***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

Marriage of convenience? A romance between people of the serving class as opposed to aristocracy? YES PLEASE. When I read the blurb for Listen to the Moon, I knew I needed this book in my life and was excited to read it especially since I loved A Lily Among Thorns. I wasn’t even really surprised that I ended up loving this one.

My main issue with the book was that towards the end, there was a little too much drama and angst for my tastes but that’s really about it.

I didn’t know going into the book that the two MCs would have a huge age gap and I was a little nervous because age-gaps can either be gross or so well-done that you forget about it. The romance was really neither of those. Lerner did not shy away from exploring the weirdness of a relationship where there is an giant age difference. The romance between John and Sukey is awkward and hard but also full of so much compassion and understanding. They aren’t a perfect couple but they are perfect for each other. I LOVE this about the romance. I love that there are some real misunderstandings that arise from both of them feeling as though they cannot communicate with one another. This isn’t just plain-ole miscommunication, it’s so much more than that.

Even though John clearly has feelings for Sukey, he sometimes has a hard time treating her like an equal since she is so much younger than he is. He ends up treating her like a little girl and Sukey, for her part, also acts like one. She wants to be comforted and protected, but also wants to be treated as an equal. Throughout the book these two struggle to find a balance in their relationship and it’s GREAT seeing them do that. Also, it is a marriage of convenience but they don’t fall in love with each other a few weeks later. It’s actually kind of awesome. A couple weeks into their marriage, John even states that he isn’t quite in love with Sukey but can see himself falling into love. It’s so great that it isn’t a denial of his feelings but more of him admitting to really care about Sukey while also stating that he isn’t quite in love yet. HOW MANY TIMES DOES THIS HAPPEN and isn’t a denial? Not a lot in my experience.

As you can probably surmise, these two undergo a LOT of character development over the course of the book and it is AMAZING. Who doesn’t love character development? YAY.

Listen to the Moonis definitely one of the better historical romances I’ve read and if you’re looking to read an HR with a romance that is messy, complicated and totally worth it in the end, Listen to the Moon

Note that I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

Espionage, Dreamstriding, Political Intrigue, PRETTY COVER.

Those are very tempting things to this reader. They made this reader's heart flutter with anticipation and made her very excited. So what does this reader think about the book? Does she think it was amazeballs or meh? Or somewhere in between perhaps?

This book was great but I also wanted a little bit more.It's harder to explain that in terms of this book because I finished the book feeling great and felt a lot of love for it but there are also things I wish there was more focus on.

Like the world building and the romance. I also wanted more tension. I wanted a book that would make me nervous as I read it because I would be trying to figure out what these characters next move would be. I wanted higher stakes (although it is funny I should say that given how high the stakes were already.)

So let me start with these things I wish were developed a little bit more. World building is crucial to all books (even contemporaries in some ways!) And the world building in this book was good, it just wasn't great. I loved the idea of Dreamstriders, and priests and the dreamers but there is also so much more that I would have liked to know. I wanted to know more about the world of Oneiros and Nightmare thing. I wanted to know about the experiments and the shards and so many things. This book is so unique and unlike anything I've heard of so when I went into this world, I expected to be blown away. I expected there to be drool coming out of my mouth as a gaped in awe but that didn't happen. Don't get me wrong, the details that were disclosed to us readers made me so excited but I also cannot help imagining what this book would have been like if we got more details.

I also adored the romance, but I also wanted more development in that area. The relationship between Livia and Brandt is fantastic and it is so clear to us that they both have feelings for each other but I would have liked more 'spark' moments. I LOVE LOVE LOVE slow burn but at the same time even with slow burn romances, there is an underlying, bubbling tension and I didn't feel that as much in the case of this book. Or maybe I focus on romance too much *shrugs* Don't take my need for more romance as a negative aspect of the book because it really isn't. These two characters are GREAT together and I shipped 'em like crazy and was waiting dying for them to get together. 

Livia, one half of this awesome sauce ship, is a fantastic female lead. I am not even sure what makes her great except that she is someone that is so easy to relate to for me.She is awkward, often times unsure of herself but also smart and capable. She is realistic given where she came from and I love the way she develops over the course of the book and the realizations she has.

The secondary characters in the book are also fantastic and there is some diversity SO YAY (because diversity is fantastic IMO.)  Lindsay develops so many of these characters. They may be minor but they sure as hell aren't bland.

The premise is perhaps what had me most excited about this book because I was curious to see how Lindsay would blend dreams and espionage together and boy did she deliver. The dream world was used in interesting ways to gather information and it didn't feel amateur. The people knew what they were doing. I do wish though that we got a little bit more of the political side of things. I wanted to know how the nobles interacted, I wanted to be shown all the ways they got their hands dirty rather than be told that they engaged in fishy stuff. I wanted more tension.

This book is very much about Livia's journey to self-acceptance and finally coming to peace with her abilities so other things kind of faded into the background. Overall though, this book is such a great read. It's SO MUCH fun and I cannot think of a reason why you shouldn't read this (unless espionage or dreams aren't really your thing.)

