Chasing Harlow by Jay McLean
3.75 stars ★
TROPES: sports romance: basketball, found family, friends to lovers, tortured hero, tortured heroine, slow burn, 3rd act break up
CONTENT WARNING: abuse, self harm, mental illness, death/grief, alcoholism
REVIEW:
This book was a solid 5 until the 3rd act break up. It makes me so sad I can’t give this all the stars. I was reeeeeally loving it.
If once I’ve ever thought Jace and Harlow were the light in each other darkness, the 3rd act break up just showed me how wrong I was. They actually only caused each other pain and hurt. Both were good people, with good heart and good intentions at heart as well but they just don’t how to love each other! They’re too damaged.
But it was still a good read. There is still adorable moments of these two together. I have laughed. I have cried. I have been angry at some of the characters for the decisions they’ve made and I was holding my breath for a happy ending at the end. Such an emotional read regardless.
Jonah was the star of the book for me. If you have ever wonder what’s a good friend means, Jonah is the definition of that. He has me choking up even now thinking about him and his heart. Talk about selfless.
“Every ending means a new beginning.”
“Guys… they’re only going to treat you as well as you treat yourself, and right now…” He didn’t finish his thought. He didn’t need to.”
“I’m fully aware that the same people who ignore my very existence are the same people I want to notice me.”
“Don’t think for a second that your past ain’t going to follow you wherever you go.”
“You’re messing with my head, Jace.” He enters my house, the bat held at his side. “Trust me,” he says, “the feeling’s mutual.”
“Maybe if you quit hating yourself so much, you’d stop assuming the entire world feels the same.”
“It may not be for everybody, but I’d take a simple, meaningful kiss to the forehead any day.”
“Then I hold her face in my hands, and kiss her as if she holds the key to my sanity. My hope. My light. Because she does.”
“Luckily, even shitty humans can create perfect children.”
What started as a bet can only end in heartache.
Moving to the middle of nowhere right before my senior year wasn’t ideal.
Then again, neither was my brother dying.
The move was supposed to be a fresh start.
A new town, a new school, a new mindset.
Too bad my past indiscretions followed me.
Enter Jace Rivera, the literal boy next door.
Jace is loved by the town. Admired by his peers. Worshipped by his teammates.
On the basketball court, he’s a god amongst men.
Off the court, he’s… nothing at all like I expected.
He’s profound and pure and… devastatingly tortured.
Yet somehow, he offers me light while I offer him hope.
In the end, we’ll either hurt or heal each other.
There’s no in between.
“Pain is the price we pay for love,” he once told me.
And a broken heart is the consequence of it.
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★ BOOK REVIEW ★ Audre & Bash Are Just Friends by Tia Williams ༊*·˚ ˖*°࿐
🇨 🇴 🇳 🇹 🇪 🇳 🇹
꧁•⊹٭ friends to lovers ༊*·˚. black characters ༊*·˚. lgbt ༊*·˚. mental health representation ༊*·˚. toxic parent ༊*·˚. complicated family stuff ٭⊹•꧂
ＲＥＶＩＥＷ：
This was a very cute read. I was rooting for these two the whole way through. This is a young adult, but I think people of all ages will appreciate this book as it goes deeper than expected. My only criticism is that the end felt rushed. The main conflict got solved pretty quickly. I needed more closure, especially with her mom. I also wanted a bit more time with Audre and Bash together with maybe an epilogue…?
The audiobook for this was phenomenal with duet narrations and sound effects for things like the on-page texting! Thank you @librofm for this (so cute 🥹) ALC. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
4 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔰 ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹𝓎𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈.𝒸𝑜𝓂 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 - 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙞𝙤
1 month ago
★ BOOK REVIEW & BOOK RECOMMENDATION ★ Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan ༊*·˚ ˖*°࿐ •
🇨 🇴 🇳 🇹 🇪 🇳 🇹
꧁•⊹٭ mature characters ༊*·˚. African American romance ༊*·˚. he falls first ༊*·˚. billionaire romance ༊*·˚. friends to lovers ༊*·˚. family dynamic ٭⊹•꧂
ＲＥＶＩＥＷ：
Oooof what a page turner!!! 👏🏻 I literally couldn’t get enough. Hands down my favorite in the series!!
