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i read some royal romances

Estimated Reading Time: 4min

i enjoyed Princess Diaries, The Prince and Me and a few other royal romance stories, but i have never really focussed a lot of attention on it. To be honest, i didn’t realise just how MANY of these types of stories were out there… but now I do. i went through and read just a few and found out that i actually kind of like them… here are just a few reviews of recent royal romance reads!

amercian royalty by katherine mcgee

Interesting premise and characters BUT too many plots.
No main plot with sub plots, just five smaller plots all happening at once that are all interconnected. Following three royal kids with two outsiders that have other outsiders connected to those was exhausting.
Everyone loves someone they can’t be with because of “family” or “expectations” or “crossed lovers syndrome”. Frustrating and heart twisting (not in a good way) all I got was aggravated and YET I still liked it. I still found the characters and idea of an American royal family engaging.

Grab the book Here

once upon a prince by Rachel Hauck

Predictable but enjoyable.
Pretty good, and not an Insta love story which is great.
Spanned over time in a more realistic timeline.
Relatable main character (Suzanna, not the prince) and I liked the spunk and sweet moments. Not sure why we had a “crazy” homeless woman who was spiritually discerning… made that look like it was only done by loonies, which it isn’t.
Apart from that, nice faith themes spread throughout.

Grab the book Here

to win a prince by toni shiloh

Such a great love story.
Haven’t read the first book, but It didn’t matter. Backstory was explained without feeling info dumpy.

Ekon’s character was frustrating to watch but well done and I liked how his journey felt true to the character, but also viewed the idea of change.

Iris was great. Empaths are not always explored well or written well, but I thought it was handled very well. Her story was also nice to watch unfold.

The romance was nice. It didn’t feel too forced, though I will admit the Insta love thing is not really my favourite and there was a small amount of that here.

I liked how God and Faith were woven in.
I also liked seeing some of the cultural things as well.

Really good read, and I would recommend this romance book for sure.

Grab the book Here

to love a prince by rachel hauck

Really cute story with lovely faith elements that weren’t too overpowering.
Relationship dynamics were great, with any issues and miscommunication dealt with quickly and in a satisfying way.
Romance was childhood friends to lovers which was great.

Grab the book Here

tokyo ever after by emiko jean

emiko jean

Just such an amazing read.
Hilarious, heartwarming and a truly beautiful story. The characters were really funny, and what The Princess Diaries books lacked for me, this one picked up the pieces and even added to them. The Tokyo traditions and culture was a really great addition to this story, and I enjoyed the way the plot flowed. Nothing particularly unique in terms of plot, but the way that it was framed with characters and setting made it still a really great story and journey to go on with all our characters.

Grab the book Here

hope you enjoy the royal romances and my thoughts on just a few.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

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Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Booktok/Booktube Featured Bookish Great Reads

SUCCESS When Booktube made me read it…

Estimated Reading Time: 7min

There are books that come up every so often that make it onto the list simply because somebody else (quite often in another country) has filmed themselves talking about it. This is that list.

I have recently gone through some books that I found only because of the internet, and what I thought of them:

Nora Goes Off Script by annabel monaghan

monaghan

This story was so cute!
It was short without being too short, moving without being unrealistic and romantic without being over the top.
Loved the romance and characters and I loved the story.
The only thing for me that I didn’t like, was too much descriptive text about the surroundings from time to time (though I do understand the meaning of it for the story)

Content warning: one mild love scene; constant references to that

Grab the book Here

Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter

painter

Funny, littered with fun romcom references and fully what you want from a romance.

I loved the banter, I loved the characters and their relationships. I loved the old school style and references to classic romantic comedy’s.

It was such a fun ride and I finished almost the whole book in just one afternoon!

Grab the book Here

the summer of broken rules by k.l. walther

walther

Love this book! So cute, so funny, so moving – just adored the romance hahah.

Wit and Mer were so fun, and had such a beautiful romance in the midst of the family game.
The game itself unfolded so hilariously – I LOVED Wit’s commitment to spraying people with water guns 😂
Touching moments of grieving and moving on with life. Forgiveness and healing.
The final showdown….. the best!
A wedding thrown in the midst of all the chaos and alliances was just cherry on top.

