Reviewing the Unreviewed: January 2021

I read a lot of books that I don’t end up reviewing for whatever reason. Some because I wasn’t impressed. Some because I didn’t have the time. Some I just wasn’t feeling it on whatever particular day I finished. Reviewing the Unreviewed is my monthly post where I share my few thoughts on all the books I didn’t formally review.

Arrogant Devil by R.S. Grey. Read December 31-January 1. 4 Stars.

This was a fun little book. It was humorous and I liked the characters. I didn’t love that the romance between Jack and Meredith started while she was still technically married, though, even if she had left her abusive husband and was definitely planning on divorcing. I did like that they went slow, though, and Jack was really sweet. I never really felt like the title fit the book.

The Swap by Robyn Harding. Read January 1. 4 Stars.

Well, this was an entertaining and twisted read. It’s a story of obsession and manipulation and pretty awful people, but it was incredibly addicting. Even though almost every twist could be seen from a mile away, I didn’t want to put it down.

All the Rage (DI Adam Fawley #4) by Cara Hunter. Read January 3-6. 4 Stars.

Another great installment of the series. Loved the development of all the beloved characters, as well as the new mystery. There were lots of threads to bring together and Hunter did a great job with it.

The Duke and I (Bridgertons #1) by Julia Quinn. Read January 12-16. 4 Stars.

I really enjoyed Bridgerton on Netflix, so I thought I should try the book and I really enjoyed this, too. I realized the show made quite a bit of changes, which probably would’ve annoyed me if I read the book first, but since I watched the show first, I find I’m ok with it.

I loved the banter between Simon and Daphne. The book was much funnier than I expected it to be and I had a fun time reading it. I plan to continue with the series.

A Temporary Marriage (Fake Love #1) by Summer Dowell. Read January 17-18. 3 Stars.

I love a good Fake Relationship / Marriage of Convenience story and this was pretty cute. It did drag a little in the middle and I considered DNF-ing, but I’m glad I stuck with it. I’ll probably try more from this author.

The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgertons #2) by Julia Quinn. Read January 21-23. 4 Stars. 

I really enjoyed this! I think even more than the first book. I didn’t like that Anthony was a little too mean in some parts, but I did like him overall, which I didn’t expect since he was not my favorite in the first book (or the tv show). I also really liked Kate and her family. There was so much fun banter, too.

An Offer from a Gentleman (Bridgerton #3) by Julia Quinn. Read January 23-25. 3.5 Stars

I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the previous two books, but I still enjoyed it. The fun banter that I’ve come to expect from these books was present and I loved it. I liked Sophie and Benedict together. I wanted a little more character development from Benedict, though.

*****Re-Read*****

The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1) by Emma Doherty.

I started the sequel to this book and after a couple chapters it just made me really want to read this one again. So I did. I enjoyed it just as much the second time around. Livy still managed to annoy me a good deal of the time, but Chase was just as sweet as I remembered.

*****DNF*****

The Relationship Pact (Kings of Football #3) by Adriana Locke. DNF @ 16%. I wanted to like this, but I jut couldn’t get into it.

The Backup Girlfriend (Grove Valley High #2) by Emma Doherty. DNF @ 17%. I wanted to like this, but I didn’t. At all. I’m not forcing myself to read any more of it.

Varsity Rulebreaker (Varsity #3) by Ginger Scott. DNF @ 49%. I hated Cannon half the time. I hated Hollis all of the time. I have lots of other thoughts on why this didn’t work for me, but they all come back to the characters and their behavior, so I’m just going to leave it at this.

The Class Reunion by N.L. Hinkens. DNF @ 17%. Just couldn’t get into this. I never really connected with the main character and the writing left a little to be desired.

Marrying Mr. Darcy (Love Manor #2) by Kate O’Keeffe. DNF @ 20%. I enjoyed the first book in this series well enough and was looking forward to this one, but it just never captured my interest. Maybe if I could have read them back-to-back I would still feel invested in the characters, but I don’t now, so I’m going to call it.

You Have a Match by Emma Lord. DNF @ 16%. I hate stories where the biggest source of drama is miscommunications. I also really didn’t care for the main character. I can’t make myself read anymore of this.

The Happy Camper by Melody Carlson. DNF @ 50%. I really wanted to like this, but I never got invested. The main character was pretty unlikable and I found it hard to root for her.

*****Books with Future Reviews Scheduled*****

The Love Proof by Madeleine Henry – 4 Stars

Reviewing the Unreviewed: August 2020

I read a lot of books that I don’t end up reviewing for whatever reason. Some because I wasn’t impressed. Some because I didn’t have the time. Some I just wasn’t feeling it on whatever particular day I finished. Reviewing the Unreviewed is my monthly post where I share my few thoughts on all the books I didn’t formally review.

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord. Read August 1-3. 3 Stars.

