Audiobook Narrator:: Michael Galyon (the author)
Audiobook Publisher:: Ascent Audio
Published:: September 24th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [eBook] [Audible]

Book Review:: Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour | Nora Nguyen

(You’ll have to forgive me for not knowing the way to type the correct characters for the Vietnamese names/words in this review – I wish I did, it’s so beautiful!)

Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour Nora Nguyen Book Cover

Evie’s Auntie Hao leaves her San Franscisco row house to Evie in her will, with the condition that she goes on the flagship matchmaking tour of the new, exclusive, Love Yeu company. It’s three weeks in her father’s home country of Vietnam, a place Evie never got to visit with Auntie Hao, as they had once dreamed of. With her career as a poet in a stagnant lull, and a recent betrayal in her romantic relationship, she has nothing to lose. Adam is Love Yeu’s CMO, having left a lucrative job in business to help get his sister’s matchmaking tour business off on the right foot. After a disaster of a previous relationship, love is the last thing he’s looking for, but his sister convinces him to join the tour anyway, so he can get firsthand experience of the company’s offerings.

Adam’s family is wealthy and very traditional. Patriarchy is very rampant in the family culture, and everyone is expected to play their role. In contrast, Evie lives largely on a whim. Above all, she is free. It attracts Adam immediately, and holds his attention, even when he tries to talk himself out of it.

Vietnam sounds incredible. The wild(er)ness, the history, the people, the food; Nguyen’s writing makes the tour experiences pop off the page. In a book about a matchmaking tour there is obviously quite a large cast of characters required. I found myself skimming over some of the dense character scenes, because I knew most of them weren’t playing a crucial role. I didn’t care much about the extraneous characters. The ones who did stick out though, were beautifully complex and compelling, especially our two leads.

One character I didn’t jive with was Ruby, Adam’s sister. At the beginning she seemed okay, she was the one who got Adam to agree to go on the matchmaking tour, however, she quickly changed her tune when he started actually getting something out of it. She was the great Reversing Ruby, with a heavy side of Negative Nancy thrown in. And I didn’t care much for her overall, even given the third act revelations about her.

The themes were well integrated and supported by backstory, however, I felt like it could have probably been shorter. Some things felt revisited a few too many times, or a little too blatantly. Overall though, the story was done very well.

This book is a great escape. Beautiful scenery, lots of heart, growth, and passion. Definitely worth your time!

This is an arc review & my honest opinions.

Details

Title:: Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour
Author:: Nora Nguyen
Genre:: Romance
Publisher:: Avon
Length:: 304 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 45m
Audiobook Narrator:: Ewan Chung & Viet Thanh Nguyen
Audiobook Publisher:: Harper Audio
Published:: September 24th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

Summertime Punchline | Betty Corrello
PS I Hate You | Lauren Connolly
Sunshine & Spice | Aurora Palit

Book Review:: The Christmas Dog Sitters | Lucy Mitchell

Some books are hits, and some are just misses, and unfortunately, this one was the latter for me.

The Christmas Dog Sitters Lucy Mitchell Book Cover

When Rachel’s sister is going away with her new husband on a 3-week vacation, she asks her to come to their English manor to dog-sit their misbehaved dog Humphrey. Her family insists she takes her aging grandfather to care for while she’s there. She’s been struggling to cope with the death of her best friend and roommate, and her love life has been in shambles as well. This may just be the holiday season that will change everything.

I may have been in the wrong space to read this one, but it felt like a pretty bad Hallmark movie. A lot of the conflict was incredibly high drama, some of which was recycled several times, which bothered me (how many times are we supposed to be interested with the dog running away? Like, maybe two? Not four, five, six…I lost count). I was really looking forward to the romance, but that storyline might have been my least favorite of them all. I didn’t feel like there was a lot of support there to justify a lot of what happened. Ben seemed to do a 180 personality-wise, and why? Just so he could be the ‘grumpy’ half of grumpy/sunshine? That’s how it seemed to me. Her family was pretty wretched, except her grandfather. Also, the audiobook narrator didn’t help with the over-the-top drama. Some of the voices were exaggerated to the point of silliness in some cases (Fiona comes to mind).

I did like the grief plotlines. It integrated a lot of the characters together in a common feeling and tangle the relationships up a little bit. That was the part of this book that shined the brightest for me.

