Reviewing the Unreviewed: September 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.

The Rural Diaries by Hilarie Burton Morgan. Read August 29 – September 1. 4 Stars.

I enjoyed this. I thought Hilarie’s journey from teen drama star to small-town farmer\occasional actress was really interesting. Though I definitely respect all of the work she and her husband have put into their relationship, I have to say it came across as pretty dysfunctional most of the time. He mostly came across as self-centered and controlling to me, following all of his hollywood dreams while she either took care of things at home or just followed him around. I did think she downplayed a lot of the acting jobs she took, though. And she seemed happy with her life, so I’ll try not to judge.

While I think the tone of the book was supposed to be kind of inspirational about how you can do anything you put your mind to, there wasn’t much said about how everything they did was possible because of how wealthy they are. Overall, though, I thought she came across as likable and relatable and this was an enjoyable read.

Yours to Keep (Man of the Year #2) by Lauren Layne. Read September 3-6. 4 Stars. 

I am always happy when a new Lauren Layne book comes out. This was cute and bantery and fun. I really liked both Carter and Olive and loved watching as their friendship evolved into more. I also liked that it was set mostly in a cute, small town. Most of Layne’s books these days are set in NYC with super rich, polished characters and it was a nice change to see a quirky high school teacher as the lead.

Dating Mr. Darcy (Love Manor #1) by Kate O’Keeffee. Read September 8-9. 3.5 Stars.

This was pretty cute. I liked the dating reality show concept. I liked the romance, but thought it could have been developed a little more. It felt like they only had a couple real interactions before they were “in love.” I’d be interested in reading more from this, author.

Steal Home (The Sweet Magnolias #1) by Sherryl Woods. Read September 8-11. 3 Stars.

I wanted to read this ever since watching the Netflix show. I enjoyed it for the most part. I liked watching Maddie navigate her divorce and becoming a single parent and her new relationship with Cal. I liked the romance, even if it was a little fast. I kind of skimmed through a lot of the rest of it, though. In the show, I really liked the friendship between Maddie and her two best friends, but they kind of annoyed me here. They weren’t really given much to do besides encourage Maddie to go into business with them and pursue a relationship with Cal (though, the next couple of books in the series shifts the focus to them, so I’m sure the character development will improve).

Since I’ve already watched the show, I have to point out some of the differences. The show made Noreen a much more sympathetic character than the book did. There were several plotlines on the show with Maddie’s kids and I have to say I’m not mad that most of them didn’t exist in the book. I thought Book Cal was a lot sweeter than Show Cal, but I thought Show Maddie was more likable than Book Maddie.

I’m looking forward to watching season two, but I don’t see myself reading more of this series, even though I mostly enjoyed this one.

Not My Romeo (The Game Changers #1) by Ilsa Madden-Mills. Read September 12-13. 3.5 Stars.

I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. The characters were likable and I loved the small town atmosphere. I thought Jack was really sweet, if a little unbelievable. There were several more graphic scenes than I generally appreciate, but that was one of the only things that brought it down for me.

Loathe Thy Neighbor (Roommate Romps #1) by Teagan Hunter. Read September 17-27. 2 Stars. 

This wasn’t for me. There were some funny parts, which Hunter always does well, but the story itself was pretty ‘meh’. I didn’t like the main character and I didn’t even really ship the romance.

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

The Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell – 2.5 Stars

Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella – 3 Stars

WWW Wednesday: September 23, 2020

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

What did you recently finish reading?

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell. My unpopular opinion review will be posting in a couple week. I love Lisa Jewell, but this book was not for me.

What are you currently reading?

Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella. This is very classic Kinsella. I’m enjoying it – even laughing out loud at times – but I am also pretty frustrated with the main character most of the time.

 Loathe Thy Neighbor (Roommate Romps #1) by Teagan Hunter. Her books usually either work for me or don’t and this one is leaning more towards “don’t” for me.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. So many books I love have referenced Rebecca and it’s always been on my TBR. I saw there’s a movie coming next month, so I thought it would be a good time to finally read it. I’m only a couple chapters in, but the writing is way too flowery and descriptive for me so far.

What do you think you’ll read next?

All of my library books seem to be coming in at one time so I may change my mind, but I think I’m going to try The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler next.

What are you reading?

Release Day Review: Cheesy on the Eyes (Slice #5) by Teagan Hunter

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Dating is hard. Dating in a small town? Impossible.

