THE FIRST TO DIE AT THE END By Adam Silvera

October 26, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE FIRST TO DIE AT THE END By Adam SilveraThe First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera
Series: Death-Cast #0
Published by Quill Tree Books on 10/4/22
Genres: Contemporary, LGBT, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 549
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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It’s the night before Death-Cast goes live, and there’s one question on everyone’s mind: Can Death-Cast actually predict when someone will die, or is it just an elaborate hoax?

Orion Pagan has waited years for someone to tell him that he’s going to die. He has a serious heart condition, and he signed up for Death-Cast so he could know what’s coming.

Valentino Prince is restarting his life in New York. He has a long and promising future ahead and he only registered for Death-Cast after his twin sister nearly died in a car accident.

Orion and Valentino cross paths in Times Square and immediately feel a deep connection. But when the first round of End Day calls goes out, their lives are changed forever—one of them receives a call, and the other doesn’t. Though neither boy is certain how the day will end, they know they want to spend it together…even if that means their goodbye will be heartbreaking.

Short and Sweet Review

Death-Cast is about to go live and everyone is wondering if Death-Cast can actually predict when someone is going to die. Orion has a heart condition and he signs up for death cast just so if somethings going to happen to him it won’t be unexpected. Valentino has just moved to New York and is ready to live his best life and on a whim he signs up for Death-Cast and he gets the first call. S

Orion and Valentino cross paths in Times Square and they hit it off immediately. Valentino gets the call and from there him and Orion decide that Valentino needs to live his end day to the fullest but also carefully.

I loved this book maybe even more than They Both Die at the End. I just liked seeing how it all started and how Death-Cast wasn’t necessarily trusted. We get to see some hard decisions being made about Valentino’s end day and I liked that he was so kind hearted and knew what he wanted. Orion was like the comedy relief and he was like the greatest friend for Valentino on his last day and basically gave Valentino the feeling of being accepted. My favorite thing about this book is probably seeing how all of the characters are intertwined in some way and we even get to see a younger Rufus and Mateo.

This was such a book and I won’t forget about it anytime soon. It was so heartfelt and just like They Both Die at the End this book makes you want to live everyday like your last because you never know when you’ll get a call from Death-Cast.

Filed Under: Reviews

SALT AND SUGAR By Rebecca Carvalho

October 24, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SALT AND SUGAR By Rebecca CarvalhoSalt and Sugar by Rebecca Carvalho
Published by Inkyard Press on 11/1/22
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 353
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Trust neither thin-bottomed frying pans nor Molinas.

Lari Ramires has always known this to be true. In Olinda, Brazil, her family’s bakery, Salt, has been at war with the Molinas’ bakery across the street, Sugar, for generations. But Lari’s world turns upside down when her beloved grandmother passes away. On top of that, a big supermarket chain has moved to town, forcing many of the small businesses to close.

Determined to protect her home, Lari does the unthinkable—she works together with Pedro Molina to save both of their bakeries. Lari realizes she might not know Pedro as well as she thought—and she maybe even likes what she learns—but the question remains: Can a Ramires and a Molina truly trust one another?

Short and Sweet Review

Lari and Pedro’s families have bakeries across the street from each other, Lari’s family owns Salt and Pedro’s family owns Sugar. Their families have been feuding for a long time and even Lari and Pedro are “enemies.” There’s a big supermarket that has moved into town and is forcing small businesses to close and Salt and Sugar are in jeopardy and Lari thinks the best way to save the bakeries is to team up with Pedro.

If I were going to describe this book I would say its a hot mess. We only have Lari’s POV but I found her to be such an annoying and insufferable character and not only her but the supporting characters as well. This is a Romeo and Juliet retelling and I didn’t really feel the chemistry between Lari and Pedro and the way things build up and the pacing wasn’t great. The characters are always yelling at each other the drama was over the top it was like reading the script to a very bad soap opera. Honestly Lari’s mother and Pedro’s family would have screaming matches in the street and it was too much like almost every other chapter they had something to yell at each other about.

