garbage_mcsmutly's reviews
1544 reviews

This Will Be Fun by E.B. Asher

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was a great fantasy story. There were two romance plot lines within, and while they are important, I feel this is more a fantasy/grief/second chances book than a straight up romance.

๐ŸŽง All three narrators were great! 

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ 2/5 There are a couple sex scenes but they're not particularly steamy/explicit.

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Five Gold Rings by Kristen Bailey

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funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This was cute and funny and sweet. MMC's been carrying a torch for her, FMC's breaking down after catching her bf cheating, they end up spending a few days together to fix this ring situation, and she falls for him. There are some false starts and misunderstandings along the way, of course.

๐ŸŽง Only one narrator (female) but told from both POVs. It was sometimes a little hard to tell whose POV it was, if you spaced for a sec or took a pause mid section, as the narrator's MMC internal dialogue wasn't super distinguishable from the FMC's. And sometimes it was hard to tell what was said also versus just thought.

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ 2/5 It was kind of a bummer that the only spice was the FMC catching her cheating bf, which is described in pretty graphic detail. It would've been nice to have some action between the MCs instead of/in addition to that.

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Can I Tell You Something? by Holly June Smith

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Okay this book was seriously my catnip and I loved every moment of it. Christmas in the French alps. British FMC, American MMC. He's a dirty voice actor and there are excerpts of his filthy audios in the book. Oh and it's duet narration. And it's only 5 hours long. I mean seriously. A perfect holiday audiobook. 

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ 5/5 The excerpts from his audios were hot, and the sex scenes were hot, and there was a fair amount of both crammed into just 5 hours.

๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€๐ŸŒˆโœŠ There was definitely a lack of diversity in the book. Given it was only five hours, there weren't a lot of characters in the story, and both MCs seemed to be white. The book did have an overall feminist/sex-positive/pro-SW outlook, which I appreciated.

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The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

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emotional funny hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was a delightful mystery with a heavy dose of rom-com. I wish it wasn't closed door but that's honestly my only complaint. The mystery was solid, the chemistry and history of the MCs was great, it was fun and funny at times.

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ 1/5

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A Kilt For Christmas by Tricia O'Malley

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lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

Boring. Should've DNFed but it was so short I figured I'd power through. The romance didn't grab me, I didn't buy the chemistry, the one ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ scene was uninspired. It felt like nothing really happened all through the book, even though there were actually a bunch of plot points. That said, it was a decent plot and the writing was technically proficient. I think this author is just really not my style.

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My Present This Year by Sierra Simone

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lighthearted fast-paced

3.75

It was 40 pages long. I liked it but you can't fit much character depth or background into 40 pages. But the spice was ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ with a tease, but no delivery of, kink 

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The Fiancรฉ Dilemma by Elena Armas

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emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

๐Ÿ“ A good fake engagement romance with heart and spice and some trauma to resolve.

๐ŸŽง This book was tagged as having two narrators so I thought it would be dual narration with both POVs (my fave). But it's actually all from the FMC's POV, with only the final chapter from MMC's POV. I was disappointed because I like Zachary Webber and would've liked more of the MMC's POV.

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ 3.5/5 There were a few steamy scenes.

๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€๐ŸŒˆโœŠ Not a lot in terms of representation. There was diversity (ethnicity, sexuality) in the side characters but we barely see those people.

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Sips of Her by Karmen Lee

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 62%.
Apparently none of the issues that come up get resolved so why bother
Desperate Measures by Katee Robert

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This was a fun read with plenty of spice. I feel like the pacing was a bit off, like the ending wrapped up super quickly compared to the majority of the book's pace. But the story was enjoyable and fun and a bit action-y.

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ 4.5/5 The spice was spicing for sure. There was kink and power play, there was dubcon, there was a 3some. Chapters 2 and 17 stuck out as particularly exciting. (Only reason ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ isn't a 5/5 is because there was still a lot of plot (not a bad thing). 5/5 would be like, this is all smut no plot.)

๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€๐ŸŒˆโœŠ Representation: both MCs are brown skinned but ethnicity isn't named. FMC is not straight. Kink well-repped.

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Home for the Holidays by Lee Jacquot

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.25

This was a cute lil Thanksgiving step sibling novella with a bit of angst and a steamy resolution. 

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ 4.5/5 two explicit scenes plus a teaser,
somno
k!nk in first scene.

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