blewballoon's reviews
665 reviews

Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson

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

4.25

I knew what I wanted when I looked at the cover of this book, and it delivered. Thank you Lana Ferguson for giving me the supernatural romance goods. My only critiques are that I think the "mysteries" were very easy to solve (to the point that the main characters looked a little dumb for not figuring things out sooner) and that I personally would have preferred less of the stereotypical enemies-to-lovers setup for the romance. I think some people might not like a few of these spicy scenes, but I really enjoyed them.
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Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Well, that was lovely. I prefer romances where the main characters start on friendly terms and then just get closer and closer until love is inevitable. This is a great example of that type of love story. I enjoyed the easy chemistry between the leads from the start. I understand that the "issue" with this type of romance is that it's "harder" to create tension, and here the tension came mostly from the characters just wanting to do the right thing and respect each other's wishes. I really didn't mind those low stakes and appreciated that in all the spots where I thought a trope I hated was going to happen, the characters handled it like emotionally mature adults instead. Also, even though I normally dislike the surprise pregnancy trope/story, this book kind of made me wish for a version where it really was just two people who are friends and decide to raise a baby together, as friends. I think there's a good story there as well.
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The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I don't know why I put off reading this for so long, it's a great follow up to The Queer Principles of Kit Webb and I loved seeing a bit more of those characters while following Marian and Rob. I picked this up now because I thought it was a Christmas book for some reason, and it does take place in winter time with some mentions of snow, so I guess that's close enough? I thought Marian was great in the first book but wasn't too sure about Rob, he definitely won me over here. I liked the demonstration of different styles of love, motherhood, happiness, and family. The spicy scenes were refreshingly different, especially compared to the Julia Quinn style of historical romance. (No offense to J Quinn, it's just nice to read something unexpected.)
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The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.
I actually like cheesy Hallmark/Netflix Christmas movies, but this isn't working for me. The sisters, particularly Charlie, just seem really stupid with the decisions they make. I can't root for them. The love interests are incredibly bland, and there's too much lying for any romance to work. The toxic male antagonists are annoying and I'm sure will be dealt with at the very end in an unrealistic way along with the fallout when all the lies come out. I can already map out the trajectory of this book and I'm not interested in seeing it happen. 
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Grimm Curiosities by Sharon Lynn Fisher

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

4.25

Excellent Victorian Christmas vibes, definitely a great book to read around the holiday season. I think fans of Salt & Broom by this author will also enjoy this one. At times it reminded me of Mimi Matthews books. The romance and the mysteries take up about the same space in the book, but I thought both plots were done well. There was one segment of the book where I got pretty frustrated with the characters, but their choices did make some sense considering they didn't have all of the information that I did as the reader.
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The (Fake) Dating Game by Timothy Janovsky

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

4.0

This was delightful! I don't have much of a history with Supermarket Sweep apart from a very good Saturday Night Live sketch, but the book added plenty of context for the fictionalized version of the show. Holden was a compelling main character, quite flawed but willing to learn and grow.  The love interest, Leo, didn't feel too perfect like some love interests in single POV romances do. I thought the natural chemistry between Leo and Holden was done really well, it was fairly believable that these two could become as close as they did as quickly as they did. The spicy scenes are fairly graphic, and I normally don't enjoy reading dom-sub sex, but the author managed to do it in such a way that it was still appealing and woven into the characters getting emotionally closer. The audiobook narrator also did a good job. Would recommend to anyone interested in the premise who is up for the more overt spice.
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The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

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funny mysterious 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

I had seen a negative review for this book, so I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. I thought the writing was solid and I actually thought the romance worked, as well as the mystery. The audiobook narrators are two of my favorites, and they both smashed it as always. The banter reminded me of Lucifer and Chloe (from Lucifer the TV show). I didn't pick this as my Book of the Month, and now I kind of wish I had because I liked it much better than the book I did pick.
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A Merry Little Meet Cute by Sierra Simone, Julie Murphy

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Good, silly, smutty, Christmas fun! Definitely a book meant for the more sex positive and open minded, but I feel like the premise makes that pretty clear. Both audiobook narrators were good. Looking forward to more from this series!
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Starter Villain by John Scalzi

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adventurous funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book doesn't have the things I usually am looking for in a book, but what it does have it does well. I'm most invested in characters and their relationships, which is why I read a lot of romance; it's a genre that has similar priorities. This book is focused on a quirky and twisty plot and humorous commentary and dialogue. It's like one really long and actually quite good Saturday Night Live sketch. It was fun and refreshing to read something outside my typical domain, but still compelling and enjoyable. I'd recommend to most readers. 
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Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

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emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

If you enjoyed this, then I'd recommend Alice Oseman's novels, which are more somber and tense than the Heartstopper comics. This reminded me of Loveless in particular with regards to the setting and general character dynamics, but the main character in that book and the one in this book have quite different problems. This book is also a bit of a product of its time and some of the dialogue and attitudes are bit less culturally sensitive than a more contemporary book would probably be. I usually give books that I had a pretty good time with but didn't get really excited about 4 stars, but I can't quite give this book that rating. I started the book disliking all of the characters at least a tiny bit and none of them managed to fully grow on me. I mostly felt uncomfortable and worried while reading, right up until the end I just didn't trust that anything would be resolved or that Cath was going to make good decisions. I will say that it was interesting to read this after having read Carry On, since a decent percentage of the book is references to that story and the Simon Snow in-universe series. The audiobook narrator was a little too monotone for me, I had her sped up to 1.7 speed. 
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