Lari basically calls Pedro her enemy and ends up having to join his cooking club. Lari is so like defensive, she doesn’t know how to cook or bake and if anyone even suspects that she doesn’t know what she’s doing in the kitchen she’ll go off on them and I just couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t admit that she needed to learn how to cook. Anyway I’m guessing the more time that Pedro and Lari spend time together the more they start to develop feelings for each other and even call a truce. Like I said earlier the pacing in this book is off way off. It isn’t until 90% through the book that they realize that they like each other and when they come up with a solution to try to save their bakeries and everything is resolved so quickly it seemed unrealistic especially with how much bad blood was between the families.

I just didn’t enjoy this book and really had to push myself to finish it. I didn’t like the characters, the plot sounded good but the pacing just ruined it for me. Probably not a book that I would recommend.

Filed Under: Reviews

LOVE & GELATO By Jenna Evans Welch

September 2, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

LOVE & GELATO By Jenna Evans WelchLove & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
Series: Love & Gelato #1
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on 5/3/16
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 417
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything Lina knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.

Short and Sweet Review

Lina’s mothers dying wish was for Lina to live in Italy with her father and get to know him. When Lina arrives in Italy she’s standoffish towards Howard, after all she never even knew about her father until her mom got sick and now she has to live in Italy with him. Howard is also the caretaker of a world war memorial so Lina is basically living near a cemetery. Lina finds out that her mother left a journal and wrote about her time in Italy and now Lina wants to follow in her mothers footsteps and even uncover some secrets. In Italy Lina meets some cute boys one of them is Red and I loved him, he was funny and down to earth and he didn’t off as a creep. I liked seeing Howard and Red take Lina around the city it was almost enough to make me want to visit Italy myself. I did like how Lina and Red started off as friends and how that relationship slowly progressed. I also loved Howard he was patient and understanding about the whole situation and I usually don’t cry when reading books but something he said to Lina during the end of the book made me tear up.

This book was so much fun I loved the setting and I liked seeing how Lina tried to piece together her moms life through the journal. The romance was great and so were all of the supporting characters! Definitely a good book for the summer with a nice scoop of gelato to go along with it!

Filed Under: Reviews

YOU’VE REACHED SAM By Dustin Thao

August 26, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

YOU’VE REACHED SAM By Dustin ThaoYou've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao
Published by Wednesday Books on 11/9/21
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 298
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Seventeen-year-old Julie Clarke has her future all planned out—move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city; spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes.

Heartbroken, Julie skips his funeral, throws out his belongings, and tries everything to forget him. But a message Sam left behind in her yearbook forces memories to return. Desperate to hear him one more time, Julie calls Sam's cell phone just to listen to his voice mail recording. And Sam picks up the phone.

The connection is temporary. But hearing Sam's voice makes Julie fall for him all over again and with each call, it becomes harder to let him go.

What would you do if you had a second chance at goodbye?

Short and Sweet Review

Julie has her future planned out, and those plans involve her boyfriend Sam. But Sam dies in a car accident and everything changes. Julie tries to forget about Sam by throwing out his belongings and even skipping his funeral, but after seeing a message he left for her in her yearbook she calls his phone expecting his voicemail but Sam answers.

The premise of this book was good but unfortunately it just fell flat and Julie wasn’t a character that I really liked. Sam answers the phone and the conversations he has with Julie are meant to give her closure and get to say the goodbye she wasn’t able to when he died suddenly. But Julie seems to think she can hold on to Sam even when he’s ready to let go and basically be at peace. Anyway everyone grieves differently and I understand that but I just didn’t like how at ease Julie was at with blowing her friends off and just canceling plans with them. Julie had a great group of friends that just wanted to surround her and be supportive of her during this time. The ending was okay I just can’t get over how I didn’t like Julie’s character. I feel like she’s one of those people that constantly needs to be reassured and Sam was a good enough boyfriend and provided that to her, but other than that I don’t know why they were together because Julie was just selfish and a little self serving.

This book wasn’t what I was hoping for and it ended up being a disappointment.


