Following Chance – Baxter Brown

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Rating: 4 out of 5.
This was my first time reading Brown and I pleasantly surprised. Following Chance tells the story of Kate and Lauren and how they come together after 15 years apart. I found the story to be well written, with an interesting plot that made me want to continue reading even when I had other things to do. I’ll definitely be searching out Brown again in the future.

I didn’t enjoy the structure of the book at first – it’s written in alternating chapters between the past and the present for the majority of the book. However, this is very much a me thing – I found myself uncomfortable in the past chapters knowing that we were working towards the breakup of two people that in the present chapters are obviously meant to be together despite protestations. By the time we actually got to the breakup though I’d become much more comfortable with the structure and was actually beginning to enjoy it.

Kate in the present frustrated me for at least half of the book – her feelings for Lauren were clear and in typical me fashion I just wanted to shake this fictional character out of her own head. I did however love her sarcasm, her attitude towards parenting and her character in general. I loved the secondary characters of both daughters. Their sweet relationship and meddling in their mothers lives ended up making the story for me much more believable for me.

Whilst fairly predictable in its outcome, this is an enjoyable book that I would recommend reading when you’re looking for a well written, well paced romance with some attitude on the side.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sparks Like Ours (Seven Shores #3) – Melissa Brayden

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Rating: 4 out of 5.
It was really nice to go back to reading something light-hearted and pretty fun for a change of pace. I enjoyed this one more than the second instalment in the series, even though this is pretty predictable in it’s direction. I enjoyed catching up with the Seven Shores characters and thought this did a good job of covering the other characters lives as well as the MCs.

I’ve always enjoyed Gia’s character throughout the series – so it was nice to get her part of the story. Whilst I felt the direction of the book was predictable – it was at least interesting that the love story takes place between two major rivals. You don’t need to know or understand surfing to read this – there is barely any surfing terminology and any surfing scenes are brief – it concentrates far more on the characters. Elle’s journey is also written really well.

All in all this is a nice edition to the series, with the usual minor angst in places.

Consigned to Oblivion – B.C. Hedlund

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Rating: 4 out of 5.
It’s been a long time since I read a book like this, that forces you to read and digest every sentence, that doesn’t allow you to read quickly and skim. It was a welcome change. This is a beautifully written book, from a surprisingly young full length debut author. It’s definitely a coming of age story, but it will appeal to people of all ages.

The book is about Cassandra, a haunted teenager undertaking her senior year at high school, however it focusses a lot on her relationships with others in similar situations to her, that all have a reason to be drifting and how they exist in the world together. The book covers a number of difficult topics, death, suicide, family losses, self harm and mental health, and how all of these impact others. Hedlund describes the main character as blurring the lines between fiction and reality and this is definitely true – Cassandra is battling herself and others both internally and externally.

The path the book takes meant I really enjoyed the secondary characters of Rachel and Lily and Owen is well written. If you’re reading for the LBGTQ+ content – stick with it – it’s there.

Hedlund shows a lot of potential with this title and I hope to see more like this in the future.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Queers Who Don’t Quit – Edited by G. Benson

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Rating: 4 out of 5.
I always find anthologies tough to review and this one is no exception. There were a number of stories I really enjoyed, and a few that were misses for me. The representation this collection of stories gives to the LGBTQIA+ community is amazing, variable and well thought out. The story lengths are vary variable – there are some great stories that were over way too soon. I struggled to get into the first half of the book and thought I was on my way to a three star review – but there are some hidden gems in the second half.

I appreciated the range of genres – especially as it forced me out of my comfort zone a few times and now has me considering some genres I would not normally have thought about reading. I particularly enjoyed Punchline by G Benson, First Day Back by A.P. Raymond and Some Things Are More Important by Addy Long. This Is What You Get by Evie Riojas, Werewolf Blues by Eve Morton, The Path To Truth by Aila Alvina Boyd and First Cute by Elna Holst also deserve a mention. I will definitely be exploring the work of all these authors further.

The wide range of representation, both of the community and the genres means there is something for everyone in this collection and I would definitely recommend giving this collection a read.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sylver and Gold – Michelle Larkin

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Rating: 5 out of 5.
This was my first Michelle Larkin book and I wasn’t disappointed. I’d read a number of positive reviews for this book before I started and I have to say I agree with them all wholeheartedly – I loved reading this. I’m not normally one for anything to do with the paranormal in the books I read, but I found this to be a really good way of adding this element to a cop story in order to make it different.

I probably shouldn’t have made the decision to read this in the dark late at night – it is a bit creepy at times, but the thing that pleasantly surprised me was that although the book has lots of murder and other dark moments shared between the main characters, I was always left with a positive light feeling whilst reading.

I loved the interactions between Sylver and Gold, Mug the dog had real personality and I enjoyed the secondary characters. I thought the spirits were well written and meaningful and were used really effectively to continue the story moving forwards. I thought Sylver’s interactions with the spirits might get boring and repetitive but this wasn’t the case.

This one is definitely heading to my read again pile.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.