If you really like goofy high-drama stories, you might enjoy it. In my opinion, there are far better holiday stories to invest your time into.

I did get an advanced listening copy from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Details

Title:: The Christmas Dog Sitters
Author:: Lucy Mitchell
Genre:: Holiday Romance
Publisher:: Bloodhound Books
Length:: 292 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 3m
Audiobook Narrator:: Charlie Albers
Audiobook Publisher:: Dreamscape Media
Published:: September 19th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 2-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

The Christmas Inn | Pamela Kelley

Book Review:: The Slowest Burn | Sarah Chamberlin

So you like to read romance…lucky for you, I’ve found your next favorite romance author. Do you enjoy authors like Tarah Dewitt, Katherine Center, Sarah Adams, and Abby Jimenez? Go ahead and add Sarah Chamberlain to the list, because you’ve stumbled onto the review one of my favorite romance reads of 2024. I can save you a few minutes of reading by telling you to just buy it. This is one you’re going to want to chronicle on your bookshelves at home. It’s so good. But if you still want the deetz, I got you.

The Slowest Burn Sarah Chamberlain Book Cover

Ellie is a cookbook ghostwriter living in the cottage house of her dead husband’s parents. He died three years ago, leaving her a widow in her late twenties. Since then, she’s thrown herself into her work, saving money to eventually buy her own place and get back on her feet. Unfortunately, the client of her latest project is less than genial. In fact, he’s all but openly hostile. She’s got the writing & cooking skills she needs to do a great job, but she can’t write a book in this guy’s voice unless she knows…literally anything…about him. Kieran recently won a prestigious televised cooking contest and his agent is looking to capitalize on the flash of fame. Putting out a cookbook is the obvious step forward, except it feels like schoolwork, and Kieran has never been good at that. In fact, he’s been exceptionally bad at it, and this project is stirring up a lot of old insecurities.

Oh, but this book is delicious. There is something in reading about food, even if it’s food you’d never want to eat yourself. Happy croissants? I can get behind that. A blood orange and duck confit salad? Yeah, that’s not going into my mouth. But reading about it? I mean, it’s sexy. It’s sexy when someone takes such care in choosing and preparing ingredients to assemble a bite that will do pleasant things in your mouth. Food is romance (or at least it can be, and in this book, trust me, it is).

But I haven’t even gotten to the swoony bits yet! Let’s take the title, The Slowest Burn. I mean, with a title and a cover like that (LOOK HOW PRETTY IT IS), you just know you’re in for a treat, and Chamberlain did not disappoint.

What is it we love about a slow burn romance? The longing. The intimacy of getting to know someone so completely before jumping in the sack, right? The deep and honest friendship with possibility that simmers and fizzles just underneath every interaction. Check. Check. Check.

Ellie and Kieran are both misunderstood. They each have trauma from their formidable years that shaped them into what they currently are: functioning adults with relationship issues (aren’t we all). Through the forced proximity of the cookbook project, which they both need to do well, their layers of armor weaken around each other as they connect over the food they’re creating together. A true bond forms between them that emulsifies into something simply irresistible.

Both main characters have depth and realistic internal conflict they need to work through. Ellie needs to work on enforcing boundaries, and Kieran has always been too much for most people to handle and is a little too eager to employ his coping mechanisms.

But it’s not all about the romance! There are many other types of relationships explored in these pages: professional, familial (siblings, parents, in-laws), and friendships. Themes of grief are discussed as well as learning disabilities. The FMC is plus sized, the MMC isn’t super tall, both are simply integrated into the characterization and not flouted around just to be ‘Inclusive’. So much good stuff to chew on in this book!

I read this book as an advanced listening copy from the publisher & netgalley. I devour audiobooks like Ellie devours frites, and this one was no exception. Both narrators did a great job. Occasionally I could hear a few mouth sounds from Hunter Johns, but to be honest, I actually liked that. *blushes*

So in conclusion, this book is amazing, and you all should read it. Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.

Details

Title:: The Slowest Burn
Author:: Sarah Chamberlain
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: Griffin
Length:: 336 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 12m
Audiobook Narrator:: Hunter Johns & Kate Handford
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: September 24th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars
Spice Rating:: 3

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

Savor It | Tarah Dewitt
PS I Hate You | Lauren Connolly

Book Review:: If I Were You | Cesca Major

The good ol’ fashioned body swap, but make it your sister’s wedding weekend, and the groom is one of the boyfriend’s oldest friends so everyone at the wedding is someone you know!