Filed Under: Reviews

NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST By Rachel Cohn AND David Levithan

August 19, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST By Rachel Cohn AND David LevithanNick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan, Rachel Cohn
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on 11/13/07
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 194
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Nick frequents New York's indie rock scene nursing a broken heart. Norah is questioning all of her assumptions about the world. They have nothing in common except for their taste in music, until a chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band's secret show and ends up becoming a first date that could change both their lives.

Short and Sweet Review

Nick is in an Indie rock band and has just broken up with his girlfriend. Norah has also broken up with her boyfriend and by a stoke of luck is at a concert that Nick’s band is having. When Nick sees his ex girlfriend at the concert he asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes and that is the beginning of their “relationship.”

This book was one of the worst books that I’ve read this year maybe of all time. I don’t know if it was because it was published in 2007 and the authors think that teens talk the way Norah and Nick do but I just cringed anytime these two talked even their inner monologue was awful. These two basically had a curse in almost every sentence they spoke. Besides the awful dialogue this book was boring, They’re both trying to get over their exes and realize that they like each other. I’m still not quite sure what the plot was because my brain has been trying to erase everything about this book from my memory. I will say I’ve read quite a few books with the lets pretend to date and then the characters fall for each other trope and unfortunately Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist does not pull it off. There’s really not much else I can say about the book it was pretty short and that’s the only positive thing about it.

Filed Under: Reviews

TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW By Rachel Lynn Solomon

July 27, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW By Rachel Lynn SolomonToday Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on 7/28/20
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Today, she hates him.

It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis one last time.

Tonight, she puts up with him.

When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other.

As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she’s sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.

Tomorrow…maybe she’s already fallen for him.

Short and Sweet

Rowan and Neil have been rivals since freshman year of high school. They’ve clashed when it comes to test scores, elections, and while being lab partners they started a fire. Now it’s the last day of senior year and Neil is named the valedictorian and Rowan thinks that the last way she can beat Neil is to won Howl. Howl is a game the senior class plays that takes them all over Seattle and the group has a list of objectives and the first one to finish wins a grand prize. Rowan is in it to win it, but after she overhears a group of seniors wanting to take down her and Neil, she realizes that she has to team up with Neil to be able to make it to the end. The more time Rowan spends with Neil the more she realizes that there’s more to him then the boy who’s been her biggest competition, he might just be the boy of her dreams. 

There’s just something about Rachel Lynn Solomon’s writing that makes me fall in love with her characters and keeps my interest until the very end. Rowan and Neil are very competitive and now they’re forced to work together. Over the course of the day they both learn a lot about each other and because we’re only reading from Rowan’s POV we see that she learns a lot about herself. The romance was cute and I think they both had under lying feelings for each other its just been masked with the fact that they’re trying to be better than the other one. I loved following these two around Seattle and reading their dialogue. Neil really does care about Rowan and tries to get her to see her potential and realize that she can always change her plans if she’s not happy. Rowan helps Neil come out of his shell and he even discusses his family life with her. It was great seeing how the characters’ Jewish heritage is important to both of them.

The dynamic between these two is great and opposites attract. Rowan isn’t afraid to express herself and I loved that about her and also seeing her character development made me happy. This was such a fun book seeing the Seattle through these characters eyes and seeing their relationship on a deeper level was great. I’ll definitely be reading more from this author!

Filed Under: Reviews

WE ALL FALL DOWN By Natalie D. Richards

July 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

WE ALL FALL DOWN By Natalie D. RichardsWe All Fall Down by Natalie D. Richards
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on 10/3/17
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Romance, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 368
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Theo's always been impulsive. But telling Paige how he feels? He's obsessed over that decision. And it's time. Tonight. At the party on the riverbank, under the old walking bridge, site of so many tales of love and death.

Paige has had a crush on Theo since they first met, but she knows her feelings are one-sided. She's trying to move on, to flirt. A party at the river is just what she needs. Except a fight breaks out, and when Paige tries to intervene―Theo's fist lands in her face.

