I had this idea in my head that I was going to write a full stand alone series review for Guild Hunters where I would talk about Archangel’s Eternity, but ultimately, I have too many emotions and not enough words for a standalone series review. But I am so excited to talk about these three books that I really, really enjoyed! I’ve got reviews for By the Bootstraps by Alexa Martin, Archangel’s Eternity by Nalini Singh, and The Cozy Nook Bookshop by Jeannie Chin to tell y’all about. The first two are already out and The Cozy Nook Bookshop comes out this week so you can pretty much pick up any of the three if you haven’t already! As per usual, I received e-book copies of these via Netgalley from the publishers and I received an ALC of The Cozy Nook Bookshop also via Netgalley from the publisher. I actually read a finished physical copy of By the Bootstraps that I purchased myself, but the other two I did read as my ARC. (Although, obviously I also purchased my own copies of Archangel’s Eternity (physical and on audio)). So let’s go ahead and dive into the reviews, shall we?
By the Bootstraps
by Alexa Martin
Alexa Martin writes such fun books, but I think this one might be my favorite since Fumbled. I really loved the expansive small town of Celestial that she created in this book. There is so much room for more in this series and I cannot wait for the next installments in the series. Essentially, Luna packs up her life in Denver and moves sight unseen to a small town (Celestial) in Texas into a house that is, um, not necessarily turnkey ready. Like at all. Fortunately for her, she meets her hot neighbor and another hot stranger and eventually the hot neighbor’s sister too. So Luna finds friendship and Texas football while she also renovates her new home and starts to raise chickens. I loved that Luna is such a maximalist. She’s wild. Her incredible house plans sound ridiculous to me, but also, like so much fun. I absolutely want to have a meal at her house. She really is just such a cool character who would be wild to be friends with in real life, but also, I want to be her friend.
The romance in this book also worked really well for me. I think you could argue that this is a love triangle, but it’s always so clear which man Luna is meant to be with. And he is such a grump to her sunshine and that, I really loved. I do think the family drama was alternatively a perfect backdrop and too much all at the same time. But the millennial humor? Peak. Honestly, I just really enjoyed this and had such a great time. If you read this, I hope you’ll love it too!
Archangel’s Eternity
by Nalini Singh
I am literally writing this review with tears in my eyes because I never want to leave this world. These characters are so real for me and like Allegiance of Honor in Nalini’s Psy-Changelingseries, this book provides a glimpse of so many beloved characters. I don’t want to spoil literally anything about this book for other people because I think you need to experience it for yourself, so what I will say is this: I love the way throughout this series we have gotten to see so much of Raphael and Caliane’s relationship and that continues in this book in a way that I really loved. I adored seeing and hearing more about Nassir. I love Ellie and Illium’s friendship so much. And Raphael and Elena… Truly a we started from the bottom (Ellie bleeding) and now we’re here (rock solid in love). This book has so much to offer and it is definitely for the fans of the series. And I’m here for any and all extra content Nalini Singh wishes to include in her newsletter. That memory codex can continue to fill up with new scenes and memories as far as I’m concerned.
The Cozy Nook Bookshop
by Jeannie Chin
This was the perfect cozy Fall romance and kicks off such a perfect small town series! Emma moves to Heart’s Crossing, Vermont after her fiancé gets caught committing financial crimes and jets off without even giving her a heads up to presumably a country without extradition back to the United States. She takes the position of bookstore manager for a woman known around the town as “Granny” and pretty immediately runs smack into a grumpy forest ranger, Hunter. They have a pretty immediate connection to one another, but Hunter is not about to succumb to fate. He may allow himself to be gently manipulated into spending more and more time with Emma though.
I had so much fun with this. I love a book where the FMC has to start over somewhere new. I think it’s such a great way to have me immediately invested. There’s a surprising lack of specific talk of books considering she’s now a manager of a bookstore, but that’s neither here nor there. There’s a lot of outside nature themes because of Hunter being a forest ranger. Emma is such a sunshine person and it’s a choice that she makes and one of the things that I really appreciated was how Hunter pushed back and reminded her that it’s okay to feel more feelings than just optimism. I really liked the way he pushed her to be more honest. I also liked the way the family dynamics in this entire book are discussed. Really, I just loved this book. I think it was a really great first book in the series and I’m looking forward to more. But also, can they always be set in the Fall? I’m obsessed with this Harvest Festival and I want it to happen again.
I did listen to the audiobook, thanks to the ALC I received, and I thought it was well narrated. Katherine Chin did a really great job making the book dynamic, but not overly so. I would read a book with her as a narrator again.
Surprise! A DNF Review…
I really wanted to like this book. First of all, the cover is stunning. Secondly, it sounds so good. But unfortunately, I really just did not like it. I was vibing at first because Sin and Kwame have great chemistry and I thought the beginning was really intriguing. The biggest problem I had with this book before I gave up on it about two thirds of the way through is that it felt like it needed another pass through with a copy editor or someone who would notice that the timeline kept getting wonky or that certain scenes were reading as if something had happened that hadn’t or as if something hadn’t happened that had. It wound up making me feel disconnected from the story because it happened several times in my hour and a half drive. Now, I read through every one and two star review and only one person mentioned abrupt scenes so maybe it’s me and my reading comprehension. That’s certainly possible. But even if it were, there was still a scene where Sin made a decision that just had me like, “I can’t do this anymore.” I pushed past it because characters are allowed to make stupid decisions and that decision was good for the plot, but girl, why would you do that? Also this came after another scene where I was screaming because WHAT ARE YOU DOING? So when I got home and realized the idea of picking this book up again on my commute tomorrow had me ready to quit my job so I don’t have to drive that far, I decided a DNF was prudent because I have bills to pay.
Also, less important but still frustrating, is that in the audiobook, although I liked the narrators for both Sin and Kwame, the man narrating Kwame’s chapters is significantly slower than the woman narrating Sin. As a person who cannot listen to an audiobook that is too slow because my attention will wander, I felt like I was fighting for my life. Thank you to the publisher for the ALC! I’m so sorry I didn’t like it. I really did want to.
Closing Thoughts
I hope that these reviews have been helpful to you in some way, but mostly, I hope that you’ll tell me what your thoughts are on these books! I would love to know what you think.
xx
firewhiskeyreader 