MEVERICK…
My heart.
My emotions.
My ovaries 🫠
Whew!😮💨
So Meverick...I will pretend that your are not the man in my fantasies. I will also pretend that your masculinity has nothing to do with the drool running down my chin. Your dominance and power have nothing to do with the fact that I am practically panting writing this review... gah, my hopeless romantic heart clung to the connection these two have like a baby calf to its mother after birth! The connection every girl dreams about it at night and be jealous of it!! I absolutely loved their dynamic as I absolutely loved the relationship they have with their family. Both main characters. Everything about this book was just chefs KISS 😚
5 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔰 ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
Thank you @librofm for this ALC. It was amazing!!
∗ This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own. ∗
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ This is book 3 in the Skyland Series. Each book in this series features a different couple and can be read as a standalone, but for maximum enjoyment, follow the recommended reading order.
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Skyland Reading Order ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
1. Before I Let You Go
2. This Could Be Us
3. Can’t Get Enough
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹𝓎𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈.𝒸𝑜𝓂 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 - 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙞𝙤
1 month ago
★ BOOK REVIEW ★
From Nowhere by Jewel E. Ann࿐ • ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
🇨 🇴 🇳 🇹 🇪 🇳 🇹
꧁•⊹٭ single dad ༊*·˚. secret relationship ༊*·˚. pilot vs mechanic ༊*·˚. cinnamon roll hero ٭⊹•꧂
ＲＥＶＩＥＷ：
I’m a sucker for a single dad romance, and this one was really enjoyable. The characters were funny and witty, I liked their banter. Lola l, Ozzy’s daughter, was funny and very realistic in her 10yo age and attitude. I loved the relationship between her and her dad. However, there are some things I didn’t like.
1- A few times I felt like Jewel E Ann was trying too hard with the humor.
2- Ozzy needed more of a backbone with his ex in-laws. I loved how he was willing to do anything for his daughter, and just supported her and didn’t push her to heal faster from her trauma, but he was allowing his past and guilt to rule his life too much. I sometimes wanted to shake him and tell him to grow some pants!!
3- The romance. Although the banter was fun and there was chemistry between the main characters; I wanted a bit more emotional depth. We could definitely feel their connection on a physical level, but I felt that that energy wasn’t fully matched emotionally.
4- The drama towards the end. Why when is there trauma in romance books, authors feel the need to make similar things happening AGAIN to the characters? Ugh 😖 But the biggest issue here is not even that but how Ozzy handled everything. Unacceptable!
5- The female narrator’s voice was annoying. Luckily, it didn’t ruined the experience with the book, but certainly didn’t enhance it either.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read for me.
3.5 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔰 ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ This is book 2 in the Wildfire Series. Each book in this series features a different couple and can be read as a standalone, but for maximum enjoyment, follow the recommended reading order.
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Wildfire Reading Order ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
1. From Air
2. From Nowhere
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Free Audiobook on Kindle Unlimited ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹𝓎𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈.𝒸𝑜𝓂 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 - 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙞𝙤
2 months ago
★ BOOK REVIEW & BOOK RECOMMENDATION ★ Merit by Devney Perry ༊*·˚ ˖*°࿐
🇨 🇴 🇳 🇹 🇪 🇳 🇹
꧁•⊹٭ childhood friends to enemies to lovers ༊*·˚. fake dating ༊*·˚. small town ༊*·˚. college sports romance ༊*·˚. football ༊*·˚. ༊*·˚. volleyball ༊*·˚. virgin heroine ༊*·˚. ༊*·˚. he’s a player ༊*·˚. grief/ death ٭⊹•꧂
ＲＥＶＩＥＷ：
Devney Perry saved the best for last! Hands down, my favorite in the series. It had it all! Angst, wit, steam, and lots of heart. Their banter was delightful, their chemistry was sizzling hot, and the slow burn was absolutely worth it. The audiobook was top notch on top of it all.