Leave it to my little brother to come back home announcing he knocked up his fiancée and the wedding has been moved…to next month.

When he tries to set me up with one of his football buddies, I tell him I’ll be bringing my own plus-one.

Only problem? I’m hopelessly single.

Enter Sullivan Scott, AKA my hero.

We strike a deal: he’ll pretend to be my boyfriend, and I’ll use my mechanic skills to help him fix his boat. That’s it. No funny business, and definitely no feelings involved.

Sully’s quiet and reserved, and I’ve been told I’m too much to handle on a good day. We’re opposites, and neither of us is looking for anything serious.

I’m certain we can keep this strictly platonic…

I received an advanced copy of this title. It does not impact my review.

This book was so fun! Teagan Hunter excels at laugh-out-loud banter and cute romance and Cheesy on the Eyes was no exception.

Current fans of the Slice series will be happy to see Sully finally get a chance to be leading man. He’s always been a likable character in the series and I really enjoyed getting his POV. Thea is a relatively new character to the series and I mostly enjoyed her, as well. She is a bit of a quirky character, so she had to grow on me, but I ultimately ended up liking her and appreciated her growth.

The banter in this book was so much fun. Hunter always manages to make me laugh out loud when I’m reading her books. It occasionally got a little more crude than I like, but that didn’t really hinder my enjoyment. I absolutely loved the scenes that brought the characters from all the previous books together. It was non-stop banter and I just had a big smile on my face while reading it. I would love to be a part of their group.

Sully and Thea start off as a fake relationship, which is my favorite romantic trope. There were some funny and slightly uncomfortable scenes that I always looks for, but for the most part, they didn’t spend too much time trying to fool other people. Their friendship begins very quickly and real feelings soon follow. There’s still a little angst and a big cheesy romantic gesture at the end, though. I definitely shipped them.

Overall, Cheesy on the Eyes was a quick, fun read that I enjoyed. The banter was great and the romance was cute. I definitely recommend this one to Romance fans.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars

Meet Teagan Hunter

I’m a Missouri-raised gal, but currently live in North Carolina with my US Marine husband and 9-year-old dog. I spend my days begging him for a cat, and I survive off coffee, pizza, and sarcasm. When I’m not writing, you can find me binge-watching various TV shows, especially Supernatural and One Tree Hill. I like cold weather, buy more paperbacks than I’ll ever read, and I never say no to brownies.

 

Writing is my passion, and this is just the beginning of my journey.

 

Connect with Teagan Hunter
➜ Website: www.teaganhunterwrites.com 
➜ Facebook: www.facebook.com/teaganhunterwrites 
➜ Instagram: www.instagram.com/teaganhunterwrites 
➜ Newsletter: www.teaganhunterwrites.com/newsletter
➜ Reader Group: http://bit.ly/TeagansTidbits

Grab Your Copy Here:

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Free in KU

Hosted By:

Reviewing the Unreviewed: May 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.

The Ex Effect (Washington Wolves #2) by Karla Sorensen. Read April 30-May 1. 3.5 Stars

This was cute, but not my favorite by this author. I thought Ava and Matthew got together a little too quickly, but I did ship them. I wish there was a little more resolution with Ava’s family, though.

Wait For It by Mariana Zapata. Read April 27-May 2. 4 Stars.

It took me awhile to get into this (as much as I enjoy Zapata, I always think her books could be a good 200 pages shorter than they are), but once I did, I loved it. I loved the growing relationship between Diana and Dallas and I loved Josh and Louie. I put off reading this one for so long because I didn’t like Diana in The Wall of Winnipeg and Me and I don’t always like reading books when there’s kids involved. But I found Diana way more likable in this and the kids were two of the best things about the book. I think Dallas might be my new favorite Zapata man, too.

The Bombshell Effect (Washington Wolves #1) by Karla Sorensen. Read May 3-5. 3 Stars. 

This was cute, but not my favorite book of the series. I liked Allie and Luke together and the big romantic gesture at the end had some “Never Been Kissed” vibes that I enjoyed.

The Split by Sharon Bolton. Read May 5-8. 2.5 Stars.

I am so disappointed! I love Sharon Bolton, but I found this book so boring. It started off really interesting and the end was alright, but I just didn’t care about anything in the middle. I didn’t care about most of the characters and I guessed the twist long before it was revealed. I love so many of Bolton’s books, but this one just wasn’t for me.

