Jennifer Hartmann: Still Beating

Cora out for the night celebrating her sisters birthday party declines leaving with her sister and her sister's irritating fiance Dean... seriously what does she even see in that guy?  She maybe has a few too many drinks and finds herself in need of a ride home but her wallet has been stolen, making a few phone calls the only one to answer is the last person she should have called to begin with... Dean.  

Surprisingly Dean shows up for her when she needs him the most getting her away from some creep who stepped up next to her offering her a ride home... no thanks her ride has arrived.  Only neither of them gets home safely that night they wake up the next morning locked to pipes in a madman's basement... the last person Cora ever wanted to have to see on a daily basis is now her only hope of surviving this horrible situation.  

Against all odds they both make it out of the basement alive after 3 weeks of being in a nightmare situation... but in that 3 weeks their whole lives have changed they survived something no one should ever have to go through and they did it together, they were each other's life lines in the darkest days of their lives and no one understands what they are going through or who they are now a the end of this horrible situation... in many ways they are still in that basement clinging to each other for light, hope, and the will to live when other options might seem easier.

They are drawn to each other in ways that feel so natural, but it shouldn't be like this them being together would hurt everyone around them... especially Cora's sister.  What can they do when they at this point feel like they need each other like they need air?  

*2026   *enemies --> more  *sister's fiance  (Taboo)  *Spice  *horror  *dual POV *

*Trigger warnings --> check these before reading  *Trauma  *PTSD  *survivors  *very dark themes 

Thoughts: 

This started off like a horror movie or an investigation discovery episode, it's truly scary that there are people out there who have done these types of horrible things and I'm sure that the survivors are never the same after.  That being said I usually wouldn't be a fan of this type of relationship in a book due to the fact that our MMC has been in a long term relationship (15 years) and is currently engaged to the FMC's sister but the fact that they went through this situation together and had such an intense experience it really changes the dynamic.

This was a really emotional read they are both torn knowing that they need each other so badly after returning to civilization but can never truly be together because they know how much pain it would cause the sister.  I was at times really upset with the sister (Mandy) she made statements throughout the book like she was trying to be "supportive" and "give them time" but she was actually forcing them into things quicker than they wanted at one point she was bringing her sister out on a double date with her and Dean to the same place that they were at the night they got taken, a few times she mentions to Dean that she doesn't understand how he could "change so much" he was just down there in the basement for "3 weeks"... that's 3 weeks longer than anyone should be there and you can't rush this healing process it takes time and a lot of mental health support.  

Cora said she hated Dean but through flash backs you see that there was always a kind of "flirty" vibes before hand through that it always felt there was something more there and I did feel that part was kind of unfair to the sister long term since they were both dismissing those potential feelings for years leaving it seem like perhaps Dean should have asked Cora out to begin with instead of her sister.  

Cora frustrated me at times because she was stuck on pranks played on her in high school by Dean so much so that when she woke up locked in a basement with him she wanted to continue to hold this grudge... like girl set that aside immediately he's your partner to get out of this place... worst escape room ever!  

I did enjoy this book over all it was darker than I usually read but my heart went out to Cora and Dean and I did root for them to have a happy ever after they needed it after what they went through.  

Liz McCoy Hamilton: Frailty of Fact

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/245205014-frailty-of-fact

Blurb:

SOME FAMILIES KEEP SECRETS. HERS TRIED TO BURY HER WITH THEM.Elodie Winters wakes in the family lake house with blood on her hands and no memory of how it got there.

Her sister is in the ICU. Her brother is fighting for his life. And everyone believes Elodie finally snapped.

But Elodie knows the her siblings have been trying to kill her for months—revenge for the testimony that sent their father to prison twenty years ago. The severed brake lines. The pillow over her face. The poison in her coffee.

Now, with no evidence, a "mental history" her family manufactured, and memories she can't fully trust, she must prove she's not the monster they've spent decades creating.

In a family built on lies, the most dangerous thing isn't what they did.

It's what she can't remember.

