Time's Orphan 💀❤️

I received an e-arc of Time's Orphan from the author in exchange for an honest review.

First off, thank you Hayley for writing this book. And for allowing me the opportunity to read it.

Y'all this might be my favourite book from the series. Watching Emara grow into her power was so special and heartwarming because I love watching characters grow into themselves and reaching their potential. It felt like greeting a long lost family reading some of the characters from the other books (and congrats to Makeo and Aza for being so dang cute together). And if anybody has read this series (which you should if you have not) y'all we get Shad's story *excited squeals and happy dance*. And OMG, the banter between him and Emara 🥵 it did not disappoint.

I could probably go on about this book, but I will be bound to slip and spoil something and I do not want to do that, but I will end this review with a warning. Whatever you do to not get attached to characters because no one is safe. I swear I only had two modes with this book: grinning like a loon or pretending I was Alice from Alice in Wonderland and trying to drown myself in tears or an odd combination of the two (so I guess its actually three modes?).

Seriously, go read this book if you love clean romance, fantasy, found family, sort of one bed trope, watching characters grow into themselves, complexities of good and evil, grumpy magi, HEAs (sort of 😉)

⭐️all of them

💧all of them

Meara by Anya Wylde

 I received a free e copy of Meara by Anya Wylde via the author in exchange for a honest review.

First off, thank you to Anya Wylde for allowing me to read a copy and for writing the crazy ride that is Meara.

Secondly, despite its insane pacing where it went from zero to sixty to sixty to zero, too many things happening at once, and the characters having similar sounding names (Meara, Keera, Dara etc.) I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and world so much that I bought a paperback copy (oh, and the ebook is free on Amazon at the moment. I do not know how long it will be on sale for so if you want a copy now is the time to do so). I also hope there is a second book because I seriously want to know if the characters are okay because some characters had pretty much everybody betray him.

I adore Kamraan and he can be my villain any day. I practically was like marry me when he told Meara he would rather be the villain and watch the world burn than be the hero and lose her. Like hello. I mean he already had me but that cemented it for me. The romance is slow burn and not a lot of spice. I mean it is not clean and wholesome by any means because Kamraan is controlling and protective and technically her enemy. Oh yes, there are a lot of tropes crammed in this book like when I say a lot happens I mean a lot happens that sometimes you feel like yelling at the book to calm down and let me catch up. Give the poor characters a break.

Fortunately, the mythology is lovely and makes up a huge chunk of the book and is a mixture of different cultures that you learn along with Meara. I kind of wished there was a glossary to keep track of all the creatures and terms because I did not know half of it and after one of the great betrayals we stopped getting translations of what it is. And did I mention that beginning gave me Beauty and the Beast vibes? Because it did except instead of a father its a little sister and instead of her being attacked by wolves its shadow men that I still have no clue what they were.

I had no expectations going into this book and for what it is it is enjoyable. If you love slow burn romance, villain gets the girl, fantasy, mythologies, different dimensions then this is the book for you.

⭐️4.5

💧9

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

 Not going to lie I was super excited when I saw that Never Saw Me Coming was on sale because I have been wanting to read this book since it first came out last year. It had me at a group of "psychopaths" being murdered and Chloe wanting to kill Will.

At first it started out strong like I was on the fence about Chloe (let's face it I still am even after finished reading it), I adored Charles and Andre (and kept my fingers and toes crossed that Andre did not get killed due to his being Black. I won't say if he does or not because that would be a massive spoiler). I also loved how the author played with different types of psychopaths and one of them was faking being one which made me laugh because they did not realize what they had signed up for.

My main issue is that Chloe's whole character is based off of killing Will and she did not have much substance past that. I also do not love that there was all this build up and when it finally gets to the big things it was so anticlimactic that I forgot this was the huge things that it was building up to. I felt like the author knew where she wanted to go, but not how to end the big things. It felt rushed the finales of the massive things. It was kind of a let down.

I will give the author props though because like the title you will never see the killer coming because they get little page time compared to most characters (there now you have three people to try to figure out who it is).

The book was good, but it took me a lot longer to get through because I struggled with Chloe especially the reason why Will has to die and it is her revenge. Why couldn't she have normal revenge and completely destroy his life without killing him? Like wouldn't that be more satisfying? Also, it is really easy to get on Chloe's kill list.

