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Lily Mordaunt

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It Was Alright

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 11-08-23

I struggled to get through this book. It started off slow, but even when it picked up, it still felt like adragged a bit. I don’t know if it was the narration—Abby Craden did a good job, though it took me a minute to settle into her voice but her tone sometimes lent a melancholic feel—or just the story itself. I didn’t particularly love any of the characters.
I didn’t feel the hate in the beginning, just irritation. And once Arden and Reese began to get to know each other, Reese was thinking about love when they were still mostly strangers. I think they both could have been developed a bit more.
I didn’t particularly love any of the side characters either. I thought the discussions on and experience with sobriety was interesting and I appreciated Reese’s relationship with her sister. David, the friend and engineer didn’t leave too great an impressionon me. But Judith… as far as over-the-top characters went, she was an entertaining read. But in real life would be beyond frustrating. And Arden’s agent was a piece of work, I feel like she was veering into a version of over-the-top villain (veering because she wasn’t necessarily unrealistic either). Overall, this book was alright. Despite how I was feeling in the beginning/the first several weeks of struggling through the book and my usual dislike for third act breakups, I found myself invested in how things ultimately worked out (but also experiencing secondhand embarrassment from Reese’s behavior).

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2.75 Stars

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-26-23

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Vix and Sawyer were each interesting individually—the latter more so than the former. I also enjoyed reading about their developing relationship and had fun reading the banter during their sex scenes. But the two miscommunication scenes that lead first to the women not speaking to each other and then to the typical third act break up scene took me out of the story. I also wish that the band members were better fleshed-out.
I did enjoy both narrators though Sawyer’s took a few minutes to grow on me.

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That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf Audiobook By Kimberly Lemming cover art

Fun Follow Up

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-22-23

Like the first book, this book was funny and fun even as it touched on important themes. This book was a bit gorier with its descriptions but the author still managed to keep everything else, including Brie’s show-down with the actual villain entertaining with a hilarious twist. In terms of romance, I was somehow underwhelmed while still appreciating Alex and Brie’s banter and personalities. (The grilled cheese scene was hilarious and relatable.)It was great revisiting Cin and Fallon and I was thoroughly entertained by the addition of Alexis. The narrator took a little while to grow on me, but by the end I was really enjoying her read. I definitely plan to read more if the author continues this series. I also plan on seeing what other stories the narrator, Hazel Addison,has read.

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3.5 Stars

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-04-23

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The characters were funny, the magic/world was interesting and I enjoyed how the three men fit together. Sometimes the story dragged a bit though. Once they finally agreed to be together, I was taken out of the story sometimes by the myriad interruptions, not to the sex but the entire couple experience.
I enjoyed the narrator, he had distinct enough voices and cadences for many of the characters. I may move onto the next book in the series though not yet. Even though I did enjoy most of it, like I said above, it sometimes dragged and so felt like it was longer than it should have been.

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It was alright

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-04-23

I loved the idea of this book more than the execution. (This is becoming a recurring theme with my latest reads.)
Both Mcs were bi, which was cool. And I enjoyed reading the dynamics between the minor characters who were all quirky/entertaining. I did also enjoy some of Nolan and Bee’s interactions, and enjoyed that they were each others’ fangirls. But the overall story was just alright. It was very easy to put down and not come back to for days at a time. (I did really enjoy the confusion surrounding the person who causes the main conflict.)
I enjoyed both narrators though the woman voicing Bee did take a little while to grow on me.

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It was okay

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 11-18-22

I really liked the story initially. And, even when the book began to drag for me, I still appreciated the scenes when Walter and Kelly were there for each other. But I wasn’t very interested in the plot with the professor. I also couldn’t decide if the school sounded completely unbelieveable, or if the over-the-topness ended up feeling a bit realistic. Eventually though, the story began to drag and I wondered when what I expected to be a low-angst read would end. (The internal angst was strong with this one.)
I was also torn about how I felt about Kelly’s myriad allergies. It, on the one hand, did make his character a bit more interesting for me. But it also felt pretty cliche for him to also be the blushing virgin. But I suppose that was offset a bit by his personality in nonromantic environments.
I enjoyed the narration—this came as no surprise since Iggy Thoma is part of the reason why I bought the book—but I wonder if the story would have dragged less if I’d been reading the Kindle version.

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Pretty good

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 11-18-22

I thought the premise of this book was interesting, I was excited to read about a chess grandmaster and an adult beauty queen. While I liked both Carmen and Rook, I liked Carmen a bit better. I felt like her character was more nuanced and her storyline more compelling. I wish we had read more about the chess side of Rook’s life. We do get a lot, as they are teaching the teens and there’s a tournament, but it still feels like the author could have gone deeper.
The narrator had a pleasant voice.

