lisaluvsliterature's reviews
4117 reviews

I didn’t realize this was a novella, but that’s okay, because I totally adored it! It was short and sweet, but steamy! I loved Everly and Beckett’s story. Both had their reasons for the things that came between them. Some misunderstandings, some not wanting to tell because of nerves, and some trying to make sure the other still got to live out their dreams. The idea behind the town’s Kiss Lottery was cute, and I like how it worked. 

There was a lot of cute banter and fun characters that were friends, family, and townspeople. The poems were fun, the gifts were fun, especially the kitten Everly named Murder. There was a little side story of a ghost that needed some closure, and the way it connected back to the characters was just so perfect! Since this is a novella, and I enjoyed all these characters so much, I would love if the author would write a whole series based around them and the town, and the Kiss Lottery too! 

So I had only read this author’s contemporary romance stories in the SmartyPants Romance books up until now. I loved both of those, and actually had purchased the first book in her series after I met her at one of the first few Book Bonanza conventions. But hadn’t read it yet or the second one that I got as a free ebook. The publisher reached out and asked if I wanted to read an advanced copy of the first book in a spinoff series, and I jumped on the chance!

I really enjoyed all the mythology or world building in this story. And based on that, I do know I’d like to go back and read the first series. There were a lot of fun characters, and I love that we have werewolves, vampires, witches/warlocks, and humans that don’t know about them too. It’s also set in one of my favorite places, New Orleans!

There was more than just the paranormal aspect to the story though. There was a lot of dealing with past trauma and getting therapy and just working on being a good person. I liked the way Celine’s family was overprotective of course, as werewolves, but they could also tell she knew what she was doing, and that Ronan was really a good guy under his bad guy exterior. Now I’ve not really enjoyed a lot of boxer/MMA fighter books, just a few, so that aspect, the cage fighting, was not my favorite part of the book. But again I liked the way the author made it more than just fighting, it was Ronan’s dream. And I liked the way the author had Celine have the misgivings that I think anyone would watching someone they loved in a fight, but then the way she realized it was Ronan’s dream and that she wasn’t being fair to him was great. Another aspect I liked was how when Ronan realized Celine was a distraction for him in the ring when the others did the trash talking about her, yeah, he took a minute to be quiet, but he talked about it with his therapist, and also realized it wasn’t her fault or his fault. And I was so glad it never really crossed his mind that he would have to break up with her because of that issue. That has always been a cop out for adding drama in other stories IMO.

A great start to a new series, and I look forward to both going back and reading the earlier series, as well as reading on for more characters in this series getting their own HEAs!

Okay, I LOVED this book! It was sooooooo good! The characters were great, the storyline was great, the narrators too were great! There was so much more than just romance. Both characters had back story issues that they were working on, both did seek therapy in the book, but also were able to work through some of the issues with each other there as a friend. It was funny how the author had Aurora always say his whole name, “Mike Martin” every time she thought about him, based on him being her imaginary boyfriend from when she was a teenager. I thought that totally made the story, even when it was a little annoying, lol. My only real complaint was that even though I knew what was going to be the third act break up reason, I thought it was totally ridiculous for him to be that upset about it. I don’t care how much it fed into his own issues, it was a stupid thing to get that mad about. And so in the end, the way it all came back together was done very well, but I still had to drop it to 4.5 stars.

Once again this author has written a story that makes you think, but in a fascinating, entertaining way. Overall I really enjoyed this one, although there were one or two spots that dragged a tiny bit for me. But not enough that I ever didn’t want to keep reading, and I hated how busy everything was when I was trying to read this one that I couldn’t sit and read as much as I wanted.

So, even though the publisher did send me a finished copy, I decided to read the e-galley because the book was a little bigger and it was easier to hold my Kindle, lol. So some of the lines I’ve quoted may not be in the final copy, I should have looked to see! I wasn’t even 10% of the way in when I found two quotes that really spoke to me.

Both of these spoke to me so much. Even if the second one was from a character that hadn’t contracted the virus Crown Royale yet and was a not so great person, it is something that seems to be more and more true the closer we look at some artists/authors/musicians. The first one is something that always made me angry at the hypocrisy of some people in certain situations, although the “science” followed wasn’t always anything more than what was being reported by the media. As a former science teacher, believe me, I did my research in all things before making decisions. 

What I love about this author is that his books make you think. Not just the teens that these books are written for, but as an adult, when I’ve read all his books as an adult, they made me think too. They made me see both sides. In my opinion they call out the good and the bad and facts of both sides. Because yes, there are facts on both sides, even people don’t always follow the truth when they make their decisions, or they use it to try to prove things that aren’t connected.

Yes many people don’t want to read books about THE pandemic we just went through. And so the fact that this is about a “next” pandemic might turn some off. But wow, Crown Royale, I think I want to get that virus! I totally felt for Mariel and her bad luck with the virus, although some didn’t see it as bad luck. And then there were the downfalls from this wonderful new disease/virus that gave some credit to the idea that we don’t want everyone to think exactly the same, that there does need to be a voice out there making you think and not just agreeing with everything.

The book was so good, and I don’t know why I assumed how it would end, because the author knows how to do endings that might make you gasp a bit! Such a wonderful, wonderful story!