Review Round Up ~ May 9

New Releases:

Stone Princess by Devney Perry

4.5 stars - One of the best

Review Copy purchased via pre-order

If I hadn’t been hooked on Devney Perry before discovering the Tin Gypsy series (and I was) then Stone Princess would have made sure I was hooked.

This is book 3 in the series, but does really well on its own. Presley is a character we’ve seen in the first two books, but she really comes into her own here. Shaw is a new character, but the events which unfolded in books 1 & 2 are what brought him to town 3 years later.
The tie ins to the previous books are what kept this from being a full 5 star read for me.

Presley is a character that I really liked. I appreciated her “up by the bootstraps” attitude to dealing with the bad things that have happened to her. She also had a great way of looking into herself and making decisions. Shaw was equally easy to like. He had every reason to fit the Hollywood stereotype, but he wasn’t that guy. His willingness to listen and adapt made me hope he and Presley could figure their way out to each other.

The story in Stone Princess is one that pulls the reader in. There are several layers. There is Presley standing up for herself and fully finding her self worth, there is romance, forgiveness, and a couple of whopping surprises that flow so very well with the other things that happen.

If you have been following the Tin Gypsy series, you will be glad to see friends show up here and get to know a few secondary characters even better. After finishing this book, I want to go pre order the next book in the series.

Amazon

Trust Your Heart by Tracey Alvarez

My rating: 4 of 5 stars - Would Recommend to a Friend

Review Copy Provided by Author

A solid story of learning to trust and redemption.

In Trust Your Heart, Ms Alvarez takes on the issue of cyber bullying and what happens in the aftermath. Allison was the centerpiece of a viral video she didn’t know was taken and has spent 8 years trying to put it behind her. Tanner had a role in teenage Allison’s humiliation (even though it wasn’t his fault) and has spent years trying to redeem himself by helping others.

Their reconnection is rocky, but Ms Alvarez does an excellent job of showing us that sometimes you have to work for forgiveness and that sometimes giving that forgiveness is essential to the healing process for the person wounded. I enjoyed seeing Allison and Tanner’s interactions from the get go. I liked the fact that Allison was reserved with Tanner, but kept somewhat of an open mind. It was sweet to see him make the effort and to see her friends close ranks around her in support.

Well written, as expected, this is a story that takes a pretty intense journey in a short about of time. The time line is probably my one real complaint. Given the amount of time Allison has spent dealing with fallout, the short span from first meeting to romance seemed fast. I would love to see where these two end up in a year or more - hopefully they will pop in future Bounty Bay books.

Amazon

KORU Contest Reads:

From Now Until Forever by Alexa Rivers

3.25 stars ~ Slightly better than average

This is a sweet semi friends to lovers story.
Sophie has been hurt by life/love many times and is looking to rebound with hunky playboy/her friend’s brother Cooper.
He has his own baggage and hides his feeling with his playboy reputation.

This is a pretty short read at just 200 pages, so we don’t get super deep dives into who Sophie and Cooper are as individuals or as a couple. What I did see, I enjoyed and really would have liked to see more. Both characters had some emotional evolution, but we saw the aftermath more than the process.

This is story that is obviously part of a series, but works as a stand-alone. While I enjoyed this book, it wasn’t quiet enough to make me rush out and buy the first book in the series.

Amazon

TBR Reads:

Love Under Construction by M.C. Cerny

3.25 stars - Slightly Better than Average

Purchased for Free

I grabbed this as a free read because it sounded like a good friends to lovers story.

Taylor Jane and Hunter did in fact make for an entertaining story, but I felt a bit lost in the conversion from friends to lovers. There seemed to be a moment where the author went “oops, I’ve gotten this far, I need to make this happen”

An overall entertaining story, I would have loved to have gotten to have a deeper understanding of these characters and their friends. There were also several side plots that didn’t feel resolved to me.

This was my first MC Cerney book and it was a decent read. It didn’t feel like the strongest read, but I would be curious for more of the authors work.

Amazon

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