For fans of Verity and The Woman in the Window

*2026  *Psychological Thriller *unreliable narrator  *Gaslighting  *Isolation *Memory Loss *Toxic family *descent into madness  *Trigger warnings  *Paranoia  *Indie Author

Thoughts:

I usually read romance but occasionally branch out to a few other genre's I recently asked for Indie author recommendations and this author recommended their book to me right away the blurb was intriguing and I put it on my TBR I finally got a chance to read it and I'm so glad I did I was hooked from the very beginning of the book.

Elodie wakes up in her family’s lake house covered in blood with her brother and sister both have very clearly been attacked but she has no memory of what happened with her brother and sister now in the hospital in critical condition due to her mental state she finds herself in the hospital pending a psychiatric evaluation.

The book then works its way throughout Elodie's life as she's recalling her childhood and most recently her side of the story where she believes that her brother and sister have been trying to end her life in the way of discussing her story with a psychiatrist.  Throughout the book as the reader, I was torn between believing that Elodie was really going through these terrible life events and wondering if some of these events were part of her mental health conditions as additional information from her past is introduced and we learn that she has had memory lapses in the past and may be an unreliable historian.

Elodie presents her family as manipulative and cruel starting with everyone (mom, dad, brother & sister) blaming her for her father's eventual trial and imprisonment years earlier... instead of the family supporting her as a young child every member of her family (especially her mother) turned their backs on her and between gaslighting her and taunting her she feels isolated in her own home and now even as an adult continues to hope against all odds that her family will give her some scrap of kindness which is how you see her story weaving around multiple encounters with her devious family when she should change her phone number move and never contact them again.

I was up late reading this as I had to know what was truly happening with Elodie and her family, I truly enjoyed this book and how well the author did with making every fact given hard to know to be true or if it was part of Elodie's paranoid mind set.  If you enjoy Thrillers that make you question everything that has happened check this one out.  

Rebecka Cole: Legacy & Lace

Hazel left her family, friends and everything she knew behind her (family, friends, the family ranch) in Montana after her father's death she sets up her new life in Colorado and hasn't been back since... Until now when she hears through the grapevine that her aunt is struggling more with a recent injury than she's letting on in her weekly phone calls she doesn't hesitate to come home to help... it's just temporary.

Eli Dawson had been Hazel's best friend since childhood, he's a handsome, steady cowboy and at this point no longer waiting for Hazel to change her mind... he stayed while she left maybe it was bad timing on his part but he's always loved Hazel and the time he decides to just tell her she leaves before he wakes up the next morning... now she's breezing back in town expecting everyone to thank her for coming things have been tough for awhile she just didn't hang out long enough to see that he's been helping hold together the ranch with limited resources.  

When Hazel returns to the ranch in many ways she has a lot to catch up on but in others it feels like she never left the closer it gets to having to make a decision as to whether to go back to her life she's been building in Colorado or stay and help in Montana she finds herself torn between two tough choices... but maybe it's just a bit harder this time since Eli has dug his way a bit deeper in her heart.

With the ranch being in a dire financial situation there are big choices to make... and a shady neighbor keeps popping up... go away Cole!  

*ARC Read *2026 *State Challenge Montana *slow burn *Second chance romance  *cowboy 

*Ranch life  *Brooding MMC  *Grief  *Loss of parent (FMC) *long term pining *small town  *Indie Author

Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book right away you can see how grief is clouding everything in Hazel's life she loved her dad and the ranch and everything in Montana but couldn't see herself able to stay after his passing how could she go on in her dad's world without him there with her? 

Coming back to town after so long there is big tension between Eli and Hazel he's still bitter and upset (reasonably so) after they had a night to remember and then she left him without a word, even with his heart shattered and his girl out of the state he continued to help on his own ranch and help Hazel's Aunt out on her Ranch but he knows the lay of the land and that the financial situation isn't what it used to be, without Hazel's dad there to run the place the extra income opportunities left and word spreads fast in a small town.

Hazel is back but for how long?  I liked that Eli didn't let her off the hook immediately after so long he was guarded, grumpy and doesn't let up on harder questions like How long are you staying?  He wanted answers and while he gave up waiting around for her to come back he makes it known that her leaving wrecked him.

