Fireflies & Free Kicks Fiction Reviews
Reading from the beaches to the fields.
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I love it when an author can put a neat spin on an old trope. This take on “Romeo and Juliet” set among wineries is right up my alley. I liked the strong characters and thought that the plot was well paced. James is definitely a book boyfriend for the ages. I thought that Julia’s dad was a little bit over the top, but I appreciated how the author explained his character. In the end, it all made sense.
I enjoyed this book very much. My Goodreads review follows.
Bitter Rival by J. Sterling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a very quick read (less than a few hours), but it was just that fun and light. A refreshing take on Romeo and Juliet (which the characters reference a few times), it is the story of James and Julia, son and daughter of feuding families who have adjacent wineries. Everybody knows that James and Julia are meant for each other, but the family feud (and their own stubbornness) keeps them apart. I liked the characters, I liked the backstory, and I liked how they unraveled the feud and figured out how to solve the conflict. If I had anything negative to say, it would be that I wished the author had done a little more with the wine production and the concept of adding flavors to wine – make that more of a conflict between the two before reconciliation. But that’s being nitpicky, because I really enjoyed this book a lot, and will certainly look for others by this author. This review was written based on a complimentary pre-release copy.
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Greyson East left his mark on me.
As the young girl who first fell for him, I didn’t know much about life. I did know about his smiles, though, and his laughs, and the strange way my stomach flipped when he was near.
Life was perfect…until it wasn’t, and when we were forced to go our separate ways, I held on to our memories, let go of my first crush, and wished for the day I’d find him again.
When my wish came true, it was nothing like I imagined.
I couldn’t have known when I took the nanny position that it would be his children I looked after, that my new boss would be that boy I used to know, that boy who was now a man—a cold, lonely, detached man.
The smile and laugh I had loved so much were gone, now distant memories. Every part of him was covered in a fresh pain.
When he realized who I was, he made me promise to do my job and my job only.
He made me promise not to try to get to know him, not to recall the memories I’d treasured all this time.
But, sometimes, I saw the boy I’d once known in his stormy eyes. I saw the Greyson who smiled and laughed, who had stolen a young girl’s heart, and there was no doubt in my mind that this boy was worth fighting for.
I was given a second chance with the one who’d left his mark on me. All I hoped was that somehow I’d leave a mark on his soul, too.
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Cover Designer: Hang Le
Photographer: Rafa G Cátala
About Brittainy:
Author Brittainy C. Cherry is an Amazon #1 bestselling author. She has been in love with words since the day she took her first breath. She graduated from Carroll University with a Bachelors Degree in Theatre Arts and a minor in Creative Writing. Her novels have been published in 18+ countries around the world. Brittainy lives in Brookfield, Wisconsin with her fur babies.Connect with Brittainy:
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This one won’t be released until May, but what a great teaser for baseball season!
Here’s the deal: I’m the best center fielder in the major leagues. I’m also the guy who cost his team the championship game and acted very unsportsmanlike. So, when the team hires a social media manager to repair the damage to my reputation, I don’t argue. But then I meet Chloe Conrad, and I suddenly understand what people mean when they say they have an instant connection to someone. Which means I’m in serious trouble. Chloe’s a smart, sexy distraction I can’t afford, but one date can’t hurt, right? Only she turns me down. And just like that, it’s game on.
She’s sworn off love…
Finn Auprince is the hottest player in the major leagues. Look up “It Factor” in the dictionary and there’s his handsome face. He’s also my biggest client and I don’t care how easy it is to talk to him or how fun it is to manage his social media accounts, I will not give in to his charms. Then one drunken night, I tell him about my curse: all my previous boyfriends have found their soul mates while dating me. One more heartbreak, and I’ll never recover. But Finn doesn’t believe in curses—he believes in me. Professionally and personally. He sets out to prove the universe isn’t against me, and that his one true love isn’t waiting around the next corner.
The problem is…can we play the game of love and both come out on top?
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About Robin Bielman
Robin Bielman is the USA Today bestselling author of over fifteen novels. When not attached to her laptop, she loves to read, go to the beach, frequent coffee shops, and spend time with her husband and two sons. Her fondness for swoon-worthy heroes who flirt and stumble upon the girl they can’t live without jumpstarts most of her story ideas. She writes with a steady stream of caffeine nearby and the best dog on the planet, Harry, by her side. She also dreams of traveling to faraway places and loves to connect with readers. She dreams of traveling to faraway places and loves to connect with readers. Keep in touch at all of her social media spots!