Such a fun and easy read 🙂

Grab the book Here

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

painter

Loved this one – it was funny, entertaining, and somehow made you forget the Groundhog Day trope being so overdone. I didn’t mind one bit, and instead got to thoroughly enjoy myself as we followed Em throughout.
Funny, entertaining and relatable.
I thought some of it became predictable and I could see the direction, but I enjoyed it in spite of that. The characters had a natural feeling progression and sometimes surprised you. This one was beautifully executed and I loved listening to the audiobook!

Grab the book Here

Meet Me in The Margins by melissa ferguson

ferguson

I didn’t care that this book was somewhat predictable, because I had so much fun reading it.
The characters had great chemistry, they were flawed but willing to do something when they had a chance, and there was all the drama!
I love books about readers and writers, so this was IT for me. Editors meeting in the margins over the course of a month and working on a book? Yes!
There was a lot of really funny but genuine moments, and the BANTER was just so great. Melissa wrote this book with a great flow and it was easy to speed through and stay up way too late just to finish it!

Grab the book Here

the prison healer by lynette noni

noni

I was surprised at how much I actually loved this book. The entire plot centres around the elemental trials and life in this crazy dangerous prison.
Our main characters are engaging, interesting and encircled by such an interesting world.
The ending……. I went out and got the next two books on almost that alone. I GOTSTA know what happens next!
Careful of content/trigger warnings (I will list below) but the author didn’t go tooooo far with those so just be aware.

Content warnings: violence (graphic), gore (moderate), self harm (moderate), sexual assault/harassment (moderate), Child abuse (moderate), torture (graphic), confinement (graphic)

Grab the book Here

these were a few of the recent wins, but have you read any books because of the internet? i’d love to hear what won for you and what lost.

See You in the Adventures
Christy Grace!

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Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Special Categories

Reading Wedding Romances for my sisters wedding

Estimated Reading Time: 7min

weddings are happy events – right? sometimes they can be stressful, sometimes your crazy relatives can make things complicated, but ultimately two people are getting married! when my sister walked down the aisle a month ago, i decided to read some wedding romances to prepare and BOY were they fun!

the engagement plot by krista phillips

philliips

Funny, engaging and sometimes frustrating.
Fake fiancés, the wake of reality TV drama and coming to terms with your life, romance and faith – this book had it all. There was even a small mystery to ferret out, so nothing lacking.
The banter was fun, the characters feisty and romance cute. I hate miscommunication and there was a bit of that, I also find it frustrating when people refuse to forgive just because they feel like being mad some more, but all in all, it was pretty good.
The ending felt… missing. Stilted. It was a little unusual and left a lot of open ended questions (especially for a stand alone book). However, it was enjoyable and had me laughing aloud and close to throwing things against the wall on more than one occasion.

Grab the book Here

the enemy by sarah adams

So much fun.
Love and hate really are a thin line and I LOVED the way things play out with Junebug and Mr Darcy… 😀

Actually though, they were so cute and the way everything was developed was hilarious and heart warming.

Grab the book Here

the wedding shop by rachel hauck

hauck

I don’t usually like dual timelines, but I liked both the timeline plots – I just wished they were not the same book jumping back and forth.
Cora’s story:
Moving, interesting and heartbreakingly annoying – commit woman!
Hayley’s story:
Moving, interesting and a nice homage to traditions and vintage.

The jumping back to other earlier books didn’t feel too jarring. I know of the books but hadn’t read them, yet it felt easy to understand where they stood and where it fit with the plot of this book.
A fun and cute book about love, forgiveness and weddings.

Grab the book Here

the wedding planner by dianne steel

steel

Depressing. Best word I can think of for this book. There are too many things I want to say, so I’ll try and keep it simple.

