Category: Reading

Books, Reading

Special Feature: Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman

This is author, Ella Burman’s, second novel and at first glance it looked like it was going to be more women’s fiction. The cover implied a carefree summer with friends. But then upon reading the summary I was like—-oh—-not that. This book promises some fun carefree summer of innocence but it also promises to have that illusion dispelled with a mystery! This book will follow three friends who have a life changing experience on a Greek island in their teens.

The tragedy will follow them into adulthood and readers will get to explore what kind of impact that tragedy has on them. I loved the sound of this one. It has a lot of things that appealed to me as a reader, a complex cast of female friends, a glamorous privileged setting, and lots of promised suspense and secrets. I am super excited to check this one out this spring/summer. It ticks a lot of boxes for me when it comes to my choice of thrillers and suspense novels.

Early reviews have been raving about this one, calling it new, unique, and emotional. Lots of reviewers have commented on the tantalizing story that gives readers something new to sink their teeth into and I am simply so excited to share about this book today! While I couldn’t fit it into my review schedule for this month, I do plan on checking this one out and adding to my TBR list. If you are looking for a solid thriller with a glamorous cast of characters then I think you are going to really enjoy this one! Keep reading to get all the details and to snag yourself a copy as it’s out now!

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Books, Reading

Special Feature: Bayou Beloved (Butterfly Bayou #6) by Lexi Blake

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: Bayou Beloved (Butterfly Bayou #6) by Lexi Blake

Lexi Blake is a new to me author but I see that she has a well established fan base and multiple romance series under her belt! Some seem more steamy than others but all have a lot of devoted fans. So when this one came across my desk for review, all I saw was this sweet dog on the cover and was instantly intrigued. But since this was a new to me author, I did some research on her background before deciding to feature this book. Which is how I found all her various romance series. It is clear she is an established author with quality books which made me even more excited about this particular book!

This whole series, Butterfly Bayou, features adorable doggos in the story and honestly who doesn’t love that?! They are also set in small town Louisiana and from what I see, they can all be read out of order. They are contempo romance books and with Blake’s romance background, no doubt the romance will be well written with a lot of chemistry! I am really excited for this particular book not just because of the adorable cover but because the story sounds like a quick and easy read that will leave me feeling content. I love a good HEA!

Early reviewers are giving this book (and the series overall) very high marks and I am ultimately decided to read this one later on this summer as one of my beach reads! I love that this book features a former acquaintances turned lovers theme. The main characters knew each other in high school, but weren’t necessarily an item. Now they are both back in their home town and sparks are flying. I think this is going to be a great read for summer and I think fans of romances that feature dogs and strong chemistry between the main characters, then I think you will love this book! Be watching for my review a little later on this summer but for now check out all the details below!

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J Maas (Audible Edition)

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J Maas (Audible Edition)

I am 100% late to the party on this one. This series has been on my radar for YEARS. I would have to be living under a rock not to have heard of it or seen it’s massive cult following all over the internet and book world platforms! I have had the books on my shelves for years with the intention of reading them ‘next book’ but I just haven’t been able to bring myself to read them. My number one fear was I would just want to binge the series and I just wasn’t ready to dive into another series to binge after binge reading a number of other series lately.

I kept putting it off over and over and over, until turbulence made me read this one. I was on my flight back from Ohio with a lengthy layover and a couple of plane changes. I had a book I had planned on reading on the plane but as soon as we took off from Ohio, we had a lot of bad weather and I just couldn’t read anything. So I went to my Audible library and threw on the first thing I could find to distract me which just so happened to be this book! It was the ONLY book that was downloaded on my Audible app and since I was in airplane mode, it would just have to do.

Naturally I am now currently on the fourth book and binge reading just as I suspected. This book series so far has been both familiar and much like I suspected but also not what I was expecting. That’s what I think makes this series so good. This first book really gave me Beauty and the Beast vibes but as the series has gone on that theme has faded in favor of becoming more of a Game of Thrones for YA readers! What can I say about this book and the series that hasn’t already been said, likely not anything but I am going to do my best!

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Well Traveled (Well Met #4) by Jen DeLuca (Audible Edition)

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Well Traveled (Well Met #4) by Jen DeLuca (Audible Edition)

This series was my favorite obsession last year. I binge read the books and loved them all in their own ways and had no idea that Renaissance Fair romance was even a thing that I would be into but here we are. I honestly thought the third book would be the last as most of the reoccurring characters had indeed met their matches but then this one came up as Dex’s story. If you have read the previous books you will remember Dex as the Ren Fair Romeo who has a ‘girl at every fair’ that he hooks up with. So I thought this one sounded like it would be a solid read and was eager to start it!

This series is so quirky, when I think of hot romances I do not think of Renaissance Fairs as the setting for that, but after reading the first book I was fully hooked and thought this was a really new and refreshing take on a contempo romance. I loved the setting and characters that we continue to meet through out the series. I will say that this particular book is the fourth one in the series and while it can certainly be read as a standalone, there are references to former relationships and character history that might be further appreciated by reading the other books in the series first.

I had high hopes for this one. Mostly because Dax has been in every book, or at least mentioned in every book and his history is well established and the ‘rake’. I was so excited to see the woman that finally swept him off his feet and made him settle down. I was a little surprised that it was a character that we had formerly met (hence why I feel like readers would get more out of this one having read the other books in the series first). Louisa wouldn’t have been my first pick for Dax, but I like Louisa and was eager to see how this whole romance came about and played out on the fields of the Ren Fair!

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Murder in PostScript (A Lady of Letters Mystery #1) by Mary Winters

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Murder in PostScript (A Lady of Letters Mystery #1) by Mary Winters

When I see books with any mention of “Bridgerton-like’ in the summary or taglines, I am at once skeptical and yet can’t pass up on said book based on hope of finding another wonderful series that is indeed like Bridgerton! I often get asked what books would I recommend for Bridgerton fans, and that is such a hard question because there are so many historical romances out there that have a Bridgerton feel but aren’t necessaitly Bridgerton like if that makes sense. So sometimes when I see this statement on books, I become skeptical because there is nothing like Bridgerton but yet like so many others I can’t resist finding then next Bridgerton like book to fall in love with.

That’s how this book came to be on my review radar. It was described as “… the first novel in a new historical mystery series perfect anyone who loves the secret identity intrigue and swoon-worthy romance of Bridgerton“. So naturally I couldn’t resist even though I was skeptical. The idea of a new murder mystery series with a hot romance even if it didn’t quite live up to the Bridgerton claim, intrigued me enough that there was no way that I would pass on this!

I am a huge fan of historical mysteries and romances and any time that the two cross over is a win-win for me. I am always on the look out for new lady detectives and sleuth series to dive into. There are so many good ones out there—-Veronica Speedwell, Lady Darby, Lady Sherlock—and new female detectives are hitting shelves everyday so when I saw this was a debut and a new series, I knew it must be worth checking out if it had already been acknowledged as an upcoming series rather than just a standalone.

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