Review: Unravel Me by Becka Mack

Book Summary

Golden boy. Notorious serial dater. The NHL’s most eligible bachelor.

That’s what the headlines say about me, at least. I wish I could say they’re not accurate, but truthfully? I don’t even know who I am anymore.

Between a soul-crushing ex-girlfriend and a never-ending queue of dates gone wrong, one thing has become glaringly obvious: I don’t want to be Adam Lockwood.

So when my dog decides to play matchmaker, taking down a sweet little thing with rose gold waves, brilliant green eyes, and a smile for days, I can’t believe my luck that she doesn’t have a clue who I am. I know I should tell her, but for once in my life someone sees the man behind the goalie mask.

Rosie gives me all of her–her heartache, her laughter, and her son. But me? I’m holding on a little too tightly to the pieces I’m scared to give up, the pieces she might not like.

One small lie becomes a secret hanging above my head, but what if there’s another one hiding right around the corner?

Suddenly, my deepest desire becomes my biggest fear.

I’m terrified she’s going to unravel me.

Review

Unravel Me is the third book in the Playing for Keeps series, and I will be completely honest and say that this book was going to decide if I would continue the series. Both Consider Me and Play with Me were weighed down by too many flaws. Number one, it was too long and after a while they both started dragging. Number two, the second-hand embarrassment. I thought maybe it was just a thing with Consider Me, which is why I gave Play with Me a chance, but I really hate how the author writes her characters sometimes. It’s overly and openly cringe, and they just come off as annoying and immature. I can’t take them seriously. I was fully expecting to experience those things in Unravel Me. And I can report that I am pleasantly surprised.

Did the cringe characters disappear? Ha, no. Carter from Consider Me somehow got much worse and every time he made an appearance, I felt like I died a little bit inside. And Garrett from Play with Me, well he also got much worse. And it was painful to get through a group scene with all of Adam’s friends.

However, that didn’t deter me from loving this book. Both Adam and Rosie stood out and I loved them so much. I loved their journey, and their meet cute, and almost everything about their story. Out of the three books, this one was the one that flowed the most naturally. Yes, it was long but that didn’t matter. If anything, I left the book wanting more. Did Adam and Rosie have embarrassing moments? Of course, but again it felt natural, and it wasn’t overbearing.

To me, Becka Mack struck gold with Adam and Rosie and from the very first page I fell in love with them. Adam was such a hopeless romantic and a sweetheart, and his willingness to support Rosie and make her feel seen had me swoony. I wish we had more scenes with his parents, because his backstory was heartfelt, and I wanted to see more of their dynamic.

Rosie was incredibly strong, and such a great mother, and a great character. I loved her roommate/friend. More than I loved Adam’s circle of friends, and I wish Rosie and them had more moments because there was this particular moment at the end with them that sent me crying. It was incredibly sweet, and it didn’t feel forced. Back to Rosie. She’s had a hard life, and having a terrible baby daddy doesn’t help at all. And yet she still managed to be so kind and open.

I mentioned before that the length didn’t bother me because it didn’t. However, I will say that towards the latter half of the book I got a little scared. A plot point had been introduced and I was fully prepared for my rating of this book to decrease. It did decrease. I felt that the drama in the last half was unnecessary, but I still really loved this book, and instead of a 5 star from me, it’s more like a 4.75.

Final Thoughts

Unravel Me is by the far the most heartfelt, funny, and loving book in this series. Both Adam and Rosie were incredible, as well as most of their story.

Review: Written In Ink by SM Broad

About the Book

Diem

I was seven when I met my best friend.

With his caring, hazel eyes and sandy blonde hair, he completely stole my heart.

I was thirteen when I fell in love with him.

Fifteen when he gave me my very first kiss.

And seventeen when I lost him.

Now, five years later, the boy from my past is a man standing in front of me. Only, how do I tell him about the greatest gift he ever gave me?

Hart

I was nine when I met my best friend.

With her sparkling green eyes, brown hair and kind soul, she completely stole my heart.

I was fifteen when I fell in love with her.

Seventeen when she became my everything.

And nineteen when I lost her.

Now, five years later, the girl from my past is a woman standing in front of me telling me that we share more than just memories.

Review

I don’t know what I was expecting with this one, but it wasn’t what was presented in this book. In summary, Written in the Ink is about two teenagers who are obsessed with each other when they are teenagers. When Diem gets pregnant, instead of telling Hart about the baby, her and her parents skip town. The reasoning isn’t very clear. Six years later, they end up in the same town as Hart, and he accidentally finds out that he has a kid. I expected an emotional reunion between the two, and that isn’t what happened at all.