Amy and Flynn have issues. They’ve been drifting apart recently. Amy is pulling away, and Flynn is doing anything he can think of to pull her back in. They’re close to a breaking point when Amy’s sister Laura and Flynn’s friend Jay are getting married. Everything is on hold until afterwards. But on the way there, the tension is palpable and eventually boils over when a herd of cows makes it impossible for them to make it on time. Pacing around the car in the pouring rain, lightning strikes, and they’re thrust into the wrong bodies.

Flynn is someone who will do anything to smooth things over for other people, including bending himself into whatever shape they need him to be & lying about just about everything. Amy is an assertive bleeding-heart (activist) who doesn’t usually bother to hear the whole story before taking up arms and refuses to chase her own dreams. I didn’t like either one of them, which made it hard to enjoy this story.

Man, I really hate to say that, because I LOVED Maybe Next Time by this same author & was so looking forward to this book. The concept is intriguing – magical realism is sometimes a little hard to swallow, and unfortunately that’s exactly the case for this one.

Largely this book hung upon a whole lot of miscommunication. It’s aggravating as a reader, but can be realistic. In this case, it didn’t even feel all that realistic. These two characters have been in a relationship for two years but know almost nothing about each other. I think for this to work, we would have needed to see more of what was holding them together. I concede it’s not really a romance, more of a personal growth story (for both MCs), but it just didn’t track for me, logically. We get to see the weekend they met/got together, but that wasn’t enough to carry the weight of all the baggage throttled atop them.

The wedding antics were typical rom com faire: silly, everything-goes-wrong-that-can-go-wrong sort of stuff. It annoyed me that neither one of them was remotely good at impersonating the other, which only reinforced the idea that they know nothing about each other.

I wasn’t a fan of the beginning either. The chapters were quite manic as the body swap was happening, and I think half of them were completely unnecessary, personally. I’ve seen readers complain about dual timelines a few times and have never understood that complaint. However, I’m not sure it was necessary in this book. It’s already complicated enough with the body swap aspect. I think having the characters reflecting on their pasts and their worries about what might come out during the wedding festivities could have made them more likeable and sympathetic. As it is, they’re only worried about it like they’re still terrified of their life partner finding out anything deeper about them…I just couldn’t connect to that.

The author did take the opportunity to explore a topic that is only possible with a book like this: the physical space a body takes up and the dynamic it automatically creates – being physically bigger or smaller than someone else is a power dynamic, even if most of us don’t leverage it that way. It was only a minor exploration though, because everything in this book seemed to only scrape the surface.

I am grateful for the publisher & netgalley for providing me with an advanced readers copy of this title. It was an intriguing idea…I just wish I liked it more.

Details

Title:: If I Were You
Author:: Cesca Major
Genre:: Women’s Fiction/Magical Realism
Publisher:: William Morrow
Length:: 384 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 20m
Audiobook Narrator:: Katherine Press & Nikolas Salmon
Audiobook Publisher:: Harper Audio
Published:: September 24th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

The Unhoneymooners | Christina Lauren
Funny Story | Emily Henry

Book Review:: Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

Tragedy changes people. It ripples outward, affecting more than just the usual suspects. It captures the families with the biggest waves, the friends and acquaintances, and still others, too, as reality struggles back into equilibrium. Simply bearing witness to something is enough, sometimes, to change someone. And for anyone involved, it can calcify even the most innocent things into something to be held close like a secret. Words muttered by instinct; others unspoken. Guilt somehow osmotically bleeds into everyone surrounding tragedy. Because it’s not just one story, is it? Everyone has their own. Every Moment Since is a brilliant and compelling crime suspense novel that captures these truths, and others, so well through an emotional character driven narrative.

Every Moment Since Marybeth Mayhew Whalen Book Cover

Eleven-year-old Back to the Future obsessed Davy Malcor disappeared one night over twenty years ago. Now, his iconic jacket has been found, and the case is no longer cold. His brother, who now makes a living off of his tell (almost) all book, comes back to town to be with his family as the investigation ramps back up. It is the formative unsolved case for the town of Wynotte North Carolina. There was never any evidence for conviction, but rumor has power too, and the town has its suspect, who never did leave town.

