briethebookishluxen's reviews
462 reviews

Chase by V.R. Tennent

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

“Let go, Sam. You can and you will. Show me how much you want my c***. Show me what’s waiting for me in that pretty p****, how wet and ready you are. Let me taste all of you first. Then i’ll fill you up with all of me.” 🥵

Chase by @vrtennentauthor is a scorchin’ hot novel filled with tension and plenty of sexy moments! 😍🔥

Blurb: Obnoxious. Unwanted. Unhinged.

And obsessed with my brother’s girlfriend.

Love was something I never trusted myself to have... until I met her, trouble waiting to happen.

Samantha Coleman rocketed into my life and knocked me sideways. I watched her from the shadows as my obsession grew.

I used my influence to aid her career. I wanted her to have the life she desired, as long as I had control of it.

When danger reared its head, my instinct was to protect her. Step in and maim any villain who posed a threat.

She knew I was always there, and she loved my hidden attention. No longer able to only watch from the sidelines, I finally stepped out into the light.

I wanted her, and she knew it.

Only time will tell if my brother and I can learn to share.

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Chase is a great addition to the Level series, and also the first MFM romance I have read!!! Again, VR Tennent has crafted a intriguing story involving a woman who is torn between two gorgeous brothers. Who will she choose or will she choose both? I loved the sexual tension between both brothers and Samantha, and their constant competition to see who gets her.   The compelling plot line kept me on the edge of my seat at all times while reading. Let me tell you, the steamy scenes made me feel hot and bothered!!! I cannot wait to read the planned final book and novella in The Level series. All in all, please read Chase…especially if you love the “why choose” trope!!! You will  not regret it. 🤩❤️💥✨

Thank you to VR Tennent for the opportunity to read/review this ARC! 🤩📚

🏷️: #chase #vrtennent #review #bookrecommendation #bookstagram
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Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

Four Weekends and a Funeral by @elliepalmerwrites is a truly poignant and beautiful romantic comedy. ❤️

Blurb: She found the right guy at the dead wrong time . . .

When thirty-year-old post-double-mastectomy BRCA1 carrier and reluctant thrill-seeker Alison Mullally arrives at her ex-boyfriend Sam’s funeral to discover that no one knows he dumped her, she agrees to play the grieving girlfriend for the sake of the family. Little did she know this meant packing up Sam's apartment with his prickly best friend, Adam Berg. After all, it'll only take four weekends . . . 

But Adam doesn’t want Alison anywhere near him. Forced to spend long hours with the grump and his monosyllabic demeanor, Alison decides to put her people-pleasing abilities to the test. She will make him like her. And after awkward family affairs and packing up dilemmas, the two form a tenuous friendship . . . if “friendship” means incredible chemistry and sexual tension. Can Alison come clean and finally embrace the life and love she's always wanted? Or will her little white lie get in the way of her new, unexpected romance?

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This novel was a treat to read! I loved Alison as a character, her inner struggle with loving herself and finding romance was very touching. Adam is honestly such an amazing grumpy MMC and his dedication to Alison is so endearing! Plus the end of book is pure magic, I loved it. If you want a steamy, hallmark-y romance read, this is the one!!! 🚂🥰✨

Thank you to @putnambooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read/review this ARC! 🤩📚

🏷️: #fourweekendsandafuneral #elliepalmer #review #bookrecommendation #bookstagram
A Fire in the Flesh by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

“Ash. I knew that name. He was the nightmare that had become my dream. The calm in my storm. My strength when I was weak. The breath when I couldn’t breathe. He was more than my king. My husband. Ash was the other half of my heart and soul.” 🫠

JLA has written yet another phenomenal Flesh and Fire entry!!! 🤩🐉✨

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Every time I read any of her novels, I fall in love!!! This one is no exception. I am so obsessed with Nyktos and Sera, it’s insane!!! They are even more beautiful and sexy now than ever before. Ash’s everlasting love for Sera is honestly so swoony, I could literally die. I felt sorry for Sera, but also proud of her for kicking ASS and taking NO NAMES!!! 

