Review: The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023 Dani @ Overflowing ShelfLeave a comment

The Worst Guy
Kate Canterbary
Publisher: Vesper Press
Publication Date: December 28, 2021
Series or Standalone: Vital Signs #2
Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads – StoryGraph
Rating:

MY REVIEW

CW: Eating disorder; abandonment; strained parental relationship

If you’re looking for a good hate-to-love, enemies-with-benefits, “good girl” filled romance that delivers on the sexiness and the emotions, look no further than The Worst Guy. I can understand why so many people have been talking about this book. This was my first Kate Canterbary book, but it won’t be my last.

Review: Merry Inkmas by Talia Hibbert

January 25, 2023January 25, 2023 Dani @ Overflowing ShelfLeave a comment

Merry Inkmas
Talia Hibbert
Publisher: Nixon House
Publication Date: December 1, 2017
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads – StoryGraph
Rating:

MY REVIEW

CW: domestic abuse; homelessness; intrusive thoughts; reference to parental death from cancer

Merry Inkmas is not your traditional holiday romance novella. If you’re looking for a light-hearted holiday romance, this is not the story for you. Now, I don’t think that should put you off the story though.

However, and I’m being honest, this is a bit of a hard novella for me to review. After reading it almost a month ago, I feel a bit indifferent toward it. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, but it didn’t leave as much of a lingering impression on me as I thought it would. It was fine?

Review: Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

October 24, 2022October 24, 2022 Dani @ Overflowing ShelfLeave a comment

Love on the Brain
Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: Berkley Book
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads
Rating:

MY REVIEW

CW: Gun violence; misogyny; cheating

Going into this book, I knew we would likely not be friends. I truly hated The Love Hypothesis, and Love on the Brain follows nearly the exact same formula. So why did I read it, you may ask?

Well, I’m apparently a sucker for punishment, and I wanted to understand the hype. Plus, I felt like I had to give Ali Hazelwood another chance as she’s still a relatively new author. But I won’t fall for that again as this book 100% confirmed that Hazelwood’s writing and stories just aren’t for me.

Before diving into everything I didn’t like, I will say that up until around the 90% mark, I liked this marginally more than The Love Hypothesis. I thought it was going to be a 2.5-star read for me. And then the ending happened, and I completely lost all patience for this book (we will get into that below).

So without further ado, here’s why this book didn’t work for me:

Review: You, Again by Lauren Layne

August 2, 2022July 31, 2022 Dani @ Overflowing ShelfLeave a comment

You, Again
Lauren Layne
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: July 19, 2022
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads
Rating:

MY REVIEW

Lauren Layne can do no wrong in my book. You, Again is the perfect contemporary romance that hits all the right emotional notes. Seriously, nothing makes me happy than a new Lauren Layne book. I downloaded this as soon as it was available and stayed up way too late devouring it – zero regrets.

How To Fake It In Hollywood by Ava Wilder feature image

ARC Review: How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilder

June 13, 2022June 13, 2022 Dani @ Overflowing ShelfLeave a comment

How to Fake It in Hollywood
Ava Wilder
Publisher: Dell
Publication Date: June 14, 2022
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads
Rating:

MY REVIEW

CW: Alcoholism; drug use; death of a friend; grief; references to cheating (not the main couple); references to physical abuse

Don’t be fooled by the illustrated cover and fun-sounding premise, How to Fake It in Hollywood tackles some heavy topics, most prominently alcoholism and grief, but Ava Wilder managed to write a story that perfectly balances the romance with the heaviness. This book felt like something magical, real and raw, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Review: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

April 7, 2022October 23, 2022 Dani @ Overflowing Shelf2 Comments

The Love Hypothesis
Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: Berkley Books
Publication Date: September 14, 2021
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads
Rating:

MY REVIEW

CW: sexual harassament/assualt

Did I read the same book as everyone else? Because this book was a big fat NO from me. I know a lot of people love The Love Hypothesis, but everything about it – from the writing to the characters, to the plot and even the romance – did not work for me. If this wasn’t a hyped book, I would have put it down after the first chapter and marked it as Did Not Finish.

I honestly don’t know where to start with this review.

To try to make this digestible, I’m going to structure this a little bit differently than my normal review with sections:

Review: Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey

March 8, 2022March 7, 2022 Dani @ Overflowing ShelfLeave a comment

Hook, Line, and Sinker
Tessa Bailey
Publisher: Avon Books
Publication Date: March 1, 2022
Series or Standalone: Bellinger Sisters #2
Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads
Rating:

MY REVIEW

After not liking It Happened One Summer, I went into this book with slightly lower expectations. And I’ve got to be honest – my feelings on this are a bit mixed. I liked the beginning and the build-up in Fox and Hannah’s relationship (something sorely lacking in Piper and Brendan’s relationship), but the final act of this novel is where the story lost me and made me a bit iffy on my overall feelings on it.

Review: It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey

March 2, 2022March 2, 2022 Dani @ Overflowing ShelfLeave a comment

It Happened One Summer
Tessa Bailey
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: July 13, 2021
Series or Standalone: Bellinger Sisters #1
Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads
Rating:

MY REVIEW

When it comes to Tessa Bailey’s books, they’re incredibly hit or miss for me. And this one was a big ole miss.

I know this book is incredibly popular, but it did not work for me. I found the characters to be unlikeable, the romance underdeveloped, and the writing awkward. Some of the choices also made me angry as the central conflict is based on a failure to communicate.