Today I’m reviewing one of my favourite romance books ever!
Title: Everything For You (Bergman Brothers #5)
Synopsis:
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.
About: Everything for You is a grumpy-sunshine, enemies-to-lovers, age gap sports romance about an upbeat rising soccer star with anxiety and his curmudgeonly veteran teammate who lives with chronic pain. Complete with nosy senior citizens, nosier siblings, and a meddling coach, this standalone slow burn is the fifth in a series of novels about a Swedish-American family of five brothers, two sisters, and their wild adventures as they each find happily ever after.
5 stars: Persephone – Queen of the Underworld and Goddess of Spring. Persephone is my favourite goddess because she is full of contradictions – she represents both strength as queen of the underworld and a softness as a floral maiden. She teaches me how it’s okay to be both. If Persephone appears, that means that the book was one of the best books I’ve ever read, that it holds a particular place in my heart and that it is now part of my favourite books ever.
Iris– Goddess of rainbows. Nothing new here, we all know that rainbows represent the LGBTQ+ community so this Goddess will be featured whenever a queer relationship or character appears.
I am very happy to report that I reached my Goodreads challenge of reading 50 books this year! I’m so proud of myself! Last year I managed to read 45 books and right now I read 6 more books than last year. Of course lockdown and quarantine are reasons why I read more; but I also joined book twitter and took my bookstagram more seriously so I discovered so many great books and people who pushed me to read more. Overall I have had a great reading year so far. Since I don’t have the pressure of reaching my Goodreads goal, I’m free to read how many books I like!
I have so many books I want to read but realistically, with my slow reading pace and my busy school schedule, I don’t think I’ll manage to read all of my “end of the year hopefuls” but we’ll see. Here’s my list:
Finish the Throne of Glass series and start Crescent City
I’m currently reading Empire of Storms and I AM LOVING IT. And I really want to finish the series this year but the books are all quite big (600- 800 pages) and I don’t think I’ll have enough time to read everything before 2021. But let’s be hopeful!
The Poppy War – R.F Kuang
I have seen this book everywhere so I gave into tentation and I bought it last month. Since I didn’t read as much as I had hoped, I haven’t gotten around to this. I’m hoping to read this one before the year ends!
Advanced Reading Copies
I had the brilliant idea of requesting books on Netgalley, when I already have so many books on my physical TBR but I just couldn’t resist. Afterlove is a sapphic book about Ash who is about to become a reaper in the afterlife but who is determined to see her first love Poppy Morgan again. Dearest Josephine is a book about a girl who discovers old love letters written by an elusive novelist two centuries before and it seems like she is the heroine….So excited to read these!
Opposition (Lux series #5)
This is the last book in this series! I started it years ago and I finally managed to reach book 5! This is one of my favourite series and I really want to see how it all ends!
Finale (Caraval #3) by Stephanie Garber
I have read the two previous books as audiobooks so I purchased the third one also as an audiobook! The narrator is fantastic and I can’t wait to see how everything all ends.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
The raving reviews were enough for me to instantly buy this book. This book follows the life of 12 Black and British women through their hardships and victories. I really want to read this before the year ends.
That’s it! Fingers crossed! Thank you for reading xx
I loved the first book so much, especially the retelling part, that I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this one has much as I have the first…LET ME TELL YOU: I LOVED IT EVEN MORE.
2021 cannot come enough because I NEED the third book as soon as possible.
Title: The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and The Dove #2)
Author: Kaitlyn Davis
Synopsis (Goodreads): Return to the world of The Raven and the Dove, where winged people rule the skies, a lost kingdom lives at sea, and two star-crossed lovers hold the fate of each in their palms. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Sabaa Tahir, and Leigh Bardugo!
A mage written in prophecy…When Lyana wakes in the Sea of Mist, adventure is the first thing on her mind. But between her unruly new magic and an unyielding young king, the world below comes with more responsibility than she ever dreamed. An entire civilization exists within the fog, and its survival depends entirely on her.
A hunter forged in blood…Adrift at sea on a ship full of strangers, Rafe fights to cope with his new reality. He’ll do anything to return to the sky and the people he left behind. When a surprising offer comes his way, he instantly accepts, sparing no time to consider the consequences.