This has amazing slow burn tension even when he's grumpy and guarded you know that Eli still feels the same way and since she's back Hazel is finally facing that she might feel that way too but what is she supposed to do?  Her life is in Colorado now she only has so many weeks out of work to help and she is getting questioned by her boss when is she returning?... But what if she is seeing her future now in Montana?

To be honest Eli had my heart from the beginning... if you ever find someone who loves you as much as Eli loves Hazel... don't run off in the middle of the night to a different state without talking to them you keep them and hold on tight so someone else doesn't grab them up.  I did find myself getting irritated with Hazel at times because she was so set on not making any decisions about staying but and I didn't want to see her break Eli's heart again!  

This is an emotional read that will have you rooting for both of our leads to find their way back to each other... and for Hazel to finally face and make big decisions.  

Rina Kent: Vicious Prince

Teal Van Doren has been adopted into a wealthy family along with her brother (Knox) after surviving terrible childhood abuse and running from their mother rather than spend another night with her and what she has left them to deal with.  Now years later Teal is 18 has made a choice she has decided to accept an arranged marriage in place of her foster sister Elsa.

Ronan is an Earl's son and with that comes certain responsibilities... including apparently the old fashioned tradition of an arranged marriage, he doesn't want to be married any time soon he wants to continue to party and do what he pleases with many woman... sometimes multiple in the same night he has been able to get all of the ladies thrown at him to break off the engagement... until Teal.

Ronan thinks that he can make Teal call it off after catching her in a compromising situation but she refuses as she has reasons of her own to keep the engagement on and even goes out of her way to be kind to his mother who he loves but she is in fragile health.  

The longer they are engaged the more time they spend together and maybe they aren't as different as they originally thought while Teal is a loner by choice and has some rumors being spread about her life outside of school she just doesn't care enough about being popular to notice... in fact she has walls up at all times and doesn't really show emotions.. until Ronan breaks through her walls and she struggles to put them back in place.  

Ronan is the life of every party but behind his confidence and image he portrays he has his own hidden demons... Teal is the first person he has found that can sooth his inner turmoil... just maybe he doesn't want to break off their marriage after all... but when he finds out what she's really up to will that break them both?  
 

*high school bully  *sports romance (football/soccer)  *rich heir MMC  *Arranged marriage *opposites attract

*FMC Grumpy/ Sunshine MMC  *spice *possessive MMC  *morraly grey MMC  *Dual POV *Spice *Emo FMC *Enemies --> more 

*Mental health (PTSD, past trauma) 

*Check your trigger warnings 

Thoughts:  

I'm going to talk about this for every book in this series but the characters are written as if they are way older than they are... I did like Ronan he's the party boy but I could tell even in the previous books that I'm sure that he was putting on an act.  

Again just with the previous books my heart goes out to the lead characters no one should have to go through what they did and they are both survivors trying to cope with things in their own ways... are the ways the healthiest ways to deal with things, probably not if you decide to read this read your trigger warnings as there are plenty with really hard scenes to get through (past memories).  

I don't think this book will be for everyone and I would probably advise not to read it if you have any history of SA.  

On a lighter note Ronan has named his junk Ron Astor II this actually made me LOL because it was so obnoxious and ridiculous.  

I did enjoy seeing Ronan go from the golden retriever, womanizing party boy to a one woman man by the end of the book and Teal start to explore her past trauma by opening up more and letting herself feel the emotions instead of shutting them out.  

If you've read a Rina Kent book you probably have an idea that it's going to have darker elements, this one was just ok for me took me a bit of time to like the FMC since in the first part of the book her inner monologues read more like she was shutting down and robotic once you get to know more of her back story I did feel more for her.  I liked the MMC from previous books but you did see his "Darker" side come out a bit when he was trying to bully Teal into asking to drop the marriage arrangement.  

Rina Kent: Black Knight

 Book 4 

I've been interested in reading this story since I began reading the first book in this series Xander and Kimberly were best friends once as children he was there for her on her worst day (when her grandmother passed away) and she was there for him on his when his mother left without even looking back... they made promises to each other but sometimes people don't keep their promises.