All Theo and Paige want to do is forget that fateful night. But strange events keep drawing them back to the bridge. Someone, something is determined to make them remember...and pay for what they each did.

Sweet and Short Review

Theo and Paige used to be best friends until there was a physical assault at a party and then they went their separate ways. Now Paige is taking a college course checking water sources and Theo is working with his uncle on the bridge where the altercation took place, Theo and Paige cross paths and now they’re both being haunted by memories of that night.

This book was a hot mess like I don’t even have words to describe how ridiculous this book is. Theo and Paige both have something going on, he has ADHD and Paige has severe anxiety and she sleep walks and they both blame these things on why they’re hearing things on the bridge. Paige and Theo both like each other but Theo is basically forced to stay away and Paige just makes things awkward by always bring up how bad they are for each other and she does it every time they’re around each other and it gets pretty old. Eventually Theo meets a kid Gabriel who seems to know about the bridge and who can try to help him figure out why he’s hearing. fragments of the argument from the night he got in the fight at the party. At this point Paige is losing her grip on reality and Theo just wants to believe what he wants so Gabriels input is basically irrelevant. The ending was welcome because I didn’t know how much more I could take. The explanation of the haunting made absolutely no sense. It would have been better if it was just a haunted bridge and the two characters had to figure out what happened, but no apparently Paige just carries around so much bad energy that she feeds the bridge its power to haunt people. That would have made more sense maybe if Paige was into voodoo but no she’s just a girl with bad vibes. Wouldn’t recommend this book and I’m just glad I don’t have to look back because these characters offer nothing but one more hummingbird in the cuckoo’s nest vibes and the haunted bridge plot didn’t work.

Filed Under: Reviews

THIS POISON HEART By Kalynn Bayron

July 18, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THIS POISON HEART By Kalynn BayronThis Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
Series: This Poison Heart #1
Published by Bloomsbury YA on 6/29/21
Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy & Magic, LGBT, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Briseis has a gift: with a single touch she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms.

When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents hope that surrounded by plants and flowers, she will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they never expected―it comes with a mysterious set of instructions, a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world, and generations of secrets. There is more to Bri’s sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it.

Short and Sweet Review

Breseis has a gift, she can make seeds bloom into plants and plants call to her like Moana calls to the ocean. Breseis birth mom is dead and her sister Circe dies to and in Circes will she leaves Breseis an estate in rural New York. When Breseis and her parents arrive they find the place surrounded with plants and a closed apothecary. Bri was left a set of instructions and she’s determined to uncover the secrets that this estate is holding and at the same time learn more about herself and where her powers came from.

This was an amazing book. It was interesting to see Bri learn more about herself and the fact that she was immune to poisonous plants. When Bri first comes to the estate most things regarding her birth mother and her family are a mystery and I love that through the course of the book Bri learns more about her family and some mythology. Rhinebeck is a small town and there’s some strange things going on like people just showing up on the property trying to get things from the apothecary. Bri made some friends Karter and Marie and it was interesting because both of them knew more than they were willing to share. There was a lot that went on in the end but in a good way and it gave me chills, because just thinking about the lengths some people will go to to get what they want is creepy! I loved the ending and I’m so excited to pick up the second book and see how this story concludes. I would definitely recommend this book, it kept me hooked from beginning to end and that ending left me wanting more!

Filed Under: Reviews

SEVEN DIRTY SECRETS By Natalie D. Richards

July 16, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SEVEN DIRTY SECRETS By Natalie D. RichardsSeven Dirty Secrets by Natalie D. Richards
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on 11/2/21
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 267
Format: Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

I know seven dirty secrets:

One caused the fall. One did nothing. One saw it all.

One didn't care. One used their head. One played the hero.

One was left for dead.

On her eighteenth birthday, Cleo receives a mysterious invitation to a scavenger hunt. She's sure her best friend Hope or her brother Connor is behind it, but no one confesses. And as Cleo and Hope embark on the hunt, the seemingly random locations and clues begin to feel familiar.

