Daisy's Decision (Icehome #15) by Ruby Dixon

Daisy's Decision by Ruby Dixon

My Rating: ★★★★

When Daisy escaped her life as a pampered and miserable slave and pet to her owner on another planet, she thought living on Not-Hoth sounded romantic. Starting over on a new planet with a khui that would choose a mate and allow her to become a mother meant that she’d finally get everything she’s ever wanted. Tired of waiting for her silent khui to finally rumble, Daisy’s decided to get things rolling herself. All she needs is O'Jek to agree to be her mate so that Veronica can encourage their khuis to resonate.

I’m really enjoying the last few books in the series. This time around, we follow Daisy and O'Jek through their rotating perspectives. One would think choosing to be mates would be a walk in the park, but when they can’t seem to get on the same page, things fall apart. Fast. It soon becomes a question of who is using who as they bicker and long for each other.

It was great to finally get to know Daisy. She’s been an extremely lazy member of Ice Home who focuses on her looks rather than pitching in. While she loves all the kits she offers to watch all the time, she’s avoided learning even the most basic things, such as how to start a fire and keep it going. We’ve watched O'Jek take care of her, and we’ve watched some of the other characters side-eye her for focusing so much on her appearance rather than attempting to pitch in. Once we learned the rest of her backstory, everything made a lot more sense. I felt really bad for Daisy, so I’m glad everything worked out for her in the end. It was also nice to see how much character growth she had and how much she discovered new parts of herself along the way.

We’ve known O’Jek through the other characters for a while, so it was great to get to know him better as well. While he’s seemingly silent and occasionally stand-offish, he’s extremely observant and has a heart of gold just like Daisy does. I think they’re a good match, and it was interesting to learn that they both are lonely in their own ways. O’Jek’s stems from the distance he felt from his mother who never got over having Juth taken from her right after giving birth to him. It was great to see him slowly work through his abandonment issues. Perhaps he and Daisy should start therapy with Steph to continue on their path of healing.

Sam's Secret (Icehome #14) by Ruby Dixon

 

Sam's Secret by Ruby Dixon

My Rating: ★★★★

While everyone was upset about being abducted by aliens and ending up permanent residents of Not-Hoth, Sam thought it was the best thing that had happened to her in years. There was no way her ex and the useless system that refused to actually help her could reach her now. She grew comfortable knowing she was safe until Daisy arrived, shattering the peace she had built. Years later, Sam is still on edge. Anything could happen, but resonating is the last thing she was expecting to occur.

This time around, we follow Sam and Sessah through their rotating perspectives picking up from right before they resonate. I’ve been disappointed with the last few books along with the major plot point that was dropped despite it being tied to Daisy’s entrance to the story, so I was excited to find that this book reminds me of the original series, which is a surprise since this is pretty far into the spin-off series.

We have two excellent characters here, one who unfortunately has a traumatic past that’s left her with PTSD. Sam’s past includes domestic abuse, stalking, and death threats that we thankfully don’t see in real time. However, it does deeply impact her. It’s why she was mostly happy until Daisy arrived, which had her fearing that her stalker ex could eventually end up on Not-Hoth and back in her life. It’s also why she had no desire to ever resonate, so she’s less than happy when her khui starts singing at the sight of Sessah visiting their beach town.

Sam and Sessah are excellent characters and we see that there’s been a lot of character growth between the first book in the series and now. I really enjoyed following them and see their friendship blossom into more, and that despite what their khuis had to say, Sessah was 100% willing to follow Sam’s lead. While it would be interesting to see a book following a couple who decide to resonate and part ways, I was happy to see them slowly building the foundation for a happy future with an emphasis on communication and trust.

This book does give me hope for the last few books in the series, though it did seem to be trying to open the door for another spin-off with the bleak character who enters the picture for a bit. I was also happy to see some of my old favorite characters we hadn’t seen in a while, so I’m hoping to see some more of them during the final two books.

Ruined by Sarah Vaughn, Sarah Winifred Searle, Niki Smith

Ruined by Sarah Vaughn, Sarah Winifred Searle, Niki Smith

My Rating: ★★★★★

Catherine Benson has been plagued by quite the scandal and is entering a marriage of convenience with Andrew Davener. While he’s marrying her so that her dowry can get his estate back in order, Catherine’s sister doesn’t understand why she’s marrying him. Rumor has it that she lost her virtue, and Catherine can tell you how much damage a rumor can cause. Now she’s left to figure out her marriage to a man with a strong sense of duty.