While Xander went on to be one of the most popular guys in school Kimberly struggled with being bullied and wanted to just be invisible... unfortunately she couldn't escape the bullying at home either since her mother is toxic mostly in her own world with her artistic talents she hides away while ignoring her children Kim's father works out of the country and is rarely home thankfully she finds purpose with taking care of her younger brother.

Unfortunately for Kim her younger brother looks up to Xander who lives across the street from them and has been her bully all this time... Why can't he forgive her for what happened years ago?  

Throughout this book you are seeing that maybe there is more to Xander and Kimberly's past than what Kim think's happened but since there is some miscommunication/no communication going on it takes a bit to get to the truth... but once the truth comes out will they ever be the same?  

*2026  *friends --> enemies --> more  *high school bully *dual pov  *Spice  *slow burn *family secrets

*family drama  *miscommunication/no communication *touch her and 💀 *young adult  *teenagers

*morally gray MMC  *flashbacks in book

*mental health trigger warnings (eating disorder, self harm, SI, alcohol addiction, abandonment) 

*part of a series but can be read on it's own (there were some spoilers for the series before it in the book so I would recommend not reading out of order like I did if you don't want the spoilers) 

Thoughts:

From the first book I read a few weeks ago I knew that Xander and Kimberly's story would be emotional since you could see how hard Kim was struggling with no longer having Xander as a friend and she was harboring guilt and grief of no longer having his friendship in her life and whatever happened between them must have been big.  From Xander's side you could tell that he was still struggling with it too since even when he was her bully his friends were getting to her by even being near her.

My heart went out to both of our leads and I wanted to give both of them a big hug Xander at a young age ran after his mom as she left without saying goodbye Kim was right there with him and didn't leave even when he told her to go... when you have that kind of friendship it's devastating to lose it especially at a young age and even more so when you don't know why he can't get over the past incident.

I did struggle with Xander for his treatment of Kimberly over the years she was a beautiful young lady who had a huge heart and for an unknown (to her) reason he allowed her to be bullied when he told her he would be her "Knight" and protector.  I was so mad at her mother for treating her so horrible.  

Kimberly being fat shamed and bullied at home and at school ends up leaning towards innappropriate coping mechanisms to cope with her internal struggles, feeling alone and not wanting to bother anyone she internalized a lot of her emotions bottling them up and hiding secrets of her own.  Xander is hot and cold with Kim which doesn't help with her spiraling emotions.

Both of our leads were battling their own demons but once they come together again it was like the missing piece of a puzzle fitting back together... only when family drama comes back to haunt them and big family secrets are exposed will their brittle renewed friendship be able to survive the truth?

As with the other books in this series that I did struggle with the characters acting like possessive adults when they were still teenagers in highschool.  This had a lot of twists and turns and I was here for it, I loved how they were both flawed but eventually owned it and worked on self improvements together.  

Mental health is important:  https://988lifeline.org/

Sophie Bernbaum: Just Eloise

Eloise is having a big year not only is she having to deal with high school life without her best friend... and she is recently estranged from her other best friend now having to deal with the world on her own she takes this as a time to reflect on herself and who she could possibly be without her two best friends "Just Eloise" is making an entrance.

This book focuses on the stresses of being in high school with all of the big feelings as Eloise navigates her new world and with her alter ego in charge lets herself talk about the "bigger things" in life like how next year she won't even have her brother because he will be off in college many States away... it's good that she is taking her time to find herself now.

When Trevor comes into her life he is cute, on her brother's basketball team and also a senior... he seems to like who she is becoming and maybe she could navigate things with him by her side... or maybe she can't he's going to be going to college next year too and then all she'll have is Just Eloise.

*2026  *Indie Author  *Young Adult *miscommunication/no communication

*high school romance *sports romance (Basketball) *coming of age

*lots of big feelings *some spice  *POV from FMC side   *State Challenge New Mexico

*MMC struggling with feelings of abandonment *FMC (death of parent in past)  

Thoughts:

This was a cute coming of age story where you are reminded of the awkwardness of being that age range while trying to navigate big feelings and possibility of new experiences like having a first love and going further than just kissing.

