ARC Review: Flipcup by Kim Hartfield

Title: Flipcup 
Series: Vinos & Veritas #7 
Author: Kim Hartfield
Publisher: Hearts Eye Press 
Release Date: April 5, 2021 

Could swearing off men lead Chelsea to the perfect woman?

After being rejected one too many times, Chelsea makes a bold vow: No more men. Her friends doubt a boy-crazy party girl can handle not dating for a year, but that only makes Chelsea more determined.

Tara has made a vow, too. After growing up in foster care and suppressing herself to please others, she's going to live her truth. When she sees a beautiful woman, she'll make her attraction known.

Chelsea appreciates Tara's flirtatious compliments, not to mention her androgynous beauty. There's a loophole in Chelsea's vow, and it's more tempting every day...

The first FF installment in the V&V series and I did enjoy it but not as much as I was hoping to. The overall story was good and got me into it but where part of my big issue lies is with the one main character.

Chelsea is where most of my problems with this title was. She did grow as a person throughout the story but I couldn't get past some of it; it was said that she would be self absorbed and she was and the way she treated Tara at times made me frustrated on her behalf. Tara on the other hand I loved and wanted to see more for her and to live her life. During the climax things were said and I just felt that the resolution was just way to simple and neatly wrapped for what occurred. The side characters were a great supporting cast and important to Chelsea growing as an individual which were major points to what I enjoyed. My only other big issue with the story is how it was all wrapped up. It was progressing nicely and then it just sort of ended out of nowhere on me. I felt that there should have been more and not just end of book. 

Overall I'm giving Flipcup: 

3/5 Stars

ARC Review: Hideaway by Rachel Lacey

Title: Hideaway

Series: Vinos and Veritas #8
Author: Rachel Lacey 
Publisher: Heart Eyes Press
Release Date: April 5, 2021

One woman’s hiding place is another woman’s home.

After becoming an inadvertent viral sensation—and losing her job and her girlfriend as a result— Phoebe Shaw retreats to Vermont. Renovating her late grandmother’s cabin into a vacation rental seems like the perfect way to lie low for a while. But the last person she expects to encounter on the property is the woman whose kiss was her teenage sexual awakening . . . and whom she’s never quite forgotten.

Taylor Donovan has been hiking on the trails behind the Shaw family’s cabin her whole life. As children, Taylor and Phoebe were best friends before sharing a secret summer romance when they were sixteen, which left Taylor brokenhearted when Phoebe fled at the end of the summer. Now the property has become Taylor’s home away from home, and she wants nothing more than to convince the Shaws to sell it to her. But Phoebe’s return puts a crimp in those plans--and brings back old feelings she thought she’d overcome.

Of all the things Phoebe regrets, leaving Taylor is at the top of the list, but Taylor is determined to protect her heart. Yet the pull between them is stronger than ever. This time around, will love stay hidden . . . or finally see the light of day?

Second chance romance and cute dogs, I was so excited for this but it fell flat for me. I've said it before but this one I truly believe was just not the right time for me to read it.  The story was very well written and put together, I just couldn't find myself enjoying it. 

Phoebe and Taylor I enjoyed. I was rooting for Taylor from the start and the work that she does with the dogs and wanted her to be happy. I could tell that Phoebe was what made her happy and that was great. I was actually more interested in the dogs that were part of the story than seeing their relationship progress because in the past they were already so in love and I knew that they would overcome the past and be together again which made so sense. 

What I did love though was how low angst it was, how sweet and how much heart went into it. All of which is why I know this one was one me and I will be giving this one a second chance.  Rachel Lacey did such a wonderful job crafting such a beautiful story and I do encourage others to go read this book because it is such a great FF. 

3/5 Stars

 

ARC Review: Undercover by Eliot Grayson

Title: Undercover 

Series: (Vinos and Veritas #4) 
Author: Eliot Grayson
Publisher: Heart Eyes Press 
Release Date: March 29, 2021

Gabe wants Alec between the sheets…too bad Alec’s undercover already…

Rich kid. Party boy. Gabe is tired of the labels. He’s a smart guy, but ever since he got kicked out of grad school, people are only interested in his no-limit credit card and his pierced ears…and other places.

Tall, dark and scowling Alec hates Vermont, with its artisanal-freaking-everything and its irritating people. To be fair, most people irritate Alec, including the FBI director who sent him here to investigate a smuggling scheme involving yoga mats.

