ARC Review: Starry-Eyed Love by Helena Hunting

Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads: Starry-Eyed Love (Spark House #2)
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publish Date: 10 May 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

Charming, hilarious, and emotional, Starry-Eyed Love is Helena Hunting at her very best!

Having just broken up with her boyfriend, London Spark is not in the mood to be hit on. Especially not when she’s out celebrating her single status with her sisters. So when a very attractive man pays for their drinks and then slips her his number, she passes it right back to him with a ‘thanks, but no thanks’. As the business administrator for their family’s event hotel, the Spark House, London has more important things to worry about, like bringing in new clientele.

As luck would have it, a multi-million-dollar company calls a few months later asking for a meeting to discuss a potential partnership, and London is eager to prove to her sisters, and herself, that she can land this deal. Just when she thinks she has nailed her presentation, the company’s CEO, Jackson Holt, walks in and inserts himself into the meeting. Not only that, but he also happens to be the same guy she turned down at the bar a few months ago.

As they begin to spend more time together, their working relationship blossoms into something more. It isn’t until their professional entanglements are finally over, that London and Jackson are finally ready to take the next step in their relationship. But between Jackson’s secretive past and London’s struggle with her sisters, London must question where she really stands – not just with Jackson, but with the Spark House, too.

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

I spent most of Sunday in bed finishing Starry-Eyed Love by Helena Hunting. This is the second book in her Spark House series and I’m happy to say that I enjoyed it so much more than the first! There were still things that irked me but I liked the romance much more. My review will go up tomorrow! 🙂

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Birthstone Book Covers: May Edition 💚

Hello friends, I’m back today with another month’s edition for The Birthstone Book Covers series created by one of my favourites, Leslie @Books Are the New Black. This is a series she created at the start of 2022 and was born out of her curiosity about birthstone colours and it’s a fun way to show different book covers/titles corresponding to that month’s birthstone.

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#FirstLinesFriday: 13 May 2022

Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!
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#TopTenTuesday: All the Bookish Characters

So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week is actually a freebie and so I decided to do a topic that I don’t think I’ve done before: Bookish Characters (these could be readers, writers, authors, librarians, professors, etc.)

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ARC Review: Everything for You by Chloe Liese

Special thanks to Chloe Liese for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Goodreads: Everything for You (Bergman Brothers #5)
Publication date: 10 May 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)


Gear up for an all-the-feels, steamy slow-burn in this enemies-to-lovers sports romance about fighting for love when life’s taught you it’s a losing game.

Gavin
We’ve been teammates for two years, but it feels like a lifetime that Oliver Bergman’s been on my last nerve. A demanding captain and veteran player, I’m feared and friendless, while he’s the beloved rising star, all sunshine smiles and upbeat team spirit. To make matters worse, he’s obscenely attractive. In short: he’s genetically designed to get under my skin. Avoiding Oliver has been my survival tactic on and off the field. But when Coach drops the bomb that we’re now co-captains, avoiding him becomes impossible, and keeping the truth from him–let alone my distance–is harder than ever.

Oliver
Life was great until soccer legend Gavin Hayes joined the team and proved he’s nothing like the guy I grew up idolizing. Instead, he’s a giant–albeit gorgeous–grump who lives to rain on my parade. I’ve sworn off pranks since entering the public eye, so rather than settle our differences the Bergman way, I’ve had to settle for killing Gavin with kindness. There’s just one problem: killing him with kindness is killing me. To make matters worse, Coach gives us an ultimatum: put an end to our enmity or say goodbye to being captains. I’m prepared to be miserable while we meet her demands and make nice, but the last thing I expect is to discover an explosive attraction we can’t help but act on, and worse yet, to realize the man hiding beneath Gavin’s gruff exterior is all I’ve ever wanted.

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

I’ll be spending my Sunday in bed finishing Everything for You by Chloe Liese. If you don’t know this about me, I’m a huge Chloe Liese fan and I adore all of her books, so I was beyond excited to get an ARC of this. Oliver and Gavin are just… Everything. *sobs in happy* 🥹🥹🥹

It’s out next week (10 May) and I can’t wait for you all to read it!

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Red (Taylor’s Version) Book Tag!

Hi, friends, I’m back with another fun book tag today! Although I wouldn’t consider myself a diehard Swiftie, I’m still a big fan and according to Spotify, she’s my most listened to artist for the last three years and I find that totally unsurprising because of how completely obsessed I am with her lover, folklore and evermore albums. Prior to 1989, I’d never actually listened to any of her earlier albums in full but I enjoyed Red TV so much more than I expected, so I’m so excited to do this Red (Taylor’s Version) Book Tag!