Eloise and her brother and Trevor all had probably more free reign of their time than most teenagers this age as they were left on their own a lot while their parents worked.  I liked that Eloise felt comfortable enough to speak with her mom about her relationship but I can't imagine most parents would let their teenage daughter go with their boyfriend out of state to visit his mom.

I truly felt for Trevor he was a sweet boy who just wanted to be loved, his mom sent him to live with his dad after marrying her new man and they had a baby on the way... now he's kicked out of his childhood home and living with his dad who is working all the time and never really there for him, this leaves to him having feelings of abandonment and maybe coming on too strong with being jealous and clingy when it comes to his feelings towards Eloise who is struggling with trying to find who she is as a person.

Eloise is relatable but somewhere a long the way she went from having "Just Eloise" help her with the tough conversations to shutting down when tough conversations needed to happen leading to a lot of no communication.  

I felt this book was way longer than it needed to be (over 450 pages) and I struggled at times to get through it, after the half way mark I started skimming through some of the sections.  

Danika Brown: As You WIsh

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/240059834-as-you-wish

Honey Braxton is a law abiding citizen she likes order and she has been living her orderly life as a wishing well auditor for the Bureau of Magical Compliance for the last 10 years and since she knows the rules inside and out she loves her job and makes sure that no one is making wishes that are breaking any rules.  Going about her job as usual she gets the opportunity she has been waiting for forever... she can get a promotion she just has to go to an assignment on a farm and audit a wishing well that is way over due for evaluation this will be no big deal she'll go keep to herself audit the well give her review to her boss and get her overdue promotion.

Only when she gets to the farm the owner is less than thrilled to see her... in fact he asks her to leave and slams the door in her face.  Ethan Hale is the handsome broody farmer that happens to own the land that the wishing well sits on he says it's not a problem he boarded it up just fine and no one is using it... only shortly after arrival she finds out from his young daughters that the well is not boarded up and it has been being used to help keep the farm afloat... not only this the magic is out of control as the wishes have been granted without being reviewed at all and most of them would have never been approved if they had been evaluated properly.  

Honey notices other abnormalities throughout the town, Ethan is set on not having Honey look too closely at his town he doesn't trust anyone from the Bureau after an incident that occurred in his past... in fact he is closed off and even though he has support from his neighbors in town he is too proud to admit he needs help and has honestly been barely keeping his life together most days... the last thing he needs is for some government official creeping around so why did he just offer to let her stay with him at his home while she conducts her audit?

While Honey's initial arrival to the town and to Ethan's home is unwanted she learns that she is having a harder time once getting to know Ethan, his 3 girls, the towns people and even a baby goat how is she supposed to do her job and stay impartial when every day she is growing closer to this family but her life is in the big city and she has a promotion on the line... that's what is most important to her isn't it?  

*ARC Read *2026  *Indie Author  *magical world  *Farmer MMC  *magical auditor FMC 

*single parent (MMC)  *grumpy MMC  *closed door romance  *small town  *Cozy read 

 *forced proximity  *slow burn  *Enemies --> more  (kind of)  *strangers --> more

Thoughts:

Honey is a straight laced no nonsence FMC who has to have everything in order and needs to fix things thinking she can just do her job and move on to her dream promotion she finds herself realizing that maybe there is more to life than following "every rule" you can't help but fall in love with Ethan and his 3 sometimes mischevious girls right along with Honey. 

Ethan is broody and standoffish at first but pretty much right away you can see he is just a single dad struggling to keep his family farm a float while doing the best he can to take care of his girls, while he doesn't have all the answers he is present and he loves his girls.  

The town and townspeople are charming and while I didn't fully understand the magic system or what was going on there I don't think it took away from the story.  

This was a cozy read I loved watching Honey let down her guards and learn to have a little bit of fun.  Ethan was a strong MMC who didn't like to ask for help but I loved how he finally realized that even when he turned away the help he had a whole town full of people who had his back... and maybe he could talk Honey into staying with him longer... maybe forever?  

There is a bit of a mystery going on with the girls mother and what happened to her?  

This was a really cute read I enjoyed it and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Have you read this book?  What did you think?