When one of the cutest twinks Alec’s ever seen takes an interest, Alec knows there’s an ulterior motive. No one with multi-colored hair, piercings, and an ass like that would want boring, serious Alec. The kid must be up to no good. Either way, Alec can’t blow his cover. If only he could keep his hands off of Gabe long enough to find out what he’s up to…

Can they ignore their explosive chemistry long enough to foil a smuggling ring? Or will their budding relationship sink faster than a yacht full of contraband?

Review: 

Starting off with this one by saying while it was ok, I had a hard time getting into the story. While this is my first book by Eliot Grayson I was excited to dive in to a brand new to me author. However after the first few pages I knew this either wasn't the right time for this story or just not my style. 

I did really like the characters of Gabe and Alec though. Gabe just wanting to prove that he is more than just some rich kid and it was sweet to watch him go after Alec. As for broody Alec, he was the one of the main elements that made me want to see how the story would go. Seeing Alec falling for Gabe as we progressed had me hoping for more but that isn't to say I didn't have issues with them being together. 

The mystery elements tend to be hit or miss for me and with everything going on in Undercover, the mystery was a miss. I knew going into this it would have some elements of mystery with Alec being undercover and that meant not being able to tell Gabe the truth right away.  Given Gabe's issues with trusting people just kind of turned me off from it because of the inevitable fall out that would occur. Also with Gabe's issues I felt that they weren't taken as seriously as they should have been. Going from there once the fall out occurred it felt so rushed on fixing everything and making everything right again. 

I may try this one again in the future and see if it plays out better for me than the first time but as of right now, I find myself giving this a: 

3/5 stars

ARC Review - All It Takes - Sadie Munroe

Title: All It Takes
Author: Sadie Munroe
Publisher: Sadie Munroe
Release Date: June 30, 2015
Format: E-ARC
Genre: New Adult
Rating: 3/5
Amazon

Nineteen-year-old Star Collins never intended to return to her hometown, Avenue. That part of her life ended when she was nine years old, and child services took her away from her hoarder mother. Her mother chose her stuff over her daughter. That part of her life was supposed to be in the past.
But her mother has just passed away and Star finds herself giving up her summer to quietly clean out her old home. She just wants to sell it and move on with her life. However, things aren't going the way she planned. With her dyed-black hair and tattoos, she's attracting almost as much attention from the small town residents as Ash Winthrope, the guy who was just released from prison.
All Ash wants is a chance to start over. He screwed up and he knows it, he's going to have to live with the guilt for the rest of his life. But he's stuck in Avenue until his parole ends, and no one, not even his own parents, wants anything to do with him. Nearly out of money and completely out of options, Ash takes the only job he can, helping Star haul stuff out of her mother's house.
Neither of them expects anything to happen between them, or for their lives to change. But sometimes meeting the right person is all it takes.

 Thoughts:

 All It Takes is one debut into the NA world that I enjoyed. The story was unique because I haven't stumbled upon one that involved hoarding and have the plot centered around on how to deal with the aftermath in a case of hoarding. This topic right here was one that I wasn't sure if would have worked or not and in this case it definitely worked. Even the group of characters were unique, I mean yes they followed some of the few stereotypes that are typical with the NA genre and small town scene but it worked.

Star being one of the MCs has to deal with her mother's house after her mother has passed away and her mother having been a hoarder. Star is the type of character who knows she needs help to clear away all the junk but at the same time, she knows that she can't afford to get as much help as she needs, and she doesn't want the town to know. Overall Star is a strong young woman who has managed to overcome a lot in her 19 years and still knows that she has a lot ahead of her.

Ash on the other hand is trying to put his life back together. It was nice for his story to be told because it gave insight into another topic that I don't see much of in books. He too had a lot to overcome after moving back into town himself, after being away in prison for the last 5 years of his life. Both of these characters and the rest of the cast of supporting characters all played their roles in the ways that made sense and at the same time bugged me that some of them could be so self centered and judgmental.

The plot itself was original with all the hoarding and the being in prison, but what really got me was the ending because I didn't see that coming. Throughout the whole book I was thinking that really nothing major was going to happen and then the next thing I know, a major plot twist was thrown in right before the ending and made my brain go into overdrive trying to figure out what happened and what was going to happen.

Overall this was an enjoyable debut into the NA genre and I can't wait to see what Sadie has in store for her next novel.