This books theme and opinion on marriage is simple. Unless you’re in a minority of marriage goers:
Weddings = bad
Babies = bad unless you’re old and even then probably still
Not good anyway
Abuse = inevitable and unworthy of real intervention

There might be some spoilers ahead so read at own risk.
Out of the three major weddings our planner Faith handled through this book, the only one that was happy and calm was the minority one. Almost all the others were either chaos or abusive. Sometimes both.
We then had a random spin off moment where we follow an adoption… for no reason at all.
Apparently, if you’re a minority, you get it all (happy and easy wedding with not one, but TWO babies in the same period) and if you’re not you get crap (abusive husband, babies when you don’t want them, parents almost splitting up and on and on it went).

Faith – the planner – had a life she insisted over and over that she was happy in. For me it sounded sad and lonely and if you have to try and convince someone that much, it’s probably not true.

For a book about a wedding planner it has a very bleak attitude towards marriage indeed.

Grab the book Here

the groom by melissa mclone

Quick and easy to get through.
Funny and meaningful moments scattered through wounds and attraction that all parties are trying to fight. For no reason at all.
Forgiveness is hard to come by, but a slow burn romance during an across the world competition was the perfect place to be thrown together and figure it out. In front of reality tv cameras and “the world” when it airs.
I liked it, and felt the character development for well within the plot and country hopping. It was nice to see and hear about various countries and places, and characters were likeable enough – though I did find Millie more likeable overall.

Grab the book Here

the accidental bride by denise hunter

hunter

Not a lot of forgiveness and an ending that felt rushed after a particularly solid “enemies” part of the enemies to lovers trope.

While I enjoyed this book with funny moments and warming sincerity by some characters, I found it difficult to connect with a main character that held so much Unforgiveness and didn’t ever really address that side of her own heart. She got everything she wanted and needed but didn’t really assess her own shortcomings in that.

We also got hints of their lives before they came back for a second chance romance, but it was never fully explained or expounded upon.

I enjoyed this book – don’t get me wrong – but there were also a few glaring issues for me that means it can’t get any higher of a rating than 3.5 stars.

Grab the book Here

the summer of broken rules by K L walther

walther

Love this book! So cute, so funny, so moving – just adored the romance hahah.
Wit and Mer were so fun, and had such a beautiful romance in the midst of the family game.
The game itself unfolded so hilariously – I LOVED Wit’s commitment to spraying people with water guns 😂
Touching moments of grieving and moving on with life. Forgiveness and healing.
The final showdown….. the best!
A wedding thrown in the midst of all the chaos and alliances was just cherry on top.
Such a fun and easy read 🙂

Grab the book Here

hope your weddings (and mine whenever it happens) aren’t quite as dramatic as all these, but who knows!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

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Book Reviews Books

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other… but i loved them! | Book Review

Estimated Read Time: 3min

Brynn and Sebastian may “hate” each other, but I LOVED them both in Bethany Turner’s new novel.

turner

Meet Brynn

We are introduced to Brynn first as a big time morning television star – finally! After a while of trying to get higher up the food chain, she makes it one week before accidentally putting her foot in it! So, to get back in the good graces of America, and her home town, she heads back down there to try and make things right.

First Impressions of Brynn

Right off the bat, Brynn is snarky and full of “boss babe” energy, with enough wounds to hint to a softer side that she can’t show anyone. A little brash, and more bite than bark, but somehow there’s still something interesting about her that you want to keep scratching at the surface to uncover. 

Enter Sebastian

We then get to meet Sebastian, who has settled into said small town after a big life chasing very important people, in a high stress journalism type job. Now, he serves on the town council, helps out in the mechanic shop, and basically tries to ignore the desire to be glued to his phone for any and all news updates. 

Turning Conflict Into Opportunity

While not thrilled to see Brynn come back and use the town to her advantage, he realises that the town he now calls home needs a boost for tourism. So, reluctantly points out that while her comments were hurtful to the people, they could spin it for their own purposes. He has a mysterious past and is determined to move forward from whatever happened. 

“Would Americas freakin sweetheart please move her freakin feet and get in the freakin vehicle.” 

Why This Romance Worked So Well

Enemies to lovers, a mountain small town, broadcast journalists and some amazing banter… yeah this one had it all and more.

The Banter Was Elite

The laugh out loud one liners that always accompany Bethany’s books were on point, with two characters that were like oil and water… sort of. Biting back and forth in a hilarious exchange (particularly Sebastian’s side) we followed their relationship from first first exchange to last. From Brynn’s attempt to gain back the trust of a whole nation from a live television slip up, to Seb’s mysterious past and current responsibilities, these two and the people around them were a great combination.