This was cute, but I thought it drug on for a little too long. Right when I thought things were winding down, I realized I hadn’t even hit the halfway mark yet. I kind of hated Pepper’s mom right up until the last couple chapters when her motivation is finally explained. Even then, she just came across as petty. It also made me like Jack’s dad less, after he finally did something fatherly that I approved of. I also expected a lot more from the Twitter war. I didn’t really think most of the tweets were that funny. That said, I liked the relationship between Pepper and Jack. I thought they were sweet and this was one of the cleaner YA books I’ve read lately, which I appreciate. I’ll be interested in reading more from this author.

The Silent Wife (Will Trent #10) by Karin Slaughter. Read August 10-13. 4 Stars.

A new Will Trent book is always amongst my most anticipated books of the year and The Silent Wife did not disappoint. I enjoyed the mystery, solid, procedural police work, and – as always – Will. The subject matter of the mystery is pretty intense and was often hard to read, but if you’ve read a Slaughter book before, you know to expect that. I enjoyed many aspects of the multiple timelines, but I have to say I wasn’t thrilled to be in Grant County. I still haven’t read that series, but there’s been several visits there during this series and I am always wary of having to deal with Lena again. This was my first look at Sarah’s former husband, Jeffrey, though. I have to say I wasn’t impressed with him. And I also wasn’t impressed with Sarah in this installment. Like, I’ve had issues with her here and there throughout the series, but I straight up disliked her until the final pages of the story. That said, I did like the ending and I’m looking forward to the next Will Trent book.

The Trouble with Quarterbacks by R.S. Grey. Read August 10-15. 3 Stars. 

This one was just ok for me. The main character was pretty quirky. While I did like her, I also found her kind of annoying. I didn’t find Logan’s character very consistent. He vacillated between being really sweet and being alpha/controlling. I preferred when he was sweet. Definitely not my favorite book by this author.

Varsity Tiebreaker (Varsity #2) by Ginger Scott. Read August 10-16. 3 Stars. 

Tory was my favorite thing about the previous book in this series, so I was excited to read more about him. While I still liked him, I was disappointed in him for most of the book. You would think that with how upset he was with his mother for cheating, he would do a little better than cheating with his brother’s girlfriend. I hate cheating and it really brought down my enjoyment of the book. I liked the family storylines a lot more than the romance and I wish there was more focus on that. I did like how Tory and Hayden’s relationship got back on track, though.

Office Mate (Milford College #2) by Noelle Adams. Read August 17-18. 3 Stars. 

Ok, but not my favorite by this author. I thought the couple jumped into a physical relationship too fast. The dialogue during those scenes made me roll my eyes a lot, too. The ending was cute, though.

Treasure (Hush Collection) by Oyinkan Braithwaite. Read August 18. 3 Stars. 

I was a big fan of My Sister, the Serial Killer, so I was excited to see that Braithwaite had another book out. The downside is that it’s not actually a full length book, but a 30 page short story. Even though I’m not really a fan of short stories/novellas, I found this interesting. I wish it had been a little longer so I could really get to know the characters better and the ending was a little too open for my liking, but no other books have been working for me lately, so maybe this is what I needed to get me out of my slump.

Thicker Than Blood (Zoe Bentley #3) by Mike Omer. Read August 15-23. 4 Stars. 

It took me a little while to get into this, but eventually it hooked me. The mystery was interesting and it definitely took some turns I hadn’t expected, which I enjoyed. While the mystery was good, I could’ve used a little more character development with Zoe and Tatum. And there wasn’t enough Marvin. However, it broke me out of my book slump and I’ll look forward to the next book in this series.

*****Back on the TBR*****

Once You Go This Far (Roxane Weary #3) by Kristen Lepionka. I was really looking forward to this, but I got about 10% in then didn’t pick it up again for over a week and just couldn’t get into it. It’s a physical library book and I’ve already renewed it once, so it’s going back to the library and I’ll try it again some other time.

*****DNF*****

Rock Bottom Girl by Lucy Score. DNF @ 28%. I’ve heard such great things about this book, but it’s just not for me. I picked this up because I thought it was supposed to be a fake relationship story, but that hasn’t been mentioned at all so far. I also thought the love interest was horrible. He comes across so smug, he just makes my skin crawl. I couldn’t make myself read any more of this.

*****Books with Future Reviews Scheduled*****

A Path to Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers and Karin Stock Buursma – 4 Stars

The Switch by Beth O’Leary – 4 Stars

WWW Wednesday: August 5, 2020

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

What did you recently finish reading?

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord. This was cute, but I was expecting a little more from it. I thought it drug on a little too long.

What are you currently reading?

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer. I was super excited that my library hold was ready so fast. I even scheduled myself to work in the office instead of at home so I could pick it up (I work for the library). I’m only a couple chapters in so far (I have forgotten how long Meyer’s chapters are) and I am a little disappointed that so far it’s pretty much exactly like that leaked draft from all those years ago. I was kind of hoping there’d be some updates since then. I’m looking forward to getting to the parts I haven’t read before.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Once You Go This Far (Roxane Weary #5) by Kristen Lepionka. I finally got this one from the library and am looking forward to starting it next.

What are you reading?