The Stranger by Harlan Coben. Read May 13-14. 3.5 Stars. 

The writing sucked me in and kept me reading, but this definitely wasn’t my favorite Coben book. I found myself super annoyed with Adam’s wife, Corrine. When he confronts her about the lie and asks for an explanation she basically says “I’m not ready to tell you right now. I’ll do it later.” And then she disappears. What annoyed me was the manipulative “I don’t feel like talking about this” response. And as the book goes on, you expect there to be some huge conspiracy she was caught up in and it would all make sense why she couldn’t tell him anything…but that’s not the case. It was just annoying. It made it kind of hard to care about what happened to her. I’m still interested in checking out the show on Netflix, though. I know they made some significant changes from the book, so maybe it will be a little better.

Life and Death (Twilight #1.75) by Stephenie Meyer. Read May 10-20. 3 Stars. 

So with all the hype about Midnight Sun coming out soon, I decided it was time to revisit Twilight and realized I never read the gender swap book. It did take me quite a bit of time to get through, only reading a couple chapters at a time in between other books. I know that Meyer did the gender swap to show that if Bella was a guy, she still would’ve needed to be rescued because she’s human, but it didn’t really work for me. Maybe I’m part of the problem in society, but there were so many times where I just wanted Beau to “act like a man.” A couple things were changed here and there, but mostly it was just pronouns and it didn’t work. I often caught myself reading it as if was regular Twilight. One thing that did surprise me was the ending! I thought it was a straight re-telling, but it’s not and I did find that interesting.

From Blood and Ash (Blood and Ash #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Read May 19-24. 2 Stars. 

*Sigh* This reminded me a lot of Armentrout’s Covenant series. Mixed in with a little Twilight and Shadow and Bone. And it was just ok for me. Actually, large parts of it were ridiculous. Poppy was so whiny, I found her really unlikable most of the time. Most of the book is her complaining about how unfair it is that she can’t sleep around like everyone else has the right to. Despite the whole cult-like religious system being pretty shady, she believes in it, which makes her choosing to ditch her Maiden status to have sex pretty selfish.

The romance between Poppy and Hawke played out very similarly to every other JLA couple, to the point where the names could’ve been switched out with any other JLA characters and you wouldn’t be able to tell which book you were reading. I though Hawke’s true identity was super obvious long before Poppy figures it out, too.

So, obviously this wasn’t my favorite JLA book, but all of her other fans seem to love it, so it’s probably just me.

A Slice of Love (Slice #4) by Teagan Hunter. Read May 24. 3.5 Stars.

This was cute and I definitely shipped Frankie and Jonas. I thought there was a little too much focus on the physical relationship, though, and would’ve liked a little more emotional/romantic development.

Eyes on Me by Rachel Harris. Read May 24-25. 3 Stars. 

This was pretty cute and was a lot less angsty than I anticipated, which was nice. I liked the dual POVs and shipped Lily and Stone.

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

The Chase (Briar U #1) by Elle Kennedy and Love the One You Hate by R.S. Grey. I just couldn’t get into either one of these, but I think it was my mood, so I do plan to try them again in the future. 

*****DNF*****

You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria. DNF @ 27%. I really wanted to like this one. I love the cover and the comparison to Jane the Virgin definitely intrigued me. There were just too many little things adding up that didn’t work for me. My biggest problem was how the scenes from the tv show were written. It starts out with just a bit of script direction to set the scene, but instead of staying in script format, it goes back to the normal narrative style. And instead of describing things from Jasmine’s POV as she acts the scene, it described them as if Carmen, the character she’s playing, was experiencing them. And we would get Carmen’s feelings and internal monologue, but then there would be some thoughts from Jasmine interspersed with those and it was just weird. I know I’m not explaining it well, but it just really threw me off. There were a few other little things, too, that just ended up making this book a chore for me to get through. While both the main characters and their families were likable enough, I just didn’t really connect with them and I don’t really care enough to keep reading this. That said, I have seen some really good reviews for this book, so I’m sure many others will love it.

Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove #1) by Shelby Mahurin. DNF @ 16%. I think it might be time to just admit that YA Fantasy just isn’t really for me anymore. I couldn’t really get into this and I set it down to read some other books. After more than a week, I still have no desire to pick this one back up and I don’t think I ever will.