We mainly follow Catherine and Andrew and pick up right before they marry. Catherine has been plagued by a scandal and is marrying the first agreeable man willing to marry her. Andrew may be desperate to get the estate his father destroyed back in order, but at least he seems agreeable as well as bound to duty. I like how we slowly learn the truth behind the rumors. It’s clear that the rumors are true to some degree from the start, but we get to learn what really happened as the story unfolds.

I really enjoyed reading this. The art was really nice, and the storytelling was excellent. The romance is a slow burn but not so slow that you feel like it’s not progressing. I really liked the majority of the characters we see as well. Catherine and Andrew were well developed and great to follow. However, I do wish that some of the supporting characters were better developed, like Catherine’s sister. We seemed to barely graze the surface even though she had her own storyline. That said, it does have a great cast of characters and I enjoyed reading it so much that I wish it was the first in a series.

When a Girl Loves an Earl (Rescued from Ruin #5) by Elisa Braden

When a Girl Loves an Earl by Elisa Braden

My Rating: ★★★

James Kilbrenner may have inherited his title by surprise, but he quickly embraced it once he saw the people living on his new lands. They remind him of the home he’s left, and now he’s determined to do right by these people. Unfortunately for him, his genuine attitude and hardworking ways have caught the eye of Viola Darling. James has no desire to marry thanks to a tragedy in his past, but Viola is not one to take no for an answer. Now he’s trying to outrun the woman who is determined to capture his hand in marriage.

I’ve been enjoying this series so it was a little bit of a surprise that the romance itself is a miss for part of the book. We follow James and Viola through their rotating perspectives and I couldn’t find an ounce of chemistry between them until a little over halfway into the story. Viola is in lust with the idea of James, and James is apparently in lust with her while pining after his first love. Honestly, I was really surprised when a spark of romance finally began. I was also glad because I knew they would have a happily ever after, and I couldn’t buy that if they didn’t have any chemistry to back up all the love they’d eventually find with each other.

That said, I did really enjoy the story even in the first half of the book. I loved that it was Viola who was pursuing James rather than the other way around. It was a refreshing turn of events, and I hope to see more books from the author that flips things on its head like this. The story also has an excellent cast of characters. It’s always a delight when Lady Wallingham turns up. Well, maybe not for the other characters, but she certainly is entertaining as well as a force to be reckoned with!

While I didn’t care for the romance itself for much of the book, I still enjoyed the story because Elisa is an excellent writer. The story has great characters, let’s us see a woman chase after a male character rather than the other way around, and the budding romance that starts much later in the book makes up for the lack of chemistry early on. I’m excited to check out the next book!

Itty Bitty Betty Blob by Constance Lombardo, Micah Player

Itty Bitty Betty Blob by Constance Lombardo, Micah Player

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Hippo Park through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Itty Bitty Betty Blob has always been different. While all the other monsters thrive in all things scary, she’s been all about sunshine and rainbows ever since she was born. Now that picture day is coming up, Betty is stressed out. Every year, she tries her best to be big, scary, and downright monstrous and it never comes out right because scary is just not who she is. Dressed up in a black dress for her big picture, she gets lost on the way to school and stumbles upon a big cheerful grove and finally embraces who she really is.

I loved following Betty as she tried so hard to fit in when she was clearly the odd one out. She just wants to please her mom by being the big scary monster that’s just not who she is. We see her struggling to fit in with her friends at Ghoulington Academy, but she struggles every day because she’s trying to be something that she’s not. I really enjoyed reading this because it perfectly captures what it feels like trying to fit in when you’re different from what’s expected of you. When we see Betty embrace who she is, we see how happy she is. She shines from the inside out, and even her mom is proud because she sees that she’s no longer struggling.

The artwork is absolutely beautiful, and I love how much color slowly bleeds into the black and white artwork. It really helped tell the story and I think that it’ll really capture young reader’s eyes as they read along. This is such a perfect book to buy for young readers. I really like that Betty’s friends love seeing her shine when she embraces herself, and no one frowns at her not being down right monstrous. I think it has a powerful message that comes through in a way that kids can easily understand and even identify with.

Dead Tired (The Expectant Detectives #2) by Kat Ailes

 

Dead Tired by Kat Ailes

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Minotaur Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A year after becoming entangled in a real life murder mystery, Alice is struggling her way through parenthood with a lot of snacks and caffeine to keep her going. Thankfully, she’s not alone in this new sleepless life because she has Joe and her close friends in Penton. It’s why Alice finds herself part of a protest, getting chained to a tree, and stumbling her way into a whole new murder mystery. Now Alice and company are on the scent with Helen and the babies in tow.

