Category: Romance
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Shadow and Bone Trilogy: A Love…Quadrilateral?
Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, Book 1)Siege and Storm (Shadow and Bone, Book 2)Ruin and Rising (Shadow and Bone, Book 3)By: Leigh BardugoMy Rating: Three out of Five StarsBest for: 14 and up Everyone loves a good love quadrilateral, right? I figured it was time to give Shadow and Bone a go–I’ve had all…
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This is How You Lose the Time War: The longest, short book ever
This is How You Lose the Time WarBy: Amal El-Mohtar and Max GladstoneMy Rating: Three out of Five StarsBest for: 16 and up This might be the longest, short book I’ve ever read My kids joke that some art is like writing in cursive. You could just simply write, or you could write in cursive.…
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Where the Lost Wander: Love and Tragedy on the American Frontier
Where the Lost WanderBy: Amy HarmonMy Rating: Four out of five starsBest For: 16 and up Love and Tragedy on the American Frontier I’m not Amy Harmon’s target demographic, but I sure enjoy a good story. Amy Harmon tells really great stories. My first experience with Amy Harmon was The First Girl Child and The…
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#Unknown: More Augmented Reality, Please!
Unknown (Unreal, Book 2)By: Cindy GundersonMy Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 12 and up AR?! Yes please! You know what’s cool? Augmented Reality. The possibilities are endless! At least, I thought it was cool–until crafty authors started telling stories about all the ways governments and corporations might use AR to passively exploit us…
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#TheSecondBlindSon: Whoa, wow, holy cow! What a story!
The Second Blind Son (The Chronicles of Saylok, Book 2)By: Amy HarmonMy Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARSBest for: 18 and up Whoa. Wow. Holy cow. What a story! The Second Blind Son was….powerful? Passionate? Gripping? Romantic? Really, really cool? Yes. Yes it was. I was impressed with The First Girl Child, and I don’t…
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#TheFirstGirlChild: So, am I one of Amy’s Harmonies now?
The First Girl ChildBy: Amy HarmonMy Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 16 and up Oh my goodness, there are some passionate Amy Harmon fan’s out there! I tried to join the Amy’s Harmonies private Facebook Group to see what the fuss was all about, but have yet to be approved. Maybe One Man…
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#WheretheCrawdadsSing: The Perfect Novel?
Where the Crawdads SingBy: Delia OwensMy Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS!Best For: 18 and up Is this it? The perfect novel? Judging by the raving crowds of fans and bottomless 5 star reviews, could it be? Naw. No such thing. The perfect novel doesn’t exist. But… …Where the Crawdads Sing is absolutely worthy of…
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A Book Club Guest Review of The Girl You Left Behind
The Girl You Left BehindBy: Jo Jo MoyesReviewer Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 18 and up WWI history, romance, and mystery!Guest review by Catina Haverlock It’s World War One France and Sophie Lefevre and her sister Helene have but one goal – keeping their family safe until the war ends and their husbands…
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#MuseofNightmares: The right mix of fantasy and romance…
Muse of Nightmares (Strange the Dreamer, Book 2)By: Laini TaylorMy Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 18 and up I had hoped Muse of Nightmares would continue that balance Laini Taylor found in Strange the Dreamer–just the right mix of romance mixed in to help keep the fantasy moving and emotional. And it did…mostly.…
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A Book Club Guest Review of The Lost and Found Bookshop
The Lost and Found BookshopBy: Susan WiggsReviewer Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 16 and up Except for three pages… Wonderful!Guest review by Julie Hilton A woman returns to take care of her grandfather and his Bookstore under traffic circumstances. She has friendships with two intriguing men through a series of humorous and sad…
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#StrangetheDreamer: The sweet spot.
Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer, Book 1)By: Laini TaylorMy Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARSBest for: 18 and up I expected a fantasy romance when I picked up Strange the Dreamer, and funny enough–I found exactly that. Except I found more, too. Laini Taylor keeps surprising me: the reading dad who calls romance novels…
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A Book Club Guest Review of The Other Side of the Stars
The Other Side of the StarsBy: Katherine KingReviewer Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARSBest for: 12 and up Beautiful and unexpected love story set in and after WWIIA guest review by Catina Haverlock After the sudden death of her parents, Gita finds herself alone on the family farm in post WWII America. She has absolutely…
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A Book Club Guest Review of A Haunting at Havenwood
A Haunting at Havenwood (Seasons of Change, Book 6)By: Sally BrittonReviewer Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 14 and up Cute regency mystery with a touch of romanceReview by Charity Bradford I’m not usually a regency fan, but I liked that this woman’s change of circumstance brought her into her own. It was really…
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#ForgettingYou: If the Hallmark Channel were a book series…
Forgetting YOU By: Hillary Ann Sperry My Rating: Four out of Five Stars Best for: 16 and up I don’t love romance novels (because they’re barf), but I do love supporting family friendly literature, friends who are authors, local-to-me authors, and undiscovered authors who deserve to be known. So when a talented, local friend publishes…
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#Beyond and #Before: Twilight + Ghost (but without the sparkles or the pottery)
Beyond Before By: Catina Haverlock and Angela Larkin My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE stars Best for: 14 and up Friends, I loved (A LOT) Beyond (book 1) and Before (book 2) by sisters Catina Haverlock and Angela Larkin. Wait…aren’t they YA Romance? Yep. Paranormal romance, actually. And aren’t you a 42-year-old dad with 6…
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#TheSelectionSeries: a.k.a The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games…
The Selection (The Selection Series, Book 1) The Elite (The Selection Series, Book 2) The One (The Selection Series, Book 3) The Heir (The Selection Series, Book 4) The Crown (The Selection Series, Book 5) By: Kiera Cass My Rating: Three out of Five Stars Best for: 14 and up The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games…no wonder everyone loves…
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The Golem and the Jinni
5/5 stars The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker Mrs. Wecker’s Opus… There is so much I wish I could say about The Golem and the Jinni. I’m afraid I haven’t the words–my ability to move my heart to my mind to the page is too puny to do justice to Helene Wecker’s magically…
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Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Break Dawn by Stephenie Meyer: Series Review
Sparkling vampires. Moody girls. Obsessive love. The YA that defined YA. Did I love it? Not really. Will you love it? Maybe. Should you read it? Probably. Can your kids read it? If their 14 and mature enough to tell the difference between an unrealistic romantic relationship vs a fantasy, then go for it. Under…
One Man Book Club 