Mini Reviews for Books I’ve been Reading Recently

Hey guys,

How are you doing? It’s recently hit me that I only have one week before heading off to uni for my third year – ahhh! Where has the time gone? I already know I’m going to be having serious homesickness after having been home for so long so I am kind of in an odd situation of excitement for my new term but sadness for leaving my family again. Do you guys have a similar issue? Anyway, enough doom and gloom.

I don’t really know what to call this post and I hope whatever I decide on after this is written sounds good. But even if it doesn’t the idea is very self-explanatory. Basically, I’ve been reading a lot of Novella’s and Short Stories recently. But now it’s Review Thursday and I feel like none of them are long enough to really warrant their own individual review Thursday post so I thought I would do a wee compilation Review Thursday post. I hope that makes sense and I hope you like it.
I know a lot of you guys like my longer reviews and I promise they will be back next Thursday but for those of you who enjoy shorter reviews then this will be right up your street.

I was very kindly sent all of these via Netgalley, except The Con-Artist Dates which I got from Kurt Dinan’s Website.

Remember Me by Mikael Lemieux
Blurb: Madeline and Elliot. That is all everyone talked about, Madeline and Elliot’s partnership was the envy of the dancefloor. Everyone in their life could feel how well they fit together like puzzle pieces. Their story an unspoken truth between two people growing together, perfecting their dancing career for over 10 years. It made everything complicated. Elliot was promised to another and Madeline was forced to be supportive for her best friend. But how? How to tell your partner how you feel when they mean so much to you but you want them to be happy? How to live everyday with the pain of loving someone without knowing if they feel the same about you. Until the day, everything is taken away. Until one day, your best friend, a friend you swore to never give up on falls harder than ever before. It was always Elliot and Madeline, but now Elliot must fight for Madeline to keep his promise. Elliot fights to find a way to make her remember him, even at the risk of a broken heart.
Review: This had a really interesting plot. I loved the concept of trying to regain lost memories. It was unique and really gripping. The first 40 of the book was amazing. After that however it went downhill for me a little. While the concept of losing memory makes for a really gripping plot; it does have the downside of being a massive overload of information when the memories do start to come back. It made it tough to read and my interest dipped.
I also wish that there was more dancing content – its what brought them together and it was such a prominent part of their lives it felt odd that other than reminiscing it was barely touched upon.
I liked Elliot a lot as a character. The pain he was going through was so heartbreaking and i really enjoyed reading his parts. I liked Madeline less sadly. Maybe it was because so much was about her rediscovering herself, it meant there wasn’t much about her to connect her with the reader. I also felt like some of the decisions she made were just hurtful and a little unbelievable. It felt like she did things because she had to for the plot rather than because she would have actually done it. I didn’t like Janet but I get the feeling your not meant to as a reader so she was very well written in that case. I did however really like Danton and I wish we had more of him to read because he was beyond sweet.
My last gripe was that hunter was added so late into the plot. It felt like he was added because the author needed an out to make Elliot less of a bad guy. If he had been there from the offset then it would have felt a lot more fleshed out.
To end on a positive note, I really enjoyed the early flashbacks to when they were children. That was so nice to see their friendship in full force and really give you a reason to route for them.
Score Rating: 6.5/10
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The Con-Artist Dates by Kurt Dinan
Blurb: Boone McReedy and Darby West are the best teen con artist team around. Too bad they’re also exes and would rather die than work together pulling scams. But in THE SCAM LIST, they’re forced to team up. Why? Because Boone’s the idiot who got conned out of $15,000 by a mystery girl putting the family business at risk of foreclosure. They’ll earn back the money, one con at a time…if they don’t kill each other first. In these prequel stories to THE SCAM LIST, you’ll read about the first cons they ever run as a team, and get hints as to why they broke up in the first place. It’ll give a you a great idea of the cons, humor, and fun that await in THE SCAM LIST.
Review: It was so good to read more Boone. I wish I read this before The Scam List because it was just a really nice way to lead into the story and get a deeper sense of Darby and Boone as a couple. The writing and the humour was still impeccable as ever! Kurt Dinan has shot up into my top rankings for favourite author easily. Really really recommend.
Score Rating: 8/10
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Knock Out by Willow James
Blurb: Brodie King has only one goal – doing whatever it takes to become a pro boxer. The last thing he wants is to find his mind and body derailed by a luscious, shy librarian. Now all he can think about is coaxing her to come out of her shell and how he’s going to make her his. Humiliated by the only man she ever let into her bed, Tabitha Simms took the job in Walton, MA, determined to play it safe and accept her life as a lonely, quiet librarian. She doesn’t count on Brodie, a tattooed, possessive boxer interrupting her life and bringing out a side of her she never knew.
Review: This was a super sweet and quick romance that just lifts your mood. Definitely 18+ in some places but it’s tasteful and balances out the adorableness of the budding relationship. The book’s description describes it as insta-love and while it has elements of that I am much more inclined to describe it as insta-lust. For such a short novel (Only 55 pages) the characters were very likeable and relatively well developed. Max was my favourite character – I mean who doesn’t love a kitten, but a kitten who actively tries to get you the hot guy… where can I get myself a Max! I would have liked to have a bit more of Colin and seen more of Brodie’s jealousy. I also would have really liked it if Greg had been at the Boxing to cause some more tension and drama for the conclusion of the story. Other than that it was a really nice lighthearted romance to cheer you up when you need a quick pick-me-up.
Score Rating: 7/10
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

