I had a rough time with this one. It was ok, but really not my thing.

I don't typically pick up military romances and while I don't mind a good age-gap book the son's ex-girlfriend part was not something I had read before and I found I wasn't a fan. I think that the biggest part of why was because the relationship between Kade and Violet felt very surface level and I wasn't convinced they were truly in love enough to get past the general dislike of the situation. The other part being my kid is not too far behind Violet in age and I'm close to Kade's so it felt weird reading something like that. I can get past a general dislike of something if the story hooks me, but I didn't have that experience with this book.

If I look beyond the overall "not my thing" vibes, I did love the representation of Alzheimer's, grief, trauma, and the family dynamics and Latin culture. The concept of the book as a whole was good, but there was too much telling and not enough showing or dialogue. I think it could have been better executed with more time spent developing the characters. So many moments just didn't make total sense or felt rushed and it annoyed me. The ending made me tear up a little, but it also felt rushed.

Others might enjoy this book, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I always waver on what I want to rate Ali Hazelwood's books. They're always easy reads for me which I love and I tend to get sucked in / finish them in one sitting. This one was no exception. But after I sit on my thoughts for a bit after finishing, there's always something that makes it fall short of 5 ★.

I loved Maya's character so much. Once you get to know her and learn why she acts the way she does, she's a character you want to root for. She's smart, sassy, a little chaotic and, while she struggles with her inner demons, she isn't afraid to go for what she wants.

I appreciated the flashback chapters and learning more about the relationship between her and Conor and why she feels the way she does about him. I didn't hate Conor, but I also didn't love him as a character. He was kind of meh for me. While the flashback chapters helped me understand the dynamics between them and feel for what Maya was going through, I found myself mad at Conor so many times treating her like and calling her a child. There is an age-gap, and it's mentioned he does have some trauma about it from his dad and stepmom's relationship, but it got repetitive and I think I would have appreciated him more if we got chapter's from his POV where you could see him struggling instead of being told through some brief mentions and dialogue about it.

I will say, I cried when it seemed like Conor was finally going to let Maya in, only to still hold back. Her emotions and dialogue delivery around it was heartbreaking but so powerful.

The ending? It felt a little rushed to me. I love a good happy ending, but honestly, when most of the book Conor is denouncing his feelings for Maya because she's "too young" so to see the switch flipped so quickly was a little off-putting and I had to remind myself that technically the relationship between them had been building up over 3 years.

This is a sequel book, and I appreciated getting to see Eli and Rue again (it's their wedding this one takes place at) but this book in my opinion could stand on it's own. I loved the setting in Italy and the destination wedding.

Cute story, a bit too insta love / lust for my liking. I wavered between a 3 and a 4 ☆ rating and my final 3 was just because it had less character development than I usually prefer. For a novella though it was very well done. I enjoyed the world and characters a lot! The magic system felt unique and interesting. The story itself was cozy. I definitely want to read more in this world and glad I started with the prequel. It piqued my interest for the other books in the series

This series has a special place in my heart and I am SO HAPPY to finally see Travis get his happily ever after. I have been rooting for him and waiting for this story since Book 1. The author never disappoints me with her characters and I absolutely adored Amelia and Travis together and the two of them had me giggling and kicking my feet once they got past Travis' major insecurities being a wounded soldier. While sometimes I did want to smack Travis upside the head (in the best way honest), I wouldn't change a thing. Their past connection and rekindled relationship, and Travis slowly opening up and learning how to live again, unfolds in such a satisfying way. Amelia's unconditional love for him is the kind of love that lingers and was so heart warming. It really was the story of two lost stars finding each other again and I'm looking forward to anything else this author writes.

I am far far from a horror reader. This book surprised me in the best way. Not going to lie, I picked it up on a whim cause the cool fanged book edges caught my eye on a work trip and reminded me of vampire fangs. I was quite happy with it just sitting on my shelf looking all cool and then the book club I run picked it as one of our next reads. I stepped into it with dread thinking I would be freaked out the whole time but once I got past the first few chapters and the plot kicked up, I got sucked in.

Seven horror authors arrive at the mansion of Mortimer Queen (a fellow author revered for his books in the same genre who passed away) thinking they've inherited something. But inheritance is far from the truth. Each of the characters have done something terrible to Mortimer while he was alive and his final story is one of revenge where the characters have to solve riddles in order to escape the mansion (which is alive and eats people). The story reminded me a bit of Clue the Board Game and cycles through each of the different character's PoVs. The whole time you're questioning whether they really did what they're accused of or if Mortimer is twisting the story. Who murdered whom? Who backstabbed whom? All of the characters feel like unreliable narrators and until the end you don't know what is truth vs fiction. I personally was super surprised at how it all ended (minus one part I guessed early) and I kept going back and forth on my guesses so many times.

The book is a spooky and horrific with slight gore (but not overly graphic) locked room mystery at it's heart. I love a good locked room mystery from time to time but I didn't love this one enough to give it a full 5 ☆ despite getting sucked in. The characters are somewhat stereotypical but also complex and deeply flawed -- but at times their personalities felt a little too campy for my liking. Some scenes felt a little repetitive and I did wish for a bit more logic introduced on how everything worked. It felt like things could have been a little more tightened up or a bit more polished. However, for a debut novel I thought it was really well done and unpredictable in the best way.