I really liked this book for first 50% but then the last half felt too drawn out. The conflicts that came up were somewhat valid but also frustrating. Both of these characters felt immature which is not necessarily a flaw but it's not my favorite to read.

That said, it’s still a sweet brother’s best friend romance, even if its a bit drawn out.

Audiobook review 5/5 Excellent dual narration by Teddy Hamilton & January LaVoy

Thank you PRH Audio for the gifted listener copy 🧡

I am constantly craving a refreshing fantasy romance with new magic systems, politics and intrigue and Scars Beneath a Serpent's Scales absolutely delivered on all fronts. I am so looking forward to the next book after that cliffhanger! This book also has a truly delicious slow burn. ❤️‍🔥

This book leads with intrigue and mystery which kept me engaged from start to finish. Lots of twisty turns at the end that literally made my jaw drop. I just was along for the ride with this one I didn't try to predict or read too much into the foreshadowing or the prophecy but I am sure that this adds a whole other element to the story.

I love Nicole Plantania's writing style and her ability to write yearning and tension without it feeling corny is refreshing. I am 100% plan to re-read this book for the release of book two, which I need ASAP!

5/5 audiobook performance! Loved every second of this dual narration. No notes.

Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Media for the gifted ALC ❤️

WOWWWWWWWW. This is an absolutely epic conclusion to The Bridge Kingdom series. This last book is a feat in writing I have no idea how she was able to keep all of the politics, timelines, and characters stories straight in this book. This book has POVs from every past MMF and FMC from the series - Kerris, Zarrah, Lara, and Aren 💕 AND the narrators came back to narrate their POVs so this is a multicast audiobook.

I didn't give it a full five stars because the the main characters felt like they were making poor choices for the sake of arguing and it felt redundant. And this book was long, there were multiple villains and I wonder if we needed all of them. Regardless I ate up every word and would happily continue reading if there were more books.

This is a perfect fantasy romance series and every book hit for me.

If you love a fantasy with high stakes, political intrigue and balance of romance and plot then please start this series. It swept me off my feet and made Danielle L Jensen an auto buy author for me.

Audiobook review: 5/5 This was an AMAZING performance from all of the narrators that were involved in the series. Style: Multicast (6 narrators) Pacing: 5/5 Performance: 5/5 Sound Effects: there are some but not over the top

This is a spicy fantasy romance standalone that entertained me from start to finish. It is full of all of the romantasy tropes readers love (with the exception of one…) and the characters are easy to become obsessed with!

However, I did find that I was craving more of all of the fantasy aspects of this book, especially the dragon-adjacent creatures. I honestly wish that part was left out because as it is it felt so random.

This book is spice forward and can overshadow the plot. If you know that going in, you’ll have a great time.

Audiobook review: 5/5 performance from both narrators

well, I feel less annoyed now when I get a TB test done every year for work.

This is a very digestible non-fiction and would highly recommend the audiobook! I work in healthcare and while a lot of the themes in this book are not new to me, I will admit this opened my eyes to how truly devastating this disease is.

Thank you PRH audio for the gifted audiobook ❤️

I’ve learned that I love a hard hitting family saga. This story is so compelling from the first chapter and is a book that I am still thinking about. If anything, I wish it was longer.

what did I just read

This book deserves every bit of hype it gets. It's full of yearning and prose that had me on the verge of tears seemingly the entire book. I felt like I was reading a fairytale.

The only thing that prevented me from making this a five star read is I wanted more of a villain story from the person controlling the strings. What we got felt weak and I was craving a chapter from her POV to understand her motives.

Audiobook review: 5/5 dual narration, so stunning! Platform: Spotify

I am BEGGING you to read this.

There are Spanish words and phrases in this book. I did not understand them all and I didn't stop reading to go look it up and I still rated this five stars.

Not understanding the small bits of Spanish did not take away from my reading experience and frankly I feel like it wouldn't feel authentic without it.

I cried at the end and I was truly moved by this story. Every part of this book feel intentional and I loved every second of it.

I just knew he was a virgo. (as a fellow virgo)

So impressed by the depth of this novella. I was invested and couldn't stop reading till I finished it.

ARC Review 📆Pub date: June 16th Advanced reader copy gifted by Avon Books 💗

I don’t think I’ll ever read another contemporary romance like Tropesick. This book feels like a love letter to romance readers and writers. The author pokes fun at tropes in a way that’s endearing, while also breathing new life into many well-loved tropes.

This is a hard-hitting second-chance romance with a throughline of grief and addiction. I love messy characters who feel like real people rather than a perfect prince charming, and Tyler definitely delivers on that.

My advice: put August by Taylor Swift on repeat, go in blind, trust the author, and just go with it.

I’ve never read a book quite like Start at the End. It explores how quickly life can change based on a single decision or circumstance, and how those choices ripple across time. I will preface this is a heavy book. It explores trauma and moving on from grief in a way that feels scary and deeply relatable. Consider checking the content warnings before reading this.

Parker, the daughter, is the emotional thread that ties the story together. She plays such a beautiful yet heartbreaking role in both timelines, and her perspective was easily my favorite part of the book.

This is a contemporary fiction with a love story. I would not classify this as a romance. The focus stays on the bigger picture rather than centering solely on the relationship.

The pacing of this book is my only complaint. The beginning felt rushed and their relationship moved very quickly as she took us through three years very quickly. When the plot turns the pacing slows down significantly because you get two POVs and they are going through the same thing respectively. It felt redundant and added a lot more emotional weight to the story. But such is the nature of grief, it’s heavy.

The author’s note at the end, where she shares the inspiration behind the story, really hit me. Knowing the personal context made this feel like a beautiful tribute to her family and deepened my appreciation for the book.

Also, Emma Grey is obviously a Swiftie and I love this for her. 🪩

Audiobook review: 4/5 Narrators: Dominic Gruenewald & Elizabeth Nabben (both have Australian accents) Narration style: Dual narration. I loved the small bit of duet narration at the pivotal scene, such a good choice for that scene to hit hard. I found I sometimes had to adjust the speed or volume between the two narrators. Not always but I found myself doing it more than I would like to.

Thank you Zibby publishing for the advanced reader copy and to LibroFM for the listener copy.❤️

There are so many good themes in this book grief, body love, friendship, empowerment, and vulnerability. Annnnd of course, she is SPICY.

I do think this book was too long when listening and there is a lot of dialogue that felt redundant. But I loved the themes and the character arcs and would happily read another book by this author!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the gifted audiobook 💗

I had high hopes for this book but it ended up not being what I expected at all.

I didn't know where the plot was going for most of the book and this is what bothered me the most. Its written as a diary and I would think that for a diary we would have more emotion but it feels purely observational. I wasn't even sure what the main conflict was going be until about 40-50% of the book. She writes about the gruesome things happening around her to people she knows with a weird detachment and little to no emotion which is wild to me because she has hyper empathy. I guess I am not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't this.

One of the most interesting ideas for a lit fic I've read in a while. The exploration of an outcome of a single decision over decades was brilliant. This book is very heavy to read at times. I went into this book mostly blind not really knowing what I was getting myself into. Sensitive readers should read the blurb and check the content warnings.

Audiobook review: 5/5! Narration style: single narrator The narration for this book was excellent and she has a lovely accent. She was able to portray the vulnerability necessary for these characters so well.

Thank you Penguin Random House Audio for the gifted listener copy ❤️