Author: Bree

Hi, I'm Bree. I'm a tea-guzzling writer, designer, and romance novel junkie who takes my books like I take my tea & baths, steamy. I also do weird things like buy candles that smell like book boyfriends and write character descriptions for everyone I meet.

On Repeat by Kylie Scott

~ Bree ~ 1 Comment
5-stars
Overall Rating: 5 Stars
Title: On Repeat
Author: Kylie Scott
Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible

Synopsis:
From Audie Award winning, New York Times best-selling author Kylie Scott comes an irresistible new romance – available in audio first!

When a vicious attack leaves 25-year-old Clementine Johns with no memory, she’s forced to start over. Now she has to figure out who she was and why she made the choices she did – which includes leaving the supposed love of her life, tattoo artist Ed Larsen, only a month before.

Ed can hardly believe it when his ex shows up at his tattoo parlor with no memory of their past, asking about the breakup that nearly destroyed him. The last thing he needs is more heartache, but he can’t seem to let her go again.

Should they walk away for good, or does their love deserve a repeat performance?

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Review

I loved this book from the first page.

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Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

~ Bree ~ 1 Comment
3-stars
Overall Rating: 3 Stars
Title: Let’s Talk About Love
Author: Claire Kann
Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible

Synopsis:
Alice had her whole summer planned. Non-stop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows (best friends totally included) with the smallest dash of adulting–working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she’s asexual). Alice is done with dating–no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.

But then Alice meets Takumi and she can’t stop thinking about him or the rom com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).

When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn, and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood.

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Review

Let’s talk about how this novel was kind of a huge disappointment.

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Rockstar (Morgan Brothers #5) by Lauren Rowe

~ Bree ~ Leave a comment
5-stars
Overall Rating: 5 Stars
Title: Rockstar
Author: Lauren Rowe
Series: Morgan Brothers #5
Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible

Synopsis:
It was lyrics at first sight when I saw Violet Rhodes across that crowded party. She was lights and darks, swirled together. Music in motion. And all of it while looking like a hitwoman at an Elvis convention.
I had nothing to offer the intriguing girl but a one-night stand. I figured I’d revel in my last night of anonymity before my first tour and shoot her a quick “We’ll always have L.A.!” goodbye the next morning.
But nothing went according to plan.
In one night, Violet crawled under my skin and into my bloodstream. She tattooed her name across my chest and between my legs. She became my muse. And then she was gone.
Now, months later, here she is again. And in a twist I never saw coming, it turns out Violet is ultra-violet radiation. Beautiful, ethereal light bringing with her the promise of damage and destruction.
My brain tells me to walk away from this girl, but my heart can’t stop feeling like she might be one of a kind . . . the sort of girl who comes along once in a violet moon.

ROCKSTAR is a standalone romance, the love story of Dax Morgan and the electrifying woman who rocked his world during his journey to worldwide rock superstardom.

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Review

I have been anticipating this book nearly as much as I have been anticipating Reed’s book. (Come on, Lauren! Please write his book! PLEEEEEEASE!)

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All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover

~ Bree ~ 4 Comments
5-stars
Overall Rating: 5 Stars
Title: All Your Perfects
Author: Colleen Hoover
Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible

Synopsis:
Colleen Hoover delivers a tour de force novel about a troubled marriage and the one old forgotten promise that might be able to save it.

Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.

All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?

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Review

This was unbearable to read.

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My Favorite Unique Romances in Books

~ Bree ~ 8 Comments

As a self-proclaimed Romance Novel Junkie, I start to see a lot of the same tropes or similarities in the books that I read. Honestly, this isn’t usually a problem for me. There are a ton of amazing authors out there who can take something that has been done a million times and make it their own.

Every once in a while, though, I come across a romance plot line that is particularly unique.

I thought I’d share some of my favorites with you in hopes that you’ll chat with me down in the comments and share some that you’ve read!

Continue reading “My Favorite Unique Romances in Books” →

Finale (Caraval #3) by Stephanie Garber *New Favorite*

~ Bree ~ 6 Comments
5-stars
Overall Rating: 5 Stars
Title: Finale
Author: Stephanie Garber
Series: Caraval #3
Format: Exclusive edition from Owlcrate

Synopsis:
Welcome, welcome to Finale, the third and final book in Stephanie Garber’s #1 New York Times bestselling Caraval series!

A love worth fighting for. A dream worth dying for. An ending worth waiting for.

It’s been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn’t really exist.

With lives, empires, and hearts hanging in the balance, Tella must decide if she’s going to trust Legend or a former enemy. After uncovering a secret that upends her life, Scarlett will need to do the impossible. And Legend has a choice to make that will forever change and define him.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun. There are no spectators this time: only those who will win, and those who will lose everything.

Welcome, welcome to Finale. All games must come to an end…

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Review

I’m just going to say it: Finale is my all-time favorite, well, finale to a series I’ve ever read. Ever.

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The Bride Test (The Kiss Quotient #2) by Helen Hoang *New Favorite*

~ Bree ~ 7 Comments
5-stars
Overall Rating: 5 Stars
Title: The Bride Test
Author: Helen Hoang
Series: The Kiss Quotient #2

Synopsis:
Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.

As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working…but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection.

With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.

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Review

Dear Helen Hoang,
It’s official. I love you.

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Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

~ Bree ~ 7 Comments
5-stars
Overall Rating: 5 Stars
Title: Red, White & Royal Blue
Author: Casey McQuiston
Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible

Synopsis:
A big-hearted romantic comedy in which First Son Alex falls in love with Prince Henry of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends…

First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.

The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.

As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?

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Review

I knew I was going to fall in love with this book. And I wasn’t wrong.

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Leah on the Offbeat (Creekwood #2) by Becky Albertalli

~ Bree ~ 4 Comments
5-stars
Overall Rating: 5 Stars
Title: Leah on the Offbeat
Author: Becky Albertalli
Series: Creekwood #2
Format: Audiobook borrowed from Library

Synopsis:
Leah Burke—girl-band drummer, master of deadpan, and Simon Spier’s best friend from the award-winning Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda—takes center stage in this novel of first love and senior-year angst.

When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn’t always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she’s the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she’s bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon.

So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting—especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended.

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Review

Leah is one of those few grumpy characters that I absolutely loved. Yes, she was a little unnecessarily mean sometimes, but Becky has such an admirable ability to bring such vivid insight into the teenage brain, that I was able to channel my self-obsessed, know-it-all, whiny teenager as I read this book and really, surprisingly, relate to Leah.

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99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne

~ Bree ~ Leave a comment
4-stars
Overall Rating: 4 Stars
Title: 99 Percent Mine
Author: Sally Thorne
Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible

Synopsis:
Crush: a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach…

Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough.

When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade.

Suddenly Darcy’s considering sticking around to make sure her twin doesn’t ruin the cottage’s inherent magic with his penchant for grey and chrome. She’s definitely not staying because of her new business partner’s tight t-shirts, or that perfect face that’s inspiring her to pick up her camera again. Soon sparks are flying—and it’s not the faulty wiring. It turns out one percent of Tom’s heart might not be enough for Darcy anymore. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers.

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Review

With all the lukewarm feelings about this book that so many in the bookish community have had, I was so worried about reading this one. I’d seen a few smattering of 5 star reviews here and there, but with the epic-greatness of The Hating Game, I wasn’t sure this sophomore book could possibly live up to it.

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