meganmreads's reviews
2070 reviews

My friend who also read and loved the Crowns of Nyaxia series highly recommended this novella. While I wasn’t initially planning to read any novellas, she promised this one was good so I gave it a shot. She was right! 

I loved this story so much. I didn’t have much interest in the characters in the main series, but I think that almost helped because I had no expectations (and if I’m being honest it wasn’t until about halfway through that I even remembered them from the series). 

The stakes, the science, the romance.. I was so invested in it all and I loved seeing their romance play out over time. I highly recommend this novella and the audiobook was great. 

I have raved about Sara Cate and how I would read anything she ever wrote, but this was my first book of hers I listened to on audio. I should have just read the ebook, but I knew my commute meant reading this sooner rather than later via audio so I kept going. I did not like the narrators, particularly the way the other narrator handled dialogue for the opposite sex, including the Scottish accents. I 100% would have enjoyed this story much more via print. 

Once I got used to the narration, I did find myself pretty engrossed in the story and was rooting for the characters to find their way back to each other in the end. It definitely isn’t my favorite Sara Cate book, but I do enjoy the way she handles things I normally don’t like and how she makes the reader empathize with the characters. I definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a spicy fake marriage plot with plenty of scotch and drama, but I don’t know that I would recommended the audiobook. 

I love Carissa Broadbent’s Crowns of Nyaxia series (on audio), so I decided to listen to this book after hearing some rave reviews. I’ll be honest, I’ve started and restarted the audiobook multiple times because I just couldn’t seem to follow it and then finally got to a point where I could focus and I was able to continue. I think the confusing thing for me was that the FMC had an accent during dialogue but not the narration from her perspective and so I thought there were more characters at first. I didn’t like the scratchy voice for the male characters, either. I thought Max was much older for some reason. I think the writing style combined with the narration combined with the fact that audio isn’t my first choice for complex reads for my brain made it a bit difficult to get through for me. Overall, I enjoyed the story and would recommend it, but I think I might need to reread via print to really immerse myself in this world to continue the series and I just don’t have time to do that right now. 

I have been devouring all the duet audiobooks and this has been on my tbr for a bit after reading and loving Butcher and Blackbird. I knew this one came with some mixed reviews and I didn’t get it at first because I enjoyed the beginning. 

I read through some reviews and even though this wasn’t a win for me, either, I also don’t necessarily feel the same as other reviewers. I liked Lachlan and the plot, from the marriage of convenience to the whole slow burn enemies to lovers trope. I didn’t think the beginning was boring at all. I liked the build up. 

What I didn’t like was Lark. 

I didn’t understand her at all, I felt like it was super weird for to hide major parts of herself from her best friend, who would not judge her at all for obvious reasons. I didn’t like the batshit crazy Harley Quinn vibes at all. As a side character, maybe it would be fun, but as a main character, it didn’t work for me. I dreaded her POVs unless she was mad at Lachlan, because that was at least fun. I mean Sloan definitely had some scared deer vibes as well, but I felt like I understood her a lot more as a character so her actions, even though they frustrated me, felt understandable. 

The trust was slowly building between the two and I was hoping that maybe Lark would let Lachlan in and then I’d also start to feel something about her as a character, but the moment I felt like we were getting somewhere, the spice began. Normally, I’m not one to complain about that, but it just didn’t hit for me. I just kind of cringed until the scenes were over, I don’t know if it was because of the content (which I doubt?) or just me not really feeling the two of them together. I felt wary of Lark so the whole time we got Lachlan’s POV I guess I just wanted to have Lark’s to see if she was actually enjoying everything or if she’d freak out or hold it against him later. I genuinely wanted Lachlan to have a happy ending, so I appreciated the overall story and how it ended, I just think Lark is one of those people you’d have to tiptoe on eggshells with and I was just stressed for Lachlan. 

I also wasn’t a huge fan of the narrator for Lark, as I felt she kind of made Lark seem crazier with all the humming and singing and giggling and maybe it wouldn’t have come off so alarming to me had there been a different narrator? 

I’m a little scared to read the next book because I have no idea how I feel about Rose. 

I’m all for unreliable narrators, but this was a bit much. I’m not sure what I just read and not sure what actually happened vs what she thought was happening. 