I first saw this tag on Cielo @ Bellerose Reads‘ blog back in February but forgot about it until earlier this week, and then I saw Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole post it and took that as a sign that I should finally do this too—so here we are! 😉

This particular Red TV tag was created by booktuber A Paige in the Chapter.

State of grace:
best opening book in a series

jade city by fonda lee


RED:
A BOOK THAT MAKES YOU FEEL A WHOLE SPECTRUM OF EMOTION

goddess of nothing at all by cat rector

my review


TREACHEROUS:
A SLOW BOOK YOU ENDED UP LOVING

gods of jade and shadow by silvia moreno-garcia

my review


I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE:
A BOOK YOU KNEW WOULD BE BAD AND ENDED UP BEING BAD

den of vipers by k.a. knight

i knew it was gonna be bad but wow, it was *really* bad like, wash my brain kinda bad (sorry if you loved it…).


ALL TOO WELL:
THE BOOK THAT HAS STAYED WITH YOU MOST

pride and prejudice by jane austen

this one was a bit tough to answer but i come back to this book time and again ever since i first read it so…



I ALMOST DO:
THE ONE YOU KEEP ALMOST READING AND DON’T

the invisible life of addie la rue by v.e. schwab


WE ARE NEVER ever GETTING BACK TOGETHER:
A BOOK YOU want to reread

mistborn series by brandon sanderson


stay stay stay:
a book everyone dislikes but you love

verity by colleen hoover

okay, I’m not saying everyone dislikes it but i know a lot of people dislike it but i loved it!

my review


the last time:
what was the last book you read?

a psalm for the wild-built by becky chambers

my first becky chambers book and a 5-star read! so good, cosy, and comforting!


holy ground:
A fan favourite book

the cruel prince by holly black


sad beautiful tragic:
A BOOK WITH ANY OF THESE WORDS IN THE TITLE

the chosen and beautiful by nghi vo


THE LUCKY ONE:
A BOOK ABOUT FAME

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid

it’s not really *about* fame but sure it counts!

my review


EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED:
A BOOK THAT HAS CHANGED HOW YOU SEE SOMETHING

the mountains sing by nguyen phan que mai

my review


STARLIGHT:
A BOOK THAT MAKES YOU FEEL WARM AND COSY AND MAGICAL

heartstopper series by alice oseman


BEGIN AGAIN:
A BOOK YOU’D READ ON A WEDNESDAY IN A CAFE

legends and lattes by travis baldree

my review


THE MOMENT I KNEW:
A BOOK THAT LOOKS HAPPIER THAN IT ACTUALLY IS

instructions for dancing by nicola yoon

*sobbing*

my review


COME BACK, BE HERE:
A BOOK SERIES YOU WANT TO MAKE A RESURGENCE/BOOK SERIES YOU WANT TO BE FINISHED

the kingkiller chronicle by patrick rothfuss

just waiting here forever…


GIRL AT HOME:
A BOOK THAT FEELS LIKE YOU’RE BETRAYING YOUR FAVE BOOK/AUTHOR/CHARACTER

conversations with friends by sally rooney

i mean, rooney isn’t my favourite author ever but i did love normal people so conversations with friends was an absolute betrayal cos i hated it!


BETTER MAN:
A BOOK WITH A DARK/MORALLY GREY LOVE INTEREST

sands of arawiya duology by hafsah faizal

seriously, why don’t people talk more about how amazing nasir is and how swoony this dark assassin prince is?


BABE:
A BOOK WHERE A CHARACTER GETS CHEATED ON

hometown troublemaker by brighton walsh

note: the character doesn’t get cheated on in the story but her experience is recounted. i hate cheating and i don’t read books with it

I won’t be tagging anyone on this tag but if you’re keen on doing it, I’d love to see your answers! Have you read any of these books or could you think of fitting books for some of these prompts? Also, which is your fave Red TV track?

Let’s Talk Bookish: Buying vs Borrowing Books

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits, and it’s where we get to discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! If you want to join in the bookish discussion fun, check out the May 2022 prompts!

Now without further ado… The topic asks us about:

How do you decide what books to borrow or buy?

(SUGGESTED BY JILLIAN @ JILLIAN THE BOOKISH BUTTERFLY)
Prompts: Do you buy a lot of books? Do you borrow books from a library, or from friends? What do you look out for in books you buy? Are there any book genres you typically buy more of? Do the types of books that you buy differ from the types of books you typically borrow? Do you prefer to borrow or to buy books?

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