This story was so profound for me. It is not about the solving of a decades-old cold case, it is about the repercussions the disappearance of one little boy had on a whole community of people. The father who could not let go of hope to a level of personal detriment, the mother in denial of deep-rooted resentments, the brother, parading around behind a facade of the truth for a living. The sculptor, the girl next door, the young girl who was the last to see Davy alive…it is such a rich and compelling story with layers that resound through time. It is a study, in some sense (as I suppose all novels are), of human nature.

I loved the jumping perspective. Getting into the heads of so many characters was so interesting, as each one seemed to focus on a different aspect of the tragedy. It also kept the pacing and suspense wound tight. I was lucky to be granted an advanced listening copy by the publisher and netgalley, and the full cast did an excellent job giving life to each of the characters. I couldn’t stop listening!

I have been enjoying reading suspense novels more and more as the days grow shorter, and this one is one of the best I’ve read. If you are a fan of the genre at all, you’ll want to get your hands on a copy. I can’t wait to read more from Marybeth Mayhew Whalen.

Details

Title:: Every Moment Since
Author:: Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Genre:: Thriller/Suspense
Publisher:: Harper Muse
Length:: 384 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 48m
Audiobook Narrator:: Cassandra Campbell, George Newbern, Kirby Heyborne, Jane Oppenheimer, Macleod Andrews, Renata Friedman
Audiobook Publisher:: Harper Audio
Published:: October 1st, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister
The Midnight Feast | Lucy Foley

TBR Challenge | Reading Books I Already Own

I don’t know about you, but for me 2024 has been absolutely unhinged as far as collecting new books. This was the year of the preorder for me, and I’ve become addicted to getting book mail every.single.week.

I’ve read a lot of them (I give myself credit for that), but the rate at which I’ve been buying new books vs. the amount of them I’ve been reading is, frankly, unsustainable.

The problem is only exacerbated by the fact I started arc reading on netgalley this year, and I always have books cycling through the libby app (where you can check out books from your local library). Reading those free books only sets me back further from reading the ones I already have.

All of that is well and good, but I buy books because I’m so excited to read them! It makes me sad to see them sitting on my shelf, waiting for me to make time for them. I have this desperate burning feeling in my soul to get them read, to show them love, to add them to my reading journal. I want to have read them, and you can’t get there without turning pages!

And then there are those that I don’t see regularly, because they’re on digital shelves. I don’t even want to talk about how many ebooks and audiobooks I have purchased that are still unread (but I absolutely will in just a sec). There are so many great sales I have taken advantage of over the years, stuffing my shelves like a dragon hoarding gold.

It’s out of control.

But I have a plan to change that!

…uh, read them.

It’s really that simple, isn’t it? But it’s not as much fun as putting together a little challenge for myself.

So! The first thing I’ve done is write aaaall of them down. Here is where things stand right now (this includes all books I currently have preordered).

[As a disclaimer, please know that I’ve been a reader all my life and am in my mid-thirties. I’ve had lots of adult years to be collecting books. This situation did not happen overnight, nor are these only the books I’ve purchased this year. Some of these books have been on my shelves for a decade. Let’s keep this a judgment-free zone please!]

So, what’s the damage?

Physical Books:: 159 (+54 Classics)
Ebooks:: 85
Audiobooks:: 145

That’s a total of 443 books.

Now, a few notes of how I’ve counted them…there are some duplicates. Some, especially classics, I own multiple copies of. I’ve only counted them under the classics category once, but I might also own an ebook or audiobook of the title, which are counted in those categories. If I own a compilation, for example the complete works of Jane Austen, I would count it as one in audiobook format, but each story separately in physical format (this makes sense to me because I’m going to listen to an audiobook front to back, but will pick and choose in a physical book). Technically I’ve included a few books that I’ve read but it’s been a reeeeeally long time (having only a vague recollection of what they’re even about) and I want to read them again. There are probably less than 20 of those altogether.

Anyway, I’ve got quite the project ahead of me!

Beyond focusing on busting through the list, I’m not imposing any further rules on myself…yet. If I need to, I’m not opposed to getting strict with my buying habits and setting a rule something along the lines of ‘read 5 books from the list, buy 1 book’, or a book buying ban in general for awhile.

