kimalah's reviews
1391 reviews

Double Apex by Josie Juniper

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

3.0

I needed a couple of days to digest the book before writing my review of Double Apex. I really struggled through the first 60% of this book. Really struggled. The MMC showed his affection for the FMC by harassing her. The FMC gave off big Not Like Other Girls energy and was just mean. I can read unlikable characters but these two were a step beyond. After the 60%, the story seemed to coalesce, the characters were a bit more bearable, and they got back to racing. For an F1 romance, it was lacking on the racing.

There were good parts to the book. I found the MMC’s sister very interesting. I’ve not read a romance featuring a Romanian main character before.  But I don’t plan to continue this series.
How to Help a Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein

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

4.0

How to Help a Hungry Werewolf is a paranormal romance with a plus-size FMC,  a frenetic friends to enemies to lovers story with a slow burn into a dirty-talking inferno. To be honest, I don’t think I am the target audience for this book. I read it because I like Charlotte Stein and because I am trying to read romances with plus-size characters. 

While I was reading , I was reminded of Stein’s book “Never Sweeter” more than once. This was not a bad thing. “Never Sweeter” was one of the only bully romances I enjoyed (probably because it was more of a post-bully redemption story.) There is fat phobia and fat shaming on-page and historical. 

While this will never be a favorite of Stein’s books for me personally, I feel people who are shifter aficionados will enjoy it quite a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author for an advance review copy. All opinions are solely my own.
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How to Fall for a Scoundrel by Kate Bateman

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

How to Fall for a Scoundrel is a bright, fun, effervescent Regency romance with elements of “Charlie’s Angels” and “Remington Steele”. Kate Bateman is very good at writing romances that have heart, heat and fun but also touch on subjects such as misogyny and loss. Every time I read a Bateman book, I enjoy myself greatly, and How to Fall for a Scoundrel is no different. Looking forward to continuing the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
What She's Having by Laura Moher

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emotional hopeful 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

4.25

What She’s Having is a second chance romance involving high school sweethearts who were involuntarily separated. Twenty years later, they find out that the other did not abandon them and a relationship slowly begins to develop between them. This is a serious delve into grief, childhood abuse, domestic violence, mental health, eating disorders, loss and self-worth. 

I thought this was a very affecting, emotional and ultimately kind book, but with a sometimes heavy tone and subject matter. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Hot Earl Summer by Erica Ridley

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.25

Hot Earl Summer is a light, fun, sometimes goofy Regency romance that also has really well done chronic pain representation.

This installment of the Wild Wynchesters series is about Elizabeth, a plus size woman who lives with chronic pain day in and day out. Elizabeth has lived with her condition all of her life, which led her family to treat her as useless and basically threw her away. After she was found by the Baron and joined the Wynchesters, she took up fighting with swords and other implements as a way to ensure neither she nor her adopted siblings were ever victimized again.

Elizabeth is the point person in the Wynchesters’ latest case helping an older woman regain the property inheritance she should have received from her sister. What develops from there is the main story of the book. Stephen, Elizabeth’s love interest, is stuck at the castle at the heart of the dispute. Stephen is a kind and rather unique sort of person who falls fast for Elizabeth.

Some of the story gets pretty goofy but intentionally so. I enjoyed the silly parts and the laughter. But as a plus size woman with a chronic pain condition, Elizabeth’s character and her experiences with her disability touched me deeply. It felt true and I saw myself in her in many ways (not including berzerking.)

I enjoyed Hot Earl Summer and look forward to Jacob’s book. Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. All opinions are solely my own.
Do Me a Favor by Cathy Yardley

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emotional lighthearted 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

4.25

Do Me a Favor is a very touching and funny romance involving a couple in their 40s. One is widowed and the other is a divorced single dad with grown children. They both have baggage that is to be expected with people who have lived for multiple decades. Loss is an issue that permeates this book. But they are kind and caring with and respectful of each other. It is sexy and funny. I really enjoyed the novel and look forward to more from the author.

Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.
The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez

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emotional lighthearted 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

4.25

The Next Best Thing is an affecting romance with good banter and interesting characters.  Marcela is a plus size woman. Her experiences as such are well portrayed. She has confidence in herself, and Theo is attracted to her as a fat woman, but she has to deal with a world that sometimes is not accepting or kind. I thought it was a well-balanced portrayal of life today as a larger person.

Marcela’s love for her unavailable friend struck a true chord for me. While not being in the same situation, I had a lot of experience when I was younger accepting only crumbs from the wrong people instead of what I deserved. The depiction of the ongoing inner conflict in Marcela over her feelings for Ben was true to life for me.

I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.
Lady Scandal by Laura Lee Guhrke

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Lady Scandal is a fun, light historical romance. It is about Lady Delia, the cousin of the MMC of book one, Bookshop Cinderella. She works for the Savoy Hotel under famed hotelier César Ritz. The Savoy is the preeminent hotel of London, but has been losing money and earning shareholders nothing. An anonymous accusation of fraud by Ritz and other well-known figures leads the Board of Directors to hire Simon Hayden to manage the hotel and conduct a secret audit to ferret out the fraudsters. Delia is a suspect. 

Thus begins a lively enemies to lovers story. I enjoyed the book, although it faltered in a few spots for me. I thought the sexual tension and pining was well done but the payoff was lower key than I hoped. Overall, I liked it more than the first book and I recommend it for a lighter read.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.
Pardon My Frenchie by Farrah Rochon

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.75

Pardon My Frenchie was a fun, joyful romance.  It felt like a big breath of calming and relaxing air. I liked Thad and his story of adjusting to civilian life and finding his purpose after the military, but I loved Ashanti. She is a wonderful character with foibles as well as strengths, working hard to grow her dog-centered businesses as well as care for her twin sisters. Her love for her family and friends, human and canine, was so lovely. 

Pardon My Frenchie did touch on some harder topics like grief and betrayal by father figures, but there was a lot of joy in the story. That is the word that keeps coming up for me: joy. I hope we get another book in this friend group as hinted at in the epilogue.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing), NetGalley and the author for an advance reader copy. All opinions are solely my own.
The Shabti by Megaera C. Lorenz

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Shabti is a marvelous read.  It is a 1930s m/m romance between a fake medium who walked away from the grift and a nerdy Egyptologist. Hermann, the college professor, reaches out to Dashiel, the reformed conman, for help with eerie happenings involving his college’s collection of Egyptian artifacts. The main characters fall for each other, finding connection later in life.

This is a fun ride with smart dialogue, great humor along with creepy occurrences, and an absolutely lovely romance. I won’t go much into the plot because the reveals are a lot of the fun, but when the reason behind everything was revealed, I exclaimed out loud.

The secondary characters are well drawn and the sense of time and place is great. I recommend The Shabti quite highly, and look forward to future books by Megaera Lorenz.

Thank you to CamCat Books, NetGalley and the author for the advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.