I absolutely love this series. We follow Alice, a first time mom who is still new to paying attention to her eco footsteps. What I love about Alice and her friends is that they don’t always know what they’re doing. They’re fumbling around and figuring out investigating on the fly, which makes it more realistic on top of being absolutely hilarious. They touch the evidence they come across, look forward to finding out what the lead investigator has on file, and they get caught up in new gossip surrounding the people they’re investigating. This time around, we see Alice find herself getting chained to a tree only to doze her way into a new murder mystery a year after helping solve the first one.

We have our regular cast of characters from the previous book with a whole new cast of characters thrown into the mix. Alice and most of her friends find themselves getting a little involved with a local group of protesters who are in a weird phase at the moment. This local group is where most of our new characters come in, which lead to some hilarious moments, like baby Jack having a grand time at the worst of times.

One of the things I like about this book is that no one really knows what they’re doing with the investigation and as new parents. There’s a good balance between the serious tones and hilarious moments so that things aren’t bleak. We see that everyone is struggling in their own way, new parent or not, and that Alice is only going along with the investigation because it’s the first time that Poppy has perked up in a year. We also see the emotional toll of everything on Alice, especially as we get closer to the end of the book.

My only complaint is that we hardly hear about Joe’s dad and the commune. I understand that it’s a separate storyline, but ever since Joe learned who his father was, I was expecting his dad and the commune to play a bigger role in this book. I found it kind of weird that the first time it was even mentioned was around halfway through the story even though Joe was hoping to get to know his dad, and now brother, ever since he learned he was going to be a father himself. We never learned how Joe’s relationship with his dad is going, but we do learn that he’s developed a friendship of sorts with his brother even though we don’t see or hear from him until later. It just seemed kind of weird, so I’m hoping that this is covered more in the next book.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story and getting to know more of the characters. It was nice to see Hen come back around after she understandably dipped for a bit from the group in the series opener. I do think it was really weird that Joe’s dad and his commune were barely mentioned, but I was happy to see his brother again.

We Shall Be Monsters (We Shall be Monsters #1) by Tara Sim

 

We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Nancy Paulsen Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Kajal wakes up and tears her way out of a coffin, she never expected to discover her sister in a matching coffin beside hers. Unlike Kajal, Lasya is extremely dead. Distraught, Kajal decides that the best way to deal with accidentally killing her sister is to bring her back to life. Unfortunately for her, she seems to draw attention to herself everywhere she goes. It’s how she finds herself arrested in yet another witch hunt and forced to rely on the help of two rebels. Now Kajal has to help them bring the crown prince back to life so they’ll help her get Lasya’s body to a safe location for revival.

This book is absolutely amazing. I actually put the other books I was reading down just so I could devote all my reading time to this book alone. We follow Kajal in a very loose Halahala retelling soon after a terrible accident resulted in the death of her sister. From the moment she wakes up and discovers that Lasya is dead, she is filled with grief and is convinced the best route is to bring her sister back from the dead.

The best thing for Kajal to do is to blend into her surroundings wherever she goes, but she sticks out and tells people off as she sees fit. She feels very deeply and the only people she could ever count on is Lasya and herself, so we’re watching her race against time before Lasya’s soul is warped and becomes a bhuta. The only problem is that she’s become a bhuta much earlier than expected, and anyone who crosses Kajal drops like flies because the bhuta is attacking anyone Kajal gets angry with. Insert a witch hunt, some rebels, and bringing the wrong prince back from the dead and you’ve got a recipe for one hell of a story.

I absolutely loved the characters. Each of them are well developed. You can tell that even the characters that briefly appear have a lot of dimension. I really enjoyed watching the story slowly unfold and see how much foreshadowing there is. There’s only one part toward the end of the book that felt super out of place and kind of odd until you see the reason for it, and I wish that part was better planned out because it came out of the blue. I honestly thought that maybe the advance copy I received abruptly ended and that section was an unannounced preview for the next book. Then it loops back around and back into the story and now I understand why it’s there, but it was just odd and out of place for the most part. There was no foreshadowing, so I’m hoping that this is something that is edited to fit into the story better for the final copy for publication.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and even with that one section that felt out of place, it was honestly one of my top reads for this entire year. I am so excited to read the next book when it comes out. I’m buying this book the second it drops and plan on rereading it sometime between the day it releases and whenever the second book will eventually drop.