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

Head Over Heels by Hannah Orensten – 2 Stars

Cheesy on the Eyes (Slice #5) by Teagan Hunter – 4 Stars

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – 2 Stars

WWW Wednesday: May 27, 2020

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

What did you recently finish reading?

Eyes on Me by Rachel Harris. This was cute, if pretty average.

What are you currently reading?

Cheesy on the Eyes by Teagan Hunter. This is pretty enjoyable so far. My review for this one will be up next week.

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games #0) by Suzanne Collins. I broke down and bought a hard copy of this to go with the rest of my collection. I haven’t seen too many reviews on it yet, so I’m going to be cautiously optimistic going in.

What are you reading?

Top Ten Tuesday: The Last Ten Books I DNF-ed

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is: The Last Ten Books I Abandoned. I decided to go with The Last Ten Books I DNF-ed. 

1.  The Best Mistake by Cookie O’Gorman. DNF @ 26%. I wanted to like this, but it just wasn’t for me. The dialogue made me cringe and everything the main character did just made me roll my eyes. I’ve seen some really good reviews on it, though, so it could just be me.

2. Teardrop Shot by Tijan. DNF @ 10%. I just couldn’t get into this. I found the main character really off-putting and couldn’t take any more of her.

3. Doughn’t Let Me Go by Teagan Hunter. DNF @ 21%.  I didn’t really like either of the characters. Porter was way more skeezy than I can appreciate and I was just rolling my eyes at Dory and her whole Pretty Woman “sex is fine, but no kissing” thing. I also am not a fan of the Single Dad / Nanny trope. I’ve enjoyed several other books by this author, but this one just isn’t for me.

4. Pretty Reckless by L.J. Shen. DNF @ 7%. Whenever I sign up for Kindle Unlimted, I try a lot of books that I probably wouldn’t otherwise ever read and this book definitely fell into that category. I’ve seen so many great reviews of LJ Shen books and I wanted to see what the fuss was about, but I think it’s safe to say this author isn’t for me.

5. By the Book by Amanda Sellet. DNF @ 5%. I try to go 25% before I give up on an ARC, but I couldn’t even make it through two chapters of this book. It was just trying way too hard. The main character was insufferable. I will say I’m also a lot older than the target audience for this book, so a younger, quirkier crowd may enjoy this much more.

6. My Best Friend’s Royal Wedding by Romy Summer. DNF @ 15%. I just couldn’t get into it and didn’t like any of the characters.

7.  Hate Notes by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward. DNF @ 19%. I thought this sounded cute and I have heard good things about it, but the main character just drove me absolutely nuts.

8. A Billion Times No by Kenzie Reed. DNF @ 33%. I thought this sounded kind of cute, but it’s just really not for me. I didn’t really care for any of the characters and there was some major cheesiness going on.

9.  The Allure of Dean Harper by R.S. Grey. DNF @ 14%. A couple chapters in Dean goes on and on about how he only hires attractive people to work in his restaurants and even says it goes looks first and then experience when it comes to the hiring process. It just came off as so disgusting to me. And then there’s Lily. I thought I was going to have problems with her based on the previous book and I was right. Anybody who has ever worked in the service industry knows that you are going to have to deal with a lot of horrible customers and that you have to suck it up and do your job, no matter how much of a jerk they are. And while Dean was deliberately trying to fluster her, I think he was 100% in his right to fire her for her behavior and it REALLY annoyed me that he came off as the bad guy in that scenario (and it was just before that that I decided he was disgusting and didn’t like him, so that really says something that I feel the need to defend him).

10.  Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson. DNF @ 8%. I read one chapter and kind of hated everything about it. I was going to try to read at least one more chapter, but my library loan expired and I know I’m never going to request this one again.

What books have you recently DNF-ed?

Top 5 Tuesday: Books that Made Me Laugh

Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Bionic Book Worm. This week’s topic is: Top 5 Books that Made Me Laugh 

My Lady Jane by the Lady Janies.

Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters

Let’s Get Textual (Texting #1) by Teagan Hunter

Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren

Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan

What are some books that made you laugh?

Reviewing the Unreviewed: March 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.

