September 2023 Reads

Fun retelling of The Little Mermaid. I loved the family aspect, for both Ariel and Eric, and the music aspect. The downside to books about music is the music isn’t real. Ariel and Eric were great together.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I really enjoyed this book. The romance between Matt and Roisin felt natural. The Friends to Lovers was so warm and cute. I didn’t like Joe at all. He felt slimy from the beginning.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I reviewed this book here.

I reviewed this book here.

Very interesting story, but also very tragic. Listening to Floyd’s life, I at first thought, “man, of course this dude was trapped.” Also, the use of the word “cave” to describe where he was trapped felt very generous. I would have described it as “tunnel.” But the real tragedy is how everyone bungled his rescue. I think if the media didn’t become involved, and outside people, Floyd would have been rescued.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I reviewed this book here.

This book reminded me of the show Cold Cases, which I loved. The duel timelines was a great storytelling aspect. I enjoyed the detective and his partner. The pace was good, and the whole thing had me at the edge of my seat. Minus one star because I figured out the whodunit and the motive pretty early on. It was pretty heavy handed foreshadowing.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Spooky, romantic, and set in Mexico during the Mexican-American war, a time period I would love to know more about, this book was nearly impossible to put down. I would describe it more of a historical fiction with a friends to lovers trope that happens to be spooky rather than horror, but that didn’t bother me one bit.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I really enjoyed this short retelling. I liked the new perspective. It was really unexpected in many ways, and I loved the freshness of this novella.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I liked Jill Duggar’s honesty, in the ways she felt comfortable in opening up. While I’m sure there is a lot more she could have said, but while I look forward to her being ready to do so, what she wrote was still upsetting. I wanted to punch Jim Bob in the face by the end.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I reviewed this book here.

I reviewed this book here.

Book Review: As Long As You Love Me by Marianna Leal

Book Review

AS LONG AS YOU LOVE ME by MARIANNA LEAL

Release Date: September 12, 2023

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

As Long As You Love Me by Marianna Leal is a perfect example of two of my favorite romance tropes: enemies to lovers and fake dating.

Catalina is the perfect immigrant. She is getting good grades and staying out of trouble to achieve her goal of working and staying in the US. Her primary competition is the campus heartthrob, Gabriel. When Gabe proposes Catalina pose as his girlfriend at his brother’s wedding, she agrees, only if he steps back from the job. He agrees.

What follows is a whirlwind of events that leads to the inevitable: is the relationship really pretend anymore? And when an emergency crops up with Catalina’s family in Venezuela, will their relationship last?

I truly enjoyed this book. Catalina was a great protagonist, and Gabe was an amazing love interest. I loved how Gabe was always there for Cata, even if she didn’t want him to be. The characters in the book were well-developed, and their love story felt well-paced and realistic.

If you’re a romance reader and you enjoy these tropes, you should definitely read it.