To me, everything happened too fast, and it left no time to let the emotional parts breathe. combined with the fact that both characters were frustrating and dull at times. I kept reading expecting something good would happen, but it unfortunately never came. Instead, what came was an unnecessary other woman drama, that felt a little frustrating for how it added nothing to the plot and how it unraveled.

Final Thoughts

Written in the Ink had two frustrating and dull main characters, where not even the second chance romance or a cute kid could save it.

Review: My Goodbye Girl by Anna Gomez

If you asked me in the beginning half of the book whether I thought Tessa and Simon would be meant for each other, I’d say absolutely not. In fact, I just couldn’t figure out why or where they were going. They were like the odd couple but found themselves magnetized to each other. Despite their differences, fate hung around in the background and brought a romantic story bringing two unlikely people together in My Goodbye Girl by Anna Gomez.

Tessa Tallsman is a vibrant, carefree in the moment sort of gal. A popular romance writer on one of her book tours meets Simon Fremont, a scientist committed to making innovations in his field. They meet in Paris and despite their initial attraction, their lives couldn’t be more different. Tessa loves to travel all the time, taking her to a different place. Simon is super focused and more grounded in life placing all his focus on his work. Despite their obvious differences in lifestyle, they decide to begin their situationship and surprisingly it begins to grow. I say situationship because what they said and what happened are two different things.I think partly when you have someone who agrees to one thing but deep down feels another, that sort of complicates things by putting the relationship on different pages.

As their romance develops, their feelings grow despite not being on the same page with conflicting goals and what they want out of life. Tessa wants to enjoy life not sedentary in one place and Simon wants to settle down to be stable and consistent in one place. With no compromise on the table, as her writing career begins to flourish, and their time seems to be limited, it takes a toll on their relationship. Each time they leave each other, it gets harder to say goodbye, looming thoughts of regret begin to creep up on Tess questioning her happiness.

With things are finally getting on the right track and Tessa is ready to make a decision about her life, an accident happens that changes their lives. Tessa must let go of the past and face her fear of goodbye in the pain of possibility to receiving true love.

Honestly, my feelings are conflicted about this book. This had no impact on the quality, just my frustration with the plot. Side note, nothing wrong with the plot, I just feel jilted with how it happened. After the first half of the book, I was so frustrated with the abrupt ending of the trajectory of finally some momentum of hope in their story and then with no resolution. Simon had to grow on me because I couldn’t figure out if I truly liked him. I liked Tessa from the start with no objections. I finally got to the point where I was accepting where they were going and was optimistic. Then a huge plot twist that just came out of nowhere and we are set in the present. Or was there a transition in time? I didn’t know that we were in the past. The accident that happened was so random with no immediate explanation and then with the next part being the present and then later finding out what happened after the fact. I wish I could’ve experienced this in the moment.

Regardless of how I feel, the characters were wonderful and relatable. You really get to know Tessa and Simon on a personal level and get invested in where they are going. Not only their journey but I loved the friendship between Tessa and Riley. The plot definitely had some twists and turns that I wish had happened differently but it turned out good despite my grumbling. Honestly, after the shock after the first part, I will say the book's conclusion surprised me and leaves you feeling good.

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Review: Overtime by Maggie Rawdon

About the Book

Colton St. George is the league’s star quarterback, the most eligible bachelor in the country, and the poster boy for “nice guy”.

Everyone wants a piece of him.

Including me—because I need him in front of my camera to raise money for charity.

There’s just one problem.

Before he was famous, I took his already broken heart and shattered it.

So he only agrees to do the photos on one condition—I go first. In his home, at his discretion.

And in private? He isn’t quite the good guy I remember.

Before I know what's happening we're unraveling in a game of favors and bets. One I’m not sure either of us can win

Review

Second chance romances are normally misses for me more likely than not. However, Overtime quickly became one of my favorite sports romances of this year. There was just something so perfect about the dynamic between Colton and Joss. They were just so good, and I enjoyed their banter and their reluctance to restart their relationship. I was obsessed with them both. Star quarterback and famous photographer.

This book is a part of an interconnected series; however, I did read it as a standalone. And unfortunately, I feel that that did hinder my reading experience a little bit. I can only blame myself. There were a lot of characters popping in and I couldn’t remember who was with who. Those characters were main characters in the previous books, and if I had read them then I would have known what happened. Again, I can only blame myself.

I do feel that this book missed several opportunities to explore and expand Joss and Colt’s history. While reading, I was expecting a chapter of flashbacks to show what exactly happened, but it never came. Maybe their past had been fully explored in other books; however, I still would have loved it to be in their POV.