LuvU4Ever (A Moment in Time #1) by Joan Reeves
Blurb: LuvU4Ever. That’s what was engraved on the gold heart David gave Noelle when he proposed. Does love last forever?
“I told you never to call me at home.”
Or can nine little words destroy love? This year as Christmas Eve approaches, Noelle faces the biggest decision of her life. Will she choose payback? Will she choose love?
Or will she just walk away?
Review: I didn’t enjoy this story line at all. It gave me the heebeejeebees. All the cheating and sneaking and lying. It just made me feel rather uncomfortable and then the twist at the end was just so much of a meh. I want more drama and excitement. I liked the writing style but there was so much repetition of unnecessary backstory that it felt like it was dragging on. The characters were interesting and I’m interested to see where they go in the rest of the series but definitely not the best short romance I’ve ever read.
Score Rating: 3/10
Star Rating: ⭐⭐

Last Chance New Years (A Moment in Time #2) by Joan Reeves
Blurb: Cheyenne Smith, better known as C. A. Smith to her co-workers, decides New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to give in to insanity and throw herself at Luke Harper, the man she loves, and hope that he catches her. Will Luke be her safety net?
Review: I liked this a lot more than the last one, the plot was much more interesting and the characters were far more fun to read. They had more depth and there was a sweetness to them that actually made you care. I didn’t like the ending, it was odd and rushed and very insta-lovesque. This was by far my favourite one in the series. The characters had a lot more too them as characters so you rooted for them more than in any of the other stories. There was more tension in the build up as well in comparison to the other stories.
Score Rating: 6/10
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Blame It on Chocolate (A Moment in Time #3) by Joan Reeves
Blurb: Chloe Elliot was the good girl. She’d never been a hell-raiser. Never gotten drunk, used drugs, smoked pot, or slept around. She didn’t even curse! Since her dad was the son of a minister and the oft-elected mayor, and her mom was the elementary school principal, she’d had no choice but to live a life above reproach. Truthfully, it really hadn’t been that difficult. Until Hunter Cole returned to his home town. That was the beginning of Chloe’s fall from good girl status. There was just something about the man that addled her brain and created havoc in her body. Hunter Cole reckoned he had the best of all possible worlds. He’d played for the NFL, and even thought two back surgeries had ended that career, he was lucky enough to follow in his dad’s footsteps and work the family ranch and also follow his granddad’s path and be the sheriff in his west Texas town. Life was perfect. Until he dropped by the library to say hello to his best friend’s little sister. Chloe wasn’t so little any more. In fact, just looking at her made his common sense evaporate. She affected him like no other woman–and he’d had women throwing themselves at him since he was a high school quarterback! If he made a move on her, her brother would nail his hide to the wall. There was only one thing he could do, but did he really want to do that? The thought of it made his bachelor heart shudder with alarm.
Review: This was a decent read. I really liked the backstory and the build up of the characters and how they’ve known each other. I wish we got a bit more from Hunters perspective because it felt a little onesided. I also wish there had been a bit more tension. Again the ending was a bit abrupt but I think that’s just what I have to expect from this series.
Score Rating: 5.5/10
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Liam’s Wild Irish Rose (A Moment in Time #4) by Joan Reeves
Blurb: How ironic that of all the women in the world, he fell for the one who seemed to have no interest in him. At least no interest outside the bedroom. A lot of men would think that was the perfect relationship—hot sex with a beautiful woman who had no interest in a relationship. Unfortunately, Liam wasn’t one of those men. He wanted Maura, and he wanted all of her, not just sex. The minute he’d seen Maura, he’d been lost. “Will you have dinner with me?”Her reply was unexpected. “Yes, but just so you know, I don’t date the same man more than three times.”He’d been Mr. Cool. “I just asked you to dinner, not to wear my letter jacket and go steady.”Mr. Fool was more like it. They’d been together way more than three times, but she still asserted that they weren’t in a relationship. Just then the band started playing My Wild Irish Rose. As if Fate had planned it, Liam saw his wild Irish rose across the room. Their eyes met. Hope flared in his heart. Would St. Patrick’s Day improve his luck? Would he finally get Maura Rose O’Reilly to commit to him?
Review: This one was just as bad as the first, if not worse. The characters had nothing about them to make you like them or root for them. Their possessiveness and creepy desperate tenancies was not cute or hot to read. There was a massive info dump right at the end of this one that felt forced and odd and had some really pointless information. If your writing something as short as these novellas you cant waste words. It needed more drama and intrigue. All that kept me reading was the writing style and the fact that I knew it was short.
Score Rating: 2.5/10
Star Rating: ⭐⭐

So guys those are all the short stories/novella’s I’ve read recently. I’ve just been adoring reading short books at the moment. My patience to get through a book longer than 300 pages has just evaporated. I feel like there is so much more action and drama in a short story compared to a long dragged out plot – but I’m not exactly surprised by my impatience since I’m a pretty impatient person outside of reading too haha. I hope you enjoyed and I will see you tomorrow for an author interview (P.s It’s one of the authors mentioned today 😉 ) ❤

Are you more of a long book or a short book person?
Can you guess which Author I’m interviewing tomorrow?
Did you like this kind of post with lots of mini reviews?