Loyalties are tested and an ancient war begins anew…With rebellion in her heart, Cassi defies her king and befriends the prince she’s been ordered to kill. Oblivious to the threat, Xander welcomes her into his inner circle, determined to rescue his mate. As one works to help and the other to hinder, an ancient enemy stirs, forcing Cassi to choose between trusting the man who broke her heart and turning her back on everything she’s ever known.
4 stars: Aphrodite – Goddess of love and beauty. That means that I really liked the book, whether it was the writing style, plot or characters. It means it was an amazing book that I would completely recommend for the beautiful piece of art it is. However the book is not a Persephone because something keeps it from making it one of my favourite book ever.
Iris– Goddess of rainbows. Nothing new here, we all know that rainbows represent the LGBTQ+ community so this Goddess will be featured whenever a queer relationship or character appears.
Athena– Goddess of wisdom, poetry, art, and the strategic side of war. I will feature the goddess whenever there is a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Colour) because they are a symbol of resilience, strength and wisdom to me. I also want to put forth African folkore, myths and gods and since Athena is the goddess of poetry and art I thought it was fitting.
I would like to thank the author and the BookFunnel Team for providing me an ARC of The Hunter and the Mage
The retelling of Tristan and Isolde in the first book was based on deceit and I liked how the author still manages to weave that theme into the story. I have a sweet spot for morally grey but lovable characters and I had my fill with this book.
The ending of the last book was chaotic to say the least and it picked up right where we left of. I really thought the beginning was a little slow because all of the characters were adjusting to their new fates. These moments were filled with so much angst and my poor heart couldn’t take it. In a good way. I love angst. This allowed us to discover the world below the mist and it was fascinating. I am in awe of the impeccable world-building. I think it was the strongest asset of this book. Everything was so well-thought, both in the different Houses in the world above and in the World below the mist with all the different kinds of magic.
I also liked all the new characters and especially the ship’s crew on The Wanderer. Brighty is my new favourite and I really hope we will get more chapters in her point of view. The multiple point of view is really working with this story and it was nice to connect the dots with every little clues we were given; I really enjoyed that.
Now on to my favorite part: the new romance between some of the characters! I did not see that coming and I honestly loved it. My heart is full and warm and I really hope we get to see more of their undeniable chemistry.
I also really like how well the character development was made in the sense that the characters became more mature but still have their essence. Often with second books in a series the characters change so much that you barely recognize them but thankfully that was not the case here. It was wonderful to see them all grow and becoming confident. I’m really attached to all of the characters (the good ones and the bad ones) and I really can’t wait for the next books.
Also this is a spoiler-free review but DAMN that revelation in the last chapters! Can’t wait to find out more!
I really would have liked a page at the beginning which introduces, categorizes and explains the different types of magic. It would have been really helpful because it was easy to get lost.
GIVEAWAY
Anyone who pre-orders a copy of The Hunter and the Mage is elligible to receive two gorgeous character cards (drawn by the artist Dominique Wesson) as a thank you – one of Xander, and one of Cassi. All the information, including the sign up sheet, can be found on the author’s website: https://www.kaitlyndavisbooks.com/p/pre-order-giveaway.html There’s also an additional giveaway for exclusive character art on the page. I wouldn’t miss it if I were you!
I hope you enjoyed this review! Have you read the first book? What is your favourite retelling? Let me know in the comments!
Hello lovelies! I am out of my reading slump! Yay!!!
Title: Kiss Me Every Day
Author: Dena Blake
Synopsis: Wynn Jamison is turning thirty. Her career has made her rich, but her love life is sorely lacking. She’s okay with that until she spends her birthday dinner with the woman who could’ve changed it all. There’s only one problem. She’s married to Wynn’s sister.
Carly Evans is tired of her wife ignoring her needs to put her career first. Family has always been important to her, and Jordan just doesn’t seem to care.A freak thunderstorm rages during the night, and Wynn finds herself catapulted back in time to the day she made the worst decision of her life―stepping aside to let her sister romance Carly. Reliving the day over and over again, Wynn must decide what is most important: success, loyalty, or love. Given a second chance at happiness, will she take the opportunity and change her destiny?(Goodreads)
Anotherbookworm 