romance

Review: The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

~ megs14malloy

The Right Swipe (Modern Love, #1)The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rhiannon Hunter is a successful business woman with one thing on her mind. Her career.

Rhiannon is the founder, creator and CEO of a successful dating app, but she is looking to expand.

She has her sights set on a rival company whose just lost one of their founders. The remaining owner, Annabelle, seems like she could be persuaded to sell, if Rhi could come up with just the right pitch.

Samson Lima is a former pro-football player, who happens to be the nephew of Annabelle.

He also happens to be the hot guy that Rhi hooked up with one magical night. He subsequently ghosted her.

So when Rhi spots him at an industry event, she runs. This is the last person she ever wants to see again!

When Samson and Rhi are forced to work together, however, sparks begin to fly once again. Privately, of course. Neither one of them is about to communicate what they are feeling.

In the beginning, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to connect with this. Rhi felt too rigid, but once I learned more about her character, her behavior began to make a lot of sense.

In fact, she became relatable and by the end, I absolutely adored her.

Samson, I loved right from the start, but I think Rai made him fairly irresistible. His relationship with his Aunt was so fun to read.

Actually, all of his relationships were pretty great. His friend group is definitely goals. So cute.

As with many Adult Romances, the drama mainly revolves around miscommunications and misconnections, which I know for a lot of people can be frustrating.

I think Rai did a great job though of resolving things in a timely manner. I never felt like I wanted to beat my head against a wall, so that’s a plus.

Also, can we all agree that verbalizing desires and consent is sexy AF?

The steamy scenes were great. There were just enough to add that extra-pearl clutching factor without diminishing the other serious subplots.

I love football, so thought it was nice to see the issue of CTE, and the league’s initial reaction to it, spotlighted here. Samson’s life was filled with individuals impacted by the degenerative brain disease and I thought that was displayed so well.

I also love business, so Rhi’s issues were equally as interesting to me. Overall, I felt it was a very well-rounded story.

I’m so excited to continue on with Rai’s, Modern Love series. This definitely exceeded my expectations.

I believe the next story follows Rhi’s silent partner, and sometimes roommate, Katrina. I’m looking forward to it!!

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Review: The Brightest Night (Origin #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

~ megs14malloy

The Brightest Night (Origin, #3)The Brightest Night by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well, this is going to get uncomfortable.

The Brightest Night is the third installment to Jennifer L. Armentrout’s, Origin series.

Since this is the third book, some minor spoilers may lay ahead.

First off, the rating for this book currently is off the charts, so please do not let the fact that I did not enjoy this one, sway you from picking it up if you have been loving the Origin series.

I too, had been loving the series, but this felt like something completely different. I feel like I read the wrong book, and with that cover, who knows!? Maybe I did.

For me, this was incredibly boring. Gone was the witty banter, the high body count, the twists and reveals.

Now that Luc and Evie are together, I found their relationship completely insufferable.

60% of this book was them professing their love, their feelings, their attraction, their obsession. You are a gift, you are the greatest, you are amazing, how can a creature as perfect as you exist, I love you, I can’t live without you, I will die for you, have I mentioned I love you?

30% was talking about other topics, mainly babies, making babies, giving birth to babies, raising babies and, oh yeah, Evie’s powers.

10% was engaging plot.

Unfortunately, I had to push myself the entire way through to complete this. I was so relieved when it was finally over, and with it, my commitment to this series.

Obviously, Armentrout is a widely talented and successful writer, this one was just an absolute miss for me.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Teen, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. As always I appreciate the opportunity.

There’s a Reader for every book, and a book for every Reader, sadly this one just wasn’t for me.

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Review: Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon

~ megs14malloy

Today Tonight TomorrowToday Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A super precious love letter to Seattle and first loves.

Sticky sweet in every way. I absolutely adored this!

On the last day of Senior year, Rowan Roth wants to beat her archenemy, Neil McNair, one last time. The two have been in a brutal competition with one another since the start of high school, coming in first and second at almost EVERYTHING.

The rank of valedictorian is no different; a goal they have both been working towards. Early in the day, it is announced that Neil has won the honor, and Rowan is understandably crushed.

She now literally only has one opportunity left to beat him. Senior Howl, a scavenger hunt-type game arranged by the Junior class, and played by the Seniors on their last day.

