Time for another round of Yvonne’s Shorties! Since I have a huge pile of backlog reviews of the books I read during my break, I will be featuring an extra book in my shorties posts until I’ve caught up. This time around a Christmas romance, a detective thriller and another romance I all ended up enjoying.
Title: Snowflakes At Lavender Bay
(Lavender Bay #3)
Author: Sarah Bennett
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
First published: November 8th 2018
Publisher: HQ Digital
Finished reading: November 17th 2021
Pages: 241
“It doesn’t matter how much you love someone, or how hard you try, there’s no guarantees in life.”
I’ve only discovered Sarah Bennett‘s books last year, but she has definitely proven herself to be very capable delivering uplifting romance stories. While I do prefer the Bluebell Castle books over this series, I knew the final Lavender Bay book was probably going to be my favorite as Libby was my favorite of the three women from the beginning. Book three takes place partly during the same time as the first two books, so it is definitely key to read them in order to avoid major spoilers. That said, I really enjoyed discovering more about Libby as well as Owen and while only a small part is set during Christmas time, it does have that holiday spirit. It was great to meet up with the different characters in play again, and I liked how everything was wrapped up in the end… Including how it gave us more insight in what happened next in the lives of Libby’s two friends and previous main characters Beth and Eliza.
Title: Child’s Play
(DI Kim Stone #11)
Author: Angela Marsons
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Detective
First published: July 11th 2019
Publisher: Bookouture
Finished reading: November 20th 2021
Pages: 352
“It’s like my sock drawer at home. However full it is I can get one more sucker in there.”
I’m getting closer to finally catching up with this series, and I’ve been having a great time while doing it. I still can’t believe I’ve only started reading the DI Kim Stone books last year, but it has quickly grown into a detective thriller favorite and the series hasn’t let me down yet. Child’s Play is yet another solid sequel where we dive into the world of gifted children. Not only that, but the team has a murder investigation on their hands and Penn has been sent to deal with an old case of his. As a result, we have a new member to help with the murder investigation, and I really like what Tiffany added to the dynamics. Both storylines add a lot of suspense to the plot, and I had a great time unraveling both mysteries. I’m looking forward to the next book!
Title: The Heart Principle
(The Kiss Quotient #3)
Author: Helen Hoang
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
First published: August 31st 2021
Publisher: Berkley
Finished reading: November 24th 2021
Pages: 343
“No one should need a diagnosis in order to be compassionate to themself.”
I was trying to get at least a couple more Goodreads Choice Awards nominees in last year, so I decided to pick up The Heart Principle as wanted to read it anyway. I’ve grown to tolerate steamy scenes better since I first started reading this series in 2019, and this is part of the reason why both sequels ended up being a hit for me. There is definitely a lot of sexy time going on along the way, but thankfully this story also offers so much more. We have the autism rep in Anna as well as Quan struggling to accept himself after battling cancer and a surgery that changed his life forever. We also have family issues, parental pressure, a sick relative… I can’t say I was a fan of the love triangle vibe and Anna could get a little frustrating with her letting others walk all over her (especially Julian and her sister were infuriating), but I guess that is part of what the story is about in the first place. I liked Anna and Quan together, and while things can be said about the cheesiness of certain parts of the plot, I personally didn’t mind at all as I was too busy having a great time following the two lead characters. The writing makes it really easy to keep turning those pages; I confess that I did skimread the sexy bits, but as a whole The Heart Principle definitely hit the mark for me.
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Fab reviews Yvo! xx
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Thanks! xx
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I’m glad Huang’s book was a hit for you. I liked it more than some of the other reviewers. I think that’s because I knew what to expect going in after reading their reviews.
Great reviews!
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Yeah, I do get why some people wouldn’t like it… But knowing what to expect and just having fun with the main characters and go with the flow did help. Her books have been hit and miss for me, but I really enjoyed my time with this one.
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I’m with you on The Heart Principle, Anna totally got on my nerves with not stepping up for herself and putting up with the other guy for her family. But, yes, that’s what the book was about, and she showed growth. I was so frustrated through it, but I loved it in the end. Great reviews!
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Sounds like we had a pretty similar experience with The Heart Principle! xx
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I’ve only read one of Sarah Bennett’s books and I really liked it. I have another ARC of hers that I’m looking forward to. I just finished The Bride Test, as I read that series out of order, and I liked it a bit more than the Heart Principle, but I do like that series very much. I love your short reviews, Yvonne!
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I’ve read two of Sarah Bennett’s series so far (Lavender Bay and Bluebell Castle) and I really like how she writes her romances. I couldn’t resist getting the newest Mermaid’s Point book even though I haven’t read the first two… (I assume you have the same ARC) If it follows the same structure as the other two series (different MC for each book), it shouldn’t be too difficult to read them out of order.
And I really liked The Bride Test too! It’s been too long to actually compare the two properly, but I understand why it’s your favorite. xx
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