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Meet Me in San Francisco by Shana Gray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The second in the “Girls Weekend Away” series, this book is as breezy as the first one. Half girlfriend road-trip, half wonderful guy sweeps woman off of her feet, there is plenty for everyone to like. Celia is the focus of this one, and moms of all types will definitely be able to relate to her desire to re-discover herself after a divorce. The only thing that disappointed me a little bit about this book is that there was too much focus on Landon impressing Celia. These scenes came at the expense of detailing other events. I understand the author’s focus for Celia, but I would have liked to have had a little more of the girl-talk between the four friends (because the author does it well), and a little less of the inner monologues of Celia and Landon. As in the first book, the conflict is fleeting, although I do hope the author follows Celia’s story through the next two books because the storyline with the ex is interesting. The ending was also a little abrupt; it almost seemed like an afterthought. I will give the author credit for doing her research on San Francisco and the California Coast. I’m a born and raised California girl (SF Bay Area), and reading the descriptions of Northern California brought me to the beautiful parts of the state that I miss the most. Looking forward to seeing what happens with Fredi and Ava! 3.5 stars, but bumped to 4 for the nostalgia that the scenes in Monterey and Napa Valley invoked. Thank you to NetGalley, Entangled Publishing LLC, and the author for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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This was a really good book. It could have been set in a police station, because first-responder attitudes are very similar, but then the title wouldn’t have made any sense. And the title is very cleverly chosen in this case. Fire, passion, life…how easy it to be consumed by any or all of these things? Even the heroine’s name (Ashburn) is a nod to the fire theme of the story. This is not your typical romance, but it is one heckuva story. Below is my Goodreads review.
At times haunting and poetic, this book is a masterful crime story wrapped in a tale of loss, sorrow, and renewal. It opens with a tragic fire, and this event drives all facets of the plot. When it comes to the lives of firefighters, the author writes with precision. From the descriptions of the gear and machinery, to the procedures, and even the thoughts and attitudes, everything is accurate. I especially appreciated the voice in which the author wrote. No matter what the character, the “inner thoughts” matched the “outer voices.” There are several moments of dark and/or sarcastic humor, which is how first responders often cope with the issues they face. (One passage about “non-conforming conformists” was especially funny). The characters are real; their motivations and reactions are organic and not contrived for dramatic effect. I actually felt like I was reading a story that could have been told about any real-life firehouse and the members who inhabit it. I was slightly disappointed in the heroine at one point, because she veered into a stereotypical reaction that seemed out of character. But that moment was actually small enough that it didn’t affect her overall character. All in all, this was an excellent story and I would definitely recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley, Gallery Books, and the author for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a very fun and quick read. In fact, I read it in one day because I just couldn’t put it down. The author did a really great job of relaying those feelings that one gets in the early stages of a relationship, especially one that has been built upon years of friendship. The dialogue was crisp and witty, and the characters sounded like real people, not that stilted and contrived language that RomCom novels sometimes have. The friendships the characters shared, both male and female, were also fun. The only negative is of my own fault, because I didn’t realize that this was the last in a series, so there were references with secondary characters that I didn’t fully understand. That being said, even though I know the end results, I now have a new series that I can eagerly dig into. Oh, and (mini-spoiler alert) fans of a certain 90s sitcom will love the Epilogue. Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
She had me at “Ramen. Freakin’. Noodles.”
I LOVED this book! At first glance, it seemed like it would be just another “Alpha male player finds the one woman who changes his ways” book. While that is an underlying theme, to reduce it to something that simple would be a great disservice. Max has so many more layers, as does Charlie. The journey that they take as they war with each other is both heartwarming and hugely entertaining (the quotes at the beginning of each chapter help guide the reader; I’d suggest maybe citing them if possible). Kate Meader has a way of writing that doesn’t seem as stilted as many other authors in this genre. Her characters are likable and they “spoke” in a way that was very natural; Charlie, especially, reminded me of how my friends and I talk. Meader also writes descriptively. I never highlight passages in books, but I highlighted more than a few in this one. My favorite was “…familiar doubts have a habit of dropping acid into the crevices in my self-assurance.” By using her words beautifully, (Max would be proud), she gives more life to her characters’ feelings. I will be putting Meader in my “favorite authors” list, and look forward to reading more books by her!
I was honestly confused by this book. From the description, I expected a more straightforward “he said/she said” story told through the competing magazine columns. That part of the story was interesting, and I think the book would have been fine if that had been it. But there was more to the story; a secondary plot about the main character, Lucas, trying to find his way in the publishing business. This became very convoluted. His boss’ backroom dealings, an odd financial benefactor and various other characters seemed to be filler. That being said, the “magazine job” angle would have been an interesting story on its own as well. What it all boils down to is that this book seemed to be a mash up of two separate books that never seemed to really entirely gel. It tried to do too much, and as a result, nothing was as gripping as it could have been.