And I’m beginning NOW. Carpe Diem! There’s no day like today!

It’s always tempting to push off something like this to a ‘pretty’ date, like January 1st, or even October 1st, but to hell with that. I’m not going to put anything off for an arbitrary reason that matters to no one, least of all me.

So wish me luck! I know I’m not the only reader with far too many unread books on their shelves. Do you have a system to manage your TBRs? If so, share your secrets and wisdom with the rest of the class!

If you are doing (or what to do) a similar challenge yourself, please let me know! You can tag me on instagram or threads @thelitertarian, or leave comments here, of course! I’d also love to be your friend on goodreads, where I primarily track my books publicly. Here’s my profile:: Emily (The Litertarian) (emmaleighbug) (1,203 books) | Goodreads

Happy Reading!

Book Review:: Ruthless Vows | Rebecca Ross

Letters of Enchantment Book #2 (conclusion)

[Book One is Divine Rivals – skip this review if you haven’t read it yet! There will be rampant book one spoilers!]

The last pages of Divine Rivals left me SO nervous. I was terrified it was going to be similar to a Hunger-Games-Peeta situation, but it was clear pretty early that was not going to be the case. Maybe that’s a spoiler, but it held me back from picking this book up for a few weeks, because my heart couldn’t take that! So for anyone else in the same boat, know it’s okay. This book isn’t going to run your heart through a shredder in that same agonizing, irreparable way.

The war between gods continues with fervor. Dacre moves relentlessly toward the city of Oath and his estranged god-wife Enva. Corruption in the city has left it unprepared for the invasion Dacre is planning. Iris is back in town, working at the newspaper with Attie and they’re striving, as ever, for the truth. Meanwhile, Roman wakes up among Dacre’s ranks with no memory of who he is, or how he came to be there. He is tasked with writing articles for Dacre, from his side of the war, in direct opposition of Iris and friends. But he’s still using the Aluette typewriter, and Iris is determined to save him.

This is a book about war. War is violent and messy and maims or destroys everything it touches. Rebecca Ross did a great job keeping that front of mind. There was no character unscathed by their experiences in this story, but in the end, there was hope. There was always hope, and that’s the key to a story with so much darkness.

If you loved the romance of Divine Rivals, rejoice! This book is still very romantic. Iris and Roman’s romance is plagued by distance and danger, but there are other sparks kindling, too. I loved the subtlety of Attie’s love story told in lingering looks, concern, and quiet conversation. I loved that Forest was able to find someone to share himself with, too. Within the darkness, there is always light.

The focus, of course, is not the romance, but the whole saving-the-world-as-we-know-it thing. Rest assured, there is plenty of action in the relentlessly paced plot. So much is at stake, and success isn’t guaranteed. The tension is strung tight, but there are little moments of respite sprinkled in too that offer great balance.

This book had to accomplish so much. It is the conclusion of the series, and from where Divine Rivals ended, there was a lot of ground left to cover. This book was far more heavy on the magic and fantasy, but since book one eased us in, I still think it’s a great entry-level fantasy book those unused to the subject could easily devour.

There is nothing in this duology I would change. It’s wonderful. No notes! If it were up to me, it would be required reading! I know I will personally be rereading these beautiful books many many times, and the hardcovers look gorgeous on their well-earned place on my bookshelf.

Details

Title:: Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment #2)
Author:: Rebecca Ross
Genre:: Historical Fantasy
Publisher:: Wednesday Books
Length:: 432 pages
Audio Length:: 14h 6m
Audiobook Narrator:: Alex Wingfield & Rebecca Norfolk
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: December 26th, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

In the Likely Event | Rebecca Yarros
Divine Rivals | Rebecca Ross

Book Review:: Divine Rivals | Rebecca Ross

Letters of Enchantment Book #1

Holy hell, I was not prepared for this book. I like to go into new stories blind, especially the hyped ones, and this one has earned its reputation. In fact, I’m not sure it’s popular enough! Y’all have to read this.

Iris E. Winnow has taken a job as an obituary writer at a local newspaper after her brother went off to war, fighting for a god, leaving her alone with her alcoholic mother to care for. She is in direct competition with fellow newspaper cleric Roman C. Kit for a columnist job. For Roman, it’s supposed to be the start of a respectable career, pressured heavily by his father – for Iris, it could change her and her mother’s entire lives. In the evenings, Iris types out long letters to her brother, but each and every one of them are unanswered. He’s disappeared. Then one day, a reply shows up…in her wardrobe. She and the mystery correspondent who wrote to her strike up an unlikely friendship through the pair of magically connected typewriters, and she resolves, eventually, to do anything she can to find her brother and bring him back home.