Note that I received an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

Tessa Dare is amazing. I know it’s taken me some time to warm up to her works but I will say that once I started her Castle Ever After series, I was sold. This series has been a joy to read and the best thing about it is that all the books can be read as standalones. The books have almost nothing in common besides the main character of each book inheriting a castle. 

One of the best things about this series is the MCs and this book was no exception. Maddie is a fantastically strong female lead who hates crowds and is a tad romantic. It’s why, to avoid the ton during her own season, she made up a suitor and that came to bite her in the ass almost a decade later.

My favorite thing about Maddie was just how easy it was for me to relate to her. I loved when she talked about the way society always made it seem like marriage was everything and made women feel as they needed to measure their self-worth in terms of whether or not they were married. I loved how this was reflected clearly by the fact that she had to make up a suitor to avoid unwanted attention. I also loved that in spite of her fear of crowds; she had actually managed to make a life for herself aside from society and did what she most enjoyed.

Logan was the perfect love interest for her and goddangit did he win my heart over. He is no lord, or rake or anything really. He is just a captain who will do anything to protect his soldiers, including blackmailing. And he also just happens to be the person who received Maddie’s letters to her made-up suitor. I loved Logan’s loyalty to his soldiers and how much he cared for them. But I also loved seeing him come out of his shell and begin to trust the people around him. If that doesn’t win you over, maybe his love for books, and the fact that he read Pride & Prejudice will (HE ALSO PUT ON SPECTACLES TO READ AND I WAS A GONER. )

So, unsurprisingly, I loved the romance between the two and enjoyed the buildup plus the circumstances surrounding their courting.

This book was definitely 100% worth it and I just want to re-read it because it was so good and it made me so ridiculously happy. If you haven’t checked this series out yet, you NEED TO because you don’t know what you’re missing out on.

Note that I received an eARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

I, like many fans, awaited the release of Shimmer eagerly after the cliffhanger at the end of Haze but when Shimmer came out, I was hesitant to pick it up. It’s not that I hadn’t loved the previous two books but the problem was that I couldn't go through a whole other book without getting answers. So many questions have been raised and I felt like there just weren't enough answers to satisfy me. I was all set to wait until Burn came out to read this one but then Jasprit gifted me a copy and given her excitement, I couldn’t NOT read this (although I took my sweet time getting around to the book). This book was worth it. It doesn’t necessarily give me the answers I sought but… it gives me something. Something that had me flailing and jumping out of my seat and freaking out.

Where Shadows was full of action and excitement, Haze was full of amazing character development and Shimmer, Shimmer explored the dynamics between the two different groups of Rephaim. For the first time in a decade, the two groups are forced to cooperate when two of their own are kidnapped, the question arises as to whether they can do it peacefully or whether things will go to hell again.

What I love most about this world is that Weston doesn’t try to tell is that one group is better than the other. Both groups have their positive and negative points. One group doesn’t entirely consist of good rephaim and one of bad rephaim. Both sides have a mix of characters. Some might be head strong and unwilling to change their ways and others might see the other side’s point but still continue to believe what they believe. Reading about the dynamics within the group and their interactions with one another was SO interesting.

Throw in the fact that Gabe and Jude hadn't been on the same side before they lost their memory. It’s interesting to see how the fact that neither remember anything influences their interactions with the group and I have to say, I quite like that they aren’t picking sides anymore.

What did bother me was the fact that everyone paid attention to what Jude had to say but Gaby’s opinion wasn’t held in the same light. Jude also didn’t face the same difficulties Gaby had when she first found out about what she was and I was annoyed by what a speshul snowflake Jude was. But then Jude would be so supportive and cared so much for Gaby that it was hard to hold it against him. He hadn’t asked for any of this and he didn’t want to go back to the way things were, where he stopped talking to his sister for a decade. Those moments when they promised each other they would never go back to that touched me.

Gaby continues to develop in this book and she’s come so far from book 1. It shocked me every time I realized that the events of book 1 only happened over a week ago in the timeline of this series. The thing about Gaby is that she isn’t just developing mentally and physically, she has also grown emotionally over the course of the books and it's a joy to see her come into her own.

Other characters also develop in this book and I liked getting to know more about Mya. I liked that we finally got her side of the story. For the first time, she wasn't necessarily cast in a bad light (in spite of her actions). It was a pity that there wasn't more Jason in this book though. He has become one of my favorite characters and I missed him (as well as Rafa).

As one might imagine, things are definitely tense in this book what with Rafa and Taya having been kidnapped. The outcasts have asked for help and it’s up to Nathaniel to decide whether he will send his rephaim to help them. So, there isn’t much action in the first half of the book but after that things definitely get rolling. That isn’t to say that the book was dull at any point, it definitely wasn’t.

A lot of you shippers will also be happy to know there is definitely some interesting development in Gaby and Rafa's relationship!

I definitely think this was a worthy addition to the series and if you, like me, are worried about giving this one a shot, don’t be. It’s definitely worth it. I will admit that this book ends on a cliffhanger but the cliffhanger is one I whole heartedly appreciate.. unlike the one in Haze. I can only imagine the kind of things that will happen in Burn with the way this book ended. The wait may kill me but I trust Paula Weston to not disappoint.

[This review was originally posted on Nick's Book Blog ]