“It was just too fun watching her eyes grow bigger and bigger until he couldn’t help but wonder if they were going to pop right out of her head.” 

Final Thoughts & Rating

While Sebastian was my favourite of the two characters – having just a bit more likability than Bryn – I enjoyed the development of all. The plot moves smoothly and we got a lovely ending to boot!

“He’d never known anyone to stick their foot in their mouth quite as often as she did.”

Grab the book Here

I had a blast listening to the audiobook this time around! I’m hoping the paperback gets released to Australia soon, and will absolutely add it to my collection!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

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Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Booktok/Booktube

Booktube FAILS | Reading Popular Books

Estimated Reading Time: 7min

Sometimes when other people love talking about a book they read, you want to read it too. That’s why recommendations are so amazing!

BUT, sometimes they fall pretty flat… this is a post looking at those books. Youtube told me to read it, and I didn’t like it at all – let’s go

Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

I made it three chapters into this book before giving up.
The mystery didn’t grip me and I didn’t really care what happened to the brother. The characters were unlikable and I did not appreciate the sexual sense of humour that seemed a feature in one group of people.
It reminded me of Only Murderers In The Building, but not as good… not the same charm that show had.

Grab the book Here

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

rio

Pretentious? Yes. Shakespearian? Oh yes. Tragic? Yup. Worth it? Uhhh….

So this one was interesting. I didn’t read much of the middle, just the first few sections and the last few sections. After finding out what happened in the end of the book, I actually had no desire to read the rest. I knew how it ended and honestly, that was enough for me. It was set up in an interesting way, and I can get behind snobby writing and characters, but this level of tragedy and snob combined was just a little much for me.

Grab the book Here

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

jenkins reid

I’m going to try and condense my review to short and sharp with no spoilers… so here we go.
Lots of drug abuse and sexual references.
Selfish characters who were horrible to each other and I didn’t feel sorry for any of them.
The writing structure of interview was fun, and it was an easy style to get through quickly, but that wasn’t enough to save it from me.
Some of the trigger warnings should be noted and I will include them here:

Content Warning: drug abuse; sexual references and content; abortion; domestic abuse; alcoholism; cursing

Grab the book Here

When Gracie Met the Grump by Mariana Zapata

zapata

Another case of beginning chapter and final one. I didn’t like the over use of swearing, the disrespectful slant towards Christians, and the toxic relationship between grumpy and grumpier… yeah it was a no for me.

Also, waiting until basically the end of the book to see if the characters end up together is a hard pass for me.

Grab the book Here

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

haig

The only reason this one is a “fail” is because I’m not going to hold onto it. I don’t think I would ever read it again, but warning – I did actually somewhat enjoy this book when I read it.

I really liked The Midnight Library. I honestly don’t understand why some people have compared this to a self help type of book – it isn’t. It’s more of a contemplating life and what that means book. Thinking, not feeling (which I feel is a major difference between self help and philosophical).
The writing did at times, feel quite pretentious- like someone who wanted you to know they were well educated. On the whole though, if you accepted that fact, it still felt very well done.
I loved the idea explored of parallel lives and what small decisions and regrets can look like if they are changed.
Overall, thumbs up.

Grab the book Here

Those were my most recent Booktube fails, which goes to show that sometimes you CAN’T trust a stranger on the internet when you’re getting book reviews.

See You in the Adventures
Christy Grace

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Book Reviews Books Genre Reading

Fantasy Book Reviews | They Have TWO Different Storylines… Why?

Estimated Reading Time: 6min

I’ve been on a fantasy reading kick lately, and have thrown myself into tackling some very long and complex books. This means that I have also discovered a trend that I didn’t notice until now…

Something I have picked up over the past few years of reading, is that fantasy – particularly high fantasy or those with a lot of books or characters – seem to have two separate plots. They usually link together, but the first half of the book has a plot/storyline that seems to get thrown away in the middle, and a brand new story is taken up instead with the same characters.