⭐️4

💧6

Catching Quinn by Jennifer Bonds

 Fair warning you that when you see this 🤭 its to cover up cussing because I feel so strongly about this book that I might have to censor myself.

Oh my 🤭 Word, this book stabbed me in the chest with the feels. I think being kicked by horse would hurt less. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster, I went from blushing fiercely because 🤭 Cooper. I laughed at Quinn and her Virgin Quest and the lengths that girl will go to. I raged and hurt for Quinn when everyone kept putting her down because she has a bad streak of luck (she'd fit in well with my family). Also, I could relate to some things like I have gotten better but I still have days where I trip over my own feet or everything falls on me despite having it propped up so it wouldn't. I could relate to Coop with not liking the taste of seafood because it is 🤭 (apologies to anyone who does like seafood, but I cannot deal with the texture and sometimes taste of seafood).

I was awing when Cooper took Quinn to sushi on their first date because he was willing to try it again and 🤭 I wanted to shout "marry me" at the screen of my kindle because I am so 🤭 sold. Like yes please (men take note).

I know the break up is inevitable in romance books, but it 🤭 ruined me especially the reason why he broke up with Quinn and the sibling moment between Quinn and Noah like 🤭 slayed.

Okay I will stop before this post is overrun with this 🤭, but this book is so good and the characters are 😘. The chemistry between Cooper and Quinn is 🤤💋🔥. And as a bonus, you do not have to be a football fan or expert to enjoy the book. Need more incentive to read this book? Do you like Garrett from The Deal by Elle Kennedy or Clay from Blind Side by Kandi Steiner? If you answered yes, this is Cooper.

Please read this book.

⭐️all of them

💧all of them.

Moments in Time by K K Allen

 Moments in Time is an absolute delight. It is a roller coaster with the same vibes as Up in the Treehouse, which I adored so it is no surprise that Moments in Time is making me want to read all the other books in the series. I need me some more of those Bexley brothers.

There were a couple of inconsistencies in the book like the twins age. If Ty was born in 1995 then he couldn't have died before their 17th birthday if he died 2010. It would have to have been 2011 to make it consistent, but then it also said the other twin was going to be turning 28 which is a lie because the twins are the same age as me, so in order for him to be turning 28 he would have to have been born in 1994. I'm just pointing it out, but it hurt my brain trying to math it out, so I let it go. It has nothing to do with the star rating.

Jami is going to be added to the list of reason why I have unrealistic expectations with real men. I mean he would set the world on fire if it helped Violet. I adored the chemistry between Jami and Violet like my heart is ripped out and set on fire before being stomped on and embedded with broken glass and I am willing to do it all again just to read those two (and Battleship😈). Brayden is adorable and I love how the characters all interact with him like it is priceless and so precious.

Read this book before I go into book girl speak in an attempt to articulate how incredible this book is. And if you have read it please feel free to respond with your thoughts in the comments. I love hearing from other people whether you love it or hate it or indifferent to it.

⭐️all of them

💧all of them.

The Traitor's Game by Jennifer A. Nielsen

 I have wanted to read this book since it first came out and it did not disappoint. 

It was not like a wow book, but for what it was it met my expectations except the romance because it took me a long time to be like I can see them together. I think my main issue was that I had no clue if it was supposed to be a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers or enemies-to-lovers because they were somewhat friends a long time ago. And it is a little heavy handed with the miscommunication trope which is not my favourite thing.

The worldbuilding was great, but I kind of wished it built on the details we were given instead of a reiteration of what we were told repeatedly by different characters. I have no idea why everyone hates everyone because from the sounds of it everyone did, and I struggled with following along.

I loved the characters and I will admit I did not see the one twist (I only got it partly right).

Definitely recommend for fantasy lovers.

⭐️4

💧8

Sinister Magic by Lindsay Buroker

 This book was so much fun to read because it is here to have fun and poke fun at things. The chemistry between Val and Zav is😘. My only issue with the book is that I could not pronounce any of the names (some of their full names are quite something) and so I kind of lost track of who was supposed to be who.

Honestly, I loved the book far more than I thought I would and won't say much more except if you read it let me know because I would love to talk about it or any books.

⭐️5

💧8