Tag: Romance

These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan Review

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“May you always have a star to wish on, Abriella, and a reason to believe,” Lexi Ryan These Hollow Vows

These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan follows Arbiella, Brie, who wants to avoid making deals with the fae. However, when her sister is captured by the cruel king of the Unseelie Court, she will do anything to free her. To free her sister, she will even betray her old childhood friend and crush, Sebastian, who has secrets of his own that will threaten their relationship.

Brie is a strong character who stands up for what she believes in and will go to great lengths to protect those she loves. However, she struggles with the possibility of betraying Sebastian to free her sister, which she doesn’t want to do, but she sees no other way. These Hollow Vows is a story of family, love, and magic. The world-building is spectacular and kept me on the edge of my seat as I wanted to find out more and more about this new fantasy world. The magic system was intriguing as well!

As I read, I wanted to learn more about how the magic worked in the fae world and how it affected the characters and their choices. The characters rely on magic a lot, almost to their detriment, and it was fascinating to see how they decided to work through their problems, whether by using magic or not.

The pacing of the story was excellent as well. There was hardly a dull moment and while it took me two weeks to read this book, that had nothing to do with the book itself. Whenever I had the chance to sit down and read, I always had a hard time pulling myself away from the book. This book also reminded me of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass, which is one of my favorite series of all time. I’m very excited to find another series that is similar, and yet very different. If you enjoyed A Court of Thorns and Roses, I believe you might really love These Hollow Vows!

I can’t wait for the sequel, These Twisted Bonds. It releases very soon, July 19th!

Book Lovers by Emily Henry Review

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“Sometimes, even when you start with the last page and you think you know everything, a book finds a way to surprise you,” Henry, Book Lovers

Book Lovers by Emily Henry tells the story of Nora Stephens, a book lover and literary agent from New York City whose focus in life is on her work and her relationship with her sister, Libby. Nora eventually agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for a month in the summer with her sister. Libby wants Nora to finally be the lead in her own life, rather than always taking care of her clients. In Sunshine Falls, Libby attempts to get Nora to stop working in the evenings, which Nora struggles with as she is a workaholic. Libby wants to spend quality time with her sister.

Libby is pregnant and has her own struggles as a mom and with her husband. Nora wants to help her sister out, while also trying to figure out what she wants. Eventually, she meets Charlie Lastra, another book lover who works in the publishing industry. He’s an editor and also from New York City. Nora and Charlie’s working style clash, which creates for some great banter between the characters. It also adds to their character development over the course of the book which I found to be a very compelling facet of the story.  

I’ve heard that this is an enemies to lovers story, but I don’t think they were exactly enemies, but rather they just didn’t have the best first impression of each other. They did argue with each other, but they also discovered a lot about each other as they worked together, both on manuscripts and at the bookstore Charlie’s parents own in Sunshine Falls. I’ve read Beach Read by Emily Henry which I enjoyed, however, I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending. I felt similarly about Book Lovers. Maybe it was just that I didn’t want it to end? I understand the hype for this book. It was very much a comfort read. It felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket with a hot cup of coffee or drink of choice. It’s perfect for bookworms and anyone who works with books for a living.

Another aspect of Book Lovers that I really enjoyed was the sister’s relationship. They had some difficult times considering their mother. They do things that their mother did to bring themselves closer to her, like movie nights together—watching their mom’s favorite films. This part of the book reminded me of Gilmore Girls. It’s the warm family scenes that gave me a Gilmore Girls vibe. Overall, I rather enjoyed Book Lovers, especially considering romance isn’t my favorite genre. I’m a fantasy lover, but I enjoyed Book Lovers so much more than I thought I would and I completely understand how it is so well loved! And it just came out a few weeks too, which is amazing that so many people have read it so fast!