That’s all I’ll say without revealing too much. But Magical typewriters? Rivals to…more? FMC with a hero complex (in a good way)? Genuine friendships with good people? What is there not to love?

When I was young, I read a WWI YA romance – a random choice at the library (all the best ones are – aren’t they?). I can’t remember what it was for the life of me, but this book has me back in those same feels. It harks of a time where words wooed, expectations of ‘the right path’ were high, and love was quick and all-consuming in a different sort of way. When you find something you love in a war-torn world – you hold on tight and make each moment count, because anything might happen next.

Iris is not only pulling herself up by her bootstraps and earning every inch of what she has, she is constantly in search of more she can do, ways she can be of service. Listening to the accounts of soldiers in the divine wars, helping with evacuations…Iris is a symbol of many real-life heroes that existed in a war-torn Britian once upon a time.

It’s not often you read a book with a perfect title. The kind that actually reflects the content, not only on one level, but several. The kind where you reach for your book as you’re nearing the end, catch the title out of the corner of your eye, and realize what it means. Deeper than the surface level. On all the levels. Both Divine Rivals & Ruthless Vows (the sequel) have this epic energy.

Readers of historical fiction, especially of the early twentieth century/WWI&II era, will eat this up. It’s nostalgic of wartime British Isles, with a fantastical twist. It’s perfect for those looking to dip their toes into fantasy. The fantasy elements are certainly present, but they’re not overwhelming or difficult to understand. It’s really a scintillating wartime love story all readers can enjoy. Consider Divine Rivals a gateway drug, and prepare yourself to crave more!

Details

Title:: Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1)
Author:: Rebecca Ross
Genre:: Historical Fantasy
Publisher:: Wednesday Books
Length:: 357 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 50m
Audiobook Narrator:: Alex Wingfield & Rebecca Norfolk
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: April 4th, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

In the Likely Event | Rebecca Yarros
Ruthless Vows | Rebecca Ross

Book Review:: Once Upon A Boyband | Jenny Proctor

A book for all the fangirls out there who ever fanaticized about meeting their girlhood pop star crushes, catching their eye, and falling in head-over-heels MFEO love with them. This one’s for you.

Once Upon A Boyband Jenny Proctor Book Cover

It’s just another workday for Laney at her father’s veterinary practice, when she and the hunky dog-rescue guy find themselves in a flirty back-and-forth neither one of them expected. When he gets locked out of his car with a full litter of puppies, Laney gives him a ride and they hit it off. Things are going well when she finds out Adam Deacon Driscoll is actually Deke Driscoll, the mega-boyband-popstar she was infatuated with in high school. He’s been running away from fame since the band broke up when he was 18, but there’s a charity concert coming up, and the guys want to do a reunion gig. Everything in Adam’s body is telling him not to do it, except his heart, which still has a soft spot for music.

Okay, it’s a little cheesy with a title like Once Upon a Boyband, but this book is actually so good! I really liked the two lead characters – Adam/Deke is very well developed, and Laney is endearing, but really, she’s kind of a stand-in for…every girl. You can put yourself in her shoes and live vicariously in the romance – and ooo, what a romance it is.

I’m a sucker for soulmate level attraction. When the connection happens, there’s just no going backwards. I’m not talking insta-love, I’m talking meaningful, magnetic, electric energy between two people that is mutual and all consuming. This book has it. The side characters, too, had spirit, and I loved that about them.

It was a really fun story with so many moments of sweet tenderness and care. The conflicts are very realistic and the solutions don’t come easy. It’s cute, it’s nostalgic, it’s relatable…it’s everything you want in a sweet escape.

Thank you to Jenny Proctor and netgalley for choosing me as an arc reader for this title. It was a pleasure to read!

Details

Title:: Once Upon A Boyband
Author:: Jenny Proctor
Genre:: Romance
Publisher:: Jenny Proctor Creative
Length:: 358 pages
Published:: September 1st, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Spice Rating:: 1 (kisses and snuggles)

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