Rowan is confident she has what it takes to go the distance with Howl. No one knows and loves the city of Seattle like she does. These scavenger hunt clues don’t stand a chance of stopping her.

When word gets out that a group of Seniors want to take Neil and Rowan out of Howl, the odd couple must team up and work together if they want to survive the night.

Please note, by survive the night, I just mean that people playing against them have the ability to tag them out of play, not literally that people are trying to kill them.

As the day and night go on, Rowan and Neil begin to open up to one another and something truly magical happens.

I have not felt this in love with two teens relationship since Love & Gelato. They are both incredibly smart, well-balanced characters and their banter back and forth was everything.

While the relationship between Rowan and Neil makes up the bulk of the story, this book also delves into some fairly serious topics as well.

I think as an examination of the feelings and concerns someone on the cusp of adulthood may have, Solomon did a great job. It’s a scary time, graduating high school and potentially leaving everything you have ever known behind.

It can be sad and scary, while also being exciting as you forge out on your own.

The dichotomy of those feelings can be incredibly confusing and I think the author did a phenomenal job of laying that out there.

Overall, I was really impressed with this. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves YA Contemporary stories.

I literally have no critiques. The more I think on it, the more I love it. I am definitely looking forward to reading more from Rachel Lynn Solomon.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Simon Pulse, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. It was a blast!

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Review: Party of Two (Wedding Date #5) by Jasmine Guillory

~ megs14malloy

Party of TwoParty of Two by Jasmine Guillory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

My favorite Guillory yet!!!

Party of Two follows Olivia Monroe, Alexa’s older sister, just after she returns to California to open her own law firm with her long-time friend, Ellie.

Olivia had been in NYC since law school and when the opportunity presented itself for her to get out of the big firm game, and all the negative aspects that came with it, and move closer to her family, she jumps on it.

Setting up temporary lodging at a L.A. hotel, she has a lot on her plate. In addition to all of the busy work starting a new business entails, she also needs to find a more permanent place to live, buy a car and get a lot of networking done.

The last thing she is thinking about is starting a relationship. That is, until a very handsome man at the hotel bar starts chatting her up over one of her favorite topics: DESSERT!

She is polite and does enjoy talking to him, but seriously, the last thing she needs is to hook up with a stranger from her hotel bar.

He was charming though. Those eyes…

Saying their goodbyes, Olivia heads back to her room, exhausted. As she turns on the television, she can’t believe her eyes. It’s the man from the bar!

Senator Max Powell.

When the two accidentally run into each other again, the spark is still there and this time, there’s no turning Max away.

Y’all, this book was so much fun!

As mentioned above, it’s my favorite of The Wedding Date series thus far.

I think as far as protagonists go, I related to Olivia the most. I love how analytically she views her world and the cautious way she has of interacting with others.

I liked that she did fall all over herself just because a cute guy was paying attention to her. She had her own goals and wasn’t letting anything distract her from reaching them.

Max as a male lead was great. I loved how earnest he was with his feelings and how genuine his intentions were toward Olivia.

I would say in comparison to the earlier novels in the series, this one had more of a solid foundation to the relationship. There wasn’t as much unnecessary drama, which I appreciated.

I liked the open communication between Olivia and Max. They both exuded maturity which could be expected with two such successful people.

We saw a lot behind the scenes of Max’s life as Senator, the travel required, the staff, the schmoozing. I love politics in books, so was definitely down for all that.

In addition to the normal things you go through when starting a new relationship, Olivia and Max had to navigate surviving a long distance relationship and the paparazzi.

If there would have been a couple more sex scenes, this could have been a full five stars. However, in this installment, there was more dessert than sex and sometimes, that’s okay.

Overall, this is a great summer romance. Available now!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate it so much and would be more than happy to get more books in this series.

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Review: Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner

~ megs14malloy

Something to Talk AboutSomething to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Something to Talk About is Berkley’s first published F/F romance. Believe me when I tell you that I was HIGHLY anticipating its release.

However, as intriguing as the premise sounds, and as monumental as its release is, it unfortunately left me underwhelmed.

Honestly, it hurts me so much to write this. It is a good book, there is nothing off-putting about it, and it even tackles some fairly serious issues, but I was expecting to be swooning the whole way through.

Picturing in my head, Red, White and Royal Blue, but with lady loves and it just fell flat. It took me close to a month to finish it, where normally it would take just a few days to read an Adult Romance.