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Didn’t like this book as much as I thought I would

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-11-22

I really wanted to like this book. And there were aspects I enjoyed. But I was overall underwhelmed. The book dragged in spots for me and I finally found myself speeding the audio up considerably during the last 15 percent or so.
What I liked:
The relationship both Molly and Alex had with their moms, they were complex and portrayed fairly well. I liked how Molly’s anxiety was portrayed too and how, even after she started gaining confidence she wasn’t “magically cured”. I liked Jim, Alex’s boss.
What I didn’t like (there will be spoilers ahead):
Alex and Natalie. Natalie was a bit crazy, but I’m not sure if we were to believe that Alex was entirely in the wrong. From her inner dialogue, she was compelled to flirt and then was frustrated by the fact that Natalie felt she couldn’t trust her. But Natalie didn’t handle things well either. Alex never actually apologized to Molly for the virginity comment. Only Molly did the apolllogizing. We never saw them as a couple. I would have liked to experience them together when they weren’t each pining for another.
I thought it was great how Alex was helping Molly get out of her shell, but I wish we’d seen it in more friendships for Molly. Not just passing moments that never developed into anything. I also felt bad for Molly’s mom. I understood Molly’s desire to grow and explore both herself and her heritage…. But she ghosted her mother for like two weeks or something. Even a check-in text to say “I’m okay but don’t want to talk”. (It was weird feeling bad for the parent.)
Things that could have made the book better:
I think it would have been great to see Molly making friends not going from dependencance her mom to relationships. It might have been cool if this was a dual romance and Molly and Alex became best friends and Molly ended up with Cora while Alex and Natalie found their way to a healthy relationship. It could also have been interesting if Cora and Molly became friends. If Molly was stalking Cora’s social media so much, it surprising that she didn’t know about any of Cora’s interests or which books she did/didn’t like. But Molly could have idolized her anyway and still discovered that they were too different to work.
Finally, I liked the narrators though it took me a little while to settle into Alex’s narrator’s voice.

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3.5/4 Stars

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-22-22

Things I wish were expanded on:
I wish that characters like Cherry and Malachi’s best friend were better fleshed out. This isn’t to say they didn’t have distinct personalities, but their friendships revolved around Malachi and being supportive to him. I also wish their had been more about the team’s backstory but that wasn’t as big a deal. They each had distinct personalities and didn’t need to be filled in in the same way I feel like Malachi’s close friends should have been. Finally, I wish we had seen more of Malachi’s relationship with his family (and learned about his father’s reaction to his and Julian’s relationship.)
What I liked:
Malachi’s rambling sessions. They were over-the-top and gave me secondhand embarrassment, but they also made me laugh sometimes. I liked how Julian’s moods were expressed in color and how he and Malachi were (attempting to) slowly get to know one another. I thought the narrator did a great job of bringing the story to life with distinct enough voices for many of the characters.
What I loved:
The letters. And the conclusion to that storyline which caused me to tear up and settle on four stars for my rating. Malachi and Julian were nice to read about but, perhaps because of the length of the book, I wished there’d been more… to them. Not a few days and an epilogue. But that Milton James storyline… those heart strings of mine were definitely being tugged. Oh, it was also reading about what happens to lost mail. I’d never thought about it. This was a light, angst-free read. I’d definitely recommend if that’s what you’re in the mood for.

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Mixed feelings despite my 4 star rating

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-09-22

Content warnings From the author: "The Long Game includes mentions and descriptions of suicide and depression.” And my own addition: queerphobia and possibly an implied eating disorder Okay… so… this is going to be a long one. I found out this book was coming out a few months ago. I remember liking Ilya and Shane's story in Heated Rivalry but I was neutral about this book. After spending significant time hanging out on romance subreddits and Goodreads though, my anticipation started building. I read the next few books in the series—which I hadn't before because I was on the fence after reading some of the reviews—and was ready for this one. But I was underwhelmed by the first 30/40% of the book. I ended up speeding the audiobook up significantly for awhile because of how slowly the story was moving. It felt a little like we were rehashing Heated Rivalry. Obviously, there were differences, because Ilya and Shane were now in a committed relationship and there was more mental health issues being explored. But they were still seeing each other in secret (with the exception of a few friends knowing) and having sex then going off and being distressed because they couldn't be out to the public. So why did I change from the 3 stars that I was set on for the first of the book to 4? Because I really enjoyed the aspects of depression that were explored in this book. I loved the cute moments between Ilya and Shane (the thing with Hayden's kids, and then the candles!!!!). And once Shane's head found it's way out of his ass and he became more attentive, I loved watching them be together. Yes, Ilya should or could have been more forthcoming about his struggles, but I also feel like there were very obvious insensitive moments on Shane's part that he was just oblivious to (like the scene with the excessive texts from his mom). I don't know how I feel about how things came out. But I loved it once it did. I wish we had more time with Shane and Ilya out to the public. I would have been happy if this story stayed as it was but with longer scenes with them together after the big reveal. I almost feel a little cheated. I think this was a good and important addition to their story. But I would also have been happy leaving them in Heated Rivalry. Final thoughts: Ilya stole the show in this book. Where Heated Rivalry focused a bit more on Shane, The Long Game centered Ilya and it was the right choice. I also loved all of his cameos in previous books that contributed to the growth/character development that we can clearly see in this book. Shane's parents and the Centaurs are great. The Commissioner is unfortunately realistic but trash nonetheless. If there are more books in this series (with Haas as an MC perhaps) I hope a certain recording becomes significant. The narration by Cooper North was good though some of his accents are still wonky. And finally, I am not a fan of Rachel Reid's hockey scenes. I find them to be a bit underwhelming.

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