Don’t believe me? Let me prove it:

The Final Empire (Mistborn Book 1) by Brandon Sanderson

This one seems to start as a dystopian and magical heist, but ends up being an “overthrow the government/system” war book. The goal of the characters was the second half the whole time, but it was quite jarring to sign up for one thing and get another.

Grab the book Here

Fellowship of the Rings (Lord of the Rings Book 1) by J. R. Tolkien

First half is a journey of hobbits that don’t really know what they’re doing with a magical ring, but it ends up being lots of different beings with complete understanding of their goal and what’s going on around them. Pretty much just a growth/continuation of the story but once the others join the team, the vibes are completely different.

Grab the book Here

Throne of Glass by Sara J Maas

Okay this was was disappointing for me, I’m not going to lie. I have also heard that the first book is pretty much super different to the rest of the series… so yeah.

First half is an assassin who was destined to die a slave gets called up to the elite’s world to compete against others – and if she wins, she’s free, but it ends up being magical fae type monster situations happening that was really intense and amazingly creepy – that was when I stopped reading.

Grab the book Here

A.D. 30 by Ted Dekker

dekker

We start out with an Arabian princess style adventure, trying to avenge her child and take back her kingdom, but we end up discovering Yeshua (Jesus) as he is alive on earth and preaching a different way of life. Not mad about this one, I actually loved the two elements and interacting with JESUS, heck yes! But, it was very much two different stories that were packaged as one. Again, not mad at it.

Grab the book Here

I’m sure there are others that seem to go one way, but in the same book turn around and take you somewhere else. I’m trying to decide how I feel about it. Whether it feels like a trick, or a seamless transition, and I think it’s going to have to be a case by case basis.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

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Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Genre Reading Movie/Pop Culture

Reading My First Mistborn Book (Brandon Sanderson)

Estimated Read Time: 6min

This is officially my first experience in the cosmere, and I was of two minds!

So this is not my first Brandon Sanderson book, and I have watched all the fantasy writing classes that he ran and were posted to Youtube. So I know a bit about his writing, and what he brings to the party. So I was excited to read The Final Empire.

Why I Was Excited for Mistborn

The first book/series of Brandon’s that I read was Steelheart from The Reckoners series. I read all three books, and LOVED them. It goes down as one of my favourite fantasy series – who wouldn’t want to see how people with no superpowers attempt to defeat the only people with powers.. essentially the bad guys. I will admit though, it was a pretty different “vibe”.

sanderson

What The Final Empire Is Actually About

If you don’t know what the Mistborn series, or The Final Empire is about let me share. It essentially has two main plot lines. First is a thieving/heist story, and secondly an overthrowing the government story. Yeah, it kind of flipped halfway through the middle of the very long book. I will admit that this is a trend I’ve noticed recently in fantasy (particularly longer fantasy) books. We sign up for one story, and end up changing half way to another one with the same characters. The way this dystopian style world works is that the “Skaa” are the lowly section of society, and some people have the ability to do amazing things buy using different metals to do different things (like controlling emotions in others and various other things).

It can be a bit complicated, so if you want to understand fully what this book is about and all the ins and outs of the magic, check out the better descriptions than mine. Ultimately let’s get into what I thought about the characters, plot and the world that Brandon created – and if I’m planning on reading more!

The Characters & Worldbuilding

While I did like the characters, it was really hard to keep track of all of them, and who they all were (particularly with an audiobook format). I think there were just a bit too many for my personal preferences. The names are quite unusual, and this made it even more of a challenge to remember who was doing what, and which team they were on etc.

The Length & Info Dumping

The length of this book was pretty weighty, but it was also a story that took place over quite a fair amount of time with time jumps. I’m not used to books that take place over such long periods of time but that are still interesting and flow well. I appreciated that this book DID do this (it was also my first “high fantasy” that I made all the way through and I liked it quite a bit actually).

There was a huge amount of info dumping at times, but something about it didn’t feel that annoying like it can with other books. I was fully aware of it, and yet I didn’t mind. The world was so interesting, and the way the information was being presented had enough relation to the characters and plot that it didn’t take away or take me out, it added.