Initially, I found myself connecting with Jo, the older of the two main characters, who happens to be a big shot Hollywood director.

We’re the same age and a lot of the feelings she was having surrounding her career and relationships, I could relate with.

Emma, Jo’s intelligent and capable assistant, is about a decade younger than Jo and an aspiring director herself.

The two have been working together for just over a year and slowly begin to notice their feelings for one another may be pushing the bounds of what is acceptable in the work place.

Forbidden, age-gap romance, uneven power dynamic, when will they kiss; I was into it in the beginning.

Unfortunately, for me, it never seemed to go anywhere. Jo and Emma struggled with the same feelings over and over and over; never communicating and never progressing in their relationship.

It was like the wheels of the plot were just spinning. I started to get a little frustrated at about the halfway point, but stuck with it.

I am glad I stuck with it, at least I know the conclusion. (view spoiler)

I think as far as romances go, and I am by no means a sophisticated romance reader, but for me, this was a little too straight and narrow for my tastes.

I understand in reality, these were huge choices these women were making, but make a freaking decision already!

Overall, I am excited that this book exists. I certainly hope that Berkley continues to publisher more Queer Romance for a long time to come!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Books, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review.


I appreciate it and although this wasn’t necessarily the story for me, I know a lot of readers are going to really enjoy this one!

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Review: The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con #2) by Ashley Poston

~ megs14malloy

The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con, #2)The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jessica Stone planned to use the Starfield reboot as a stepping stone to greatness. Unfortunately, she doesn’t feel it’s working out that way.

Afraid of being typecast, she wants to distance herself from it as much as she can, but with the sequel in the works and the fate of her character up in the air, that is becoming a challenge.

Attending the same Con that her costar, Darien, met the love of his life, Elle Wittimer, at the previous year, she begins to feel overwhelmed by the pressure of it all.

Imogen Lovelace is a fangirl attending the Con as well. A fangirl who looks surprisingly like Jessica Stone. When people end up confusing one for the other, a brilliant life swap takes place.

Imogen is hoping to save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being wiped out of the Starfield universe forever. Certainly, Jessica, who played Amara on screen would agree?

We follow the two girls as they swap lives and learn the valuable lesson of, the grass is not always greener on the other side of that damn fence.

I was so happy to return to ExcelsiCon and the whole fan vibe surrounding it. For me, this one wasn’t quite as enjoyable as Geekerella.

I legit swooned over that for a week!

While I did still like this a lot, Ashley Poston’s writing is just so fun, I think it suffered a bit because I don’t really know the story of The Prince and the Pauper.

Obviously, this is not the book’s fault, it is mine.

One of the things I loved so much about Geekerella was all the little details connected to the original Cinderella story. To me, these were like finding little Easter eggs throughout. I loved it!

I still had a lot of fun with this book, don’t get me wrong, just not as much.

I am really looking forward to Book 3, a Beauty and the Beast retelling! Heck, I know that story like I wrote it myself.

To the stars, Ashley Poston!

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Blog Tour: Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

~ megs14malloy

Tweet CuteTweet Cute by Emma Lord
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My heart just exploded over the cheesiest (grilled-cheesiest, that is) romance I have ever read!!!

Love, love, love this with my whole body and soul!

When fast food behemoth, Big League Burger, announces a new line of grilled cheese sandwiches, no one is more surprised than twins, Jack and Ethan Campbell.

Their surprise comes from the fact that one of the specialty sandwiches has the exact same ingredients, and name, as a grill cheese they know very well.

It was created by their Grandma and has been on their family’s New York City deli menu for decades.

Shocked and chagrined by the announcement, Jack turns to Twitter to call BLB out. That one tweet sparks an epic Twitter battle that takes not just NYC, but the world by storm!

Little does he know, at the other end of the Big League Burger Twitter account, is an overachieving classmate of his, Pepper.

Pepper is not native to NYC, having moved there at the start of high school, leaving her hometown of Nashville behind.

Feeling lost and alone in the big city, Pepper throws herself into her studies with an intensity unmatched by most of her peers at the super competitive private school in which she is enrolled.

Unfortunately, neither teen is prepared for the physical and emotional toll the social media battle will have on them.

Over time, neither Jake, nor Pepper feels good about the whole thing and both wish they weren’t involved. They’re losing sleep and other more wholesome activities begin to take a backseat to the nonstop drama fest.