5 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔰 ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹𝓎𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈.𝒸𝑜𝓂 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 - 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙞𝙤
╰⪼ The atrwork is mine, but the photos are not ˖*°࿐ •
2 months ago
★ BOOK REVIEW ★ Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry ༊*·˚ ˖*°࿐ • ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
🇨 🇴 🇳 🇹 🇪 🇳 🇹
꧁•⊹٭ rivals to lovers ༊*·˚. books about books ༊*·˚. mystery ༊*·˚. historical fiction ༊*·˚. two timelines ༊*·˚. Evelyn Hugo vibes ٭⊹•꧂
𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 :
This was a book I was ridiculously excited to read, and I am truly heartbroken that I had to call time of death at 60% through of the audiobook. I kept zoning out, nothing in this story could hold my attention the more I tried. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I prefer reading something with a bit more romance or thrill to make it harder to put down. This really had neither. Everything was just SO bland.
2.5 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔰 ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
Almost here!! Expected Pub Date - 04/22/25
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹𝓎𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈.𝒸𝑜𝓂 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 - 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙞𝙤
2 months ago
★ BOOK REVIEW ★
Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez
Not going to lie, this book felt like I was in a therapy session. So deeply emotional and portrays trauma in such a real way that was sometimes exhausting. Don’t get me wrong, this book is beautifully written, but definitely not a RomCom. If you are in it for the romance, forget it! This isn’t it.
The insta-love did bother me a little in the beginning, but I understood that was necessary for the premise of the long distance relationship though. Also, the fact that they were barely together and when they finally managed to be together, they still had to deal with a lot of what’s happening in Sam’s family life; unbalanced the story a little bit. It was sometimes exhausting to read as it features heavy life topics. There are a lot traumatic events both main characters were going or went through and also discussion around animal abuse. I just needed a little break at times. You know, just enjoy seeing these two inside their love bubble without any outside interference.
However, I’m still very happy to have finally read this book. I loved Xavier to pieces. He gave his all to make things work between him and Sam. He was an amazingly supportive partner through each of Samantha’s crises while working through his own trauma and also exhaustion. What an incredible man he is! The epic book boyfriend material.
“If you had the power to erase every memory you have of me so you didn’t know what you were missing, would you do it?” she asked.
“No, I wouldn’t do it,” I said without even thinking about it.
“Why?”
“Because life wouldn’t be worth living if I didn’t remember you.” She looked like she didn’t believe me.
“But it’s so hard though,” she said.
“Would you erase the memories of your grandma so you wouldn’t feel the way you feel right now?”
“No.”
“Some things are worth remembering, Samantha. No matter how much they hurt.”
That! That right there won all my heart for this story… 🥹
Continue 👇🏻
2 months ago
★ BOOK REVIEW ★ Painted Scars by Neva Altaj ༊*·˚ ˖*°࿐ • ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
🇹 🇷 🇴 🇵 🇪 🇸
꧁•⊹٭ mafia romance༊*·˚. arranged marriage ༊*·˚. enemies to lovers ༊*·˚. age gap ༊*·˚. ༊*·˚. opposites attract ༊*·˚. he hates everyone but her ༊*·˚. touch her and die ༊*·˚. OTT possessive/jealous hero ༊*·˚. ༊*·˚. sassy heroine ٭⊹•꧂
⚠️ 🅆🄰🅁🄽🄸🄽🄶 ⚠️
∗ domestic violence ∗ mentions of abuse ∗ graphic descriptions of violence and torture (none occur between the hero/heroine) ∗
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Your mental health matters. If any of these topics are sensitive to you, please proceed with caution or skip this one ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 :
Nothing makes a story better than a hot possessive hero 😮💨 Roman’s protective was just on point, not overbearing or controlling. Just hot! I also loved the fact that Nina wasn’t a doormat or some pitiful virgin who needed constantly rescuing. Their chemistry is unmatched. I ate this book up and left no crumbs 🤭 Delicious!