The Religion Discussion

The theme of discussing religion throughout was an unusual choice. While it doesn’t favour any one in particular, and seemingly makes some up (although who knows because more keep being presented all the time), it was kind of….. odd. It felt strange that these people are talking about that in the middle of all the craziness that was happening around them. I love a good Christian fiction book, so religion in books is not something I don’t like, it was more so that this seemed to acknowledge that religion exists but also that it doesn’t much matter which one you believe… and that’s something I disagree with so perhaps that’s why it felt so disjointed for me. I also didn’t understand the point of this, as the story isn’t really about religion and how it can be good or bad. Interesting to think about, but maybe better placed in another type of story.

Why I’m Not Continuing the Series

In terms of the series as a whole, I did end up looking up the spoilers for the other “main books”. What makes the Mistborn or Cosmere books complex to read is that there are so many of them and they seem to relate and intersect in some way. So if you want to commit, you have to really commit to reading quite a few – some are part of the main or original series, and others were added later on. With where the story is headed after book one, I think the continuing of this one will not be something I’m interested in. I was REALLY excited to read about a magical heist…. this book didn’t really end up being that and shifted focus to something else entirely.

Final Thoughts

The way the magic system works was very well thought out and explained. Though there was a lot to understand and explain, because we are going on a journey with our main character, we are learning about it all alongside her. Rules fly out of my memory simply because there are so many of them, and the way things work sometimes ended up being skimmed over by my brain… but ultimately it was impressive how everything was linked and presented to make sense.

Grab the book Here

The ultimate result was a book that I liked but didn’t love. It was good, but I didn’t care to continue. Maybe another part of the cosmere would hold better luck for me, or maybe I’m better to stick with the superhero side of Brandon’s writing.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Booktok/Booktube

Attempting To Read My First Mariana Zapata Book….

Estimated Reading Time: 3min

Mariana Zapata is someone I hear about online a lot. So I decided to read one of her books for myself… or at least, try to read one.

So I picked up one of Mariana’s books that is called When Gracie Met The Grump. It’s a story about a superhero who crash lands and injures himself in the yard of a superhero hater, who then has to look after him. He’s grumpy, she’s snarky… it’s a vibe.

So there were a few reasons why this book never made it past chapter two for me. I did end up reading the first chapter, and the “last-ish” chapter for fun and I was pretty much ready to be done. The reasons for not continuing this book are personal preference, but let me share those reasons anyway.

Firstly, I noticed pretty quickly that there was a ton of swearing in this book. More than I like to read in my stories. I don’t mind a few here and there, and sometimes it can be an effective tool but this felt like the author is a swearer and it was just part of her vocabulary that carried across. In terms of the writing style, Mariana has a pretty nice flow!

I also noticed that characters who weren’t particularly religious were doing things that were, and the main three superheroes were referred to as “the trinity” which is actually pretty disrespectful in my view, to Christians (who refer to God as The Trinity – Father, Son and Spirit). So because of this, I didn’t know how appropriate the references were going to be in respect to Christians or God. It didn’t feel like the author cared if or how she might offend Christians – something I don’t jive with.

I also despise reading toxic “romantic” relationships. In my view, you CANNOT be toxic and have a romantic relationship – healthy or otherwise. I don’t actually understand people’s obsession with reading toxic relationships. While I didn’t actually get to see much of the relationship itself, in a brief skim through some of the chapters (especially the beginning where they really don’t like each other) all I saw was someone who begrudgingly was helping someone, and a jackhole who just wasn’t worth the effort. Honestly, kick that boy outta your house! You can be grumpy without being an absolute dick is all I’m saying. I can do enemies to lovers (I actually like this when it’s done well), but this was just dick and dick-ish meet. I didn’t like anyone.

I am disappointed that I wasn’t able to read on, and I know that Mariana is the queen of slow burn… which basically means you go through and entire book of torture while the main characters DO NOT GET TOGETHER UNTIL THE LAST PAGE! And when they do get together, the spice is a little too hot for me.

Ultimately, instead of making myself read something that would annoy me, I decided to DNF this book and move on. Sorry Mariana Zapata, but I’m out.

See You in the Adventures
Christy Grace