At school, Pepper and Jake begin to see more and more of each other and a precious friendship develops.

Little do they know, they have also been corresponding for months on an anonymous direct messaging app created by Jake and used by everyone in their school.

Assigned the pseudonyms, Wolf and Bluebird, their flirty banter is a ray of light in both their lives. But when Jack inadvertently figures out who Bluebird is, how will he navigate transitioning their relationship from the screen to real life.

Full of heart, humor and delicious food, Tweet Cute is sure to delight readers of all ages. I absolutely ate up this story from beginning to end.

There is so much more to this than I have words to describe here. Great friendships, fantastic character growth, witty banter, this book truly brought it all!

Pepper and Jack were both so well developed. The challenges they faced as they completed high school, trying to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives, were really well handled.

Family is a big influence on this story as well and I thought those elements were so relatable and well written.

I am really impressed with this as a debut novel. The pacing and plot twists were expertly crafted to keep the reader engaged throughout.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review, as well as including me in the blog tour.

It has been so much fun and I wish Emma Lord the best with this release.

If this book is any indication, she is poised to have one heck of a career. I cannot wait to see what sort of story she comes up with next!

Tweet Cute releases on Tuesday, January 21st and will be available at your favorite book sellers and via online retailers. Be sure to pick up your copy. You don’t want to miss out on this adorable story!

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Review: Geekerella (Once Upon a Con #1) by Ashley Poston

~ megs14malloy

Geekerella (Once Upon a Con, #1)Geekerella by Ashley Poston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What can I say?

I am a geek and I loved this book.

My last completed book of 2019.
What a great reading year.

During the course of my holiday 2019 travels, I found myself alone in the car, A LOT. I wanted a little romance to keep me alert during my drive.

Not for me exactly but on audio. I had been putting this book off forever, for unknown and totally irrelevant reasons, and on a whim decided to download it.

The stars had blessed me on that day, as I found so much more in this story than romance. It touched my nerdy soul.

I felt filled to capacity with acceptance and understanding whilst listening to this modern-day Cinderella retelling. At its heart, a story about embracing your passions and never apologizing for who you are or what you love.

Our protagonist, Elle Wittimer, is a teen living with her Step-Mother and two Step-Sisters in South Carolina, and yes, you guessed it, the Steps are wicked!

Elle tries to stay out of their way at home. She spends her summer days working in a food truck called the Magic Pumpkin and her nights blogging about her favorite fandom.

Starfield, a classic scifi show that she has loved her whole life is her drug of choice. It’s the one thing that makes her still feel connected to her deceased parents, both huge fans.

When it is announced that Starfield is soon to get a movie reboot, Elle can’t wait to see who they cast. As any superfan though, she’s worried they are going to ruin it.

Do reboots or adaptations ever truly do justice for our loves?

After teen heartthrob, Darien Freeman, is announced to be playing the pivotal Federation Prince Carmindor, Elle knows it is going to suck.

What would he possibly know about Starfield? All he knows are abs workouts and alarmingly charming smiles, right?

Fueled by anger, she takes to the web and blogs what a travesty it is.

Darien Freeman is a fan however. Being cast as Carmindor has been a life-long dream for him but he’s been cast to play a role, not just in the movie but in life. Bubble-headed playboy is his image and he is forced to stick with him.

Written off by the Starfield fandom as a faker of the highest order, Darien finds himself frustrated and misunderstood. But what can he possibly do about it? He’s trapped.

Under the same stars, Elle is trapped as well. Her Steps are downright cruel to her but she has no means of retaliation or true escape. She feels powerless against them.

To promote the new movie, the Starfield execs plan a cosplay contest to be held at ExcelsiCon; the very same Con created by Elle’s late father. She can’t believe her luck and sees the grand prize, tickets to L.A., as her means of escape.

Darien is not pleased when he discovers he will be forced to attend the Con. He used to love attending Cons but to have to go and not be able to proclaim his love as a true fan feels stifling.

Reaching out to a phone number listed as info for ExcelsiCon he ends up getting in touch with Elle but neither knows who the other is. Thus begins their relationship, via texts, and their means of finding escape through one another.

From the very first chapter, I fell for Elle and her story, hook, line and sinker. The homage to the original tale of Cinderella, while bringing it fully into the 21st-century, was beautifully crafted. I loved all the little details and connections throughout the book.