Moment of Truth by Kasie West. Read March 3-5. 3 Stars

It makes me a little sad to say this, but I found this book really dull. I didn’t really start to enjoy it until about the last 25%. I expect a slow burn romance in West’s books, but it felt almost non-existent until close to the end. I also thought the big drama between Hadley and her parents was resolved WAY too easily. I almost gave this book 2 stars instead of 3, but I did really like Hadley and Jackson in the last few chapters.

Wild at Heart (The Simple Wild #2) by K.A. Tucker. Read March 5-7. 4 Stars. 

I loved this. I think I enjoyed it more than the first book, actually. It’s extremely character-driven and not a lot really happens and if I was in a different mood, I could see where this might not have worked for me, but I really enjoyed it. I liked seeing Calla and Jonah work on starting a life together. There were lots of sweet moments between them and Jonah could be far more romantic than I remember him being. However, he still did lots of stupid things that made me frustrated with him, too. I liked the new location and the new characters, especially Toby and Roy. One negative thing, though, I thought there were a few too many sex scenes. None of them were that detailed and some were even more “fade to black”, but it just seemed a little excessive.

I would love a third Calla and Jonah book. I think I’m going to go back and re-read the first book now just because I don’t feel like being done with them quite yet.

Well Met by Jen DeLuca. Read March 8-10. 2.5 Stars. 

I think I was way too hyped for this. Everyone I know that read this gave it 4 or 5 stars and I had really high expectations. I found it really lackluster, though. I didn’t really like the main character, I didn’t buy the romance, and wasn’t really impressed with the writing. There were a couple of cute or funny moments, but I just didn’t enjoy this one.

Bennett Mafia by Tijan. Read March 22-24. 3.5 Stars

When I was having a hard time concentrating on anything, this one kept my attention. It was crazy and sometimes ridiculous, but addicting, which is what I expect from a Tijan book. It was just a little too long, though. Just when I felt like the story was coming to an end, the plot completely shifted. I almost felt like this could have been broken into two different books.

The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren. Read March 24-25. 4 Stars. 

I don’t know what all these lukewarm reviews are about because I really enjoyed this! I liked the home renovation show vibes and the slow burn romance. The two main characters were likable (except when James did a couple of super dumb things) and the “villains” were more of the love-to-hate variety. I could’ve used an epilogue, but this was a cute, fast read and I’m kind of sad that I finished it so quickly.

The Assist (Smart Jocks #1) by Rebecca Jenshak. Read March 26-27. 3.5 Stars.

A little cliched, but after a rough start I started to enjoy this. I liked Blaire and Wes (Bless) and I liked that we got both of their POVs. I’ll probably give the rest of this series a try before my KU subscription ends.

Fake It ‘Til You Break It by Meagan Brandy. Read March 28-29. 3.5 Stars

This was one of those crazy Romances where high school kids act like adults and everything is 100x more dramatic than it needs to be, but I was into it. I liked both Nico and Demi and I shipped them. I will probably check out some of this author’s other books while I still have KU.

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

The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker. I liked this just as much the second time around – maybe even more.

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

Open Book by Jessica Simpson. I didn’t make it past the prologue. Just wasn’t in the mood for non-fiction. I’ll try it again, though.

*****DNF*****

By the Book by Amanda Sellet. DNF @ 5%. I try to go 25% before I give up on a book, but I couldn’t even make it through two chapters of this book. It was just trying way too hard. The main character was insufferable. I will say I’m also a lot older than the target audience for this book, so a younger, quirkier crowd may enjoy this much more.

Pretty Reckless by LJ Shen. DNF @ 7%. Whenever I sign up for Kindle Unlimted, I try a lot of books that I probably wouldn’t otherwise ever read and this book definitely fell into that category. I’ve seen so many great reviews of LJ Shen books and I wanted to see what the fuss was about, but I think it’s safe to say this author isn’t for me.

Doughn’t Let Me Go by Teagan Hunter. DNF @ 21%. Nope. Just can’t do this. I don’t really like either of the characters. Porter is way more skeezy than I can appreciate and I’m just rolling my eyes at Dory and her whole Pretty Woman “sex is fine, but no kissing” thing. I also am not a fan of the Single Dad / Nanny trope. I’ve enjoyed several other books by this author, but this one just isn’t for me.