5 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔰 ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ This is book 1 in the Perfectly Imperfect Series. Each book in this series features a different couple and can be read as a standalone, but for maximum enjoyment, follow the recommended reading order.
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Perfectly Imperfect Reading Order ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
1. Painted Scars
2. Broken Whispers
3. Hidden Truths
4. Ruined Secrets
5. Stolen Touches
6. Fractured Souls
7. Burned Dreams
8. Silent Lies
9. Darkest Sins
10. Sweet Prison
11. Precious Hazard
“𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓶𝓮,” 𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓪𝔂𝓼, “𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘’𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓹 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓻.”
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹𝓎𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈.𝒸𝑜𝓂 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 - 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙞𝙤
3 months ago
★ BOOK REVIEW ★ The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
🇹 🇷 🇴 🇵 🇪 🇸
꧁•⊹٭ enemies to lovers ༊*·˚. forced proximity ༊*·˚. badass heroine ༊*·˚. vampires ༊*·˚. magic ༊*·˚. demons ༊*·˚. angst ༊*·˚. age gap ༊*·˚. royal hero ༊*·˚. vengeance ٭⊹•꧂
5 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔰 ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 : As a romance reader I am that occasionally enjoys reading a fantasy book, I needed a bit more sexual tension between the main characters. However, this was a thrilling fantasy novel, so different from any vampire book I’ve read. Very unique. The ending took me in an emotional ride, I didn’t see it coming. Fantasy’s readers will definitely eat this book up. Soooo good!
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ This is book 1 in the Crowns of Nyaxia Series.
1. The Serpent and the Wings of Night
2. The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King
3. The Songbird & the Heart of Stone
4. The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk
1.5 - Six Scorched Roses
2.5 - Slaying the Vampire Conqueror
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜 ༊*·˚ ˖*°࿐ • 𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹𝓎𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈.𝒸𝑜𝓂 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 & #𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 - 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙞𝙤
Have a great weekend, everyone 💋
3 months ago
★ BOOK REVIEW & RECOMMENDATION ★ Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
🇨 🇴 🇳 🇹 🇪 🇳 🇹
꧁•⊹٭ love triangle ༊*·˚. presente and past timeline ༊*·˚. mystery ٭⊹•꧂
⚠️ 🅆🄰🅁🄽🄸🄽🄶 ⚠️
∗ infidelity ∗
𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 :
Although the writing was in fact amazing and compelling, and it did have me turning pages, I wasn’t completely in love with the storyline. I’m doing my best at not being so judgmental when reviewing this. So bear with me! 😅
If life taught me a lesson is that you can’t judge others when you’ve never been in their shoes. Also, be careful of throwing stones, we all live in a glass house too. We are all human beings after all. We make mistakes, we make poor decisions, we make others suffer. The bottom line is, did you learn your lesson?
That being said, it was still not easy for me to read about Beth’s story because Frank was a very good man, a too good husband to her and also a good dad. He loved his wife with all his heart. He would give her the moon if he could to. Damn! He gave her more than that. And that’s what makes SO hard for me not to judge Beth. I believe her vulnerability made her take pretty poor decisions in life. And sadly, those decisions affected everyone around her. However, she’s learned her lesson and that’s life. Learn with our mistakes and not repeat them. Trying to become a better version of ourselves. I’m genuinely glad she’s got another chance for happiness. We can see she is a different Beth after everything and for that this book was truly beautiful. That is exactly how each of us is, imperfectly beautiful. This book definitely evoked strong emotions and made me cry in the end. I wonder how long it will be before my heart lets this one go… it definitely deserves all the stars.
Have a great week, everyone! 💋
3 months ago
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