This third book also revealed so many revelations, my head is swimming!!! Hopefully BoBaA has even more surprises in store for us eager readers. I cannot wait for the final book, Born of Blood and Ash, to release in a couple weeks (AHHHHH)!!! 💀🐺❤️✨

🏷️: #afireintheflesh #jenniferlarmentrout #review #bookrecommendation #bookstagram
The Love Position by Evie Alexander

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

The Love Position by @eviealexanderauthor is an amazing love story filled with various yoga lore and hot moments! 😍🔥

Blurb: Forbidden love has never looked so tempting…

After making a ground-breaking discovery, archaeologist Sophia Hunter-Savage has her work stolen and her heart broken. She needs a safe place to lick her wounds, so retreats to her family home in the village of Foxbrooke. Taking up yoga is the first step on the path to healing, and when she meets the teacher, Isaac, things start to look up.

Yoga instructor Isaac Hayward has finally found meaning and purpose in his life by helping others. When Sophia arrives at his class struggling with anxiety, his protective instincts kick in, but the undeniable chemistry sets off alarm bells. He’s taken a vow of chastity and relationships are strictly off-limits.

Not wanting to be tempted off the spiritual path, Isaac runs away to an ashram seeking a return to inner peace. But when Sophia unexpectedly turns up, neither can deny the forbidden attraction.

Can their love last the distance, or is this one position they can’t hold for long?

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I enjoyed reading The Love Position so much!!!Sophia and Isaac have some of the best chemistry in their story, and their character arcs are very well-written. The one bed trope is one of my fave tropes EVER, so when Evie included it, I squealed with joy!!! All the secondary characters in the novel were unforgettable, especially Sophie’s new friend. The writing is impeccable as well, keeping me up well into the odd hours of the morning! 

The Love Position is a splendid novel with the usual humor and spice expected from Evie Alexander. However, this entry in the Foxbrooke series is a little darker than expected, so please check the trigger warnings before reading! 🧘‍♀️😊❤️🧘‍♂️

Thank you to Evie Alexander for the opportunity to read/review this ARC! 🤩📚

🏷️: #theloveposition #eviealexander #review #bookrecommendation #bookstagram
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The Upper Crush by Evie Alexander

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

5.0

The Upper Crush by @eviealexanderauthor is a delightful and humorous romp! 😆❤️

Blurb: He wasn’t banking on someone else taking the reins…

Lady Estelle Foxbrooke is done cleaning up the mess left by her wild parents. She’s got a plan: take the reins and save the family estate her way. But then she’s saddled with a business partner she’s hated all her life. He’s her twin brother’s worst enemy and looms in her path like a six-foot-four hurdle.

After a catastrophic business failure, rich and successful James Hunter-Savage has watched his dream life in London crash and burn. Forced to ditch the city for the Somerset countryside, he’s now living with his parents and expected to work with the infuriatingly attractive Estelle. She’s sharper than a whip, pushes all his buttons, and seems determined to break him.

As Estelle and James jockey for position, their explosive personalities combust into passion, sending Estelle’s plans to the edge of ruin. With James’s flimsy reputation in tatters, and the biggest event on the Foxbrooke calendar on the brink of collapse, will they realise their love is worth fighting for? Or are their hearts and hard work heading for the ultimate fall?

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Evie has written yet another fun enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy! Estelle and James are so sexy together, with their increasingly sassy banter and smoldering open-door scenes. Her writing is soooo addictive, I cannot get enough!!! This series is absolutely stellar (see what I did there haha) and everyone should read it. 😍💼🎊🏹

Thank you to Evie Alexander for giving me the opportunity to read/review her book! 🤩📚

🏷️: #theuppercrush #eviealexander #review #bookrecommendation #bookstagram
Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto

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funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective tense fast-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

5.0

Not Another Love Song by @juliesotowrites is a lyrical and swoon worthy romance about a cello and a violin (IFKYK)! 💖