As the synopsis states, this is also a love letter to nerd culture and for many of us, that means a lot. To feel that we aren’t alone and there are legions of people out there just like us, who love the same things and accept us and don’t call us weird. It feels good.

Overall, I was really damn impressed with this and hope to be picking up the next, Once Upon a Con installment soon!

Thank you, Ashley Poston, for writing this. It was absolutely wonderful!

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Blog Tour Announcement: Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

~ megs14malloy

Good news, book friends!

Thanks to the lovely people over at Wednesday Books, I will be participating in the Blog Tour for Emma Lord’s upcoming debut release, Tweet Cute!!!

This adorable romantic comedy follows a boy and girl in a heated Twitter battle. Can love result from their online shenanigans?

My review will be posted here, and on GoodReads, on Wednesday, January 15th, so stay tuned for that!

BLOG TOUR: New Release, The Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox

~ megs14malloy

The Widow of Pale HarborThe Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**


A town gripped by fear.
A woman accused of witchcraft.
Who can save Pale Harbor from itself?

Welcome to Pale Harbor, Maine, 1846, where a young widow, Sophronia Carver, haunts the halls of her mansion by the sea. Her home, Castle Carver, goes unvisited by the locals as they believe Sophronia to be a witch suspected of killing her husband, magazine magnate, Nathaniel Carver.

Shunned and mistreated by those in town, Sophronia shuts herself off from the rest of society. Having inherited her husband’s magazine upon his death, she spends her days reading submissions, drinking tea and taking short walks on the cliffs of her property.

Sophronia’s only company, her loyal domestic staff made up of one lady’s maid, a serving girl and a groundskeeper. Her maid, Helen, is more than just a maid however, she is a trusted companion who takes her task of caring for Sophronia quite seriously.

When a new transcendentalist minister, Gabriel Stone, a widower himself, arrives in the sleepy town, he takes an interest in the case of the secluded woman. After visiting with her, he finds her to be quite charming and quickly becomes smitten.

Soon dark events push the two of them further together and things really begin to take off. Someone is out to get Sophronia, leaving cryptic messages and dead things for her to find.

The clues all relate to different poems and stories by Edgar Allen Poe. When the cryptic messages turn to murder and Sophronia is a suspect, she and Gabriel team up to investigate the crimes on their own.

With equal parts Mystery and Romance, this Historical Fiction novel is steeped in the gothic atmosphere that I love. Set on the rocky coast of Maine, this is a perfect book to pick up during this most wonderful season of the year, AUTUMN.

I really enjoyed Sophronia as a character. She was not dealt an easy hand but took all that was thrown at her with a grace that truly set her apart from those around her. She was sweet and caring and although misunderstood and mistreated by the townsfolk, she never became jaded or vengeful.

Gabriel, as well, was a great. Although a bit mysterious, and perhaps not exactly what he was purporting to be, he was strong and caring. I loved watching him and Sophronia learn to confide in each other and trust one another. They both really needed someone on their side and as a duo, they paired quite nicely.

As the pace is picking up, we also have an old friend of Gabriel’s arrive for a visit, Tom. He was fantastic. He brought a flirty good humor to the story that was much needed at that point as the action was getting dark. Gabriel and Tom had such a strong friendship, it was great to see that on page between two grown men. Very well done indeed.

I also appreciated the complex relationship between Sophronia and Helen. I don’t want to get into this too much as it could be a bit of a spoiler but let’s just say that, in truth, it was not the most healthy of relationship. Dedicated, to be sure, but also quite codependent. Helen was great to read. She is surrounded in mystery and quite creepy. She definitely adds a lot to the story!

Overall, I adored this book. While it did start out a little slow, once it picked up the pace was incredible. I always appreciate a slow burn and this one would certainly fall into that category. I would have enjoyed a bit more atmosphere, particularly surrounding Castle Carver itself, but that is definitely a personal taste issue and no reflection on the actual story.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Graydon House Books, for providing me with an early copy of this book to read and review. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint.

In my opinion, Hester Fox is an absolute blessing and this book helped cement her status as an auto-buy author for me. I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next!!!

This lovely gothic tale releases tomorrow, Tuesday, September 17, 2019. Don’t miss out, be sure to pick up a copy to add to your Spooktober TBR. You won’t regret it!

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