kimalah's reviews
1397 reviews

Hot Earl Summer by Erica Ridley

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Ghastly Mistake by Byrd Nash

adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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

4.75

Ghastly Mistake is the final book in the Madame Chalamet Ghost Mysteries series. It is a satisfying ending to an engrossing and enjoyable historical fantasy mystery that spread over six books. 

The book begins exactly where book five, Haunted Grave, ended. The story does not let up from there. Elinor and Tristan find themselves in situation after situation as they get closer and closer to the villain at the center of all the turmoil and danger. 

I don’t like to give details in the reviews of mysteries. This final book does a good job of tying together various threads from the previous entries (which must be read before this installment. It is not a standalone story.) The alternate world Byrd Nash developed is detailed and interesting. The characters are well-drawn, and the romance between Elinor and Tristan is very sweet.

I’ve enjoyed my time in Sarnesse. I will miss Elinor and her world very much.

Thank you to the author for the advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Ne'er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti

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

4.75

Ne’er Duke Well is a treat of a Regency romance.  It is lighthearted, sexy, romantic, funny and easy to read. It touches on serious subjects and handles them deftly. The chemistry between the main characters is palpable. There are two orphaned children who are not overwhelmingly precocious or overbearing for a nice change.

I enjoyed my time with Peter, Selina and their friends and family. I’m hoping there are future books to follow.

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

Death in the Spires by KJ Charles

challenging emotional mysterious tense 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

Death in the Spires is an excellent historical mystery by KJ Charles. Charles notes in the front of the book as well as in other spaces that this is not a romance. There is a MM romantic subplot involving the main character, but the central driving force in this novel is the murder mystery.

And oh what a mystery it is. I do not like to give details about mysteries because I find the development of the story is part of the enjoyment. However, this book deals with issues of race, gender, sexuality, autonomy, wealth, entitlement, and class, all subjects that Charles is a master of exploring. 

I really enjoyed Death in the Spires. It is an engaging and engrossing mystery with good characters, smart writing, and an excellent sense of place. I look forward to any future mysteries KJ Charles might write.

Thank you to Storm Publishing, NetGalley and the author for the advance reader copy. All opinions are solely my own.

Wake Me Most Wickedly by Felicia Grossman

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

4.0

Wake Me Most Wickedly is the second book in the Once Upon the East End series by Felicia Grossman. It is a gender flipped take on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, with Sol Weiss from book one as the MMC.

I enjoyed Wake Me Most Wickedly, but not as much as book one, Marry Me By Midnight. I liked Sol and Hannah, the pawn shop owner FMC, but their relationship bordered on instalove for me. The circumstances of many of their times together verged on unbelievable (for me) at times. Also Sol’s flipping back and forth on whether he wanted to pursue Hannah was a bit disjointed. We would get his POV and his decision to stay away but then when it switched to Hannah’s POV, he showed up. When and why did he change his mind?

I thought the references to Snow White throughout the story were clever. The elderly rescuers were a great addition. I learned more about Jewish life in England at that time, which I appreciated. One reason I like historical romances is because of the things I learn about history.

Overall, it is an enjoyable book with a really affecting author’s note at the end. I am looking forward to book three.

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