alexatthelake's reviews
717 reviews

Trish Doller writes these beautiful, deep, sexy romance novels that will surprise you in the best way possible every time. I will admit that I thought Off The Map was going to be a miss for me, as I didn't immediately fall in love like I have with her others, but I was SO wrong. I absolutely adored the immediate chemistry and relationship between Carla and Eamon, which I felt was what would naturally happen in a situation like this. 

Off The Map is by definitely the spiciest book of the three Beck Sister books so far, and it was so well done, without it being overkill. The storyline is still emotional and full on its own. The last 25% or so of this book really tugged and shattered my heart. I literally sobbed out loud more than once at the sadness, beauty and emotion these characters experience. 

All of the books in this series can be read as standalones, but it's fun to read them together to get a glimpse of the past characters! Quick, steamy and sweet is everything this book has to offer!

What the... what was this book? There were SO many things happening in the beginning of this book, yet it somehow felt so slow and boring I thought a few times I was going to quit. The prologue had immediately intrigued me and I obviously needed to know who did what and why, but I struggled to care through probably the first 70% of the book before it really started to get good. 

A Death At The Party takes place over the course of a full day, which I'm thinking is a problem in itself for me and books, but it literally was A PLAY BY PLAY of every single thing the MC did during the day and I just wanted to skim through all of it. I guess it was buildup but it was boring and I felt like so much of it was unnecessary. The pay off with the reveal at the end was really good, even if it was fairly predictable, which is why I'm giving this book 3 stars and not 1.5. I'll definitely be giving this author another shot, but this one was not my favourite.

Lynn Painter is still a rom com genius. No, she’s the queen of rom com I think it’s safe to say. I giggled and swoony and got a little hot and bothered throughout The Love Wager. I loved the original idea of this plot line right from the beginning and immediately fell in love with the characters. I adore Lynn’s spunky, funny, no fear female main characters who are loved for who they are so much. 

I am devastated to say though that I felt like this book was a touch too similar to Accidentally Amy, one of Painter’s previous books, that I had finished last week. Maybe it was because I just read them too close together, or I’m entering a rom com burn out, but it niggled at me that there were so many similarities. The Love Wager was also the first book by this author that I didn’t constantly laugh out loud at. While it wasn’t my favourite, I definitely recommend you check it out for a happy, feel good giggle rom com! 

Alex Finlay is probably one my favourite thriller authors. His books are original, plot lines are interesting, have depth and keep me guessing the whole way through. I will say that the more I sit on this review, the less I liked this book and the more questions I have, even after finishing it. I was told that I’m putting too much thought into this thriller and should take it for face value, but I just can’t stop thinking about certain things that were too open-ended for me to really buy into it. 

What Have We Done still takes you for a wild ride. With 3, sometimes 4, POV’s and flashbacks, the book builds suspense and tension until you finally get some insight to what is happening to everyone. This book has short, quick chapters which made it really easy to binge read which I loved. I do think maybe I’d rate this closer to a 3 at this point, I do still think I’d tell those who love plot driven thrillers to check this one out! 

Woooff what a wild ride! A Flicker In The Dark is twisty, stressful, dark, and brilliant. Immediately immersed into this book right from the beginning. For a debut, Stacy Willingham knocked it out of the park. 

This book will make you question everyone and everything. Even if you figure it out before it’s revealed, you’ll still question yourself and keep wondering what’s going to happen next. At one point I did have to go back and listen again to certain parts as I was confused and missed some of the storyline, but that’s on me getting too caught up in the story and not paying close enough attention at parts. Check this book out if you like serial killers, family drama, suspense and twists! 

I've said it before and I'm going to probably keep saying it with every single Lynn Painter book I read - she is a GENUIS and hilarious. Accidentally Amy is nothing short of the definition of a rom-com. It was absolutely hilarious, deliciously steamy, swoony and a little sweet. 

Let me tell you - Mr. Chest is probably the best nickname out there and I cackled - CACKLED - with every chest comment Izzy made. I loved how this book followed a fairly realistic story line with the workplace romance/can't date the co-worker storyline instead of an overdone cheesy one. 

Emma Lord is an excellent author, who has made me believe in YA again. I've thoroughly enjoyed her previous books, but this one was almost a miss for me. I read the first 15% or so and put it down for a while, because it really wasn't working for me and I was struggling to care about the characters and what was happening. I switched to the audio and ended up really enjoying it. 

I will say that the first maybe 40% was a little slow and boring, but the rest of the book was some really sweet messages and storylines. I loved the discovering and the understanding a lot of the characters went through. 

“I want to love and be loved without ever having to wonder if it’s conditional.” This is probably the most beautiful quote I've read in a really long time. It resonated with me so deeply and really made me fall in love with this book, the characters and the story. 

HOLY COW THIS BOOK WAS GOOD. That's it, that could be the whole review. This book is deliriously creepy, like get under your skin and make you suspicious of everyone in your life. The audio was unbelievably incredible, I definitely felt my heart rate spike at certain points when the main character gets going. There were many times where I was absolutely floored at how creepy and awful Joe is and how idiotic the other characters were, but it was just SO believable. 

I don't even know what else to say about this book. My mouth dropped open more than once and I'm sure I gasped out loud and said NO a few times. I really highly recommend you check out the audio for this one, even if you've seen the Netflix show. 

Powerless was highly anticipated for so many reasons, and I'm so happy to say it met every single expectation I had. Not only did I thoroughly love getting to dive back into Chestnut Springs and some of my favourite characters, but we got to see a totally different side of Jasper and learn why he's the way he is and who he is. BOY did that not disappoint. IYKYK. 

I loved watching Jasper and Sloane blossom into their best selves with each other. I loved the support and the strength these characters gave one another. I loved how they learned to work together as a couple, after so many years as best friends who knew everything about one another. It was simply a beautiful book and story.

Harvey, as always, is the total MVP of this book only because he's just perfection.

Take my review with a grain of salt on this one because graphic novels are really not my cup of tea. I was hesitant to start this at all, but from trusted friends suggestions, I wanted to give it a shot. It was a very quick, easy read and it had a really cute story but I just wanted SO much more from it.. which is one of the reasons why I don't like graphic novels. I did enjoy it enough to continue reading the series though!