Final Thoughts

I really did love Overtime, and most of my complaints are due to me. As great as Joss and Colt were, I wanted more. More in terms of what exactly happened all those years go. The author did mention what happened but I wanted the experience of reading it and experiencing that emotion.

Review: The Summer of Second Chances by Miranda Liasson

To my sadness, the end of another wonderful series. The Summer of Second Chances by Miranda Liasson concludes our journey with the Seashell Harbor series.

In this book, the focus is on Darla and NIck. With their past history together, they’ve been through a lot of ups and downs. With her cancer behind her, Darla returns to Seashell Harbor to tie up some loose ends before beginning the next chapter in her life starting in the upcoming fall. With a book deadline approaching, a secured teaching position across the country and beginning the process to sell her home, she definitely has her plate full. The last thing she ever expected was for her ex-husband to interfere with the trajectory of her life plan or ignite a spark inspiring unresolved feelings and nostalgia.

Nick isn’t the same person he once was. Once young and immature, he’s changed and wants a better life. He’s taking on more responsibility with his family’s business and going to school to get his education to build a better future. One thing for sure that he’s known for infinity is something that has never changed, his big heart for Darla. Taking on the task to do some repairs on her home, he finds himself spending more time with her trying to show how much he truly cares and how much he’s changed. He foolishly gave up before but is determined to do anything not to make the same mistake twice. 

As they say, home is where the heart is and as their summer blossoms a new beginning, will this opportunity of a second chance be enough for Darla to embrace?

Overall, this book with Darla and Nick showed how time can heal old wounds. If you allow your heart to open, love can find its way back stronger for longevity. Darla is a strong, independent woman who deserves to be loved. When you experience the pain she did in her life, it's hard to open your heart again, let alone to the one person who broke it. So, what I loved is how their experiences in life changed them but she allowed him to show her which slowly opened her heart to allow the possibility of a second chance. Sometimes we find the right people at the wrong time. If we’re lucky, the right time will be on time.

Also, the book wrapped up the series wonderfully with some amazing exciting news happening with Hadley and Kit. Their beautiful friendship and love for each other warmed the pages and the joy of strolling through this small town just was a joy to escape into. Their journey of friendship, love and second chances made this another wonderful series.

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Review: Black Rainbow by J.J. McAvoy

About the Book

A sweet and steamy New Adult Romance from Amazon bestselling author of the Ruthless People series, J.J. McAvoy…

After an erotic one-week fling with a musician she meets in a bar, Thea Cunning never expects to see Levi Black again. Then Monday morning comes around, and she discovers that her former lover is not only her professor, but he’s also one of the top criminal lawyers in the state of Massachusetts.

With everyone in class vying to be one of the twelve disciples—a group of twelve students that Professor Black takes under his wing—tensions run high. Thea considers dropping his class, given their passionate week together and their undeniable chemistry. After all, there are other (less infuriatingly sexy) law professors on campus.

But to accomplish her goal and get her father out of prison, Thea knows she needs to learn under the best of the best—and that’s Levi Black.

But can she learn under the best, without being under the best?

Review

I heard some good things about this book, and I immediately bought it. At the very least, I was expecting Black Rainbow to have a good and easy story. And it was delivered. This was an easy and fast read. Despite being a story about lawyers, the jargon was easy to follow, and it didn’t seem overwhelming.

I think one of my favorite things about this book was that they were lawyers. It was so entertaining to see Thea and Levi work on cases together, and try to solve it. And I especially loved how Levi tended to be ruthless in class, and it reminded me of How to Get Away with Murder. Only slightly. If I closed one eye. Regardless, I loved all the students trying to be the student for him. I could read an entire series on that alone.

I loved Thea as a main character, and I loved how she thrived to stay on top, and everything she did to stay on top. She was at Harvard for a reason, and she wasn’t going to let anything slow her down. And Levi and Thea were great. I loved them together, and I loved how their past scenes were woven in the present. I love a good forbidden romance trope, and I especially love all the sneaking around the couple has to do. Unfortunately, this romance doesn’t fully dive into the sneaking around and stolen kisses, but for what I got I was still giggling and smiling and having a good time.

For me, as much as I loved how simple the writing was, I do think at times, the story was hurt with how simple it was. Especially with the relationship between Thea and her younger sister. I didn’t really feel the impact of it, and I didn’t have an emotional connection to it. Descriptions were lost, and it felt like information was presented and not really explained with actions or emotions sometimes.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed Black Rainbow, and the couple—Levi and Thea, were such a captivating couple. And because of the moments that really stood out to me, I could see this being a book that I reread from time to time. It does have some flaws, however, they can be overlooked to enjoy this story.

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