In fact, all of the clues seem to be about Cleo's dead boyfriend, Declan, who drowned on a group rafting trip exactly a year ago. A bracelet she bought him. A song he loved. A photo of the rafting group, taken just before Declan drowned. And then the phone calls start, Declan's voice taunting Cleo with a cryptic question: You ready?

As the clock on the scavenger hunt ticks down, it becomes clear that someone knows what really happened to Declan. And that person will stop at nothing to make sure Cleo and her friends pay. Can they solve the hunt before someone else winds up dead?

Short and Sweet Review

Last year on Cleo’s 17th birthday her and a group of friends went on a rafting trip where her ex-boyfriend Declan drowned. This year on Cleo’s 18th birthday someone sends her a scavenger hunt which insinuates that someone knows that something more happened on that trip than Cleo and her friends are admitting.

The book starts off on Cleo’s 18th birthday and she discovers a mysterious gift that none of her friends have given her and in the gift is clues it’s basically a long scavenger hunt. This scavenger hunt sets Cleo on edge because the clues are places that were important to her and Declan. We see flashbacks and learn a lot about Cleo and Declan’s relationship, unfortunately there was domestic violence. It was interesting to see Cleo and her friend Hope follow the clues and try to figure out who could be behind everything. This book reminded me of I Know What You Did Last Summer, where someone dies and someone saw and wants revenge. Cleo was an okay character she was kind of naive, but I did like how determined she was to solve the mystery and keep her friends safe.

This book was okay it was kind of predictable and Cleo found herself in some dangerous situations. The ending was okay everything was wrapped up and explained and it really did remind me of the book I Know What You Did Last Summer, there were a lot of similarities.

Filed Under: Reviews

SEE YOU YESTERDAY By Rachel Lynn Solomon

July 13, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SEE YOU YESTERDAY By Rachel Lynn SolomonSee You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on 5/17/22
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 432
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Barrett Bloom is hoping college will be a fresh start after a messy high school experience. But when school begins on September 21st, everything goes wrong. She’s humiliated by the know-it-all in her physics class, she botches her interview for the college paper, and at a party that night, she accidentally sets a frat on fire. She panics and flees, and when she realizes her roommate locked her out of their dorm, she falls asleep in the common room.

The next morning, Barrett’s perplexed to find herself back in her dorm room bed, no longer smelling of ashes and crushed dreams. It’s September 21st. Again. And after a confrontation with Miles, the guy from Physics 101, she learns she’s not alone—he’s been trapped for months.

When her attempts to fix her timeline fail, she agrees to work with Miles to find a way out. Soon they’re exploring the mysterious underbelly of the university and going on wild, romantic adventures. As they start falling for each other, they face the universe’s biggest unanswered question yet: what happens to their relationship if they finally make it to tomorrow?

Short and Sweet Review

Barrett’s first day of college isn’t going well, she thought she’d get a fresh start after high school but fate had other plans for her. First she gets called out in physics class by another student, botches her interview for the school paper, and ends up going to a party and setting it on fire. Obviously after the fire Barrett flees in embarrassment and finds that she’s been locked out of her dorm room so she just crashes on a couch in the common room. When Barrett wakes up its not a new day it’s the same day and she soon learns that the kid who called her out, Miles has been reliving this day for weeks. Now the two of them have to work together to set the time line straight.

I loved this book and the Groundhog Day style time loop. Barrett doesn’t trust Miles right away after what he did in physics class that first day but she has no choice but to work with him. I liked seeing how they would live the day out and see what they would do differently. I also liked seeing how the relationship between Barrett and Miles progressed after spending so much time together it was great seeing how vulnerable they were with each other. There’s also a little mystery surrounding a professor that no one seems to remember but she’s also Barrett and Miles only hope of getting back home.

Even though it was fun to see Miles and Barrett live out the same day and seeing what they did different I did feel for them when they wanted to go home and live the unexpected. This book was funny and cute and I couldn’t put it down. The characters are great and I love how they learn that sometimes the unexpected is okay and that life is meant to be lived. I would definitely recommend this book, the time loop aspect, the characters, and the romance will have you hooked!

Filed Under: Reviews