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

 

What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter – 2 Stars

The First Date by Zara Stoneley – 3.5 Stars

The Heatwave by Katerina Diamond – 3.5 Stars

Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson – 2.5 Stars

Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett – 3.5 Stars

Admission by Julie Buxbaum – 2 Stars

The Wife Who Knew Too Much by Michele Campbell – 3.5 Stars

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Kindle Unlimited Books of 2019

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is about books you hope to find under your Christmas tree, but I decided to change it up and do My top ten favorite Kindle Unlimited Books I read in 2019. I’ve had 3 different 2-3 month subscriptions of KU this year. I only sign up for it when I can get a good deal on it (they’ve ranged from 2 months for free to 3 months for $1.99) and that is usually when I get all my cheesy or angsty contemporaries in – but sometimes I come across a book I really enjoyed and that’s what this list is for.

1., 2., & 3. R.S. Grey is the big Kindle Unlimited winner for me. I’ve read several of her books through KU, but these three are the ones that really stood out to me: Hotshot Doc, Not So Nice Guy, The Allure of Julian LeFray.

4. Huge Deal (21 Wall Street #3) by Lauren Layne

5. The Stand-in Boyfriend by Emma Doherty

6. Let’s Get Textual by Teagan Hunter. This was actually a re-read for me – and that’s how much I love it!

7. & 8.  Girl at Heart by Kelly Oram and One of the Girls by Robin Daniels. 2 authors, 1 series, and some seriously adorable YA romance.

9. A Killer’s Mind by Mike Omer.

10. Faking Under the Mistletoe by Ashley Shepherd.

Have you uncovered any gems in Kindle Unlimted?

Reviewing the Unreviewed: November 2019

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.

I Knead You Tonight (Slice Series #2) by Teagan Hunter. Read November 3-4. 3 Stars. 

This was compulsively readable, had some sweet romantic moments, and some good banter, but it ended up being just ok for me. The characters were a little more crass than I generally like and it kind of brought down my overall enjoyment. I also didn’t really like Drew. I felt like she was never called out for her reverse snobbery when it came to why she “hated” Winston and she didn’t really take responsibility for the fact that he was only mean to her in response to her being mean to him. While I did like the sweet moments between them, they were mostly a dysfunctional couple and were a little hard to root for. However, by the end they both grew a lot and I liked that.

Engaging Mr. Darcy by Rachel John. Read October 31 – November 10. 3 Stars. 

Pretty cheesy, but had some cute moments. Not bad for a KU pick, but not one I would want to read again.

Girl at Heart by Kelly Oram. Read November November 14-15. 3.5 Stars

This was so cute! And also a little cheesy. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed it, there were a few things that kept me from giving it a full four stars. Charlie was likable enough, but I thought she talked a little too much about how rich she was. And what an amazing athlete she was. And while she did have insecurities about her appearance, once she had her make-over she started using words like “gorgeous” to describe herself. She just seemed really full of herself sometimes and had zero self-awareness about it. But other than that, the story was cute (reminded me of On the Fence by Kasie West sometimes) and Jace was the absolutely sweetest character I’ve ever read. I completely adored him and his romance with Charlie. I’m going to try and read more books from this author while I still have my KU subscription.

Thirteen (Eddie Flynn #4) by Steve Cavanagh. Read November 12-18. 4 Stars. 

I liked this. It wasn’t quite as suspenseful as I had anticipated, but it was a good court room procedural with some surprises. I thought the angle with the serial killer was interesting and the story was well plotted. This is the fourth book in the series, but it’s the first one I read and I found it worked well as a standalone. There was a few relationship histories that I felt I was missing out on, but nothing that left me confused. I’m definitely going to check out more from this author.

The Whisper Man by Alex North. Read November 18-22. 3 Stars. 

This was decent, but I don’t really get the hype for it. There were a couple of ok surprises, but wasn’t really much a of thriller. Is “Men’s Fiction” a genre? Because this read a lot like Women’s Fiction to me, except about men. It’s a multi-generational tale of fathers and sons and it really focuses on family and emotions more than anything else.

One of the Girls by Robin Daniels. Read November 24-26. 3.5 Stars.

This was pretty cute, if slightly unrealistic. I adored Nick, though. There was some fun banter and I shipped the romance. 

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

Call Down the Hawk (Dreamer Trilogy #1)  by Maggie Stiefvater. I read the prologue for this and didn’t get farther than that. I just really wasn’t in the mood for this story, but I will definitely try it later. I might wait until the other two books are published first so I don’t have to wait.