I loved the idea of this book and the lush descriptions, but I’m frustrated about the lack of concrete conclusions. 

I have the other two books in this series and I’m not sure if I’ll continue as I’ve heard they are not any better at helping us unravel the mystery of Area X. 

This was a cute contemporary romance between a widowed single mom physical therapist and a firefighter recovering after a particularly bad fire. 

I enjoyed the Morgan family and loved Lydia’s character. 

I wished Colby and Lydia would have made it through the entire period without cracking, but I loved that the book explored healing after being widowed without making the new relationship a band aid that fixed everything. 

The book definitely had a ton of spice, especially towards the end, but was ultimately a feel good sweet romance overall. I definitely recommend to romance fans looking for something cute and light but with a bit of spice. 

Change of Heart by Falon Ballard 
Release Date: Feb 11


I was 90% sure I would hate this book when I first started reading. Cam was extremely unlikable and rude and fell squarely into that ambitious city girl in a Hallmark romance movie so much so that it was over the top. I thought I would never come to appreciate the character. 
Fortunately, I was wrong and I ended up really enjoying the story. It was over the top, but it felt like it was supposed to be like that because of Heart Springs. Cam came a long way and I ended up understanding more of why she was the way she was. I had so much fun with her growth! 
My only actual complaint is that I wished I understood Ben more. He was great and really supported Cam as a friend despite the way she treated him, but I still didn’t understand him. He was like a blank perfect guy canvas, but people aren’t just placeholders and I just wish I knew who he was. 
Still, I liked the book and thought the romance and set up was pretty cute and it was a fun story. I definitely recommend to fans of romcoms. Add this one to your TBR! 

I love horror and I enjoy when horror authors spend some time skirting into other genres and issues, but this book didn’t really offer anything in terms of horror other than some harsh descriptors and the realization that the 60s/70s were awful for women. 

If this book would’ve just been a piece of fiction about the struggles of pregnant teens in the time frame, it would have been decent, though I’d have hoped for a better way to end it (and a better way to involve the house help in the story to avoid the whole trope with that). The addition of magic was barely sprinkled in and was wasted conflict because none of it even mattered. And I get it… maybe we all could manage our expectations when we pick up a book because this story wasn’t bad at all, but after having such a misleading title with The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, I was pretty bummed to be sliding into yet another incorrectly titled book. I loved the vampire book, but I didn’t like the misleading title and most of my book club at the time couldn’t overcome the disappointment and enjoy the book for what it was. I’m just saying, could he title and describe his books more accurately so I don’t have to defend or be let down by false expectations? This just wasn’t what I thought I was getting into at all when I picked it up. 

I was disappointed that Fern didn’t learn anything other than it was unfair to have been forced to make such choices as a little girl, but yet she seemed to go completely back to normal afterwards. I was upset that Holly always seemed to draw the short straw and the last little bit of retaliation towards to Reverend wasn’t enough to satisfy that conflict either. 

Honestly, I’m just not sure what the point of this book was except to say that people are generally terrible and yet we are all still trying to survive in a world that isn’t perfect, but that point kind of undermines any of the so called villains. And maybe THAT was the point, but we could have gotten that without any of the witchcraft.. idk I’m just not really happy with how it all unfolded. 

This was so good! 

Magical realism isn’t for everyone, so please know before reading: this has heavily unexplained magic and curses in an otherwise normal world. 

I felt connected to Elisa, who had no roots because her family was cursed and had to keep going. As a military brat and military spouse, I also moved around a lot and it wasn’t always easy to break connections and start over again. 

I loved how the story played out and the bit of magic mixed in. 

I definitely recommend this!

Much like with Black Cake, this story was told through the present and the past in alternating narratives. I enjoyed the different time frames, from the history of the jar to the present with Ebby and everything in between. 

I loved the way the book explored trauma and family, but I wished that I knew Ebby more. I feel like it glossed over the surface of everyone and it made me feel slightly disconnected. I found myself wanting more and not really getting it from any perspective. 

I remember feeling very similarly when I read Black Cake and it’s a shame because the heart of the story was there, everything about the plot and POVs and characters were amazing, but it was just missing something in the way it was executed that failed to draw me in quite as much as I hoped. 

Overall, I still recommend the book and feel that the themes are important and the story was enjoyable overall.