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Remember how I said Forget Me Not was the one of the best contemporary romance books in recent years??!?! Not Another Love Song is RIGHT UP THERE alongside it, hands down!!! As a former cellist, who hopes to play again, this book made me want to pick up my cello and whip out Viva La Vida (2Cellos version, of course). Side note, yes that is my senior year HS picture with my beloved cello, Bianca del Rio. 😜

Xander and Gwen’s chemistry is absolutely off the charts and the enemies-to-lovers vibe is IMMACULATE!!! They are honestly couple goals, and the spicy scenes are muy caliente. I about combusted while reading!!! Also, I was impressed by Julie’s immense knowledge of the music world and the terminology involved. She additionally weaves a story that is both deeply romantic and heartbreaking. The best part of all?!?! Julie including little references to both Reylo and StormPilot. It made my Star Wars heart incredibly happy!!! 💫

Not Another Love Song easily became one of my favorite romance reads of 2024!!! This book will CHANGE YOUR LIFE forever, no joke. I cannot wait to meet Julie this coming weekend and gush over Gwen and Xander’s musical love affair! Please read Not Another Love Song when it debuts tomorrow, July 16th. 💕🎻✨

A HUGE thank you to @readforeverpub and @netgalley for the opportunity to read/review this ARC! 🤩📚

🏷️: #notanotherlovesong #juliesoto #review #bookrecommendation #bookstagram
Bright Objects by Ruby Todd

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adventurous challenging informative mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Bright Objects by Ruby Todd is a good mystical thriller with a dash of romance and astronomy! 🤯☄️

Blurb: Sylvia Knight is losing hope that the person who killed her husband will ever face justice. Since the night of the hit-and-run, her world has been shrouded in hazy darkness—until she meets Theo St. John, the discoverer of a rare comet soon to be visible to the naked eye.

As the comet begins to brighten, Sylvia wonders what the apparition might signify. She is soon drawn into the orbit of local mystic Joseph Evans, who believes the comet’s arrival is nothing short of a divine message. Finding herself caught between two conflicting perspectives of this celestial phenomenon, she struggles to define for herself where the reality lies. As the comet grows in the sky, her town slowly descends further and further into a fervor over its impending apex, and Sylvia’s quest to uncover her husband’s killer will push her and those around her to the furthest reaches of their very lives. 

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I enjoyed reading Bright Objects! Although the writing was difficult to follow at times, it was a gripping enough story to keep me at the edge of my seat. Sylvia is an amazing FMC who is caught between two widely different spectrums, one scientific and one spiritual (?). Her race to decide who to trust before a life-changing comet hits her small Australian town was intriguing and suspenseful! I never would have guessed the revelations at the end. All in all, a great read if you love space and unsolved/unexplained mysteries. 😊💫

Thank you to @simonbooks for sending me a gifted ARC copy and giving me the opportunity to read/review! 🤩📚

🏷️: #BrightObjects #RubyTodd #SimonBooksBuddy #review #bookrecommendation #bookstagram
Forget Me Not by Julie Soto

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

Forget Me Not by @juliesotowrites is an incredible love story filled with plenty of beautiful and comedic moments!!! 🥰

Blurb: Ama Torres is an optimistic wedding planner who doesn’t believe in marriage. But weddings? They’re amazing. Elliot Bloom is a brooding florist who hates owning a flower shop…until a certain bright-eyed, donut-loving workaholic shows up at his door.

Once upon a time, they collaborated on events by day, and by night, Ama traced the intricate flower tattoos etched along his body. Then Ama shattered his heart and never spoke to Elliot again.    

Now they’re working on an event that could make or break both of their careers—except neither of them has gotten over what happened two years ago. Things are not helped by the two brides, who see the obvious chemistry between Ama and Elliot and are determined to set them up, not knowing their complicated history. But as the wedding takes on a life of its own, Ama and Elliot are about to discover that some things can survive a complete catastrophe . . . 

