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Review of Copper & Ink by Mindy Michele

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Synopsis:
A weekend camping trip with friends unveils their attraction. What will one week expose?

Brynn Harris lives an idyllic life until love deals her a wicked hand. Crushed, she returns to Seaside Pointe and barricades her heart. The plan works well for two years until a weekend spent around her brother’s former college roommate sparks a complicated attraction.

The tattooed and pierced Hayden Fox is nothing like the men from Brynn’s past, but their differences don’t lessen their chemistry, especially when Hayden spends one week in Seaside helping Chloe Lockwood on her flower farm.

Hayden has no plans for a happily ever after he doesn’t think he deserves, but when the tempting redhead shows up for a dinner among friends, desire wages a battle. Soon, the lines between physical and emotional blur. With relationships on the line, Hayden and Brynn must reconcile their damaged pasts. Pasts not yet finished with them.

This is the second installment in a four-book series. While the romance stands alone, the plot is a continuation of events that occurred in book 1: Blossoms & Steel. It is recommended you read the series in order.

Review:
I did like this book. We had characters that weren’t perfect, and were flawed, and had to work through their past trauma to try to find something for the future. I quite enjoyed getting to know Brynn, and I didn’t expect everything that happened to her especially towards the end. The same goes for Hayden, learning of his past, his life, and why he is how he is. The intimacy was well written and on the border of PG13; nothing too explicitly stated or detailed. That being said, the connection and heat was certainly still there. I do wish there had been more at the end– and perhaps there would be more mentioned offhand if you continued to read the series.

This read brought to you by BookswithSierra on TikTok.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯

Review of Times Like These: A Rock Star Romance by Julia Wolf

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Times Like These: A Rock Star Romance (Blue is the Color Book 1) by [Julia Wolf]

Synopsis:
It all started with a concert I never wanted to attend…

Nick Fletcher is the kind of arrogant, beautiful, bad boy who draws me in like a moth to a flame. He’s also a world-famous rock star who should be untouchable to a struggling college student like me.

One impulsive decision from me, a vicious response from Nick, and we’re thrust into each other’s worlds, whether we like it or not. And he really doesn’t like it.

To him, I’m an intruder working on his summer tour. One with a sassy mouth I can’t keep shut, especially when he leans in hard to the whole sexy, grumpy rocker thing.

There’s something undeniable simmering between us, and it’s not hate. But beneath Nick’s arrogance is a broken man and my days of fixing men are behind me.

No matter what, I’m walking away when this tour is over.

Even if the heat we ignite burns hotter than the summer sun.

Review:
Found this book from booktok. A quick fast read. The characters are quirky, flawed, and stay with you. Great book, good flow. A lot of unseen twists and turns and the perfect ending. A great quick enemies to lovers romance, and the spice was great and well written.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯

Review of Between the Spark and the Burn by April Genevieve Tucholke

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Synopsis:
Freddie once told me that the Devil created all the fear in the world.
But then, the Devil once told me that it’s easier to forgive someone for scaring you than for making you cry.
The problem with River West Redding was that he’d done both to me.

The crooked-smiling liar River West Redding, who drove into Violet’s life one summer day and shook her world to pieces, is gone. Violet and Neely, River’s other brother, are left to worry—until they catch a two a.m. radio program about strange events in a distant mountain town. They take off in search of River but are always a step behind, finding instead frenzied towns, witch hunts, and a wind-whipped island with the thrum of something strange and dangerous just under the surface. It isn’t long before Violet begins to wonder if Neely, the one Redding brother she thought trustworthy, has been hiding a secret of his own . .

Review:
I’m so torn in what to say here. I love that we get an adventure, and there is so much up and down, but oh my goodness the ending is so openly ambiguous I can hardly stand it!

I love how these books take something from the past and meld it into the future, of how Violet feels as if she’s bound to repeat Freddie’s path in the past, but Violet is a very different person than the Freddie that we learn more about. I love all the characters, and in the end I was quite pleased with Violet’s choice, but I wish there was a more definitive (happy) ending, because there is so much left that could go wrong.

This book series is a whirlwind and I am not quite sure how to articulate all of my thoughts about it. I absolutely loved it and would highly recommend it. There are so many fantastic thriller/horror elements, and I definitely felt my fair share of H. P. Lovecraft vibes from this one, as well as a little bit of the uncertainty and ambiguity of V. C. Andrews.

Thank you, TikTok(BookTok). I absolutely loved these books.

Star Rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

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Synopsis:
You stop fearing the Devil when you’re holding his hand…

Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town…until River West comes along. River rents the guesthouse behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more? Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery…who makes you want to kiss back. Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

A gothic thriller romance with shades of Stephen King and F. Scott Fitzgerald, set against a creepy summertime backdrop–a must-read for fans of Beautiful Creatures, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, and Anna Dressed in Blood.

Review:
This book was not at all what I expected it to be. It was light and airy but deep and gripping, like the breeze off water. There are haunting moments of past between Violet and those she has loved, and so many mysteries. The synopsis does nothing to prepare you for the whirlwind you’re about to jump into reading this book. So many twists and turns. Unlike many stories with absentee parents, this one actually makes it seem like, while still weird, it was normal for this family. From the beginning Violet’s oddness made me think she would be an unreliable narrator, and while in some ways parts were unreliable, they were for a completely understandable reason. The ending twist I really hadn’t expected and I quite enjoyed!

This is a great coming of age story, with a hint of that thriller in there. I definitely can see the F. Scott Fitzgerald vibes. There were also a lot of odd metaphors and older references which, while peculiar, really solidified the setting. I actually really loved the peculiar names some characters have, and the names themselves are such that the actual time period this is supposed to be in isn’t quite clear, but it’s a wonderful and addictive book all the same.

I actually bought this book and the sequel based on a booktok (TikTok section dedicated to books), though I can’t recall which video convinced me to do so. Keep sharing that book love with people, and if you have a recommendation that you’d like me to read or review, feel free to email me.

Star Rating: ✯✯✯✯✯