Love at First Spite by Anna E Collins
Contemporary Romance
1/4/2022 by Graydon House
ARC
Look, I’m always here for a good revenge, spite book so when I saw Love at First Spite offered up for review I jumped at the chance to read.
There were things about this book I really loved and a few things that I didn’t. Dani is our heroine and she realizes just a few weeks before her wedding that her fiance is cheating on her. After a spectacular time paintballing in her wedding dress with her cousin, she realizes that she needs some other form of revenge, which leads to her, her cousin, and Iris, her landlady pooling their money to buy the lot next door to her ex and building a spite house. The only architect she can find to work with on this project is Wyatt, her cold, standoffish co-worker.
This is a very easy-to-read romance. I flew right through it. But after being all in with Dani at the beginning of her revenge plans, they started to feel a little childish with all the flags and gnomes and role-playing photo shoots. I kind of wanted her to just see what was in front of her face and the new relationship with Wyatt. They had some good chemistry in the bedroom, but other than that I just couldn’t see them as making it long term. I think if this would have been a dual POV it would have been a bit more satisfying. I would have liked to get into Wyatt’s head. Especially since he seemed so hot and cold, even after he and Dani got all hot and heavy.
The climax and resolution come about after something bad happens and the culprit is Dani’s ex and the whole thing just felt so contrived. I just… don’t know. Not that he gets a lot of page time for readers to get to know him. I might have rolled my eyes just a bit.
All in all, an okay romance with some heat and a few laughs.
Final grade-C+
Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children #7
Young Adult Fantasy
1/4/2022 by Tor
ARC
Another year and another fabulous Wayward Children novel. Cora is still suffering from her adventures in Come Tumbling Down. Her nightmares aren’t going away and she can hardly sleep. Against Eleanor West’s advice, she decides to transfer to Whitethorn Academy.
Whitethorn is almost the exact opposite of Eleanor West’s school. Here kids are forced to be the ordinary, conditioned to forget their doorways, and adhere to a strict schedule. But there is something sinister going on at the school and Cora soon wishes she had never made the decision to leave Ms. West and any chance of finding her doorway again.
This installment changes everything readers knew about this world and opens so many new doors (heh) to where this series can go. There are some unanswered questions, but it does leave off in a satisfying way. Cora is a wonderful narrator and I enjoyed getting to know some new characters while catching up on a few I’ve missed from earlier stories. There are some serious topics discussed, but this author handles them with extreme care as always.
I’m excited that there will be more books in this series to come.
Final grade- B
Leave a Reply