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Gosh, I absolutely LOVED Forget Me Not!!! It is one of those stories that you will remember long after reading the last page. Julie is a phenomenal writer, who expertly fleshes out characters and pens heartbreaking yet smoldering moments.

I was enthralled with the love story of Ama and Elliot! Both their backstories and their journey towards a second chance romance was phenomenal, with all the “rain before the rainbow” moments gripping and beautiful. I cannot recommend Forget Me Not enough!!! Plus, it was a true ode to the magical yet eccentric town of Sacramento, California. Truly one of the best contemporary romances of recent years!!! 💍🪻💜✨

🏷️: #forgetmenot #juliesoto #review #bookrecommendation #bookstagram
Take Me Home by Melanie Sweeney

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

Take Me Home by @melaniesweeneywrites is an adorable read about returning to your roots and making the best out of winter holidays! 😊

Blurb: Hazel Elliot never looks back. If a door closes, she burns the whole house down. But when she’s invited to her father’s wedding, she’s forced to return to Lockett Prairie, Texas, for the first time since she fled for college.

Ash Campbell has been in love with Hazel since she dated his best friend in high school. Now, Ash and Hazel’s relationship is limited to playful feuding over the best chair in their favorite coffee shop, but his attraction to the prickly girl from home has only grown stronger.

When Ash’s car breaks down just as family obligations pull him home, only one person can get him there on time. But Hazel has a condition: Everything between them must stay the same. And if it doesn’t? She gets the coffee shop. So the frenemies endure bad music, inclement weather, and B&Bs with only one bed—and that’s just the drive across Texas. When they finally arrive, Hazel must face that, in a small town, there’s nowhere to run . . . and maybe, for the first time, she's found a reason to stay.

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This novel was sooooo cute yet moving!! I fell in love with both Hazel and Ash immediately, and they were absolutely well-written characters. Also, I appreciated the fact that it touched on how tough the holiday season can be, especially with blended families. It can be difficult to relate to them, but you sometimes can overcome that hurdle and possibly enjoy the holiday season. Also, I loved how the author focused on found family, and how positive interactions can tremendously impact a person’s life as well. ❤️

The climax of this story was very emotional and made me break down in tears, but the outcome made me smile. Take Me Home is one of those feel-good and sentimental books that sticks with you for a long time! It releases July 9th, 2024. 🥰🎄✨

Thank you to @putnambooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read/review this ARC! 🤩📚

🏷️: #takemehome #melaniesweeney #review #bookrecommendation #bookstagram 
What's in a Kiss by Lauren Kate

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What’s in a Kiss? by @laurenkatebooks is an romantic novel that explores what could have been, if different choices were made. 🤔✨

Blurb: This is not how Liv wanted to see Jake Glasswell for the first time in ten years. Once her high school rival and the prom date who humiliated her, now a successful TV personality, he’s more attractive than he has any right to be. And he’s her Lyft passenger.

Since the prom night kiss that never was, Liv’s life has not gone to plan. She deferred Julliard to be with her mom during a crisis, and now swears she’s happy as a recently furloughed drama teacher going on no-strings dates. This weekend she’s maid of honor to her best friend, Masha, and, of course, Jake is the best man. But when Liv glares into Jake’s eyes as Masha says, “I do,” the universe turns on its axis and Liv is suddenly living a version of her life where prom night was the beginning of her and Jake, not the end, and it turns out he’s the love of her life. The catch? Her mom and Masha hate her now. What’s in a kiss? Maybe everything.

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I loved the concept of this novel, it was super unique and fairly different to what I have read before!!! The FMC and MMC were extremely likable, the plot was fast-paced, and the romantic scenes were everything I ever needed. The ending also made me cry happy and sad tears! This book will devastate you and make you laugh in the same paragraph. All in all, What’s in a Kiss? is such a good story that is amazingly written. 😊🧡

Thank you to @putnambooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read/review this ARC! 🤩📚

🏷️: #whatsinakiss #laurenkate #review #bookrecommendation #bookstagram